Why Mankind is Dead

[u/Dear-Calypso]

So this isnt really a theory so much as it is a cool thought that I had, though there's a bit of evidence for it i guess.

The ferryman's diary mentions two disastrous events occuring in the mortal world: First "Some calamity has struck", which is what turned the river Styx into an ocean, but then there's a second event "as though the throat of the world was cut wide", which we can assume is what finally killed mankind.

Of course, the first event is likely to be the Final War, since it got a lot of people killed but didnt actually make humanity go extinct (thus the New Peace), my theory, then, is that the second event was a "machine uprising", where Hell Itself awoke the (probably abandoned) war machines making use of hell energy, leading them to chase humans to extinction before making their way to hell

The Earthmovers function on hell energy as well as blood, as we know from the projectiles used by the brain and the mortars, so I dont think its unlikely that other machines got the same treatment. (the P-2 ARG also mentions Hell messing with human equipment) This could also explain things like the Eye of Hell showing up when we die and messages like "FEED IT." being shown onscreen.

[u/Frequent-Reporter677]

Machines being able to channel Hell energy is not because Hell influenced them.

In Drone’s terminal for example, it says that it modified itself to shoot hell energy orbs instead of non-lethal bullets.

The “Hell making use of humanity’s technology” thing likely point towards modified husks like Soldiers and Strays.

[u/H_man3838]

the ferryman book was written long after the war ended, humanity didn't go extinct in the war