Flower Cult Theory

There is a symbol that had the attention of the lore community shortly after the release of Episode 1 Act 1, that being the flower-like glass mosaic that could be found spread throughout both Ascent and The Range. This symbols has given way to what some in the community call the "Flower Cult".

## Origins

With the official release of VALORANT came a new map, Ascent. Based in Venice, Ascent introduced a building that resembles a church in Attacker Spawn. The imagery in the building does not resemble that of any real world religion, given that the game takes place in the "near future" and that Venice has been a prominent city in Christianity, it is possible that this church is meant to represent a religion within the world of VALORANT.

The most remarkable element of the church were the flower-like glass mosaics seen in the image above. However, when it was first introduced there were no leads as to what this religion proposed a belief in, as the flower mosaic was not present in any other are of the game aside from The Range, which is also based in Venice.

The mystery surrounding the symbol resulted in it being used as the logo of this wiki you are reading, and was also the centerpiece of a community-made ARG, created by Cynprel, which resulted in two paragraphs of text regarding First Light.

## Lotus

It wouldn't be until more than two and half years later that, with the release of Lotus, the flower symbols would rise in importance once again. Spread throughout Lotus are motifs built into the flooring that, interestingly, share the same structure as the glass mosaics in Ascent.

It is possible to extract the following similarities by comparing the two:

* Six petals distributed evenly
* The petals emanate from an inner circle
* An outer circle that is divided in sections
* The petals end at the center of each section

A key difference to note is the inner circle, which is completely empty in the Ascent mosaics, but in the Lotus motifs features another smaller six petal flower within it. It is also interesting to see that despite the sections of the circle and the petals in the mosaics share the same colors, the figure in Lotus does not, with the petals being Radianite infused leaves and the sections being root circuitry.

## Implications

The similarities between the two flower-like icons bring forth a curious possibility: the church in Ascent is dedicated to the worship of Astral Guardians, or at least a derivative of them. Hence the name Flower Cult Theory.

With the release of Lotus, the flower symbology became deeply tied to the Astral Guardians. The Guardians, being a largely unknown organization and having little to no known presence in modern times, are mostly considered a myth.

It is known, through multiple depictions in B Site of Lotus, that the Guardians were revered by the inhabitants of the region. Then, it is possible that this reverence evolved through time, and as the Guardians became more absent, it became worship as is the case with other modern day religions. Similarly, the truth of the origins of modern religions is often put into question, explaining Harbor's surprise upon learning that the Astral Guardians are real.

Thus, it is possible that in the world of VALORANT the Astral Guardians are worshiped as either gods or as powerful beings that have bestowed such incredible gifts to humankind that they could be considered miracles.

## Discrepancies

### Alpha versus Omega

A major complication before the Flower Cult can be considered more than a theory has to do with the Mirrorverse: Ascent is located in Alpha Earth, while Lotus takes place in Omega Earth.

This in itself is not an issue, as we know that there is an equivalent to Lotus, or the Nexus, in Alpha Earth, albeit destroyed, and that the structure has existed since prior to the split into the Mirrorverse. The issue is in another map that takes place in Omega Earth: Pearl.

As said in the Origins section, real life Venice has deep ties with religion. However the same can be said about Lisbon, the city in which Pearl is located, but there are no flower glass mosaic is found there. There are multiple explanations as to why this is the case.

First, there is simply no glass at all in Pearl's cathedral. The temple found there is undergoing restoration efforts due to the damages caused by reality distortions. It is possible that amongst these damages there were mosaics the included the flower symbol, however this is unlikely as other prominent symbology found in the map.

Spread throughout Pearl there are octopus like sculptures, many being used as fountains and some present within the cathedral. It is possible that these sculptures are referencing a large creature that can be seen roaming the waters around the domes.

Given the number of times the sculptures are repeated throughout the old part of the city, is is possible that the creature has had high relevance in Lisbon for some time, although it is not possible to confirm whether this is also the case in Alpha Lisbon.

Despite the general lack of flower symbology in Pearl, some of the octopus statues feature a three petal flower that is similar to the symbols that can be found in Lotus. This falls in line with the idea of the Guardians being generally worshiped, but in the case of Lisbon they are not the most prevalent.

### Coincidences

Despite the remarkable similarities between the two, it seems that the VALORANT Maps team is not aware of any connection between the two flower symbols. While this seems like damning evidence against the concept of the Flower Cult Theory, the response itself leaves the door open for it being connected accidentally. Multiple development teams are involved in the creation of each map, and the reasons behind certain influences may not be clear to all of them.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 5.08 voice comm between Harbor and AstraGo
2. ↑ 5.09 Viper emailGo
3. ↑ No connection between flower symbols Go