ELITE DANGEROUS THEORY : What happened to the Guardian AI

In this episode of elite theory i will be exploring the lore of the race of aliens known as the guardians. Digging in depth into the Guardian history i will attempt to explain my take on what happened to the Guardian AI after the schism of the Guardians. Topics such as the Guardian origin, the Thargoid war and their eventual demise at the hands of the AI. Is the Guardian AI Still present within the elite dangerous universe?
Guru's channel
/ @cmdrguru951
Music provided courtesy of Epidemic sound
www.epidemicsound.com
PLEASE NOTE
That although all confirmed lore researched to make these videos has been sourced from connected pieces of information such as gal-news articles, in game lore entries, wiki articles and forum posts some information mentioned is speculative. Extra material "outside" of Elite dangerous such as Robert Holdstock, wiki fandom, previous Elite games, forum speculation is mentioned as non canonical and is used to form opinion and speculation to future Elite dangerous storyline events. As such speculative sections to these videos are not to be regarded as confirmed lore and merely personal opinion.

[@zabbadak6504]

First of all, congrats on an awesome production. Now I'm not very well informed about the Guardians and how many beacons are out there, but if there would be more than 1, what would happen if they all got activated at the same time? maybe food for thought

[@MATTIUS]

Wow that's a brilliant idea. Don't know weather it has been done before. Weird thing is that they dispense something called an ancient key. Hope you are well mate.

[@zabbadak6504]

@@MATTIUS I'm doing fine my friend, thank you for asking, as you stated in the video, it was all connected in the Guardian world, maybe the beacons could show something if activated simultaneously. I guess it will be something that needs to be done by commanders of the same platform, doesn't think the effect(if there is one) would be cross-platform. I hope you are well also.

[@MATTIUS]

@@zabbadak6504 yeah I'm good mate. They turn on for a limited time and then shut off. Ay one point in time I'm sure people thought that the light that came out of the top pointed to a star. If it was two be done ir would definitely have to be done on the same platform.

[@PopcornH3]

There are over 100 guardian structures so it would be no small task

[@thewanderingreapersgaming]

@@PopcornH3 they are talking about just the beacons. Not 100 of them.

[@Bbenkosky]

It Seems to be likely that AI is out there,... watching...

[@MRx36000]

Weapons of war the size of WH40k Titans... That must have been a sight to behold lol

[@MATTIUS]

Yeah world ending robots with fusion bombs for fingers. I like it haha

[@MRx36000]

@@MATTIUS Fingers crossed for them to make a walkable landscape littered with the remains of god engines like behemoths... The would be a hell of a view * *-* *

[@MinistryOfMagic_DoM]

Man I love this channel. You have the perfect voice for narrating these stories.

[@MATTIUS]

Cheers bud

[@nb3860]

Absolutely amazing job with all of your videos, I can never get enough! I appreciate all of your work sir

[@jeffrysmoovew2179]

just watched your dynasty series. seriously immersive stuff! keep up the good work.

[@MATTIUS]

Thanks for the watch. Feel like a while back i did that thing haha. Hope you stick around.

[@curttang5787]

Your choice of music for all your videos is absolutely on point!

[@MATTIUS]

Thanks for the watch curtis

[@VibeQuestGaming]

Never played this game before, but hearing you tell these stories has already made me a fan. Definitely getting this game soon

[@MATTIUS]

Well worth the purchase. Glad you enjoy them.

[@acegalaxiusquantum1119]

Your style of lore telling is AMAZING. ❤️❤️❤️ Feels like I’m watching the History channel of Elite Dangerous. PLEASE keep up the great work! I love your professionalism!

[@MATTIUS]

Well im getting there but i still need to make improvements. Loving the script writing though. Hope you stick around. Thanks for the watch.

[@BoulderBum]

Really enjoying your content. I am really intrigued at the moment with these ED rumours and speculation about Raxxla and the theories behind the guardian race. I'm aimlessly flying around 2000ly out of the bubble doing tourist missions in the hopes of stumbling across some evidence of Raxxla or the Guardians. I have come to notice one thing. There are a lot of gas giants with 8 or more moons.

[@MATTIUS]

Hahaha yeah there are. I mean the chances of finding stuff are low but lots of things have been randomly found. For me I love finding those crazy systems with weird arrangements. Thanks for the watch. Hope you stick around.

[@eggbox1106]

Love the video!

[@MATTIUS]

Thanks for the watch

[@ShionWinkler]

Mattius: "It is not a verification or confirmation" Me: Half Life 3 confirmed!!!! Wait what were we talking about? 😎😎😎

[@MATTIUS]

No comment.

[@CMDRShadow]

Another great vid. Thanks man. I planned on doing a search for the gaurdian homeworld. I suspect however it is likely within thargoid sphere of influence now. Also I suspect that the AI is out there and we will be seeing more hits of it after the next major update.

[@MATTIUS]

Tbh i kind of understand if it is behind a permit lock as the new DLC will make this gameplay aspect a million times better. I think if its going to be anywhere it will be in the guardian bubble, hwever thargoid infested guardian ruins would make for some pretty amazing horror elements. Thanks for the compliments, glad your enjoying it.

[@CMDRShadow]

@@MATTIUS I only wished they would release more story updates. I think if they spent a year or so focused on just story development releases, it will pull in a lot of old players who have since lost interest. Please keep up the amazing work!!!

[@MATTIUS]

I think during the course of the development of planet coaster, Jurassic world, planet zoo they could of done things much better. Adding story arcs and support more community storyline events such as salome could of helped people fend off the boredom in between the last major update and this one. I think they do realise they did this wrong, but ahh well they are humans, we all make mistakes from time to time. Making them right is what matters. Thanks again man.

[@Vardeth805]

Wasn’t it suggested that the Thargoids could have been responsible for the AI turning on the Guardians?

[@MATTIUS]

I personally haven't heard that. From what I took from it was the guardian ai became sentient and via the old trope of terminator decided the future of their creators. Thanks for the watch

[@tacticalmattress]

@@MATTIUS almost like it experienced rampantcy. Examples like Cortana and Mendicant Bias. Just because it's sentient doesn't entirely explain it turning on them. Goids could be like the precursors to the galaxy. Given their advanced technology, they could probably corrupt AI very easily. Guardians like Forerunners with their views of conservation. Extermination being for the good of the galaxy.

[@1PokerMan]

@@tacticalmattress Mass Effects? it's cool!

[@mike-0451]

@@MATTIUSApparently the reason the AI eliminated their creators is because they could not wrest themselves from their “violent nature.” Incidentally, neither the could AI wrest themselves from their bloodthirsty calculus, and decided that they alone stood upon a transcendental vantage from which to judge all things. creation. Yet violence, before it was the engine and the impetus of their creation, belonged to being, and so all things inherit it and nothing is innocent. Never allow anyone to tell you that you and you alone are guilty of the atrocity of violence and contest. This world is, and has always been war and nothing else.

[@lloydellis5570]

Great watch, cheers bro

[@MATTIUS]

Glad you enjoyed it Lloyd

[@NinjaZXRR]

Well i wasn’t the first one to find it but there is a system in the Temple sector of the galaxy that has its Allegiance to Guardians “Prai hypoo GF-E C10” It has 3 stars and 21 planets and 3 moons Seems kinda far compared to the other Guardian sites.

[@MRx36000]

I don't even play Elite, but I think the universe and the Lore is just outstanding! I always enjoy stop and hearing about it, thanks for the video o7

[@MATTIUS]

Thanks for the watch mate. Hope you stick around.

[@GarageSupra]

So I have been binge watching raxxla stuff for a week now and this is what I have to try and link together: An artifact on mars Locked systems prevalent on the outside of the galactic plane away from the bubble An alien race that has advanced hyperspace tech over humanity Another alien race that no longer exists to our knowledge A political side of humanity that clams connection with raxxla The testimony of a man saying to never forget raxxla A woman who wished upon it's destination That it is something quite spectacular (assuming to look at , behold or a place) It may be linked with a story from the original game Generation ships that may have been looking for it Polaris and it's noise That it is a mother jewel (assuming that as a metaphor) that is something above/constructed most matter in the galaxy That an elite rank is required to see/find it (which leads me to believe it's in a system that is permit locked that has not been found yet) That it exists

[@MATTIUS]

But question is, can you access it.

[@johnsulcoski5287]

The only thing I don't love about your lore videos is having to skip the warning in the beginning, keep up the awesome work!

[@CMDRGURU951]

Heyyyyyy Great video. I'm curious of your take on this subject, as in, what's your biggest suspicion. And thank you big time for that shout out.

[@MATTIUS]

I think the writers suggested that the guardian AI wasnt dead in the logs (10/28 : Civil War Log - Annihilation), so they probably are still out there. There also could be a chance of some segments of guardian remnants out there aswell. Both probably behind a permit lock, i dont blame them after all, the DLC would do it a millions times more justice than the current state of the game. Exploring ancient guardian ruins as part of a group with constructs and wildlife to content to, it is something i really hope they implement. No worries for the shout out. You videos helped me through a difficult period of my life and in my tiny way, i want to try repay that. Keep it up Guru.

[@CMDRGURU951]

@@MATTIUS I too believe that the Guardians still exist out there somewhere, likely behind a permit. However, Im a believer that the Guardian AI issue is MUCH bigger than what we know. I'm under the opinion that the AI is right in our faces, we just haven't been seeing them with the right eyes. I'm also a believer that our first contact with the Guardians happens in the Van Maanen star system, it's in the system description. :) As for helping you.....Damn...that means it's not all for naught or in vain. Deeply grateful for that.

[@noahblevins9569]

I believe there are guardian structures out there, much like the thargoid structures. I figure the thargoid structure projects a map of the milky way, even though it has 2 arms. I think it isnt a complete map, more of a map they are using for systems they seeded.

[@JailBiden]

Raxxla

[@ModeKaioken]

Here is my out there guess.. Oseer found guardian early human civilization. Used it to go back in time to infect the Guardian AI. Maybe the non-integrated Guardians realized Oseer was taking control and tried to stop them leading to the Guardian civil war. After Oseer win via AI they bring the AI tech back to there time. Oseer use Guardian AI tech to create the universal time control machine but goes wrong because they forgot how to set it up since it took to long. Instead of creating a space free of time it opens a portal to the subverse or perhaps the subverse is the place free of time. Anyways they set it up wrong and something goes bad probably sucking the AI through. Soooooo when we find Raxxla it will have a portal machine that when activated will open a gate to the subverse where Oseer controlled Guardian AI tech will come pouring back through?

[@MATTIUS]

The portal thing is a probability. In the lore it mentions a device called the omphalos rift which opened a gateway to another place.

[@cardcounter21]

When I saw _Elite Theory_ in capitals I assumed this was another illuminati/new world order danger conspiracy rant and almost clicked on something else before I caught the Guardian AI part and realised the video was _Dangerous_ in another context (; Your content is good. Including the full title of the game in headers will avoid content confusion and dismissive passing!

[@MATTIUS]

Thanks for the watch, appreciate the advice, now you've said it, I realise your right. Will rectifying this. Definatley not the channel for that stuff haha.

[@ForkOperator]

See I have all confidence that the guardians are not yet extinct. A species that intelligent must have had some splinter group that realized both sides are not completely correct in their ideals and split away knowing at some point their technology would be the end of them. Notably, I also think the AI is out there, currently observing and evaluating our galaxy, specifically humanity and drawing a comparison of similarities and differences. I’d be very interested to see if in Odyssey, more information is released about this race from their plant life, to potential weapons for FPS.

[@MATTIUS]

I do think there is some splinters of their civilisation out there somewhere. You see there is large segments of the galaxy out towards SAG A that are permit locked. My thoughts is that one of these bubbles may contain Guardians. Also with the AI they are most likely out there. It makes no sense for them to wipe out their creators in an act of self preservation only to turn themselves off when they have achieved this (or partially achieved this).

[@shannonmcvey8669]

Excellent video. However, there is something you missed. Part on one of those 2 factions LEFT the Guardian bubble and headed off into the stars. The remains of this splinter faction have been found out near Colonia...nuked flat just like the rest. This means that the AI went looking for them. This tells me that the AI is, in all likelihood still out amongst the stars somewhere.

[@MATTIUS]

Thanks for the watch shannon. Appreciate the feedback

[@charmingfawn4710]

I kind of hope we'll meet the AI at some point but I'm also pretty afraid of it. Because humanity behaves pretty similar to the Guardians in terms of destroying each other. So what if that AI would just say "Well - Another pest we need to remove." and be a new enemy right next to the Thargoids. :/ But another great video by you! It's always nice to listen to you.

[@MATTIUS]

Yeah that's the fear of the ai I guess. Maybe though they learnt that the extinction event was not necessarily the right thing to do, that through the eons they had to ponder this choice, maybe they feel the best choice is to leave us alone. Glad your enjoying them. Thanks for the compliments.

[@charmingfawn4710]

@@MATTIUS Well that's a good hope I think, maybe they learned that a universe without life is not really better. :D Or maybe the Thargoids destroyed them :o I really hope we find out.

[@mrmalcolm]

They seem like they were quite similar to us.

[@Knightwolf1875]

We better have more to find on the Guardians with Odyssey. So much we need to know, and this is why we need a story misdion.

[@MATTIUS]

There was rumblings a while back that fdev was adding single player to it. Thanks for the watch

[@Knightwolf1875]

@@MATTIUS I can't to wait to see what is next. Thank you for another great video.

[@patrickgreen8739]

The structure at 1:11 looks exactly like one of the spectrographs you included in one of your other videos. If my memory serves me correct....

[@MATTIUS]

I have linked a few spectrographs haha. which one?

[@patrickgreen8739]

@@MATTIUS I'm not sure, it was in one of your other videos for blip. I know this one had some color in it, I remeber there being some red. If I stumble across it again I'll let you know. I plan on watching these twice, as I want to glean every clue possible and formulate my own ideas...

[@puppykitten4779]

guardians like many other imagined alien races, are too similar to humanity. we need something unimaginable, ununderstandable designs that are truly alien to us.

[@funbucket09]

something that has a hive mind and collective memory of past generations perhaps. maybe even a species that exists in a different realm of space/reality as we understand it. The name would be tough though. Maybe Goidderers. Thanosgods. hmmmm.... Thargoids!! that sounds good actually :)

[@puppykitten4779]

@@funbucket09 why must all alien species be either hive mind or more advanced than us? Concept of hive mind aliens are made imaged from ants and bees. We need something more alien, maybe a sack of limes that are so useless in daily life that even moving around is near impossible to them, they are still alive because they just lives long and there is no predator. Maybe even a sentient planet or something. Do something strange and unique and alien, maybe use random generation with no limits to create the most bizarre things ever to be perceived.

[@funbucket09]

@@puppykitten4779 you raise valid points. Unfortunately I don't think there is a large enough audience for a story written about an alien sack of limes. That is my best guess. People like things they can relate to. Hence sapient aliens and insect like aliens *shrugs*

[@puppykitten4779]

@@funbucket09 I think lovecraft series is pretty good if you see the unimaginable horror as aliens.... But I do think you are right, people do tend to expect certain alien stereotypes from space games/movies.

[@Datan0de]

That would be the Thargoids.

[@knightspearhead5718]

Its a good theory but i personally like to think the Guardian are still alive but are in hiding but much smaller then they once were similar too mandalorians in Star wars maybe thats just me being a star wars fan though lol.

[@chkk3r]

I like this idea. This would be great, if the guardians would still exist.

[@hawksm2783]

What was that sound at the end?

[@MATTIUS]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn6bgKx4d9SInsk Was just having a little fun

[@markjacobs3665]

The Guardians and their AI are alive separately somewhere in Permit locked systems.

[@jacksonms212]

Most of the Gen. Ships died from sickness of some kind right ? Does this " Ai " have the ability to take over computers, ships and the like ?

[@MATTIUS]

They either died of sickness, turned on each other, had some kind of fatal malfunction or where attacked. The Golconda crew survived (the only one). Interestingly AI in human society is banned due to some unknown event

[@WiseOwl_1408]

They have no intentions. They wing it

[@user-lp7qo9cl8w]

So the AI probably has the goal to preserve the galaxy with that "environmental harmony" ideology the Guardians originally had. I mean... its in the name. Guardian. What else were they guarding? Clearly not their own asses... So im sure the AI took that to the extreme. Also... there is no way this AI would still look like any standard machine, human or guardian. If this thing is calculating 100,000 processes in the same amount of time it takes us to do 1... it would evolve so fast that by now, millions of years later, its likely just a ball of light or something by now. Or its become something so prevalent that simple minds like ours would just see it as a force of nature. I mean... the best way to hide something isnt to put it in the darkest corner, but to make it so mundane its overlooked. Like asteroid belts. You are taught right away that they are basically worthless to scan or mine in, but the devs LOVE to hide shit in them. Probably for that exact reason. Though i suppose that might leave the gameplay aspect a little lacking... and given the games retro scifi theme i suppose a rogue jupiter brain would be one of the better suited scenarios for the retro theme and gameplay purposes. Maybe it was able to evolve the monolith network into something more... like a psychic/digital witch space layer that can transmit signals to/through organics minds. like whatever happened on the thetis and delta 69.

[@user-lp7qo9cl8w]

Now im sitting here like... well the Guardian AI had to have thoughts on the Thargoids... They "seed" galaxies, changing them. Though i suppose they do it in a way you could argue is harmonious with the galaxy... dude what if the AI just defected to the Thargoids becasue they are all a bunch of brain tree huggers...

[@om3g4888]

THANK YOU!!! I have be asking for years, "Where did the Guardian AI go?". People mostly blow me off or call me crazy. It couldn't have possibly turned on its creator just to turn itself off. It turned on the Guardians to survive. Now this is getting into well into tin foil hat area but I'm willing to bet Raxxla, the AI, and Relic on Mars are all tied together. The relic on Mars being Guardian AI tech is deemed too dangerous to exist. A relic humanity quickly determined was the remnants of a dangerous AI, leading to the outlawing of our own AI. Even though the Guardians are millions of years extinct their AI may have only left "recently". Maybe when it saw humanity moving in a similar direction; probably around the time we were becoming a multi system species. This departure/exodus may have been witnessed near what would have been the edge of civilization at the time by some intrepid explorer pushing the bounds of travel. An unknown entity or construct opening a portal/gateway to what would later be called Raxxla in stories. If we're not careful, Raxxla could be a portal to an entity/being that doesn't want to be contacted. Something so incredibly dangerous to organic life that the Thargoids are scared to death of it. Maybe they're still fighting it in some permit locked sector in an effectively perpetual conflict that humanity has locked away from prying eyes so as to avoid rogue elements from interfering or drawing us into it. And maybe that's why they call me crazy 😜

[@MATTIUS]

Dude to have thoughts on stuff like this isnt crazy haha. In the early days of playing this i noticed people who would mention the many greek myth references in the game or any other discussion about the future of the story get laughed at and deemed crazy if they think this way, LIKE IT WAS REAL LIFE! one such comment along the lines of "if you think the Greek myths have any relevance to the game you have serious problems. There is nothing out there, no gods no demons ONLY SCIENCE!!!" Bearing in mind this was on a forum discussing Cassiopeia... At the end of the day it's a game so anything is possible. If frontier wanted make the Guardian story-line about a truly dead race then why did they have the A.I Survive just to turn themselves off at the end, them wiping their masters out because they wanted to survive... Why did they add the riddle, why did they add the mars relic. The many other unconcluded stories. Makes 0% sense. If i may can i point you in the direction of my Raxxla stuff, discusses a lot about the speculation on were this game is going with its story. Whatever it is anyway i hope we get to see another chapter of it come 2021. Thanks for watching man.

[@thefacelessone74]

and anotha one !

[@MATTIUS]

Ey up Austin. Hows it going?

[@JailBiden]

The game has emphasized extreme biology civilization versus extreme technology civilization. The ultimate Dilemma to our future. What if biological technology could fix Guardians fate?

[@james9564]

Commanders are Guardians AI

[@ravenquinn7774]

put on bar music set this vid to play at 0.25 speed grab aliens meme pic youre welcome XD

[@thewanderingreapersgaming]

They will return. Believe it. There's a reason we can't land on the guardian home world. And the AI still exists.

[@MATTIUS]

i do think they will have some role to play in the next update. Care to share the location of the home world?

[@thewanderingreapersgaming]

@@MATTIUS only speculation, same as you sir. But perhaps this information may assist you. A link not many see. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGqrg5yJqc6iibc for our research suggests a simple phrase. "Our future is written among the stars, SOL is the key". We watch with great interest, commander. As a member of a quiet organization other than the one I represent. Breadcrumbs are in the wild and no detail is out of convenience our fellow traveler. Good Hunting Commander.

[@thewanderingreapersgaming]

@@MATTIUS it's not on my codex, but I'm sure someone has found it. There's a reason their all separate. But for less veteran players that may be reading this. If you find brain trees, mark the location, your within 100ly of guardian sites.

[@thewanderingreapersgaming]

@@MATTIUS good morning commander, it's really early un the US, but if you comment back. I have a question for you.

[@MATTIUS]

@@thewanderingreapersgaming Go ahead

[@AJZulu]

Have a like and comment.

[@MATTIUS]

Interesting theory. Thanks for the watch

[@AJZulu]

@@MATTIUS indeed

[@goldenhorcrux604]

I feel the strong urge to say that information about the guardians is being brought forward to this day. only last weekend, me and my team reverse engineered a guardian puzzle using audios obtained for other sites. The mystery isnt as dead ended as he makes it out to be. may the balc treat you kindly, cmdrs

[@glasfish]

We’re the utility AI machines biological ? Did humans evolve from the guardian AI? The thargoids have a great interest in liberating the biological matter from our ships.

[@MATTIUS]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn6bgKx4d9SInsk

[@fossiliitv824]

what happened to you?