Retcons

A **retcon,** short for **retroactive continuity,** is a device used in works of fiction that contradicts a previously established event, individual, etc. through the means of a new piece of information. Simply expanding on the past is not a retcon!

The following is an incomplete list of retcons within Map Lore.

## Neo-Europe/Human Commonwealth

* Wolfgang Von Stuttgart's birth name: while it was never directly stated that Wolfgang von Stuttgart was born with that name, there was nothing to suggest otherwise. This was changed long after Wolfgang's death, when it was decided he was instead born as Jurgen Oberhauser, and subsequently changed his name when entering politics.
* Racist Wolfgang: less of a direct retcon and more of a reconsideration, Wolfgang's racist views were largely expanded on posthumously, retroactively making him more of a dick than he already was.
* The Fellowship of the Radiants: the very existence of the Fellowship is a retcon; there was nothing to suggest a secret society was meddling in the events of Map Lore. They were retroactively involved with Wolfgang's rise to power, the Slavic and later Republican movements of Neo-Europe (thereby contributing to the Third World War), the Scavravirus Pandemic (thus giving way for Tekin's rise to power) and several other events. The Fellowship's inclusion has drastically changed the perspective of several characters, particularly Wolfgang.
* Ekrim Tekin... dead? While there was always the possibility of Tekin returning, he was planned to be well and truly dead in 2237. This was changed relatively quickly, with a clone housing a duplicate of his mind revealed to have been continuing his work. Tekin was just too fun. I don't have attachment issues with this character. Honestly.
* Maud Rutte, granddaughter or great-granddaughter? Only a minor retcon, Maud Rutte was originally stated to be the grand daughter of Catherine Van Helsing. This was later changed to great-grand daughter.

## Realm/Atlantic Confederation

* There was initially no connection between Commissioner Josef Matsson and Emperor Wolfgang Von-Stuttgart, though due to them both growing up in Sheffield, they were later established to have known eachother while at school, being re-written as friends later still.
* Kaia Halverson was initially only discovered by an unnamed employee of Josef Matsson's First Commission, and he would not have known of her when they first met. However, with the introduction of his children, his eldest daughter, Karin, happened to work for the same university and in the same field, so it was instead retconned that Ms Halverson was recommended to Josef Matsson by Karin.
* Once considered Halverson's greatest failure, the Shan Crisis and resulting Saigon Articles have since been reframed as something she not only allowed, but assisted with, as to further distance her views from that of her predecessor.
* Much of the fighting with GUISS on the Russian Offensive of World War Three was retconned as both Nordica and GUISS gave conflicting accounts of their successes, with Nordica pushing for Moscow, and GUISS breaking through to Helsinki. Instead, neither side really moved at all in this period, resulting in a long and bloody stalemate, only broken by the conclusion of The Realm's other offensives.
* Annaliisa Lund is accredited with talking down Svend Anker from a nuclear retaliation to the 'people's wrath' attack. Originally, this was not the case, with Anker choosing to use the Seismic bombs of his own accord, given Lund wasn't created until the time of his suicide. This was rewritten to fit the characters of both, highlighting Anker's impulsiveness and Lund's more considered response.
* A significant number of Sanctorum Terror attacks on Realm States were retroactively created, to make the issue seem larger following it's conclusion.
* Indomalaya's first three Commissioners (Nazril Hakim, Lawrence Ata, Kezia Natsir) were all written retroactively, given the country was supposed to have run using the same political model as Nordica, but none of them were ever mentioned. As a result, many of the events unique to them were also retroactively created, such as the Nusantara hegemony, extrapolating from their only named Presidents being of Malay heritage, as well as the naming of New Honiara, on Đỏmerah, being done in honour of Ata.
* Lund's resignation was moved forwards a year, from 2179 to 2178, to better explain why she resigned shortly after Tekin came to power, as it was felt out of character for her to not do anything in response to Verraterin, and then immediately resign, which are actions more characteristic of her successor. This felt especially out of character given she was a survivor of abuse, something Tekin regularly indulged, and by all accounts, should hate him. By changing the year, she resigns shortly after Tekin takes power, by which point it would be too late to change her mind. Her birth year was also moved forwards a year to explain the change.
* Freya Ibsen's motivations were changed as a result of the Fellowship of the Radiants. Prior to this, she had no discernible motivation other than for her own power, especially following the death of Ekrim Tekin in 2237, by which point the explanation for her attitude towards him was a result of becoming overly accustomed to her new emotions. With the change, a quirk in the way her AI was trained would conflate Tekin with being deliberately inhumane, due to the many atrocities he was responsible for by 2198. And in conjunction with programming to not indulge inhumane acts, she would come to prioritise the extinction of Tekin above all else, including her own morality. This gives her a far more cogent motivation for her actions during the Schism, as due to her membership of the secret society, she would know somewhat of Tekin's plans to return, justifying her own actions in puppeting Jaan Minkenen, who, believing that period had ended, rolled back many policies that were deemed necessary to fight Tekin.
* Linkar Tayathein was initially set to die in 2283, though was postponed until 2287 as a way of explaining how Indomalaya and The Realm avoided the Domolaki's conquest, with the introduction of an agreement between him and former CEHN leader and Domolaki convert, Cassia Tsatsos.

## GUISS

AV
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