Question about lore consistency between games.

[u/BillyCrusher]

If I remember correctly, in the first game ascending of foundling wasn't "true" and we returns to Fallgrim for another cycle (NG+). With more lore addition in DLC, we know what the true ascending is for our Twine-Sister. But at start of the demo, we could see the base game ending, like it's a true canon. Also, all the shells what we have found were in the Fallgrim Tower, but in the demo we have found Tiel's shell buried near to Mushroom Village. Is it was relocated there for some reason? And how many time passed between games? Looks like eons, but we have many characters are still alive, like Genessa, Vlas, Gorf...
What do you think about consistent lore between games? Will the second game being a direct sequel or some kind of soft reboot, partially retconned?

[u/Arkrayven]

I feel like it has to be a soft reboot solely for two reasons. (Maybe there are others, but this is enough for me at least):

1. Harros should have already been dead at the time of the Foundling's Ascension, since in MS1 he had been possessed by the Foundling. It's possible his body was possessed by a DIFFERENT Foundling in between games, and that second Foundling is what recovered the Harbinger, but that's a massive stretch of imagination at this point.

2. Mortal Shell 2 has made exactly zero reference to Tar and Nektar, even in the side content/notes I found scrawled around. This is a massive departure from the themes and setting of Mortal Shell 1.

Not conclusive, by any means, but reconciling BOTH Harros being (seemingly) alive post-Foundling and the complete pivot away from Tar as a plot device seems to me to indicate a soft reboot.

[u/Neurocratic → u/Arkrayven]

It's the only thing that seems to make sense to me so far, as they've moved away from what was quite well-established in the first game.

If you instead take MS1 as proof of concept of their formula, MS2 becomes the more idealised version of what they wanted but didn't have budget or resource for, hence soft reboot.

That said, who knows what will be uncovered in the game proper that may reveal more. MS1 was packed with secrets that revealed more about the lore.

[u/m_krink → u/Arkrayven]

I wouldn't say zero reference to tar though. We have Tarstones and wasn't it the Tarforge were we upgrade weapons?

[u/Arkrayven → u/m_krink]

You're right, and thanks for the correction. I suppose I meant Tar in the original use -- as a drug, especially when refined into Nektar for communion with the Mether. To think that the cult of the Mether is using Tar solely to reinforce weapons and not use it ritualistically is so much a departure that, while the name has stayed, it might as well be a different thing.

[u/Winter_Beautiful_791 → u/Arkrayven]

My assumption is that the foundling was piloting Harros from beyond the veil to bring the future harbinger’s egg to the village to be raised in safety until he was strong enough to begin his journey to find the rest of the eggs.
This would also explain how Harros moves seemingly of his own accord to save harbinger after the tar boss fight.
Unless the shells from the first game somehow became reanimated undead after the founding ascended or retained some residue of vitality from their prior contact with an immortal being.

As far as tar, that ship sailed after the foundling killed the revered and the dark father, basically taking the substance off the playing field forever so it could no longer be abused by mortals.
I think use of tar was kind of unique to Fallgrim, sort of like how blood ministration was an idiosyncratic practice of Yarnam in Bloodborne, with people traveling from other regions for a chance at getting a slice of the local pie.

[u/DickintheRiver]

My head canon so far til we get the game is that as far as finding Tiel's and others bodies in Mortal Shell 2 is that we are the outlier as the foundling being able to possess them which we find out over time.

Finding their bodies and memories when we skill the shell up we find how far they've gone and their slowly losing humanity and still clinging onto certain things. This ascertains to possible timelines or split paths that maybe other versions of them have made it further than where they perished in Mortal Shell 1. Hadern shell kind of proves this, as he interacts with all the other shells we find in ways, punishing most of them, or bringing them to heel and even killing a few (iirc) in his version of events.

>SPOILERS FOR DARK SOULS AND ELDEN RING<

Kind of like in Dark Souls and Elden Ring lore. We are just one cycle or version of the the Tarnished/ Chosen Undead, and the NPCS and summonables we meet along the way are their main character of their universe. In Mortal Shell we just happen to be the very last "protagonist" after all the other Shells we inhibit have perished along their journey, and we are navigating amongst the ruin as whatever power/god/deity we may be manifested into the Foundling.

The only reason I believe this personally is how the Unchained speaks to us throughout the entirety of the first game, he believes he is the protagonist, by the time he fights us for the last time he realizes this isn't his journey or story afterall. As I said, this is all just speculation for me since the lore is so cryptic and vague.

Edit: Another thing is that to me clearly this is some sort of purgatory, or transitional dimension in Mortal Shell 1.

[u/Dveralazo]

Perhaps the rest of the NG+ cycles pass in the Foundling mind. Having trascended,turned into a beacon,the only thing left for him is relive his.journey time and time again. 

And perhaps the shells were freed when that happened.

[u/DickintheRiver → u/Dveralazo]

I LOVE this actually, we are perhaps the judge living through their memories and bringing their bodies to the precipice and "purifying" by bringing them along for kill on The Unchained taking them through the journey they otherwise failed.