raid exotics and their connection to Tolands 3 queens. the three queens of toland are based irl from the Red Queen Hypothesis of evolution and extinction. first I will explore the three exotics from PoE, not a raid itself but a very important middle connection from our middle set of exotics. Lord of Wolves Queenbreakers' Bow Dreg's Promise if you look into these three cards as a whole the idea of political or social control emerges, each weapon shows a way to attain the top of a social pyramid. all of this makes sense for the fallen monarchy, and our political system. along with the red queen I know grim stuff eh but we still have those other four exotics from the raids Vex Mythoclast Necrochasm Touch of Malice Outbreak Prime having our social system in the middle of these four raids becomes important when you look at them from the red queen hypothesis so to keep you on track I will continue from the center out. both weapons from the middle out come from the hive. first the Necrochasm - I believe this represents your voice, if you read the card it hints at your anger turning your voice to a scream. next up would be the Touch of Malice - reading the card I see envy and jealousy as the blind squirming creatures, but the card also points to the battle between emotion and duty. I think it could boil down to the base reasons behind anger in an individual or race. *to sum up* the red queen hypothesis states that for a race to survive it must be contended against, this malice is our evolved way of testing ourselves over time against ourselves now that we are top predators we need a way to contend to improve our race as a whole. at the start of this battle against ourselves we only our voice with a touch of malice behind it, this manifests a battle of elevating levels to give our species fake wars to contend in to prove our strength. The last two exotics are both made by a machine/mind hybrid both are pretty straightforward The mythoclast points toward the simple idea of our self imposed war always set to repeat because of our ingrained need to fight each other over time the cycle keeps going just like the cards flavour text The Outbreak Prime is based on the idea of balance, the 1 + 1 = 0 is throw back to the theory of relativity just working in reverse, as in if the original action never happened the reaction would never occur. so our robot races give us time and balance. these 5 endgame activities are short two planets, mars and Jupiter. (mercury is the reward for trials, a battle of extinction in its own right) based on the red queen these are easy to see coming. the mars raid is a enemy you have prepared for from your past experience, (cabal) the Jupiter event would be something you have not encountered yet and will need to adapt to win against or flee from. so to list the weapons and the meanings behind them based off of the Red Queen theory. Vex Mythoclast - the arms race ever improving as wars are fought over time Necrochasm - our challenge to those we don't trust Lord of Wolves - power to rule, reason to rule Queenbreakers' Bow - removal of those in your path Dreg's Promise - a base of followers to support you Touch of Malice - our base mistrust compelling us to clash Outbreak Prime - the balance between two forces clashing over time