Timelines

"Where Time is but a Loop, A Loose Stitch in the Universal Cloth, A Streamer might Seize upon a Chance, a Fatal slip - And plunge the Fate of Planets into Chaos..."

- Moebius

A timeline, in the Legacy of Kain series, was an iteration of Nosgoth's full chronological history, or time-stream. The concept of fatalism is a reality in the metaphysics of Nosgoth; with the exception of Raziel, its inhabitants do not possess free will, and their futures are predestined. Time was therefore usually immutable, but it could be altered by historical paradoxes, when a Reaver-convergence took place.

If two incarnations of the Soul Reaver met in time and space, "a temporal distortion powerful enough to derail history" could be the result. When such a paradox blocked the time continuum, forcing Nosgoth's history to reshuffle itself to accommodate the contradiction, the current timeline effectively died, and a new one was spawned. Four distinct timelines have been observed in the Legacy of Kain series, each one subtly or significantly different to the last, and each remembered by both Kain and Moebius.

Observed timelines
Four timelines have been observed in the series, and multiple timelines have been observed in both Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2. They are not formally named in official sources, and can only be identified by the order in which they came to exist.


 * The first timeline: Most of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain takes place in the first timeline. Towards the end of the story, at the very instant where Kain kills William in the stronghold of William the Just, the first paradox occurs, killing this timeline and spawning a new one.
 * The second timeline: The concluding events of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, the entirety of the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver comic and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, and the early stages of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 take place in the second timeline. During Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, when Raziel defies history by refusing to kill Kain in the Sarafan Stronghold, this timeline is derailed and dies, making way for a third.
 * The third timeline: The latter events of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 are portrayed through the third timeline. When Kain saves Raziel from entering the Reaver in the Sarafan Stronghold, he triggers the third paradox, spawning another new version of history.
 * The fourth timeline: The conclusion of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, as well as the entirety of Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2, the Legacy of Kain: Defiance comic and Legacy of Kain: Defiance, occur in the fourth timeline. This version of history has not observably been subject to a paradox, and remains the current "living" timeline of the Legacy of Kain series.

Time travel model
The time travel model utilized in the Legacy of Kain fiction was conclusively developed and explored in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, and borrows from Terry Gilliam's 1995 film 12 Monkeys (which adheres to the Novikov self-consistency principle), but is slightly different: it includes a loophole. Series developers Amy Hennig, Jennifer Fernádez, Richard Lemarchand and Kyle Mannerberg outlined its core principle as "you can't go back in time and change history because you didn't". Hennig's full interpretation of the concept was described in an interview:


 * "Is it impossible to escape preordained fate? And it's interesting to layer this quesiton into a time travel story. This is really the whole crux of the time travel concept - can you change history or not? And if so, what does it mean to change history - in terms of being responsible for the repercussions? I did some research into time travel fiction, in preparation for Soul Reaver 2. For me, the most interesting approach in time travel stories is summed up with the statement: 'you can't go back in time and change history because you didn't'. That's my favorite way of looking at it. If you do go back - then you did go back. Which means that time travel is ultimately a journey of epiphanies, where the protagonist realizes the role that he already played in history. Of course, Blood Omen established that history can in fact be changed - and we'll be respecting this precedent in Soul Reaver 2."

Nosgoth's time continuum was extremely resilient, and did not normally allow for the introduction of paradoxes: the map of each individual's destiny was fully outlined and immutable, accommodating for time travel events and preventing contradictions. Even to characters who knew the future and were aware that "free will is an illusion", resisting history was usually an impossibility: they did not possess the intrinsic free will necessary to defy "the rules of fate and predetermined events". This theory of predestination was a fundamental, indiscriminate constant, and applied to almost all entities within the Material, Spectral and Demon Realms alike.

Altering history
The only "unbound creature" within Nosgoth was Raziel, who, as a wraith, could make choices freely, unhindered by the predestination others were subject to. Only vague descriptions as to why he was singular in this regard were afforded: his free will was usually attributed to "his remaking into the world" at the hands of the Elder God and his resultant liberation from the Wheel of Fate. It may also have been connected to his destiny to become the captive, soul-devouring entity within the Soul Reaver, and to later wield a future incarnation of his own soul - the Wraith Blade; the meeting and constant presence of two incarnations of a soul-devouring entity in close proximity, and the very possibility that one might attempt to devour the other, may have contributed to his unique exemption.

On the rare occasions where two incarnations of Raziel's soul met, in either the forms of the Soul Reaver or the Wraith Blade, a Reaver-convergence was the result: "reality itself" would tangibly warp and bend slightly, creating a sense of vertigo, or displacement. At such points, there was an abstract window of opportunity in which it was possible to contradict events which were naturally destined to happen at that time and place, creating a paradox sufficient enough to derail history and rewrite the timeline. Kain analogized these junctures to the flipping of a two-sided coin: "suppose you throw a coin enough times... suppose one day, it lands on its edge".

Only relatively slight diversions could be triggered; most major events remained constant in Nosgoth between each timeline. If a paradox blocked the time continuum, history would always follow "the path of least resistance while admitting only the slightest alterations". Defying the force of history was always a dangerous gamble - "if events [could not] be reshuffled to accommodate the change", the irritants responsible for the contradiction would simply be expelled from the time-stream. Such fatal paradoxes did not overtly happen in the Legacy of Kain series, but they served as a looming danger which Kain and Raziel were forced to acknowledge and remain wary of.

Parallel timelines
Hypothetical parallel or "forked" versions of history did not exist in Nosgoth - only the current iteration of history was considered "real". If a historical paradox occured and a timeline is derailed, the derailed timeline was considered to be "dead", and could never be revisited. Timelines did not split or actively co-exist, and a new one only be spawned if the current one was subject to a paradox and derailed.

Previous variations of history which are dead, however, are still considered part of Legacy of Kain's continuity; certain individuals retained full memories of previous timelines. As evinced throughout Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, Kain remembered all four timelines observed in the Legacy of Kain series, likely because he was present at the point of the three paradoxes observed. When a paradox occurred, all of his old memories and experiences up to that point remained intact in his mind, but were also "shuffled aside by the newer memories that reflect the altered course of history". Kain was aware of four variations of his own past as of Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

Raziel, who was similarly present and conscious at two of the paradoxes, was also aware of the alterations which concerned him. Moebius (and, presumably, other Time Guardians) inherently knew if, and exactly how, history has reshuffled itself, even when he was not present during a paradox; the only entity whose actions he could not account for was Raziel. However, all other individuals within Nosgoth who were not present at the heart of the paradoxes - including even the Elder God - appeared to be ignorant of the changes in the time-stream, and never demonstrated the same knowledge of alterations to their destinies.

Appearances

 * Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
 * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver comic
 * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
 * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
 * Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance comic
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance