METROID PRIME's biggest blunder

[@generalcjg]

9:03 Actually, there is a way to explain how Metroid Prime got the mechanical weapons in its arsenal with the PAL version lore and the theory not contradicting anything about it. If we go back to Super Metroid, we saw that the baby Metroid (now as a huge Metroid) was able to syphon Mother Brain's Hyper Beam while simultaneously draining its life force, and later gave the energy and Hyper Beam to Samus; plus in Dread we saw Samus being able to absorb the EMMI's entire energy from it, leaving it lifeless. This means that Metroids can absorb energy even from machines that aren't living beings or cyborgs; and they can even take some weapons from other beings for themselves. So with this in mind, we could easily say that the Tallon Metroid when it broke free it started to not only feed on the Phazon deposits of the Space Pirates, but even drain some of the energy from some of the automated machines (like the Auto Turrets, Sentry Drones, and other weaponized devices), allowing the Metroid to also assimilate some of the mechanical weapons in the process; and by the time it evolves into a Phazon Metroid, it already had the Phazon and the weapons in its arsenal (or the Metroid could have assimilated the weapons after it became a Phazon Metroid, either one it works), so when it arrived to the Impact Crater, it evolved into a Hopping Metroid, losing the ability to phase, so it is stuck on the Impact Crater, and later became Metroid Prime after absorbing insane amounts of Phazon. Given the Metroid Prime husks in Phaaze, the evolution from Tallon Metroid to Phazon Metroid to Hopping Metroid to finally a Metroid Prime seems to only be possible when one Hopping Metroid absorbed an insane amount of Phazon to evolve into a Metroid Prime, which would explain why we don't see many Metroid Primes roaming around the galaxy but we do see several Phazon and Hopping Metroids. Also, as devilsletsplays pointed out here in the comments, it is possible that the Phazon Metroid after arriving at the Impact Crater and later evolving into a Metroid Prime, it was able to feed on the Leviathan Core to absorb its Phazon producing ability, thus in the process becoming the Seed Guardian itself, so the theory of Metroid Prime eating the Leviathan Core is not that far-fetched.

[@ThanatosZero]

In addition, the other weapons MP uses, could have been from fallen Chozo Warriors, which subcumbed to the Leviathan and it's guardian within the crater. Makes you question if Raven Beak was aware of any of that what happened down on Tallon IV before Samus' time.

[@CustardBustard]

@@ThanatosZero At what point had the pirates created the trooper variants ? Could prime have absorbed their abilities or were they created too late for this to happen ? They seem like a good candidate for primes beam armour

[@blazingsonic]

Wow! Thank you, you just given the final piece of the MP puzzle that always bothered me, how did a metroid go from it what it starts out to THAT? After looking up the Hopping Metroid, it make sense, it after reaching that stage it mutated and evolved from their via the phazon and weapons it acquired. No wonder it took the form of Dark Samus, It's not pirate tech it has, It's Chozon tech, It adapted that and Samus's DNA. Why it wanted to take over the phazon planet? It gain human ambition.

[@avadoksorem2854]

Just one problem with that. The Metroid Prime cannot logically be a Metroid due to the lack of metroids being present on the planet when the leviathan arrived. The fact that Prime exoskeletons are present deep in Phaaze reveals that it’s a naturally occurring Phazon life form that just happens the share the Metroid title. “Metroid” doesn’t even really refer to the creatures themselves. It simply translates to “Ultimate Warrior”, which Prime easily fits to a T.

[@generalcjg]

​@@avadoksorem2854 Yeah I see why you say that, unfortunately the Metroid Prime Trilogy Art booklet firmly states that the Metroid Prime creature is indeed a mega evolved Metroid; Metroid as in the species named Metroids, not the nickname referring to Ultimate Warrior; it is canon that Metroid Prime is an evolved type of Metroid species. And just because there were no Metroids on Tallon IV present when the Leviathan impacted doesn't mean there can't be a Metroid Prime being created after it impacted, as the theory explains, Metroid Prime could easily have just been a Tallon Metroid brought by the Pirates to Tallon IV, the Metroid escaped, fed on Phazon to evolve into a Phazon Metroid, phased inside the Impact Crater, evolved into a Hopping Metroid, lost the ability to phase into matter, so it got stuck in the Impact Crater, and remained there absorbing lots of Phazon till he evolved into the Metroid Prime we see in the game. Also Metroid Prime husks being in Phaaze does not straight up confirm that Metroid Prime is a naturally occuring Phazon life form, it just tells us that at one point in Phaaze there were one or two or a few more Metroid Prime creatures in there, that's it. But given we do not see that many Metroid Prime husks in Phaaze, it is safe to assume that for a Hopping Metroid to become a Metroid Prime, it has to absorb insane amounts of Phazon to even reach its Metroid Prime level of evolution.

[@SectorZeroGP]

Imo, the most likely explanation would be this: Metroid prime is indeed the leviathan after it became adult. Remember the chozos basically use the word "metroid" for "warrior" or "weapon" so for them "metroid prime" would mean "the ultimate weapon". Also, in the game, in both versions its more than clear than the metroid prime is the origin of the corruption, so he is the phazon source (what means he has somehow the hability to produce this substance). With all this, we can conclude by thinking the adult form of the leviathan, has the hability to produce phazon (what has sense since his mission would be to convert the target planet into a clone of phaaze), and to asimilate anything used against him to defend himself (thats why on the normal vital cicle of phaaze, the planet would send adult leviathans instead of larvas, so they wouldnt need a guardian to be safe as it happened on prime 3, where its said that dark samus altered the natural cicle of phaaze and made it produce seeds really fast). So, after we came to this, the thing would be: 1st: Phaaze sends an adult leviathan to Tallon IV 2nd: Tallonian Chozos predict the impact with their improved senses 3rd: The seed impacts and the chozos try to stop the corruption 4th The chozos discover the metroid prime, who asimilates their technologies. Since they cant defeat it, they decide to seal the zone with a barrier 5th The barrier cant contain all phazon so it starts to filtrate tru the barrier and the corruption starts again (but slowed) 6th: The chozos predict someday the ultimate warrior from their species (Samus) will come and defeat the creature. 7th: The phazon keeps corrupting the planet for 50 years, mutating a lot of creatures, and corrupting the chozo's consciences, until the pirates come 8th: Pirates discovers the phazon, and they start experimenting with it. since they see it can be usefull, they start to mine it, until they reach the barrier (they cant pass tru it, but somehow they detect the presence of a creature inside the seed). 9th: Samus arrives to Tallon IV after the events of orpheon, she was searching for ridley but she discovered what happened there by her technology. (theorically the chozo ghosts were there to just show her the path but they were corrupted :c) 10th: Samus gets the keys to remove the seal, but the pirates also knew about this so when she was about to open a space in the barrier to go to the inside, ridley appears to defeat samus, obviously samus wins, and procceds to enter to the seed. 11th: Samus finds the metroid prime, who basically has the same weapons as she has, except because of her armor, so the metroid prime is weaker in terms of defense, samus breaks his exo-skeleton so the metroid prime loses all his asimilated habilities. 12th: Since samus suit was corrupted with a phazon virus, she could chanelling the phazon from the metroid prime to the own creature, what overloaded it and eventually made it explode (in this last part, the metroid prime tried to emulate the fision metroids by pretending to split himself, but he couldnt and after some attempts he became that phazon form we see before the explosion, then he tries to asimilate the armor of samus to protect himself,and thats the conclusion of the game and the birth of dark samus). Since the metroid prime lost his inner hability to produce phazon by turning himself into dark samus, he basically ned to find more phazon to feed himself, what brought him to the pirates laboratories and eventually to aether (this took about 6 months and in that time the pirates named dark samus as "the dark hunter". After this it happens what you see in prime 2 :3

[@StormsparkPegasus]

"Metroid Prime" (the creature) is an example of continuity drift. It'll all make sense once I explain it. When this game was being developed, all we had was Metroid, Metroid 2, and Super Metroid. Metroids themselves were still VERY mysterious, nothing was known of their origin, and it wasn't out of the question that they were also on other planets (even though we knew the pirates got them from SR388). And while we knew Samus was raised by the Chozo, we didn't know where she was raised or any of the details. So it was originally planned for Metroid Prime to be a mutated metroid, found in the caves, that later escaped into the impact crater with pirate weapons. Also, the meteor impact was originally supposed to be MUCH more recent (and it was originally a meteor, not a leviathan), and the Tallon IV Chozo were supposed to have been the ones that raised Samus which is why they recognized her (as I said, little was known about that as well). Fusion was developed at the same time as this game, and came out on the same day. Fusion DID reveal the origin of the metroids, an origin that was dramatically incompatible with this game's story (plus someone realized that the impact crater was sealed by the artifacts, so how did it get in?). So...Retro decided to go in a different direction with the story. The PAL and Japanese versions were still in development, so the story was altered, to Metroid Prime being some sort of unknown creature, that never left the impact crater, meaning it had all that from the start. Prime 3 elaborated a little, with husks resembling Metroid Prime being found on Phaaze. But it still can't be a metroid, because it came from there, and there were no metroids on Phaaze until Dark Samus and the pirates brought them there. The mystery still hasn't been explained, because while they altered the story of Prime for the PAL version (and remastered and trilogy are based on the PAL version), none of the gameplay, or the name of the "Metroid Prime" creature were changed. A lot of the details of the origin of metroids, and Samus's raising by the Chozo, came with Fusion and Zero Mission. Fusion came out on the same day as this game, and Zero Mission came out after, so Retro could not use any details from them when making the original story. In Prime 3 it's revealed that a Chozo probe from Elysia found Phaaze. I sort of headcanon that somehow a metroid was on that probe, and ended up on Phaaze, evolving into the Prime creatures. I personally own the PAL version of Prime on the Gamecube with the new lore (because it's a much more complete and polished version). But I did play the original Gamecube NTSC release, and it's neat to see a video covering the original lore and why it was changed.

[@BeeWaifu]

I thought that the artifacts sealed away the spread of Phaazon and not the creatures within, which is why Fission metroids started to pop up in the mines later on in the game. It would make sense if that was the case because it's only after that Prime devoured the core of the crater, thus sealing it after it escaped the pirates.

[@roflBeck]

@@BeeWaifu In the original US version, fission metroids don't appear until you enter the impact crater.

[@BeeWaifu]

@@roflBeck I know. I have it. That implied they were made by the orange phazon (It's orange, not red. Not even remotely red colored). Just a mess, really. The only solution I can come up with is the core absorbtion.

[@JamesNintendoTurd]

Super Metroid's manual states that Metroids were created by an ancient civilization. The manual doesn't state it explicitly, but the fact that Metroids are found on a planet with Chozo artifacts (SR388) makes it pretty easy to deduce that the Chozo created them. It's clear that Nintendo was already planning some of the stuff that got revealed in Fusion back then, because otherwise, it'd be a completely random factoid to include. As a side note, Samus' backstory was also already clearly defined back then. The Nintendo Power Super Metroid comic tells Samus' backstory, and it's exactly the same as the backstory told by the canon manga a decade later. The material clearly already existed back then, it seems more like Retro wasn't given that info while working on Prime.

[@speedude0164]

I heard a theory a while back that Metroid Prime isn't actually a Metroid like we know them, but a completely different creature the Chozo named "ultimate warrior". That sounds like a good explanation to justify it coming from Phaaze, but it doesn't make much sense as they wouldn't call it that and "the Worm". Several small details also clearly imply it to be a Metroid, such as the core's design, the orange Phazon which seems to be a mix of Phazon and Metroid material (explaining its ability to spawn Fission Metroids) and later in Dread Samus's Metroid hand resembling Dark Samus's. Seeing those removed Pirate logs paints a bit of a clearer picture of what was originally intended. The Pirates explore Phazon caves, discover this massive creature with genetic similarities to Metroids and give it the designation "Metroid Prime". The only thing that doesn't make sense about that explanation is that it requires either Prime or the Pirates to be able to pass through the barrier without the Artifacts, and Prime kinda needs to be trapped inside to justify it as the source of Tallon IV's Phazon.

[@ultraspinalki11]

8:12 But doesn't Dark Samus, the reincarnation of Metroid Prime, also absorb the abilities of the 3 Bounty hunters from Prime 3? Doesn't Samus, after becoming part Metroid in the events of Metroid Fusion, start absorbing abilities from X Parasites? So what's so strange about Metroid Prime absorbing the Phazon Core's ability?

[@joshrowell8375]

I had always thought that the metroids were on talon iv before the leviathan hit. They are chozo design and talon iv was a chozo planet. Plus our power suit, which is also chozo in origin labels them as "talon" metroids. I always assumed that the chozo had manufactured them or brought them over from SR388 as an insurance policy against any X parasites' that may have made its way onto the planet. Then the leviathan crashed on a metroid or metroid storage facility and that direct impact, that massive amount of phazon forced an evolution into what is now metroid prime.

[@Korhanne]

So, I thought it was fairly consistent when I was playing through the NA release, and it made sense -- MP was in the meteor and created the phazon as a kind of terraforming means (See also: tiberium). MP was found by the space pirates who burrowed through the phazon mines, where the shield didn't err... shield. They experimented on it and it didn't like that, so eventually it broke free, still having the armour plates built onto it. Having nowhere else to go, it just went back into the impact crater's central chambers to make more phazon/do whatever it is it was doing. The chozo didn't exactly expect the space pirates to be stupid/arrogant/insane enough to deal with highly mutagenic radioactive stuff, so they never thought to shield that far down. They were also dying at that point, so not a whole lot they could do anyway. They generally didn't expect the space pirates anyway >.> kind of a giant monkey wrench in the cogs. to use a parallel from the real world -- who'd be crazy enough to tunnel into the sarcophagus at chernobyl? Space pirates: 'hold my beer...'

[@TheBitishDragon]

So retroactively adding to the story the mainline games establish that Metroids can absorb the ability's of those they feed on such as, Hyper Beam from Mother Brain(Baby Metroid) and the verious ability's gained from the EMMI in Dread when Samus uses her metroid hand on them, so its possible that a phazon metroid did get inside and feed on the leviathan core to absorb its phazon producing ability thus becoming the seed guardian itself.

[@logandarnell8946]

yeah just like how to gaurdians were always things or important figures from the planet it landed on in prime 3

[@MisterDutch93]

@@logandarnell8946 I think the biggest difference between the Leviathan guardians in MP3 and Metroid Prime is that the Core kind of underestimated the life-draining capabilities of a Metroid and got consumed while it was trying to fuse with it. Compare this to the guardians we see on Bryyo and Elysia (both mechanical constructs "dumb" enough to get corrupted) and Meta Ridley on the Pirate Homeworld who would gladly become a guardian if it meant he could recover his strength. Metroid Prime on the other hand had an insatiable appetite and would only become stronger with the endless supply of phazon delivered to him. I can easily see it overpower the Leviathan core after eclipsing its power.

[@johncastel]

Considering how fast metroid evolve, especially given the right circumstances (ex: SR388 and the simulated atmosphere aboard the BSL research station), it really wouldn’t surprise me if one loose metroid is all it took to become the Metroid prime.

[@TurKlack]

I think Retro Studios Prime series has done a lot more to add to the worldbuilding than Sakamoto. New races, new planets, fleshed out Federation, Pirates, etc. I still want to learn more about the Kriken Empire.

[@AsecasJavi]

I love how prime works as a standalone series but I don't like it when it mixes with the 2dseries

[@TurKlack]

@@AsecasJavi The 2D series has pretty much nothing to offer other than Metroids, X Parasites, and now the fact that some Chozo Empires are still alive. They have so little worldbuilding that excluding the Prime games is a big mistake.

[@AsecasJavi]

@@TurKlack no. It's straightforward and works great without in-between games. Prime works great as an alternative story after 1

[@jawstrock2215]

@@TurKlack Samus was raised by a Chozo, and she isn't that old, would not be surprised if other still lives and survived.

[@BigHailFan]

@javi hate to break it to you mate, it's canon to the series. it's not a side-canon

[@sykune]

The fission metroids could make themselves immune all but one beam weapon at a time, and they were created first by exposing metroids to phazon, so it safe to say that metroid prime also have proteries of fission metroid as well. This was stated by someone below as well

[@jamescampbell9236]

The biggest blunder is not having nearly enough copies out to the public on launch day. But at least the scalpers are happy. I swear Nintendo's this on purpose. Low supply and high demand means more profits in the future

[@p0pimp2004]

Well not really. Nintendo is money hungry but there r two sides to this story. Nintendo has always been about accessibility and affordability. Those two things are a recipe for scarcity. I said the same thing with the amiibos but if u think about it, Nintendo could've priced the amiibos and this remaster way more which would have dropped demand and eased the shortage issue. These companies are trying to push the digital versions of games so that we never really own the game and they can make more profits. I believe them wanting to shadow drop it made it to where they couldn't ship the game ahead of time. That's partly why they released the digital version first. They make out like thieves either way bc a lot of people including myself, will double dip. They making money hand over fist!

[@TheMegaultrachicken]

@@p0pimp2004 if you buy the digital version you *do* own it. Even if the eshop shuts down you still have the software on your switch. You just have to make sure not to delete it.

[@billythenarwhal1579]

I mean the only way this benefits scalpers is if people are too impatient to wait for more copies to be pressed and in that case why not just get the digital n support the series twice instead of supporting shit practices?

[@ADreamingTraveler]

@@p0pimp2004 It's actually crazy just how much more money publishers make from digital versions especially if they own the storefront. Nintendo makes at least 30% or more profit on each copy sold from the digital version but yet they don't reduce the price of the digital version compared to the physical

[@p0pimp2004]

@@ADreamingTraveler precisely. They might argue that they're making less on physical copies but they don't raise the price for those. It all depends on the perspective and how much they're actually making as far as revenue and profits

[@RobinBawss]

I always imagined that Phazon was able to spread information to all of its presence, like a hive mind that shares information, which, since the Pirates have been experimenting with Phazons and Metroids, the Phazon was now aware of the genetic information of the Metroid and would be able to replicate and create Metroids anywhere, including mutations. Phazon always looked like a fungus, of sorts, so it kind of seems possible that it could send all sorts of information to several locations where it spread. This could explain the Metroid on Aether. Just a thought

[@elio7610]

Phazon itself does seem like some type of organism.

[@kaylethejudicator2368]

Wait until you hear about the lore that the phazon we see literally come from a living planet that shoots out phazon asteroids to consume it hole and turn them into another living planet of phazon. There is no coincidence that the asteroids caused the events of both prime 1 and 2

[@RobinBawss]

@@kaylethejudicator2368 Yeah, exactly. It's definitely able to do stuff like that, and replicating, and copying genetic code, so it's not farfetched that it could just copy the Phazon Suit, copy the Metroids, and so on.

[@fredjones2170]

I think it’s perfectly possible that the Metroid Prime-to-be obtained those weapons; after developing the ability to phase and escaping the Metroid quarantine caves, it could’ve latched onto some of the many Beam Trooper Pirates milling around in the Phazon Mines and absorbed their weaponry, similar to how the Baby did in Super Metroid. Leaving no survivors, the Pirates would’ve been none the wiser as it made its way into the Impact Crater and rapidly mutated and grew from gorging itself on Phazon (such rapid growth also has a precedent in the Baby).

[@thecianinator]

This is just what happens when you have multiple writers working on different parts of the same story simultaneously.

[@AsecasJavi]

That's what happens when people try making prime Canon to the to the 2d series

[@BigHailFan]

@javi it IS canon.

[@AsecasJavi]

@@BigHailFan ok

[@heathersmith4042]

@@AsecasJavi how is the metroid prime's origins not being completely explained even relevant to the 2D series, other than the fact that a metroid is involved?

[@AsecasJavi]

@@heathersmith4042 it's a ramification of the original timeline

[@Smexbi]

I allways thought as Metroid Prime just called "Metroid", because it means Ultimate Warrior, and this one is the prime ultimate warrior. Also, I think it's kinda "clear" that Metroid Prime came from Phaaze. Basically Leviathan eventually all become over decades Metroid Primes. The reason why I think that, is because you can find a dead Metroid Prime on Phaaze in MP3.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

It was called metroid, because in the original story (which was written BEFORE Fusion revealed the origin of metroids, and before Zero Mission gave details of WHICH Chozo raised Samus), it was supposed to be a metroid, which stole pirate weapons and ecaped into the impact crater where it merged with the phazon there. Eventually someone realized that didn't make sense, because how can it get into the impact crater when it's sealed? The fission metroids being in there made sense with the original story, but no longer do.

[@GameDragon2k]

This is what I always thought too. I never thought of it as a Metroid in a literal sense, but a Metroid in the language of the Chozo.

[@roflBeck]

@@StormsparkPegasus That must be why fission metroids appear earlier on in the remaster. I guess that explains that lol. Sort of.

[@EduardoFlores-bt4fo]

No, those were created after Dark Samus arrives on phaaze

[@soulassassin226]

What makes it impossible for the Metroid to have already been in the crater before the barrier was put in place? I felt it was obvious the Metroid Prime itself is what the Chozo Lore scans described as what's being contained. As for the "weapons," who said they were Space Pirate weapons? Samus' suits and upgrades are CHOZO tech. A Chozo had already brought Metroids to Tallon IV, Phazon arrived, and a Metroid evolved into Metroid Prime and the Chozo lost control of it and sealed it off. At no point did I ever think the Metroid had escaped the containment and then went back in. This is the first I ever hear of this.

[@roflBeck]

The pirate log data said that metroid prime attacked pirate security personnel, and absorbed their weapons into its body. (in the US Gamecube release, that is)

[@sirinix1]

I thought there were bits of lore that explained the Elysian Chozo were aware of the living planet Phaaze and as before with the X Parasite, they sent Metroids as a contingency to drain the living planet, but Phaaze had corrupted them, and sent “Prime” back to Tallon IV at this point the living planet Phaaze now having a grudge against the Chozo and their allies. Which is why Aether, Bryyo, Elysia, and others were hit with seed cores eventually. I wonder is this some kind of mandala effect that I have because I remember this clearly being stated in Prime 3’s lore logs, or at least heavily implied.

[@jawstrock2215]

Well, if you can find the lore point this is told, kudos :D But it's a natural thing to insert your own head cannon stuff in things you enjoy, as it is part of your understanding process. soo But it kind does rings a bell so I dunno. Might have been from someone else's vid.

[@zaneheaston8254]

Oh I thought you were going to talk about the Chozo Artifacts

[@joaquimcallahan5274]

It’s later explain in metroid prime 3 actually, that wasn’t simply a “meteor” it was a “leviathan”, a chunk of the living phazon planet phaaze that it flings at other planets in order to continue spreading phazon and turn planets like it. when a leviathan impacts a planet they choose a powerful organism as a guardian and begin infusing it with phazon to super charge the chosen organism. My assumption is that a leviathan landed on tallon IV and decided on a metroid as a guardian, the reason it’s a metroid but it’s DNA wasn’t exactly a metroids is because of such extreme phazon infusion and mutation made worse in a way by the chozo barrier focusing it all into a single point condensing it into the orange variant we have only seen in the first prime game

[@jankington216]

The fact that the phazon mines exist means the impact crater had broken free from the chozo seal. There's a pirate lore entry about a specific vein of phazon that's particularly dense, and there's one spot at the bottom of the impact crater main room where fission metroids come through. That explains enough to satisfy me.

[@dhay03]

The Hopper Metroid going awww shit when it realizes it trapped itself in the Crater Is funny 😄 7:52

[@theyoda55]

My fix for the "impenetrable forcefield" part, for the original script i could see there maybe being a weak spot that the space pirates could force open with MASSIVE generators, but only a small hole and only for a limited time. Scouting parties sent in gind and capture metroid prime. When Metroid Prime tries to return to the cradle, it managed to take advantage of the hole being opened, but due to the fighting or prime's radiation, it damages the equipment and burns out the generators. And with the framework and equipment gone, the shield is able to reset that zone and be back up to full strength.

[@maxharper3737]

There are actually creatures similar looking to the 1st form of Metroid Prime in prime 3 on phaze, given how Metroid Prime only uses the weapons in the first phase the exo suit my be the source of that ability something that already was in the crater before the metroid got to it.

[@Average-Joe851]

I have only watched half of the video at this point and like to point out how I always understood it using the lore from the American release. Metroid Prime (the entity, going to be referred to as Prime for the rest of this comment to help prevent confusion) was always in the meteor. The Chozo made a force field to contain it and was successful for several decades, though they didn't successfully contain the phazon. As time went by the force field deuterated but never critically failed until the Space Pirates came along. The Space Pirates discover the unique biological power source that is phazon and started extracting/mining it from the planet. As they did so, they stumbled into the original meteor which contains Prime, under the belief that they found the motherload. This temporarily caused a critical failure that resulted in Prime temporarily escape it's cell and run rampant. Killing multiple space pirates and resulting in Prime getting a hold of some Space Pirate tech. Now that the Space Pirates knows about Prime, they study it to figure out whether they can make it a weapon (like what they did with Ridley, Metroid's, etc.) After studying it enough and finding some artifacts, they determine the answer is no. However, they use the knowledge gain from it to start making the Elite Space Pirates and possibly other weapons, and search for the origins of the Meteor. While they build their research facilities, they indirectly weakened Prime by reducing the amount of Phazon radiation by using Phazon for their own projects. If you look at the lore this way, there's not many problems with the it. However, there are definitely some holes. Also, because of this lore you would have to realize that the first form of Prime we fought isn't what the Space Pirates dealt with originally, but the final form that we fought would've been a weaker version of what the Space Pirates fought. Edit: SPOILERS FOR METROID PRIME AND METROID PRIME ECHOS BELOW I agree that method C may have been the most likely, but would've required lore information from games that didn't come out for a bit, and seems more like that was Retro Studio trying to loosely correct their mistakes. But mine still makes sense too, especially if the Chozo had a prophecy about Samus coming (which did). This would've made it so that the Chozo just needed to hold the "Worm" until Samus was equipped to handle it (which they did, for the most part). However if we are including lore from future games as well: The Prophecy specifies a being of Light that coalesces into the figure of a woman. This actually sounds like how Samus was taking on The Emperor Ing in the 2nd Game. After all the prophecy of Light (prophecy mentioned above) is as follows: Throughout our living nightmare, as we battle with this unyielding darkness, we Chozo see a light. This light glows with promise, chasing the shadows cast by the Great Poison and purifying that which has grown toxic. It is strange, though - at times it looks to our eyes as if the light coalesces into the figure of a woman. Burning brightly, the luminescence descends from space then retreats back into the infinite blackness from whence it came. When this prophecy comes to pass, when the light recedes, the Chozo's long vigilance of containment will finally come to an end. The Chozo and Luminoth knew each other, and both had similar problems arrive to their home worlds. However it was the Luminoth that had a whole poisonous shadow realm developed from an leviathan crashing into there home world. It could very well be that the Chozo actually misunderstood the prophecy that they were seeing. After all the Luminoth had developed a "Light Suit" to help Samus defeat Emperor Ing (who is a worm like creature that creates poisonous shadows and were challenged by Luminoth Warriors). So maybe the Chozo actually saw the bigger picture and left upgrades for Samus to take on Dark Samus, Prime, and Emperor Ing.

[@trashaimgamer7822]

This "blunder" can be fixed with one single sentence: The Chozo used Metroid Prime as the genetic blueprint to create the Metroids. Thus the name "Metroid Prime".

[@TheGiddyReaper]

Brilliant idea

[@lpfan4491]

Genius idea, I wish they went with that.

[@W.E.B.DaBoys]

But then how did it get to Tallon IV? Metroids were created on SR388 and it was the Space Pirates that brought Metroids to Tallon IV, not the Chozo.

[@lpfan4491]

@@W.E.B.DaBoys How to say you didn't read it carefully without saying it.

[@W.E.B.DaBoys]

@@lpfan4491 I read it just fine, your reply is unhelpful. Saying that there was just one metroid chilling on Tallon IV and that this tribe of Chozo, which abandoned its technology on Elysia and wanted to be spiritually connected with nature, decided to travel to SR388 to help a different Chozo tribe-the Tallon Chozo having made no mention of being in contact with Chozo on other planets-with their parasitic problem is a huge retcon.

[@ABSsponds]

So in MP3 each planet struck by a leviathan spreads phazon first, then as it spreads a "dark champion" is chosen from the corrupted enemies. The entire premise MP3 is that phazon has a hive kind of sorts. Those that do not die gain a mutual sentience. So we also see a metroid phase in and out of reality later on and likely enter the crater and consuming enough of that red phazon and becoming able to produce it or like you mentioned. It all works. The beam weapon stuff idk. But the game feels cohesive anyways. Including calling it the worm. Because they could see into the future of sorts, they interpreted as such

[@venomsjunkmail]

Perhaps before initiating the cradle the Chozo put various equipment in there in an attempt to stop or at least slowdown the spread of Phazon? Maybe even while they prepared the cradle. Prime phased through the berrier, ate Phazon, became unable to phase out after evolving again. Then it starts getting bigger, absorbing the equipment set in place to stop the core eventually becoming Prime?

[@jawstrock2215]

Well, since all the weaponry you get in Prime one, is of Chozo origin, it's safe to say they used those weapons inside the asteroid themselves first before sealing it off. It's easy to set how it has the weaponry of the exact elements you find and use in game. (The pirate only found them and tried to reverse engineer, that's why you find some of them in pirate areas). Also why those pirate use those elements weaponry.

[@Zephrese]

Retro tried to fix their "error" by retconning certain bits and pieces later on, while also further reinforcing some of the parts they supposedly "retconned" at the same time. Which is just bizarre, to say the least. It's as if they couldn't decide if they wanted to fully retcon the original explanation behind Metroid Prime's origins or not, and kept fighting among themselves by flipflopping back and forth between the two primary explanations (which obviously just made things more confusing for players). Big wall of text below, btw. At the end of the day, it's pretty clear that Metroid Prime was indeed a Metroid that had been mutated heavily as a result of the Space Pirates' Phazon experimentation, later escaping from captivity and feeding on Phazon until it - either before or after escaping - gained the ability to phase through solid matter (much like the Phazon Metroids, regardless if it literally became one or not itself). Its newfound insatiable hunger and gluttony for Phazon, combined with the powers it obtained from its prolonged exposure to the substance, led it to the source of all Phazon on Tallon IV (the Impact Crater). It was there that it utilized its ability of absorbing the abilities of others to kill the Leviathan Core, and then steal its Phazon producing properties. It continued to produce more, while simultaneously devouring the Phazon it produced, therefore creating the unique mutated strand of red Phazon (friendly reminder that it's supposedly more potent than the regular blue variety, and yet it is not found on Phaaze - the literal source of all Phazon -, nor is it found anywhere outside of the Impact Crater which - at least to me - seems to imply that it is much more recent of a strand). Its physical similarities, and shared beam technology, to that of the Trooper/Beam Pirates was also the result of its ability to absorb things it comes into contact with (we've seen that Metroids, unlike the X, can absorb fully inorganic matter). The similarities to the Hopping Metroids in its first form likely also tie into its appearance at this point, but the excessive Phazon exposure and "stolen" Space Pirate tech it intergraded into its carapace created a still very unique - and massive - beast. With all of this in mind, the "Worm" the Chozo referenced on multiple occasions was in reality the Leviathan Core, which still fits the narrative and ties everything up quite nicely. The only other issue in all of this that I can think of is the hollow and discarded Metroid Prime shells on Phaaze, but the same game also seems to further push the idea that Metroid Prime was more likely a mutated Metroid that escaped Space Pirate captivity so I'm really not sure what their angle was with this one. Perhaps Dark Samus was trying to create others like it? Or, if we assume that it was at one point a Phazon Metroid and later a Hopping Metroid, it would kill other Metroid Primes that formed from Hopping Metroids in order to prevent rivals from forming. By this point Dark Samus has taken over the Space Pirates (meaning she has full access to their tech), she was also the one pushing for further experimentation on the Metroids and even apparently gave the Space Pirates some direction on how to get more specific and desirable traits out of their experiments (almost like she knew what to do because the same results produced her, or at least her Metroid Prime form). She also - if IIRC - addresses the other Metroids as her "children", and has some of them brought to Phaaze as she calls it her "home", meaning that there's certainly a possibility that certain Metroids under these conditions - which we've already established as being similar to what allowed Metroid Prime to take form - can become additional Metroid Primes. With that in mind, Dark Samus would likely see them as rivals, choosing to drain them of their Phazon before/after killing them, and then discarding their empty husks across the planet. Could also explain why they're husks in the first place, because we see similar things happen to other organisms that get their life force sucked out by Metroids (Phazon enhanced or not). As for why she calls Phaaze her "home", I think it has more to do with her affinity for Phazon rather than it being her literal home planet. Personally I think people take that part too literally, much like how there are still people that think the Pirate Homeworld in the same game is literally their homeworld when it's actually one of many planets (like Zebes) that they've conquered and claimed was their own all along. TL;DR: Metroid Prime is a Metroid mutated by Phazon that gained the ability to phase through solid objects, and one that was brought to Tallon IV by the Space Pirates. The "Worm" mentioned by the Chozo there is the core of said planet's Leviathan, whom Metroid Prime killed and then subsequently absorbed its Phazon producing capabilities. Any other explanations are just a fruitless attempt to justify changes that Retro never needed to make, and even then clearly never stuck to 100%.

[@CustardBustard]

Yes. This. It's the best explanation and I hope Retro/Nintendo are aware of that and don't make it worse in metroid prime 4. It would be ideal if we see Dark Samus (of course she is coming back) create some primes and we have to fight multiple of them at once or something. After their defeat she could drain them of their remaining energy, reducing them to empty husks and escape, cementing what we saw in corruption.

[@TurKlack]

Pretty much a solid lore blog, when you take the "non-canon" Pirate Data into account. I think it's wrong to flat out ignore the unused Information. But also to uphold it as defacto true, since it does go against other Infos that made it into the final cut.

[@legrandliseurtri7495]

Because metroid prime is so big, I've always though that it was originally a metroid queen, or at the very least an omega metroid.

[@Zephrese]

@@legrandliseurtri7495 Can't be an Omega because those are only possible on SR388 (no one knows about the later Metroid stages at this point in the timeline either, Space Pirates included). She might have the genetics to be a Queen, but her massive size has more to do with her excessive Phazon consumption than anything else. Plus, we see that she still takes on a "jellyfish" like form at the end.

[@ADreamPainter]

Ok, here's a thought of a logical story rewrite. What if, the chozo used metroid prime to create the metroids to fight the X parasite. They soon came to realize the danger that metroid prime would pose and they sealed it with the artifacts. Although sealed phazon slowly oozed out of the crater. Fast forward, the space pirates arrived and wanted to gain access to metroid prime to weaponize it, and build new bio weapons as the chozo had created metroid prime. They were seeking the chozo artifacts to reopen the impact crater. Samus came to investigate, and soon uncovered the pirates plans. She herself found all of the artifacts, and sought to go to the impact crater herself, to destroy metroid prime. On the way to open the crater, Ridley swooped in to stop samus from going to the crater to kill metroid prime, thus foiling the space pirates plans. Samus defeats ridley, defeats metroid prime, and then this fits in nicely to the next chapters of the story that eventually lead to finding Phaze, the source of phazon, and the metroid prime species. This also gives samus even more urgent motives, because she needs to go to phaze to stop anyone from using the metroid primes on the planet to create more metroids, as well as other horrific bio weapons.

[@ORLY911]

i dont think its impossible the metroid was already on board the Leviathan. With the wormhole capability, i could see it being possible Metroids managed to get to Phaaze this way, either through an unlucky or daring pirate research ship investigating a spatial anomaly or a Chozo expedition found their fate at Phaaze, they were known explorers and I'd imagine they may keep Metroids around if they were hunting the last of the (known at that point) X Parasites, you could line that 50 years up pretty well with that.

[@bland9876]

I don't know how many times I fought ridly even after google how to beat him and failing before I gave up. (I was playing prime triology)

[@Redeadhunter]

Okay so I never properly parsed the info that Phaaze was only about 361 light years away from federation space, this seems to contradict the fact that the Metroid Prime old website states that Federal space comprises 140,328 permanent member systems, which should put its size at nearly a hundred million cubic light years based on the average distances between two neighboring stars, and with a radius of over a thousand light years. Forming a cohesive empire that size should make travelling to phaaze a trivial matter if it's really that close.

[@ILikeWafflz]

10:22 Anyone ever stop to think about how inhumanly _wide_ her skeletal structure at her shoulders would have to be to line up with the suit's shape? Imagine if she tipped her head to one side; normally you can just barely touch the bottom of your ear to your shoulder, but her shoulder here would be past the top of her head! Before anyone says "but chozo dna could have x" you see her outside of the suit and she has tall but otherwise normal human proportions.

[@jovannibaeza191]

There are in lore depictions of Samus (I think prime 1 gallery) that depict Samus skeleton inside the suit as well as Super Metroid manual art of Samus in zero suit inside the suit (cutaway style). Her shoulders are in the armpit and her arms are along the inside of the arm armor as opposed to the center.

[@ILikeWafflz]

@@jovannibaeza191 Other suit depictions might be shaped differently in such a way that a human skeleton could fit, but, specifically referring to 10:22, I'm not able to get the proportions to add up.

[@seriousbismuth2173]

​@@ILikeWafflz she's fine. Lol it works out fine😮‍💨🤣

[@michaelbalfour3170]

The pirates didn't need the artifacts, they know how to sequence break and get in the crater.

[@Darth1Marik]

The other issue they have to fix is that you find empty or dead? husks of Metroid Primes on planet Phaze in MP 3. It's in one the areas before you find infant leviathans. Or in that very same area I forgot but if you look on the walls you can see a few of them. It's highly possible, despite the retcons, that originally Metroid Prime came from Planet Phaze but with Metroid Prime 1 already stating it was simply a normal Metroid that entered the Crater you have to wonder why 2 games later they still went with the idea. MP 3 also reveals that whenever a Leviathan crashes into a planet it dies and the core basically summons any wildlife creature to the impact site to corrupt it into a guardian to protect the core as it produces and spreads Phazon. This essentially kills any plot device that a Metroid Prime is a natural resident of Phaze despite that they intentionally put husks of a Metroid Prime on planet Phaze. It's a huge mess for the Prime series' plot that has never been addressed and causes so many issues.

[@lpfan4491]

All I can say to this is: Screw MP3. It causes so many minor inconsistencies and questions for MP1 and 2 that it's not even funny anymore. MP1 has a few issues of its own, but not to that degree.

[@Goremejy]

@@lpfan4491 I mean couldn’t it be incredibly simple to explain as Metroids that wound up on Phaze mutated into more metroid primes (or something closely resembling it)?

[@toaster_rtx1829]

Dark Samus (being a Metroid) brought metroids to Phaaze

[@Darth1Marik]

@@toaster_rtx1829 you didnt read what I said did you? Or you somehow glossed over it.

[@captain_legend7551]

My two theory timelines: 1. Chozo are on Tallon IV > Phazon Asteroid Impact > Chozo take samples of Phazon and send samples to SR 38 for research and analysis. > Research helps in the creation of Metroids. Phazon in of itself is "Metroid DNA/Primal genes" 2. Chozo are on Tallon IV > Asteroid Impact > Chozo use Metroid in hopes of it consuming the energy/life force of the Phazon. > Metroid is consumed/lost > Time moves on and the Cradle is formed.

[@Thornbloom]

The way I figure it the Cradle blocks the spread of Phazon to a degree but it's not wholly impenetrable. The Pirate research teams that brought metroids to Tallon experimented with Phazon exposure and probably just forgot to put one back in its cage if not intentionally leaving it out. So they could conduct research on Phazon but the greater bulk of it was still locked away, and as long as the barrier is up they can't harvest any of it from the impact crater, having to wait for it to leach through naturally which 1) would take for-fucking-ever and 2) seriously dilute the material's potency. In the meantime they let the metroid dick around on the Phazon deposits, periodically checking in on it, sticking guns and shit on it, etc.

[@Jurarigo]

I propose another theory: despite what the Pirates claim (or believe, to be more precise), the Chozo were NOT extinct when the Pirates arrived at Tallon IV. They could be dead, true, but I suspect that some benevolent Chozo ghosts still existed at the time, and they hastily finished the seal on the crater with the Pirates on the planet, but not before a SR388 Metroid brought by the Pirates was able to enter the crater. A point that support this: One of the artifact hints directly mentions the "invaders in Phendrana". While the Chozo may have foreseen the Pirates' arrival with their visions, is weird that no other Chozo Legacy document mention anything about the Pirates, only this hint. This imply that at the very least there was a single "operational" and benevolent Chozo after the Pirates arrived on Tallon IV. However, I agree with the theory proposed in the video. A Phazon Metroid who ate a lot of Pirate Elemental Troopers and then phased into the crater sounds crazy, but given that the hopping metroids are dead ringers to the Metroid Prime armor, it's pretty clear that's the official (albeit non stated) explanation. That Metroid eating the Leviathan core is also not weird at all: Phazon is an energy source, the core is a Phazon source, Metroid eat energy without limits, you can easily do the math.

[@darmansejuk101]

What I've seen and played through i've comes to conclusion that what phazon the pirates are mining at the time is what spread from the crater at before the choza erected the shield. But since we all know the space parts are greedy they wanted access to the primary source which is probably more pure and doesn't have impurities from trying to spread throughout other environments that is why they are trying to access to cradle. As seen when fighting metroid prime's 1st and 2nd forms it's primary and true form ilcan phase through environments which is why they encounter it in the mine and once it gained all the weapons it ran back to basically it's most habitable environment to evolve and develop the hard shell that protects itself. This also ties into how in the choza lore that you scan it says a number of the animals and plants in the environment were affected by the poison because it spread outside of the crater before they can connect the shield so that is why I'm coming up with the idea that the phason mine that the space parts are using is just the affected area around the crater

[@HaveYouTriedGuillotines]

It's entirely possible that the Chozo brought Metroids to Talon IV, and Metroid Dread actually gives a clue as to why there may be no mention of it. Dread introduces a lot of potential for political intrigue among the Chozo, it's possible some of the Chozo were less dedicated to the cause and brought Metroids with them. Possibly warrior clan Chozo like the ones seen in Dread. I could see one of them getting the idea to try and use Metroids to "clean up" the Phazon, and learning the hard way why that's a bad idea. As for the Pirates, that inconsistency could be easily fixed by saying they managed to get the shield down at one point without all the artifacts, managed to capture the Metroid Prime, and started doing tests on it... Until they realized they couldn't contain or control the thing, so they used the impact crater to seal it up again, probably losing a whole bunch of men in the process. As for the worm, it's possible that it is a parasite, and when the Metroid prime tried to eat it... The worm gladly let it, infecting it in the process, as it was the strongest life form it had come across. That would explain a lot of stuff, such as the squid with a humanoid face, and Dark Samus: The worm is actually an intelligent parasite, and seeks powerful hosts. Dark Samus is the result of the worm trying to infect Samus, due to Samus and her suit having immense power and a very useful form.

[@AdvancePlays]

Metroid Prime 3 heavily indicates Metroid Prime originated on Phaaze as part of the leviathan genesis process - probably just as one of many potential protectors for the phazon cores. We know Metroids had been on the planet already, for probably as long as the original Chozo searcher discovered it (we don't really know how old Metroid are given how long-lived Chozo are). The one on Tallon IV just happened to be the one the Space Pirates, thus Samus, stumbled upon to lead to the creation of Dark Samus who, with the abilities and capacities stolen from Samus, acted as emissary and right hand for the living planet. Who knows what Metroid Prime 4 holds - it's still named after the creature after all.

[@BlondeBarbarian]

I remember reading something on IGN back in the day before Prime 1 came out some sort of early plot synopsis they were apparently given by someone at Retro. Supposedly the game was originally planned to take place AFTER Super rather than between 1 and 2. (which also explains why she has the Grappling Beam at the beginning which she doesn't get in either version of M1) The plot went something like this: (paraphrasing from memory)"After the destruction of Planet Zebes, a fragment of the planet containing a single living Metroid crashed into Tallon IV where all hell breaks loose" This makes sense if you think about it. Tallon IV and Zebes are very close to one another and some of the Chozo lore entries speculate about the meteor being a peice of a destroyed planet. This would also neatly explain how Metroid Prime got inside the Impact Crater. It was trapped inside the meteor all along and the radiation from the explosion mutated it and caused it to start producing Phazon. It also explains how it could have come into contact with Space Pirate weaponry since it had interacted with them back on Zebes. I suspect something like this was likely the original plan, but then at some point the decision was made to make the game take place after M1 so they had to shift gears and rewrite the story at the last minute, inadvertently creating a domino effect of plot holes and inconsistencies.

[@carnage0685]

God damn that actually makes a lot of sense- Great memory!

[@TurKlack]

In the end it lies to us, to find the middle ground. So to speak.

[@thecianinator]

I like this theory

[@basementreviewer788]

that doesnt work because it wouldnt explain what brought phazon to tallon IV, as zebes had no phazon in it at all.

[@BlondeBarbarian]

@@basementreviewer788 Metroid Prime is the source of Phazon. It even says so when you scan it. Yes, we NOW know it came from Phaaze, but at the time they probably hadn't thought of that. The point of my post was to speculate what the original plan was and I theorized that the radiation from the nuclear blast that destroyed Zebes mutated the metroid and caused it to start producing the phazon.

[@Armedus]

I can think of two theories that can address this plot hole, each with interesting implications for the story. Theory A: Metroid Prime, being able to spawn Metroids, can theoretically control them, like a hive mind. Since she is stuck in the crater, she could have instructed a legion of phazon metroids to steal space pirate tech and bring it to the crater, amassing enough to build its arsenal in order to escape. Theory B: Since Tallon IV was once a Chozo planet, and since the phazon meteor landed near one of their temples, the crater may have contained Chozo tech. Once Metroid Prime was trapped in the crater, it could have gathered the Chozo Tech and built its mechanical body from these parts, which would explain why its weapons were similar to Samus' arsenal.

[@AllHailMe12431]

One possible explanation to Metroid Prime being the way it is, is the Phazon. In the Pirate data logs, there's a mention of Phazon harboring different 'Strains'. Maybe it can not only mutate every living thing it comes into contact with, but also collect genetic and even mechanical information from it's victims for some kind of use, like in evolving the Leviathan core or it's guardian into a higher form of life. The creature dubbed "The ultimate warrior" by the Chozo would definitely be a favored gene for this purpose. The mechanical aspect is reinforced by how Dark Samus is formed.

[@speedude0164]

While not really the most easily justifiable explanation, I think this one sounds the best. There's still a lot we don't know about Phazon, and we've never seen a Leviathan Seed after it imbedded itself in a planet, so it's possible Phazon could just collect genetic material from nearby creatures to allow the Seed to mutate in different ways. That would fall in line with "the chaotic nature of Phazon mutation". The barrier didn't outright stop the corruption after all, it just slowed it down significantly, so the Seed does still have a connection to the outside world. While the red Phazon kinda conflicts with the idea of every corrupted planet becoming a clone of Phaaze, I think it's also reasonable that Metroids have a special kind of genetic material that would lead to a different corruption. And I dunno about you, but I'd much rather be fighting the same Worm that poisoned the Chozo's home as the final boss than just some other creature that took its place.

[@NargaCat]

Tbh it's not too far fetched that the metroid wanted more of that DELICIOUS CANDY and ate the entire core.

[@tristanneal9552]

Great video! Personally, I don't agree with how easily you dismissed Option B. We know the Chozo created the Metroid, we know they were present on Tallon IV when the phazon meteor hit, and we know they had beam weapons that Metroid Prime could have absorbed and integrated before being sealed away in the cradle. It's true we don't have any explicit mentions of the Metroids in the Chozo lore tablets, but I feel the theory requires far less logical leaps than Option C, which doesn't exactly have much more in terms of evidence either.

[@QrazyQuarian]

An easy fix to this could simply be that the Pirates saw the leftover Cradle tech and used it to trap Metroid Prime there after experiments on it (including the technology it absorbed) caused it to lose containment and control. In a plan that caused them to lose most of their army, they trapped it within the impact crater using the Cradle Chozo technology and sealed it away. Samus intercepts them calling for reinforcements, which is the start of the game. Boom. Problem solved. No need for Metroid evolutions, no need for strange changes--just a simple explanation for why it was sealed there after the Chozo died (which was before the Pirates got there.

[@3xcalius]

In Metroid Prime 3 in the room 5:29 u show here, there are multiple Metoid Primes if u look up

[@bland9876]

They could have just wrote the lore that a Metroid they had was being experimented on and they gave it a bunch of weapons as well as a bunch of phazon And then it grew too powerful for them to contain broke free of their containment and ran off then you can go with the phasing through walls and all that.

[@joeskis]

The fact that we're supposed to believe a human can be crushed into a ball and navigate it and come out of the ball with no ill effect, in addition to the idea that someone would choose to give up the use of a hand to have a cannon installed instead of wearing it like Megatron tells me that it's perfectly fine for things to not make sense in the storyline.

[@WaveOfDestiny]

Phazon cracked the barrier, that's why it's concentrated near the crater in the depths. Pirates couldn't detect the opening. A metroid slipped through the crack. Never wanted to get out because infinite phazon to eat

[@nillynush4899]

In Prime 3, you actually get to go to a Pirate Homeworld and see their ""culture"" firsthand. The lore is so much more interesting in the Prime games especially concerning the Chozo, Federation, and Pirates. You see how the Pirate's rampant industrialization has utterly destroyed their planet's atmosphere, everything is covered by toxic rain and Samus actually needs a suit upgrade to travel in it. And of course the Pirate Homeworld had the infamous Metroid Dread scan on it.

[@falconboi9126]

One problem, there is a Metroid prime corpse in one of the leviathans in prime 3, all but confirming that they are native to phaze

[@game-and-mic]

I'm aware of those, but I'd say it's easily possible that those are just other highly mutated Metroids which were introduced to Phaaze by Dark Samus between Prime 2 and 3. There's regular Phazon Metroids on Phaaze as well when you visit it in Prime 3

[@toaster_rtx1829]

No, since Dark Samus is responsible for taking Metroids to Phaaze. Most likely, the phazon had mutated a Tallon Metroid into a phazon Metroid, allowing it to pass into the crater and further mutate into Metroid Prime.

[@garouchieflol]

well i have an idea that explains why the metroid prime has the ability to swap beam resistances well talon 4 metroids that were already experimented on by the pirates gain certain weapon resistance and that ends in the colorfull metroids we encounter in the mines. well one of those escaped and fed up on so much phazon and the core that it mutated into the metroid prime and also unlocking the experiment made by the pirates and gave him the ability to change beam resistances.

[@bobbodaskank]

I think a near-acceptable explanation for the beam affinity of Metroid prime would be to look at the fission metroids. Evidently this is just some latent quality of the Talon strain of metroids, something resulting from poor containment conditions and early phazon tests. I could see the metroid which became Metroid prime having been a fission metroid to start before becoming a phazon model. It would explain why the impact crater is lousy with fission metroids. All its little division offspring floating about. Maybe the thing that became the little crab was just one of the descendant clones. Once it became robust enough to physically consume phazon instead of just absorbing its energy, that prompted its growth and eventually it's nomming of the phazon core. After all, when the pirates started eating phazon, they got pretty huge and aggressive too. I got nothing on the weapons though. I mean unless we just go with the attacks it uses merely resembling the weapons used by the pirates. Like it used pure phazon, its own chitin, and animal mimicry to release energy that just behaves like missiles do? I mean, they call it missiles in the scan, but none of the attacks actually look visibly mechanical.

[@BigHailFan]

if the fission metroids are able to blend with certain elements, who's to say the prime couldn't exploit that to use the elements as well as change its coloring?

[@videocrowsnest5251]

One thing that I am curious about regarding the impact crater force field cradle. Now, so the force field was meant to prevent Phazon spread by surrounding the crater, yes? So what about simply flying down from the Chozo temple that controls the field? While it is easy to chalk up to gameplay convenience over story telling, as I recall one could shoot freely down into the impact crater from the overlooking temple, unless there was a "lid" somewhere down below (making it a very interestingly shaped force field, a literal cup with a lid at the bottom), flying in/out should have been possible to some extent. This is how my young brain at the time computed the above-mentioned Metroid prime inconsistency being solved, though it raises even more questions due to then simply asking why the Space Pirates didn't just use cargo freighters to haul Phazon up from the deep pit instead of digging around the cup, considering there is no shortage of flying vehicles in the Metroid universe, and they even had ready access to jetpacks.

[@BigHailFan]

the field is more around the very core itself. but even it wasn't fully strong enough to prevent the spread. it just kept outsiders out but the phazon was able to leech out.

[@Nintendude.]

If it was a Metroid that escape Pirate containment, it may have suffered a sort of mutation due to possible experiments done to it before escaping, allowing it to have develop Beam-like abilities after evolving... Who knows maybe the Metroid manage to escape because it already had Beam abilities in the first place thanks to the Pirates experimenting on it.

[@leinadreign3510]

Impact Crater You can't read these words without that voice in your head

[@Angarl]

The Chozo created the Metroids, but did they create them from scratch or base them on a life form they already knew of? For example Metroid Prime. What if the Chozo of Talon IV took a sample of the DNA of the creature they encountered? Some of those Chozo could have migrated to SR388 and helped design the Metroids.

[@rtyuik7]

the fact that Prime doesnt look anything like a Metroid is a rather moot point...in MetroidII (or Samus Returns, if you like pretty remakes), the titular enemy that Samus is tasked with genociding takes many different shapes, with 'tougher' forms showing up in later levels...

[@matthewleto1180]

Aren’t Metroid Prime carapaces seen on Phaze in Corruption?

[@foulestsauce2404]

If you combine the lore of both versions you get Metroid prime was never a Metroid the first place but rather the Phazon core in its adult form

[@speedude0164]

It feels kinda lame that what you fight in the Impact Crater isn't actually the Worm that poisoned the Chozo's home but rather a Metroid that took it's place, but it's probably the best theory we'll get. As many commenters have said, the ends of Super and Dread show us that Metroids are able to syphon weapons, and Metroid Prime's 4 beam modes are shared by Fission Metroids which are only stated to have gotten those from Phazon mutation. There are two minor issues with it though, the first involving the 4 Chozo beam weapons. It doesn't make sense that Phazon would in any way be related to those weapons, so since Fission Metroids still attack like regular Metroids and are only vulnerable to their specific beam type, you can kinda narrow it down to just a gameplay thing. Prime however goes as far as to use attacks based on the current beam type it wields. It could've gotten that equipment from the Pirates before going into the Impact Crater and mutating, but as far as we know the Pirates only started reverse engineering Samus's weapons after her invasion of the Phendrana labs, so that really doesn't give it much time to absorb all the weapons it did and then make it to the Crater and fully absorb the core before Samus gets there. I think it's technically possible, but it still sounds a bit too convenient. The other issue involves Metroids' Phazon mutation. It would make sense for a Metroid to mutate into a Phazon Metroid, then a Hopper Metroid and finally a Metroid Prime for this theory to work, but at that point where do Hunter Metroids and Fission Metroids come from? Are they a different branch of evolution? Do they come between regular and Phazon Metroids or somewhere else? This one's a bit easier to justify as Phazon Metroids were only introduced in Corruption, but it feels like they should've appeared in that game if they're simply part of the mutation cycle. Maybe those mutations are only achievable through Pirate meddling, but then that calls into question whether the Fission's beam properties really come from Phazon. Overall it really seems like they just screwed themselves with this. I wonder what their intention was with Prime's origin. Did they intend it to have come to Tallon IV with the meteor, and at that point how do you explain the genetic similarities to Metroids? They could maybe fix this by having Prime 4 reveal that the material used by the Thoha to create the Metroids came from a corrupted planet and therefore had Phazon properties, but that's likely to create even more problems.

[@Daxyl]

What I wanna know is why is it called Metroid PRIME? Usually when I see "(noun) prime" it implies that that is the first one. The progenitor from which all other example imitate. If lore explained that the chozo used this creature as a base for their metroid research that would make sense, but from what I'm hearing the metroids definitely already existed when the chozo discovered prime.

[@urbiznesnunuv6938]

The actual flaw was the remaster being built on the pal build. Meaning the fission Metroids got put in the mines 😭😭😭

[@AsecasJavi]

Oh, care to explain?

[@urbiznesnunuv6938]

@@AsecasJavi so the original ntsc release had fission Metroids too but they were ONLY in the impact crater. Which of course regardless of version is the worst part of prime (the platforming bad). The pal version put fission Metroids in the path on the way to the omega pirate after defeating him making backtracking painful

[@AsecasJavi]

@@urbiznesnunuv6938 oooh i.understand now thanks

[@dunerid9794]

chozo might have brought metroids to this planet after the asteroid to eat the phazon like it would the XP but shit happens. time to lock up a bad idea lol

[@TheEveryDayC]

Easiest non-lore explanation: the writers for metroid prime and the writers for metroid fusion did not actually have communication between studios, making it impossible for the prime team's writers to actually be able to set their game up properly for the reveal of the origins of metroids within fusion. as far as prime's lore goes, it's entirely possible that metroids just happen to be on a number of planets, and one wound up on a radiation infused meteor, which then began to use phazon as a means of expanding its influence and essentially consuming life energy through the phazon itself to mutate further and further. obviously this doesn't actually solve the problem in an in-world sense, but if you think of the games that are fusion and beyond on the timeline as a kind of offshoot of the series, it does kind of wind up resolving itself with the timeline up to the point before fusion. not a satisfying answer that neatly ties all the lore of all the games together, but it's the one i kind of stick by.

[@WELLbethere]

Honestly, in a situation like this, instead of worrying about plugging in every gap, we should just acknowledge that a slight mistake was made and accept it. The original script is way more detailed and satisfying in my opinion, the only true inconsistency was "how were the space pirates and metroid going in and out of the crater?". Metroid prime being related to metroids but not being an actual metroid is much more mysterious and fun to think about. What if there's a world out there filled with metroid-relatives or natural metroid-likes, what if the chozo used them as the basis for making metroids or what if its a case of convergent evolution? There are cases to be made why a metroid-like creature might have come with the meteor, but it's not satisfying at all to remove lore entries from the game just to tie things up a little neater imo, especially when the result is still pretty inconsistent

[@AcousticHarmonia]

Sounds like things got rather complicated in the writing

[@deurikin2466]

I never saw Samus’ face in the remaster yet. She looks 40 with that haircut

[@urbiznesnunuv6938]

In my opinion a lot of prime’s issues would have been solved if they kept the original chozo lore from the ntsc version, while at the same time changing the space pirate lore to the pal release so the lore can stay less schizophrenic. It’s simultaneously the best of both worlds in that regard in that Metroid prime isn’t dining and dashing from the phazon mines at will and can be implied to be the leviathan inside the impact crater since it can’t really leave. It’s shaky but also unfortunately would be the best we can hope for.

[@theiceisnice]

I had always heard that it wasn't Retro Studios that rewrote the story but the PAL localizers who took it upon themselves to change the story to "fix it" and Retro wasn't happy about it. Was this ever true or just a rumor on the internet back then?

[@kennycarter5682]

for me its losing big progress when i die. cause i could not reach the save point in time

[@thenoob_artist0586]

Phazon Metroid can absorb the Phazon Core. Example Metroid Other M Queen absorb Ridley bio energy and adquire ability to shot plasma like Ridley. So Metroid Prime absorbing the Core acquired the ability to produce pure Phazon.

[@lpfan4491]

As stated in the video, a big inconsistency with the original story, which is likely what they tried to fix with the PAL-rewrite, is how the Phazon and Metroid Prime were outside the seal when it was still active and how MP later got back inside. The funny bit is, this problem is so stupidly self-inflicted that I can't believe it was broken unintentionally unless someone was under influence at Retro one day. Left unused in the game is an alternate version of the Log entry "Binding" that was written by the Chozo Ghosts. It says that the presence of the keys is not needed to grant passage past the seal, but rather to keep it active. When setting up base on the planet, the Space Pirates seperated them and tried to destroy them(to little success) because they feared their power. This undid the seal and that is why they were later able to find the Phazon and MP when they went digging. Sure, a few of the other logs need updates to reference this plotpoint correctly(instead of saying the seal is still there), but the overarching narrative does not even need to be touched to restore this idea. This also means that Samus' original goal was to restore the seal while MP was still back to hiding in there, which makes enough sense to me. And it honestly improves on the later exchange of Ridley bombing the place. In both finished versions, one would wonder why the Chozo Spirits don't just open the way earlier, since the threat is massive and immediate and collecting the keys doesn't really make her more worthy than before, it's just busywork to activate a teleporter that is not really needed. But with this pre-release log in mind, the point of it becomes very clear. They create a convinient and quick teleport into the crater as a last resort, because Ridley ruining the seal permanently means the only hope remaining is for MP to die. As for the issue of Metroid Prime being a metroid but also not, while possibly contradicting mainseries lore...that barely was a thing at the time of the game being written I assume. If we were to adjust the story after the fact to futureproof it tho, just take what TrashAim Gamer said in another comment as a baseline and expand from there. Metroid Prime is the original known being of the category and before sealing it, the Chozo studied its spawn that appeared one day(Since it can reproduce at will as we can see in its fight) without fully realizing that they were related to the big thing in the crater that they nicknamed the worm. They then sent over their findings to the Chozo on other planets, after which the ones on SR388 found out that their genetic details make them into great weapons against the X and thus those guys created Non-phazon versions of these things and called them Metroid. It would even cover for Metroids mutating back into Phazon-creatures in the prime games because it's already a thing in the lore that they evolve diffrently depending on what conditions they grow up in. Sure, it would look a bit pretentious for this subseries to say "A Phazon-creature is the Metroid's true form", but at least it would play well enough with the rest of the series. And for how MP3 solves like 2 of the questions present but opens up at least 10 new ones: MP3 stinks, not afraid to say it. It says enough to me about how MP1 and 2 generally treated Phazon as a self-spreading substance with dedicated producers like MP being secondary(Aka. how the stuff is everywhere on Dark Aether despite the meteorite not surviving the impact as a result of to the dimensional shift), yet we are suddenly introduced to these leviathans that were never mentioned prior. There is just too much weirdness going on in that game that is partially just sorta unbelievable and partially a straight retcon.

[@TomMcD71]

That would mean the Chozo erected the cradle to imprison phazon intriguing 🤔

[@andreworders7305]

How did they make this much of an oversight, lol

[@Regularguy2nd]

honestly i just feel like the best explanation is the metroid prime is not a metroid whatsoever and is in fact a fully mature version of a leviathan. we see a larval version of a leviathan on phaaze and the leviathan we see on the planets like bryyo, elysia, and the space pirate homeworld must have been some sort of adolescent stage in development and were unable to defend themselves so they had their guardian but since metroid prime was fully mature it was clearly very capable of defending itself which is why we don't see a guardian within the impact crater. if what i say is true then it would perfectly explain everything with pretty much no inconsistencies. put simply all of metroid prime was just a leviathan that had crashed on tallon 4 and has stayed there long enough to fully mature and it being sealed away would explain why there isn't that much phazon compared to the other phazon stricken plants in prime 3 that had just been impacted not the long ago

[@ladyaceina]

considering the talon 4 chozo could see the future the worm is still likely the metroid prime just they where un aware the worm was not born yet

[@game-and-mic]

Fair point, makes more sense than the cobbled together explanation I gave in the video

[@glorbinkolguzzler]

The orpheon made a video explaining this he stated that metroid prime is only called that because it means ultimate warrior in the chozo language and in metroid prime 3 outside the room where you fight dark Samus there is a few exoskeletons of creatures that look similar to metroid prime

[@gatzdrummer]

The problem with that, is that the chozo did not name metroid prime, the pirates did. The pirates named it that as "the ultimate metroid", they wouldn't have had any idea the of the chozo definition.

[@Timdeuces]

And yet Dread continues to have much worse continuity errors than Prime ever did

[@cherubin7th]

But there are Metroids inside the crater when you enter it. This shows that Metroids managed to get into it despite the barrier. So kind of simple. Metroids got in and one are multiple of them fused with the phazon core making Metroid Prime.

[@lpfan4491]

It is entirely possible that the metroids in the crater are the spawn of Metroid Prime, rather than it being proof that more came in from the outside.

[@jawstrock2215]

@@lpfan4491 Prime spawns them in the fight itself so, yes.

[@andreworders7305]

Did they use the European version in the remaster?

[@urbiznesnunuv6938]

In my opinion, the pirate lore alone isn’t necessarily an issue in the pal version, but the changes to the chozo lore in the pal version was a bit pointless and removes a lot of the agency of the player. Learning about prime itself was epic and hearing Samus named by the chozo felt epic and gave the player an express reason to get interested. But calling her “the entrusted one” is so vague it glazes over the player’s eyes and you’re disconnected emotionally from the plot. I liked the Metroid prime remaster but the lore being the same as pal in every regard I can’t say I loved it.

[@urbiznesnunuv6938]

It feels like retro needed to rationalize prime 1’s plot but ironically made prime 1 less unique imo.

[@xxProjectJxx]

Here's my theory that's based entirely on headcanon and no evidence. Some Chozo tribe settled on a planet near Phaaze. Just as the SR-388 Chozo engineered the Metroids to deal with the X, the Phaaze Chozo engineered a Metroid-Like species to combat Phazon. Ditch the idea that it was a typical Metroid. Go back to the idea that it just has similar genetic makeup to the Metroids. The plan, however, went terribly wrong, and these pseudo-Metroids became corrupted by the Phazon. One of them hitched a ride on the leviathan. Having Metroid Prime be, in part, from Chozo origin better explains how it integrates Samus' suit and weapons. How did Metroid Prime integrate Space Pirate weapons? I'm just going to retcon things. Let's just say the Space Pirates found a way to enter the cradle, but couldn't escape. Sending researchers into dangerous places with no clear exit? That's par for the course for the Space Pirates.

[@theiceisnice]

I still think the original lore story was superior and resulted in the least amount of subsequent plot holes. I always tend to just handwave the original plot hole as just that; they do happen sometimes. In this case I think it was forgivable. The original lore script was overall better written and kept more mystery, for example like how it never refered to Samus directly by name and simply called her "The Fledgling".

[@HailMyKayle]

"X parasite were exclusive to SR388 until space pirates stole them spreading them across the galaxy" This is completely and utterly false. The X re-appeared in dread because of the chozo warriors raven beak had taken with him to try and collect the metroids on SR388 and were unknowingly infected by the parasites.

[@darthjump]

Tallon Metroids and SR Metroids are not the same Species. That is my belief. All Tallon Metroids were produced by Metroid Prime. Hence the name. He was the First. He might even have been the blueprint for the SR Metroids. The Chozo made the SR Metroids after observing the Tallon Metroids created by Metroid Prime.

[@jackiesimplejake]

strangely enough the original script is a more interesting story. The question of how did Metroid Prime return to the impact crater is a problem, but this version of Metroid Prime is somewhat more ominous. What exactly is this being that is so closely related to a Biological/Lab created Abomination. It's not a Metroid but shares so many traits and also displays a certain level of intelligence/Motive. The Phazon Metroid theory works well enough for most of us. Having the overall goal/identity of the villain change consistently because of some parasitic Alien shit is Sci-fi AF haha. 1st the "WORM" is the leviathan core, then its Metroid prime, then its Dark Samus, then Dark Samus hijacks an entire planet with an organic super computer that she symbiotically attaches herself too. lolol WTF RETRO????

[@Lilhajxjk274]

I think the game could of been better and worth 40 if they added the cut content from the original. It would of made the game 2 to 5 hours longer

[@Eric-gq6ip]

Nintendo has always been pretty sloppy with lore. Fans try to read between the lines and make sense of it, but the reality is that Nintendo historically hasn't really cared about lore consistency and tended to produce a bunch of one-off games in a franchise that could almost be viewed as each occuring in their own alternate universe (see the entire Legend of Zelda franchise for example).

[@aedge622]

Im sorry, you got 100% in less than 5 hrs! I just got 100% but in like... 14! I'm impressed!!

[@MisterL777]

I was expecting a 10min rant about how disappointing and boring the last phase of Metroid Prime is. Turns out this is a little more interesting. I like how the "I'm a ghost now" aspect of the last form is somehow not an issue in the slightest.

[@blackestyang7528]

Metroid Prime's biggest blunder is using Omega Pirate instead of Kraid

[@legrandliseurtri7495]

Omega pirate so much more impressive.

[@Paul-A01]

A wizard did it.

[@freedomdst]

real answer, metroid prime sounded cool, and they didnt expect to do sequels, so with enough explanations and retcons they can balance things out. Prime 3 kind of explained and expanded on something they never intented. I mean the game is called metroid, they had to have something as a final boss. And no, it doesnt create any problems really, only to lore nerds

[@schwarzerritter5724]

I always thought the Metroids originated from the Metroid Prime. When studying the Metroid Prime and the fission metroids it created, the Chozo discovered a resistance to the X and used them as weapons against the X. Without phazon, the fission metroids lost their ability to split and became the metroids we have seen in other games.

[@JJAB91]

I don't really buy Option C. The timing is too precise and frankly a bit ridiculous. Option B with the Chozo having taken a metroid from off planet to Tallon IV for reasons despite not being explicitly mentioned makes much more sense. Its not out of the realm of possibility and would fit with the log entries about the "worm" the Chozo mention as well as fitting in with the lore from Prime 3 where it states the leviathan takes pretty much the first thing it sees and has it become the guardian. In Tallon IV's case if would be that metroid.

[@jamescaulfield6632]

Metroid in chozo language means Ultimate Warrior the Metroid Prime is not an actual Metroid although does have some similar traits in its true form I'm guessing that space pirates used instruments to see the creature but couldn't remove the seal like sonar or x-ray or some kind of scan in a little bit of chozo lore of what they could probably decipher space pirates wanted the source of the Faison because it was highly mutagenic they were hoping that they can use it to create obedient metroid's that way Conquering the universe would be pretty easy but as far as Metroid Prime being a Metroid no but they can answer all of this and wrap all of this stuff up in Metroid Prime 4

[@neonmenace1592]

Bro don't insult Zelda. It's timeline is more complicated than the Metroid one, but it's definitely cohesive and there are links from the games to the timeline to back it up.