Here's a very interesting theory regarding XCOM 2's story
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 8:26 pm
I found it on Reddit today.
Quote, from Edumesh:
My theory is that on X2 we don't fight the true alien army, but merely their earth garrison.
The Ethereal Empire is nomadic in nature, they go from planet to planet searching for new species to either enslave for their army or use as their new physical vessels, with Humanity being the only species so far to be suitable for that second goal. There is a reason for the disappearance of every UFO except for fighters: they left Earth.
The Ethereals stationed an army with limited resources to maintain control of our planet, while the main fleets left. Why they left is up for debate. Some say that they left to fight a greater threat (the mysterious aliens mentioned by the Angelis). They created ADVENT to police Humanity through deception, rather than brute force. This reduces the potential for mass revolt, while they work on the Avatar Project in secret. They want to avoid mass revolt, because the alien forces stationed on Earth are second rate troops, hardly the best that the Ethereals have. There are no Muton Elites, no Sectoid Commanders, plasma weapons of shoddy quality (Tygan makes this observation), Sectopods of lower quality than those deployed during the first invasion (worse armor, and a mag cannon instead of a plasma one), and Andromedons (a unit that is clearly not suited for Earth's atmosphere). The Elite units seen on the first invasion left with the rest of the fleet for reasons unknown (maybe the galactic war against the mysterious enemy).
The Angelis is the overseer of the Avatar Project, and is also the leader of the Ethereals tasked with governing Earth. We know that there are thousands of Ethereals living inside the Temple Ship, and they left with the fleet. This is why we only see about 20-30 Ethereals during the final mission. These were the ones that stayed behind to supervise the occupation.
As for the Avatar project, I believed that it was something more than just bodies for The Elders. Avatars have alot of combat prowess, comparable to the Volunteer from the first game. I believe that they are super soldiers meant to turn the tide against the mysterious aliens. When XCOM becomes a big threat to the Angelis' operations, she decides to cut her losses and leave. The Elders are clearly desperate in developing these Avatars, which means that their war must be going badly.
And another, from Jeep-Eep:
I've basically drawn the same conclusion myself. Their stratagems are definitely one of a org operating on a shoestring, by alien standards.
They're pressing their UFO's into service as couriers, FFS. I wouldn't be surprised if many of those convoys, especially when it's early on and things are still quiet overall, are in fact hauling material to portals offworld where it could be more useful.
Edit: Also, I suspect the AVATAR project might survive it's destruction on Earth - they might have lost the facilities, but the knowledge might well escape earth, meaning that, while their bodies might not be as good as what they could make uninterrupted here, they might be able to save themselves and reappear later.
What do you guys think? It's certainly something to think about, at least.
Quote, from Edumesh:
My theory is that on X2 we don't fight the true alien army, but merely their earth garrison.
The Ethereal Empire is nomadic in nature, they go from planet to planet searching for new species to either enslave for their army or use as their new physical vessels, with Humanity being the only species so far to be suitable for that second goal. There is a reason for the disappearance of every UFO except for fighters: they left Earth.
The Ethereals stationed an army with limited resources to maintain control of our planet, while the main fleets left. Why they left is up for debate. Some say that they left to fight a greater threat (the mysterious aliens mentioned by the Angelis). They created ADVENT to police Humanity through deception, rather than brute force. This reduces the potential for mass revolt, while they work on the Avatar Project in secret. They want to avoid mass revolt, because the alien forces stationed on Earth are second rate troops, hardly the best that the Ethereals have. There are no Muton Elites, no Sectoid Commanders, plasma weapons of shoddy quality (Tygan makes this observation), Sectopods of lower quality than those deployed during the first invasion (worse armor, and a mag cannon instead of a plasma one), and Andromedons (a unit that is clearly not suited for Earth's atmosphere). The Elite units seen on the first invasion left with the rest of the fleet for reasons unknown (maybe the galactic war against the mysterious enemy).
The Angelis is the overseer of the Avatar Project, and is also the leader of the Ethereals tasked with governing Earth. We know that there are thousands of Ethereals living inside the Temple Ship, and they left with the fleet. This is why we only see about 20-30 Ethereals during the final mission. These were the ones that stayed behind to supervise the occupation.
As for the Avatar project, I believed that it was something more than just bodies for The Elders. Avatars have alot of combat prowess, comparable to the Volunteer from the first game. I believe that they are super soldiers meant to turn the tide against the mysterious aliens. When XCOM becomes a big threat to the Angelis' operations, she decides to cut her losses and leave. The Elders are clearly desperate in developing these Avatars, which means that their war must be going badly.
And another, from Jeep-Eep:
I've basically drawn the same conclusion myself. Their stratagems are definitely one of a org operating on a shoestring, by alien standards.
They're pressing their UFO's into service as couriers, FFS. I wouldn't be surprised if many of those convoys, especially when it's early on and things are still quiet overall, are in fact hauling material to portals offworld where it could be more useful.
Edit: Also, I suspect the AVATAR project might survive it's destruction on Earth - they might have lost the facilities, but the knowledge might well escape earth, meaning that, while their bodies might not be as good as what they could make uninterrupted here, they might be able to save themselves and reappear later.
What do you guys think? It's certainly something to think about, at least.