Hey so what do you think the seraphs were? The artifact lore says that the kahnjali were made for them, which means that they must have been human, or at least Exos. Swords kinda need hands. Lore seems to indicate that felwinter has big boi connections to Rasputin, possibly even being a Seraph himself (would explain why he doesn't have a reset indicator, that shit's classified af). If he is a Seraph, why does Rasputin say that they're "gone"?
Most lore we currently have points to Seraph being an organization under Rasputin’s authority. Based on the concept art Dima Goryanov recently posted, the Seraph bunkers were built to communicate with and interpret for Rasputin, continuing the fascinating idea from the Warmind DLC that even Rasputin’s alleged builders had serious problems just talking to him. There’s a reason Rasputin prefers to communicate either non-verbally or by quoting existing human literature. The Seraph bunkers seem to have functioned as a kind of mission control for a local instance of Rasputin; the Seraphim Vault in the Cosmodrome may have served a similar purpose on a larger scale.
But then we have the Tatarstan loretab. Rasputin says that the Seraphs were “all things to me. Everything I required,” bolstering the idea that the Seraph organization functioned as local agents of the Warmind. Ana also says the khanjalis Rasputin gave Guardians originally belonged to the Seraphs, and there are a lot of those, so maybe every member of the organization had one. However Ana then says he built “planetary combat platforms” for “seven Seraphs.” “Planetary combat platforms” is an amazingly vague yet ominous description. Does that mean the bunkers? Some kind of local HQ? Giant mechs? And why “seven Seraphs” if Seraph is an organization? We don’t know, although I have a hunch we may find out more as the season goes on. Maybe there were seven specific directors or agents of Rasputin in different areas? Worth noting that on at least one occasion Rasputin refers to an Exo as a “platform.”
Felwinter, on the other hand, is a different but equally fascinating story. tl;dr my money is on Felwinter being either Clovis Bray Sr., Clovis Bray Jr., or Alton Bray. Here’s what we know about Felwinter thus far:
1. Unlike other Exos he didn’t remember his original name when revived, but he immediately knew what the Deep Stone Crypt was and that Exos underwent “crypt processing.”
2. His Ghost immediately told him to use a different name because “they’re coming for you.”
3. Sometime after waking up Felwinter discovered something dire about his own identity that he and his Ghost are desperate to keep secret. If discovered it would force him and his Ghost to flee “again.” It’s dire enough that he’s ready to kill Lord Timur when he thinks Timur’s found out his secret.
4. Before meeting Iron Lord Timur he roamed alone for a significant time through a territory around the Aral Sea. During that time he had “extensive one-way conversations” with an unknown entity suspected to be - but not confirmed as - Rasputin. Felwinter met Timur in the Mothyards, part of the Cosmodrome.
5. Felwinter has a ton of information on the Warmind that’s all new to the Iron Lords, who didn’t even know the name “Rasputin” until he told them. He knows where Warmind bunkers are, how to break into them, and the sort of goodies that might be inside. He recognizes the word Seraph but plays dumb when Timur asks him about it; on another occasion he describes one of the Warmind bunkers as “a Seraph bunker.”
6. Felwinter and his Ghost consider an escape plan that would let them avoid “the Warsat network” and any planet “with a Warmind presence.” He comments that they’ve gotten “very good at hiding.”
7. Felwinter is a master tactician, the only Warlord to hold “an entire mountain” before joining up with the Iron Lords. He’s pragmatic and unafraid to break the rules; he executes the Warlord Citan and multiple other Lightbearers known to have committed major crimes. That includes Iron Lord Dryden once the Drifter tells Felwinter that Dryden had gotten the town of Eaton killed by using them as bait. Felwinter describes these murders as “operational necessity,” which Saladin comments is a weirdly blank statement for an Exo.
8. Felwinter went with the SIVA expedition into the Cosmodrome because he believed he could speak to Rasputin, “tell it we meant no harm.” Obviously that didn’t pan out and he ultimately died in the SIVA replication chamber.
So Felwinter is connected to Rasputin. But is he connected directly to the Warmind or indirectly through Clovis Bray Corp? His Ghost being so adamant about him concealing his name makes me think he must be Clovis Bray himself, either Sr. or Jr., because "Clovis Bray” is the only name I can think of that would be in danger of being recognized during the Dark Ages. The Iron Lords didn’t even know Rasputin’s name until Felwinter told them, but they did know Clovis Bray Corporation from its many ruined Earth facilities.
On the other hand, maybe his Ghost wasn’t worried about humans recognizing his name. If the “planetary combat platforms” Rasputin built were heavily-customized Exo bodies, then Felwinter could be one of those seven Seraphs, and if Rasputin discovered he were alive again the Warmind would probably want him back. That would also explain why they’re so determined to avoid the warsat network and the Warmind’s presence in general. On the other other hand, not every warsat belongs to Rasputin. The ones drifting around the CB facility in Uranus orbit definitely don’t answer to him until he takes them over. While Felwinter is a great Iron Lord, his Exo body doesn’t seem to be any tougher or more dangerous than others - hardly deserving of the term “planetary combat platform.” Plus Felwinter used to hang out in the Mothyards in the Cosmodrome. If he were hiding from Rasputin, why would he have been chilling on Rasputin’s doorstep?
Here’s my hunch: we don’t know what happened to Clovis Bray Sr., but we know he didn’t plan to die if he could help it. If he’s still around in some form, and if Felwinter is Clovis Bray Jr., he might be hiding from his scary lich dad rather than the Warmind proper. As a major player at CB Corp he would know a lot about the Seraph organization and Warmind facilities already. He might know he’s hiding from his dad, or have his dad and Rasputin confused, or Rasputin himself might bear Clovis Bray a grudge he’d be happy to take out on his son (but again, why leave him alone in the Cosmodrome?)
And one last tidbit that might not mean anything, but then again might: the pull quote on Winter’s Guile is “I know you.” In Ghost Fragment: Rasputin 4, someone assumed to be Cosmodrome-Rasputin speaks to someone assumed to be Elsie Bray/the Exo Stranger, and one of the first things he says is, “It’s like my cousin said, elsewhere: I know who you are.” Did Felwinter recognize Rasputin? Did Rasputin call him “cousin”? Would he use that word for a Seraph - or for a member of the Bray family?
Either way I have a major suspicion that we’re not done with Felwinter’s story this season. Exciting stuff.
