Wizard101's Mirage: Lore, History, & Theorycrafting Part 2

Wizard101 announced their new, upcoming world Mirage not long ago on KI Live. With it was shared a teaser image or two, and since then there have been at least one or two others. With Mirage on the way, I'll be refreshing your memory on what we know about this world, talk about what we're constantly learning, and present some theories for what we might find there in a two-part post series. Read Part 1 here.

Oncoming Showdown

Grandmother Raven

Lady Nightstar's role in the third arc has always been tricky. She is the antithesis to Grandfather Spider, and has made some ghostly appearances in Polaris while in her less powerful form. However, Wizard101 locked in her role by trapping her in Wintertusk, unable to access her full form until the player frees her. It would be a paradox if the player has not completed Wintertusk and Grandmother Raven is free. I discussed this dilemma in a full post here.

Grandfather Spider

Old Cob, now known as Grandfather Spider, is the primary villain within the third arc, unleashed in Khrysalis to help defeat Morganthe. Now, his three children wreck havoc across the Spiral in an attempt to purge it of its ruinous form. While Old Cob was imprisoned by Grandmother Raven, the Titans tore the Spiral apart. Grandfather Spider believes now that the Spiral's form is disgraceful, and so he is using his children to attempt to tear it apart in whatever way possible. It's amazing how many small things hold the worlds together and could go wrong.

Rasputin notes the following:

• "The final moments of this twisted experiment called the Spiral. For centuries, we lay in the darkness and torment, but we dreamed of this day, when shadows would rise and pure Chaos would be properly restored." 

In reality, we should have seen Mirage coming. Old Cob hinted fairly directly that the Scorpion would be the next child encountered:

• "The Spiral's doom is seal. You must accept that, lest you go from being an ally to an adversary. Come, child, my first-born. You are stung by defeat, but you may yet transform your frustration into greater strength. Let us go." 

My guess is that after defeating The Scorpion in Mirage, Grandfather Spider will appear again and officially declare us an adversary rather than an ally, despite pulling him from the abyss. He will likely say that the Scorpion has been bitten with defeat, or something similar, cluing us into the next world.

Evils Within

A Great Sultan

One of the focuses of the teaser poster is a purple-colors human who could fairly easily be a Sultan. His scepter looks like a scorpion pincer. While this enemy might be named for a Sultan in the Ottoman Empire (which his attire resembles more strongly than anything Arabian), he could also take on the form of any of these Scorpion legends:

• Hedetet - Ancient Egyptian scorpion goddess
• Malinalxochitl - Aztec scorpion goddess
• Serket - Ancient Egyptian scorpion goddess
• Chelamma - Hindu scorpion goddess
• Ta-Bitjet - Ancient Egyptian scorpion goddess
• Ishhara - Mesopotamian goddess of snakes, scorpions, and insects 

The Scorpion

During Polaris, we learned a little bit about each of Grandfather Spider's children. The Rat was a master of mind control and deception, hence why he was able to pose as Rasputin and take control of other individuals with his crystal pendulum. 

The Scorpion has different abilities. He is a "master Alchemist and ruthless Warlord," which sounds perfectly fitting with Qismah Shasa's description of Mirage rulers. He is "prophesied to rise from the desert sands and steal the sun!" I think it's a given he'll be in Mirage. The purple color of the enemy pictured in the teaser also matches The Rat's.

The Dreamlands & Beyond

Rising from the Sands

With the description of The Scorpion, it's pretty clear that Mirage is the perfect place for him to show up. While most ancient scorpion beings were goddesses, the figure in the concept art looks decidedly male. Rasputin made a quieter entrance, being an adviser to the Empress. This guy looks more like he's already an active Warlord within Mirage. The interesting thing here is that we know his purpose. He's out to steal the sun. Now what particular effect that would have on the Spiral, we don't know.

H.P. Lovecraft

A lot of people mistake conversations of H.P. Lovecraft with theorycrafting. While I do plenty of that, the connections of this famed author to KingsIsle games are undoubtedly factual. However, knowing where they come from sure is beneficial for theories. Lovecraft left a lot of hints about different worlds, including Polaris. The title of one of his works is "The Cats of Ulthar," appropriate for Mirage. I talked more about this in my post here.

What Comes Next

The Bat

The only thing we know about the third arc for sure beyond Mirage is Empyrea, which is very likely the next world. Here, we will likely find the Bat, last of Grandfather Spider's children.

• "They thought his children would someday rise and destroy the Spiral! This, this is the Bat, a brilliant shapeshifting Vampire, a master of illusion and subterfuge, and with a heart as black as night. "

While the Rat was able to control others, he wasn't difficult to spot once we knew what to look for. The Scorpion, while he may be one of the most fierce opponents, is pretty easy to identify. The Bat is a shapeshifter, and will probably be the most difficult to locate when we meet him.

Empyrea

The only other world for which we have confirming in the third arc is Empyrea. I and many others imagined it would be the next world, and were surprised by Mirage. Empyrea will likely be the location of the Bat, as it is a sky world in which a flying creature would do well. I'll talk more about Empyrea in the future - there's plenty of theorycrafting to go around.

What are you most excited for in Mirage?

Thanks for reading and see you in the Spiral!