waaaaaait I've reread Hunhow's final message and it feels like he confirms that Wally wanted his memories in the first place and that's why their deal was done, and the whole plot was probably him forcing Hunhow into this deal
It perfectly aligns with The Murmur attacking the operator in the Dark Refractory during The Old Peace and as far as I can remember it was either mentioned or theorised back then that Wally craves more information about Tau so after failing his attempt in the Sanctum Anatomica he probably decided to find another way to get what he wants which is by coercing Hunhow into sacrificing his knowledge for his newfound family
which honestly explains SO MUCH about this quest lol
and makes me even more sad about Hunhow's dementia :(
I wasn't expecting Jade Shadows: Constellations to be a spiritual successor to Isleweaver, but it really is, down to:
* the experiment that the Indifference is running in Operator and Drifter
"Two identical souls raised in such different environments. Haven't you figured it out yet? You're fascinating."
* the theme that the Indifference particularly attacks the bonds between families.
The Orphan snarled up at her. "You can't bear it, can you? Anything good, anything wholesome, even the bond between a parent and child! You corrupt it all!"
[...]
"I don't corrupt their love. I don't have to. It was broken when I found it."
"STOP!"
The Queen took a deep, nostalgic drag on her Efervon inhaler. Lungs that were no longer lungs spasmed in austere delight. "The same crack runs through everything, kiddo," she explained. "You want to deny it, that's on you."
(Thoughts on JS:C below...)
JS:C blitzes through its exposition at the speed of light, so I think it really only makes sense with context from Isleweaver.
The Void has once again created a "two identical souls, different environment" situation by nurturing the unchosen son as a rival to the chosen son. This time, unlike with Drifter and Operator, the boys devolve into fighting again and again.
Why? Again, it seems like the Void has sought to corrupt the bonds of parent and child. There's evidently potent resentment between Sirius and Orion over who got chosen/unchosen, even though Stalker had no such thing in mind. And then there's Jade's Mockery, a void created (and underutilized boss fight) mimic of Jade who's probably how the Void stoked the flames of resentment in the first place. Hunhow cautions Stalker not to listen to its lies...but her sons, not knowing any better, might well have done so.
Therefore, I think, the Void is satisfied when Hunhow offers it something it's wanted from it's experiments: memories of a father's love for his children and the grave mistakes that Hunhow's made along the way. Unlike the manufactured conflict between Sirius and Orion which is easily soothed with cooking the right meal, Hunhow's conflicts with Natah and Erra came naturally. He made those mistakes on his own...and even if he'll never reconcile with Natah, not really, it's still clear nonetheless that he loves her deeply and is trying his best.
Not the worst set of memories for the Indifference to learn from.
This all might well be me engaging in a bit of eisegesis, borrowing from Isleweaver to shore up what I consider to be one of DE's weaker quests. DE is always sparse on the exposition, but this one was particularly bad. Hunhow alludes to a lot of stuff I'm not sure how he knows, and the ostensible main characters barely said anything at all.
After moving trough the quests at lightning speed these past two weeks, i am finally able to process what I actually just did so. Many thoughts = memes to cope.
Gotten very into warframe as of late (my operator and drifter very much ye). Wanted to redraw a pose Wally does during Chimera prologue, and ended up with this shitpost I spent a bit too much time on (featuring mini Wally!Operator as well) .
+ Wally on his own (feel free to use it if wanted hehe (just no money related things though unless discussed).
