Shifting perspective: what is the Vault of Knowledge?
When I first started playing (about four months ago), my favorite place was the Vault of Knowledge. I think partly because of its name, and also because I really love libraries—the first levels reminded me of them. As we ascend, the whole experience felt incredible: the cosmic atmosphere, the sense of timelessness and infinity.
After a few months (and after I started thinking more deeply about the lore), I realized that the core feeling of this place isn’t only about knowledge or some kind of cosmic awakening of consciousness (or whatever I should call it). It feels more like a post-civilization state.
Something really bad happened here...
The sequence of realms can often resemble the hero’s journey, or a human life, or even Buddhism Noble Eightfold Path—but I think it can also be seen as the development of a civilization. The Golden Wasteland is the point where destruction happens: some kind of conflict, whether natural or human-made, ultimately brings about the end of that civilization.
The Vault of Knowledge becomes a place of remembrance, grief, and mourning. A place of loss, of passing. When something has already ended, and can only be seen again through memory-lanterns. When we look at the stars and recall someone we’ve lost. Or when, under the cover of night, tears emerge because of the absence of someone—or something.
Of course, in Sky there are many places that can feel like a cemetery, but in the Vault, the area behind the levitation 4-player door feels especially like a crypt. Sometimes I like to come here too—just to remember things, people, or even my former self.
