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Trying to elaborate and explain all these different concepts without leaving any hanging mysteries or plotholes is essentially impossible. And with Nier Replicant v1.22’s recent release, fans remembered just how many are easily missed or aren’t widely known. So, let’s look at some of the most noticeable ones.
Disclaimer: It’s impossible to talk about this stuff without spoilers, so be careful. For an understandable summarization of the Drakengard/Nier universe, check out some of the amazing YouTube content on it, such as Mr. Clemps videos.
10 There’s No Night-Time In Nier?
For an easy start, let’s ask a simple question: why is there no day/night cycle in Nier? The obvious answer is the budget. Canonically, they apparently still have “evenings”, but that could just be based on the time of day and not a visual indicator like the sun setting. There are multiple lines in the Nier games that talk about how the sun doesn’t set on Earth anymore – but how is that possible?
Neither Yoko Taro nor any other developers have confirmed anything, but fans have come up with a few theories. Most of them consider the idea that either time or some outside variable caused the earth to stop rotating, sinking one half of the planet into perpetual night and the other into perpetual day. One thing is for sure, it means Nier can get a lot of side quests done in one day, considering that day “technically” never ends.
9 Red Eye & The Replicant Connection
Back before the original Nier and Yonah became Gestalts, the world was in chaos due to the White Chlorination Syndrome. Multiple new organizations formed to combat the disease or fight the Legion it created. With the birth of a specific Legion leader called “Red Eye”, things got even more difficult. Luckily, Red Eye was eventually defeated.
However, one of the short stories confirms that Replicants are susceptible to becoming a “Red Eye”, as this is how the warrior gets revived. Yet, Red Eyes or the Legion are never seen or really brought up in Nier Replicant. This would be fine, but Red Eyes show up in every other Yoko Taro game. It’s extra odd, considering how much of the other side story content was added into Replicant.
8 How Did Fyra Get So Tall?
Once Yonah gets kidnapped by the Shadowlord halfway through Nier Replicant v1.22, a five-year time skip occurs. In that time, Fyra, the tiny girl from Facade, grows to age 15 and gets engaged to the King.
7 The Concept Of The Castle Key Fragments
The sad and hopeless plot of Nier, his backstory, and his future all becomes clear after Ending A. But what isn’t clear is why the Shadowlords castle was even locked in the first place. First of all, why are the different parts of this key in the hands of a bunch of different Shades? Did the Shadowlord ask them to keep these pieces? And, if that was the case, what about the Sacrifice or Law of Robotics shard?
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The whole “finding five different fragments” aspect makes sense from a gameplay standpoint. But even in Replicant v1.22, it still makes no sense in terms of lore. It’s not a big deal, by any means, but the lack of explanation is one of the few things reviewers don’t love about Replicant.
6 How Would Nier Have Obtained “Sacrifice” Without Emil Losing Control?
Speaking of the Shadowlord Castle Key fragments, how were Nier, Emil, and Kaine ever meant to get the “Sacrifice” fragment in the first place? They only got it originally because Emil happened to lose control and accidentally wipe out the Aerie, but that was totally unpredictable.
If this hadn’t happened, would Nier and his friends have had to kill innocent people in the hopes this fragment would randomly “show up”? The specifications for this specific fragment are even more nonsensical than the rest.
5 Why & How Do Shades Bleed?
Let’s talk a bit about the Shades in Nier Replicant. These are the souls of humans given form with magic, but if they’re ethereal by design, why does a gallon of bloody spray out of them with every slash? In an interview at the back of the Grimoire Nier book, Yoko Taro talks about how Shades don’t have a physical body or any cells. When they’re cut, though their soul attempts to “return” to a human state. Yet this only creates more questions.
Of course, the real answer is likely that Yoko Taro loves using violence and blood to make players feel bad about killing things. However, that doesn’t exactly work in terms of the lore.
4 How Does A Vessel Obtain Sentience?
Once Nier and his gang reach the Shadowlord’s castle, they’ll encounter Devola and Popola, who reveal a whole slew of things to them. They talk about Project Gestalt and how Nier, Kaine, and all the others are just empty Replicants. But, Nier and Kaine aren’t empty, right? If Replicants were designed to be empty vessels, how did they gain sentience in the first place?
As it turns out, Replicants actually had multiple functions. One was to be vessels, but they were also built to fight against the Legion and watch over the world until no trace of White Chlorination Syndrome remained. Somehow, during this time period, Replicants magically gained sentience, but fans will never know how.
3 How Does Nier’s Sacrifice Actually Work?
In Ending D of Nier Replicant, Kaine dies, and Nier must sacrifice himself (and the player’s save file) to bring her back. Doing so deletes any trace of his existence from reality, including in Kaine’s, Yonah’s, or Emil’s memories.
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It’s a heart-wrenching moment. But, let’s be honest — how does Nier sacrificing himself have anything to do with bringing Kaine’s soul back? If it’s some magic spell, why is this the first time the player hears about it? Most likely, Yoko Taro wanted to give the player the choice of saving their progress/work or saving Kaine as a character, rather than giving “Nier” a choice. To that end, he did a pretty amazing job.
2 Why Did Poppola & Devola Help Nier?
The red-headed twins of the village, Devola and Popola, are revealed to be androids tasked with the upkeep of all the Replicants for the last 1000 years during the events at the Shadowlords Castle. At some point during that long wait, these unfeeling androids started to “magically” acquire emotions. But why did they help Nier if their allegiance is to the Shadowlord?
Helping Replicant Nier goes against their programming, the end goal of Project Gestalt, and the Shadowlord. Yet, they do it anyway. If they switched sides, it would at least make sense, but they show up to stop Nier once he enters the castle. Why show him how to get in only to kick him out?
1 Why Doesn’t Emil Un-Petrify The People In The Mansion?
Emil is a fan-favorite character who has become a sort og symbol for the franchise. His weird circular head is creepy yet so lovable, and as a character, he’s just so pure. He didn’t always look like that, however; it’s the result of him fusing with his sister, Halua. Once the fusion is over, Emil becomes the monstrosity fans know and love — and he’s able to undo the petrification on Kaine!
But what about all the people in the mansion that he accidentally petrified? Why doesn’t Emil ever mention trying to undo their petrification? Guess they’ll just be courtyard decorations for the rest of eternity.
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