Solanum

*This article contains spoilers!* Outer Wilds and Echoes of the Eye should be played with minimal spoilers, knowing too much will hinder the experience!
Please play the game before reading any of this! (Or don't, I'm not your dad.)

## Solanum

### Gender

Female

**Solanum** is a Nomai located on the Quantum Moon, and is the last Nomai in the Solar System.

## History

### Early life

Solanum grew up in the Sunless City on Ember Twin. As a child, she played the Anglerfish game with her friends Ilex, Laevi, Lami, and Taget. At that point, she was still small enough to climb through the hole at the Anglerfish Overlook to reach the fossil. In the Eye Shrine District, she wrote down that her father told her that many Nomai died when their clan entered the solar system to follow the signal from the Eye of the Universe. She wondered if perhaps the Eye wanted this to happen and that it was not something good.

Solanum went to school at the Hanging City on Brittle Hollow, where she wrote an essay on the formation of the universe. She noted that the universe keeps expanding and that at the end of the universe, all stars and life will die. However, Conoy reassured her that this would not happen in their lifetimes. As she got older, Solanum changed her mind about the Eye of the Universe potentially being malicious. In the Eye Shrine District of the Hanging City, she mentioned that the Eye might not have wishes at all, and that it might have called out to any sentient species. She even supposed that the Eye's signal has no great, deep meaning, which she thought might not be so bad.

### Quantum pilgrimage

Later on, Solanum started her Quantum pilgrimage to visit the Quantum Moon. She learned the first two quantum rules, going to Giant's Deep where she prepared at the Tower of Quantum Trials. After arriving at the Gravity Cannon on Brittle Hollow, Bells told her to meet them at the Tower of Quantum Knowledge to learn the final quantum rule. Here, Bells explained to Solanum the history of the Nomai and how visiting the Quantum Moon became their clan's united goal. Finally, Bells taught her the final quantum rule, the rule of the sixth location. To reach the sixth location of the Quantum Moon, the shrine on the moon had to be on its north pole.

Following this, Solanum set out with her shuttle to the Quantum Moon, landing on the moon's south pole. She planned to make the rest of her journey to the north pole on foot. A short time after this, Ghost Matter from the Interloper blanketed the solar system. This killed all Nomai, including Solanum on all versions of the Quantum Moon that orbit the other five locations in the solar system. She only remained alive on the Eye of the Universe's Quantum Moon, far enough away from the explosion of lethal matter.

## Interactions with the Player

Upon landing on the Quantum Moon, Solanum's corpse can be found at the south pole. Her spaceship has become quantum entangled with the moon, and blinks in and out of existence randomly. After going to the moon's north pole, it is possible to disembark from the Quantum Shrine as the moon orbits around its sixth location. At this point, the Protagonist is free to venture back to the south pole where they will encounter Solanum alive and standing serenely, as if waiting for their arrival.

Trying to interact with her prompts her to create some symbolic language stones, which will allow the Protagonist to have a rudimentary conversation with her about the Eye of the Universe, the Quantum Moon, and about each other. She says that she has many questions she cannot ask because she cannot understand the Hearthian language, but is happy that the Protagonist is able to understand hers. Solanum continues to gesture towards the symbol stones even after exploring all possible conversation options. The only other choice is to leave her. She doesn't seem perturbed by the Protagonist's departure.

## Quantum Entanglement

Solanum's arrival on the Quantum Moon has created an interesting temporal scenario. Given the curious quantum properties of the moon, at the moment the core of the Interloper ruptured, she was technically present at all of the moon's possible orbital locations at the same time. Thus, as the moon orbited the five planets within the immediate blast radius of the comet, she was killed along with the rest of her species. But in the sixth location, around the Eye of the Universe, and far from the reach of the comet's destruction, she was spared. As such, this is the only location in spacetime in which the player can find her still alive.

It is highly likely that, due to the inconsistent and uncertain laws of physics at this location, time has not passed at a conventional rate for her. This explains why she is still alive hundreds of thousands of years after the rest of her species has died. It is even possible that time ceases to exist in that space - it could be mere hours, or even minutes since she landed, from her perspective. And while her lack of surprise at meeting the Protagonist seems strange, she seems well-educated as to the unpredictability of the Quantum Moon, and therefore is likely prepared for any unexpected encounters she might have.

At some point in the conversations with her she correctly guesses that she might not be 'entirely alive', undoubtedly due to the fact that in five of the six possible realities in which she simultaneously exists, she is in fact dead. She does not elaborate further on this point.

## Finale

If the Protagonist has located Solanum during their run, they will find her during the finale after they have entered the wormhole on the Eye of the Universe. When gathering the rest of the Hearthian explorers, Solanum can be heard playing an instrument that sounds like a piano. She joins the rest of the group at a campfire and plays the main theme, conjuring endless possibilities from the smoke of the fire, which are observed and then collapsed by the Protagonist into a single reality.

## Dialogue

On the Quantum Moon, the Protagonist can carry on a conversation with Solanum in the Nomai language by using different combinations of language stones. During the Ending, they seem to be able to speak to her normally.

### Quantum Moon

* **Identify** and **You**
	+ “I am Solanum, a Nomai. My clan arrived in this star system before my birth, and we now call it home.”
* **Explain** and **You** (adds info to Ship's Log)
	+ “I am on my first pilgrimage to the Quantum Moon. All Nomai in my clan make this journey when we come of age. Even though the Eye cannot be reached from here, the Quantum Moon remains special to us, as it carries us nearer to the Eye than any other place we know. I’ve journeyed here to be close to the Eye. While the Eye is obscured from our sight, we can see the Quantum Moon’s reflection of the Eye in the sky above us.”
* **Identify** and **Quantum Moon** (adds info to Ship's Log)
	+ “This is the Quantum Moon, where we both are standing. Despite also orbiting other celestial bodies, the Quantum Moon is the Eye of the Universe’s moon.”
* **Explain** and **Quantum Moon** (adds info to Ship's Log)
	+ “Have you encountered a quantum shard on another planet? The shards look the same as the quantum moon’s surface does now, while at the eye. From this, we can reasonably infer the Quantum Moon’s natural state is as we see it now, and that the Eye is its primary location. Given the Quantum Moon is the Eye’s moon, it’s likely that any characteristics the moon exhibits are also exhibited by the Eye itself. The Quantum Moon and its shards, for instance, are quantum, thus, the Eye is likely also quantum. In fact, this moon is probably quantum because its proximity to the Eye made it quantum, the same way the areas surrounding quantum shards that landed on other planets eventually became quantum, too.”
* **Identify** and **Eye of the Universe**
	+ “We are orbiting the Eye of the Universe now, although we cannot see it (only the Quantum Moon’s reflection of it). The Eye is older than the universe itself, and my clan believes it dwells in an extremely distant orbit around this star system.”
* **Explain** and **Eye of the Universe** (adds info to Ship's Log)
	+ “There is fundamental uncertainty throughout the universe. Normally, this uncertainty is only observable on a very small scale. As one approaches the Eye, however, that uncertainty grows *enormously.* The Quantum Moon probably exhibits macroscopic quantum behavior because of its proximity to the Eye. Shards that broke off from the Quantum Moon have a similar effect, as I imagine you’ve seen elsewhere in this star system. Conscious observation forces a quantum object to collapse to a single possibility. But what would happen if a conscious observer somehow entered the Eye itself? Over time, this has become my clan’s greatest question.”
* **You** and **Eye of the Universe** (adds info to Ship's Log)
	+ “Many in my clan have believed the Eye called to us for a particular purpose. When I was a child, I used to believe the Eye was malevolent, to have lured my clan to this star system only to then vanish from them so completely. But I don’t fear the Eye, anymore. In fact, it became my fondest hope to see the Eye itself, someday, but I fear this may be beyond my reach. You may think I’m strange, but I have a hypothesis that I may not be entirely alive. Perhaps my journey has reached its end.”
* **You** and **Quantum Moon**
	+ "Like many of my clan before me, I journeyed here to see the Quantum Moon's reflection of the Eye. This is the closest any of us have come to seeing the Eye itself. You may think I'm strange, but I have a hypothesis that I may not be entirely alive. Perhaps my journey has reached its end. "
* **You** and **Me**
	+ “We do not have much connection, you and I. Still, this encounter feels special. I hope you won’t mind if I think of you as a friend.”
* **Identify** and **Me**
	+ “I’ve never met one of your kind before. It’s an honor to speak with you! I particularly admire your four eyes. There are many questions I would ask, if I could comprehend your language. You have my gratitude for understanding mine.”
* **Explain** and **Me**
	+ “I imagine your purpose here is the same as mine: to learn about and to find the Eye of the Universe. I’m unsure how you arrived here, however. Perhaps you came from another star system, as my clan originally did?”
* **Me** and **Eye of the Universe**
	+ “Suppose you could reach the Eye of the Universe: would you try to enter it? What do you imagine the effects of a conscious observer might be?”
* **Me** and **Quantum Moon**
	+ “Is this your first time on the Quantum Moon? It’s my first time here. If you’ve come here looking for answers, I hope you find them.”
* **Quantum Moon** and **Eye of the Universe**
	+ “I imagine you’ve noticed the Quantum Moon changes in appearance depending on which location it is currently orbiting (for instance, the moon looks quite different when orbiting Giant’s Deep than it does when orbiting the Hourglass Twins). Because the Quantum Moon clearly changes in its different forms, the Eye (being this moon’s primary location) must be similarly malleable. From this, we can hypothesize that *the Eye represents extreme changeability.* That said, despite its malleable nature, the Quantum Moon becomes locked to one specific version of itself when it is consciously observed. But what would happen if a conscious observer were to enter the *Eye?*”
* **Identify** and **Explain**
	+ “These are the two tenets of Nomai philosophy; to seek out and to understand is our way of living.”

### Ending

**Before finding all astronauts**

* "Hypothesis: Everyone must be here before we can begin. Once they arrive, I think we'll be ready for the next step. I'm glad you remembered me"

**After finding all astronauts**

* “A conscious observer has entered the Eye. I wonder what happens now. Is it time to find out?”
	+ >Yes.
		- “This song is new to me, but I am honored to be a part of it.”
	+ >Not yet.
		- “Then I will wait until you are ready to know the answer.”

**After Campfire Song**

* “I believe we’ve reached the end of our journey. All that remains is to collapse the innumerable possibilities before us. Are you ready to learn what comes next?”
	+ >Yes.
		- “I admire your curiosity, friend. Let’s find out together.”
	+ >Not yet,
		- “It’s tempting to linger in this moment, while every possibility still exists. But unless they are collapsed by an observer, they will never be more than possibilities.”

## Trivia

* *Solanum* is a genus within the nightshade family containing potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant. It is most often called the "Bittersweet Nightshade."
* It is possible to use the signalscope to identify Solanum at the Eye of the Universe.

## References

1. ↑ Spaceship's Computer: A Nomai named Solanum was told to visit the Tower of Quantum Knowledge (on Brittle Hollow's equator) to learn one final rule before embarking on her pilgrimage to the Quantum Moon. A Nomai named Solanum landed her shuttle at the Quantum Moon's south pole and prepared to make the rest of the journey on foot. Solanum has a hypothesis that she may not be entirely alive.
2. ↑ SOLANUM: I no longer believe, as I did as a child on Ember Twin, that the Eye of the universe (the source of the signal) wishes to harm us. But it may not want to be found, either.
3. ↑ TAGET: Are we playing the fossil fish game tonight? SOLANUM: I fed the fossil fish a new lantern. If you go to the Stepping Stone Cave, the entrance to the Fossil Fish Cave is easy to see now.
4. ↑ LAEVI: Gratitude, Solanum! It’s good you’re small enough to climb in through the hole at the Anglerfish Overlook.
5. ↑ SOLANUM: I don’t know why everyone says the Eye is important. SOLANUM: They say it brought us to this solar system, but is that good? Dad told me lots of Nomai died when our clan came here.
6. ↑ SOLANUM: What if the Eye wanted that to happen? SOLANUM: What if the Eye isn’t something good?
7. ↑ SOLANUM: Formation Of This Universe
8. ↑ SOLANUM: This universe will keep getting colder and larger, until one day, the stars and the life they support will all die.
9. ↑ SOLANUM: That’s scary to think about, even though Conoy tells me it won’t happen in our lifetimes. But it’ll happen in someone else’s, someday!
10. ↑ SOLANUM: I no longer believe, as I did as a child on Ember Twin, that the Eye of the universe (the source of the signal) wishes to harm us. But it may not want to be found, either.
11. ↑ SOLANUM: In fact, the Eye may not have wishes at all. We have no evidence supporting this. SOLANUM: The terrible circumstances of our arrival here were almost certainly exactly that: circumstance. SOLANUM: I suspect imagining we are special to the Eye in some way is wishful thinking. The Eye might have called out to any sentient species.
12. ↑ SOLANUM: Or it might not have been calling out at all, and that my ancestors heard the Eye’s signal holds no great, deep meaning. SOLANUM: This wouldn’t be so bad, I think.
13. ↑ BELLS: Welcome, Solanum! Your arrival here means you’ve completed your preparations on Giant’s Deep and are ready to depart for the Quantum Moon.
14. ↑ SOLANUM: I’m at the shuttle! I’m ready to make my first pilgrimage to the Quantum Moon. BELLS: That’s exciting! You’re almost ready, but there’s still one more rule you need to learn. Come see me at the Tower of Quantum Knowledge.
15. ↑ BELLS: These Nomai looked upward from two different planets and saw the same wandering moon visiting their skies. It was this moon (the Quantum Moon) that kept their curiosity alive during this long period of hardship. BELLS: After the two divided groups were able to reunite, it became our clan’s united goal to find and visit the Quantum Moon. This took time, and many Nomai who dreamed of seeing the Quantum Moon died before we discovered how to make the journey.
16. ↑ BELLS: You’ll be aided in your pilgrimage by the shrine our clan built on the Quantum Moon. But remember this final rule: To explore the sixth location, the shrine must be on the moon’s north pole.
17. ↑ SOLANUM: I am here! After watching it wander the skies for so long, I am about to stand (for the first time) on the Quantum Moon.
18. ↑ SOLANUM: As expected, my shuttle has landed at the moon’s south pole. I will make the remainder of my journey on foot.
19. ↑ Solanum: It’s tempting to linger in this moment, while every possibility still exists. But unless they are collapsed by an observer, they will never be more than possibilities.