Nightwave Episode 2 – An Infested Cult?

Nightwave Episode 2 is here and with it comes a slew of tasks and challenges very similar to Nightwave Episode 1 and Nightwave Intermission. There are 30 levels with various rewards and you earn standing by doing daily, weekly and elite weekly challenges to level yourself up. What is different this time, aside from the big rewards, is the theme.

We finally got something new when it comes to Infested. A while Nightwave episode.

Actually, I say that but it’s not really about the Infested themselves. In fact, Nora states in her very first opening presentation that the Infested is mostly contained. There’s still break outs, because no containment system is guaranteed to be perfect and the Origin System is filled with people who would happily break said quarantine in the hopes of obtaining money or power.

So the Infection gets out occasionally and starts consuming everyone. Most people when they get infected end up rightly exiled before the infestation can spread. Kenga was one such person who got the “gray-vein”, and he was promptly abandoned on Eris. But this person ran into a boy called Arlo who apparently has the ability to cure you. With a touch of his hand.

Arlo’s got a bit of a following. Seems like he’s got a cult of people worshiping him. Nora Night calls it a Plague Dogma, but it’s almost certainly a cult. Sure, Arlo can’t speak and has the ability to heal people with a touch of his hand, but he’s just an innocent kid in a strange place. Nothing THAT mysterious, all things considered. Apart from the fact that Arlo died 3 years ago.

But hang on, aren’t there… already other people who live among the Infested? Like in that absolutely awful quest, the Glast Gambit? Well yes, but this is another group. A group with different intentions. Are they good intentions? Who knows? I’m going to go and guess that Arlo was formerly Corpus. Or owned by Corpus. I mean he has that same weird neck thing that all Fortuna folks have. His followers might not be, but from what I’ve seen of the items you can unlock and the fact that there are apparently random followers who can spawn and help in missions, they all seem to dress like Arlo and are not really clone-y and disfigured enough to be Grineer.

The question is, will we find out more about the Infestation and the Emissary? Definitely. Will the Emissary be a good guy or a bad guy? I don’t know because Arlo can’t talk and we’ve only seen part one so far. Will there be a surprise twist that connects the Emissary to the rest of Warframe’s strange lore, the same way Alad V messed with the Wolf? Probably.

Actually, I’m counting on it. Might even tie in to a new update, the same way Alad V working on amalgams translated into the whole Jovian Concord/Hostile Mergers event.

Still, it’s nice to see something about the Infestation, but it’s not much yet. Very bare bones and frankly a lot of stuff we already know. I hope we’ll find out more soon.

In the mean time, I’m off to do more Nightwave stuff. That Operator Infested Suit isn’t going to earn itself!