DUELISTS cinematic

The **DUELISTS** cinematic was released on the June 2nd, 2020 as the official launch trailer for the game. It was made by Blur Studio.

## Synopsis

The cinematic is set in of the alleyways and streets of near-future Venice, Italy. The action follows Phoenix chasing Ω-Jett to stop her from planting. His failure to intercept the package results in part of Venice rising to the sky, an event known as the Rise of Venice.

It serves as an introduction to the VALORANT universe, both to the lore and the gameplay, featuring most abilities that Phoenix and Jett can use, the map "new" Ascent, and presenting multiple lore relevant concepts.

## Plot

The opening shot gives an overview of the city of Venice, transitioning to an unzipped bag containing a Spike being flung across a wall of fire. The camera then focuses on Phoenix being asked about the bag by Sage.

Five shots are fired at Phoenix and there is a flashback to a few moments prior, when he is chasing a hooded Jett carrying the bag. After a short chase, Jett uses her Blade Storm against Phoenix, hitting him with only one of the five knives.

Jett uses her Updraft and Tailwind abilities to propel across a wide canal, to which Phoenix responds by throwing a ball of fire with his Hot Hands ability. Jett is able to avoid the flames by using another Updraft and lands on a rooftop. Phoenix fires at her with his Vandal to prevent her from getting away and breaks the only strap on the backpack.

Jett turns mid-air to grab the bag and shields it while quickly falling to the ground, preventing a direct impact against the floor. Finding herself in a dead end, she is also barred off the bag by a flame wall raised with Phoenix's Blaze ability.

Sage talks to Phoenix again, and he decides to use his Run It Back to push into the alley. After he takes a few steps, Jett uses her Tailwind ability to dash through the fire and gets a clean shot at Phoenix, downing him while in his Run It Back form.

Some time later, after Jett has left, Phoenix's body dissolves and he reappears from his ultimate. As he asks Control about the package, he stops mid-sentence after seeing parts of Venice floating in the sky

## Lore breakdown

### Title screen

Two lines of text are visible in the lower half of the title screen. They display the place and time at which the cinematic takes place, as well as the two main characters. The transcription resulting from expanding the words and translating the Roman numerals is:

The text indicates that the cinematic takes place in 2049, however this has since been retconned. It was also the implicit introduction to the Mirrorverse and the mirroring of an agent's name to represent they are from Ω-Earth, as is the case with Jett.

### Control

During the cinematic, Sage asks Phoenix about the status of the mission, to which Phoenix responds referring to her as "Control". This concept was first introduced by this cinematic and is the only time it is explicitly mentioned, but other cinematics also feature communication through an earpiece.

### The Package

* VALORANT Logo
* Text on the bag
1/2
The backpack Jett wears, referred to as "the package" by Sage, is the focal point of the cinematic. The scenes in which it is present as the main element reveal its contents, as well as the imagery and text on the bag's outside.

The rooftop scene focuses on the outside of the package, showing the VALORANT logo on the front and text along the left side. While the last part of the text is easily discernible, the text first two segments of the text are not clear but showcase the text *AGENT ID • ???? | EARTH 67.* On July 30th, 2021, this text was retconned.

The package is thrown into the air when Phoenix uses Blaze, landing unzipped. The small opening shows that there is a pulsating Spike inside.

### Detonation of the Spike

Phoenix's impatience results in him being knocked out, and it is implied Ω-Jett is able to plant the Spike, which later detonates. The detonation results in a large chunk of the city rising up in the sky, in what is known as the Rise of Venice.

## Gameplay dissonance

Jett uses Tailwind twice, despite the in-game version requiring killing two Agents for it to recharge. This cooldown acts as a balance factor for gameplay and is not a limit of her powers.

The portrayal of Phoenix's Run It Back varies from what we see both in-game and in *RETAKE*, reappearing after a long delay and in a different position to where he originally used the ability.

## Retconned information

The date shown in the title screen is not representative of the time setting the Creative Team considers canon, as the team has stated they want to stay away from specific dates:

The text on the backpack that displayed *AGENT ID • ???? | EARTH 67* is no longer representative of canon:

## References

1. ↑ DUELISTS // Official Launch Cinematic Trailer - VALORANT Go
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dates are retconned - Discord QNA Go
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Earth 67 is retconned - Discord QNA Go

### Missing References

1. ↑ Blur Studio's Article on *DUELISTS* Go

## Video timestamps

1. ↑ Title screen timestamp Go
2. ↑ Rooftop scene timestamp Go
3. ↑ Blaze scene timestamp Go
4. ↑ Jett uses first Tailwind scene timestamp Go
5. ↑ Jett uses second Tailwind scene timestamp Go