Hiya B.Net! Wanted to follow up on this and reformat (written for another website, it might look silly here) for a while, but never got the time. Basically, the Books of Sorrow from TTK's Grimoire define some [i]super[/i] overt references with pockets of the Marathon series (an earlier Bungie series, the thing that made me love them). I wanted to do a full breakdown of the entire game from a more thematic standpoint, but I doubt I'd be able to stop gushing in time for this to /ever/ get posted in that scenario. So instead, I'm just gonna post a compendium of some of the more overt references to Marathon. If you haven't experienced Marathon or need a refreshment, I've nudged in a quick word bank at the bottom of the post. There are gonna be some obvious spoilers thrown around here, so be warned! ~~~ Direct References- >XXXIII When do monsters have dreams vs Where are monsters in dreams Comparison: Titles, general text and writing [spoiler]Marathon Infinity's contains various "dream levels" as a result of the protagonist being translated across timelines through Jjaro tech. Where are monsters in dreams is one such level contains several terminals introducing us to much of the morbid, psychological background of the Security Officer (which I contend is more Mr. Security Officer heightening his awareness- rampancy anyone?). (Personally, I believe that coupled with Hangar 96, this represents the Security Officer coming to terms with the killing machine that he is; hence the question of where the real monsters are in this dream). BoS's reference has Mr. Oryx- as Ms. Aurash (most probably, at least)- going through his own personal torment based on his background (i.e. when the monster actually does dream). He’s running to the old orrery for his dad, but gets sandwiched by just about everything he ever knew or even trusted, and ends up having to kill everything. I’m not going to say that this is the first instance of Oryx coming to terms with himself (it seems Oryx has been infatuated with his quasi-Nietzsche^5-ism for quite some time), but it’d be pretty cool to see! Texturally, this thing hits all the right notes- creepy title, weird punctuation/capitalization, casual morbidness, suffering/murdering philosophy and psychoanalysis. Definitely a reference, and a near perfect emulation of the style of Infinity's writing! [/spoiler] >XXXI battle made waves vs W’rkncacnter Comparison: BoS- “I can see you in the sky. You are the waves, which are battles, and the battles are the waves.” Infinity- “In primordial space, timeless creatures made waves. These waves created us and the others. Waves were the battles, and the battles were waves.” [spoiler]I imagine that every person who went through Infinity and read BoS was also giggling like a schoolgirl after reading the title. This essentially ultra-confirms what most Marathon fans already knew: The Darkness is a direct reference to/the same as the W’rkncacnter- a species of unknowable horrors. Oryx almost /word for word/ copies the description the S’pht terminal makes in Marathon 2 of the W’rkncacnter (see pic related). Also, to dispel the silliness that the Deep isn’t the Darkness: Read XLIX! Darkness = Deep, courtesy of Mr. Oryx himself. [/spoiler] >L: Wormfood vs You’re Wormfood, Dude Comparison: Titles [spoiler]This is another one that should’ve made any Marathon fan start hopping. You’re Wormfood, Dude is the last of the failed timelines you’ll see in Infinity (well, if you’re playing it normally). Now, unless you wanna get metaphoric, there isn’t much to do with the title in Infinity’s level aside from pure resolution. However, it ends the chapter of Infinity titled “Rage” (see word bank). Only fitting that Mr. Oryx would echo it when talking of his ultimate defeat! But that’s not the best reference of this Grimoire card… [/spoiler] >Eat the path Comparison: BoS- “I will go on forever. I will understand everything. There is only one path and that is the path that you make. But you can make more than one path. // Break your cell’s bars. Make a new shape, make the shape from its path, find your cell’s bars, break out of the bars, find a shape, make the shape from its path, eat the light, eat the path.” Infinity- “There is only one path and that is the path that you take, but you can take more than one path. Cross over the cell bars, find a new maze, make the maze from its path, find the cell bars, cross over the bars, find a maze, make the maze from its path, eat the food, eat the path.” [spoiler] Of all the references, this is my favorite one. Eat the path is a fan favorite quote for anyone who paid attention to Marathon. Thoth, an ancient Jjaro AI, discusses the manufactured struggle of sentient life’s existence, and the “steps” required to “escape” it (if this reminds you of a certain AI or a certain King- good!). He tells the player about the goal of continuing existence, then the problems which normal existence brings to light, and stresses to do the unexpected. Oryx essentially echoes the same steps to go on forever, and understand everything. Only with a light based twist in place of food, and a presumably less tangible kinda take on mazes. I know I annoy some people by talking about epistemology here and there but Mr. Oryx outright brings that up himself at so many points in BoS. This verse and XLIX are so blatant about it. And then there’s the suffering/pain/negative experience philosophy everywhere… Gosh, there’s so much thematic material I’m bypassing; if I start typing that up I’ll kill /way/ too much time. [/spoiler] >XLIII End of failed timeline vs End of failed timeline Comparison: Title vs story element [spoiler] Obvious connections; Infinity had failed timelines in spades, Quria recognizes that it's about to be trashed. I remember a very interesting theory though, in that some believed that the alternate timelines of Infinity were actually not real and just what the Jjaro machine caused the SO to hallucinate- so he could finally go back to his original "real" timeline with the proper knowledge of what to do. I'm not sure if I'm particularly convinced of that, but it does set up an interesting parallel with Quria, who sends the simulated information to the "Greater Vex minds" right before it dies.[/spoiler] ~~~ Misc. >XX Hive vs Deimos [spoiler]Super crude connection that I found while combing it all over: the Hive mention that they "rode hollow moons from star to star." Well, in Marathon, the Marathon /itself/ was built out of a hollowed out moon of Mars (Deimos). On a completely unrelated note, if you haven't seen it yet, MIDA is taken directly from the Marathon universe! [/spoiler] >Calcified Fragment: Insight vs Aye Mak Sicur [spoiler]Shoutout to the lovely anon who posted this card on /dg/; I was exclusively combing through BoS on DestinyTracker and didn’t see this under the tag. Anyways, the connection here is a pretty big stretch, but still: Aye Mak Sicur was on Greg Kirkpatrick’s (Mr. Marathon writer sir) family crest, translating into “I’ll Make Sure.” This is the same as the Verse text for the Calcified Fragment! [/spoiler] ~~~ Marathon Word bank: [spoiler]W’rkncacnter: Universe’s ultimate power, Marathon’s final enemy; you're tasked with stopping their release. Think Darkness. Jjaro: Reality benders with dominion over the galaxy minus where the W'rkncacnter hunted them. Think kinda Traveler/Forerunners. S’pht: AI servants for the Jjaro who got the chance at autonomy once the Jjaro left. Thoth: Old Jjaro AI. Kinda loopy- but what Bungie AI /isn’t/? Rage: Second chapter of Marathon Infinity; analogous to the second stage of AI rampancy where AIs, well, rage. Rampancy: Marathon's concept of an AI gaining a more colorful mental background. Hangar 96: Room full of bodies discussed in Marathon’s dream levels. Possibly a reflection of the protagonist's mental state. Timeline ruffling: Not really a word, but when I reference that Infinity had failed timelines in spades, I mean that the plot took you through several failed timelines in an attempt to save the universe. [/spoiler] ~~~ Sorry that was so long, but I'm sure I missed even more Marathon references- and this isn't even touching Myth. Hope it made sense, for the people willing to deal with me! Tl;dr: Marathon connections abound, Oryx is a pretty cool guy, Cero multitasks poorly.