After seeing the Borderlands 3 teaser and reveal trailer you probably have a good impression of how the main villains look. In this article, I want to talk about who they are, what’s their evil scam, and how they might be connected to Handsome Jack.
A new Borderlands game and that means new baddies. In this article, I want to talk about the antagonists in Borderlands 3. This time around we don’t have 1 but 2 major bad guys. Who are they, what is their deal, and how are they connected to the storyline?
Meet the calypsos
In the Borderlands 3 teaser trailer, we already saw 2 figures presented as the main antagonists of the game. This got further solidified in the reveal trailer. Randy Pitchford confirmed that these two are the main villains in Borderlands 3. However, he didn’t mention their names. That said we can find evidence in the reveal trailer that confirms their names.
In the opening shot of the trailer, we see a bandit walk towards a settlement. In front of this camp are signs that try and recruit people for the Calypsos. On that sign are also drawings of the 2 antagonists. Next to each drawing is a name written. The woman is called Tyreen, and the guy is called Troy.
Children of the vault
From the released footage we can see that they are trying to gather a following. In the teaser, the bandits are worshipping them like gods. In the announcement trailer, we see signs that are designed to recruit new members. Which even points out that they are offered a free brainwash and special powers. But why do they need followers? Do they have a god complex and need to run their own cult? Who knows.
What do they want?
The focus of the Calypsos seems to be the upside-down vault symbol. In the teaser we see a bandit holding this broken vault artifact. And in the reveal trailer, we see Rhys projecting the same object. In Tales from the Borderlands, Rhys did the same thing but for a vault key. Could this be a piece of the vault artifact that Lilith punched into Jack’s face, and burned the mark into his face?
Honor the father
You can also see the tagline; “Honor the Father”, on the recruitment sign. Could it be that Handsome Jack and this recruitment sign are somehow related? Are Tyreen and Troy obsessed with it and want to complete Jack’s work? Like how Kylo Ren in star wars eps.VII is obsessed with Darth Vader.
While Randy Pitchford mentioned not to pay attention to the handsome Jack mask in the mask of mayhem teaser as the devs were just having fun with the sculpture. That said, he also mentioned the whole thing is made out of in-game assets. So when Randy mentioned they are trolling, was this revere psychology? This leaves us with the question; Are Tyreen & Troy secretly children from Jack? He was able to keep his daughter Angel a secret. Jack also had something going with Moxxi and she has two unaccounted children. Multiple people have started to point out that Troy has some similar facial features compared to Jack. Tyreen is being compared to Angel and there are also some similarities. The answer has yet to be determined but it would be a strong motivation.
What is their end game?
It is currently unclear what the Calypsos are trying to achieve. If this is all related to Jack we can look at his mission. During Jack’s interaction with the vault artifact, everything became clear to him. He needed to summon the warrior. The vision, however, didn’t go beyond showing flashes of the final boss fight in Borderlands 2 (This makes me wonder if gearbox sneaky added a few more vision flashes in the ultra HD texture pack for Borderlands the pre-sequel). We do get an omen from the watcher that a war is coming. Do the Calypsos need the bandits to win the war? Do they need them to open the remaining vaults?
From one siren to another
To open vaults you need a siren to charge the vault key. Tyreen seems to be a siren as she also has the defining tattoos. Troy doesn’t seem to have these powers at first sight. Siren powers are normally exclusive only present in females. However, if you check the reveal trailer you can see that Lilith is helpless on the ground. If you look closely she has lost her defining tattoos. The scene suggests that Tyreen took her powers and gave them to Troy. the recruitment sign at the children of the vault settlement did mention gaining special powers. Are the Calypsos distributing siren powers to the bandits? With the reinterpreted Borderlands 3 easter eggs, this is starting to look like a massive strike. Are the children of the vault going to open all the vaults at once? Since the previous vault hunters were successful in stopping a single alien monster, deploying multiple monsters should secure their victory and their power across the galaxy.
What do you think their master plan is? Let me know in the comments or through social media.
