RECKONING cinematic

RECKONING cinematic

The **RECKONING** cinematic was released on January 8th, 2024, just before the start of Episode 8. It was made by Lightfarm Studios.

## Synopsis

RECKONING shows VALORANT Protocol's mission to the Headquarters of The Scions of Hourglass to uncover the secrets of Omen's past. With Sova, Cypher and Iso's help, Omen finally faces his old boss to get answers about his past.

## Plot

The team's mission begins in Casablanca, Morocco. We see a team of four surveiling an area when they realize one of their surveillance devices have gone haywire. The team grows cautious as they hear a suspicious noise just outside of their door. As one of them exits the room with a Bucky in hand, he sees that a guard posted up outside has been knocked unconscious. Lifting his gun up, he begins to scout the place, unaware of Cypher's camera watching him. As he walks further from the shack, he triggers one of Cypher's Tripwires, enabling Cypher to kill him swiftly. Then, from a distance, Cypher enables his Neural Theft ability, which helps him see and kill two more guards from outside the shack. Following his scurrying footsteps, Cypher finally makes his entrance, greeting the remaining surveillance personell. From inside the shadows, Iso appears, demanding that the guy tells them where to find his boss.

After getting the necessary intel, Omen, Sova, and Cypher arrive at Jakarta, Indonesia. We see Sova's drone scouting the area of the building they are to infiltrate. As Sova questions the whereabout of their target, Cypher is seen surveiling the building with his monitors from a distance. After getting the intel that their target has scurried up to the penthouse, Sova shoots a Recon Bolt, revealing the location of multiple guards inside of the building. Right after this reconaissance, we see gunfight taking place in multiple floors of the building. The source of this mayhem is revealed to be Omen, and when asked by a defeated guard what he wants from them, Omen replies "Answers."

Using his Radiance and agility, Omen swiftly takes out multiple guards in his way, and takes the elevator up to the penthouse. Inside the penthouse, we see the Head of The Scions of Hourglass, Omen and Iso's former boss, waiting for Omen's approach with two guards by his side. Omen uses his Paranoia ability before getting out of the elevator, effectively taking the guards by surprise. Taking advantage of this, Omen takes down the guards, and soon approaches his former boss, immobilizing him in a chokehold.

"Nice to see you again," Omen's former boss replies before Omen throws him onto the table with rage. "Tell me about Shrouded Step," Omen demands, but his former boss stays calm, and manages to immobilize Omen by the press of a button hidden in a zippo lighter. As Omen visibly suffers inside this machine immobilizing him, we see images flashing by, of memories from Omen's past. We see Dr. S. Callas, also known as Viper, working inside a lab while Omen stands behind her, holding a knife in hand. Cypher soon after informs Sova that something isn't right, and that he's "Getting interference." With the knowledge that Omen might be in trouble, Sova heads to a different position with an Operator in hand. Meanwhile inside the penthouse, Omen's former boss starts explaining "Shrouded Step" to Omen: telling him how it was a simple directive to kill, and he was trusted to murder Viper in order to keep the discovery of Radianite hidden from the world. Omen's former boss reveals that they were surprised to find out that Omen had joined the VALORANT Protocol. As his former boss increases the machine's power, the toll on Omen becomes greater. "Tell me, Omen," he says while Omen screams in pain. "What hurts more: being ripped apart by this machine, or knowing your greatest failure now holds your leash?" With his daunting question, we find out that the reason why Omen turned into his ghostly self was because of Viper.

Outside, Sova is seen rushing to a new position as Cypher tries to shut the machine down. Just as they're running out of time, Sova activates his Hunter's Fury ability, effectively breaking the machine above Omen. No longer under the control of the machine, Omen swiftly tackles his boss, and pushes him out of the windows of the penthouse. As they're falling together from the skyscraper, Omen's former boss calls him a "fool". Before they can hit the ground, Omen teleports back to the Penthouse, looking at his former boss as he keeps falling from the skyscraper.

As he watches this sight, we see that Omen is silent. He snaps out of his trance when Sova calls for his friends through the comms, informing that it's time for departure. After Omen arrives at VLTR, Iso asks him whether he got what he came for. "For now," he replies curtly. "Viper wants a full report," Sova tells Omen as he boards the VLTR, to which the latter replies: "I will deliver it... personally."

## Lore

### The Scions of Hourglass

The Scions of Hourglass are a multinational organization that are known to employ assassins. The first time we learned about this organization was with Iso's Agent Trailer. The first directive Iso had was to kill all Kingdom Personell who were related to the Project Landfall. After he accomplishes this task successfully, Iso receives a directive to assassinate Omen. Iso joins VALORANT Protocol under false pretense, then changes his mind about killing Omen, revealing The Scions of Hourglass' plan to assassinate him to the protocol. The ultimate motive of this organization is currently unknown, but they are known to have discovered Radianite before most organizations in the world.

### A Familiar Face

In the section of the cinematic that takes place in Morocco, we see a familiar face: the guy who Iso and Cypher demands answers from is the same as the person from the REVELATION cinematic who follows Ω-Fade in a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey. While the guy in the RECKONING cinematic is known to work for The Scions of Hourglass, the details about his Omega counterpart remain a mystery.

### Scars of The Past

With this cinematic, it was revealed that Omen was an assassin sent out to assassinate Viper. Omen fails at this task when Viper immobilizes him with her poison and traps him inside a machine. Through the flashback sequences in the cinematic, we learn that Omen turned into his ghostly self because of Viper, and that the three blue lines on his face are caused by the chemical burns inflicted by Viper's special poison, the Snake Bite. With this revelation, we can see that Viper's attempts at stopping Omen from learning about his past had a self-serving purpose. Now that the truth is out, though, the dynamics between Viper and Omen are expected to change.

### The Boss

Iso and Omen's former boss, the Head of The Scions of Hourglass, doesn't have any name associated with him at the time of this cinematic's release. As him hitting the ground after the freefall wasn't observed, there is still some speculation that he might be alive.

## Notes

* Before its release, this cinematic was teased with multiple posts, as well as a poster, on Twitter.
* The organization that Iso and Omen used to belong to was revealed to be "The Scions of Hourglass" in the January 8th Dev Stream.
* From the new Kuronami Skinline to the new gun Outlaw, this cinematic featured various easter eggs of in-game content.
* The concept art for this cinematic includes a depiction of Viper with long hair.
* Omen wearing a hazmat suit in the flashback sequence has resulted him wrongly being associated with Paul Delmann, an NPC known to have worked in an abandoned Kingdom facility in Icebox. Upon this confusion, it was clarified by the developers that Omen and Paul Delmann are different people, andthat "Paul Delmann is still employed by Kingdom according to HR records.

## References

1. ↑ The Scions of Hourglass in Iso's Agent Trailer Go
2. ↑ Iso reveals his directive to assassinate Omen Go
3. ↑  Teaser 1 Go
4. ↑ Teaser 2 Go
5. ↑ Teaser 3 Go
6. ↑ Teaser 4 Go
7. ↑ Teaser 5 Go
8. ↑ Cinematic Poster Go
9. ↑ ParmCheesy Revealing the name "The Scions of Hourglass" Go
10. ↑ Easter Eggs Go
11. ↑ Concept Art for RECKONING Featuring long-haired Viper Go
12. ↑ David Nottingham's tweet regarding Paul Delmann Go