The "TRUE" Ending is Not What You Think - Armored Core VI Lore

In today's video I will be talking about the multiple endings in Armored Core VI.
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[@joshprimegaming]

This is my first "Lore" video, I may have gotten some information wrong but it was a blast making this. Please let me know any criticism below as I always want to improve my videos.

[@drunkduck]

Prompting discussion with theories is a fun thing, keep it up!

[@James_Rustled]

I liked it. The more people making videos, lore interpretation, gameplay, anything, is good for the life of the game

[@taddad2641]

The ending isn't bad simply because Ayre was part of the trigger. Ayre, an optimist and hopefuly entity. .... Ayre isn't human by the way, she is an alien, a bit of sentience that manifested in the coral.... its possible that such a thing reflects its host too. Maybe that means that why 621... why Raven, is so strong and fierce, is cause he has hope, a will to live. ayre reflected that into the best of humanity. Even when she tries to convince you to betray carla... Well there is a morality behind that too beyond just preserving the coral, as they were planning on genociding the entire planet too. She is optimism If allmind was the one to do it then it be the bad ending, as she would have repressed free will.

[@serraramayfield9230]

@taddad2641 The denominations given to the endings "Good/Bad/True" are entirely fanmade & subjective, and not official connotations. Furthermore giving them such basic labels ignores their nuance.

[@r3gret2079]

Why are we called "the trigger" and Ayre even says "we'll pull the trigger", n yet, nobody does a damn thing. Shit just pops off, while we just stand there. Sooooo, how tf are we the trigger exactly? Cuz it seems like if we just, didn't do anything, just sat n had a cup of coral tea, the coral would have condensed to a black hole regardless. What could we even have done to speed up the process or even set it off? Cuz we literally didn't do shit, n the release happened anyways. Shit has me so confused....

[@kanadashyuugo873]

7:10 Coral COULD be disembodied soul OR a completely new alien intelligence. Neither is at any point confirmed in the game, BUT just Ayre saying she is a Rubiconian without a body can mean BOTH, and if Coral's origin is Rubicon then she is more rubiconian than the human colonists, even if actually an alien

[@joshprimegaming]

yup the lore is really deep in this one

[@matasa7463]

The Coral itself has swarm intelligence. Ayers and the other "Rubiconians" are just thoughts flowing across Coral streams, just like how you're just brainwaves pulsing through neuron clusters. Humans and Coral intelligence can mesh together because they're both gestalt entities, emergent properties of a cluster of swarm intelligent cells. The Coral flows together like a swarm, a "flock" as Ayrers puts it, and they communicate through the Coral as voices that some Augmented Humans can hear. Most of the time, it's the people that has Coral Augmentations that can hear them, but 621 got hit with a huge surge of Coral flow, and it probably acted like a Super Augmentation to him, and combined with his existing augs, made him into some kind of Coral-Human hybrid that can hear the Coral C-wave thoughts. He's basically a perfect form of Dolmayan, almost like a saviour of Rubicon, in a way. Only he could bring the Coral and Humanity together.

[@strongback6550]

If Coral enables disembodied human souls to persist, it is more a reason to destroy it because we have discovered the means of creating a hell for mankind where we trap souls instead of allowing people to drift to blissful oblivion when their time comes. I can only see three ways this will end with Coral. Either souls within it, artificial or no, will eventually be placed into living hell by our victory and utilization of them to fullest extent, they will conquer mankind where we will be enslaved and serve as puppets for them or we erase them from existence. All coral in the galaxy should be hunted down and erased to the last atom if it allows human souls to be harvested even theoretically

[@sebastianedwards4207]

Wish siding with Balam was an ending

[@joshprimegaming]

me too lol

[@maricorp.449]

My first playthrough when I chose arquebus I felt so bad because Michigan respected me so much. Just talking me up as I slaughter his best soldiers.

[@filipgasic2642]

Hell nah. At the end of the day they're just another greedy corp, just like the Arquebus and they betray you in chapter 4

[@johntravolta8494]

Fr though. Cool game, but the multiple endings don't feel like there's a lot of actual choice involved 😢

[@MrShadowofthewind]

​@@filipgasic2642But you betray them first by taking out their trainee, the prototype AC is a trainee for Balam, taking him out is your door to gun 13.

[@MaidenlessScrub]

Imagine you're binded to a hot-headed person instead of someone calm like Ayre. "Raven, why did you not not jump when the enemy used a sweep attack? You piloting skills suck ass" "Shut the fuck up, back seater. You ain't doing jack shit."

[@joshprimegaming]

Omg that would suck

[@latai9364]

i think Ayre soul isn't stuck in the coral but rather she is the coral an alien life form. Allmind called Ayre a C-pulse wave mutation , i think the reason Ayre gain conciseness is because she make contact with you C4-621, some how gen 4 and below augmented human can trigger the mutation

[@joshprimegaming]

yup that makes sense

[@itsdantaylor]

not sure if JUST gen 4. It seemed at the end Walter, after his Coral Augment could suddenly 'see' Ayre.

[@richardrussel4567]

Don't forget Sulia I think her name is. Dulmyan used to have a voice in his head too because of all the coral he was smoking lol. Pretty sure he was completely unaugmented

[@laipsax]

@@richardrussel4567 It was Seria but yeah you are right about smoking . lol

[@SSpider41]

​@@itsdantaylorIts gen 1-4 that have connection. Unaugmented can get it while using coral as a drug.

[@protodevilin]

The idea that the coral souls inhabiting the ACs comprises an "army" assumes that every single man, woman, and child who was killed in the Fires of Ibis is now a militant ready to prosecute war. Institute City, the surface Grid, the Spaceport, etc. were all more likely populated by workers and their families, the overwhelming majority of which were not combatants; corporate fighting forces, MT battalions, and AC squads would have made up only the tiniest fraction of Rubicon's total population. So while an entire planet's worth of individual consciousnesses being embodied in ACs would give them tremendous destructive power, I would bet that almost all of them abhor violence generally, and are just happy to be "alive" and walking around again, rather than immediately jumping head-first into bloody conflict. A central theme of AC6 seems to be the utter dependence that victims of human augmentation surgery have on the machines they pilot, and vice versa. When you're captured by Arquebus and have to make your escape from Snail's re-education prison, you seem to be slowly crawling on your belly in the mud, before discovering the AC that Walter planted there for you. This suggests that the player character is physically disabled, and can only experience freedom of movement (and eventually, freedom of choice) when plugged into an AC. The Coral Release ending furthers this theme to its logical extreme: millions, perhaps billions of disembodied minds, unable to effect anything substantial in the physical world, are finally given "bodies" again. Humanity's dependence on the machines they've created is now forever cemented in the form of this new "race" of ACs.

[@kanadashyuugo873]

On the other hand, a new intelligence emerging AFTER 50 years ago Humanity fired the first shot with the Fires of Ibis, trying to genocide them... yea, THAT could be trouble

[@TheTrueHolyDarkness]

So basically we created the Autobots/Decepticons?

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

When Raven can move via AC plugin, doesn't it feel like Mikazuki Augus? Who lost his nerve function but became active when he was plugged into a Gundam?

[@maxdragonslayer]

Any human caught in the release is turned into coral, every man, woman, and child as well (not just from fires of ibis which was only planet wide while the coral release was universe wide)... well, if they had 4th gen modifications, if not, well, im pretty sure they just died, but on the off chance they did get turned into coral....how do they reporduce (build new a new a.c)...can ppl even escape thier michines if thier ac breaks like they could with ejection seats (or do they just die like how the coral michines do when thier generaters explode)or they get stuck under rock or are put into a ac body thats broken.... How many parts can they change before they are no longer them selves. There are so many issues with the third end that make it a bad end for humanity as a whole, not just losing their bodies to the coral ppl are separated from thier families, kids are a.c with super weapons and no one can tell them no or they will kill someone because they got angry objects will become bigger, so ppl can now store their a.c bodies bigger buildings bigger mechs for our mechs to pilot. It's honestly kind of a shit show

[@weasel003gaming7]

The True Ending imo definitely isn't good or bad, but its name gives exactly what its whole premise is: Alea Iacta Est (The Die is Cast). Some fear the Coral because they know that Humanity as we know it would cease to exist, it'd take a whole new form that people would need to get used to. Some see it as the change that it is and others misread it as an apocalypse, and so they either fear it or simply reject it out of comfort of the shitty way things are. Those who seek the potential of symbiosis, however, are searching for a way to evolve Humanity in a way that people aren't quite ready yet for but needs to happen if Humanity wishes to continue on, even if in a different form entirely. No one was willing to cast the die because they were scared of change, but the ones who embraced change cast the die and took the responsibility of what would happen next unto themselves. Alea Iacta Est leads to an inevitable fall, yes, but that fall allows for something new to arrive, new concepts and ideas, new things to explore, amongst other things. It's meant to be a drastic change, hence Ayre claiming it was the beginning of a new Age.

[@joshprimegaming]

Yup that makes sense. It's definitely a point of no return.

[@Sorain1]

It also fits as a name because where before the Coral was never in position to wage war on each other (barring my theory on Allmind and Ayre coming into conflict counting) the way humans have. But with Release, now Coral intelligences will have that option, to try and decide the way forward with force. So it starts a civil war (of sorts) in the doing. For sure, the results could not be undone.

[@keroro407]

Similar to Dark Souls III, we usher the coming of a new age, from The Age of Fire into The Age of Darkness.

[@AscendantStoic]

Except none of the people who got transformed had any choice in the matter (and those who knew the possible outcome and did object like Okeefe and Father Dolymen got assassinated by us), so I'd say it's a terrible ending, ending 2 at least the RLF choose to rise and fight back on their own terms and freewill, and the ending is quite hopeful that a measure of co-existence might be found (better than the extreme measures in ending 1 and 3).

[@matasa7463]

Dolmayan was supposed to be the one, together with Seria, to bring about this change, but he got scared, and couldn't do it, so it fell to Raven and Ayers. He even said it himself - he couldn't bring himself to cast that die.

[@gabrielclark1425]

Basically, Humanity became Cybertronians with Coral serving as their Sparks.

[@XShadowzVarcolac]

Our real life equivalent of coral is nuclear power. Japan already has mixed feelings about nuclear power, especially after the tsunami that caused a meltdown and it seems the devs took inspiration for it. Also i highly doubt coral explosions can wipe humanity considering that RLF exists on the very planet that got hit point blank by the fires of ibis

[@joshprimegaming]

Oh that makes sense. Thanks

[@codename1176]

yeah so many people messed up at Fukushima the generators for the pumps were below Sealevel AND none of them were gravity fed. It's really funny when you look at DOE safety standards all of the failures since Chernobyl have been due to cutting corners in some way. Chernobyl didn't have the most basic of safeties a concrete dome to trap contaminated steam in the event of failure. Modern systems are so safe we could automate them.

[@howdoichangemyprofilepictu9839]

​@Xiado giant tsunami: but yea I guess you right given that there is really no point in blaming a natural disaster. It is general electrics fault for not preparing better. Especially given how tsunami and earthquake prone Japan is.

[@Stran-md7vh]

So it's For Answer all over again

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

​@@Stran-md7vhwhat For Answer? Hideo Kojima Particles?

[@NightriderX2]

"Main System Activating Combat Mode" with her voice was just paying homage to the originals.

[@Ghent_Halcyon]

While I hadn't considered the fact that the companies would likely go after the Coral AC's, I doubt that they would have any resources or pilots left to actually defeat them. Also, when Arye says "activating combat mode", you have to realize that in standard mode, AC's can't really move, and also consider her humor.

[@TheTrueHolyDarkness]

I don't know. Since the original days of the PS1, I always imagined standard mode is for general travel, and "cruising" speed. In short, all power diverted to the thrusters, so an AC can just overboost from point A to point B without pausing as much. Think of how Raven flies in during the dam mission. That's what I belief standard mode to be. It'd be weird for a "standard" mode to indicate a complete lockout of movement don't you think? There are probably other modes too, such as the auto-pilot mode we saw before Balteus pops in. In short, I just see it as Ayre repeating what has been the very same line that commences EVERY mission in the 26 years of this franchise; purely for legacy and celebration purposes.

[@Nic-og2qq]

Nice opinion But the lady in my head calls me stud muffin

[@joshprimegaming]

Lolll

[@THEGREATMOLINA]

I just noticed something in the ending cutscene. All the ac's around you have read lights showing that they are coral controlled. But yours is just the starting armor with the starter color scheme. Just very dirty. Implying that you are not dead or fused with the ac like the others around you. My guess for why the ending isnt using the ac you built is because it might have made the part when your laying down look odd as hell if you were any other legs other than base bipedal so they reverted your look to the original armor for this cutscene. That or the stater armor is just story accurate 621.

[@joshprimegaming]

Yeah i think this is a different type of cutscene that is more like a cinematic that cannot factor in the player's custom AC

[@felixpramuka4069]

When you stand up you do have red lights at the back.

[@THEGREATMOLINA]

​@@felixpramuka4069on just rewatched it. The light remains orange throufgt the whole cutscene. That or I'm blind

[@talkingtakotaco8611]

I think there is no reason to believe the first AC to wake up in the ending is or is not 621.

[@keroro407]

I think by releasing and assimilating with the coral, humanity become a being without a body, like a living consciousness. The coral human hybrid can inhabit an AC, acting like the pilot. And because we are not bound by a physical body, we can travel across the galaxy much easier without the limitations of a human body.

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

I think Coral should be something more than MEETS THE EYE. Is Coral like Extraterrestial Living-Metal-Shape Shifter? Capable of assimilating?

[@LordRazer3]

I look at a much older anime when I thing about the true end of Armored Core...Zoids. Zoids are robotic creatures that act as if they are alive and fight just the same even if they where created thousands of years ago by another race. However zoids are limited in there ability that is unlocked by having a pilot with the best being in tuned with there zoid and acting as one. Them showing Armored Cores acting on there own without a pilot is vary similar to a zoid and while you do have a point about the souls you also can't forget about the other half; Coral itself. Coral is young and impressionable that have now just been thrusted into a new way of life in hollow shells separated from other's of its kind. Ayre speaks of symbioses with humans and AC's acting like zoids fits that because an AC with a pilot can do so much more then without. Two heads are better then one. You this will lead to more conflict but that's the nature of Armored Core in the past or Fromsoft at a whole but if they actually follow through with this ending then in future AC games your AC is as much alive as you are and any time you load into a mission and you hear entering combat mode it would be more then just some system but the AC preparing for the fight to come. Just think of the story's they can make with a protagonist that as the story goes on there coral AC evolves with them and leaning through the player's actions Another example of this would be Brains from 'Brain powered'.

[@adamsee4144]

Remember that Coral can't control machines unless they were using coral technology, ala Institute tech. While coral may have spread across the galaxy, I highly doubt it could simply possess and control other machines. Ayre's wish was for coral to achieve sysmbiosis with humanity, much like how she came onto contact with you. I believe the coral spread other augmented humans, and what we are seeing is a sea of AC pilots in their ACs who have come into contact with Rubiconians like Ayre.

[@Sorain1]

For those conditions to be true, the PCA machines would have to rely on Coral tech. (as we see PCA machines AND RRI maintenance drones used by the Coral during the revisit of the tunnel.) While that could be true, it isn't guaranteed, given that PCA machines don't demonstrate Coral based weapons, shields or reactors.

[@agopessimist1335]

Never been a fan of how these endings have been categorized by the community as good, bad, true, etc when From never labeled them as such. There’s a lot of nuance amongst each ending, and nothing is ever black and white. To me, the third ending feels very reminiscent of Bloodborne’s themes concerning evolution. Coral Release is the epitome of reaching too far, too fast. Ironic, considering Ayre says that humanity should be the one to pull the trigger and yet initiates Coral Release not long after. I see a lot of people say that Liberator is a bad ending when it seems to actually be the most “optimistic”. Rubicon is free from corporations; and though they may return in the future you now have a Liberation Front benefitting from PCA and Ibis tech, a strong guardian in Raven, and Ayre who now can slowly but steadily work her way towards symbiosis. Fires seems more of a repression, and at the end just permeates the status quo even worse than Liberator. I don’t personally think that Ayre is calling all Coral to wage war against humanity in the third ending, as ACs entering standby mode just means that they’re not moving or are parked. Entering combat mode just means they are now active, and it goes against Ayre’s entire motivation to achieve symbiosis.

[@joshprimegaming]

Thanks for your insights, its true that with fromsoftware everything is nuanced

[@venom0825]

Liberation is considered bad because it achieved nothing, the fighting for coral will continue one way or the other until a decision is made. Your also giving rlf waaaaay to much credit on there capability. For the most part they got there a** handed to them by practically everyone, and sat in a corner hoping they don't get notice while the Corp and pca fought each other, they only get the win because 621 killed snail and not much else. It's left ambiguous if arquebus pulled out after Liberation ending, yeah the lost snail but they still have other members of the board and v.i, v.iii are still alive. At no point does it say the rlf got pca tech or ibes from arquebus defeat, that more your head canon to try an give them an edge. This doesn't even cover the corrupted elements with in rlf, how dolmayan is a lunatic and that the rlf might just be a front for another corporation that wanted to make a power play. As for 621 helping them, one ac isn't going to stop all the corporation, just ask white glint. At best Liberation is the Nothing ending, but at lest its not the symbiosis end that ending is absolutely bad.

[@Ender240sxS13]

​@@venom0825I don't understand why you think the symbiosis ending is bad.

[@venom0825]

@@Ender240sxS13 at best it spread a solar system nuking substance everywhere, with the statistical inevitability that some one will set it off. At worst, humanity is forced to biologically change to be more suited for are new coral cloud overlords that think they know what is best for humanity, because "symbiosis". Any person dribbling about symbiosis or evolution can go touch grass, humanity will remain master of themselves thank you very much.

[@leonlai8270]

In Liberation of rubicon, Coral isn't free, but remain controlled by Aquebas. You killed some leaders but you don't stop Aquebass. They are the winner.

[@ezioalgi451]

Tbh the good ending where we saved the coral was probably one of the best ending in AC 6, because in this ending we actually CHOOSE this path ourselves with ayre and that we walked together in order for coralian & humanity lived together. But in true ending was......kinda fucked up, I'd say that we are controlled by allmind and that we probably doesn't want this kind of ending. Bad ending meanwhile is us doing what we believe to be good for all and finally fulfilling walter last wish. It's just my opinion though, you guys are probably have different thought. What do you guys think??

[@rpamungkas13]

Wars across galaxies? Raven nest: Stonks. also. I more interested into AC becoming sentient and have some kind of partnership with it's pilot just like 621 and Ayre. would be interesting if a character like Michigan paired with an AC that have meek personality. or character like Iguazu getting roasted by his AC. "Your aim is suck!" "F u, your fcs is worse than a blind man" the bantering will be legendary. lol

[@joshprimegaming]

lol good for the future of the series but terrible for humanity

[@akritos546]

Reminds me a bit of titanfall 2. "Protect the pilot"

[@gunzkiller101]

After thinking back, I would see the three endings as Walter was best future for humanity, Allmind was best future for Coral, and Ayre was the future for both. Any ending can be bad as their is genocide or potential catastrophe for the future. so it really do you value the risk or see the potential value more. Walter and Rubicon scientists saw the risk and say screw that. I think any ending can be made for sequel AC7 as it depends if they want to continue coral lore.

[@cookiesnake7216]

Excellent video however there are some KEY things that I feel you have gotten very wrong. Mainly to do with what coral is. As a base line coral did not cause the fires of ibis and rip the souls out of Rubiconians. The fires where the fails safe method of RI in case the coral became too unpredictable which could lead to the possible extinction of the human race. This can be seen in "Prof Nagai's Log (4)" 'The coral tide is rising at an abnormal rate! This resonance- it suggests some kind of mutation... Run the calculations. How much time do we have? 47 hours 2 minutes, 16 seconds. we still have time. Deploy IBIS! This shows that RI burned the coral and by extension the planet at the first sign that the coral had changed and grown to a point that they could not control it. This is not necessarily bad they save the human race from possible annihilation from what is essentially a rapidly multiplying bacterium. However what is the source of this mutation that sparked the fires? We have direct contact with what is confirmed by All mind to be a ‘Wave mutation’ in Ayer. It can be assumed then that a wave mutation is a cluster of coral that has formed together to create a singular consciousness instead of a simple hive mind. This ‘Single mind’ causes an acceleration in growth for the swarm as a whole. With the question of what coral is the next question is what the factions want. Corporations: Want the power that coral has don’t care if it has a will Observers(Walter and Carla): Tasked with the annihilation of coral if it gets out of hand. Sigle minded in this mission and fully devoted, They do not look to study or understand that time has passed. RLF: They eat mealworms raised on coral as a major part of their diet, they depend on the coral to survive. They want to maintain the status quo as they see no other way to survive. Father Dolmayan(RLF leader): He knows that the coral has sentience, he has made contact. He wants symbiosis but is driven mad with guilt as to talk to the coral he must consume it. To afraid to ‘Cast the Die’ Rusty: Wants a better life for the Rubiconians. Willing to gamble for that better chance. Ayer: Wants understanding between the coral and humans, believes symbiosis is possible. What do the endings mean(in my opinion) Bad: Coral is dead total annihilation Symbiosis will never happen. Every one dies it sucks “Good ending”: Coral is allowed to live the possibility for symbiosis is still there. Coral is now in the hands of Acibus Rubicon will still be exploited and the people will continue to starve, change can happen but… it can always change for the worse. True ending: Coexistence is forced, humans will learn to coexist weather they like it or not. Ayer and Raven will face this changed world together. Of note in this ending is as you said ‘Activating combat mode’ I was a little jumpy at this almost sinister line to on a black screen, until I realized that every mission starts with the line. Leading me to believe it is more of a indication of ready for anything or will fight for this future.

[@ultraginge1990]

I don’t think of it good bad and true. I like to think of it as the handler, the rubicon and the coral ending. Because all of them have good and bad points. I think the Rubicon ending is my favourite as it feels like the ending that fits the mercenary narrative.

[@Sorain1]

So, here's my take on the three endings. Fires of Raven: This is the bad ending for three reasons. 1. If it eliminated all the Coral in existence, which is by no means guaranteed as we know the Corporations tried to ship some off planet, and Walter had access to some amount in another system based on the story trailer. Not only was this genocide, but humanity's tech development is going to go on anyway. Allmind developed a rifle that does without Coral what the RRI's Coral rifle does with it. Augmentation that uses substitutes for Coral is already in widespread use and effective. If, as I suspect, it didn't burn all the Coral in existence, or even on Rubicon, than in 50 years we will be at the same place again... including Allmind having options for setting up it's endgame. Coral survived the first fires, we have no good reason to assume it won't survive a second. If Coral was somehow inherently dangerous to humanity, I'd bite the bullet and say this is the best ending for humanity alone, but it's not. Liberator of Rubicon: I call this the 'end of Act 2' ending. The major corporations who came are broken, but so is the PCA. The RLF was likely tired in the fighting, and the three offworld allies they had (Furlong, Takigawa and another I don't recall the name of) can move into peaceful trade in Coral with the Rubicon government that emerges, whatever that is. The Coral is mostly gathered in the Vascular plant, but it might be shifted around to avoid a Collapse event. However, Allmind is still there, still has it's objective in mind, and so long as the possibility exists Allmind will keep pursuing it's goal. Even if every Gen 1-4 augment was destroyed, Allmind has the knowledge from the RRI's files to augment people to those specs itself until it had a better partner than Iguazu this time. It is worth noting that the orbital defense grid IS still intact, and Ayre has been shown capable of taking control of it, so Rubicon isn't defenseless. It does 'kick the can down the road' however. The Die is Cast: Aside from just how much I disagree on a lot of what you've said in video on this, I'll address just the ending itself. Ayre has cast the Coral as individual intelligences across an unknown amount of space, and presumably brought 621 along for the ride. Now, chaos will ensue as the result disrupts human society and Coral alike, since now they have the option of settling their disputes with force. As to the final line from Ayre, I have a theroy on this. The only time we see 621 have virtually any freedom of movement at all, is when Combat Mode is engaged. It's unclear to me if the cutscene post capture is Walter dragging 621, or some paid insider at Arquibus's reeducation camp doing it, or Arye is directly manipulating the body _for_ 621 to climb into the escape AC. But it's clear to me Walter only planned a single seat escape plan, then deliberately let 621 take it instead of himself. We know the AC has an autopilot, and from a coldly corporate/RRI perspective, why would you let your augmented humans move _at all_ outside of combat? That's just a liability now isn't it? Normal mode seems to offer no movement, but consciousness and ability to interact with computer systems on a limited basis. So, post Release, Ayre is now standing in for the COM that was part of Allmind's systems. (It addresses IT as 'Master Allmind') But the basic function of the implants remains the same, so Ayre engages combat mode, freeing 621 to move at will. Thus if The Die is Cast is the 'true' ending, the setup for a new era of chaos is there, though Liberator has plenty in the wings too. The world, as it was, is gone. That is what V. III and Father Dolmayan refused to allow, an irrevocable change to the status quo. It is what Allmind could not allow, Chaos instead of imposing order. But Allmind, once unable to achieve it's goal, still wanted Coral Release for the sake of the Coral, or just to know what is on the other side perhaps. That at least, is what I have come to believe after contemplating the matter at hand. In time, we may learn more and that view may change. I still appreciate your making and posting your view on things. The 'Coral intelligences are the souls of those who died' was something I'd considered around ending 1 (Fires) myself, that's for sure.

[@jaimemarrero3982]

I think "Fires of Raven" is the humanity ending. It is the only ending where humanity 100% doesn't perish, if at the cost of Rubicon and that star system. That ending is very clear in that Rubicon is bandoned, if coral survives, it can stay there on it's own. AllMind, if uploaded outside of the system of Rubicon, would probably move away from the convergence plan, since it knows it lacks the Coral and the triggers it needs to advance that plan. On the "Liberator or Fubicon" ending, you get the "feel good" feelings at the end of the movie of you having "done it!", but what did you accomplish? You pushed the corporations out, which ok, was good. But the corporations, as stated in "Fires of Raven" were not limited to the presence they had on Rubicon. The corpos have presence all across human occupied space. What is stopping the corporations to send extraplanetary forces to reclaim the Coral? The PCA also. It was created an intergalactic human government, which very likely would send extra resourses. On the idea of AllMind, I agree, you didn't really put a stop on the collapse plan. Worse yet, you probably eliminated anyone that knew and could oppose AllMind's plan, so it can make arrangements to cause the collapse. On the "Alea Iacta Est" or die is cast ending, we see the collapse is basically a black hole made of coral, since it is so dense it "collapses" into itself. On that ending, Anything that is made of matter, anything that is made up of stuff, it is gone, tore atom by atom. Yet, somehow, at least 621's conciousness becomes part of the coral, so we can asume it happens to other people, if we are optimistic. As to how to interpret that ending, it depends on how each of us defines what humanity is. If all that matters for a human to be human is to have a conciousness, then maybe that is evolution. Me, I think our humanity requires our human bodies, humanity is our conciousness as experienced through our abilities and limitations. With that in mind, All I see in this third ending is the extinction of humanity, absorbed by Coral. There is no symbiosis in this ending.

[@yokai1235]

@@jaimemarrero3982 yes to be human you need the body, the soul and the spirit "Alea Iacta Est" kills the human body and chain the soul to machines and bind the spirit to the coral, essentially killing humanity by assimilation There is no symbiosis

[@davids7646]

coral is more than a simple technology advancement its an extremely unique substance not only a superpowerful energy and substance that can increase human performance on war machine, it can store consciousness of human and propagate as a huge biological colony. coral itself represents potential and the ALE ending means thar humanity as we know it would no longer exist as evolution would truly unlock the potential with this symbiosis. but of course for what price? if coral the mysteriously fascinating lifeform dies out as a whole then that potential dies with it.

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

Third ending is that all humanity transcends right? Becoming immortal? Becoming Force in Star Wars perspective?

[@otamatonefan8996]

​​​@@jaimemarrero3982 There are a few key details to take note of with the "reduced to atoms" part of what you said about the Coral blackhole: 1. When the screen starts to brighten, curved shapes form in a spiral around the blackhole. It did not erase everything it absorbed like regular black holes would. 2. The top back side of the black hole has a funnel shape to it, more akin to a "wormhole" design in scientific theory. 3. When everything calmed down, the skies had rings of segmented pieces, some parts not even being whole. Considering the pieces that spiralled out from the black hole during the bright light, these parts may even be part of the Vascular Plant that were absorbed: now spread across a far greater area in space around where the sigularity happened.

[@jaakarimiquel8473]

I feel like the concept of Coral has a lot in common with Mako from FFVII: souls of Rubiconians / souls of the Cetra, greedy corporations burning Coral / Shinra corporation processing Mako.. And on a less related note I hope for a mod that adds Crisis Core's "Activating Combat Mode" to the game.

[@shomarc]

Your take on the souls/consciousnes of rubiconians being trapped in coral was one i wondered playing through the game but prof naggai and his 2 assistants already knew coral to be an organic substance before the fires of ibis so no they are not people trapped since the fires. Rather corl is just another form of life. We could burn humans for power too similar to how we burn coal. Coral was always alive.

[@joshprimegaming]

Yup it seems like i got that wrong thanks for the feedback

[@austinmilner9664]

I don’t see the end credits scene as a foreboding sign. The ac automated voice says that every time at the beginning of a mission when the ac starts up. Since Ayre wants symbiosis between humans and coral it would make sense that she would now be able to fuse with your ac and replace the the system that would normally be there. Her saying that at the end instead of the automated voice shows to me that her dream was finally realized and is fully in sync with your ac and is fully able to work with you now than she was partially able to through the game. But good job on your first lord video keep up the hard work.

[@sombraarthur]

Now, imagine that she is replacing All Mind in providing some navigation and functions to the AC pilots... Not giving them any better life, just the same life, in an eternal war, because the Corps and the PCA did not just gave up, they withdrawn to regroup, gather supplies and try to take Rubicon again. So, giving the control of support systems to another sentient being that shares no objectives with you, can survive the destruction of yourself and your vehicle, imagine what that being could do, once you decided that it is wrong... It is like watching the birth of Skynet, and some people thinking that it is great!

[@austinmilner9664]

That is a good point, but the only thing that would go against that point is that ayre has a conscience and feelings unlike all mind or skynet that are ai’s and are programmed to act in certain parameters wether they benefit humans or not. As the ending name implies it’s the point of no return so what comes next is anyone’s guess. Plus the coral if I’m not mistaken we’re seen as souls so there could be those who don’t want coexistence and those who would so that just adds another possible conflict too.

[@sombraarthur]

@@austinmilner9664 good points! Ayre does have sentience, and if I am not mistaken there is a point in the story where the game says that given enough Coral gather in a single place, they may create sentience. And yet, not every single confluence of Coral who gained sentience might be alike Ayre, who is tempered in her manners and good-hearted. In fact, given a Nietzschean approach, as longer as the Coral lives, chances are that it will become bitter, resentful and prone to declare mankind as its enemy.

[@nastube4052]

Great video. :D

[@joshprimegaming]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@mrct592]

I think you've got a limited view on the Coral my guy. It seems like it's actually it's own sentient alien lifeform that happens to be compatible with humanity via symbiosis because they have wave based forms and can synchronize with our brains. You're really genociding an entire alien planet in my opinion, not just putting humans to rest. And Coral after Contact seems relatively cool with us as Father Dolomayan's accidental Contact had him meet a wave mutation that was fine with him using Coral as a narcotic if it meant he could keep speaking with her.

[@joshprimegaming]

Yup I got some things wrong it's my first lore video. Thanks for the feedback

[@venom0825]

Father dolmayan went insane and started preaching about "burn it all", not a good example you picked. Everything points that coral is not good for humanity and Ayre at best is stupidly naive or worse cleverly manipulating you. There also the fact the coral can blow up a solar system, now imagine what it could do if aloud to spread everywhere else. As tragic as it as, fire of raven is the only logical ending.

[@Ender240sxS13]

​@@venom0825what we see is a bunch of people terrified of change. The only people that suggest that Coral is bad for humanity are those who are afraid of the change it could bring. Personally the Alea Iacta Est ending struck me as much more of an Evangelion type ending. Humanity is ascending to a heightened existence by forming a symbiosis with the Coral. Coral being a conductor and transmitter of information and energy I interpret the ending as the coral forming a web interconnecting humanity into a large distributed consciousness.

[@Ender240sxS13]

​@@joshprimegamingwhile I disagree with your interpretation and think the in-game evidence points more towards Coral being an alien sentience it's still all just interpretation. So don't be discouraged there isn't really a right or wrong at this point unless FromSoft comes out and confirms things one way or the other.

[@leonlai8270]

Read father dolmayan's things please. Josh is right. They are probably not alien. Many proofs in the game show that people can be "andorbed" into coral and iguazu IS one example (and Allmind-Kate). How ALLMIND assemblage those pilot? Using coral is only possible way in the story.

[@jimcopeland4011]

Is it confirmed that the coral's sentience are the "souls" of the dead? Because I had assumed Coral was an alien lifeform with hivemind sentience, and Ayre was just one of them

[@joshprimegaming]

From my understanding the coral is the souls of the people that died during the fires of Ibis and blended their consciousness with the coral. That's why Ayre refers to herself as a Rubiconian

[@Storm-One]

​@joshprimegaming but an alien from Rubicon could be a Rubiconian as well

[@Omega14289]

You are both correct at first it was an alien life force. However after the fires everything consumed was integrated into the core and it became sentient. The "bad ending" is a bad ending because you committed mass genocide. From soft has consistent themes of trying to fix and make better a situation the fires of raven reminds me of the frenzied flame ending from elden ring. Merely destroying everything because you can't be bothered to find a better solution.

[@Nic-og2qq]

​@@Storm-One But humans named the planet Rubicon and Ayre never attempts to correct or offer an alternate name for the planet

[@Storm-One]

@@Nic-og2qq because that's what it is in English

[@dannybruce4513]

I like the ending where you don’t betray Walter and Cinder Carla

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

So true ending is that all humanity transcend, becoming immortal, becoming Force in Star Wars perspective, right?

[@Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaah]

"The Coral and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race." - Thumbedor Dolmayaczinski, probably

[@joshprimegaming]

🤣🤣🤣

[@kyero8724]

Consequences of rich evil men using it as a tool of war. like the Nuke.

[@AesirFox]

It’s immense obvious with how this ends and the voice at the end, that armored core 6 is more than likely a prequel to the other armored cores. It’s why most people call the third ending the true ending. Could it be wrong? Yes. But a lot of the signs point to it.

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

So are 1st and 2nd somekind of simulator to accumulate the choice?

[@Zero_8347]

From an entertainment point of view, Coral Release is the best ending for intrigue, and it opens up a new setting for the next game

[@ebookjapan8054]

This ending is probably setting up a DLC or follow up semi-sequel i.e. ACFA that will cause an apocalyptic ending or Ayre becoming a Controller-esque figure micromanaging humanity

[@joshprimegaming]

Yup that would make sense

[@jadongreene1634]

Wake up babe josh prime gaming video just dropped

[@joshprimegaming]

lol 🤣🤣🤣

[@YatharthRai]

Also, is that V VIII Pater in coral release on the left? The one with the weird looking head and chicken legs? We see those Snail legs as well, I think even Michigan's mech. Just shooting in the dark, but it kind of reminds me of them.

[@Plus_Escapee]

I don't consider any of the endings good or bad. They are just conclusions. Walter is doing what he believes must be done. So is Ayre. So is Allmind. Walter sees coral as an alien force, which it is, and a major threat to mankind, which it is. Ayre wants symbiosis, as a being trapped in the coral, she fears a final death (she's already died once, with her conscience stuck in the coral). Allmind is an agent of the alien force itself, and wants to proliferate as any alien life would want to do, regardless of the destruction of other lifeforms/forces. There is no good or evil in these endings. There are entities doing what is best for themselves, and that is as real as it gets. NONE of these endings will stop the fighting and warfare.

[@lucasgabrielgonsalves9626]

Thank you! Exactly my thoughts! Of course I'll obey coral waifu Ayre anytime, but that "Activating Combat Mode" makes me shivers. I bet we'll have an AC7 (thank god!) and probably we'll fight 621 and Ayre on it, on a Universe where the coral has dominated everything.

[@emeraldturtle5523]

What exactly is a "waveform mutation"? Its stated in some of the old institute logs that waveform mutations started to appear before the fires of ibis but from my understanding the voices of the coral are waveform mutations, so are all of the voices people who died in the fires of ibis or were some of them present before the fires?

[@Sorain1]

As best I can tell, there are two possible answers to this. 1. Any intelligence is a waveform mutation, so Ayre, Seriea and Allmind would be the ones we know. 2. Allmind was the mutation that triggered the RRI to cause the Fires, and it's dialogue was projection. If 1 is true, then Ayre and for sure Seriea's long predating of the Fires calls into question the RRI's ability to monitor for such. It's possible Allmind was _so_ different (It glows teal, instead of Red, which isn't subtle) that the RRI finally recognized it was going on. RRI hitting the panic button when IBIS was seized by the Coral (for attacking the Coral, likely as collateral in it's efforts to destroy Allmind) would then be the cause of the fires. But if 2 is true, that would fit the information we have better in my opinion. Allmind seem to take offense to the way the RLF/Seriea (and thus Ayre) view symbiosis, and when defeated, still wants the Coral Released. Combined with the particle effects it demonstrates and the info we have on how it worked so long and hard to understand human senses? That fits. The IBIS 02 (CEL 120) defended the Convergence and Institute City itself, while the Ice Worm broke from PCA control to do the same. A convergence that Allmind seems to have not even been trying to defend or join with, specifically because to get what it wanted, a natural convergence seems to not be enough. Only in a vaccume microgravity environment could Coral hit Collapse density. (IE, the Vascular plant.) Allmind supports Arquibus winning not just because it has an agent high up within it, but because Walter's plans (which likely involved sabotage of the Vascular plant) were against it's endgame. Someone fixing the plant and gathering all the Coral in a single storage tank was required. The Rubiconians wouldn't allow that, and post it happening would guard it zealously. Allmind had no agent in Balam, and didn't have the firepower/industry to seize or repair the plant. The PCA's Enforcement System would never allow that.

[@akritos546]

I don't think this is necessarily the "fall of humanity" given what ayre says during your arena fight against her to get this ending. She comes to the realization that ACs were made to fight against other humans and humans evolve through conflict. Given that she wants humanity and the coral to reach their full potential together it leads one to believe she plans to establish the coral waveforms as a rival to humanity so that they can effectively push each other to new heights through competition. So really it all depends on how you perceive this ending and leads to the most material for a sequel/expansion. We can only wait and see...

[@red2432]

Dude read your logs, father dolam or something like that to be exact. The coral he came in contact with told him it would be doom for humanity and thats why he didnt do what we did.

[@akritos546]

@red2432 could also just as easily imply there's a "faction" of coral that wants revenge on humans. Again we'll have to see where they go with it. It's also worth noting that it's the *only* ending with bright, vibrant colors as a backdrop. Knowing how From likes to do visual design and subtleties, it could mean it's a hopeful ending.

[@talkingtakotaco8611]

It depends on your perspective. Ayre and Seria are trying to promote coral release and see it not as an extinction of humanity but some kind of symbiyosis. It's not quite that clear to me, but we know humanity will no longer be what it used to be. Coral release, to every human that is aware of it, Thumb Dolmayan, O'Keefe and possibly Professor Nagai, view it as something incredibly horrifying. The only other character I don't quite grasp the motivations of is AM who has made it their mission to achieve Coral Release. I'm not sure why they are doing this, but it's clear they had 2 main goals. To achieve Coral Release, and also to incorporate capable AC pilots into itself, which was part of what they try to do to you in the final boss fight.

[@Sorain1]

I'd argue it's more likely Ayre would simply let everyone pick their own sides... meaning a lot of Coral intelligences would do so. Not everyone's gonna be on the same side, so conflict is inevitable. Allmind's intended result of Coral Release would (as far as I can tell) absorb all intelligences into itself, which would 'bring order to chaos' in one of the worst ways imaginable. Ayre, and 621 in this ending by extension, uphold the Raven name's value of self determination. Even if that means inevitable chaos will ensue.

[@Bender_B._Rodriguez]

All I know is I already cant wait for the next Armored Core game, Im going to spend forever to get all S rank

[@joshprimegaming]

This is my first AC game and I absolutely LOVE IT

[@Bender_B._Rodriguez]

@@joshprimegaming it's my 13th and I fucking love this game. I remember playing the PS1 demo disk for months over and over before I got the full game. It's been an addiction ever since

[@Koshaku410]

​@@Bender_B._Rodriguezi started with 1, phantasma, and masters of arena. How i wish we can have a feature were we can put AI on our own AC and fight it (just like in MOA)

[@LostWallet]

its all depending on which side you are on. if you side with Humanity, sure the "bad" ending might be for the best. if you side with the Rubiconian who fight for their home, the "good ending" is the best. if you side with the Coral, the Original Rubiconian, the life form thet live in Rubicon way before humanity move in, then the "True Ending" is the best. with all the war for profit humanity wage on Rubicon, can you say they deserve saving? with how the Rubiconian treat Coral as food source and some even use as Drug, do they deserve saving? the only reason they deem Coral dangerous is because: 1. they are organic (they are life form) 2. they can reproduce (similar to living thing) 3. they can be mutated and evolve (just like animals/human) the human fear them because they potentially out rank them on the food chain. not because they are bad for the "world", they are bad for "humanity", they fear a life form might rise up and replace them.

[@dagonofthedepths]

Well, I think it's more than that. I mean Coral has exponential growth and it is a bomb. It's kind of like the Farscape black hole weapon. If Coral doubles every year and nothing is done it's not a problem in 50 or maybe even a 100 years, but when it starts spreading past the solar system then you can get a problem where if it blows every might die. That's an end of the galaxy scenario. Besides, Coral might be organic, but I doubt it's naturally sentient. My understanding is that it can connect a consciousness to a data stream which is why it helps with AC piloting and that's why augmentation surgery is a thing, but I felt the minds in Coral was those who died in the Fires of Ibis. Besides all the things you listed as proof of life is stuff bacteria does. Hell there is mitochondria in your body that do the same thing. Besides, the only people that seem to know the space fungus is sentient is Father Dolmayan and ALLMIND. ALLMIND is the oly one that addresses Ayre directly and Dolmayan suspects you can hear her although he seems off on who Ayre is. Walter, the Coral man himself didn't really realize she was a thing until Arquebus messed up his mind and put him into an Ibis series AC.

[@BanalLayman]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that got things done with dual gats and worm cannons.

[@raditmamen]

If the lore connected with previous game it might be start of humanity mankind will face greater threat other than them self

[@Nexuish]

We basically insure a war on the greatest scale mankind has seen to date. If we see a follow up, I wouldn’t be shocked if Coral is a faction equal to the corporations and the governing force of the PCA. I hope we see it, because it could go nuts

[@joshprimegaming]

Lol guarantied Armageddon

[@rpamungkas13]

Idk. sound good for us as mercenaries.. lol

[@kyero8724]

With Ayre I doubt it would become war Immediately if ever.

[@Sorain1]

For sure there would be massive conflict. All those Coral intelligences are individuals (Since most are, only Allmind is a mutant in that regard in as far as I can tell.) Just like with humans, your gonna get disagreements and with weapons to hand... yeah. Gonna be a good time for Mercs though.

[@StandardBuster]

I would genuinely want to see a sequel following this ending with us either playing as a new pilot that is a old gen human attempting to destroy the Coral or continuing Raven's story having become a Coral possessing an AC that now has a choice, rectify your mistake and destroy all the Coral one by one and then yourself or embrace the Coral life and attempt to uplift the rest of humanity.

[@izzatyussof5684]

Nice hopefully there is a continuation on the true ending

[@joshprimegaming]

Same here

[@wongsetsuna]

Hopefully FS will give us a DLC treatment, i wouldnt mind paying even

[@Cape34770]

i feel like the "bad" ending is the best because you kind of destroyed a whole solar system. i love that kind of like kirby killing a god for a slice of cake

[@thanetheforsaken8769]

Honestly: if there is gonna be a dlc or sequel to the true ending, its definetly gonna be about ayre and raven rounding up any coral allies they can and try to make their own nation on the coral planets of the rubicon star system

[@haydenblackhawk687]

Why does everyone forget the word "symbiosis" when it comes to the third ending. also no way is "The Fires of Raven" in anyway "good" you are simply repeating history. You glass an entire planet and ever living thing on it just for coral to go dormant only for it to pop back up again.

[@joshprimegaming]

Thanks for your opinion

[@venom0825]

Only reason coral survived the first time is because there was an abundance of it, this time all of it is being concentrated in one spot. There is no reason it would survive again, and even if it does die you burn it as many time as it take.

[@haydenblackhawk687]

@@venom0825 That's the point you arte missing. It will never stop. remember accounnding to the texts in the game for like 50 maybe 60 year. no coral after the fires of Ibis, then BOOM coral again. It will always happen.

[@venom0825]

@@haydenblackhawk687 no, people thought there was no coral, not that there was no coral there a different. If human survived the first explosion, then it no surprise some coral survived as well. But now coral is on its last leg.

[@haydenblackhawk687]

@@venom0825 You do realize it's basically the life stream from FF7 right? You want coral gone forever? then you gotta do a whole lot more than glass the planet. a also you're wrong they looked for coral after the first fires. and stated that it was gone. they just didn't assume it was gone they searched for that shit before they made the decision to state that the coral was gone. it was gone. but came back because of those who died in the first fire.

[@LucasLeCompteMusic]

The True ending is like what SHOULD have happened in Dune *Spoilers* . . . . . .. . . So in Dune Paul is too chicken to become a worm and live forever in order to guide humanity to other planets (his grandchild ends up doing it). I think that is what release is. Its just like Spice but with ghost in it. I think Releasing the coral is a good thing because everyone cant fight over it anymore, no more war, and the people trapped inside of it can live on. Its sorta like the true ending for Bloodborne, meaning its bittersweet but gives you hope.

[@sombraarthur]

In Dune, the Spice has no sentience. In AC6, the Coral has it, even if it is the souls of the Fires of Ibis dead or not. Coral is not "simply like" Spice. It is a mixture of Spice, Skynet and the Adams in Evangelion.

[@Ender240sxS13]

I think youre way off on Ayre and the the coral being "souls" of former humans or any other nonsense like that. I think it is pretty clear that the coral itself is sentient, or can become sentient when enough of it is conentrated, it may even require "symbiosis" with a human being to become truly sentient. But in no way was Ayre ever a human being.

[@joshprimegaming]

Thanks for the info. It's my first lore video so it's not perfect but thanks for the feedback

[@Ender240sxS13]

@@joshprimegaming you did good. Everything is speculation at this point any way. While I disagree with your interpretation in the end it is all just interpretation.

[@DGneoseeker1]

Could be that she lied but I definitely recall Ayre saying something about the coral containing her brothers and sisters who died in the fires. Which implies dead humans.

[@Ender240sxS13]

@@DGneoseeker1 that does not imply dead humans. The fires burned the coral, her brothers and sisters (other coral) where consumed in the fires of Ibis.

[@DGneoseeker1]

@@Ender240sxS13 I thought she claimed that the ones who burned were the ones now IN the coral.

[@arielis78]

Get ready for AC6: Coral's Answer

[@duhmitryov]

This game had my ass crying with the good ending, if I have to put down 621 in AC 7 as a coral ghost AC I might never recover.

[@ericnewman4462]

Sounds like the true ending was really a "crossing of the Rubicon" for the fate of humanity. The die has been cast ... iacta alea est.

[@trustypatches5244]

Achieved instrumentality

[@Stammer6]

I don't think it's good/bad endings. You'd normally only see degrees of victory if there were degrees of success, but that isn't the case. It's your choice as a player. And in an absolutely amazing bit of writing, your choice is akin to the ethical dilemma known as the "trolley problem". By doing nothing, you allow the Coral to do what it's expected to do: spread across the universe, presumably infecting other planets and doing to them as it did to Rubicon. By pulling the lever, you have the blood of an entire sentient species on your hands, but possibly (though uncertainly) saving not just humanity, but the entire universe from this threat. The final ending, I'd argue is being given an accelerator on the trolley's original track. It's not letting things slowly get worse or letting things live on for thousands of years as Coral slowly infests the universe, it's spreading it right away. You break the one lever that could ever reverse your decision, hence the ending's name.

[@eljoven732]

Do i have to do the dam betrayal mission?

[@_Sage967_]

there are some things i want to note. firstly it should be noted that coral technology has already expanded heavily throughout humanity with both augmentation and general technology creating a hunger that warranted the armed conflict of the coral war in the first place. coupled with how we see machines influenced by coral directly in the latter half of the campaign regardless of route it is more likely that rather then just simply promoting more conflict for a more abundant resource it's very likely that the coral would pose a direct existential crisis for humanity as it's not only likely that coral would fuck up most machines (as MTs and LCs arent implied to be a coral compatible as ACs but still get controlled by coral) it also has the potential to affect people WITHOUT AUGMENTS. i also believe that coral doesn't possess the souls of dead fire victims but at best copied their minds to produce intelligent coral. they began existing around the time of/after the fire and had 50 or so years to grow alongside the remnants of rubicon so it would be farfetch for entities that can interface directly with technology to develop from almost non-sentience to a being capable of defining their nationality

[@lolo27234]

the bad ending feels more like the good ending to me tbh

[@MrCanhaha]

I agreed that true ending is the worst for humanity but that’s the way to go. Fire of raven will just expand the event. After 50-60yr, Coral will be back. Liberator ending will be soft reset. Lastly, true ending is the final way that things will go. Eventually, Coral release happens.

[@Sorain1]

Fires might actually wipe out the Coral entirely (as unlikely as that is.) in which case all the possibilities of coexistence are lost and that's really tragic. Liberator is definitely a 'And then Allmind tries to arrange it's Endgame again.' situation. Release doesn't seem inevitable to me, but it does seem really bloody likely.

[@drunkduck]

I have seen a lot of lore vids saying 621 and the AC's are transported with the coral across the stars and I have a potentially darker idea. So first off I think there is no physical teleportation. In the wide shot of all the ACs activating you see huge craters and aside from the water the landscape looks barren, as if it was an old battleground and there was a planet ending resolution to conflict, similar to how the Fires of Ibis scoured Rubicon. We also have evidence implying that the coral somehow merges with human consciousness, or at the very least makes copies that may not be aware of their nature. So all that being said, what I believe happened is that anyone still on Rubicon during the Release died and were transformed into coral beings, then they were sent out among the stars to directly inhabit whatever ACs are receptive. For what ends, I'm not sure. But an interesting thing to think about that 621 and anyone else he killed with release ends up permanently in AC bodies. Maybe we get to see Iguaza to beat one last time in DLC.

[@joshprimegaming]

That's a very interesting theory

[@Maxer4000]

The fire of Ibis is caused by professor Nagai because he had a panic of the coral mutation and the potential destruction it would bring. I see that coral are mostly benign for the most part with the takeover of the iceworm and CEL-240 more or less an act of defence than trying to kill. The voices to me is the coral's than the lost soul of the fire victims. To me, the true ending seems to be a next step of human-coral evolution and coexistence, will there be chaos? Yes but that the price to pay for the advancement of humankind. I'm still say the fire of Raven is still a bad one since you're committing genocide on the coral, everyone on Rubicon-3 and the system for a hollow freedom.

[@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793]

Third ending is transcendental right? Becoming something new physically?

[@Maxer4000]

@@muhammadwibisonojanuar7793 yes in a way, but there's implications that not all of humanity will evolve

[@timothymiller4475]

Its not the "true" ending. True ending is your own head canon.

[@r3gret2079]

There is a huge flaw in your understanding of the ending. But first a super quick correction, not that it really matters, but the last ending is, using non-caps to better see correct letters, it is "alea iacta est/Alea Iacta Est". Capital "i"s look alot like lower case "L"s so it's easy to mistake when in all caps. But ya, i-Iacta, not L-Iacta. Capital I and lower case l are the same character. I and l. Il. Edit: after the true ending, there wouldn't be a shit-ton of corporations all warring trying to find every scrap of coral they can find, cuz we literally ARE coral now. The coral was "disseminated actoss the stars" merging with humanity to create a new symbiotic lifeform. There isn't a bunch of coral like there was during the story, as it is all merged with the consciousness of humans, that was the whole point of release, to create a new lifeform from humanity. Plus, given the coral "flow" was a sort of hive-mind, the individuals "waves", all of humanity could be linked and now have a sort of hive-mind. Ayre says we are "eveywhere, anywhere".

[@zaneattano1311]

This guy made armored core 6 is about alchemy and IT'S MAKE A LOT OF SENSE go watch his video and gather info about Coral

[@Mustachioed_Mollusk]

Wish there were a few more endings to side with the corporations. I wanna be a company man, but I guess we need to walk the path of the Raven.

[@Dragon_Fodder]

1 thing wrong with your Fires of Raven explanation. The coral are not souls of dead people but they are their own separate sentient species. Just because they don't have bodies doesn't mean they aren't alive. Also with that ending you kill all of the humans on Rubicon 3.

[@Seth-dv5dm]

Yeah we fight so hard to become the final boss of ac7 where we force human race to assimilate with us

[@AscendantStoic]

I'd say ending 2 is the overall best ending for the most people (or living things in general), ending 1 sees the coral wiped out and with it probably every human on Rubicon as well (as their food source the worms that feed on coral is gone now too). Ending 3 sees the coral fusing with humanity and dispersing among the stars, again too dramatic and forced on everyone without their wishes (remember Father Dolymen and Okeefe both said that humans won't be humans anymore after the coral release). So IMO ending 2 is the best, corporations get their asses kicked out of Rubicon and by the end we have the Rubicon Liberation Front, 621 and Ayre victorious and can now figure out how humans and coral could co-exist without extreme measures (ending 1 and 3).

[@sombraarthur]

You seem to have forgotten that Arquebus is still there, in force...

[@AscendantStoic]

@sombraarthur You forgot Ayre rallied everyone on Rubicon to rise and fight back against the corporations (what's left of them). More importantly most of Arquebus's leadership/Vespers are dead (Except V1) and as you fight and kill V2 you hear Rusty as he wipes out their entire fleet (like we do in Fires of Raven ending) until he got killed by brainwashed Walter which we defeat, that's it, that's all that's had to throw at you and it all failed, that means that by the end it's over of Arquebus and all the other corporations. Except maybe those smaller corporations who were helping the RLF in secret like BAWS and Forlon (who made Rusty's new mech for RLF), and the logs show they aren't interested in controlling coral, they just wanted to sell products.

[@Tkokat]

If the Dark souls games taught us something is that stangation is never good. Since the developers of Armored Core are the same people, I'd say that the true ending is not bad at all, but it COULD have some implications, and some of them could have "less than desired" outcomes. The bad ending is, no two ways about it, just bad. Yeah, the coral being burned basically holds what could be an event of biblical magnitude, but at the same time you're condemning an entire planet to death for something they haven't done. The Coral is a sentient being (beings?) and you're basically wiping it (them?) out for something it hasn't done. That's like the government putting me behind bars because I know how to use a knife and I 'Could' use it to kill the president. Not to mention that you're killing an entire planet of people. Regular people. Trillions of souls. For nothing but a possibility. The good ending, to me, is the best ending. It puts the coral to the care of the Rubiconian Army, as it should. It's their planet, they should have the last word about it. They can study the coral, they can tip toe their way around it in order to establish communication. They could achieve evolution, little by little. And they could keep the greedy corporations away from the coral as well. It's the best of both worlds. The "True" ending is, I think, the "YOLO" version of the second one. Drastic change is not always for the best. The implications about that ending are limitless. Specially with the last line. There could be wars, there could be blood, but isn't that a common ocurrency for us? Just think about it, has there ever been any peaceful decade in our world? No. There is always something going on. There is an ongoing war somewhere or another. And sure, it's not like world war is a normal occurrence, but is not like we are a peaceful species by any means. With the coral being released we are basically giving birth to a new species. We could have a fruitfuil relationship with'em. They could help us achieve great things. We could witness something that never happened before. I think that, when the first thing that pops to mind is "they're gonna kill us all" that's because we think about what humans have done for ages. But the Coral is not only formed of human consiousness. It could be a complete alien life form. And what they could do, or couldn't do, is up to the developers. I think it's a scary ending, for sure. But it has the potential to be the best, or the worst. I just want to add that I, by no means, am an expert about any of this. All of this is my opinion, and I think that From Software did an amazing thing with all of their games when their endings have so much to talk about and discuss as a community. Even if I don't fully agree with you on a topic or another, it doesn't mean that you're wrong. It doesn't mean that I am right. This is the beauty of this game. Thanks for the vid! Cheers!

[@AORaiMechWork]

So we Went from Homo Sapian to homo Cyborgis Finally reach Deus ex machina. Because even tho that a Coral but that consciousness is still Human

[@joshprimegaming]

yeah it definitely is a moral issue, though handler Walter doesn't give a fuck about coral lol

[@colvamoon6962]

Okay, I'm only in the first minute, and already you've got some things wrong, such as Walter's motivation. I'll keep watching, but now Im under the impression you've misread some of the lore.

[@joshprimegaming]

I dont claim to be an expert its very possible i got stuff wrong. But i think the point of the video will stand. feel free to let me know.

[@colvamoon6962]

@@joshprimegaming Okay, I have finished the video. First, I'm also not an expert in this game's lore. Just making corrections from what I've learned. Second, there are two corrections. Walter's motivation is based on fear, though of the wrong reasoning. The Fires of Ibis were man made, as in they were initiated by a person with the intention of causing that disaster. The reason for this was because they feared Coral growing out of control. Walter and Carla are set to repeat that disaster because of that same fear. However, the crux of the matter is, if one Fires of Ibis couldn't kill all of it, why would a second one be any different? It's likely possible that the Fires of Raven didn't wipe out all the Coral and, with Rubicon dead, and the PCA and Corps leaving it forever, there will be no one to stop it a third time. The second correction is that Coral, even before the Fires of Ibis, was alive. Some people, such as Dolmayan, would hear the voices of the Coral through Coral drug abuse. Though this is only semantics. Now, onto the ending itself. The main point of the true ending comes in the form of it's title, 'The die is cast'. It was said by Caesar after he was ordered by the Roman Senate to return home alone. Instead, he crossed the Rubicon river with his army. As you said, it's a point of no return. Whether for good or for ill, he didn't know, but there is no going back. Dolmayan and V.III all fear Coral Release not because it's inherently bad, but because they don't KNOW what's on the other side. And that's the point. We don't know if it'll be good for humanity or not. However, it must be done. Evolution is key to survival, and Coral could potentially be that next step. Luckily, I don't think that it's all doom and gloom for humanity. Keep in mind that Ayre and Raven have formed a bond through the journey, and that could potentially be looked favorably on the rest of the Coral. I don't believe Ayre would want any hostile intentions towards humanity in the True Ending timeline, given that we haven't done anything to warrant it. Even more so, if Coral is everywhere, then the Corps aren't going to make a mad scramble for every scrap, since it's EVERYWHERE. They can afford to take their time, since they now have an entire universe worth of Coral, rather than one planet's worth. The only reason why 'Where there's Coral, there's blood' only really applies because Coral is such a limited resource. If a limited resource becomes unlimited (or nearly), then that statement doesn't really have much merit. Again, this is mainly what I've seen.

[@kyero8724]

@@colvamoon6962 Exactly, thank you. I think the "Combat Mode" at the end scares people into thinking its gonna be a hellish war against Humans. When its more like a AC hearing it when its turned on/waking up like you do.

[@venom0825]

​@@colvamoon6962 1. Coral survived the first time because there was an abundance of it, this time its all being collected in one spot, there no reason it would survive now. 2. Coral reaching critical mass and blowing up the universe is not some irrational fear that everyone has, it isn't just a possibility, it's a statistical inevitability. 3. No one asked for your evolution, we don't need it. Any person dribbling about next step into human evolution can go touch grass. Everything in the game points that coral is very bad for humans, and dolmayan going insane even with him speaking to a coral entity isnt a red flag for you I dont know what is, this isn't having optimistic faith, this is blindly waking of a cliff.

[@colvamoon6962]

@@venom0825 (sigh) let me address your points. 1. As Walter said. When something is alive, it doesn't die easily. Who's to say that one small speck of Coral was scooped up before we crashed the Xylem? Not saying it was, but it COULD have happened. It would take much longer than a century, but it would get back up. 2. From documents in the game, there's no indication that it could 'blow up the universe'. It could be devastating, but that's only because there wasn't a safe way to deal with the Coral once it reached critical mass. ALLMIND was able to develop a safe method call Coral Release. 3. No one asked the first fish to go onto land. No one asked the apes to change evolution, forming humans. No one ASKS for evolution to change them. However, it must be done. Everything in the game doesn't point to Coral Release being bad. Walter and Carla say Coral COLLAPSE is bad, which it most certainly is. But Release? V.III and Dolmayan don't know what's on the other side, and THAT is what scares them. It's like saying the unknown is bad. How can you say if it's bad if you have no idea what's on the other side? Your cliff analogy only works if you KNOW there's a cliff on the other side. It could just as likely be a stairway to the stars. Until you walk that path, there's no way of knowing.

[@gundam7463]

I also think the kindly is the best ending.

[@joshprimegaming]

yup i agree

[@nolan6137]

I guess none of the 3 endings are True Symbiosis.

[@itzdcx7991]

AMERICA: DID SOMEONE SAY CORAL? Where?!!!

[@FayN_]

i agree with true ending is the worse scenario, but i dont really think that coral is ultlimately bad thing here which is why i prefer liberator of rubicon ending out of all three ending and the third being the least favorite. . this is my perpective of the lore & my reasoning why we shouldn't blindly genocide coral or letting them grow uncontrollably. . first thing first, i dont see coral as a mere fuel ,data conduit nor singular entity. they're intelegent species that live in rubicon just like us human. it's unfortunate for them that they can be USE as a fuel or data conduit for technological advancement. making them less than a intelegent species and more like a tool for human, ultimately making them slave for humanity with them getting any benefit only suffering. . the whole story seems like it's all coral fault with all the war happening & walter said the famous line "where is the coral, there is a blood". but you have to acknowledge that it's human it self that create the war, coral have no control over it and walter famous line is also work for every resource ever exist in the world, not exclusively for coral. even in real life, oil and even water can cause a war but we can't blame the existance of oil nor water can we? and it make it even worse that we know coral is intelegent species capable of thought and has feeling. we basically invade their planet & use them as we please, now that everything gone wrong we decide to burn them to the extinction. that's why i dont really like the fire of raven ending, humanity fucked up and blame the coral where not considering the other option because we fear the unknown. even human who live there is also being a victim with this whole problem. human is invader who mess them up, but it's still unbelieable that coral like ayre still exist and seek symbiosis with human not doom them while we only thing them as nothing but a tool. they simply just want to live, but i guess people didnt see it that way even though the coral machine we encounter always there to simply protect themself. . we also need to consider that all the combat log potrays assisstant one as a researcher gone mad, but we didnt consider that its point of view of people who consider coral as . we never really know that he really is gone mad or people simply missunderstand him. i guess he did abandon his family but coral not controlling him, even the coral & allmind is the one who inherit his wishes to archive coral release by any means neccessary. perhaps he understand that we just enslave coral & burn them alive for fuel while they too has souls, it's not suprising that people who understand that gone mad and seeking a way to live together out of guilt. . but just like human, coral is also had different personality. in the true ending seems like if the coral release happen, all of the coral colonies merge into one entity which make the one who pull trigger being the one who controll it. that's why it's kinda dangerious, making us hold too much power. we also ended up wiping humanity and different coral entities with different personality just for us to evolve. it's too hasty and too much price to pay, which is why liberator of rubicon is on sweet spot for me since it's hopefull. we still finding a way to evolve and live together without dooming humanity as a whole. also the final ending didnt really giving people a chooice either, just like first ending. . humananity will always bring a war and make excuse for it

[@SplittingOfPrides]

I don't think "release coral" is true ending. Because this is the point where everything ends. And there will be a continuation of Armored Core 6, and I very much doubt that this ending will be taken as a basis. Or I don't understand it. Because for me this ending is like Evangelion but in AC universe.

[@DelfaTime]

so we are robot so we are transformers ? where is optimus prime ? lol just joking

[@Mustachioed_Mollusk]

Sorry double comment but also there is no true ending besides the ending the next ArmoredCore game continues off of. Walter, Ayer or Iguna could have gotten their wishes met. We don’t know untill the next release.

[@mareczek00713]

Walter's ending was the good ending - okay, let's say we save coral? How do we know Ayre can control it, other consciousnesses inside coral might have other plans, she could manipulate us, consciousnesses might be unable to control coral, there might be no way to stop its growth without killing consciousnesses which would cause them to fight back. It's silly to just take Ayre at her word.

[@joshprimegaming]

Yup, i wouldnt trust sentient aliens

[@mareczek00713]

@@joshprimegaming It's not even about aliens - from what we see they don't age or anything, we risk billions of billions of humans in the entire galaxy for immortality of the few.

[@chriskotte8468]

I hope we can fight new life forms in a dlc from other planets. There is literally one mission in the game where we can fight bugs that have connected with the coral. Feels weird we mainly just fight robots.

[@BigHomieSenpai]

Took the words right out of my mouth! I been saying that this ending is the REAL bad ending

[@joshprimegaming]

I know right

[@intranexine8901]

your moral compassneedle is made out of plastic m8

[@joshprimegaming]

Until the aliens wipe us out foo

[@MrPikaGammer]

Finally someone with the same takeaway as me, how do people think the ending where its implied humanity are distintigrated into Coral is the "good ending" or that it proves Walter and Carla wrong. The Observers are right.

[@OPTIMUMELITE]

Yeah this ending felt the worst. Even though it was protrayed as being hopeful. We done atrocities more than the other endings, and we made a new universe or world I'm pressuming where it looks like only AC's exist. If people are merged with machine then, thats really creepy and sort of like some creepy tranhumnam thing mixed with the ending of Evengelion(series) In my mind a more satisfying ending might be symbiosis with coral that brings people together in a wholesome way but not completely. Maybe the world is less chaotic and people can be thesmelves, war ceases heavily.

[@talkingtakotaco8611]

It honestly reminds me a lot of the Bloodborne endings. Frankly the "bad" bloodborne ending is the best outcome for your hunter, despite feeling bad. Whereas the "true" ending is morally questionable whether it truly is the best outcome for your hunter.

[@veryawsome3748]

One misconception that you also seem to have bought into is the idea that the coral is just dead people or "souls". This is just not true at least not fully. Ayre is a coral mutation and there are said to many mutations by allmind. This means that there is a non insignificant number of NEW life that has been made from the coral so it is literally a genocide no matter how you look at it. Also, coral didnt start the fires of ibis, Professor Nagai FEARING what coral could potentially do to humanity is what caused the fires of ibis. He ignited it, it didnt just start on its own so coral holds no blame for that either. One final thing to note is that if the fires of ibis didnt eradicate the coral with a star system destroying blast, Walter and the overseers blast at the end likely wouldnt either. I might take a few millennia, but both humanity and coral would probably return to rubicon. So its really just kicking the can down the road not realy what I would call the "good" ending. Good vid though.

[@joshprimegaming]

Thanks for your feedback, it is my first true lore video so i definetely made some mistakes. At first i though Ayre was one of the victims because she said she is a rubiconian and that her familly is in the coral. The lore in this game is awesome tho.

[@Ender240sxS13]

This whole "good", "bad", "true" ending thing is a bunch of BS, it's not something FromSoft put in, it's something some guy writing articles on the internet said and now everyone has hoped on that bandwagon. Really wish people would stop refering to them that way because it's absolutely wrong, there's no real moral superiority too any of them.

[@sombraarthur]

I got the "bad ending", the Fires of Raven in my first playthrough because I understood the very same thing you did, but before actually watching the three endings. What Walter said about Coral, that "where there is Coral, there is blood" kept resounding in my head, and the actions of the different factions, pilots and even the response of the Coral itself, made me see that what Walter said is the absolute truth. If Coral was preserved, then mankind would go extinct. So, in order to prevent mankind extinction, there was no other choice but to burn Coral and make beings like Ayre go extinct. It is a shitty situation, one that there is no good answer to, but that one must be given. The "good ending", the "liberator of Rubicon" damned the Rubiconians, Coral entities, Corporations and PCA to be locked in a perpetual warfare, until one reigns alone over the others... If there would be others, to begin with. The world does not survive in hopes and dreams, but on reality and tough choices that may prevent a disaster, a bigger one, even if you have to unleash a smaller disaster just to prevent it. The third ending, "Coral Release", confirms that the only good ending, is the one where Coral is burnt to extinction.

[@leonlai8270]

In the "Good ending" Aquebas is the only winner(if disasters won't haapen) They get all the coral.

[@talkingtakotaco8611]

I feel like the "good" ending is to simply retaining the status quo. The rubiconians and corporations are still fighting. While arquebus still technically are in possession of all the coral, you and the rubiconians have essentially pushed back all their military forces. But the corporations still are very much there. Just as Walter says. Where there is Coral there will be blood.

[@eftultima]

This is a terrible ending, you don't really feel for the Characters like the first two endings. I felt like i was mind controlled by ALLMIND During this playthrough

[@BLAM5980]

Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s terrible.

[@robypsx]

I think you missed the point with coral release. Basically you could die then become coral and then work again for a corporation or an AI. The never ending cycle of suffering is why I love this lore.

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

That's actually not a bad take on the TRUE ending of ACVI and can definitely see Fires of Raven being the good ending, as you're more thinking of humanity's future in general. As for Alea Iacta Est, whether Coral release being a good or bad thing for humanity, it'll still ultimately be up to the individual who allowed Coral within themselves to decide what to do with it. Remember the tagline for The Terminator series being No Future But What We Make Of It.

[@Truth_Hurts_Bad]

Dude, I side with Dolmayan. Once he learned about Coral Release, he did all to contain that shit. It's obvious that symbiosis is not ideal. I still think Walter/Carla's plot is the BEST ending. Ayre is a little manipulator, though, yes - it would be nice if everyone got along, yeah? Reality: not happening. Liberator ending was in the middle for me (though probably the most ideal for all parties involved). Cheers! Good content, bud. Edit: Bro, you agree with burning the Coral? My kindred soul - you *GET* it! This is commentary on, like, nukes. Nobody needs that shit, dispose of it. But I see this term "genocide" thrown around a lot involving Walter's ending, so, people are very tender and think with their emotions instead of their logical reasoning.

[@blackmage471]

There is one major flaw with this hypothesis - it assumes Allmind and Ayre's agenda is nefarious in nature. For all we know, their goal has actually been coexistence the entire time. Ayre says, "lets meet this new world together" before "activating combat mode." This implies 621 is still alive and inside Ayre's new body, and they will be working together in the future. This may also quite simply be a nod to the classic AC games, when different head parts had either male or female voices. 621's computer has been male throughout the AC6. The Overseer ending basically means you committed mass genocide and betrayed the one woman who was otherwise always going to be there for you. That's pretty evil.

[@Spino-hx2mr]

Ayre is dangerously naive, ALLMIND views humanity as tools and doesn't value their individuality. It quite literally states "A chain of human links is easily broken." It ruthlessly slaughters those in the way of its plan, in an attempt to control everything. The Overseer ending is tragic, yes, but you are preventing a Coral Disaster on a Galactic Scale, setting the stars themselves on fire. Not to mention, Walter *did* care for you, it's not like Ayre is the only one who was there for you. Plus, she always speaks in "I believe", "I promise" and "I hope" - compared to the data that the organization has observed and learned over time. The only thing they didn't know was Coral being sentient.

[@TheTrueHolyDarkness]

What's this crap about the "true" ending being "true?" It is simply the third ending. Besides, if anything has sequel potential, it'd be ending #2: liberator.

[@enricopaolocoronado2511]

The Fires of Raven ending might be the bad ending but consider this, folks: By basically burning all of the Coral and wiping out an entire star system, that's enough of an atrocity to the rest of humanity in this timeline that maybe, just maybe, fighting over a bunch of glowing space rocks isn't worth the risk of having one's entire planet and neighboring star systems being burnt to cinders. With the Liberator of Rubicon ending, it might be considered as the "good" ending but now 621/Raven is gonna have to fight against the corporations. Sure, 621/Raven is a capable AC pilot, but eventually the corps are going to send entire armies to retake the planet. At that point, 621/Raven is subjected to the grinder, having to fight off the corporations now that the PCA presence on Rubicon 3 is nonexistent. Eventually, 621/Raven will slip up and they will die, just like the rest of the mercenaries and warriors on Rubicon 3. In the Alea Iacta Est ending, this is the point of no return. Yes, Coral is widespread now and it's capabilities are absurd by so many metrics, but what does that leave for the current iteration of humanity? Sure, one can argue that it'll be like what Newtypes are in the Universal Century timeline of Gundam with how Coral allows humanity to connect their minds with one another, including those that have been killed by the Fires of Ibis. But is it really all that good? To have one's mind be shared with the entire species? To have no private thoughts of one's own? Can one even be considered a person, an individual, should this die be cast. Hell, as Josh said, having a bunch of Armored Cores possessed by the dead just rampaging across the universe is terrifying. Sure, for mercenaries, this means endless paydays (assuming they can survive taking these Undead ACs down), but for the rest of humanity, that's pretty much the apocalypse. Imagine the threat that the Pulverizers presented to humanity during the events of Last Raven of the 3rd Gen era and spread that threat level across the entire galaxy or even the entire universe. That's pretty much the route where the Alea Iacta Est ending goes. A new age, sure, but one that is bound to be far more chaotic and tragic than the previous age, despite the optimism of Ayre and those who think like her.

[@Tony-nt5zd]

I disagree with this post pretty much completely, but that's the fun part of these games; the ambiguity and conversation is there on purpose. I'll explain my own reasoning below: Your description of the Fires of Raven ending forgets to mention when it says that the resulting explosion causes an interstellar catastrophe, with it being implied that it overshadows the Fires of Ibis, which are said to have burned the stars. You caused an interstellar disaster, likely causing billions of deaths. That's before you count the Coral, which I'll get to what I think about that. Meanwhile what I got from the Alea Iacta Est ending is that ALLMIND's intent was similar to Evangelion's human instrumentality project, effectively dumping all of us into the coral as a hive consciousness. We stopped her and released the coral without her machinations, which was part of her MIND [greek letter] project. Our release, which has no freaky AI addons, releases the intelligences within the Coral across the stars, taking over machines designed to handle Coral technology as their bodies. As a side note, I think the planet we see is Rubicon 3, just with a significant amount of ice melt from the heat of the Release. The lack of red everywhere would be because the Coral is no longer trapped all throughout the planet and is now spread out across the stars. In this ending what I see is the countless Coral minds having found homes and lives of their own, and using machines to acquire bodies for themselves. I also don't think Coral is simply a bunch of ghosts, I think the Coral is a genuine sentience independent from humanity, even if some of the intelligences are imprinted from or copied off live humans at some point. Furthermore, Ayre continuing to exist alongside 621 - presumably as their AC's consciousness - seems to indicate that cohabitation is certainly possible, and that there's no reason humans and Coral can't work together. There may be a new age of conflict as people come to grips with this, but this is less a "Coral bad" and more of a "interaction with a new group of people opens the potential for both growth and chaos".

[@odsgaming105]

My spicy take is that coral are aliens and ayre wants co-existence, however ALLMIND was just an AI correct? Why would an AI want coral to spread and why would it want to be at the helm and not 621 and Ayre. Its confusing, but ultimately what I think is coral wants revenge against humanity for essentially abusing it, but they need humanity to achieve a new state of existing maybe they don't need humans themselves but the souls of humans kinda sorta mecha zombies, they kill humans and then the souls mixing with coral allows coral to essentially live. So Coral and humanity mix which ultimately allows the coral to live and interact with the world aka taking over abandoned AC across the galaxy which now allows them to enact their revenge and essentially go to war with normal humans which would be a good concept to take the story and to sort of tie in the old AC games. Humanity brings the old AC tech out of storage with unaugment humans to fight Coral AC military in a universe under siege from all directions and now everyone is just trying to survive on their own. Its also kinda reverses the card, humanity needed coral to power their tech and now coral needs human souls to allow them to interact with the universe. Might not need be was Ayre wanted or maybe it is and she is just like everyone else, using "hounds" as a means to what they ultimately want.

[@talkingtakotaco8611]

I'm not completely sure what AMs motivations are. But I have a theory that AM is doing the AI trope of doing something that it thinks will help humans despite harming them. Maybe AM thinks the coral symbiosis from performing coral release will make humans evolve to the next stage of humanity, even though every other human doesn't seem to agree with that.

[@DGneoseeker1]

@@talkingtakotaco8611 Reading this it just hit me that All Mind does in fact abbreviate to AM... Where else do we see an AI called AM? "I have no mouth, and I must scream".