@@pearlcarneiro5432 Or, perhaps the Chozo language from Tallon IV is different from the one Samus knows from Zebes. Just like people irl speak different languages in different regions.
Watching this after the Space Pirate breakdown. One immediate distinction is the language of these scans. The Space Pirates were very clinical in their messages - they just tell you what happens. But the Chozo entries are poetic, using creative, emotive language. You said before that the Chozo on Tallon IV only cared about four castes, neglecting things like scientists, artists, farmers and parents. But I don't think that's it. It seems more like these things are so integrated into their culture that they don't see it as an individual profession, but something maybe they all do. The Hive Mind boss would require some knowledge of animal domestication. The lock would need not just architecture, but scientific knowledge too. And their art is everywhere from their scans to their very walls.
Interesting detail about the Chozo statue holding the plane of existence, as you say,”single-handedly” - while I agree that this suggests a degree of ego, the statue is actually using both hands - showing how seriously they take their role as protectors.
I don't think single handedly in this context means literally a single hand, more so it was a single chozo balancing the entire plane of existence in his hands. It does show ego but also how seriously they took their roles as protectors of life
It’s essentially indigenous ideology vs. settler colonial ideology. Understanding ourselves as a part of our natural environment and Living in harmony and relationship with nature and the land you live on vs. seeing ourselves as separate or apart from nature and seeking to exploit the land for our own dominance. A symbiotic vs. parasitic relationship to nature.
I fully choose to remember the original releases details. I like how things like, Samus being called the Hatchling, was this familial love across time and space from people she would never meet. It was really nice.
The Chozo were rumored to have "ascended to another plane of existence" after melding with nature and likely becoming pure energy. They could easily be watching over Samus as Godlike 4-dimensional beings.
It's understandable why it was changed. "Hatchling" was the word used to refer to the baby Metroid before it became commonly known as "the baby." Beyond that, it was an obvious continuity error (one of many in the NTSC release). Aside from that, it makes no sense that these Chozo would know her.
@@jjtheenton They were seeing her in their visions of the future, I'm not sure how you could possibly be missing that context. I don't think it's much of a stretch at all to assume that the Chozo can also see their relationship to their mysterious savior.
@@nillynush4899 Sounds a bit far fetched don't you think? I believe it would be more likely, that they just left the planet after they completed the temple and return after the events of Prime 1 to repair what Phazon and the Pirates have destroyed. Actually I am currently watching a Playthrough of Prime 3 and the Video Uploader just came across an Elysian Log Entry that stated that the Creators of the Cloudcity of Elysia and the Elysian "People" are in fact the same Chozo that colonized Tallon IV. It also mentioned that the Chozo left Tallon IV and traveled to an unknown location after the Phazon Leviathan crash landed on the Planet. I didn't expect that actually. When I made the first Comment how I "believe" they just left the Planet. Turns out they actually did.
One interesting thing to note about the chozo lore entries that happened to me when I first played the game on Gamecube, is that I thought that the great poison they mention was the poisoned water in the ruins. I don't know if the devs were being intentionally misleading about it, or if I was just a dumb kid, but I was blown away after I defeated Flaagra to find out that there was an even greater and much more dangerous poison on Tallon IV. I had just defeated a symptom, and hadn't actually done much in purifying the water in the grand scheme of things.
I actually noticed that myself and I do think it was definitely intentional misdirection. Especially considering there are lore scans about the the great poison which can be read before one fights Flaahgra. However, the scan about the worm can only be found latter despite being placed as an early log.
I like the subtlety of the prophecy of the Worm saying "born from parasites." It implies that the Chozo of Tallon IV likely were so removed from greater Chozo civilization that they probably were entirely unaware that the Chozo on SR388 were engineering the Metroids, a parasite created to eradicate another parasite, the X.
The Metroid Manga implies that the Metroids were only created relatively recently during the time Samus was raised by the Chozo. So, timeline wise Metroids shouldn't even exist at this point. Though one can theorize early prototypes and plans could have been in progress at a much earlier point.
@@R0-83-RT prime 2 and 3 (either both or just prime 3, i might be misremembering a log) have some translator logs implying that dark samus is fond of metroids, and there's a lot of them in the impact crater, which was sealed long before any could've gotten in. if the original/pre-trilogy pirate logs about metroid prime are any indication, metroid prime and the fission metroids probably were just pirate brought metroids that phased through the impact crater, there's a chance that post retcon the fission metroids did just phase through, since metroids kind of break a lot of rules, but metroid prime herself is definitely something more ancient. I'd actually love to see some headcanons about metroid prime being some sort of ancient "proto-metroid" (i actually headcanon wise think phazon might be linked to aeion/metroids/x-parasites to begin with so honestly im kind of hoping prime 4 is about like the origin of phazon or something, could be interesting and they could tie it to SR and dread in a interesting way)
@@xanious3759 Its possible that a Metroid managed to get into the leviathan seed later on when the pirates brought them to Tallon IV, Via the mutation of Phazon Metroids from Prime 3 or something similar. It is also possible that Metroid Prime was on the leviathan seed when it crashed. I'm fine with either explanation as long as Metroid Prime has some biological relationship towards the Metroids since it has been shown able to spawn Metroids. Due to this I personally prefer the interpretation that Metroid Prime went into the leviathan seed later on, though I can accept Metroid Prime originating in the Meteorite, if the Chozo were able to collect DNA from it, which would latter be used to create modern Metroids.
@@R0-83-RT Entirely possible. The leviathan chooses the apex predator of whatever planet it lands on and makes that it's guardian. But the instant the pirates brought a Metroid to the planet it quickly, and unsurprisingly, became to the de facto apex like it does in any environment it is introduced to. Appropriately there are few instances in any of the games where, upon introduction, the Metroids didn't become the absolute top of the foodchain. The Leviathans are intelligent to a degree and know when to hedge their bets. Metroids are the "ultimate warriors," it doesn't take much suspension of belief to assume a Metroid or group of them could have overcome the Leviathan's previous choice. Metroids are also shown to be incredibly tolerant to Phazon mutations. Across the 3 games they have at least 7 possible mutations, including Hoppers which have a striking resemblance to Prime itself.
Still breaks the lore. How did the Metroids got to Phaaze? You can't possibly tell me that the Chozo just went there and released some of their Metroids to see what happens. No. There are rumors that unused Log entries imply that Metroid Prime was a Metroid in a Space Pirate Laboratory on Tallon 4 that was infused with Phazon and grew bigger. It foirced itself into the Impact Crater and killed the Worm.
An incredibly beautiful documentary on the Chozo tribe of Talon IV. It helped me see the Chozo in a new light, particularly about their ego. Yes, there is no doubt that the Chozo were indeed benevolent, nature loving and of a higher level of spirituality, but I had never before seen this angle of how they perceived themselves as THE protectors of balance in the universe, which honestly comes off with a certain level of arrogance. Although it doesn't last, as the latest journals show them starting to doubt their capacities, doubt their success. They begin to see they might not have what it takes to deal with Phazon all by themselves, which is tragic considering how their greatest desire is to protect the life of Talon IV. It is a shame that, for whatever reason (perhaps their choice of "primitive" technology), the Chozos of Talon IV could not contact any other Chozo tribe who could've been far more technologically advanced than they were and helped them in this ordeal. A tribe like the Thoha, the adoptive family of Samus, who held the technology to combat and better contain Phazon as well as sharing their peaceful ways in a slightly different way. Or maybe even a warrior tribe like the Mawkin who held highly advanced weapons and had highly capable warriors to combat Phazon and its poor mutated victims. _(although this latter might be a bad idea, considering individuals like Raven Beak)_ Astounding documentary, mate! Now I know I made the right decision of subscribing to your channel. Looking forward to the Part 2 covering of the Space Pirate culture, this time using the datalogs and journals of Prime 2.
There's definitely interesting potential in alternative stories. But there'S also the thing that Samus is kind of more than just the walking Tank space-mercthat destroys planets every now and then, she herself is much closer to a heroic figure of myths - her coming has even been prophesizerd in the visions the Chozo on TallonIV had, so chances are, they decided to trust on that, rather than involving others, potentially causing greater harm across the galaxy. And to think of the consequences with Samus killing the omegapirate leading to the creation of the phazon suit leading to the birht of Dark Samus and how that might have played animportant rolein leading up to the destruction of phaaze itself.
Fantastic pair of videos, excellent dives into the story of my favorite game! I would be very curious to see you more deeply compare and contrast the original North American logs and the re-released versions’ as it’s always been a source of interest for me. In fact, just this week I went and played through the original again to capture screenshots of the old logs so I can directly compare them to the new ones haha. Also, can’t wait for the prime 2 and 3 analysis!
I'd be surprised if Retro Studios' developers wasn't inspired by Marathon. The terminals in that game feel very much like the scans in Metroid Prime. Heck, both games take place in a first person sci-fi setting, although Metroid as a series predates Marathon.
It's great that the developers of the Prime series and especially Mercury Steam are working to divide the Chozo civilization into different cultural groups with their own methods and objectives. It's easy to write a certain civilization as monolithic and homogenous but it makes them seem one- dimensional, and it's especially difficult for a civilization which expands so vastly through different parts of the Galaxy that they forgot their common ancestors. Having these layers of the spiritual, scientific and militaristic factions of the species makes them seem more realistic and intelligent, especially for the fact that different groups of Chozo have different ideals as to what their goals should be and how different flaws bring about the downfall of each of those groups
Unfortunately, the kind of Chozo ad written by MercurySteam are basically just more Space Pirates. This goes for both the Mawkin and the Thoha. Completely blinded by arrogance and power, they all just eventually create their own doom.
@@FeixMan yeah, but Tallon IV Chozo also brought about their own downfall by forsaking technology and apparently cutting themselves off from the other tribes. The Thoha at least kept enough contact to ask the Mawkin for help with both Samus and the rampant Metroids, even though the latter backfired. The Tallon IV Chozo didn't even consider the possibility of contacting others, as there is little to no mention of other Chozo in their texts
Been hyped to see your follow up video to the Space Pirates since you mentioned it in the other one. These are great videos to watch before bed in a dark room. Not saying they’re boring btw (far from it) lol, they’re very soothing and Metroid lore is always fun to listen to. The Chozo Ghosts used to scare the crap out of me when I first played the game lol.
Again, great video! When I first played through this as a kid (~11yo), I didn't fully appreciate the fact that the entire game's story was conveyed through written 'logs', until I was near the end. Given I was a pretty restless kid, it surprises me now that I was able to enjoy and understand some of the nuance to the story, without even really noticing and being bored by it. And when I moved, and went to a new school, I met other kids that had played it and we went on about the story together; discussing phazon and what not. -- I'd like to think this shows how well MP excelled at this type of story telling, as it was able to hold the attention of an audience that weren't even yet capable of comprehending books particularly well, and with undeveloped attention spans. What has been interesting (and fun) for me now playing it from the start again, is realising how much I understood, and how much went over my head. It's funny to think at face value, this game would have been a pretty big risk for Nintendo. While in the middle of funding a third 3D Zelda game, the idea of making a similar game, but in space, and throwing out the theatrical scenes, character development, and interactions, for an isolated (basically) journal reading experience, must have been hard to stay confident about (haha). Even more so given the challenging history they had with outsourcing it. While the original MP wasn't a massive success at the time, I think it's safe to say that pushing on with the project worked out pretty well for them in the end. And still is. Eh. The game's okay ... I guess 👁️👄👁️ I'd 'probably' recommend it.
From what I hear in this video, the Chozo are a nice, fictional depiction of how a big ego doesn't necessarily make for an evil person or society. Pretentious though they were, I still find a lot to admire about them.
Love Prime's story telling and the Chozo are just fascinating all around. How many factions and worlds they cover, they are so old but remnants still live, if Quiet Robe and Raven Beak were alive in Dread I'm sure there's still a few others around, and of course Samus is Chozo in all but species. Side note I feel like Samus could read the text, it was probably translated so she could have a more proper log in the future.
Or she couldn't read it because the Tallonias spoke a different chozo language than the Thoha on Zebes where she grew up on. That's my head canon anyway.
48:12 The chozo artifacts also mention the Space Pirates a couple of times, calling them "invaders". These artifacts refer to a lot of things that happened relatively recently, and almost certainly after they "disappeared" from the planet (at least physically), which is really interesting and was hoping to get your take on it.
Something that's kind of annoying about Prime Remastered, once one obtains the corosponding artifact its no longer possible to read the text from your logbook. This may explain why Brett didn't go into the artifact hints.
Perhaps it’s because of two things, either they foresaw the occupation of their home through visions that they were experiencing, or they knew that someone would come eventually for the ‘great poison’ due to its destruction nature.
Yeah that's my #1 problem with the game's timeline. The space pirates and the chozo must have coexisted at some point. And it clearly wasn't a happy time
I was satisfied by what I had always interpreted as the Chozo's final departure from Tallon 4. The cutscene that plays directly after the fight against Meta Ridley where the temple suddenly comes alive and lasers down Ridley - and ONLY Ridley, before Chozo spirits appear briefly to complete the process of unsealing of the Impact Crater.I saw confirmation in the post-Ridley cutscene that the Chozo had stayed true to their word: they were there waiting to assist Samus in a very real and mission-critical sense. It's a brief scene but it is satisfying to see the proverbial hand of the Chozo come down to finish Ridley off, and their final act of providing a spiritual fail-safe replacement for the temple's destroyed mechanisms was a neat symbolic victory in their war of ideals against the materialistic Space Pirates. The spirits then vanish unceremoniously and aren't seen again. It's a subtle end to the Chozo and I can see how it could be interpreted as being open-ended or uncertain with regards to their fate. But in the final cutscene of the game, Samus escapes the Impact Crater and finds the temple slowly crumbling in the wake of her encounter with Metroid Prime. She stands atop her hovering gunship to watch it for a while, seeing nothing but the empty temple in flames. Samus seems to sadly acknowledge something before boarding her gunship and the game ends. The Chozo, at least the tribe of the Chozo that had lived on Tallon 4, have seen their prophecy fulfilled; whatever manner of will or consciousness that had remained in waiting at the temple for countless years had now departed forever. That's not open-endedness. That's finality.
Fascinating to think about just how important Samus is when it comes to Chozo preservation. Not talking about all the amazing feats of combat she displays, she is one of the few left who knows how to speak the Chozo language and was raised by them. Her power suit is itself a relic of the Chozo and she is one of the only ones who has seen the remenats of the different Chozo civilizations on separate worlds before they were destroyed or wiped out. She is a bastion of Chozo knowledge and has continued to learn more along her journeys that hardly anyone else will. Samus being raised and trained by the Chozo has probably the best understanding of Chozo culture and society.
I was hoping when you mentioned the statue of the Shaman you would bring up the fact that it is cracked. Which could mean that the Tallon 4 Chozo's Shamanic/Spiritual health was not as good you would think.
That's possible. Given that ghosts are only seen in the Chozo ruins, I'm willing to say that there is something different about the Chozo in different regions, which also supports the reviewer's analysis of architecture. Tribalism prevails as a feature of Chozo culture. Those of the Phendrana region may simply be less spiritual. However, they still left behind valuable artifacts for Samus like the wave beam. They also left behind stone carvings. It may be that both the Chozo and the Phendrana tribes were similarly spiritual, but the ghosts were drawn to the higher concentration of holy sites in the Chozo ruins. The Chozo invite Samus to destroy in order to cleanse - Destroy structures areas where artifacts or weapons are hidden, like inside the tower of light, the furnace, or the hive totem. It is only the spiritual who guide where to leave these behind. Is it coincidence that the items are conveniently laid out in an order for the player to get them, almost guiding them? The philosophers discuss questions like the origin of the Great Poison, which we see in the lore of the furnace. The Warrior ensures immediate survival. The Architect designs the buildings, creating a civilization meant to last. The Shaman has foresight, guiding them into the future. It is only the Shaman with this foreknowledge. It is only the Shaman statue that is cracked, and I suggest it is by their will in particular that the statue is cracked. By their foresight they see what must change in the future, what help to proffer from stone coffers. It could be a sort of foreshadowing of the Chozo ghosts as well. It is the impact of the Chozo's interaction with the spiritual that is presently felt.
45:10 I'd argue that they aren't hoping that they'd be saved by a miracle, as they seem to already recognise that it is too late for them. They are merely hoping that, some day, someone will arrive to continue where they left off, and hopefully eradicate the great poison for the sake of protecting what is left. With that hope in mind, they are preparing gifts of their technology to aid the Entrusted One, so that even if the Chozo are gone, they are still helping.
What a wonderful and well crafted piece of media you managed to create there, sir. I salute you as a massive Metroid fan. Even as a veteran Metroid Prime player, I missed so much of the architecture, the details, the ornaments and the deep differences between Space Pirates and Chozo and their analogies that you carefully explained ok this video. The artifact temple remains one of my favorite places in any Metroid game for the very reason you exposed. It's a temple honoring the will of the Chozo and the music conveys that so well. That place _felt_ important even if you didn't scan anything. The devs really knocked it out of the park in creating that atmosphere and immersing you in it. Really excited to see what you have to say about the rest of the trilogy. Keep up the great work!!
This kind of storytelling can only be told through _interactive media._ Video games are the prime (no pun intended) example of it, but game books also count. Although I have yet to read and play a game book that includes missable story elements.
Love these videos and I'll be here for more. You've reminded me that Prime is so formative for me that often I still think in "scan visor" when I encounter something new or otherwise unknown.
It never struck to me the frozen water meant that Phendrana Drifts used to be warmer. But it makes sense. Some of the creatures you scan say they’re the same you encountered on the Overworld or in the Ruins and have adapted to the colder climate. These subtle details really brings the game’s world to life.
Yeah, it is possible the tasks and responsibilities of the Shaman, philosopher, Warrior, & Architect are more varried than what we would typically think. Archatects could have potentially been artists as well, warriors could have doubled as hunters or police, & Shamans could have been seen as leaders.
My head canon is that the chozo ghosts are the consciousnesses of the chozo of old, having visions. Every time a chozo had a vision it's a timejump into Metroid Prime's present where they appear as said ghosts.They can't really control this ability nor interact well with the future world they visit.
I really enjoy the fact people are still talking Prime. It's basically my favorite game out of all I've played. Picked it up randomly one day, fell in love fast. It's great!
I never thought about the Chozo the way you describe them, and I think your interpretation of their arrogance is genius! The sought peace and achieved it within their planet, then started believing they would maintain the balance of the universe with their knowledge, but then were eradicated by a primitive, thoughtless and soulless force of nature beyond the cosmos they had no way of defending themselves against! This is such an obvious and brilliant interpretation that I have no idea why I didn't think about it at first! Contrast that with the Luminoth, who shared their peaceful mind with the Chozo and even shared technologies with each other, but were far more pragmatic and understood their race could face destruction at one point if they didn't had a proper military to defend themselves. When the same thing that happened to Tallon IV happened to Aether, but affected the planet on a much larger scale and created a dark copy of the planet, their military knowledge kept them alive long enough for Samus to come to their rescue. Just look at the corpses fallen across the planet and what stories each one of them tell of their last moments in combat! The Luminoth are peaceful, but not pacifists. They may have been fighting a losing battle, but they were by no means weak! They even developed new technologies to help them fight the Ing and survive the harsh conditions of Dark Aether, but unfortunately lacked the power they needed to best them - power only Samus, who came from a militarized branch of the Chozo, possessed. But that's the brilliance of the story telling in the Prime games: it doesn't tell you which side is wrong or which belief is the correct one. It just shows you how things are and lets the players figure things out for themselves.
I like how chozo have an arrogance/determination to them in the same way as the pirates do, and it shows how that sort of thing can be equally a force for good and a force for bad, all depending on cultural and spiritual mindset.
@@xanious3759 The Chozo are definitely a force of good in their attempts of containing the spread of Phazon and praying that it doesn't affect other planets, but one has to wonder how far they would go with their ideals of "maintaining the balance of the universe" if they were still alive and reached to other planets. Would they try to convince others to follow their methods, or pull a Silver Civilization from Skies of Arcadia and try to nuke their planets because they thing too highly of themselves?
The more I read people talk and elaborate how they interpret the events in each Prime game, making analogies between them, being fascinated by the environmental storytelling, the more I realize these games are true masterpieces in the way they present you the narrative and just letting you choose how to interact with it. It's genius, really.
Regarding how Samus destroyed the phazon when the chozo couldn’t, keep in mind she had to use phazon in order to fully destroy it, something the chozo never tried to our knowledge.
In the North American release of the gamecube version the Chozo always refereed to Samus as The Newborn. I always felt that that strongly underscored and reinforced Samus' connection with the Chozo, to find that was changed for other versions of the game is very disappointing.
Something I always give small praise to for visual deep dives like these are the players that go out of their way not just to get a better look at the subtle detailing, but actually perform the rare act of looking up and being rewarded with extra details you'd never see otherwise. My favorite of these "ceiling sights" has to be during the Thardus boss fight, where you can actually see the storm he's conjuring if you look at the sky overhead before the fog rolls in.
The pirates resemble insects and reptiles which are lowly and crawl on the ground, whereas the Chozo are avian and resemble animals that soar. I think they also serve as representations of human nature, which I would say is a given. It's why we can so clearly understand their mindsets and find things that are relatable in both.
Oh my God now I have the image of the chozo sitting around on tallon IV having they're own Woodstock music festival, smoking weed while listening to the super metroid OST 🤣🤣🤣
The Incinerator boss isn't trying to burn Samus because it thought she was trash per se. We see these Chozo as more peaceful and would discard weapons. As such, the Incinerator sees Samus as a _weapon_ the Chozo has discarded.
So basically trash yeah. Trash being a broad term and discarded weapons specifically falls under it. So my point is what's your point? Arguing semantics for absolutely no reason? Cause if you really think about it is silly how overthought that was to say the same thing.
@@PhoenixAttact Except the video thinks this means that Samus's suit is obsolete. I'm saying the machine is treating all weapons as trash regardless of how effective or modern it is.
So fun fact, when metroid prime, you will find missile blocked doors, ok no problem, what is interesting is that in the trilogy version (no idea if its in the OG, its flavor text), but you can find text in the phazon mines that mentions replacing some of the blocks with corrodite or bendezium.
Thank you SO much for this! A wonderful walk through of the richness I always sensed was present, but never focused on in the game. Hearing this now, I can't help but hope that somehow the mention and concept of Chozo transcendence is linked to Metroid 4 Beyond
Awesome dissection. The Chozo's early logs regarding their newfound abilities to transcend space-time relate to how the Phazon-duplicated "Chozo Ghosts" are able to phase in-and-out of visual reality themselves.
I'm don't share the opinion that the Chozo had giant egos. I think they were just keenly aware of how advanced and powerful their species was, and, like Uncle Ben said "With great power comes great responsibility". So they felt responsible for protecting life more than anything else (which is of course in direct opposition to the Space Pirates, who seek out and use power to destroy, kill, dominate, and subjugate).
I don't think fatbrett necessarily meant ego as a derogatory sense, rather in the sense that the chozo think they have a very important responsibility and believe in themselves. Fatbrett can correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume he meant ego as more of a neutral thing. Ego generally does have a derogatory connotation though.
The chozo are so advanced that they managed to take complete, uncontestable galactic dominance with only 10,000 Mawkin (Chozo) Warriors, and 75,000 autonomous battle mechs that simulated the 10,000 Mawkin Chozo Warriors. Taking galactic dominance with 10,000 soldiers is just... the technologies they must have at their disposal for war, and how good their warriors are at fighting, mist be mind boggling in scope of power and terror. We couldnt take a country down with 10,000 somiders and the Chozo defeated entire civilizations many times over. So yeah the stuff on Tallon IV is likely very primitive to the Chozo.
thank you so much for everything. your style, your voice, your script everything is just perfect and as a metroid fan this video and all your others are just peak. i hope too see you grow and get the following you deserve. Stay awesome
38:50 I think a possible extra difference between Samus and the Chozo of Tallon IV (ignoring the future Mawkin warlike tribe DNA in her blood plot point added WAY after this game) is the fact that she was raised by a different tribe of chozo who might have possibly had slightly different priorities for training as well as the suit that she gained from them. She could have been taught different battle tactics for survival priorities that might not have been emphasized much if at all on the other civilizations. Who knows. Also Tallon IV chozo society already seems fairly different and more nature focused on everything including defenses. I'd assume that the nature around them dying or even turning AGAINST them is about the same as basically stripping them from most their power and technology and they just didn't have very many defenses left outside of that. They'd be basically defenseless because of their own symbiosis; another stab of irony if you ask me. Maybe it's worth noting too that not every upgrade that Samus finds on Tallon IV is chozo made due to her stealing stuff like visor upgrades from space pirates but I feel like that might be reaching.
@@Truegear I believe this as well, especially when you notice the writing on Tallon IV doesn't match up with either the Mawkin or Thoha's writing. I am assuming the Zebes Chozo are Thoha since the game is never clear there is a distinction. It is also mentioned that Samus has Thoha DNA, and the only known DNA donor outside of Raven Beak, is Gray Voice a Chozo from Zebes.
I would argue that the Chozo were less egotistical and more caution. They treated the peace and safety of the galaxy as a sacred duty that they would do anything to protect. In their past they were conquerors and, if the Mawkin are anything to go by, they were scarily good at it. But they stopped and dedicated themselves to peace. For Chozo ego I'd say the edifaces of Raven Beak are a far better example. Also, I don't believe the lack of technology was the reason for their downfall on Tallon 4. Samus' armour was broken when she landed on the planet and it was the technology of the Tallon Chozo that aided her. The only thing they didn't give her was the Phazon suit. Perhaps they could create something like that or perhaps they refused to consider using Phazon, but without it Samus couldn't have made it into the impact crater. It's very likely that the reason that they couldn't save the planet themselves was because they didn't have the means to protect themselves from Phazon.
The Chozo all sought the knowledge of the universe no matter where they hailed from. Some used science and technology to wrest the secrets by force from anyone or anything in their way. The Tallon Chozo followed the same drive to seek knowledge for its own sake but by philosophical and spiritual means. The Chozo cannot help but to strive ever farther into the unknown no matter what path they walk.
as for the fate of the chozo i think they accepted death in the end this lines up with what we know of them in general they accepted their extinction brought about do to their own pursuit of knowledge at the expense of reproduction they could have survived with cloning or something but chose to accept their own fate i think the talon 4 chozo accepted a similar thing they did all they could so left the future to samus and just quietly died with their world
The Chozo reaching some sort of 4th dimensional time-travel state + MP4 Beyond having a strange portal + I think I saw a quote somewhere about Sakamoto wanting to use time travel in Metroid = makes me think MP4 will have time-traveling Chozo tech maybe?? I'm loving these cultural/historical deep-dive vids, I really hope you can make more about MP2 and 3 to complete this analysis on Phazon and the evolution of these cultures! 🎉
I played this game when I was younger. All I did was point and shoot. I didnt look much into the extreme details of the story you pointed out here! Great game study!
Been loving your Metroid videos! I really hate how they removed the "she comes dressed for war and her wrath is terrible" line. Always loved it so much.
I’d like to think that this branch of the Chozo’s think of their tech as second hand quality. They’re so in tune with the world around them, they saw no need to push further than what they had at their disposal. While other branch’s of Chozo are so beyond sci-fi, the Talon IV Chozo’s are space steam punk. When the meteor hit, and spread so quickly, their culture stood no chance, foresight, hubris, or not.
I would wager the Chozo Ruins is the temple complex, but the sites in Phendrana Drifts are the equivalent of monk cells in the Egyptian desert. Like, they represent different theological perspectives - one that values a unified ritual between multiple individuals, and one that represents smaller groups of anchorites.
I would love to see you analyze the sequels. In my opinion the Prime trilogy is the best trilogy in all of gaming, all of the games perfectly compliment each other, while also telling a greater saga. Together forming a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
With the hindsight of Dread the 4 statues seem more relevant. since we now know that the mawkin and thoha are both individual tribes, it stands to reason that the statues are basically chozo mt. Rushmore and sooner or later we will see the other philosopher tribe leader or something. Very cool stuff
I've noticed the temple sculptures on top of it are looking at the crater, almost as if the Chozos are keeping eternal vigil over the crater even in the afterlife
I find it interesting how the chozo busts represents all the chozo tribes we've met over the different games. While all tribes build impressive arquituctural works in the planets they inhabit, I think the other three jobs could make reference to each of the tribes. The warrior bust represents Raven Beak's power driven Mawkin tribe. The philosopher bust represents the Thoha tribe, since they are focused on research and investigation. And Talon IV's tribe is represented by the Chaman since they follow a spiritual lifestyle. (I haven't played the other 2 prime games so I don't know much about 3's chozo tribe)
Immediately within the first few minutes is why I consider Outer Wilds to be one of the greatest spiritual successors to the Metroid Prime games. If anyone reading this somehow doesn't know anything about Outer Wilds yet, but loves the lore-discovery aspect of the Prime series (personally for me, the bittersweet undertones of Prime 2), please consider giving it a try. It's truly a once-in-a-lifetime game experience, and best experienced as blind as possible.
bro this is the greatest in depth lore video i have ever seen and extremely well scripted and thought out i wish i had a 8th of your skill lol sheesh in my own content...
"the story never says which point of view of phazon is the right one..." ...i mean it actually does. given the choice between chozo and space pirate samus will ALWAYS choose the chozos side. (raven beak and mawkin tribe notwithstanding)
I mean, samus literally would not be able to defeat metroid prime without the phazon suit and phazon beam, which is a product of the space pirates trying to harvest and control phazon (even if indirectly). In a way the space pirates were as much responsible for the death of phazon on Tallon IV as samus and the chozo were.
@@xanious3759 yes but the phazon suit also becomes the true big bad of the entire series. metroid primes last act was to take it from samus, and in the secret ending a hand is shown to emerge. a very, very familiar hand. she used the poison to fight off the poison, that doesnt make the poison good or the space pirates right. the rest of the series showcases just how dangerous phazon is, that the cons vastly outweigh the pros. in fact 3 hammers this home: yes, the hyper mode is vastly powerful and a great tool for combat, but at the same time it's also slowly killing you, even with the added protection.
@@supersmashbro596 still though, if samus didn't have the phazon suit, metroid prime just would've killed or corrupted her anyways, and phaaze likely wouldn't have been destroyed.
I wish more games would be like the Prime series when it comes to telling their stories: completely optional, but very rich if the player decides to do the digging.
22:00 I think it is worth mentioning that in many ancient cultures (Such as ancient Greece, middle east, as well as cultures involved in the scientific revolution), scientists were considered a sub-group of philosophers. Science used to go by the name of "natural philosophy", or simply philosophy and scholarship regarding the rules of nature, which is why we still call science degrees a "PhD", a kind of degree in philosophy, with the scientific method itself also being considered a philosophy of sorts. Many individuals also demonstrated this blending. Aristotle, Kant, Descartes, etc are examples of philosophers who were heavily involved in science as a form of philosophy, if not to the point of being able to be considered a scientist. Considering how blended together technology and nature are within Chozo society, as well as them also having a similar vibe of being an ancient civilization, perhaps the Chozo also, much like many of our own real life societies, simply considered Scientists to be a kind of Philosopher?
Some of my favorite stories like this are Resident Evil (I’ve only played the first one. But you find research notes, regular notes, and things in the setting of the mansion that tell the story.) The Arkham games have several audio logs and you can find written words within the story and eavesdrop on various conversations for other stories. Sonic adventure 1 while not done as the same way I feel a need to mention it because how the story is presented very much eludes to the idea that you are not experiencing what actually happens in the game at any point except the final chapter of the game. Playing through as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Gamma, or Big I am lead to believe is actually just them telling you their version of events and not entirely what actually happens. When Sonic and tails run into knuckles for the first time there’s a cutscene. There are 3 different cutscenes with slightly different dialogue… and the way the dialogue and what happens before and after the cutscenes favors whichever character you are playing with seems to imply all 3 cutscenes are the characters telling you what happened and not what actually happened. If you okay as Sonic tails says very little, knuckles is fairly aggressive and not listening to reason and trying to fight, then Sonic fights knuckles then Chaos 4 alongside tails. Tails: Tails contributes more to the conversation. Knuckles is more aggressive. Sonic acknowledges tails existing more, Sonic and Knuckles fight very briefly, then tails takes on Chaos 4 by himself. Knuckles: Sonic is much more antagonistic. Tails doesn’t say much, but when he does say something it’s mostly just an exaggerated characterization of how he normally acts, Sonic and knuckles fight, then knuckles fights chaos 4 by himself. Leads me to think what actually happened is closer to what Sonic says. Knuckles is angry and confused, tails tries to contribute to the conversation and kinda doesn’t, Sonic fights knuckles, then while knuckles is knocked the fuck out Sonic and tails fight chaos 4. Also the NPC’s get into some wild nonsense in that game. Then Metroid Fusion (one of my least favorite on the series) has great environmental storytelling (some of the best I’ve seen in a game) where a lot of what’s going on is communicated without words.
The manga Hellstar Remina by Junji Itou was published before both of them in 2005. I bet Dead Space ripped off the idea of Brethren Moons from Remina (ancient hibernating planet eating living moon that causes mass hallucinations and insanity just by being near it).
The Chozo practice an Animistic religion, which essentially means that they worship aspects of nature. The Chozo live in harmony with nature, which they simultaneously worship. It's interesting, as this coexistence kind of parallels Japanese culture in how it treats natural disasters. The Japanese respect the power of the ocean and of the earth, how it can destroy in the blink of an eye. Japanese Emergency Alert System broadcasts, which are oftentimes prefaced with loud and scary tones along with teletext on a black background, have bright color pallete and a little jingle; to the Japanese, a flood is just another Tuesday. Additionally, aspects of Shinto are incredibly Animistic; it's kind of cool to see people infuse fictional cultures with a bit of their own cultures.
love the video! one thing came to mind when you were talking about how you think the Chozo could have defeated the Phazon threat... Samus' suit isnt just Chozo tech, She has to acquire the Phazon suit in order to reach the Metroid prime. from what I remember the Phazon suit is infused with Elite space pirate bio material. (something like that) So there is a lot of irony in that the space pirates in fact helped the Chozo save their planet unintentionally. I think this drastically effects the way the themes of the text can be read/understood. It seems that Samus wields some tech forged by an immoral, crule society. But her actions are guided by a sense of altruism that is influenced by the Chozo. Just something I thought of that I find interesting :)
About the Chozo and their view on the importance of different occupations: From the way the chozo write about themselves, I'm quite sure that they do value some of the things you counted as lesser, but likely see them as integral and inseperable parts of the other occupations. For example, I can see how Science could be part of what a Chozo Philosopher does, and Industry could be part of what Architects do, given how integrated their buildings seem to be between function and form/ornamentation (the Architects who built the Artifact Temple were quite likely very knowledgable about the Tech they were integrating).
It makes sense that her suit translates Chozo. Her suit was built by them. And Dread shows Samus herself can speak Chozo.
perhaps a hotter take: The suit isn't translating chozo for Samus, the suit is translating chozo for YOU.
Well imagine a white guy settlers baby being taken in by a native American indians. The child would learn the native tongue of that tribe.
@@pearlcarneiro5432 Good point, yeah. Can be considered translation convention (it's a trope, can't post links here).
@@pearlcarneiro5432 Or, perhaps the Chozo language from Tallon IV is different from the one Samus knows from Zebes. Just like people irl speak different languages in different regions.
@@samy29987 So true. FTR I wasn't really saying that completely seriously but that is a very good point.
Watching this after the Space Pirate breakdown. One immediate distinction is the language of these scans. The Space Pirates were very clinical in their messages - they just tell you what happens. But the Chozo entries are poetic, using creative, emotive language. You said before that the Chozo on Tallon IV only cared about four castes, neglecting things like scientists, artists, farmers and parents. But I don't think that's it. It seems more like these things are so integrated into their culture that they don't see it as an individual profession, but something maybe they all do. The Hive Mind boss would require some knowledge of animal domestication. The lock would need not just architecture, but scientific knowledge too. And their art is everywhere from their scans to their very walls.
Interesting detail about the Chozo statue holding the plane of existence, as you say,”single-handedly” - while I agree that this suggests a degree of ego, the statue is actually using both hands - showing how seriously they take their role as protectors.
I don't think single handedly in this context means literally a single hand, more so it was a single chozo balancing the entire plane of existence in his hands. It does show ego but also how seriously they took their roles as protectors of life
I don't interpret it as "ego" at all. Just like how humans depict their gods as humans, the statue could just be a depiction of their creator god.
@@skakirask They have no mention of a creator figure in the entire game, nor any other "gods", so to speak. Only the universe, nature, and themselves.
I am so excited for the logs of Bryyo and Aether.
Cannot wait for those videos!
I love this subject. The chozo and the space pirates feel like an analogy of the 2 directions the human race could go
Unfortunately, they're definitely heading toward the space pirates.
It’s essentially indigenous ideology vs. settler colonial ideology.
Understanding ourselves as a part of our natural environment and Living in harmony and relationship with nature and the land you live on
vs. seeing ourselves as separate or apart from nature and seeking to exploit the land for our own dominance.
A symbiotic vs. parasitic relationship to nature.
@@StormsparkPegasus Good.
You have fun hugging trees, I'll enjoy suffering horrifying mutations and getting a raise in food rations for that. Hah!
I fully choose to remember the original releases details. I like how things like, Samus being called the Hatchling, was this familial love across time and space from people she would never meet. It was really nice.
The Chozo were rumored to have "ascended to another plane of existence" after melding with nature and likely becoming pure energy. They could easily be watching over Samus as Godlike 4-dimensional beings.
It's understandable why it was changed. "Hatchling" was the word used to refer to the baby Metroid before it became commonly known as "the baby." Beyond that, it was an obvious continuity error (one of many in the NTSC release). Aside from that, it makes no sense that these Chozo would know her.
@@jjtheenton They were seeing her in their visions of the future, I'm not sure how you could possibly be missing that context. I don't think it's much of a stretch at all to assume that the Chozo can also see their relationship to their mysterious savior.
@@nillynush4899Well the Tallon IV Chozo could have. The Thoha Tribe and Mawkin Tribes were a bit spiritual but concentrated on Science and Power
@@nillynush4899 Sounds a bit far fetched don't you think? I believe it would be more likely, that they just left the planet after they completed the temple and return after the events of Prime 1 to repair what Phazon and the Pirates have destroyed.
Actually I am currently watching a Playthrough of Prime 3 and the Video Uploader just came across an Elysian Log Entry that stated that the Creators of the Cloudcity of Elysia and the Elysian "People" are in fact the same Chozo that colonized Tallon IV. It also mentioned that the Chozo left Tallon IV and traveled to an unknown location after the Phazon Leviathan crash landed on the Planet.
I didn't expect that actually. When I made the first Comment how I "believe" they just left the Planet. Turns out they actually did.
One interesting thing to note about the chozo lore entries that happened to me when I first played the game on Gamecube, is that I thought that the great poison they mention was the poisoned water in the ruins. I don't know if the devs were being intentionally misleading about it, or if I was just a dumb kid, but I was blown away after I defeated Flaagra to find out that there was an even greater and much more dangerous poison on Tallon IV. I had just defeated a symptom, and hadn't actually done much in purifying the water in the grand scheme of things.
I actually noticed that myself and I do think it was definitely intentional misdirection. Especially considering there are lore scans about the the great poison which can be read before one fights Flaahgra. However, the scan about the worm can only be found latter despite being placed as an early log.
I actually always read flaagra as sort of a metaphor for the leviathan/impact crater lol
Far out I had the same experience as a kid. Probably never even caught on until a later playthrough.
Had the same experience!
My favorite treat; gifted before my workday; with the perfect length of time to end right when I must leave. I am spoiled sir.
I like the subtlety of the prophecy of the Worm saying "born from parasites." It implies that the Chozo of Tallon IV likely were so removed from greater Chozo civilization that they probably were entirely unaware that the Chozo on SR388 were engineering the Metroids, a parasite created to eradicate another parasite, the X.
The Metroid Manga implies that the Metroids were only created relatively recently during the time Samus was raised by the Chozo.
So, timeline wise Metroids shouldn't even exist at this point. Though one can theorize early prototypes and plans could have been in progress at a much earlier point.
@@R0-83-RT prime 2 and 3 (either both or just prime 3, i might be misremembering a log) have some translator logs implying that dark samus is fond of metroids, and there's a lot of them in the impact crater, which was sealed long before any could've gotten in.
if the original/pre-trilogy pirate logs about metroid prime are any indication, metroid prime and the fission metroids probably were just pirate brought metroids that phased through the impact crater, there's a chance that post retcon the fission metroids did just phase through, since metroids kind of break a lot of rules, but metroid prime herself is definitely something more ancient. I'd actually love to see some headcanons about metroid prime being some sort of ancient "proto-metroid"
(i actually headcanon wise think phazon might be linked to aeion/metroids/x-parasites to begin with so honestly im kind of hoping prime 4 is about like the origin of phazon or something, could be interesting and they could tie it to SR and dread in a interesting way)
@@xanious3759 Its possible that a Metroid managed to get into the leviathan seed later on when the pirates brought them to Tallon IV, Via the mutation of Phazon Metroids from Prime 3 or something similar. It is also possible that Metroid Prime was on the leviathan seed when it crashed. I'm fine with either explanation as long as Metroid Prime has some biological relationship towards the Metroids since it has been shown able to spawn Metroids. Due to this I personally prefer the interpretation that Metroid Prime went into the leviathan seed later on, though I can accept Metroid Prime originating in the Meteorite, if the Chozo were able to collect DNA from it, which would latter be used to create modern Metroids.
@@R0-83-RT Entirely possible. The leviathan chooses the apex predator of whatever planet it lands on and makes that it's guardian. But the instant the pirates brought a Metroid to the planet it quickly, and unsurprisingly, became to the de facto apex like it does in any environment it is introduced to. Appropriately there are few instances in any of the games where, upon introduction, the Metroids didn't become the absolute top of the foodchain. The Leviathans are intelligent to a degree and know when to hedge their bets. Metroids are the "ultimate warriors," it doesn't take much suspension of belief to assume a Metroid or group of them could have overcome the Leviathan's previous choice. Metroids are also shown to be incredibly tolerant to Phazon mutations. Across the 3 games they have at least 7 possible mutations, including Hoppers which have a striking resemblance to Prime itself.
Still breaks the lore. How did the Metroids got to Phaaze? You can't possibly tell me that the Chozo just went there and released some of their Metroids to see what happens.
No.
There are rumors that unused Log entries imply that Metroid Prime was a Metroid in a Space Pirate Laboratory on Tallon 4 that was infused with Phazon and grew bigger. It foirced itself into the Impact Crater and killed the Worm.
An incredibly beautiful documentary on the Chozo tribe of Talon IV.
It helped me see the Chozo in a new light, particularly about their ego.
Yes, there is no doubt that the Chozo were indeed benevolent, nature loving and of a higher level of spirituality, but I had never before seen this angle of how they perceived themselves as THE protectors of balance in the universe, which honestly comes off with a certain level of arrogance.
Although it doesn't last, as the latest journals show them starting to doubt their capacities, doubt their success. They begin to see they might not have what it takes to deal with Phazon all by themselves, which is tragic considering how their greatest desire is to protect the life of Talon IV.
It is a shame that, for whatever reason (perhaps their choice of "primitive" technology), the Chozos of Talon IV could not contact any other Chozo tribe who could've been far more technologically advanced than they were and helped them in this ordeal.
A tribe like the Thoha, the adoptive family of Samus, who held the technology to combat and better contain Phazon as well as sharing their peaceful ways in a slightly different way. Or maybe even a warrior tribe like the Mawkin who held highly advanced weapons and had highly capable warriors to combat Phazon and its poor mutated victims. _(although this latter might be a bad idea, considering individuals like Raven Beak)_
Astounding documentary, mate!
Now I know I made the right decision of subscribing to your channel.
Looking forward to the Part 2 covering of the Space Pirate culture, this time using the datalogs and journals of Prime 2.
There's definitely interesting potential in alternative stories.
But there'S also the thing that Samus is kind of more than just the walking Tank space-mercthat destroys planets every now and then, she herself is much closer to a heroic figure of myths - her coming has even been prophesizerd in the visions the Chozo on TallonIV had, so chances are, they decided to trust on that, rather than involving others, potentially causing greater harm across the galaxy.
And to think of the consequences with Samus killing the omegapirate leading to the creation of the phazon suit leading to the birht of Dark Samus and how that might have played animportant rolein leading up to the destruction of phaaze itself.
The Space Pirate video was a really great dissection, and I desperately wished it was longer. This will most certainly do. Excited for this one
Fantastic pair of videos, excellent dives into the story of my favorite game! I would be very curious to see you more deeply compare and contrast the original North American logs and the re-released versions’ as it’s always been a source of interest for me. In fact, just this week I went and played through the original again to capture screenshots of the old logs so I can directly compare them to the new ones haha. Also, can’t wait for the prime 2 and 3 analysis!
Prime 2 perfects the cutscene and environmental storytelling in my opinion
Bungie's Marathon is what immediately came to my mind when you mentioned Epistolary storytelling.
I'd be surprised if Retro Studios' developers wasn't inspired by Marathon. The terminals in that game feel very much like the scans in Metroid Prime. Heck, both games take place in a first person sci-fi setting, although Metroid as a series predates Marathon.
It's great that the developers of the Prime series and especially Mercury Steam are working to divide the Chozo civilization into different cultural groups with their own methods and objectives. It's easy to write a certain civilization as monolithic and homogenous but it makes them seem one- dimensional, and it's especially difficult for a civilization which expands so vastly through different parts of the Galaxy that they forgot their common ancestors. Having these layers of the spiritual, scientific and militaristic factions of the species makes them seem more realistic and intelligent, especially for the fact that different groups of Chozo have different ideals as to what their goals should be and how different flaws bring about the downfall of each of those groups
Unfortunately, the kind of Chozo ad written by MercurySteam are basically just more Space Pirates. This goes for both the Mawkin and the Thoha. Completely blinded by arrogance and power, they all just eventually create their own doom.
@@FeixMan yeah, but Tallon IV Chozo also brought about their own downfall by forsaking technology and apparently cutting themselves off from the other tribes. The Thoha at least kept enough contact to ask the Mawkin for help with both Samus and the rampant Metroids, even though the latter backfired. The Tallon IV Chozo didn't even consider the possibility of contacting others, as there is little to no mention of other Chozo in their texts
27:04 these guys out here trying to live the best lives 😅
Been hyped to see your follow up video to the Space Pirates since you mentioned it in the other one. These are great videos to watch before bed in a dark room.
Not saying they’re boring btw (far from it) lol, they’re very soothing and Metroid lore is always fun to listen to.
The Chozo Ghosts used to scare the crap out of me when I first played the game lol.
Again, great video! When I first played through this as a kid (~11yo), I didn't fully appreciate the fact that the entire game's story was conveyed through written 'logs', until I was near the end. Given I was a pretty restless kid, it surprises me now that I was able to enjoy and understand some of the nuance to the story, without even really noticing and being bored by it. And when I moved, and went to a new school, I met other kids that had played it and we went on about the story together; discussing phazon and what not. -- I'd like to think this shows how well MP excelled at this type of story telling, as it was able to hold the attention of an audience that weren't even yet capable of comprehending books particularly well, and with undeveloped attention spans. What has been interesting (and fun) for me now playing it from the start again, is realising how much I understood, and how much went over my head.
It's funny to think at face value, this game would have been a pretty big risk for Nintendo. While in the middle of funding a third 3D Zelda game, the idea of making a similar game, but in space, and throwing out the theatrical scenes, character development, and interactions, for an isolated (basically) journal reading experience, must have been hard to stay confident about (haha). Even more so given the challenging history they had with outsourcing it.
While the original MP wasn't a massive success at the time, I think it's safe to say that pushing on with the project worked out pretty well for them in the end. And still is.
Eh. The game's okay ... I guess 👁️👄👁️ I'd 'probably' recommend it.
From what I hear in this video, the Chozo are a nice, fictional depiction of how a big ego doesn't necessarily make for an evil person or society. Pretentious though they were, I still find a lot to admire about them.
"I don't necessarily believe that the Chozo were worshipping themselves" mah, that Raven Beak dude surely is.
"I do want to continue this analysis with the seque-"
Subscribed.
Love Prime's story telling and the Chozo are just fascinating all around. How many factions and worlds they cover, they are so old but remnants still live, if Quiet Robe and Raven Beak were alive in Dread I'm sure there's still a few others around, and of course Samus is Chozo in all but species.
Side note I feel like Samus could read the text, it was probably translated so she could have a more proper log in the future.
Or she couldn't read it because the Tallonias spoke a different chozo language than the Thoha on Zebes where she grew up on. That's my head canon anyway.
Can't wait for your MP2 and 3 essays!
48:12 The chozo artifacts also mention the Space Pirates a couple of times, calling them "invaders". These artifacts refer to a lot of things that happened relatively recently, and almost certainly after they "disappeared" from the planet (at least physically), which is really interesting and was hoping to get your take on it.
Something that's kind of annoying about Prime Remastered, once one obtains the corosponding artifact its no longer possible to read the text from your logbook. This may explain why Brett didn't go into the artifact hints.
Perhaps it’s because of two things, either they foresaw the occupation of their home through visions that they were experiencing, or they knew that someone would come eventually for the ‘great poison’ due to its destruction nature.
Yeah that's my #1 problem with the game's timeline. The space pirates and the chozo must have coexisted at some point. And it clearly wasn't a happy time
I was satisfied by what I had always interpreted as the Chozo's final departure from Tallon 4. The cutscene that plays directly after the fight against Meta Ridley where the temple suddenly comes alive and lasers down Ridley - and ONLY Ridley, before Chozo spirits appear briefly to complete the process of unsealing of the Impact Crater.I saw confirmation in the post-Ridley cutscene that the Chozo had stayed true to their word: they were there waiting to assist Samus in a very real and mission-critical sense. It's a brief scene but it is satisfying to see the proverbial hand of the Chozo come down to finish Ridley off, and their final act of providing a spiritual fail-safe replacement for the temple's destroyed mechanisms was a neat symbolic victory in their war of ideals against the materialistic Space Pirates. The spirits then vanish unceremoniously and aren't seen again. It's a subtle end to the Chozo and I can see how it could be interpreted as being open-ended or uncertain with regards to their fate.
But in the final cutscene of the game, Samus escapes the Impact Crater and finds the temple slowly crumbling in the wake of her encounter with Metroid Prime. She stands atop her hovering gunship to watch it for a while, seeing nothing but the empty temple in flames. Samus seems to sadly acknowledge something before boarding her gunship and the game ends. The Chozo, at least the tribe of the Chozo that had lived on Tallon 4, have seen their prophecy fulfilled; whatever manner of will or consciousness that had remained in waiting at the temple for countless years had now departed forever. That's not open-endedness. That's finality.
Fascinating to think about just how important Samus is when it comes to Chozo preservation. Not talking about all the amazing feats of combat she displays, she is one of the few left who knows how to speak the Chozo language and was raised by them. Her power suit is itself a relic of the Chozo and she is one of the only ones who has seen the remenats of the different Chozo civilizations on separate worlds before they were destroyed or wiped out. She is a bastion of Chozo knowledge and has continued to learn more along her journeys that hardly anyone else will. Samus being raised and trained by the Chozo has probably the best understanding of Chozo culture and society.
Metroid prime's storyline is there for you to explore if you want. If you just want blast thru enemies like old Metroid the option is also there.
I was hoping when you mentioned the statue of the Shaman you would bring up the fact that it is cracked. Which could mean that the Tallon 4 Chozo's Shamanic/Spiritual health was not as good you would think.
That's possible. Given that ghosts are only seen in the Chozo ruins, I'm willing to say that there is something different about the Chozo in different regions, which also supports the reviewer's analysis of architecture. Tribalism prevails as a feature of Chozo culture. Those of the Phendrana region may simply be less spiritual. However, they still left behind valuable artifacts for Samus like the wave beam. They also left behind stone carvings. It may be that both the Chozo and the Phendrana tribes were similarly spiritual, but the ghosts were drawn to the higher concentration of holy sites in the Chozo ruins.
The Chozo invite Samus to destroy in order to cleanse - Destroy structures areas where artifacts or weapons are hidden, like inside the tower of light, the furnace, or the hive totem. It is only the spiritual who guide where to leave these behind. Is it coincidence that the items are conveniently laid out in an order for the player to get them, almost guiding them?
The philosophers discuss questions like the origin of the Great Poison, which we see in the lore of the furnace. The Warrior ensures immediate survival. The Architect designs the buildings, creating a civilization meant to last. The Shaman has foresight, guiding them into the future. It is only the Shaman with this foreknowledge. It is only the Shaman statue that is cracked, and I suggest it is by their will in particular that the statue is cracked. By their foresight they see what must change in the future, what help to proffer from stone coffers.
It could be a sort of foreshadowing of the Chozo ghosts as well. It is the impact of the Chozo's interaction with the spiritual that is presently felt.
Whatever the reason is fine by me because I do NOT want to deal with Chozo Ghosts in Phendrana lol
45:10 I'd argue that they aren't hoping that they'd be saved by a miracle, as they seem to already recognise that it is too late for them. They are merely hoping that, some day, someone will arrive to continue where they left off, and hopefully eradicate the great poison for the sake of protecting what is left. With that hope in mind, they are preparing gifts of their technology to aid the Entrusted One, so that even if the Chozo are gone, they are still helping.
What a wonderful and well crafted piece of media you managed to create there, sir. I salute you as a massive Metroid fan. Even as a veteran Metroid Prime player, I missed so much of the architecture, the details, the ornaments and the deep differences between Space Pirates and Chozo and their analogies that you carefully explained ok this video.
The artifact temple remains one of my favorite places in any Metroid game for the very reason you exposed. It's a temple honoring the will of the Chozo and the music conveys that so well. That place _felt_ important even if you didn't scan anything. The devs really knocked it out of the park in creating that atmosphere and immersing you in it.
Really excited to see what you have to say about the rest of the trilogy. Keep up the great work!!
This kind of storytelling can only be told through _interactive media._ Video games are the prime (no pun intended) example of it, but game books also count. Although I have yet to read and play a game book that includes missable story elements.
TTRPGs as well
I saw part 1 two days ago. This was a great surprise. New subscriber. Great job man
Love these videos and I'll be here for more. You've reminded me that Prime is so formative for me that often I still think in "scan visor" when I encounter something new or otherwise unknown.
It never struck to me the frozen water meant that Phendrana Drifts used to be warmer. But it makes sense. Some of the creatures you scan say they’re the same you encountered on the Overworld or in the Ruins and have adapted to the colder climate. These subtle details really brings the game’s world to life.
The Chozo Philosophers are probably scientists, just look at Aristoteles, he was a Philosopher, but knew a lot about biology, physiques, math, etc
Yeah, it is possible the tasks and responsibilities of the Shaman, philosopher, Warrior, & Architect are more varried than what we would typically think. Archatects could have potentially been artists as well, warriors could have doubled as hunters or police, & Shamans could have been seen as leaders.
Chining in late here: each of the roles could very well be as flexible as you two are suggesting.
Another epistolary story is outer wilds, one of the best games I’ve ever played, and it uses a similar mechanic to the scan visor. Really good game
My head canon is that the chozo ghosts are the consciousnesses of the chozo of old, having visions. Every time a chozo had a vision it's a timejump into Metroid Prime's present where they appear as said ghosts.They can't really control this ability nor interact well with the future world they visit.
I really enjoy the fact people are still talking Prime. It's basically my favorite game out of all I've played. Picked it up randomly one day, fell in love fast. It's great!
I never payed this kind of attention to Metroid Prime, even after playing so many times.
Masterpiece of a game and masterpiece of a video.
I never thought about the Chozo the way you describe them, and I think your interpretation of their arrogance is genius!
The sought peace and achieved it within their planet, then started believing they would maintain the balance of the universe with their knowledge, but then were eradicated by a primitive, thoughtless and soulless force of nature beyond the cosmos they had no way of defending themselves against! This is such an obvious and brilliant interpretation that I have no idea why I didn't think about it at first!
Contrast that with the Luminoth, who shared their peaceful mind with the Chozo and even shared technologies with each other, but were far more pragmatic and understood their race could face destruction at one point if they didn't had a proper military to defend themselves. When the same thing that happened to Tallon IV happened to Aether, but affected the planet on a much larger scale and created a dark copy of the planet, their military knowledge kept them alive long enough for Samus to come to their rescue. Just look at the corpses fallen across the planet and what stories each one of them tell of their last moments in combat! The Luminoth are peaceful, but not pacifists. They may have been fighting a losing battle, but they were by no means weak! They even developed new technologies to help them fight the Ing and survive the harsh conditions of Dark Aether, but unfortunately lacked the power they needed to best them - power only Samus, who came from a militarized branch of the Chozo, possessed.
But that's the brilliance of the story telling in the Prime games: it doesn't tell you which side is wrong or which belief is the correct one. It just shows you how things are and lets the players figure things out for themselves.
I like how chozo have an arrogance/determination to them in the same way as the pirates do, and it shows how that sort of thing can be equally a force for good and a force for bad, all depending on cultural and spiritual mindset.
@@xanious3759 The Chozo are definitely a force of good in their attempts of containing the spread of Phazon and praying that it doesn't affect other planets, but one has to wonder how far they would go with their ideals of "maintaining the balance of the universe" if they were still alive and reached to other planets.
Would they try to convince others to follow their methods, or pull a Silver Civilization from Skies of Arcadia and try to nuke their planets because they thing too highly of themselves?
The more I read people talk and elaborate how they interpret the events in each Prime game, making analogies between them, being fascinated by the environmental storytelling, the more I realize these games are true masterpieces in the way they present you the narrative and just letting you choose how to interact with it. It's genius, really.
Regarding how Samus destroyed the phazon when the chozo couldn’t, keep in mind she had to use phazon in order to fully destroy it, something the chozo never tried to our knowledge.
That's why I prefer the US version and how the final boss, metroid prime was found, captured by the pirates and escaped.
Proof that you don't have to turn your game into an interactive movie to have a compelling setting.
In the North American release of the gamecube version the Chozo always refereed to Samus as The Newborn. I always felt that that strongly underscored and reinforced Samus' connection with the Chozo, to find that was changed for other versions of the game is very disappointing.
Something I always give small praise to for visual deep dives like these are the players that go out of their way not just to get a better look at the subtle detailing, but actually perform the rare act of looking up and being rewarded with extra details you'd never see otherwise. My favorite of these "ceiling sights" has to be during the Thardus boss fight, where you can actually see the storm he's conjuring if you look at the sky overhead before the fog rolls in.
That's awesome!!
Love your uploads man!
Really looking forward to you diving into the next two games! This was a great analysis.
The pirates resemble insects and reptiles which are lowly and crawl on the ground, whereas the Chozo are avian and resemble animals that soar.
I think they also serve as representations of human nature, which I would say is a given. It's why we can so clearly understand their mindsets and find things that are relatable in both.
Oh my God now I have the image of the chozo sitting around on tallon IV having they're own Woodstock music festival, smoking weed while listening to the super metroid OST 🤣🤣🤣
The Incinerator boss isn't trying to burn Samus because it thought she was trash per se. We see these Chozo as more peaceful and would discard weapons. As such, the Incinerator sees Samus as a _weapon_ the Chozo has discarded.
Fascinating clarification.
So basically trash yeah. Trash being a broad term and discarded weapons specifically falls under it. So my point is what's your point? Arguing semantics for absolutely no reason? Cause if you really think about it is silly how overthought that was to say the same thing.
@@PhoenixAttact Except the video thinks this means that Samus's suit is obsolete. I'm saying the machine is treating all weapons as trash regardless of how effective or modern it is.
So fun fact, when metroid prime, you will find missile blocked doors, ok no problem, what is interesting is that in the trilogy version (no idea if its in the OG, its flavor text), but you can find text in the phazon mines that mentions replacing some of the blocks with corrodite or bendezium.
I'm really looking forward to seeing your analysis's of the rest of the prime series, they are by far my favorite games ever
Thank you SO much for this! A wonderful walk through of the richness I always sensed was present, but never focused on in the game. Hearing this now, I can't help but hope that somehow the mention and concept of Chozo transcendence is linked to Metroid 4 Beyond
There's barely any metroid lore analysis content on TH-cam thats worth watching, so thank you for making your metroid videos!
Awesome dissection. The Chozo's early logs regarding their newfound abilities to transcend space-time relate to how the Phazon-duplicated "Chozo Ghosts" are able to phase in-and-out of visual reality themselves.
I subscribed for the God of War analyses, but goddamn these Metroid videos are great. Please fasttrack the Prime 2 and 3 ones!
I'm don't share the opinion that the Chozo had giant egos. I think they were just keenly aware of how advanced and powerful their species was, and, like Uncle Ben said "With great power comes great responsibility". So they felt responsible for protecting life more than anything else (which is of course in direct opposition to the Space Pirates, who seek out and use power to destroy, kill, dominate, and subjugate).
I mean sure...but they still erected statues of themselves overseeing the universe.
I don't think fatbrett necessarily meant ego as a derogatory sense, rather in the sense that the chozo think they have a very important responsibility and believe in themselves. Fatbrett can correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume he meant ego as more of a neutral thing. Ego generally does have a derogatory connotation though.
Still watching, but i really liked that litte transition back to Prime 1 at 12:45. The Arm Cannon popping up was a nice touch there.
absolutely well put together video and so much attention to detail! thanks for putting in this time and effort!
The luminoth story is one of my favorites in all of fiction, looking forward to the video
The chozo are so advanced that they managed to take complete, uncontestable galactic dominance with only 10,000 Mawkin (Chozo) Warriors, and 75,000 autonomous battle mechs that simulated the 10,000 Mawkin Chozo Warriors.
Taking galactic dominance with 10,000 soldiers is just... the technologies they must have at their disposal for war, and how good their warriors are at fighting, mist be mind boggling in scope of power and terror. We couldnt take a country down with 10,000 somiders and the Chozo defeated entire civilizations many times over.
So yeah the stuff on Tallon IV is likely very primitive to the Chozo.
Man what a gem of video, looking forward to the videos about the other entries ❤
i freakin love passive environmental story tellling, something metroid and the souls series do so freakin well.
thank you so much for everything. your style, your voice, your script everything is just perfect and as a metroid fan this video and all your others are just peak. i hope too see you grow and get the following you deserve. Stay awesome
Part of the reason why it's so good, it reminds me of a really good Sci-fi novel and I cannot put it down.
38:50 I think a possible extra difference between Samus and the Chozo of Tallon IV (ignoring the future Mawkin warlike tribe DNA in her blood plot point added WAY after this game) is the fact that she was raised by a different tribe of chozo who might have possibly had slightly different priorities for training as well as the suit that she gained from them. She could have been taught different battle tactics for survival priorities that might not have been emphasized much if at all on the other civilizations. Who knows.
Also Tallon IV chozo society already seems fairly different and more nature focused on everything including defenses. I'd assume that the nature around them dying or even turning AGAINST them is about the same as basically stripping them from most their power and technology and they just didn't have very many defenses left outside of that. They'd be basically defenseless because of their own symbiosis; another stab of irony if you ask me.
Maybe it's worth noting too that not every upgrade that Samus finds on Tallon IV is chozo made due to her stealing stuff like visor upgrades from space pirates but I feel like that might be reaching.
I wonder if the lore added in dread can be applied to the prime games. Specifically the two tribes of chozo, the mawkin and the thoha
My guess is the Mawkin and Thoha were only two of many Chozo tribes, probably just the biggest and most noteworthy ones, but not the only ones.
@@Truegear I can see that. And it's possible to see that certain elements of both can be found in this tribe on tallon.
@@Truegear I believe this as well, especially when you notice the writing on Tallon IV doesn't match up with either the Mawkin or Thoha's writing.
I am assuming the Zebes Chozo are Thoha since the game is never clear there is a distinction. It is also mentioned that Samus has Thoha DNA, and the only known DNA donor outside of Raven Beak, is Gray Voice a Chozo from Zebes.
I would argue that the Chozo were less egotistical and more caution. They treated the peace and safety of the galaxy as a sacred duty that they would do anything to protect. In their past they were conquerors and, if the Mawkin are anything to go by, they were scarily good at it. But they stopped and dedicated themselves to peace. For Chozo ego I'd say the edifaces of Raven Beak are a far better example.
Also, I don't believe the lack of technology was the reason for their downfall on Tallon 4. Samus' armour was broken when she landed on the planet and it was the technology of the Tallon Chozo that aided her. The only thing they didn't give her was the Phazon suit. Perhaps they could create something like that or perhaps they refused to consider using Phazon, but without it Samus couldn't have made it into the impact crater. It's very likely that the reason that they couldn't save the planet themselves was because they didn't have the means to protect themselves from Phazon.
Imagine just living life and your whole planet just gets Chernobyl’d.
The Chozo all sought the knowledge of the universe no matter where they hailed from. Some used science and technology to wrest the secrets by force from anyone or anything in their way. The Tallon Chozo followed the same drive to seek knowledge for its own sake but by philosophical and spiritual means.
The Chozo cannot help but to strive ever farther into the unknown no matter what path they walk.
as for the fate of the chozo i think they accepted death in the end
this lines up with what we know of them in general
they accepted their extinction brought about do to their own pursuit of knowledge at the expense of reproduction
they could have survived with cloning or something but chose to accept their own fate
i think the talon 4 chozo accepted a similar thing they did all they could so left the future to samus and just quietly died with their world
Thanks for your effort in these awesome Metroid videos
PLEASE do a Prime 2 one or more of these
The Chozo reaching some sort of 4th dimensional time-travel state + MP4 Beyond having a strange portal + I think I saw a quote somewhere about Sakamoto wanting to use time travel in Metroid = makes me think MP4 will have time-traveling Chozo tech maybe??
I'm loving these cultural/historical deep-dive vids, I really hope you can make more about MP2 and 3 to complete this analysis on Phazon and the evolution of these cultures! 🎉
This whole video was a cool deep dive into the environmental and epistolary story telling of Prime.
I played this game when I was younger. All I did was point and shoot. I didnt look much into the extreme details of the story you pointed out here! Great game study!
Been loving your Metroid videos!
I really hate how they removed the "she comes dressed for war and her wrath is terrible" line. Always loved it so much.
This game feels kinda lovecraftian
Never thought I'd see a video like this, what a gem!
I’d like to think that this branch of the Chozo’s think of their tech as second hand quality. They’re so in tune with the world around them, they saw no need to push further than what they had at their disposal. While other branch’s of Chozo are so beyond sci-fi, the Talon IV Chozo’s are space steam punk. When the meteor hit, and spread so quickly, their culture stood no chance, foresight, hubris, or not.
I appreciate the very scientific explanation for the cold section of the game. Well done.
I would wager the Chozo Ruins is the temple complex, but the sites in Phendrana Drifts are the equivalent of monk cells in the Egyptian desert. Like, they represent different theological perspectives - one that values a unified ritual between multiple individuals, and one that represents smaller groups of anchorites.
I would love to see you analyze the sequels. In my opinion the Prime trilogy is the best trilogy in all of gaming, all of the games perfectly compliment each other, while also telling a greater saga. Together forming a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
With the hindsight of Dread the 4 statues seem more relevant. since we now know that the mawkin and thoha are both individual tribes, it stands to reason that the statues are basically chozo mt. Rushmore and sooner or later we will see the other philosopher tribe leader or something. Very cool stuff
I've noticed the temple sculptures on top of it are looking at the crater, almost as if the Chozos are keeping eternal vigil over the crater even in the afterlife
I find it interesting how the chozo busts represents all the chozo tribes we've met over the different games. While all tribes build impressive arquituctural works in the planets they inhabit, I think the other three jobs could make reference to each of the tribes. The warrior bust represents Raven Beak's power driven Mawkin tribe. The philosopher bust represents the Thoha tribe, since they are focused on research and investigation. And Talon IV's tribe is represented by the Chaman since they follow a spiritual lifestyle. (I haven't played the other 2 prime games so I don't know much about 3's chozo tribe)
Immediately within the first few minutes is why I consider Outer Wilds to be one of the greatest spiritual successors to the Metroid Prime games.
If anyone reading this somehow doesn't know anything about Outer Wilds yet, but loves the lore-discovery aspect of the Prime series (personally for me, the bittersweet undertones of Prime 2), please consider giving it a try. It's truly a once-in-a-lifetime game experience, and best experienced as blind as possible.
bro this is the greatest in depth lore video i have ever seen and extremely well scripted and thought out i wish i had a 8th of your skill lol sheesh in my own content...
"the story never says which point of view of phazon is the right one..."
...i mean it actually does. given the choice between chozo and space pirate samus will ALWAYS choose the chozos side. (raven beak and mawkin tribe notwithstanding)
I mean, samus literally would not be able to defeat metroid prime without the phazon suit and phazon beam, which is a product of the space pirates trying to harvest and control phazon (even if indirectly). In a way the space pirates were as much responsible for the death of phazon on Tallon IV as samus and the chozo were.
@@xanious3759 yes but the phazon suit also becomes the true big bad of the entire series. metroid primes last act was to take it from samus, and in the secret ending a hand is shown to emerge. a very, very familiar hand.
she used the poison to fight off the poison, that doesnt make the poison good or the space pirates right. the rest of the series showcases just how dangerous phazon is, that the cons vastly outweigh the pros. in fact 3 hammers this home: yes, the hyper mode is vastly powerful and a great tool for combat, but at the same time it's also slowly killing you, even with the added protection.
@@supersmashbro596 still though, if samus didn't have the phazon suit, metroid prime just would've killed or corrupted her anyways, and phaaze likely wouldn't have been destroyed.
I wish more games would be like the Prime series when it comes to telling their stories: completely optional, but very rich if the player decides to do the digging.
22:00 I think it is worth mentioning that in many ancient cultures (Such as ancient Greece, middle east, as well as cultures involved in the scientific revolution), scientists were considered a sub-group of philosophers. Science used to go by the name of "natural philosophy", or simply philosophy and scholarship regarding the rules of nature, which is why we still call science degrees a "PhD", a kind of degree in philosophy, with the scientific method itself also being considered a philosophy of sorts.
Many individuals also demonstrated this blending. Aristotle, Kant, Descartes, etc are examples of philosophers who were heavily involved in science as a form of philosophy, if not to the point of being able to be considered a scientist. Considering how blended together technology and nature are within Chozo society, as well as them also having a similar vibe of being an ancient civilization, perhaps the Chozo also, much like many of our own real life societies, simply considered Scientists to be a kind of Philosopher?
I'm loving these metroid videos.
Some of my favorite stories like this are
Resident Evil (I’ve only played the first one. But you find research notes, regular notes, and things in the setting of the mansion that tell the story.)
The Arkham games have several audio logs and you can find written words within the story and eavesdrop on various conversations for other stories.
Sonic adventure 1 while not done as the same way I feel a need to mention it because how the story is presented very much eludes to the idea that you are not experiencing what actually happens in the game at any point except the final chapter of the game. Playing through as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Gamma, or Big I am lead to believe is actually just them telling you their version of events and not entirely what actually happens. When Sonic and tails run into knuckles for the first time there’s a cutscene. There are 3 different cutscenes with slightly different dialogue… and the way the dialogue and what happens before and after the cutscenes favors whichever character you are playing with seems to imply all 3 cutscenes are the characters telling you what happened and not what actually happened.
If you okay as Sonic tails says very little, knuckles is fairly aggressive and not listening to reason and trying to fight, then Sonic fights knuckles then Chaos 4 alongside tails.
Tails: Tails contributes more to the conversation. Knuckles is more aggressive. Sonic acknowledges tails existing more, Sonic and Knuckles fight very briefly, then tails takes on Chaos 4 by himself.
Knuckles: Sonic is much more antagonistic. Tails doesn’t say much, but when he does say something it’s mostly just an exaggerated characterization of how he normally acts, Sonic and knuckles fight, then knuckles fights chaos 4 by himself.
Leads me to think what actually happened is closer to what Sonic says. Knuckles is angry and confused, tails tries to contribute to the conversation and kinda doesn’t, Sonic fights knuckles, then while knuckles is knocked the fuck out Sonic and tails fight chaos 4.
Also the NPC’s get into some wild nonsense in that game.
Then Metroid Fusion (one of my least favorite on the series) has great environmental storytelling (some of the best I’ve seen in a game) where a lot of what’s going on is communicated without words.
As Raven Beak later says “power is everything”.
Phaze: ...
Brethren Moons: ...
Phaze: You hacks
The manga Hellstar Remina by Junji Itou was published before both of them in 2005. I bet Dead Space ripped off the idea of Brethren Moons from Remina (ancient hibernating planet eating living moon that causes mass hallucinations and insanity just by being near it).
The Chozo practice an Animistic religion, which essentially means that they worship aspects of nature. The Chozo live in harmony with nature, which they simultaneously worship. It's interesting, as this coexistence kind of parallels Japanese culture in how it treats natural disasters. The Japanese respect the power of the ocean and of the earth, how it can destroy in the blink of an eye. Japanese Emergency Alert System broadcasts, which are oftentimes prefaced with loud and scary tones along with teletext on a black background, have bright color pallete and a little jingle; to the Japanese, a flood is just another Tuesday. Additionally, aspects of Shinto are incredibly Animistic; it's kind of cool to see people infuse fictional cultures with a bit of their own cultures.
Thank you for another great video. It's nice to know others share my opinion kf what these logs mean
love the video! one thing came to mind when you were talking about how you think the Chozo could have defeated the Phazon threat... Samus' suit isnt just Chozo tech, She has to acquire the Phazon suit in order to reach the Metroid prime. from what I remember the Phazon suit is infused with Elite space pirate bio material. (something like that) So there is a lot of irony in that the space pirates in fact helped the Chozo save their planet unintentionally. I think this drastically effects the way the themes of the text can be read/understood. It seems that Samus wields some tech forged by an immoral, crule society. But her actions are guided by a sense of altruism that is influenced by the Chozo. Just something I thought of that I find interesting :)
Man, i've watched 2 of your Metroid Prime vids............. stop making me want to go back and play it. I don't wanna.
About the Chozo and their view on the importance of different occupations: From the way the chozo write about themselves, I'm quite sure that they do value some of the things you counted as lesser, but likely see them as integral and inseperable parts of the other occupations. For example, I can see how Science could be part of what a Chozo Philosopher does, and Industry could be part of what Architects do, given how integrated their buildings seem to be between function and form/ornamentation (the Architects who built the Artifact Temple were quite likely very knowledgable about the Tech they were integrating).
Fuck yeahhh! More metroid! Lets-a fockin' GOOOOOOO! THANK YOU!