Breakdown of the Prometheus trailer

## **Analysis of the Prometheus trailer:**

**The new trailer for the Prometheus contains a large amount of symbolism and game lore with a large relation to the original Greek myth of Prometheus and the flame of Hephaestus. The latest trailer revolves around the Pale Knights. As we already know the Pale Knights motto is to protect the “spark” of humanity. This spark was never confirmed as the nuclear warheads but there are many forms of evidence that point towards this fire as the nuclear warhead that the Pale Knights currently have in their possession**

**The trailer starts off with a simple photo-frame of Prometheus (Ralph) in his Banneret wolf skin from in-game as seen in the picture. The young girl in the picture seems somewhat familiar. From the bobcat to the flower in her hair. Take note of the details of this photo frame as it will play a part as a symbol later on.**

**The second scene opens with what can be assumed is the young girl in the photo asking “Dad. What story are you going to read tonight?” The father gives a sharp reply “The story of a rebel.” Why was the word rebel here used instead of the word traitor? Some questions we can keep in mind when reading through. If you put this into context, the word rebel will coincide with the original story of Prometheus. The original tale of Prometheus starts from the trick at Mecone, a sacrificial meal marking the "settling of accounts" between mortals and immortals, Prometheus played a trick against Zeus. He placed two sacrificial offerings before the Olympian: a selection of beef hidden inside an ox's stomach (nourishment hidden inside a displeasing exterior), and the bull's bones wrapped completely in "glistening fat" (something inedible hidden inside a pleasing exterior). Zeus chose the latter, setting a precedent for future sacrifices. Henceforth, humans would keep that meat for themselves and burn the bones wrapped in fat as an offering to the gods. This angered Zeus, who hid fire from humans in retribution. In this version of the myth, the use of fire was already known to humans but withdrawn by Zeus. Prometheus, however, stole fire back in a giant fennel-stalk and restored it to humanity. This further enraged Zeus, who sent the first woman to live with humanity (Pandora, not explicitly mentioned). The woman, a "shy maiden", was fashioned by Hephaestus out of clay and Athena helped to adorn her properly. Hesiod writes, "From her is the race of women and female kind: of her is the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to their great trouble, no helpmeets in hateful poverty, but only in wealth" For his crimes, Prometheus is punished by Zeus who bound him with chains and sent an eagle to eat Prometheus' immortal liver every day, which then grew back every night. Years later, the Greek hero Heracles, with Zeus' permission, killed the eagle and freed Prometheus from this torment. This can be linked to the story of the rebel as Prometheus walked away from the gods who were just like him to bring fire to humans.**

**The second detail we can take note of here is the appearance of a gold statue. Upon closer inspection, the gold statue has a sash that resembles the one that can be found on Shrike on his normal skin. Why a golden statue? What is the significance? Evidence provided in the next section points towards Shrike as a leader of the Pale Knights.**

**Right in this frame we are able to see the logo of the pale knights on what seems to be a recreation of an ancient Greek temple with Shrike still as a gold statue standing in front of it. Over this scene, the narration states “The gods are seen as tyrants during dark times”  With the gold Shrike statue. With the familiar clenched fist is over the heart and at a salute position, it could possibly be a reference to the anime series Attack On Titan.**

**Let’s break down the narration made. This sentence can be broken up into 2 parts. Let’s take a look at the first part “The gods were seen as tyrants during dark times.” This suggests that Shrike was somewhat of a tyrannical when it came to his leadership. This can be attributed to his motive of attacking anyone else who held any form of a nuclear weapon. This action can be seen as tyrannical.**

**Moving on to the second phrase. “During the dark times,” this dark time can be referenced back to when humans had to live in the cold and darkness when Zeus was mad at Prometheus. In the context of the lore, this dark time most probably refers to the war in which all 3 organisations took part in.**

**The next scene is followed up by the familiar salute posture of a right hand that very much resembles that of the German salute from world war II. This salute may have been added to show the tyranny of the leader of the Pale Knight, a mirror to Adolf Hitler’s rule and fascism which led to the many horrific events from thereafter.**

**This scene transitions from the right-hand salute to the barrel of a tank. This can be taken as a form of symbolism for the war and how much fighting occurred between the organisations. This also represents the violent methods in which the Pale Knights used to protect the Spark of humanity.**

**Let’s break down the narration within this scene “and in their desert hearts the fierce ones he sent” This can be seen in direct relation to the war itself, the ruined city as the desert of a battlefield with nothing left but barren sand and the bodies of the fallen soldiers. “He” in this case refers to Shrike the leader of the Pale Knights. His fierce ones could be a reference to the technologically advanced soldiers he put into the battle to fulfil his goal. The next line “and mad disquietudes, and shadows idle” This line shows the amount of tension within the war battle. Shadows, in this case, can refer to the shadow of the soldiers ready for battle and on standby. It could also refer to the leaders of the different organisations where they stood by idly and watched their troops move into battle with their sacrifice.**

**This is followed by an overhead shot of the battlefield displaying all the troops that were in the war from normal soldiers to the other squad captains such as Prometheus from the rifle they carried and the pistol holder on the right side of their chest. As you can see technology such as tanks and fighter jets were available suggesting that this war happened somewhere in the near future. The narration in this scene reads: “Of unreal good, which levied mutual war, so ruining the lair wherein they raged.” In this case what unreal good stands for is the driving force of both sides for which they fight. One of which to protect the nuclear warheads and the other to defend themselves from the tyranny of the other. None of which can be seen as a reason to be fighting, none of them the “good guy”. This lair refers to the current map that is used for the game mode Olympian UFL. The missile silo holding the nuclear warhead. Their “rage” refers to their war which they fought leaving behind trails of blood and trauma to the soldiers who partook in the battle.**

**The next scene is a swing transition to the horizon of what can be assumed is a town with explosions through the entire city. The swing transition can be seen as a method of showing the cockpit view as the fighters pass the city.**

**The next scene is to show the aftermath of what happened after the war happened as we can see the derelict background buildings and infrastructure. The city is now a smoky background. The soldiers have held their guns down and walked away from the already finished battle and the number of soldiers has clearly decreased. The war can be seen as a violent one with the fires burning fogginess of the smoke hanging over the scene blurring out the soldier further behind.**

**After the next black screen, 3 figures stand with their backs facing each other showing polar opposites. One of which upon first glance of the sash from his default skin is Shrike. Behind him was what is assumed as Prometheus and Plague Doctor. The narration from this scene reads: One of the gods, Prometheus, betrayed his own kind. This scene is the point of betrayal in which Ralph our Prometheus leaves the Pale Knights to join the Cadaver Unit, the enemy of the Pale Knights. “and stole fire from the heavens, delivering it to humans who shivered in the night. Humans thus come into possession of fire.” This sentence has much for us to break down. Let's first take a look at the use of the word “Fire” as mentioned before the fire, in this case, refers to The Spark which is the nuclear warheads the Pale Knights are trying to protect. It would be highly likely that during one of the raids carried out by the Pale Knights Ralph was convinced by, Seiya Hirasaka, Plague doctor to join the Cadaver Unit and give up the pursuit of nuclear weaponry for the Pale Knights and work with the Cadaver Unit to stop them. The humans, in this case, were the lost souls from the war, those who had survived past this war with nowhere to go. Having nuclear weaponry gave these people a fighting spirit. Giving them a literal “a weapon that could be used in rebellion against the gods.” the gods being the Pale Knights. With the nuclear warhead, they would have what the Pale Knights have giving them a form of leverage.**

**The next scene is used to show the figurative separation between Ralph and the Pale Knights its also can be used to show the difference in the organisation strength and manpower, in which, the Pale Knights are ahead in both aspects. This separation of the heart could be due to the sudden awakening of the Pale Knights tyrannical ways and that Ralph wanted to put a stop to it. Which led to his betrayal and ultimately, his death.**

**The next scene shows Ralph/Prometheus reaching for a light. This light could be seen as hope and Ralph reaches from it a hope in which the Soldiers of the Cadaver unit have to fight the Plague knights. It is followed by other hands reaching out to the light too. This Light can also be taken as the light from the spark that lit the flame of human technology. However with hope comes the fall which is clearly shown in the next scene. The narration reads for this scene “But Prometheus was sentenced with the harshest punishment” This harshest punishment in the greek stories is the eternal torment of Prometheus organs being picked off by the birds that pass by. In the story of Hercules Prometheus was later freed by Hercules himself. The next line reads “ This is not ancient Greek mythology.” This line was meant to show Anemone that his punishment was reality and not part of the scene of the rebel he was. This is also taken as a form of subliminal messages to the player base watching the trailer.**

**The next scene shows Ralph's metal statue melting into a pool of flaming oil. Burn wounds are very painful; this imagery could be taken as the torment and pain he suffered while he was still alive with the Cadaver Unit. It may have been possible that Ralph was captured by the Plague Knights during one of the successful raids. Referencing another one of the game trailers released as the story behind Ralph’s resurrection as Prometheus. In that trailer, there was a scene where Ralph was seen wearing an Orange Jumpsuit which is the standard attire of inmates at present. This shows the captivity he was under. The scene from the Prometheus trailer showed that Ralph was melting in the pool while others of similar gear watched him die. This signifies how they had viewed him after his betrayal. The narration of this scene reads “But the future of humanity under the shadow.” The usage of the word future shows and supports the claim made in the earlier paragraph speaking of Ralph reaching for the light. He had brought some hope to the  Cadaver Unit giving them more of a reason to fight.**

**This scene shows a mushroom cloud in the distance with the photo frame from the start of the trailer in the corner. The glass on the photo frame is now smudged and covered in dust signifying the passage of time.  The mushroom clouds signify the explosion of a nuclear weapon possibly the nuclear warhead that the Cadaver Unit had in possession. Another evidence of the passage of time is the wood of the window frame which looks aged and covered in a layer of dust. The island in the distance has the possibility of being the map from the Isle of the dead game mode with reference to the mercenaries in the orange jumpsuit that is similar to the ones mentioned before. Even though the file contains Ralph’s cause of death, we can infer from one scene from the last Prometheus trailer. As seen in the image above, the skeleton of Ralph’s arm could be seen very clearly. According to the veterans of early nuclear bomb testing during the flash of the explosion, they were able to see their bones clearly. This may be of sign that Ralph had died either to the sheer impact of the explosion or the radiation poisoning that ensued afterwards. The narration in this scene reads “At the time of endless wars going on, the Prometheus fell” signifying the death of Ralph the person who brought hope to the Cadaver unit. With the betrayal ending up in his death, the cadaver unit may have suffered a huge loss however under the prowess of Plague Doctor, they revived Ralph as Prometheus, the titan that betrayed the Greek gods. In which he received eternal torture for his actions.**

**The next scene is followed by Anemone cleaning off the dirt that is on the old and worn out photo frame signifying she misses her father Ralph and still remembers what she did. Behind her is Shrike who still seems to be the leader of the Pale Knights. It can be seen from the narration of this scene in which we can tell that Anemone is unaware of her father's cause of death and that Shrike plans to keep that from her.**

**In which Shrike state’s that “I’m sorry your father died for the Pale Knights cause.” It would be possible that he is afraid that anemone would turn on him if the truth was told. If he were to admit to the death of her father, it would prove his tyrannical methods. However, other factors may be keeping him from telling anemone.**​​​​​​​

**In the next scene, Anemone walks towards the door that was once the entrance of the house she stayed in. With light shining through from behind the door. This could possibly be the hope that Prometheus was trying to reach before he was killed. This could also be an analogy to her moving on from her father's death and moving into the light of the future. This light may also represent the hope that Anemone has in the future and fight for the betterment of humanity. It would be highly possible to have a plotline where Anemone leaves the Pale Knights to avenge her father’s death. Whether this may happen who knows?**

**Following the last scene, the trailer ends with the title screen with the game logo. This is followed by an end credit scene of a very familiar hand with the same symbols from the start of the trailer. However, this time the hand is covered in bandages and the arm is covered in grime and dirt. According to the Daily weekly intel events,” The Cadaver Unit consists of soldiers who have died of severe injuries. Most of them suffer from serious amnesia and PTSD” This would apply to Ralph who was killed by the nuclear blast which is 100% fatal considering the distance he was from the blast. His resurrection may have caused a loss in his memory which may theoretically be a side effect of the resurrection process. Form the trailer titled “Cadaver unit” in which it is stated that as punishment for the theft of nuclear warheads and treason of state,” He was sentenced to the garden of earthly delights. According to the trailer the “Garden of earthly delights” was a secret Pale Knights base in which secret experiments were carried out on human lab rats. It is highly possible that Ralph had suffered through the torture of such experiments.**​​​​​​​

**The trailer ends off with a wholesome scene of Prometheus staring out of his daughter’s bedroom window and into the sea in an attempt to regain his memories.**

## **Concluding statements:**

**From this trailer, we have seen the development of Ralph/Prometheus as a character and his father figure to Anemone. This trailer has also brought about more information on the different organisations and what they fight for, what is behind the power of these organisations and how they go about their ways of capital punishment. With more trailers to come, hopefully we can piece together more of the lore.**