So, given the relics seem to be confirmed as body parts of some type, whose body parts *are* they? And are we facilitating their resurrection by bringing all their parts together like Exodia the Forbidden One?
Given the many recent nods and various hints, my vote is on Nezarec. Especially since Drifter said the relics remind him of "something from a long time ago." It can be a hint to the ice planet (given the planet's ties to Darkness), but since Drifter is the only person to have ever mentioned (and visited) something called the Fourth Tomb of Nezarec, it makes more sense that it reminds him of that:
"He says he's seen the deep side of Jupiter. Been to the Core Mines of Saturn. Name drops old myths no one's heard—the Luvial Crux, the Shift Chasms Below Elios, the Fourth Tomb of Nezarec. Goes on about the Idols of Lower Sul, the Treasure of Exodus Prime, the Solar Engine of Dead Star-Six.
"I think he's making most of it up, but he's got relics and etchings. He's got materials not of this system—odd metals, obsidian flames, thought engines, edible null cakes and a stuffed something that looks like a rabbit bio-fused with a cephalopod. He keeps all this stuff to himself—his 'gets,' he calls 'em.
Not only did he speak of the place, but he had items to prove that he's not lying, including "relics." The person narrating this lore tab is Shin Malphur, btw, so it can be considered reliable (especially since he didn't believe Drifter until Drifter showed him proof).
The "tomb" imagery fits with these reliquaries much better than the ice planet. Nezarec apparently had multiple tombs and it makes sense that any place where a reliquary of him would be placed to be considered a tomb. It would explain the "fourth" tomb.
There's been another mention of tombs this season: the seasonal exotic, Delicate Tomb. We have no clue who is narrating the lore tab for this weapon, btw. But it's something that's still "alive" and able to whisper. Just like the relics. From the quest for the catalyst:
"Nice-lookin' weapon, Guardian," he says. He takes it from you and tests its weight. "Very..."
A strange look crosses the Exo's face. "Huh," he says quietly, "though I heard something."
And Nezarec's Whisper:
On the floor, a length of unidentifiable metal caked in centuries of dust catches her eye. A glaive. Eris lifts it into her hand. Striations of red illuminate on its surface and throb like a heartbeat. The glaive's power feels faint—distant—and yet, an ember of something terrible still burns within.
A similar lingering power is also implied in the Delicate Tomb lore tab:
I am made finite. Personal. Bright and delicate to hide my true form. An intimacy.
They think me contained, but I am instead diffused, as vapor upon the wind.
Once again, I am becoming.
From what can be understood here, the fusion rifle, Delicate Tomb, is yet another relic. It was deliberately crafted to appear "bright and delicate" so it could hide the true form of the entity within. It also implies that the weapon gives people the false safety that the entity is contained inside, but it's clearly not as it can very much influence things around it. The last sentence also parallels something from the original mention of Nezarec, Nezarec's Sin exotic:
"He is that which is an end. And he shall rise again." —passage from Of Hated Nezarec, a pre-Golden Age text.
I'm not sure about the nature of us assembling him and what will happen when we do. I am still reluctant to say that we may see Nezarec as an actual talking, walking character. I would love that, but I don't want to hype people up. So, are we gonna put him together and he will show up and we'll have to deal with him somehow? No clue. But the relics whisper and this weapon whispers and his glaive still holds power and most of this lore indicates that this entity, whatever he is, still has power and some form of existence.
The one thing that I've been thinking about now is how it's more or less established that Nezarec was a Disciple in charge of the Lunar Pyramid. And on Nezarec's Sin, the text telling us about him is "pre-Golden Age." Somebody on Earth (? presumably) knew about Nezarec (somehow?) before the Traveler ever came to us. It reminded me of how strange the Lunar Pyramid is, deep inside the Moon, too deep to have gotten there by simply crashing. It's more or less in the core of the Moon. Unless they handwave it as the Pyramid getting inside paracausaly, it couldn't have gotten there by having crashed in the Collapse. Not only is it too deep and there is no proper impact crater, Nezarec (and the Pyramid?) were known to someone before the Collapse. Before even the Golden Age.
I think that Pyramid, and Nezarec, have been in our system observing us for a very, VERY, long time.
That's just a little side note about something that's been bothering me pretty much ever since I first saw the Pyramid on the Moon. How did it get there and when.
Bonus:
😂😂😂
