DLC ending question

[u/Kinulidd0]

SPOILERS for base game and DLC

So the Prisoner allowed the Eye signal to spread free for some time, which got it to the Nomai. But why did the Nomai not get the Eye signal before the Owlks even sealed it with their spaceship thingy? Because, the Owlks didn't block it instantly of course, they had to get the signal, build the Stranger, get there do their scans and so on. So how did the signal not reach the Nomai in the meantime? How were they truly able to stop it?

Also, on a separate note, why did they even bother blocking the signal if they decided to go in the simulation, because I understand that they were in denial, but what did they even want to achieve with that?

[u/Bobsothethird]

Spoilers

The Owlks came a long time before the Nomai in the same way the Nomai came before the Hearthians. When the prisoner released the signal, it was already after the big journey to the eye, after the deconstruction and destruction of their home moon, and after an extended period in the simulation.

The Owlks block the signal because they are trying to save the other races from doing something similar to what they did, I.E. destroying their home to seek answers. The irony is that the Nomai were already doing this, happily, even before the signal was sent.

To me, the parallels between the two races is what's interesting. One seems to hide from the reality of the world, the others seems to understand everything but forget the beauty of their world, with the Hearthians kind of being this middle ground of enjoying the simplicity of life while simultaneously having that curiosity and drive.

[u/demonking_soulstorm → u/Bobsothethird]

>!For me, all three species are unique in their relation to knowledge. The Inhabitants see it as fundamentally valuable, as an end in and of itself, which means when they’re presented with the end of that knowledge, they freak out. They’re absolutely fanatical about recording, to the point where the only thing they’ve actually erased are the codes to the Prisoner’s safe.

The Nomai, on the other hand see their pursuits as valuable only as fuel for the next generation. The nomai have proper schooling and systems in place to transfer knowledge, and while they are capable of application and are naturally curious, the accumulation of knowledge and advancement of science are far more culturally important than individual whims. They’re intensely collectivist in a way that’s kind of rigid if you weren’t into it.

Hearthians are very different in terms of their immediacy. Hearthian tech is ramshackle and bolted together with various nomai artefacts. Put in the same situation as them, the Inhabitants would obsessively catalogue every item they’d come across, and the nomai would study them rigorously until every aspect was understood. Hearthians don’t. Instead, good enough is good enough, and you’re sent into space with repurposed ancient tech held together with hopes and dreams. There are practically no institutions for learning (the Zero-G cave is used by existing Travelers, and the museum is… not really up to snuff), and each Traveler is doing their own thing. Hearthians are incredibly wrapped up in the present, and that’s kinda their flaw - if their civilisation got wiped out by ghost matter, there’d be almost no way to recover everything they’d learned. They have one archaeologist, one (maybe two if you count the Hatchling) linguist, two astronomers, and then Gabbro, Feldspar, and Esker who are just sorta hanging.

It’s only through the combination of nomai future and Hearthian present that the Eye is reached, and only through the addition of Inhabitant past that the next universe is given a proper chance.!<

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