My Headcanons about the Ikran Names
While I'm playing through my From the Ashes playthrough, I wanted to share my personal headcanons about the selection of Ikran names. Mostly Telisi, Carol and Hawk.
Now I'm sure we've all learned by now that Telisi, one of the suggested names for our Ikran, is also the name of one of the Sarentu children, mentioned by Ri'nela herself during the prologue. The fact that Tamtey could possibly name her Ikran after one of the other children, led me to speculate on why she would name her Ikran after Telisi, and this eventually led to me thinking about the other names, namely Carol, and Hawk. Carol, because it was very obviously a human name, and Hawk, being an Earth animal. As such, I've made some headcanons.
Telisi - I have theorised that after A'hari was murdered, Telisi took Tamtey under her wing and kept her safe, in honour of A'hari. She became a surrogate sister in this regard to Tamtey, holding a special place in her heart. Unfortunately, during the war, Tamtey and Telisi were in separate rooms when Alma saved them from TAP and took them to different Cyropod rooms, where, for Telisi, her Cyropod would unfortunately malfunction, and she sadly passed away.
Carol - I'd like to imagine that, like any school, even one as deplorable as TAP, has a school nurse to help tend to the kids' injuries. That nurse would be named Carol, and despite Alma's claims, Carol was more of a mother figure to the Sarentu children than anyone else. She mostly tended to Onki and Teylan, but everyone, including Tamtey, remembered her kindness. Unknowingly to the Sarentu, Carol was planning an escape and intended to take the children with her, taking them to the Aranahe away from Mercer. She was unfortunately caught and either got shipped back to Earth or got... taken care of, with the story that she got lost in the jungle and was killed by wildlife, further planting the seeds that Pandora was dangerous to the Sarentu. I'd like to feel that Carol is alive and maybe got back into the Pandora program as a doctor for Hellsgate, where she secretly leaks info to the Resistance.
Hawk - I can imagine that while Mercer denied that the Sarentu learn things like art and human culture, Carol would keep a series of encyclopedias in her office to keep the children entertained and occupied while taking a stint in the nurse's office. And one of those books would feature the bird of prey itself, the hawk, particularly the Red-Tailed Hawk. Tamtey appreciated its beauty, ferocity, and adaptability, and immediately pegged the bird as her favourite of Earth's animals. So, she was even more excited at the idea of being chosen by an Ikran and being able to fly like a hawk as well.
And there it is! My personal headcanons for the optional Ikran names. I hope you liked them and I hope to share my thoughts of the From the Ashes playthrough soon!:)