Spoilers for the behemoth crisis path

[Swarm lover]

So with the "improved endings" of the behemoth path revealing that the hunters seemed to have Thanos snapped the class 4 behemoth out of existence if you leave the galaxy. (Like seriously wasnt even a fight the behemoth seemed to have no idea what hit it or time to react). Which i have mixed feelings about as it seems to really undermine your "victory".

Basically to me this shows that the hunters are a serious reality warper, they can seemingly snuff out an entire galaxy in one go or erase a system sized living creature with little effort based of how the behemoth didnt even have an opportunity to fight back. Now i wondered the heck they could be and i suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

I think the hunters arent some mystery super race but someone we know very well and have contact with regularly. My theory is that the hunters are none other than THE STELLARIS DEVELOPERS themselves.
Now i know this sounds absolutely ridiculous but hear me out:

1) The prethoryn are fully organic and have a bug like appearance to them. What do the developers try to constantly do? Stomp out bugs. That and the prethoryn multiply without end ausing game lag.

2) Then why snuff out an entire galaxy? Because it was infested by bugs (the prethoryn).

3) Then why do they go after the behemoth? The armor and some of its parts look bug like hence they stamped it out.

4) Ultima vigil system is a system for the devs to keep an eye on our galaxy to watch out for more bugs, us shutting it down causes the unbidden to show up early. What are the unbidden good against? Armor and hull which is what the prethoryn have a lot of and reducing habitable worlds to dead worlds. Hence to make sure the bugs dont potentially spread they release them as a form of pest control. (Even if that pest is us.)

So to me its clear that the hunters are the stellaris dev team and not a super advanced civilization.

 

[Rezca]

While I'm kind of over the whole "your victory actually means nothing", I absolutely love your take on the scenario as a whole.

The 'advanced race/species/etc is actually the developers' makes me think back to Star Ocean 3's plot in a sense. I know its a topic that's done elsewhere too but that's the first one that comes to mind for me.

 

[Swarm lover]

While I'm kind of over the whole "your victory actually means nothing", I absolutely love your take on the scenario as a whole.

The 'advanced race/species/etc is actually the developers' makes me think back to Star Ocean 3's plot in a sense. I know its a topic that's done elsewhere too but that's the first one that comes to mind for me.

Its just that no matter how i try to think of it, the hunters being simply a super advanced race thats a full on empire makes no sense. If they are powerful enough to snap an entire galaxy out of existance and a behemoth too why the heck would they bother chasing the prethoryn around. Heck how would the prethoryn even be able to escape in the first place, the prethoryn clearly are far below them in power so they clearly dont have anything to really "offer". So them chasing the prethoryn for "eons" clearly is about more than simply territory, tech or rescources. Also cant make sense of an entire empire dedicating themselves to chasing down these few bugs, if it was a few powerful entities sure i could see it as a "game" or "diversion" for them more than anything. I also dont think its rampant xenophobia as i clearly feel like they know where we are and could do something to us but actively choose not to. (Especially if the person that talks to us on the ultima vigil system is one of these "hunters".

The theory tbh is half joke half serious as they clearly have powers over reality possibly beyond even the "godlike" shroud patrons but dont really seem to have that "alien" thought process to them.

 

[TSBasilisk]

Maybe the Hunters don't want to destroy the Prethoryn. Maybe the entire purpose of hunting them is the hunt itself. The Behemoth is an interruption to their game and not subject to the same rules as their prey, so they don't hold back.

 

[Swarm lover]

Maybe the Hunters don't want to destroy the Prethoryn. Maybe the entire purpose of hunting them is the hunt itself. The Behemoth is an interruption to their game and not subject to the same rules as their prey, so they don't hold back.

Like i said might be a "game" to them but then why specifically the prethoryn. What made them decide "lets hunt that for funsies"

 

[Cry_Havok]

It's really hard to find the script and I really don't want to play out the path just because it's not my playstyle, but can I get a full spoiler rundown of the old and upgraded behemoth endings?

 

[Swarm lover]

It's really hard to find the script and I really don't want to play out the path just because it's not my playstyle, but can I get a full spoiler rundown of the old and upgraded behemoth endings?

Basically in the old endings you could stay in the galaxy, just leave the galaxy to live out your behemoth life but if you encountered the prethoryn and talked to them (i think) about the hunters you had a third option which was the same result as leaving but your behemoth implied they would "teach the hunters fear".

In the new ending although i dont know if it applies to both the regular leave the galaxy and the hunter mention or if they exclusive but essentially after you leave the galaxy and continue to play as another empire they track the class 4 behemoth and its brood traveling away from the galaxy. Then suddenly "something" hits it and basically snaps the behemoth out of existance, no traces no nothing, no battle or struggle.

 

[TSBasilisk]

From that perspective, maybe the Hunters have a limited range they can effect. The Prethoryn are able to keep ahead of them, but the Behemoth flies right into their crosshairs.

 

[Swarm lover]

From that perspective, maybe the Hunters have a limited range they can effect. The Prethoryn are able to keep ahead of them, but the Behemoth flies right into their crosshairs.

Still would feel off to me, they can snipe an entire galaxy with their ability (mind you they dont blow it up it just vanishes) or a something the size of a behemoth but you mean to tell me they cant hit the prethoryn. Plus the behemoth doesnt seem to travel "that far" before getting erased, so honestly i feel like they had the prethoryn very well within their sights.