The Lotus – A Mistake Was Made

It’s been a while since I played The New War. I kinda rushed through the quest because I didn’t really playing as Drifter. I was also rather annoyed at how little war was actually in The New War. Sure, we had things like Scarlet Spear, Chimera Prologue, Apostasy and the Murexes leading up to The New War, but these events were far too spread out to have any meaningful impact on the New War itself. But while I played and eventually finished The New War, I realized that I had made a massive mistake.

Before I continue, if you haven’t played The New War, I do recommend jumping in and playing it yourself. I also recommend saving up Platinum and just buying a Necramech if you don’t have one, because that farm is the worst. Anyway, beyond this paragraph, there are spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned.

Anyway, that massive mistake didn’t happen until the very end of the New War. After the cataclysmic battle against Ballas and the appearance of the Man in the Wall (literally), we get a nice parallel to The Second Dream, where we carry the Lotus and place her back into her magic chair. We then talk to the Lotus, and help her make a decision: who IS this person, sitting in this chair?

You’re given three choices. You can pick from Lotus, Margulis or Natah. While the choice is partially cosmetic, it does affect all communications from our space mum. So, depending on who you pick, that will be the name under the transmissions from space mum. Lore-wise, you basically end her story and give her a proper identity.

I made the wrong decision.

I chose Margulis. To this day, I’m not really sure why. By then, I was pretty tired of The New War and just wanted it to be over. But Lotus was never Margulis. She was just a copy of her. Natah was always a mimic, and Margulis was just one of the things she mimicked. While the Lotus did base herself on Margulis for a bit, it was always just a mask. She was born as Natah, she became the Lotus when she renounced the Sentients. But Lotus was never actually Margulis.

At the time, I didn’t consider this. I just thought Margulis was the softer option. She’s described as being the softer, calmer, more motherly option, while Natah is described as being more honest but more harsh, and the Lotus is the middle option, a bit of both. Lotus and Natah are more truthful to her actual personality, who she actually is. It seems almost wrong to choose Margulis because Natah was never willingly Margulis. Natah is who this being originally was, how she was made. Lotus is the personality, the person that she made for herself. Margulis will always be a facade. That was just a form that Ballas made her act as, that Ballas wanted her to be. So it seems wrong to make Lotus continue to be this forced personality.

Sadly, I can’t change this, the choice is permanent. While you can replay The New War, it doesn’t let you chance your choices, the same way you can’t change the sun and moon morality thingy when you finish The War Within. Your first choice is your final choice. I can make my Margulis look like the Lotus, but she’ll always be Margulis from now on.

At least, she will be for me. Hopefully other people made better decisions than I did.