The Backstory to Ico - Shadow of the Colossus - The Last Guardian: a personal theory

Something I decided to write because I am a huge fan of these three great games.

Three of my favorite games I have played ever since the Playstation 2 and Xbox era, were Shadow of the Colossus and Ico.  The third one came out for the PS4 is The Last Guardian.  Albeit bad game play mechanics and the controls feel off for a modern console, the story is compelling, heartfelt, and bittersweet.  The whole lore and back story are all interesting and captivating to each and every one of those games.  Here is my take and theory on how all the games are connected.  This is purely just observational and my own opinion not factual evidence so take it as you may.  I love hearing people’s inputs and I do love to hear other gamers thoughts on this fantastic trilogy.  

For a person who has just recently played the Shadow of the Colossus remake and going back to beat the Last Guardian for a second time, I'm really interested in what people think how all three games are related. I do agree that The Last Guardian does feel more like a sequel to the original two games but I have heard a lot of people say that is a prequel to Shadow of the Colossus and Ico. I do believe it is a sequel due to the insane amounts of technology given to keep the Tricos at bay, having more of a hive mind AI controlling the Nest, and the goo or essence that is in the barrels is somehow connected to all that. 

But I would I like to expand on my theory. There is speculation and a backstory out there written by Fumito Ueda himself before Shadow of the Colossus went from having 24 colossi down to 16, that Dormin is not really a single entity or being that was trapped inside of the colossi. His original script included that the Dormin was actually a race of people that tried to be like gods. They once inhabited the Forbidden Lands (SOTC) and they slain all the colossi, these once peaceful neutral behemoths because they wanted to be like gods. After having slain these colossi, these Dormin started to fuel their shadow selves and began to mold together. Before you know it, these Dormin after destroying and bringing down colossi over colossi began to fuse and combine together to form what we see in Shadow of the Colossus. (And this makes a lot of sense if you play SOTC we see not only the remains of the Forbidden Land but also the remains of the fallen colossi that they destroyed because they wanted to be like the most high, the divine, etc. Also Ueda originally wanted 48 colossi, cut down to 24, and the finished product was 16. So imagine the Forbidden Lands with all this prosperity and colossi helping form all these magnificent buildings, shrines, palaces only to be halted and turned into ruins just because these Dormin were power hungry. I do believe that these are the original inhabitants of the Nest acting like that but I'm going to take it one step further...)

When the events happen in Shadow of the Colossus, Lord Eman encases these Dormin into idols that represent the colossi they destroyed. Therefore they become these shadows encapsulated and writhing in these idols that Lord Eman had split them into 16 different parts.  And the remaining colossi, that the Dormin have not slain, all have symbols upon their bodies, their so-called weak points, holding the Dormin inside of these giants.  I think by now a lot of people have played this game so we know how the story goes but by the end these Dormin all come back divided (notice on how every colossi defeated each Dormin member is separated) but they fuse all into one once they use the body of Wander (which is what they wanted originally to become like gods, now they can do so due to a host body, they even say "We have borrowed this boy's body.) This is what Lord Eman feared and it was from a selfish act on Wander's part to give the Dormin what they wanted to become like a god, which they realized could be done on a mortal plane not an immortal one. When the game ends Lord Eman casts the Sword of Light into the pool, which separates the Dormin piece by piece (actually we can notice this because at the end of the game when Wander is dragged into the pool, not all of Dormin gets thrown in but starts to shed which is all the individual Dormin getting thrown into the pool of water which is the ritual Lord Eman knew what had to be done...he knew by separating these Dormin was the only way they could not attain their power, they wanted to be like a god and the only way they could do that is by fusing all together. It is just that they needed a mortal body to complete the "ritual.")

At the ending we see Wander being reborn only with horns, this signifies from all the selfish actions he took and the neutral colossi he brought down, that is his curse by being born again as a horned boy. We see Mono hold the baby and bring him up to the secret garden and bam the story ends. Now we go into Ico. Don't you think that Mono could be the Queen? I sure do. After years and generations we could have so many horned boys out in the world. You know what I think those shadows are from Ico? Notice how they come out of dark pools? That could be the Dormin, these shadows all trying a way to carry on their legacy of being like gods. Maybe after years and years they manipulated Mono because they need another vessel, another body, and not her herself but her daughter Yorda (who was probably like Mono from before, being young, innocent, and naive.) The Queen says she needs her daughter to remain young and live forever, that could be just the Dormin using her, that's why their always trying to stop Ico from taking her. So I don't look at it as The Queen sending her little shadow agents to bring Yorda back, I look at it as the Dormin needing another body, so really these Dormin are working the Queen, and her not working them.  Of course it sounds like the Queen is the mastermind, but if what if it was a promise by the Dormin?  That in order to prolong life and live forever, that the Dormin required the sacrifice of her daughter.  Just like in Shadow of the Colossus the Dormin warned and tricked Wander, they might have been working and manipulating the Queen (Mono) and once she would sacrifice her own daughter, Yorda, they could grant her eternal life at the behest of her daughter to do the ritual all over again as in Shadow of the Colossus.  It’s almost like saying a life for a life, and the life that dies the Dormin get what they want out of the deal.  A host body.

So how does this tie into the Last Guardian?  Like I said before I do love fan theories but I personally think without people to use as in Shadow of the Colossus and people to manipulate in Ico, what are these Dormin after? What do they want? What do they need to feed on in order to prosper? Well with no one there to inhabit like in Shadow of the Colossus and no one there to run the show as in Ico, they need to spread their influence somehow. I think those stone guards that are well placed in the Nest and even used as statues are the Dormin, I believe they built the Nest after generations and decades and centuries.  Basically they found, inhabited, destroyed and left in ruin once was the Forbidden Lands to building a castle to get their energy from horned boys (the descendents of the reborn Wander), they need to get their energy from somewhere else since all the horned boys have perished in the crumbling castle at the end of Ico, right? So they have to go out into the world and choose only specific children to carry out the deed, these chosen ones. But they know they cannot do this by themselves, so they probably, after years of breeding Tricos, they have learned how to domesticate them. So they probably set up defensive parameters to keep the Tricos in chec such as the armor they wear because without it they actually are like puppy dogs. The shields and stained glass eyes probably keep them at bay and confined, almost like a Pavlov's dog kind of way. They feed them with barrels to institute not positive reinforcement but negative reinforcement. They feed them for all the chosen ones they bring back.

But more importantly, what is the Master in the Last Guardian? I think it is something the Dormin built, like I said, these Dormin that are encased in the stone statues all throughout (Shadow of the Colossus reference?) need something to guide them, some type of sentience, a central hub, to regulate the hive mind...in this case the Nest. And through years and years they rebuilt what once was the Forbidden Lands, since they got freed in SOTC and tried to do this once before in Ico but they failed. The only course after that is to send Tricos out to do their bidding, to bring back not horned boys for sustenance but chosen children to feed that central nerve system, the Master. If you notice the bridges are a lot like those that you see in Shadow of the Colossus, instead of just being one, there are three stacked upon themselves with wood construction, they could even use the Tricos for menial labor and aid since these are the shadowed Dormin encased in stone statues...not much you could do except to regulate and control the Tricos that were probably once previous colossi (Shadow of the Colssus?) After years of the colossi not being around, the Tricos are most likely descendants of these long lost behemoths, taking on the form of not just one, but a combination of all of them, birds, dogs, cats, eagles and the reason they have horns is most likely do to what Wander did ages ago, the sacrifice of love but not endowed with a curse. I believe the Tricos are an amalgamation of all these combined and here is an idea that no one has thought of…

What if the Tricos are all those horned boys?  Once the castle collapsed all those horned boys that were offered by the villagers are now lying there in those pods decorated with symbols and markings.  The combination of colossi, the horned boys, the silver-tailed lizards, all encased in ruins and rabble and decay and corrosion, the next step naturally was to evolve into something more.  Besides in the cave we start off in The Last Guardian we do notice dead lizards and some even encased in the rock formations, which means their silver tails have something to do with the essence that they are fed to pacify them.  They could be fed some of that essence because their bodies could be made out of it.  Just even notice when Trico spits up the boy in the Last Guardian, that saliva (or goo) is the color of the white-tail lizards which leaves archaic symbols upon the boy.  This could relate to the runic symbols that also encased Dormin inside the colossi, they are talismans that act as protection and wards, and that rubbed off on the boy we see in the Last Guardian.  Maybe that is why Trico has such a connection to the boy, of course at first its hesitant and fearful but through collaboration they built a trust.  In a weird way Trico made an impression on the boy, and through the boy’s sacrifice (?) makes an impression on Trico, the perfect bond.

In case of the boy being the chosen one? Hmm interesting. I don't think he is the "chosen one," I think he was one of the chosen boys that are used to give the Master of the Valley what he wants, more power. And the statues that are these shadowed Dormin are trying to stop this one boy from actually getting to the heart of the Nest, almost like Ico when he makes his way to the heart of the castle. But instead of having the Dormin manipulating a Queen who needs her daughter to give her eternal life, their most likely not obeying the Master of the Valley but actually carrying out their own wishes and to feed it more children to satiate that hive mind mentality. If you actually let one of the statues take you away into one their prism doors they open, you actually can see a glimpse of the Master which means you are going to be fed to it like most of the other chosen boys. The boy much like Trico is probably an accidental anomaly because remember Trico was bringing the boy to the Master just like how other Tricos do.  We notice in one of the cut scenes lightning strikes Trico, breaking his armor therefore his connection to the Master. All of this is to be implied of course.

So what about the Shield of Light? And more specifically, whose tomb was that where the shield is in place where the face should be? This is part that might upset some people and fans, I believe that is Wander. After centuries being the sacrificial lamb, these Dormin probably encased him in this white marbled tomb right next to the pool of water from whence he was born. So he was born, lived and died in the same place or within the vicinity of it, the times and dates for these, no one knows. They built that tomb most likely to honor how he was the one responsible for all of this, these Dormin being freed from their idols, once divided then became one, then being divided once again from what Lord Eman did, and now centuries later their still trying to combine themselves to achieve that godhood, maybe that is what the Master of the Valley is? Maybe the Master is an attempt at that, a centralized unit like a hub. Since they cannot do this on their own, they tried to achieve this as mortals, that is why they always need one in order for their vision. They tried it with Wander, it backfired. They tried manipulating Mono by turning her into a malevolent devious Queen, it was a horned boy that thwarted them. And now we have a shield, which I believe the Dormin are unaware of, they probably just built that marbled tomb and sealed it away so no one could ever find it. And wouldn't it be plausible to build and resurrect a similar white marbled tower where the central hub is located from centuries of emulating the pursuits of Wander? It could even possibly be that that tomb is at the bottom of the tower and the Dormin built the tower around the tomb.  I only say this because during the game as we proceed we revisit and go back to certain areas, just a thought.  Seems to me that's why that area is different from all the rest of the cave, and the funny thing is that area is not even in a cave but in the cracks of dilapidated ruins (Shadow of the Colossus reference?)  It could also be at the bottom of tower, sealed so no one could find it ever again.  The boy even finds it in through a crack in the wall of the foundation, interesting…

The Shield of Light is directly related to the Sword of Light, when the sword was tossed in the pool water it completed Lord Eman’s ritual once again as seen in Shadow of the Colossus.  It sealed away the Dormin, that was once combined piece by piece in the form of a colossi but then divided again.  The Dormin are not even aware of the Shield, that is why I theorize that there were not many shields just the one, and that is why it is so special.  Made from the sacrifice of Wander’s deeds or it could be Lord Eman’s last ditch attempt to seal away the Dormin.  But why does Trico react to the shield?  I think its because these Tricos were once kind lovable animals and descendents of the fallen colossi (Shadow of the Colossus) mixed with the horned boys (Ico), that the light does not hurt them they are just turned off by it, either through fear or apprehension from what it symbolizes.  But what is the shield for?  Not for the Tricos but for beating back the stone statues, the centuries old Dormin encased within stone statues because they do not know how to exists otherwise.  And notice how their shields also represent the stain glass fissures?  Completely different from the Shield of Light.  It is what they use to keep the Tricos back, to harbor them and chain them inside the Nest since they cannot perform simple tasks.  The Tricos can but they just act like the bodyguards, the watchmen.  The Shield probably holds access to an ancient power that stems from Wander and Lord Eman, that is why Trico is so fearful of it at first but then later he adapts to it.  Which means these statued Dormin have enslaved, trained, harbored, armored, and manipulated (Ico?) them to carry out the tasks of finding them sustenance which I explained before.  It fuels the machine they built, the Master of the Valley.

Perhaps the Master of the Valley is just that, these Dormin still trying to achieve godhood due to years of being kept in their shadowed ethereal estate.  Like I said they tried it through a mortal once, they failed.  They tried prolonging their existence through Mono and her daughter, they failed.  The next logical step is to devise technology to achieve their ends, and they do this from the essence of chosen children.  They saw the purity of Yorda, they saw the sacrifice of Wander for the sake of Mono, and now they realize they need more.  For what, just like I said before, more power.  To be like god or many gods.

So I agree with many fan theories I just thought I would expand on them by giving my interpretation of three awesome games. I try so hard through countless game plays to find some sort of connection and this is what I came up with. This is my theory of the Last Guardian being a sequel, I hope these games are played with fun and enjoyment.  I just wish there are more fans out there that share a similar mystique to these games.

2/19/2024

Author's Note

I love to hear what people think about any of these games. Criticism? Theories? What did you think of a backstory connecting all of them?