XCOM Lore: The Invasion (XCOM 2 and WoTC Timeline)

[@generaldaedric]

In my mind XCOM plays out that after taking down EXALT, and the assault on the alien base to kill the Sectoid Commander. The Elders stage a massive attack on XCOM’s home base and successfully captures the Commander. This leads to almost all the research projects being completed, so all the unlocks in the Legacy Pack like the plasma weapons were already in production.

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

I also really love the EXALT storyline. Same with Zhang, Annette and Meld. The "CANON", the Timelines, and the tiers of canon of XCOM are..... we'll say, interesting. Multi-verse theory is a monster in of itself.

[@ChickenRieder]

@@MiskatonicMemorialist the multi-verse would make save scumming canon

[@FeCyrineu]

​@@MiskatonicMemorialist Canonically, XCOM was never able to rescue Annete. According to XCOM: Chimera Squad, she was captured by the Elders and went insane after 20 years of captivity.

[@ryudhal]

@@FeCyrineu :(

[@lei302]

@@FeCyrineu wait really when did it state that, I always assumed that the developers stating that the volunteer survived the Victory ending confirmed that ending as canon

[@thetalkingbear]

I remember the 90's original. Chryssalids were freaking scary. You could lose half your squad or worse in no time.

[@botep5529]

God. Yes. Something terrifying about how they looked and moved (even though the graphics were simple). Or showing up on a terror sight and seeing a civilian zombie and knowing they could be lurking anywhere. Scared the shit out of child me. Reavers as well. I still remember that reavers we're vulnerable to incinderary from their autopsy.

[@kacknoobdeluxe]

two words: Incendiary Grenadiers

[@yankchef4067]

Doing the alien ship invasion missions manually is what I miss most about the old games. Enemy unknown kept this to a certain extent, not like apocalypse tho

[@spaceman8935]

I always remember, chryssalid mission = find a two story building, get everyone up stairs and blow up the stairs and just overwatch.

[@twinodoom]

That hasn't changed.

[@normtrooper4392]

Phoenix point might be a good idea to talk about since it has a lot of eldritch themes and is also a XCOM style game

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

I'll keep that in mind.

[@Felix0587]

Im not gonna lie, as much as I loved both games, im kinda salty about the weird lore continuity issues. Which battles actually happened? Which technologies and autopsies were actually uncovered? Which characters were actually real? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

Saaaame.

[@gregonasi8020]

Yess

[@suzhengchong2593]

XCOM 2 is a what if scenario of XCOM failing to defeat the aliens.

[@sectoid-with-internet-access]

@@suzhengchong2593 so theoretically, if the devs/creators of xcom one day suddenly decide that the cannon ending is that xcom successfully defeated aliens in the first game that would mean that xcom 2 is basically just a fever dream and not real

[@suzhengchong2593]

@@sectoid-with-internet-access yes that's how it works

[@Mario53415]

This needs like 50M views. I recently started playing XCOM 2 after watching my friend play it a bit I was super interested. 55 hours later and I still feel like I’m just a novice at the game, I lost my first campaign lol. I’ve fallen in love with xcom tho, setting up ambushes and wiping out an enemy squad in 1-2 turns, the trooper customization and getting attached to them, rebuilding the world network and actually feeling like you’re starting to push back advent. Xcom 2 is really a game I never knew I needed so much until I had it. I pray that an XCOM 3 is released sometime soon !

[@FallingofftheGrid]

Oh boy, losing a campaign though… does that not put you off trying again? To have all that progress lost?

[@XIsleTheWanderer]

XCom: Chimera Squadron is essentially XCom 3 :)

[@MomJeans1738]

Hopefully Fireaxis will work on Xcom 3 after Midnight Suns comes out later this year

[@Mario53415]

@@FallingofftheGrid not really, at least this loss didn’t. I didn’t make it very far on my very first campaign. The 55hours was my second attempt at the game

[@justnick7691]

@@FallingofftheGrid Restartings part of the fun

[@catmanmliolunny]

In my mind Xcom wasn’t the only group fighting nations armies fought along side Xcom Civilian militias likely formed but prob got wiped out badly

[@deloreanrc]

Makes sense in all honesty. If the Raven could take out UFOs...why not a conventional Fighter/ why wouldn't Raven's be used by other Nations? If XCOM could reverse engineer alien tech to make new weapons...why couldn't other nations with far more resources and manpower than X-COM? XCOM would be teh main reaction force against the Invasion....but no way in hell any nation would just wait for XCOM to save them when they got plenty of guns and tanks and planes in which to drop a couple thousand Aliens. In my head, XCOM always took the vital missions; mostly involving going after powerful Alien weapons like Alien Battleships, which only XCOM's Firestorms could take on, and trying to local the Alien commanders to take out their leadership like the Sectoid Commander and the Elders. While XCOM did that....the rest of the world's Militaries were showing teh Eldar's invasion forces how they too can fight back, and just as harshly as XCOM can. And while I doubt the world Militaries got Plasma weapons to work...IRL we have been working on Lasers and railguns, I have no doubt at least ONE Nation had Laser or MAG weapons.

[@warwolf3005]

It wasn't, we can see that pretty much in every source, even Volk's backstory, as he assembled a milita group and fought aliens in 2015, once fighting side by side by Bradford. Also it can be inferred that Earth militaries managed to get a number of UFO kills even, given that XCOM only shot down 2 UFOs during the invasion directly (Resurrection), and there's multiple UFO wrecks we find around the world, including at least 1 Battleship wreck the aliens lost (Battleship rumour), and at least one more likely was destroyed as part of the Battlefield rumour (the weird glow in the sky remains even 20 years ago, and origin of that can only be alien tech - the takeaway must be that the Battleship engaged was eliminated, leaving behind the tech to produce the weird lights)

[@matthewjones39]

I think it’s pretty clear that the armies of the world wouldn’t stop existing just because Xcom exists.

[@Edmar_Fecler]

​@@warwolf3005 where do you get this more detailed information? from a wiki, or is there a book or comic or something?

[@warwolf3005]

While XCOM continued to fight after, from secondary facilities, such as the one where Shen completed the Spark project, the main hq is known to have been lost "Within a matter of weeks", with the Commander having been captured. This likely occured in late April, matching the timeframe needed for aliens to eliminate the threat from developed countries ("In less than two months' time, open hostilities between the aliens and Earth's forces ravaged much of the planet's developed world leaving the survivors desperate and alone."). By this point of course, it was all over, as without developed countires' industry there would be no way to contest aliens in the air.

[@Edmar_Fecler]

where do you get this more detailed information? from a wiki, or is there a book or comic or something?

[@warwolf3005]

@@Edmar_Fecler ("In less than two months' time, open hostilities between the aliens and Earth's forces ravaged much of the planet's developed world leaving the survivors desperate and alone.") - that's from in game archives. We know Shen continued the spark project after HQ fell, and from multiple sources we know the main was no longer operational after alien assault (xcom being splintered into disconnectd groups, Bradford's dialogue in TLP, Resurrection book), this means there had to have been a secondary facility. Possibly even the secondary facility was the factory we see in lost (twin) towers mission. The idea that XCOM had secondary facilities is also supported by Resurrection book.

[@cleo958]

I really liked your Darkest Dungeon, and now you're going on my favourite strategic game, i'm very excited !!

[@SheyOfTheFae]

I had no idea the project was established the year I was born. This was amazing. Will you include some characters from Chimera Squad as well? Verge apparently plays an important role in the invasion and the resistance. I’m excited to see where you go with this jumbled and fluid timeline.

[@ShawndaPrawn]

I’ve heard about that too. Apparently, Verge’s role during the invasion was to manipulate Earth’s leaders into surrendering to the Ethereals (hell, maybe he’s the Sectoid we see controlling the Spokesman in the EU bad ending, seeing as how the XCOM 2 Sectoids were augmented with Human DNA). However, Verge apparently developed empathy for humanity, likely due to spending so much time in Human minds, and so became a mole within ADVENT, leaking information to the resistance.

[@bronzeinkwell2590]

The beginning felt like I was watching a trailer to the game. So freaking good mate.

[@user-en4eo1cc4t]

When the devs make a sequel just to tease you for failing the defense of the first game

[@ShawndaPrawn]

Reminds me of 1d4chan’s summary of the events between games. “Remember that Legend difficulty Ironman campaign you started for a laugh? Yeah, that was canon.”

[@stevejez194]

Enjoyed all your DD content - looking forward to more XCOM!

[@l.q.a.6279]

The Ancestor sold out XCOM's old base. Can't have shit in the Hamlet.

[@ledsanreplays8225]

Wait, so were going directly to xcom 2? Man i was really hoping to see more xcom eu and xcom ew lore and theories. But well when we talk about xcom, when do we get what we want? THATS XCOM BABY

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

I was gonna get around to that. Different timelines, characters, groups etc. EW got me into XCOM so I always have a soft spot for its storylines.

[@ledsanreplays8225]

@@MiskatonicMemorialist Well thats only good news, the xcom timeline is such a mess, but a super fun and interesting one, im looking forward for more xcom content.

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

Me too. And yeah this timeline is... Complicated. But a fascinating world.

[@shadowsintox9]

I want an XCOM and EDF collaboration.

[@QuasarSolarStorm]

Ok before someone replies EDF stands for earth defence force.

[@ShawndaPrawn]

XCOM: okay, let’s try to be careful about this. Stay in cover, engage the enemy where possible, but try to be at least somewhat professional about it. EDF: we saw a couple of spiders, so we called in an air strike. Yes, we had to collapse that skyscraper, it was in the way!

[@shadowsintox9]

@@ShawndaPrawn E-D-F

[@davidbeaver21]

If I run into the viper king 5 missions in one more time im breaking my switch in half.

[@0922redboy]

Great Content As usual man. Keep up the good work

[@robonator2945]

jesus christ the quality. I mean this quality is on par with channels over 10x the size, maybe even 50x. The only issues I can really say I even noticed were minor pacing and VA oddities.

[@moltenterror2135]

Really smart use of cutscenes.

[@mephistobarto7618]

Really liked your video! Keep going and i'm sure you'll get big numbers!

[@ShaqNasty557]

Could we get a lore video on the aliens and the Ethereals controlling them?

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

;)

[@ShawndaPrawn]

Sadly, there might not be much there to go over. In XCOM 2, it’s revealed that all the aliens XCOM fought in the invasion and the occupation were themselves invaded and enslaved by the Ethereals long before coming to Earth. Judging by how much they took to Human culture after the collapse of ADVENT, it doesn’t look like much of their own cultures survived.

[@aaronfields7146]

It’s been proven by science! Xcom is in fact the best game ever made!

[@extremelucario6430]

Hello from switzerland. Awesome lore content here.

[@TheRedpuff]

Honestly what I want most is to be able to play this timeline from the start. Building up forces, losing government support, evacuating HQ, finding the Avenger... would be a great prologue.

[@andrewwales8827]

My personal canon is that the timelines split right after we won the alien base assault mission. With how long they've been operating on Earth in secret (as confirmed in XCOM 2), the invasion had been a slow-burn science expedition up until that point.The Elders, finally deciding that they've had enough of our shit, roll the planet with an armada of battleships and annihilate all resistance in one stroke. XCOM was such a pain in the ass for them that they realized that it would be easier to crush us with overwhelming force and install a puppet regime than continue with the slow burn escalation plan that they had been following so far. And that makes me happy.

[@outforbeer]

I hope they redo xcom early invasion storyline with better graphics

[@Aurora2097]

Ever dug deeper into the lore of the original two games? Like the Ethereals, Sectoids... the city of Rleh and the ctulhu-looking dreamer-alien?

[@ravenclaw9122]

Perfectly done thank you

[@NineBreakerUIXB]

This is cool, it autoplayed after I was replaying my own videos on my channel IX B for reference in conversation so I accidently came across it. But really great work on both summary and editing my friend

[@Mr.Beanyuwu]

In canon it only took 2 months for humanity to fail?? I would have accept 5 years or even 3, but 2months, thats not even half playthrouth

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

Yup. That's the official timeline. Didn't even get past conventional firearms. It's stated that the aliens went full blitzkrieg and overwhelmed the earth.

[@ShawndaPrawn]

@@MiskatonicMemorialist damn. I liked to think they managed to take down the Temple Ship, but got roflstomped by the second wave afterwards.

[@photosyntheticzee9915]

kinda sux that I did the temple ship mission but its not canon

[@jesserobertson8397]

more lore please love it!

[@AndouHarvey]

THIS is what XCOM is about. Not that chimera squad fanfiction shit

[@Raz.C]

For your next video, could we do a deep dive into these new Human-Alien hybrids? Are Human-Alien Hybrid boobs magical devices of mind control, the same way that human boobs are? Is it possible to do a bikini parade of the hybrids?

[@CrashCraftLabs]

i been playing xcom since the early 90s lol these new games are fun but imiss the world base building the OGs had, the mechanics are better for sure tho, i still like the oddball bureau allot for its mechanics

[@alcidesprieto1967]

Would you like to know more? Yes No

[@mokadelic4037]

Fireaxis announced the new Civ 7, I hope soon we'll hear some news on Xcom 3... it's been way too long...

[@CaptainPilipinas]

[Darn. I thought it was about the Last City's.... [releases a breath of relief]]

[@박제욱-z5x]

XCOM3 빨리 나오면 좋겠다

[@gasmaskman1354]

The Combine (half-life) : less then two months? thats way to slow to conquer earth.

[@Scottishtroop87]

Id love to know the alien lore

[@akigreus9424]

Study up on Kennedy Initiative called "excom" :D

[@scottishlad7497]

Honestly, what was so bad about Advent in the first place? Im talking particularly in xcom 2, sure they did a few experiments to try and cure the elders and they used humans in that cure. But didnt xcom itself kind of overreact?

[@jacobhederstrom8198]

so from what i can tell the canon is that you lost the first game, personally i would have liked it if you actually won it in canon, but all you did was defeat the vangaurd and the rest of the invasion arrived shortly after the big ships destruction.

[@fireheist6603]

im a quite late, but i just finish x-com: enemy within and not just never had the mission of annette, but i dont like at all the fact that winning the game it snot cannon. I mean, they could have made the base defense mission the last one, you win that, resist the attack, but after that another one comes and x-com its not ready, still licking their wounds and commander taken, end of the game, scinematic, The end...or make the countries leave x-com like as part of the game and that leads to the events of x-com 2(wich i played before the 1 xD). I dont know, i just dont like winning a game an have an ending that its not canon, it bothers me and needed to spit it out xD

[@AntWrig]

The term ufo is played out.

[@fang5891]

wait didnt we win xcom1

[@rootbeersaint4411]

Sure did, in the simulation...

[@twinodoom]

Only in XCOM 1.

[@wtimu6945]

Pls more xcom

[@MeetingColony]

What does WOTC Stand For?

[@MiskatonicMemorialist]

War of the Chosen. It's the acronym for the XCOM 2 Expansions/DLC

[@piotr3580]

Only to mounths? Ok

[@matthewjones39]

What?

[@satanamogila9251]

​@@matthewjones39Only to mounths? Ok

[@matthewjones39]

@@satanamogila9251 ok

[@Fuzzypotato2]

My man needs a script editor.

[@overland1178]

XCOM 2 is ass

[@ynkybomber]

XCOM 3 XCOM 3 XCOM 3!

[@zangetsudx1]

Xcom 2 was an alternate reality. It wasn't a sequel.

[@matthewjones39]

No it isn’t

[@zangetsudx1]

@@matthewjones39Yes it was. Go back and play Xcom: Enemy Within/Unknown. At the end you beat the temple ship. Nowhere in the game did they surrender nor got conquered by the aliens.

[@matthewjones39]

@@zangetsudx1 Wow, it’s almost like winning isn’t the canon ending.

[@zangetsudx1]

@@matthewjones39 Winning would be the canon ending. Why play a game if you're suppose to lose every mission, campaign, etc...?

[@matthewjones39]

@@zangetsudx1 I don’t see your logic. It’s not like losing is the “good ending,” it’s just the canon one.