This is a recurrent question, with good reason, as it’s central to our universe. I’ve never actually stopped to really break it down before but I’ll give it a shot now. (Edit: No, nothing is really 100% confirmed. However, reviewing all the evidence we [u]do[/u] have supports the conclusion that Rasputin never actually attacked the Traveler.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I’ll open with refuting the arguments in favor of Rasputin attacking the Traveler. [u]He had a plan.[/u] Nobody disputes this, the grimoire is pretty unequivocal about that. The protocol is called Loki Crown: http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-rasputin-5 (edit: more about this at the bottom, apparently some people claim this card is not just a plan but a log of actual events. Which it really isn't.) So the real question is did he actually need to carry it out. Most people who think he did generally cite 2 pieces of evidence. 1) Saber Green: (http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-old-russia) The caedometric antimatter weapon referenced in the Loki Crown protocol actually was launched so he definitely carried the plan out. 2) The Traveler is damaged on the bottom so it must have been shot by something on Earth. I’ll start with the second, as it’s IMO pretty silly. For one, the Traveler is a sphere and there no reason to believe it has a true top and bottom. This therefore proves nothing, if one side of something is damaged, and you can turn it, 100% of the time you would turn it so that side was not exposed. Segueing into the Saber Green thing, it’s not a ground-based weapon, it was an orbital platform of some kind, so even if Rasputin did attack the Traveler the main weapon wasn’t fired from the ground. How do I know Saber Green is an orbital platform and not a missile with an antimatter warhead that was being fired at the Traveler? Well, for one, Old Russia 3: ( http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-old-russia-3) very clearly states that the mission was to put the weapon in orbit. It also says that it was done “yesterday”, -and- it has [u]human[/u] pilots, so unless it’s a [i]really slow[/i] pre-emptive suicide mission, the launch did nothing but put the weapon in place [i]in case[/i] it was needed. So, in summary, Rasputin definitely had a plan and put the weapon into orbit. However, there’s nothing here to really support that it was ever actually used. ---------------------------------------------------------------- So then let’s talk evidence that it was [b]not[/b] ever actually used. 1) Rasputin’s own log of the collapse: http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-darkness http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-rasputin-3 Note that while the conditions mentioned in the Loki Crown protocol (Carrhae White, Skyshock, Yuga sundown, etc) are active, [b]there is no mention of Loki Crown anywhere[/b] before he shuts down. Yes, it was a secret protocol, but this is Rasputins’ own log, he’s not going to be hiding it from himself. 2) This is the smoking gun for me, in Rasputin’s own words: http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-mysteries [quote]I AM ALONE I survived alone. I cast off the shield and I shrugged my shoulders so that the billions fell off me down into the ash. They made me to be stronger than them and to learn and I learned well: IT is alone and IT is strong and IT won. Even over the gardener and she held power beyond me but the gardener did not shrug and make herself alone. IT always wins.[/quote] The gardener is generally accepted to be the Traveler, and here Rasputin explicitly states that she [b]did not[/b] abandon humanity like he did (shrugging shoulders). 3) The dreams of Alpha Lupi: http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-the-traveler-2 suggests that the Traveler had already decided to stay and fight. [quote]This has been such a long chase. This will be the place you will fight. Fight and win.[/quote] Why did she stay here? Well that’s open to plenty of speculation. It could very easily be a version of the old sci-fi or fantasy trope where only humanity had the inherent ability to wield light properly. Maybe it’s because we are the closest sentient species to the Black Garden. Or it could be that she tired of running and/or realized that spurring golden age’s was not enough to prepare civilizations for the coming of the darkness. Maybe it’s because of The Nine or The Amhamkara. No idea, but based on the dream of Alpha Lupi card, it’s not because Rasputin forced the issue, the decision had already been made. ------------------------------------------- Edit: So it seems a lot of people get hung up on Rasputin 5 and boldly claim it "proves" or "clearly shows" that Rasputin carried out the plan, so I need to explain it a little better. Honestly, I'm not sure how you could possibly miss or explain away the fact that the word "if" appears [u]seven[/u] times on that card, but it definitely does, I counted and everything. Presumably a number of you are students and may not be familiar with or particularly have never actually written a protocol (whether in code or otherwise), but I have so you'll have to take my word for this: Rasputin 5 is written pretty much exactly how a protocol looks when it is drafted, which is quite different than the way it looks when enacted by the end-user, where statements like "stand by for [i]X[/i]" are usually hidden and the wording changes from "[u]If[/u] security state is Egyptian" to "[u]Is[/u] security state Egyptian?" Just compare it to Rasputin 3 (both already linked above), which everyone can agree is a log of events that definitely happened. The word "if" appears exactly [u]zero[/u] times in R3. The header also states that R3 is an "[i]Immediate[/i] action order", something [i]actually[/i] being done, unlike R5, which is a "[i]Contingent[/i] action order", or something that [i]might[/i] be done if the contingencies are met.