The Hylden Gate was a major location in Blood Omen 2 and important piece of Hylden technology that allowed the post-banishment Hylden to cross from the Demon Realm to the Material Realm via a large 'portal'. The Gate was featured in the finale of Chapter 11:The Hylden City and was the location of the final battle with the Sarafan Lord, where it was closed and destroyed with Kain's use of the Nexus Stone.
Layout and History[]
The Hylden Gate was a large portal to the Demon Realm present in a dedicated wing of the Hylden City, it was presumably 'activated' by the Hylden Lord/Sarafan Lord some time after the Collapse of the Pillars.[1][2] It was used by the Hylden Lord over many years to bring to Nosgoth the various Hylden and associated Demons (glyph wrights/Hylden scientists, Hylden warriors, Lesser demons and Greater demons) that helped in his control of Nosgoth and the Sarafan (in the guise of the Sarafan Lord); it may also have been used originally to bring the Sarafan Lord's Hylden body into the Material Realm. The Gate had been open for some centuries before Kain learnt of its existence (from Janos in Chapter 9:the Device).[1][3]
In Chapter 11:The Hylden City, Kain travelled to the Hylden City, attempting to stop a direct invasion through the Hylden Gate[4][5] and found that, (like much of the Hylden City) the bridge leading to the 'hylden gate wing' was broken and it was impossible to progress to the Hylden Gate.[6] Shortly afterward, Kain was able to deactivate the Shield Generator, allowing Janos and Vorador to Teleport to the Hylden City. After a short confrontation with the Sarafan Lord (and injuries to both Janos and Vorador), Janos Teleported Kain to the 'hylden gate wing',[7] where he was able to proceed through an 'entrance building', out to a pier (presumably surrounded by the Great Southern Sea) that led to the domed Hylden Gate building (complete with an ominous green cloud emerging from the roof of the building)[Blood Omen 2].
Kain entered the building and activated a large 'chain elevator' inside the building and was able to descend, through green mists, into a large open space, with several floating rocks and a large square walkway (of artificial construction), suspended above the Hylden Gate itself. Kain fought the Sarafan Lord on these walkways (see also Sarafan Lord (boss)[Blood Omen 2]),
Kain temporarily succeeded in knocking the Sarafan Lord into the portal to the Demon Realm, only for the him to reappear on the walkways. Realising the stalemate, Kain dropped the Nexus Stone into the portal, ensuring that, regardless of his own health, the gate would close and kill all Hylden in the Material Realm (but at the cost of his protection from the Soul Reaver). As the Gate began to close and the walkways began to collapse, Janos Teleported to the gate and interfered in the battle, causing the Sarafan Lord to throw Janos into the closing Hylden Gate, sealing him into the Demon Realm; but allowing Kain to recover the Soul Reaver.
As the Gate collapsed, Kain and the Sarafan Lord jumped back to the 'chain elevator', where Kain, armed with the Soul Reaver (and finally able to use its power), easily defeated the Sarafan Lord, impaling him with the Reaver. As Kain walked away from the Hylden Gate building it exploded into green flame and disintegrated[Blood Omen 2].
Notes[]
- The scenery 'inside' the Hylden Gate resembles the 'limbo' room seen in Chapter 8:The Eternal Prison, with a similar ominous cloudy atmosphere and several floating platforms and rocks[Blood Omen 2].
- As with much of the Hylden City, the exact age and origin of the Hylden Gate is not revealed,Janos suggested in Chapter 9:the Device, that The Sarafan Lord created the entire Hylden City.[1][2][3] However Human Slaves in Chapter 11:The Hylden City say that the Hylden Gate was "where the Demons first appeared in our world",[6] if the Gate was where the Sarafan Lord first brought his Hylden body through, then it may be older than the rest of the Hylden City. Alternatively, if the city was an ancient construction, then the Gate may have been the first part of the city that was re-inhabited by Hylden.
- The water level around much of the Hylden City (presumably all the Great Southern Sea) appear to vary throughout Chapter 11 - Kain arrives at sea level, descends several levels in an elevator and arrives at the 'main square' (which is at the water level) and he seems to descend slightly more before arriving at the Hylden Gate Building - which is again at sea level. Given that once he entered the 'Hylden Gate building', Kain again descended using an elevator - it would appear that the main portal area was in fact under the water level[Blood Omen 2].
- The Hylden Gate appears to be orientated horizontally, raising questions as to how the Hylden were expected to exit the portal (Janos 'imprisonment' shows that, despite the floating rocks, gravity is still functioning above the portal). The Sarafan Lord provides one possible solution in hisboss battle; where heTeleports back through the gate after being knocked off the walkways into the portal[Blood Omen 2]. When encountering a similarly horizontally orientated Time Portal in Defiance, Kain 'drops' into the portal from above and is ejected 'upwards' into the same room in a different time; with enough force to reach the edge of the portal[Defiance]. This may also be true of the Hylden Gate and may explain the purpose of the walkways in the gate[Blood Omen 2], Or it may be like the Water Forge Portal in Defiance, where Raziel enters from above it in a Horizontal position and exits via walking out vertically.
.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Sarafan Lord (boss) - takes place inside the Hylden Gate.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2
Kain: "The Sarafan Lord. It was he that broke through.But how?"//Janos: "Now we come to your part in this story. When you chose to destroy the Pillar of Balance, you caused a rift throughout the world, sufficient to breach through the dimensions."//Kain: (V/O:)"Was it I, then, who had engendered this war? No, I had been set, step by step, upon the path that led to this outcome. Hadn’t this all been a Hylden plot from the beginning? My mind reeled at the implications."//Janos: "It was in this way that the Sarafan Lord was able to enter the world, by building a magical gate. This is the Hylden Gate. Close this gate, Kain, and all the Hylden within Nosgoth will perish."//Kain: "The gate sustains their existence?"//Janos: "Precisely. It is their umbilical cord to the other world. When it is closed, they cannot dwell in our world."//Kain: "And so all the Hylden will die, and the Sarafan Lord, as one of them, dies as well. I see."//Janos: "Close the gate and kill the Sarafan Lord, Kain. Close the gate and shut the Hylden from the world once again." Crystal Dynamics. Blood Omen 2. (Eidos Interactive). PlayStation 2. (March 19, 2002) Transcript.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kain: "Did you think you could defeat me? All your plans are revealed, together with your true nature. Turn, and enter the Gate you have fashioned, and join your kind before I destroy it, or stay, and be destroyed upon its rubble." Crystal Dynamics. Blood Omen 2. (Eidos Interactive). PlayStation 2. (March 19, 2002) Transcript.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Janos: "He has created a base in this world, the Hylden City, across the sea. There he has opened a Gate to bring his kind into our world. My plan was to teleport us to the Hylden City, and launch a final assault on the Sarafan Lord, but now I find there is some kind of shield of magic that prevents me. If we are to fight them, that shield must be destroyed."//Kain: "Vorador, where is the Hylden City? Have any of your spies brought you this knowledge?"//Vorador: "Umah, what do you know of this?"//Umah: "There has been, in the past months, enormous activity at the Wharves. Warships and freighters, loading and unloading in great secrecy. The few of our people who have infiltrated the area, and returned alive, have told me that the ships all seem to take the same course out of the harbor, but we do not know their destination."//Janos: (to Kain)"It must be the Hylden City. Why else would there be such interest at this time? You must take a ship to the city at once. There, you must find and deactivate the shield, so whatever forces we can bring may come to your aid, and close the Gate for all time." Crystal Dynamics. Blood Omen 2. (Eidos Interactive). PlayStation 2. (March 19, 2002) Transcript.
- ↑ Sarafan Lord: "It matters not. The Gate remains open, and even as we speak, my army, the likes of which this soft world has never seen, prepares to enter. Nosgoth is still mine for the taking." Crystal Dynamics. Blood Omen 2. (Eidos Interactive). PlayStation 2. (March 19, 2002) Transcript.
- ↑ Kain: "At last, I had hunted my prey to his very lair. The Hylden Gate was before me, from which the Hylden General, in his guise of the Sarafan Lord, planned to bring forth his alien armies, and destroy us all." Crystal Dynamics. Blood Omen 2. (Eidos Interactive). PlayStation 2. (March 19, 2002) Transcript.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kain: "I must find the mechanism these creatures use to hide their presence in this city."//Female Human: "He can show you. Go on."//Male Human: "It is there, my lord – that building. I’ve heard them talking. The device you seek is within."//Kain: "I thank you. Now tell me, what is that?"(indicating Floating Container)//Male Human: "That is the only way to get within. The doors to the building no longer function."//Female Human: "Like so much of this place."//Kain: "And that one there?"(indicating Hylden Gate 'entrance building')//Male Human: "We don’t know."//Female Human: "But our stories tell us, that is where the demons first appeared in our world"//Kain: "Stories? How long have your kind been in this place?"//Female Human: "We have been here forever. Our oldest fables tell us that our gods abandoned us here."//Male Human: "There are others like us–new ones–soft ones. The demons bring them here from other places to work. They tell other stories."//Female Human: "They had no knowledge of the arrival of the demons. We had to tell them."//Kain: "Enough. Be silent. That building surely leads to the Gate, but first, I must destroy the device." (V/O:)"How long had the Hylden held a foothold here, while we, unsuspecting, fought and triumphed in our own petty wars above?" Crystal Dynamics. Blood Omen 2. (Eidos Interactive). PlayStation 2. (March 19, 2002) Transcript.
- ↑ Janos: "We have no time for this discord. I sense that The Hylden Gate is nearby. I can transport us there."//Kain: "We will settle this in good time. Tonight, the Sarafan Lord dies. Tomorrow, we shall see…"//Vorador: "Aaagh!!"//Janos: "Aaagh!!"//Sarafan Lord: "This round is mine, dark one."//Janos: "I must tend to Vorador. Proceed without us, Kain. I can teleport you to a place near the Gate, but you will have to close it on your own. Use the Nexus Stone. Cast it into the Gate, and the magic of the Stone will destroy it utterly."//Kain: "Cast your spell then, and let us finish this." Crystal Dynamics. Blood Omen 2. (Eidos Interactive). PlayStation 2. (March 19, 2002) Transcript.
