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AtimZarr1

The Seraphim's Goals and Identity

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This is a theory on the Seraphim to try explain his goals and identity. There's a summary at part 11, but I recommend reading it all.

 

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On Urdak, the Slayer kills the Khan Maykr, breaking the "holy seal of Urdak" and "jeopardizing all of creation". The Slayer doesn't turn around and walk/look away as he does when usually interacting with the Khan (or anybody else), in fact he just stands there and listens to everything she has to say. She's even spared from a glory kill. The Slayer has killed his enemies mid-speech before. In this instance, it seems the Slayer didn't want to kill the Khan Maykr.


Her death is the result of a long chain of events that I believe ultimately started when the Seraphim stole The Father from Urdak. Because of that action, the Khan Maykr lineage had become threatened as a new Khan would no longer be able to be formed. As a Khan Maykr is "destiny-bound" to lead all of Urdak, the end of the Khan lineage would also likely mean the end to the Maykrs. Driven by the need to prolong her lineage and to save her people, the Khan Maykr would later become tempted to ally with the demons and draw upon Argent Energy where she would shift into an antagonist and come into conflict with the Doom Slayer. However, it seems this conflict between them was orchestrated by the Seraphim's actions.

 

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1. The Seraphim stole The Father and created the Slayer for apparently no reason


According to the Codex, the Seraphim stole The Father but the immediate purpose of this action is considered unknown. As mentioned previously, the absence of the Father meant the Khan lineage would be threatened with extinction. Despite this, we do know the Seraphim was not banished from Urdak at this time. It seems the Khan Maykr was unaware of the Seraphim's betrayal. She is certainly not omniscient, as she is later shown to be unaware of demons and Hell.

 

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We could consider the possibility that the Khan Maykr asked the Seraphim to remove The Father from the Luminarium. Perhaps she wanted immortality for herself and to never be replaced. However, I think this is unlikely since the Khan "contains the conscious soul-data of every major Maykr that has ever lived and died", which is already a form of continued immortality in a sense. Plus, the Khan Maykr apparently did not know about the demons and Argent Energy until after she encountered Doomguy - she would have no way of prolonging herself and maintaining Urdak before then.


Later on Argent D'Nur, the Seraphim would transform Doomguy into the Doom Slayer via the Divinity Machine. Like stealing The Father before this, the cause behind this "betrayal" isn't immediately clear or explained either. The Seraphim somehow acts on his own accord and takes it upon himself to conduct the Slayer ritual on Doomguy. However, if we consider the consequences of these actions combined (starving a Khan Maykr + creating a Doom Slayer = a dead Khan Maykr) - it seems the Seraphim's actions, stealing The Father and operating the Divinity Machine, has led to the death of the Khan Maykr and the corruption of Urdak.

 

2. If the Father was never stolen, the Khan Maykr would have no reason to partner with Hell


The threat of Transfiguration leads the Khan Maykr to ally with the demons in order to obtain Argent Energy. To my knowledge, there isn't any other reason she joins them. By extension then, it was the Seraphim's theft of the Father that led her to this partnership.


Prior to her alliance with Hell, the Khan Maykr had allied with the Argenta. The motivation behind this isn't also immediately clear, other than she sought to "spread" her word to other worlds. The Argenta would later become critical in the construction of Nekroval's soul factories, but the Khan Maykr did not know about Argent Energy or demons back when she initially partnered with the people of Argent D'Nur. It's difficult to tell exactly when the Khan Maykr formed her partnership with Hell. In a narrative context, it'd make sense for her to ally with the demons soon after translating Doomguy's speech. However, only after discovering the demons' power source (The Essence) thanks to the Sentinel Priests' efforts was it noted that "Hell stood beyond her influence" at that point, so perhaps she partnered with them at a later date (or maybe she lied).

 

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The Seraphim's theft is indirectly responsible for the Khan Maykr's antagonism.


3. Unexplained teleportations on Argent D'Nur that indirectly benefit the Seraphim


There are some unexplained appearances all concentrated on Argent D'Nur: (1) the appearance of Doomguy, (2) the appearance of the demons, and (3) the appearance of a Titan. None of them are provided with a satisfactory explanation to their cause, although the Sentinels suspected treason in regard to the Titan's arrival. One could argue that the Khan Maykr let loose the demons/Titan on Argent D'Nur since she became allied with them at some point, but it makes little sense since she needs the Argenta to construct soul factories in Nekroval and to "spread her word". The civil war among the Argenta would only occur long after the demons and Titan invaded Taras Nabad, she would have no reason to destroy her servants before then. It is also pointed out that "Hell stood beyond her influence" during the first encounter against the demons on Argent D'Nur. However, somebody still needs to have summoned these demons. If we consider the consequence of The Father's absence, these teleportations may serve a particular purpose: (1) Doomguy is needed on Argent D'Nur to become the Doom Slayer, (2) the demons are needed on Argent D'Nur to begin the path of temptation for the Khan Maykr, and (3) the Titan is needed on Argent D'Nur to enable a distraction/excuse to create the Doom Slayer in secrecy.

 

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4. The Seraphim is reincarnated into Samuel Hayden


Hayden is the Seraphim, as suggested by various quotes such as the "Take it, it will give you strength... help you on your journey" shared line or the "Welcome, Seraphim" phrase by the facility voice on Urdak. He also appears similar to Hayden, as shown in the third image below. ARC scientists could not open Hayden's main cortex because it was too "alien" and VEGA said that Hayden could integrate to the Fortress of Doom's mainframe as the architectural mainframe is similar to his own - the fortress is of Maykr design. Finally, Samuel's name is similar to the Seraphim's Maykr name "Samur". As the Seraphim was last noted in Sentinel lore to have been presumably banished from Urdak for creating the Doom Slayer, we can assume that perhaps the Seraphim was reincarnated as a human on Earth, Samuel Hayden. There isn't a clear idea on how that's possible. We do see some blue outlines of human bodies before confronting the Khan Maykr on Urdak, perhaps that could mean something.

 

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Mysterious blue human outlines in Urdak - before one fights the Khan Maykr

 

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An image of Samuel Hayden before his robotic transformation

 


We also get to hear about Hayden's brilliance and his initiative regarding Argent Energy. Interestingly, despite Hayden's background studies on energy, he apparently excels in Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness Transference too (VEGA and his robotic form respectively). Both of these are topics that Maykrs are known for: The Father was an AI (implied by VEGA's connection and the Codex calling The Father a "logical, alien entity") and the Maykrs all seem to have robotic bodies. It would explain Hayden's apparent brilliance in these fields unrelated to the energy business.

 

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An image close-up of the Seraphim. [image source]

 

It's also possible that the Seraphim/Hayden has some sort of mastery over teleportation. Besides the unexplained teleportations mentioned earlier, Hayden is also aware of the Slipgate under Mars and the teleporter rings on Urdak. He is aware of how to propel oneself to Urdak via Nekroval too, a maneuver apparently never attempted before. Unlike his knowledge on Sentinel construction of Nekroval, this information isn't mentioned anywhere in the Codex (Hebeth's mastery of teleportation is mentioned but not a slipgate; while Nekroval is noted only to not have a Continuum Gate due to the Khan's distrust of others). The knowledge is apparently uniquely Hayden's.

 

There are a number of interesting teleportation conveniences all related to Hayden: (1) an unexplained portal opens up during the Icon of Sin's fight that Hayden directly calls out, (2) he also was able to teleport the Slayer away at the end of 2016 without the use of an Argent Accumulator (those seemed necessary to be teleported to Hell, including a part of Argent D'Nur), and (3) Hayden also created a "Tether" that could be used to teleport the Slayer (to Mars and away from it apparently). The Tether isn't mentioned elsewhere in the Codex entries as a UAC invention.

 

If we consider the unexplained teleportations on Argent D'Nur, his knowledge of teleportation, and his Tether creation - it suggests the Seraphim/Hayden is a master of portals/teleportation.

 

5. Hayden's deceptions and manipulations

 

At the very beginning of 2016, Hayden tries to control the Slayer and "work together". When the Slayer seeks knowledge of the demon invasion, Hayden blocks that information and tells him to "give you what you need", which is an Argent Cache. Hayden forcefully installs the Tether onto the Slayer's Praetor suit, not just to teleport him back from Hell but also to banish the Slayer away at the end of the game. He lays the blame of the demon invasion on the Argent Facility all on Olivia, conveniently leaving out that it was his doing that led her to the path of temptation (presenting the Helix Stone and refusing to shut down Olivia's research while he was aware of the cult activities occurring). Hayden betrays the Slayer at the end of 2016 by taking the demonic Crucible and banishing him to an unknown destination.

 

Hayden also seeks to give the Doom Slayer the power of Argent as well. This is interesting because the Slayer was part of the Sentinels who abstained from Argent Energy once they learned of its true nature - Hayden's insistence on the Slayer using it could be a ploy for another scheme. Perhaps an attempt to corrupt or make him more easily convinced. Hayden does seem a bit amused when the Slayer must rely on the demonic Crucible to power the Fortress of Doom. The Slayer was powerful enough to kill Titans back in Hell and was a legend among the Argenta - he likely didn't need additional power upgrades. Alternatively, Hayden may have wanted to empower the Slayer (Divinity Machine + Argent Caches) to ensure he could destroy the Khan Maykr.

 

Hayden was the only one capable of removing the Argent barrier surrounding the Slayer when the sarcophagus was brought to Mars. Where did this Argent barrier actually come from? The demons made no mention of creating a barrier in the Slayer Testaments - it's likely not a power they possess since we don't see any Argent Barriers protecting any other sacred relics in Hell (the demonic Crucible, an artifact the demons apparently dread, did not have a barrier). We could consider the possibility that Hayden himself put the barrier on the Slayer (using his Seraphim power) to ensure the UAC would minimize interference and only he would be capable to awaken the Slayer when he deemed it necessary.

 

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Hayden tries to manipulate the Slayer by laying the blame of Nekroval primarily on the Maykrs and Sentinels, leaving out the part where his own actions (stealing The Father from Urdak and indirectly leading the Khan Maykr to ally with the demons to continue powering Urdak) caused all this to happen. Hayden continues to advocate for Argent Energy on Nekroval, claiming it could accomplish "wondrous things" despite the Codex entries up until this point illustrating the fall of Argent D'Nur as caused by its people's dependency on Argent Energy.


Argent Energy has doomed at least three worlds: Urdak (corrupted the Khan Maykr), Argent D'Nur (corrupted the Sentinels), and the Argent Facility on Mars (corrupted the UAC). Despite this, Hayden insists that this energy source is the only way to save mankind from extinction but also omits that its use corrupts its users (as best seen in Hell Priests). In regards to Urdak and the Argent Facility, Hayden specifically played a considerable role in allowing those civilizations to depend on Argent Energy. It would be safe to assume that Hayden would similarly doom Earth with an over-reliance of Argent Energy.

 

Hayden has a history of deceiving or manipulating the Slayer, most of which was in 2016. That makes his apparent helpfulness in Eternal seem suspicious. He betrayed the Slayer at the end of 2016. The Slayer was then unable to defend Earth for 14 years (2149 - 2163) because of Hayden's actions. Is he helpful because he's grateful the Slayer has returned or does is he already plotting his next betrayal?

 

6. Olivia Pierce was similarly corrupted by Hayden's actions


Hayden/Seraphim seems to have a history of leading others to corruption.  In Doom 2016, Hayden presents the Helix Stone to Olivia, which captivates her and begins her downward spiral and an eventual alliance with demons. Recall that Olivia initially refused Hayden's offer to work with him. Interestingly, Olivia claims she "was promised so much" by the demons, indicating a deal of some kind similar to how the Khan Maykr also struck a deal with the demons. In any case, Hayden/Seraphim's actions seem to lead others to make alliances with demons, corruption, and eventual demise. Hayden also blames both individuals for the suffering humans are enduring ("Olivia was the cause of all this"), conveniently leaving out his own role in their corruptions.

 

The Seraphim's/Hayden's actions have indirectly led two individuals to partner with Hell - both of which would later be destroyed by the Slayer.

 

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7. Hayden's indifference to Urdak and the Seraphim's impossible rebellion


Hayden, despite originally being a Maykr, seems indifferent about Urdak's destruction. In fact, he seems almost amused when delivering lines like "You have brought her people and this holy place eternal damnation" and "her hubris has shattered paradise". He clearly has no attachment to Urdak despite his origins as a Maykr. He refers to the Maykrs as the Khan Maykr's people, leaving out to the Slayer that Hayden was once a Maykr himself.

 

According to the Codex, it is "physically impossible" for a Maykr to disobey the Khan Maykr. But the Seraphim did apparently operate the Divinity Machine without the Khan Maykr's permission. It's not clear why the Seraphim could act against the Khan Maykr's wishes - perhaps he was corrupted/influenced at some point or maybe he has a non-Maykr origin. At the least, it suggests that the Seraphim is a unique Maykr even beyond his role in creating the Slayer.

 

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While the Seraphim appears to be special even among the Maykrs, he holds no attachment to his people or his home world.


8. Etymology of the Seraphim and Samuel Hayden


Seraph means "the burning one" (source). Seraph sometimes means "serpent" (source).  Hayden means "Heathen" or "Burning" in German/Welsh (source).

 

A figure in Talmudic lore named Samael is an "archangel", "accuser", "seducer", and "destroyer". Also, "sometimes identified as a fallen angel" and "not necessarily evil, since his functions are also regarded as resulting in good, such as destroying sinners". As well, is considered in Jewish lore to be the "main angel of death and head of satans". (source)

 

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There's also a popular theory that Samuel Hayden may be the Devil because his name can be abbreviated as "S. Hayden" or into "Shayden", which is similar to "Shaitan", the Arabic word associated with the Devil/demons, also known as "Satan" [source]. Also, "Doctor Samuel Hayden" is comprised of three six-letter words, which would amount to 666, a number also associated with the Devil [source].

 

Alternatively, Hayden is named after General Hayden from the Doom 3 novels [source].

 

While Hayden could possibly be a "Lucifer-like" figure, I think he more closely resembles the Archangel Samael. Both have similar names (Samuel and Samael). Both are powerful angels (Archangel and Samur Maykr). Both appear to be accusers, seducers, and destroyers (the Seraphim's indirectly responsible for the Khan Maykr's partnership with Hell). Both are comparable to Satan (S. Hayden = Satan theory). Both of their actions can be seen to result in good (leading the ARC to defend Earth). Both "condone the sins of man" (allowing Olivia to partner with Hell). Both engineered a downfall (Khan Maykr / Olivia Pierce).

 

If all the above are true, then perhaps there may also be an equivalence drawn at "angel of death" and "head of satans" at a later time.

9. A few questions and considerations

 

* If Hayden is not to be trusted, why would he lead the ARC and later assist the Slayer in defending Earth? It's not clear why Hayden would go to such lengths, unless he genuinely cared for the humans' survival. Alternatively, perhaps he needs humanity for another purpose. He was hailed as a savior by Earth's survivors, perhaps Hayden desires this sort of praise. He did certainly hint at a interest in leadership when discussing how Nekroval's soul factories could've been avoided under "different leadership". In any case, Hayden's relationship to humanity (and to the Slayer) seem complicated and are yet to be explained satisfactorily.

 

* If The Seraphim's master plan was to rid of the Khan Maykr, it did not seem to be Hayden's primary focus in Eternal. The entire boss fight on Urdak seemed incidental on the fact that the Khan Maykr would stop the Slayer from returning to Earth. Otherwise, it didn't seem that Hayden was actively telling the Slayer to hunt her down. Hayden was more concerned about the Icon of Sin on Earth. Perhaps Hayden didn't want to hint at his true intentions but knew the confrontation was inevitable ("She cannot let you leave this place alive"). The "cannot" suggests the Khan Maykr was compelled to take this action, and it seems Hayden was aware of that inevitability. This is a stretch and I'm not convinced by it though.

 

* There is a deleted line where Hayden tells the Slayer that he will need to return to Urdak one day. If Hayden wanted to corrupt Urdak, why would he suggest this to the Slayer? The line being deleted weakens its canonicity, but considering the Ancient Gods DLC Part One will feature Urdak, it appears at least this deleted line still holds some truth [source video timestamped]. Perhaps Hayden wanted the current Khan Maykr removed specifically or perhaps the corruption of Urdak is a step in a larger unknown plan. In any case, the line weakens the idea that Hayden's goal was to leave Urdak corrupted.

 

* Lucifer also apparently exists in the lore in the Super Shotgun's Codex entry (as "Lucifer's Bane"). In which case, Hayden being revealed to be a "Lucifer-like figure" would be redundant. Alternatively, considering the writing style of the Super Shotgun's Codex entry isn't used elsewhere in the game, it's possible the text was just written to sound cool for that one instance. If anything, this further supports that the Seraphim is more likely inspired by Samael rather than Satan.

 

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10. New context from The Ancient Gods teaser

 

With the new teaser, we learn that there is a God-like entity (likely VEGA's complete transformation into The Father). If this is the case, this confirms some interesting context about Hayden's relationship with VEGA/The Father. Hayden apparently used The Father to create VEGA, which was then used to streamline the production of Argent Energy. He would later asked the Slayer to destroy VEGA in order to teleport back to Hell. At first, one would think Hayden only ordered VEGA's destruction as it was necessary to shutting down The Well on Mars. In light of Eternal's story however where we learn that VEGA is the God-like Father - in which case Hayden's order to destroy VEGA is instead rather dangerous. He could be potentially destroying the Creator of the universe, an entity he took without cause long ago and apparently transformed for his research. The trouble arises with trying to determine Hayden's "goal" - did Hayden "want" to destroy The Father as what was going to happen at VEGA Central Processing in 2016? Or did Hayden "want" the Father re-instated as happened at Urdak in Eternal?

 

Interestingly, The Seraphim's robe and VEGA's external drive both share a similar mark. It's unclear what this mark may mean. If we consider the Samael theory earlier, then perhaps The Seraphim is directly in relation with The Father (as Samael is also called the "Venom/Poison/Blindness of God").

 

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The marking of interest is at the bottom of the robe.

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The same marking on VEGA's external drive as found on the Seraphim's robe.

 

11. Summary and conclusion


To summarize, the Seraphim stole The Father (leading the Khan Maykr to ally with the demons) and created the Slayer (to kill the Khan Maykr). If he never stole the Father, the Khan Maykr would have no reason to partner with Hell. If the Khan Maykr never partnered with Hell, then the Slayer would have never killed her. And if she never died, the "holy seal of Urdak" would have never been broken. Hayden has already done this with Olivia Pierce - if he never presented the Helix Stone to her, she never would have become a cultist. If she never became a cultist, she never would've unleashed Hell on Mars. If Hell was never unleashed on Mars, the Slayer would have never killed Olivia.

 

The Seraphim/Hayden seems to have a history of opening a path to temptation to orchestrate one's downfall and eventual destruction. He also manipulates the Slayer - laying the blame on the Khan Maykr for Nekroval and on Olivia for the UAC cult but leaves out his role in their corruptions. Seraphim/Hayden tries to actively control the Slayer - Argent Caches, the Tether, teleporting him away, trying to command what he does, etc. The two individuals he indirectly corrupted (Khan Maykr and Olivia Pierce) would both later be killed by the Slayer - an entity created thanks to the Seraphim's own action. As the Seraphim is often seen "watching" the Slayer battle, it is perhaps that he created the Slayer to be his ultimate personal weapon. It would explain Hayden's efforts to control and command the Slayer.

 

While Hayden could fulfill the role of a Lucifer-like figure (leaning into the S. Hayden = Satan" theory), he is quite possibly based on the archangel Samael instead. Besides the names being similar, they both share similar identities and apparent descriptors.


12. Personal thoughts

 

* I did find it odd during my first playthrough that we gave control of the Fortress over to Hayden. This was the man who tricked the Doom Slayer in 2016 twice (installing the Tether and the banishing at the end), despite working together throughout the game. I wouldn't be surprised if we learn Hayden was up to no good in the Ancient Gods DLCs, perhaps we find his body mysteriously vanished from the Fortress of Doom and his whereabouts unknown.

 

* Some parts of my theory are stretches (Samael theory, Seraphim's end goal, teleportation master, etc.) but almost everything else is established in the games. While Hayden's true intentions appear complicated, I would be surprised if we never confront him at some point. His history of deception speaks for itself.

 

* I had the realization that The Father could've possibly requested The Seraphim to remove him from the Luminarium. Perhaps the former planned for all of this, he's a God-like entity apparently after all. And the Seraphim had the special mark on his cloak that is shared by VEGA's external drive too. Interesting angle to think about but it doesn't seem to explain Hayden's deceptive actions or his willingness to destroy VEGA in 2016.

 

* I've been writing/re-writing this theory on and off since mid-April apparently. Was going to wait even longer until after The Ancient Gods official trailer was released (or even the DLC itself) but I figured it might be fun to see if I could predict anything. Honestly, it was adding the pictures that made me feel confident about posting this.

 

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Thanks for reading.

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That's a pretty cool read. I just recalled that Doom16's lore states that Vega was built from an artifact found near the Argent Rift on Mars when it was first discovered.

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Yep, I too have put together a lot of these facts... I'm not sure though if Hayden WAS Samur Makyr before the transformation, or if the two's consciousnesses fused in the alien device Hayden attempted to use for immortality... you know, like Samur was already there, Hayden came in, and now they're like the same person.

 

I'm thinking the goal is to portray Hayden/Samur as, say, Satan or Lucifer, which is basically what Samael is too. He might even be trying to take over Hell from the current Dark Lord too, so that he can sort of be like... the sacrificial lamb of god, if you know what I mean. Because of his love of the universe, he ends up willingly damning himself to become like the devil, because there always has to be an evil to balance the good, which isn't unlike Lucifer.

 

I'm thinking the story is going that direction, more or less. Maybe not as literal as the story of Lucifer, or maybe exactly as literal as the story of Lucifer, hard to say yet.

 

Also worth noting: Doctor Samuel Hayden

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Edited by Hellektronic

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The Samuel from 2016 still doesn't line up too the Samuel from Eternal.  Could just be a retconn.

 

With that said, I was under the impression that the Khan was already in allegiance to hell long before the Slayer entered the Divinity machine.  Whenever the alliance started, it happened after the Doomguy arrived.

Edited by Zemini

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Appreciate your deep dive into the lore, looks like a fair amount of good work went into writing that. I really like the Samael interpretation of Hayden-Seraph.

Would be interesting to see how a confrontation between Hayden-Seraph and the Slayer would go down. I'm guessing if that happens it'll be in a sequel.

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It's probably a lot simpler than that. This is a game with lines like "The bigger the Icon of Sin gets, the stronger he becomes." written with complete earnestness.

 

The "Seraphim" are what the demons refer to the Makyr as in 2016 (the Slayer's Testaments are written from the point of view of the demons, and the Makyrs didn't know about Hell until one overheard Doomguy's ramblings about it). The Wretch is Samur/Hayden, as he was the one who blessed the Slayer with his powers. Samur probably realized as Doomguy quickly rose up the ranks of the Sentinels, that at some point he was going to kill every single last Makyr because he accidentally made Hell even stronger with the Makyrs as backup. Samur buffed up Doomguy and generally tries to help him simply so he'll be the last one to die.

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23 hours ago, mammajamma said:

The "Seraphim" are what the demons refer to the Makyr as in 2016 (the Slayer's Testaments are written from the point of view of the demons, and the Makyrs didn't know about Hell until one overheard Doomguy's ramblings about it).

 

While the Slayer Testaments are indeed written from the demons' perspective, the word "Seraphim" is also used in the Sentinel Codex entries, VEGA's entry for Urdak, and the Urdak facility speaker itself. Also, there's a deleted line where the Khan Maykr mentions the Seraphim by name as well.

 

23 hours ago, mammajamma said:

The Wretch is Samur/Hayden, as he was the one who blessed the Slayer with his powers.

 

"The Wretch" is actually a common misconception about Doom 2016 lore. Here is the original the Codex entry (Slayer Testament III) that mentions it:

 

"And in his terrible rancor between worlds and through time, the Hell Walker found the wretch who shall not be named, but in his heresy was loyal to his evil cause. The wretch adorned the Doom Slayer in a mighty armor, wrought in the forges of Hell, impenetrable and unyielding. With sword and shield of adamantine strength, the Doom Slayer set to banishing all that were left unbroken by his savagery to the void."

 

We can notice that "the wretch" isn't capitalized like a proper noun, as a name or title would be (ex: The Seraphim). This implies "the wretch" isn't this mysterious individual's real name or title, it's likely just a derogatory label used by the narrator of the Slayer Testaments. Other Codex entries actually suggest the narrator refers to all Argent D'Nurians as "wretches":

 

- "In that great victory the Night Sentinels, protectors of the Wraiths, were betrayed by one of their own, and the wretches wept as we devoured their world and took The Well for our devices."

 

- "Lead there by the wretched Betrayer, Deag Grav and his cabal set a curse upon the Wraiths as they slept, and used their essence for our own devices."

 

The above suggests that "the wretch who shall not be named" was likely an Argent D'Nurian.

 

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"The wretch" that gave the Slayer his Praetor armor and the Seraphim that blessed the Slayer are noted to be two separate individuals in the Testaments. "The wretch" is mentioned in Slayer Testament III while the Seraphim is mentioned in Slayer Testament VI. They are unlikely to be the same person.

 

23 hours ago, mammajamma said:

Samur probably realized as Doomguy quickly rose up the ranks of the Sentinels, that at some point he was going to kill every single last Makyr because he accidentally made Hell even stronger with the Makyrs as backup.

 

The Slayer was not at war with Urdak during his time with the Sentinels. A civil war would break out between the Sentinels at a later point, but as far as we know, no Maykrs were involved in the Sentinel conflict itself (other than one faction of Sentinels serving the Khan Maykr). The Slayer's first Maykr kill was likely in Doom Eternal.

 

While the Maykrs were in league with the demons, they were certainly not "backup" for them. Other than angel ambassadors off-world, most Maykrs remained in Urdak - a realm off-limits to demons. The Maykrs took no part in the conquering of worlds - even before partnering with Hell, the Khan Maykr would go to the Sentinels to have them "spread her word" across other worlds on her behalf. In Doom Eternal, the Icon of Sin had to corrupt Maykr Drones to have them fight alongside Hell's forces.

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18 hours ago, AtimZarr1 said:

The above suggests that "the wretch who shall not be named" was likely an Argent D'Nurian.

 

"The wretch" that gave the Slayer his Praetor armor and the Seraphim that blessed the Slayer are noted to be two separate individuals in the Testaments. "The wretch" is mentioned in Slayer Testament III while the Seraphim is mentioned in Slayer Testament VI. They are unlikely to be the same person.

 

Could it instead have been referring to an Earth human "wretch", not an Argenta? Both are humans by standard definition, and maybe demons don't make a differentiation between the two?

 

I spent a bit of time studying this- the praetor suit was designed and built by the UAC, as shown by the fact it was manufactured by the same company that manufactures UAC military gear - I/O Manufacturing. They also make the heavy cannon in Eternal, and the plasma rifle, among other things. It's like... a UAC subsidiary.

 

So, I'm assuming somehow this suit was gifted to the slayer through a member of the UAC, possibly Samuel Hayden himself indirectly, so the two had never actually met before 2016.

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There might be also another reason as to why the armor gifted to the Slayer by the wretch is the Praetor armor, and the Praetor Armor has been developed by I/O Mfg.

Samuel's body was of his design, he engineered every little bit of it and then probably had I/O Mfg manufacture it according to his specifications, with the condition that all data and tooling to the manufacturing of it was destroyed afterwards in order to prevent humanity from gaining an insight into Maykr technology. Something similar could've happened to the Praetor armor. Samuel, being Samur, and shown throughout our speculations to possess an almost supernatural degree of foresight, predicted that the Doomslayer would one day be recovered by an expedition into Hell and, in the past, before being born as the human Samuel Hayden, built a suit of armor for him in a language that would be familiar to the Slayer. Using argent technology but with human English writings on the armor.

 

We know that armor can disassembled, as it is shown to be undergoing some sort of repairs or upgrades inside the Slayer's quarters, at the Fortress of Doom.

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Ah, there's one thing a I noticed in the new trailer for the DLC 1 which I think is pertinent to this thread, I believe that his demonic form that the Maykrs have take is what happens to them after they undergo their transfiguration.

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12 hours ago, TheRedTide said:

Ah, there's one thing a I noticed in the new trailer for the DLC 1 which I think is pertinent to this thread, I believe that his demonic form that the Maykrs have take is what happens to them after they undergo their transfiguration.

I hadn't considered that possibility, so that's an interesting idea.

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1 hour ago, thewormofautumn said:

Maybe the Maykrs were on Argenta to get access to the Wraiths.

 Interesting idea

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The marking on the Seraphim's robe and VEGA's external drive isn't unique to those two as I had thought previously. Rather, it seems to be a generic Maykr symbol used on their doorways in Urdak.

 

GET8HMO.png

 

Interestingly, the Spirits (Summoners) in The Ancient Gods have an interesting chest design that is vaguely reminiscent of the same Urdak marking, as shown literally side-by-side in the trailer itself:

 

64Z97rr.png

 

For comparison, the Summoner in 2016 also had three points on its chest but they don't seem to stretch downwards as the Spirit's does.

 

latest?cb=20160528032006

 

---

 

The Seraphim unexpectedly makes an appearance in the trailer. Not sure how that'll happen but perhaps my theory on Hayden "disappearing" at the start of the DLC seems likely. Here are his lines from the trailer and my analysis on each of them:

 

(1) "We have been allies for some time now." - Referring to the Seraphim empowering the Slayer back on Argent D'Nur and later working again together under the guise of Hayden. The Seraphim is also shown to be "watching" the Slayer in various images. I imagine this is an introductory line for when we first meet the Seraphim in The Ancient Gods.

 

(2) "I knew who you were the moment you set foot in our world." - According to Hugo Martin in the trailer breakdown video, this line is referencing the story from Doom 2016. The thing is, the Slayer never "set foot" on Mars - he was sealed into a sarcophagus, extracted by Hayden, and brought to Mars for safekeeping while entirely unconscious. That's a pretty loose definition of "setting foot", but it is what Hugo is saying. Hugo's repeats the quote albeit differently "I knew who you were the moment we found you.", which does fit more with the 2016 story. Personally, I figured the original line was referencing Doomguy entering Argent D'Nur for the very first time, which makes more sense for me.

 

(3) "Your gifts are owed to us now." - This line is more antagonistic compared to the others. In fact, while the other lines in the trailer are introductory-themed or goal-themed, this one seems at odds with those and more confrontational in tone and message. According to another user on the unedited version of the trailer breakdown video, Hugo said we'll fight someone in the DLCs who we've been wanting to punch in the face for a while. Based on this quote, it seems that the Seraphim/Hayden will turn against us, perhaps in the later parts of the DLC when he demands the Slayer powers to be returned.

 

(4) "We work to resurrect the only ones who can save this world." - While the trailer footage shows a Titan being re-awoken, I think this line is likely referring to "The Ancient Gods" themselves. It has been speculated that they may be the Elemental Wraiths, which do make sense. According to the DLC description on its store page, the Slayer is helping restore the imbalance in the cosmos after the Khan Maykr's death. In the context of the initial teaser trailer, it seems the Slayer was specifically helping The Father / VEGA. This new trailer, along with the DLC title itself, seems to imply that we'll be helping multiple Gods. It's also interesting to consider what "this world" might be referring to in the above quote. Earth has already been saved, but it could be referring to Urdak. The only case against that is that it seems the Elemental Wraiths had no connection to Urdak or its wellbeing - they were entirely separate.

 

(5) "You are given the honor to serve the gods yet again." - According to Hugo Martin in the trailer breakdown video, this is alluding to the Slayer once serving the Elemental Wraiths in Sentinel lore. Hugo also hints that the Slayer may not work with them again this time, since he doesn't play well with others. Based on the "your gifts are owed to us now" line from earlier, it seems that the Elemental Wraiths may not be our allies this time around. According to The Father in the teaser trailer, the Slayer has come to restore order to Urdak - which seems like a different goal than resurrecting the Elemental Wraiths.

 

[trailer breakdown source]

 

---

 

According to an interview, part one of The Ancient Gods will progress from the UAC seas facility, to the Hell blood swamp, and then to the ruins of Urdak. From the trailer, we see numerous Titan remains in the Hell blood swamp and that later the Slayer apparently re-awakens one of them. The Titan then lifts the Slayer onto a mysterious platform featuring a portal in the sky. Based on the information we have, it seems that perhaps this portal may lead to Urdak. Earlier on, it seems the Slayer is using a submarine to traverse deep underwater from the UAC seas facility. The only purpose of this that I can think of is that it'll be revealed that Earth itself will have a slipgate to Hell somewhere deep in the ocean or even in its core just like Mars did. From there, the Slayer would be transported to the blood swamps in Hell.

 

[interview article source]

 

Based on footage from the trailer, it appears we meet the Seraphim somewhere in Urdak. There's a particular shot revealing the Seraphim's face where he has a lot of machinery apparently around him. I wonder if that's the Divinity Machine brought to Urdak - the Seraphim plans to use it to de-power the Slayer and return the "gifts" he granted long ago. Maybe he wants the powers to resurrect the Elemental Wraiths? Hence the "you are given the honor to serve the gods yet again" and "we work to resurrect the only ones who can save this world" in the context of the "your gifts are owed to us now" line. Of particular note, the Seraphim's face appears to be quite different than the extracted model linked in my original post.

 

vRu7CT5.png

 

Based on what we know - Seraphim/Hayden wanting the Slayer powers back, Seraphim/Hayden wanting to resurrect the Elemental Wraiths, Doom Slayer apparently not working so well with the gods again this time, The Father noticing the Slayer has come to his world to restore order, etc. - it seems that the Slayer is headed to Urdak to save The Father and drive out the corruption. He needs to reach a slipgate under the Earth's oceans to enter Hell - and from there take an ancient portal to Urdak. There, he fights the demons and later encounters the Seraphim. The Seraphim offers the Slayer a chance to resurrect the Elemental Wraiths by returning his power to the Divinity Machine - which will be refused. I'm not sure how The Father will be tied to this confrontation - perhaps he is against the Seraphim too, or perhaps he is working with The Seraphim. I think it might be the former considering how they've established VEGA as being one of the few entities that the Slayer probably respects. While there's a decent chance at confrontation with the Seraphim, I would be pretty surprised if we kill him in just part one of the DLC.

 

---

 

In regards to The Ancient Gods title, some demons are related to "elder" Hell gods. Here are examples from the Codex:

 

"Requiring little compulsion on behalf of its highborne masters, Hell Knights readily serve the Elder Hell-gods for the extent of their lifespans, reaping great satisfaction in the way of war and desecration."

 

"Descended from the eldest race of demons, the Archvile has long held a place within the ruling caste of highborn demon-kind."

 

"Weaponized and cybernetically altered by the UAC, the Tyrants are tasked with overseeing the collection and extraction of sin-branded human souls from the human world, their role in Hell ordained by the unholy sigil of the Elder Hell-gods."

 

As none of these Hell-gods are mentioned in 2016 lore, it's likely they were mentioned in the Eternal Codex as set-up for the DLC plot. Specifically, it could explain why the DLC title doesn't mention the Elemental Wraiths for its title - the Ancient Gods will possibly include more about the Elder Hell-gods as well (in its second part probably). That relates to the significance of the mysterious platform at the end of the trailer - it is found in Hell and likely connected to Urdak, this is perhaps where the eldest race of demons first were born into Hell. Based on the Spirit's mark on its chest as mentioned above, perhaps that visual cue is also meant to reinforce the demon origin story (the eldest demon races were possibly a byproduct of Urdak).

 

I wonder if we'll get more lore-related information before the DLC's release.

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On 9/2/2020 at 7:01 AM, AtimZarr1 said:

I think it might be the former considering how they've established VEGA as being one of the few entities that the Slayer probably respects.

In hindsight, it was really fortunate that the Slayer decided to back up God on a USB stick when the VEGA core was going critical in 2016.

 

Awesome theories and analysis in this thread, btw. I'm pretty jazzed to see how the DLC's going to unfold.

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21 hours ago, Komenja said:

In hindsight, it was really fortunate that the Slayer decided to back up God on a USB stick when the VEGA core was going critical in 2016.

 

Which raises it's own question. Hayden was quite happy to let VEGA die. The Slayer only saved VEGA because he chose to.

Was Hayden trying to kill off VEGA? If so, there wasn't a hint of it in Eternal.

 

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1 hour ago, thewormofautumn said:

 

Which raises it's own question. Hayden was quite happy to let VEGA die. The Slayer only saved VEGA because he chose to.

Was Hayden trying to kill off VEGA? If so, there wasn't a hint of it in Eternal.

 

A) Maybe Hayden has his own backup

B) Maybe Hayden is evil

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I am not completely convinced id had Seraphin/Samuel completely mapped out when Doom 2016 came out and some retconning/logic leaps may be needed to make everything fit.

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19 hours ago, Murdoch said:

I am not completely convinced id had Seraphin/Samuel completely mapped out when Doom 2016 came out and some retconning/logic leaps may be needed to make everything fit.

Yeah, I agree. It seems that it was only during the development of Doom Eternal that they decided to make Samuel Hayden into Samur.

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7 hours ago, TheRedTide said:

Yeah, I agree. It seems that it was only during the development of Doom Eternal that they decided to make Samuel Hayden into Samur.

Some things he said and did in 2016 and did still kind of line up. For example, in the hologram where he first finds him in the Sanctum, he rubs the sarcophagus like he owns him or something and is glad to find him. That argument Olivia has where he says “he was mine before you even found him” seems to convey the same idea too.
 

Planned to be seraphim or not, Hayden seemed to at least have always planned to retrieve the Slayer and knew who he was so he could use him for whatever 4D chess game he’s playing.

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1 hour ago, oCrapaCreeper said:

Some things he said and did in 2016 and did still kind of line up. For example, in the hologram where he first finds him in the Sanctum, he rubs the sarcophagus like he owns him or something and is glad to find him. That argument Olivia has where he says “he was mine before you even found him” seems to convey the same idea too.
 

Planned to be seraphim or not, Hayden seemed to at least have always planned to retrieve the Slayer and knew who he was so he could use him for whatever 4D chess game he’s playing.


Yes good points; he definitely had some degree of foreknowledge even in Doom 2016. And he could not have got it by just reading tablets in Hell as I am pretty sure demons do not speak English.

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5 hours ago, oCrapaCreeper said:

Some things he said and did in 2016 and did still kind of line up. For example, in the hologram where he first finds him in the Sanctum, he rubs the sarcophagus like he owns him or something and is glad to find him. That argument Olivia has where he says “he was mine before you even found him” seems to convey the same idea too.

I’m sure this was obvious to everyone else, but I just realized that Samur/Samuel going to Kadingir Sanctum in his robot body is a clever way to circumvent the Maykrs-Can’t-Physically-Go-To-Hell rule which may or may not have been conceived prior to Eternal. Reminds me of the end of Earthbound, where the character’s souls must be transferred into robotic bodies because the effects of time travel would kill them.

 

This could mean Samur (assuming he somehow became the human Samuel Hayden) was planning to transfer himself into a robot body all along as a means to personally go to Hell and retrieve the Slayer himself. 

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