Speculating on the nature of Team Xen itself. (Spoilers obv)

[Mythril]

Disclaimer: I played through the Saki battle in v13 and with a new save file I am just about to enter Axis High in v13.5 so forgive me if my questions are answered or my theories debunked later on.

 

Team Xen as an organization, lets talk about them.  On the surface level, they seem to be a para-military organization. A few issues I have with that though. At the start of the game, they seem to be seen as a nuisance but mostly harmless. We know that is not true and they have a vast membership as well as a large amount of military hardware. Even if they got all their battleships, trucks, flying suits, and other equipment from a different region you would still assume that news of somebody buying up a small armies worth of tech would get around. They also seem to have a huge membership, I know there are some repeat trainers and I plan on doing another playthrough and recording the names off all the Xen members that you fight, but having a group with so many members should also be hard to hide. Even if they are "mostly harmless", if they number in the hundreds, they would be a major power in the region. We are also told that Team Xen existed in the past under a different leader. 

The tech that they have access to is also a big question mark. They can put Ren's consciousness into a cyborg body, the Deathwings have powered flying suits, Madam X is capable of superhuman speed and strength however we don't know if that is because of her suit or her personal abilities. We don't see that kind of tech used by anyone else in the modern timeline. During the Neo-Geran sidequests we see a Deathwing get his wing damaged and it repair itself later, however it seems to take a physical toll on him. We also hear Madam X say "If it wasn't for this damn suit..." which I take to mean that the suit is not an optional thing for her and also it is limiting her abilities somewhat. 

All of the members that we really talk to seem to have some personal goal that their membership in Team Xen will help them with. From healing a sick family member to downright cold blooded revenge, they all seem to want something that they feel like they can't do themselves. Team Xen is also a one-way street. Once you are a member, you don't leave without being erased.

Being erased is another oddity. If you wanted to control someone, a good old-fashioned way is to implant a little bomb in their neck to pop the head off if they get out of line, but that is not what Xen does. I can't help but assume it has something to do with the green gem they all carry. The way they are erased reminds me of what happened to Aelita in the past with the Vivian situation, making me thing that the green gems act like a timegear amulet.

 

My theory is that Team Xen is made up mostly of people from previous versions of the world or from different timelines looking to change something that happened to them in the past. The gems act as artificial protection from being erased like they should have been in the last reset of the world, so deactivating the gems lets the world correct itself. Madam X took her name from the team, not naming the team after herself. 

This doesn't explain how Team Xen was able to acquire so much tech and hardware. If they brought things like their Battleships from the previous reset, then they should also have a time-protection device, but if so why wasn't it just remotely disabled when Neved's battleship was stolen, dropping all the passengers off into the middle of the ocean? The Deathwings could have been outfitted with their suits in the previous timeline and brought them with them, the same for Madam X and her suit. And lets not forget our good friends the Silver Surfer and Mysterio, they are using equipment and tech that far surpasses the level of what is available in the modern timeline as well.

 

What do you think?

[Gediel1500]

Hmm Interesting except for the fact that most admins are not from this hypothetical alt time. Madam x I could believe though

[Dausk]

Personally, I wouldn't go as far as saying that Team Xen is made up of people from different iterations of the world. As Gediel points out, it seems very far-fetched to believe that the admins are from a different iteration, considering that side content matches too well with their stories for them to be from a different world (such as Neved with Maman and Jenner with a ton of other characters). I do think Madame X is from a different iteration, as Clear and Kieran state that their creator originates from another world (and since they work for Madame X, I think it's safe to assume she played a role in creating them). There is also the abandoned house from the intro, which clearly shows an alternate version of Maria (since Anathea's cause of death is completely different from that established in Chapter 9), where Madame X shows herself, indicating she has access to alternate versions of the world.

 

I think the more likely situation is that Madame X is utilizing the same tactic that Tiempa and Spacea utilized, wherein they save people fated to die in exchange for aiding them towards a certain goal. This is supported by Matthew's journal, which indicates that Jenner, a Maddy (Madelis), and a Cass (Cassandra) were caught in the Gearen Fire, and thought them dead, only to see them completely unscathed later. Coincidentally, we know that all of them worked for Team Xen (along with the fact that the soul stone did not pick up Jenner's soul up at Valor, and I think the game makes reference to this at some point). It is completely possible that the Team Xen erasure we have been seeing is the same as the bright light that the Storm Chasers saw before dying. This is all corroborated by the fact that something weird is up with the Xen grunts, as Sharon at some points says something along the lines of "wishing she was left as she was before". The game also establishes that Madame X can travel through time with the time diamond, so it would make sense for her to pull stuff like this. This could also imply that a similar fate might have befallen the rest of the admins at some point (perhaps Geara was fated to die in the Wispy Tower fire, for instance).

 

On Team Xen's purpose as a whole, that's still hard to pinpoint. We know the following:

1.) Team Xen seeks the Archetype

2.) Madame X despises Vitus (as shown by her actions in the ruined timeline and the intro)

3.) If what Rune and the Space Hags mention is correct, they seek to recreate Storm-9

4.) The admins all seek goals that seem farfetched given the circumstances

5.) Team Xen possesses extremely intricate knowledge regarding the nature of the world

 

Due to these factors, I think that Team Xen's and particularly Madame X's goal, would be something akin to achieving a perfect ending for the world. They would do this by using Storm-9 to force the world into it's wilting state, forcing Karma to abandon it (and possibly allowing Team Xen/Madame X to escape to the next one), and then use the Archetype to achieve the desired fates that both Madame X and the admins seek, in a fresh version of the world. Thus preventing Vitus from leading the world to a devastated state, like he seems to do across a plethora of realities (Ruined Timeline, Chapter 3's Timeline, etc.). It is possible that Team Xen views the current iteration of the world that the game takes place in as being imperfect, and that's why they seek to destroy it, in order to bring upon a new, better one afterwards using the Archetype's power. This would reconcile their goal of recreating Storm-9 (maybe with the energy garnered from people dying, as Neved seems to indicate exists in Chapter 5, through the Xenpurgis) with Madame X's apparent dislike for the Ruined Timeline and Vitus. Of course, this still leaves plenty of questions unanswered, such as: the nature of the green gems that grunts carry, Clear and Kieran's implied status as Interceptors (by the chess board in the Dream World), and the possible existence of a third Interceptor in Team Xen's side (could possibly be indicative of Renegade MC imo).

 

[Mythril]

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If what Rune and the Space Hags mention is correct, they seek to recreate Storm-9

Team Xen possesses extremely intricate knowledge regarding the nature of the world

If this is the case as stated and not some sort of long term plan in the works, why are they not pursuing Nim with the same vigor that they show in chasing down Melia? If you wanted to recreate Storm-9, wouldn't it make sense to either recruit or capture the current incarnation of that same power? The closest thing I have seen so far is Clear-cent convincing her to become Lorna.

They didn't know about the other 3 Archetype holders. Wouldn't they want/need the whole thing and not just a piece of it? Not even Melia had any idea she had siblings until GDC.

They didn't show any real interest in Aelita, and if they want to recreate Storm-9 why not make sure history couldn't repeat itself by capturing the reincarnation of the soul that stopped it from completing it's goal the first time around?

 

It seems to me that their are quite a few holes in their knowledge as well, either that or they are displaying an unprecedented level of arrogance in assuming their plans will work. Honestly with Madam X's personality, it could be going either way there. I have a huge respect for Jan and every member of the Dev team, for every answer they give us we get two more questions. By the end of the story, we are going to need one of those movie crime-boards with the red string hooking everything together to get the full picture of the world and I love it.

[Dausk]

4 hours ago, Mythril said:

If this is the case as stated and not some sort of long term plan in the works, why are they not pursuing Nim with the same vigor that they show in chasing down Melia? If you wanted to recreate Storm-9, wouldn't it make sense to either recruit or capture the current incarnation of that same power? The closest thing I have seen so far is Clear-cent convincing her to become Lorna.

It is unclear if Nim is required to recreate Storm-9, as she didn't exist when the first one was created, so I'm not sure about that. I'm assuming she will have some more involvement in the story, so this remains to be seen.

4 hours ago, Mythril said:

They didn't know about the other 3 Archetype holders. Wouldn't they want/need the whole thing and not just a piece of it? Not even Melia had any idea she had siblings until GDC.

This is true, although given that Melia was able to restore the core in the Ruined Timeline by herself, it is also unclear if Team Xen requires the full Archetype. I do think you are correct in your assessment that they were unaware of the existence of Alice, Allen, and Erin.

4 hours ago, Mythril said:

They didn't show any real interest in Aelita, and if they want to recreate Storm-9 why not make sure history couldn't repeat itself by capturing the reincarnation of the soul that stopped it from completing it's goal the first time around?

I don't think there's any point to this, since I suppose the sacrificial spell would have to be done once more for it to mess with their plans. Furthermore, since Clear is behind most of the events of Where Love Lies, it seems to me that Aelita might be important for something they're planning.

4 hours ago, Mythril said:

It seems to me that their are quite a few holes in their knowledge as well, either that or they are displaying an unprecedented level of arrogance in assuming their plans will work. Honestly with Madam X's personality, it could be going either way there.

That is correct. I do recall that Melanie tells Melia that whoever told her about overlapping (Madame X) likely didn't know that it would cause her to be absorbed into her subconsciousness. So it does remain to be seen where they are getting their information from, because even though they seem to know about Karma, the Archetype, the Old Earth, etc. There are some minute details that they seem to be lacking. There will likely be some reveal regarding this in the future. I am interested in seeing how the devs will try to explain all this, since Madame X can time travel using the time diamond, it appears inconceivable that she'd be missing all these facts. Although considering she was aware about Maria's existence in whatever reality the prologue takes place, they might have assumed that Melia was this version's Maria, and therefore was an only child.

 

Another thing neither of us mentioned would be their relationship to the old Team Xen, the one lead by Lord Xenadin in the Miera region. I myself am completely clueless regarding how they fit into this, that said, I would not be surprised if Lord Xenadin was Vitus, especially considering that Team Xen follows the whole Yveltal aesthetic (that could very well be something from the new Team Xen though).

[ClaraTheCriminal]

Spoiler

The stuff with Aelita could help support the idea that Madame X is actually Nora, Taelia and Kenneth's daughter, although that could raise questions as to why she's working with Clear in the first place

 

[SoulN7]

Also, Madame X appeared many times as someone who knows there is a bigger threat, so my guess is that she knows too about the World Shatterer. I won't be surprised if she will became again an ally, since she stated she had to save MC many times in order to things to happen. The Interceptor is a bigger threat to Team Xen and maybe their battle skill already surpassed Madame X herself, so why continuing to save us? How truly she see the MC? Also, her identity is still the biggest question in Rejuvenation and I'm still thinking it's another version of Melia without Archetype or something. Maybe the suit helped her to sustain herself from disappearing, since there couldn't be too much versions of the same person in the same moment and she became completely vulnerable after her mask got broken.

[dudeguyman]

 

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My theory is that Team Xen is made up mostly of people from previous versions of the world or from different timelines looking to change something that happened to them in the past. The gems act as artificial protection from being erased like they should have been in the last reset of the world, so deactivating the gems lets the world correct itself. Madam X took her name from the team, not naming the team after herself. 

I think that that's a given, since there has been a Team Xen way before the colonization of Aevium. I think we won't get far until we get the connection between present Xen and past Xen, the problem is that we don't have any idea of past Xen's motives, all we know is that it was lead by a dude and that it's responsible for the disaster that caused everyone to migrate to Aevium in the first place.

This is wild, very, extremely wild speculation, but Madam X's body suit really looks like MC's interceptor form, we know from Madam X's very mouth that her mother sacrificed herself to save her, Madam X is implied to be and interceptor by the chess pieces, and we know that MC can appear both as male and female depending on which soul is perceived by an observer, it is possible that future MC could master that trait and choose which soul to get the appearance from instead of being randomly(?) picked by each individual observer, so, it might be possible that both past Xen and present Xen are lead by renegade MC.

Of course, that doesn't even begin to explain the mass-produced Madam X body suits.

 

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That is correct. I do recall that Melanie tells Melia that whoever told her about overlapping (Madame X) likely didn't know that it would cause her to be absorbed into her subconsciousness

But Nim later said that overlapping has no such side effect and that that Melanie is just a figment of Melia's imagination. Imagine if overlapping did have that side effect, then MC would have not just another MC, but two Axel, two Aevia (etc.) in its subconscious since they got overlapped as well, and we would have likely seen that during the battle with Crescent in the Zeight.

Edited December 2, 2023 by dudeguyman

[Cyphre]

Madame X being an Interceptor or another version of MC is completely and fully impossible for many-many small and big reasons splattered across the game. 

 

Overlapping details can also just be part of poor writing that went on unnoticed or something yet to be retconned, also i would assume Madame X knows more than Nim about such things. 

 

But yeah Xen being alien to this reality/world/timeline is kind of a given, the issue is with what we currently know it's impossible to figure out the details, we know extremely little at the moment.