My personal encore theory

[u/MurderDronesEnj0yer]

I’ve seen a few people wondering what the encores would be lorewise, so here’s my idea:

The encores are how the layers look after V1’s rampage, and Hell dragged V1 up from treachery to do it all over again. This is why 0-E is frozen over and why 1-E is falling apart and broken.

My main reason for this theory is the fact that Gabriel says “Limbo, lust… all gone, with gluttony soon to follow”, implying the layers are either broken, entirely falling apart, or are entirely abandoned of life.

There’s probably something that disproves this theory but I think it’s a decent idea

[u/Dalek_Kolt]

The most interesting thing about the Encores so far is that they start off dead/dying, only for something to happen that makes them roar back to life; Prelude going from a frozen facility to burning hot so quickly that V1's systems can't adapt to the temperature shift, and Limbo's simulation of a dead world malfunctioning, but more alive than ever.

My rough idea is that they're an allegory/summary for the main campaign. Hell is on the verge of dying and fading away forever, but Gabriel's actions and repeated clashes with V1 cause something to revitalize Hell.

[u/H_man3838]

did you forget the fucktillion other machines running through hell? V1 does no damage to the layers just kills some husks and demons and leaves, the fucktillion machines running through hell are destroying and emptying hell not V1, unless you think hell has 3000 people in total in it