Tammiel

A being who is compared to a god and seemingly the one behind the Demon Lords, if not the entirety of the Counterside and Qlipha. Powerful enough that her decision alone dictates whether the Qliphoth Game starts on a world and her mere presence in the area fills all with dread. Prior to EP. 10, for unknown reasons, acted as this world’s Mina’s sister and lay unresponsive for a long time, only to wake up upon Yubin killing Ray and inheriting the latter’s powers and title of the Demon Lord, Nehemoth.

## Profile

While much of the details of her true self are unknown (as of EP. 10), there are allusions to her having an intimate and deep history with the Administrator, even going so far as the Administrator outright stating he swore to kill her when they were in the ‘first world’. She seems to also share a long history with the overall conflict of the Counterside and Normalside (Hilde and Rosaria possessing knowledge of her, hinting at her repeated presence amongst their long lives in this war). From what can be pieced of her relationship with Yoo Mina, it seems overall friendly with both expressing fondness and care for each other (Mina’s working and living very poorly to pay for her expensive treatment and Tammiel’s response to seeing Mina in EP. 10), though Mina does mention she knows little of her ‘sister’ after finding the Pulse Revolver with Wolvesbane.

Unlike C.Os, she doesn’t seem to emit a Corruption Ray or even CRF like a Counter. Compared to some of the more notable of those from the Counterside, (as far as known interactions go) she seems to have a jovial attitude towards the entire scenario, happily greeting Mina after the Qliphoth Game’s end and seeming very cheery overall despite the prior scenes of her approach towards them eliciting fear, anxiety and dread across many if not all of those who were clashing with the Knights of Redemption, many of whom were high-grade Counters (Jake), war veterans (Maria, Maze Division) and even a Demogorgon (Lyudmila).

*(Note: Due to how Administrator immediately stopped her from laying a hand on Mina despite expressing ‘seemingly’ friendly intentions and her expressions and tone after, hint at her having had a darker intention and this ‘pleasantness’ is rooted in something much worse. This could also be interpreted as part of her character not liking her fun of a ‘sisterly reunion’, interrupted as Administrator reminded her of the rules of the Qliphoth Game that they both must abide by. Rules she created. This makes her reactions have a less nefarious origin, and more exposing her personality as the happy-go-lucky type, in this case getting their fun ruined. Considering the power she wields and known history, exercising on the cautious side would be advised.)*

Although the role she plays in the overarching story looks to be the main antagonist, she seems to take an off-hands approach, fine with letting the Demon Lords handle everything. Aside from the starting of the Qliphoth Game, she seems to also be the one who congratulates the winner as she did with Na Yubin, likely how Ray may have met her as well. Considering her position and role similarity, one could allude her to being an Administrator or rather, ‘Boss’ of the Demon Lords. However considering most beings that work for him generally think positively of him (despite vast amounts of eccentricities, on both sides), the Demon Lords think more negatively of her, more like a dog chained to their fates and in Ray’s case, possibly even fearing her (could be implied from how he persistently answers Mina’s queries of who’s in charge with, ‘You don’t want to know’).

## Design

   Tammiel in her earliest appearance in official media (LIFE BEGINS AS GONE-PV), wears a simple pale white dress with a long red ribbon necktie, above a white collar piece, white gloves and a white flower-designed accessory on the right side of her hair. Her facial features are obscured in this version aside from her long brown hair and she is seen wielding a sword that bears striking resemblance to Wolvesbane (if not, actually is Wolvesbane).

In her first actual appearance in game, the design she bears is very similar however more details have been added. Her facial features are revealed, and she bears a high resemblance to Mina (brown hair, purple eyes). Also she walks barefoot. Clothing-wise, her white dress has a few symmetrical black curved diamond shaped patterns underneath her bosom alongside a more curved design at the top, a small window included in the middle. There also seems to be transparent/translucent layers of cloth added, overlaying on top of her dress from her mid-section down. Her gloves are changed compared to her original image, cutting down the wrist section to just above her knuckles, exposing the back of her hands. A white armband was added to her right shoulder and her hair accessory has been moved to the left side of her head. The hair accessory has also seen changes, going from the single plain white flower design to a sharper design of multiple vague flower-shapes attached to two long white strips of cloth that hang down. A very notable overall addition is the inclusion of a strange symbol consisting of a single point from which three curved and stretched diamond shapes originate, forming a pseudo triangular shape. This symbol is repeated in multiple places of her design (in between the black diamond shapes under her chest, on the armband and added atop her necktie with three small dangling metal cylinders unique to the necktie version).

## History

Her first acknowledgement in-game can be pointed to the First Qliphoth Game of this world i.e. Administration Failure.

In prior worlds where upon failure to win the Qliphoth Game, Administrator would perform a World Jump in hopes that he could better prepare the next world and a better chance at winning. The Administration Failure was a Qliphoth Game occurrence that under normal circumstances would have ended with this world’s collapse and addition to the Counterside, and Administrator jumping to the next world. During the Administration Failure, Hive Control referred to a ‘the true master of this world’ and ‘the almighty’ about to emerge, very likely Tammiel’s appearance about to occur in Normalside, possibly a win condition for the Demon Lords.

However, in this world something different happens that the Administrator notices. Tammiel was wounded by an unknown entity (a seemingly known female to both Administrator and Hilde). This action seems to inspire him to bet everything on this world and enact Protocol CoT-13, using the Arks, ships designed for World Jumping, as seals to cut off the Demon Lords from the Qlipha Dimension, thereby robbing them of their power and putting them to sleep. This is done alongside orchestrating a plan for this world’s Mina while blocking Hilde’s memories and full power (Freyja Protocol) due to if he didn’t, she would make dealing with things ‘too easy’ and not give Mina the chance to grow.

It is unknown what exactly happened during the 20-year gap between Administration Failure and EP. 1 but in that time, (somehow) Yoo Mina was born and lived with Tammiel as her older sister, seemingly having ‘lost contact’ with her family long ago. Tammiel was supposedly not trying much to hide her presence, as she went to Mina’s school on career counselling day and was noticed by one of Mina’s peers, who described her as “really pretty”.  During/after Mina’s awakening that ended up destroying the school she went to and a nearby town, Tammiel fell into a vegetative state ‘due to corruption ray exposure’, leaving behind to Mina ‘her’ Pulse Revolver that houses Wolvesbane. Despite obfuscation of Yoo Mina’s birth and actual relation to Tammiel, it must be noted that the day when Mina had her awakening, she made Mina wear ‘her’ watch. A Counter watch unknown to Mina, that allowed for her Counter awakening to occur. This in retrospect, alongside leaving the Pulse Revolver with Wolvesbane to Mina definitely points to Tammiel planning, if not, outright working towards making Mina walk the path of Fenrir, The Wolf. This is seemingly counter-intuitive to her plan as she’s raising her own enemy but also raises questions about the other worlds’ Minas and how were they connected too, if they even were, to Tammiel.

Tammiel mostly appears in mentions during the early episodes in the Replacer Saga, still keeping her façade as Mina’s sister, and briefly made her first appearance in EP. 2 covered in a white sheet that obscured all features, when Mina visits the hospital she’s in (located in Old Seoul, South Korea) for an update on her condition only to be greeted with the fact that nothing’s changed except her tissue mutation rate has been increasing, warranting a higher purified Eternium dose for treatment ergo, the treatment will be getting more expensive.

*(Note: In hindsight, considering she’s a being beyond the Demon Lords, corruption syndrome would seem impossible to get, and if acquirable, extremely unlikely to impede or affect her in any way. Since she has been shown to be able to communicate outside her body as she did in EP. 8, granting Ray’s request for the Qliphoth Game to start, brings up the possibility of her having some kind of astral projection/soul wandering ability and that this whole immobile state was a ploy so she could go and do her work while her body lay immobile and the humans around her diagnosed her with a vegetative state caused by ‘corruption syndrome’, accounting for her not moving her physical body and giving herself an alibi. Since Administrator has showcased a similar ability of traversing a kind of spiritual realm in EP. 7 when he met Shiyoon’s soul after death, and their similarities, it’s not entirely out of the question. Though this still doesn’t answer anything about her supposed ‘corruption syndrome’ if it really was even that but more how she could afford to be under its effects while still not hindering herself. The answer of what it was and if it had any real effect on her is still unknown.)*

Tammiel’s first appearance by name (although off-screen) in the story would be at the end of EP. 8, during which in some isolated space (presumably Nehemoth’s Qlipha), Ray and the other Knights discuss plans going forward before he approaches a giant glowing red circle of runes floating in mid-air and asks it for permission to start the Qliphoth Game. A response is given, the game writing the speaker as Tammiel, and she gives the go-ahead for this new game to start.

#### The grand reveal

Tammiel’s first proper physical appearance into the story is at the end of EP. 10, waking up in the hospital and immediately walking without any difficulty, scaring the medical staff to report her to the higher ups but when brought to site, be greeted with nothing as she seemingly teleports to where the Qliphoth Game has ended to greet the victor.

Reaching the battlefield where Delta-7 and other allies were fighting the army of the Knight of Redemption, proceeds to fill everyone (even C.Os) with extreme levels of unease, enough so where many judge engagement with her would be undeniable futile, as she strolls through, happily humming before finally reaching the site of humanity’s victory. She happily greets Na Yubin and Mina, the former seemingly having expected this and the latter visibly shocked and extremely confused.

As she brushes aside Mina’s doubts and tries to approach her, Administrator stops her and reminds her of the rules they both work by for the Qliphoth Game and states he didn’t interfere with anything. She verifies and acknowledges his (and by extension, this world’s) victory, commending his perseverance, before stating she’ll let him go ‘this time’, telling Administrator that until they meet again to ‘try your best’ before departing to an unknown place as Lyudmila arrives.

*(Note: Lyudmila's reaction to Tammiel’s appearance on the battlefield, rushing to Administrator and the dialogue she has after with him, points to her having knowledge of Tammiel, most likely by Administrator himself. Though this does bring up how many members of the Old Administration knew of her. Considering Administrator’s explanations in End of Maze to Lee Sooyeon, most likely few and in Lyudmila’s case, she probably only learned of her existence after End of Maze.)*
Considering there will be a meeting again eventually, and with the end of the Qliphoth Game on this world, Season 3 may bring with it another game this world must face, and Administrator must ‘try his best’ to play.

## Discrepancies with her creation’s design

The Qliphoth Game is apparently designed by Tammiel, also creating its rules that she and Administrator must abide by. While the ‘Game’ part of its naming belittles the devastating magnitude of what it brings, this cycle has repeated seemingly countless times (eg: Ray’s world had a Mina and Hilde was present with a group called Fenrir Mercenaries, of which Mina died fighting the C.Os and Hilde retreated with her group upon realizing that world was a lost cause. A world where Administrator established an academy with himself as the principle in hopes of training students into warriors who could fight against the Counterside, had a Mina who was Student President, who got captured by the C.Os deep within the Counterside and upon mounting a rescue operation, found her ‘too late’ and the world went to ruin).

While these examples list the Mina of that world’s death signalling fighting as a lost cause (if one knows the truth about Demon Lords and Antagonists, that reasoning is the only sound idea of victory), there is some oddities in comparison to the current world’s route.

The first Qliphoth Game (Administration Failure) occurred around 20 years ago. In the known prior examples, a Mina existed on each world when the Qliphoth Game occurred, yet in this world, 20 years ago she didn’t even exist. Considering Ray requested Tammiel for permission to start the Game in the present, would imply there are conditions to be met before it can start. Presumably one of these would have to be the Wolf existence for a world to have a chance of even getting this best outcome but no such thing happened for Administration Failure.

In the Epilogue of EP. 8, the Knights of Redemption go through a ritual of sorts, recounting Yoo Mina’s achievements in this world (Meeting Hilde, Seeing Shin Narae i.e. Replacer Bishop die/sacrifice herself, Defeating Dominic King Reginald i.e. Replacer King, and killing the Hollow God Khamimael) before Ray states, “Now, your seed has sprouted, and the time of harvest is at hand…In the name of Nehemoth, I request…to begin the Qliphoth Game”. The first section of his statement bears similarity to one made by Rosaria about Tammiel in EP. 10 (“The crops have ripened…and so must be the time to harvest”). This would suggest it to be a running theme with her or her view of the Qliphoth Game and worlds in general but still feel disconnected to Administration Failure. What constitutes exactly as ‘seed’ or ‘crop’? ‘Hers’ at that? What falls under the category of ‘sprouted’ or ‘ripened’? Considering the Old Administration had some of the most powerful troops on the planet at the time, if not history of the world (at the time), did that meet the definition of ‘ripened’? If so, but still failed, puts the definition even more into question. During the Knights recounting, they call Yoo Mina, ‘Your Wolf’, even more marring the exact details that Minas in general if not even Fenrir have to go against Tammiel if they’re supposedly from her in some way.

More likely than not, there are still many things unknown about the Qliphoth Game even with victory achieved against it, things unknown about why Administration Failure actually failed and most recently, the entity that wounded Tammiel (‘She hurt Tammiel’), giving Administrator renewed hope for this world.

## Trivia

* With her appearance in EP. 10, there is only one individual from the LIFE BEGINS AS GONE-PV who has not been revealed, named and all-round unknown (the brown-haired girl seen at 1:23, sitting on the chair in a scene that, minus the individual in question, can be acquired from the Shop in the item ‘Background: Counterside’. Originally available in the End of Maze event shop). This individual is possibly the one Hilde abandons Lee Sooyeon and Na Yubin to meet in Administration Failure, the outcome of which is possibly (alongside Protocol CoT-13) what averted the Qliphoth Game and saved this world from being Corrupted.
* The strange symbol she bears might have connections to the ‘first world’ or other unknowns (eg: Sephira). More likely than not, it alongside other additions of detail to her design, hint at what’s to come in Season 3.
* She is theoretically the earliest person to wear the red tie, a design motif that seems to be the dress code for Fenrir Squad. Hilde is the only employee to talk about the tie (SR and Awakened, both in her touch lines). Considering their history, there might be some weight to this design choice.
* Her red moon background as part of her original design-trait, seems to have been given to Asmodeus - Rosaria le Friede (Entry animation, passive animation and Ultimate).
* Possibly the earliest love interest the Administrator has had due to the timeline placing them in the ‘first world’. Despite her having some kind of ‘affection’ for him still, the present reality of it seems far from pleasant.

## References

1. ↑ Tammiel: You still haven't given up, my love. Administrator: I made a vow to you, in the first world... Administrator: That I would kill you [[Mainstream/EP. 10 The Qliphoth Game Part 2/4-8 Epilogue #1]]
2. ↑ Lyudmila: Yes. There is neither Corruption ray, nor CRF... Lyudmila: But something's coming. Something that shouldn't be here [[Mainstream/EP. 10 The Qliphoth Game Part 2/4-8 Epilogue #1]]
3. ↑ At 1:21. New version [1]. Original version prior to Bside full ownership of Counterside KR and new channel creation unable to find.
4. ↑ Hive Control: The true m-master of this world… is c-coming… Hive Control: Bow down… Bow down to the almighty!!! [[Substream/Old Administration/1-5 Sacrifice]]
5. ↑ Recordings: Her sister was really pretty.

Recordings: She came to school once on Mina's career counseling day.

Recordings: Wow, I always wondered who Mina took after, but her sister was on another level.

-[[Yoo Mina/Counter Case/Transcript#Case 2 [Appendix] Contact Testimony]]
6. ↑ Sound Beta: Official reports indicate that she was caught up in the acute Counterside Effect that occurred in the city.

Sound Beta: It was a big incident that devastated the nearby town, including a school where supplementary classes were being held at the time.

...

Sound Alpha: But... It doesn't seem like an incident that would occur inside a stabilized rebuilt city.

...

Sound Beta: I'd say the mastermind behind this incident really has a bad taste.

-[[Yoo Mina/Counter Case/Transcript#Case 3 [Record] Review Conference]]
7. ↑ Sound Beta: The subject's sister is currently hospitalized at a relief facility after being classified as a Corruption victim.

Sound Beta: She is currently under intensive care.

Sound Beta: According to her medical records, it'd be difficult to even maintain her current status.

Sound Beta: For this reason, most of the subject's income is being used for her sister's treatments.

Sound Alpha: So that's why her financial records showed a lot of medical expenses.

-[[Yoo Mina/Counter Case/Transcript#Case 3 [Record] Review Conference]]
8. ↑ Doctor: However the tissue mutation rate has been increasing... Doctor: So we'll be raising the purified Eternium dose to around 2% starting next week [[Mainstream/EP. 2 Replacer/1-1 Prologue]]