Sealed doors

Sealed Doors, also known as Sealed Barriers, Reaver Doors, Emblem Doors or Artifact Doors, were special doors featured throughout Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance that were marked with a particular symbol and prevented entry until the correct object or elemental Reaver was acquired.

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• Name: Sealed Doors
• Category: recurring terms
• Introduced: • Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999)
• Appearances:
• Related Articles: Doors, Wraith Blade, Emblem keys, Category:Items/Soul Reaver 2 Reavers, Category:Items/Defiance Raziel's Reavers, Category:Items/Defiance, Blessed barriers, Permeable barriers, Combat barriers

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Sealed doors broadly consisted of any door which was initially encountered as locked with the method of unlocking the door marked upon them by a symbol, silhouette or emblem representing the correct object or empowerment required to unlock them.

Two distinct version of sealed barriers were seen in the series depending upon the method used to unlock them. Reaver doors were the most obvious requiring the use of the Wraith Blade or a symbolized element to open. Another set of sealed doors required special artifacts to open and were symbolized by the shape of the artifact required.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver 2][Defiance]}

Reaver Doors

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Reaver doors were the first and perhaps most frequently encountered sealed door variant in the series.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver 2][Defiance]} They could first be seen in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver where four such obstacles could be encountered. In his first confrontation with Kain at the Sanctuary of the Clans and the Pillars Raziel's exit was blocked by a sealed door marked with the Soul Reaver - only when Raziel defeated Kain and gained the Wraith Blade could he escape the room by unsealing the door. Shortly after, he would use the wraith blade again on the similarly decorated outer door of the Silenced Cathedral to enter the building. Two optional doors were also present, with Raziel able to move aside a specially marked "coffin" in the Necropolis with the wraith blade and reach another door marked with the blade which could be unsealed in the same manner - this led to a small chamber containing an Eldritch energy power up.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/6][Soul Reaver/7][Soul Reaver/4][Soul Reaver strategy guide (Prima)]}

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Sealed doors returned in Soul Reaver 2 where they took up a much greater role along with the elemental puzzles. The first sealed door was encountered by Raziel in the chapter "A Reaver in Time" as he left the Sarafan Stronghold and came across the elemental lock to the Light Forge in the Great Southern Lake but was unable to enter. Later in "Decision at the Pillars as he progressed beyond the Pillars of Nosgoth he discovered a large sealed door illustrated with a large image of an Ancient vampire and a mural of the Reaver. Using the Wraith blade, Raziel was able top unseal the door and enter the Subterranean Ruins within. As he explored further Raziel discovered several elemental forges throughout Nosgoth - each one was sealed at the entrance with a different sealed door and many bore several sealed barriers of unique designs within as part of their puzzles. Within the Dark forge, Raziel discovered the first elemental variants which required the correct elemental Reaver to be imbued to unlock and each of these was marked with the appropriate symbol on the door. After this, Raziel would frequently encounter puzzles revolving around imbuing the correct Reaver enhancement.^{[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/1][Soul Reaver 2/2][Soul Reaver 2/3][Soul Reaver 2/4][Soul Reaver 2/6][Soul Reaver 2/8][Soul Reaver 2 manual][Soul Reaver 2 strategy guide (Prima)]}

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Legacy of Kain: Defiance also featured sealed doors in a prominent position. Here the Reaver doors returned to a more unified design distinguished by mural symbols and colors. Raziel first encountered these sealed doors in the Cemetery in the chapter Find the Path to the Pillars where Raziel could gain entry to the Dark Forge , allowing him to open the way to Kain's Mausoleum and the Light forge in the Material Realm. Each of the 'entrance chambers' which contained the Warp gates to the elemental forges within the Vampire Citadel were locked with sealed doors, many with elemental variants of the locks. As before the locks were frequently used as puzzle elements, preventing entry until Raziel had gained the appropriate element.^{[Defiance][Defiance/4][Defiance/5][Defiance/6][Defiance/8][Defiance/10][Defiance/12][Defiance manual][Defiance strategy guide]}

Artifact/Emblem Doors

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The other variant of sealed doors seen within the series were Artifact or Emblem doors, which were particularly associated with Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance.^{[Soul Reaver 2][Defiance]}

The first of these were the "Emblem Doors" encountered in Soul Reaver 2 which required special Emblem keys to unlock. The first emblem doors could be found in "Through the Swamp" as Raziel explored the Dark Forge and it was necessary for him to defeat a swordsman thrall which bore the keys as shield to recover the key, and by placing the key in the circular slot on the door Raziel would be able to open the emblem door. Later emblem doors would be encountered in the Air Forge chapter and Janos Audron's Retreat - in both cases the keys would be protected by more powerful Greater thralls.^{[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/3][Soul Reaver 2/6][Soul Reaver 2/8][Soul Reaver 2 manual][Soul Reaver 2 strategy guide (Prima)]}

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In Defiance there were more barriers and doors related to artifacts and these would first be encountered as Kain breached the Sarafan Stronghold in Infiltrate the Stronghold where he would first encounter an unusually marked door in the Chapter House, subsequently discovering the Falcon Insignia in Moebius's chambers beneath the stronghold and using it to unlock the door in Pursue Moebius, thereafter both protagonists would encounter several varieties of doorway which required the proper placement of an item or artifact (often indicated by a symbol or drawing on or near the barrier itself) to open them.^{[Defiance][Defiance/1][Defiance/3][Defiance/4][Defiance/7][Defiance/8][Defiance/9][Defiance manual][Defiance strategy guide]}

One particularly noteworthy sub-division was the Balance Emblem doors utilized by Kain which were activated with particular fragments from the balance emblem and were decorated with an image of the emblem but missing the necessary fragment. The last one of these in the inner sanctum of the Vampire Citadel actually featured a silhouette of the whole emblem backed by an image of the dais Pillars of Nosgoth - indicating that the emblem needed to be fully completed before entry could be gained.^{[Defiance][Defiance/5][Defiance/7][Defiance/9][Defiance manual][Defiance strategy guide]}

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Design

The designs of sealed doors are diverse and vary throughout the series, though several elements of the design can be said to be recurring and are often used in the design of the sealed doors, with similar types of doorway often sharing a similar appearance or similar ingredients:

In Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver the Reaver doors bear unique designs, but all are based on a similar theme, with two depictions of the Reaver blade (either crossed or parallel) and all notably featuring an obvious "keyhole" motif where the Wraith Blade was inserted. The designs around the keyhole were different however, with two barriers using a 'starburst' or 'explosion'-styled design one making use of four outward facing triangles, roughly resembling a flower and the coffin making use of a triangle surrounded by the burst, more resembling a traditional keyhole. The decorative designs and motif around the outside of the doors were different and unique for each doorway.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/6][Soul Reaver/7][Soul Reaver/4]}

Soul Reaver 2's Reaver doors were even more diverse, with designs for the barriers accompanied by widely varying artwork and symbolism. Some of the common features were however standardized, with a circular or circular and slit keyhole and a symbol for each of the elemental attunements - with a different standard symbol for doors requiring only the Wraith Blade itself.^{[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/1][Soul Reaver 2/2][Soul Reaver 2/3][Soul Reaver 2/4][Soul Reaver 2/6][Soul Reaver 2/8]}

Emblem doors also featured diverse artworks and opening mechanisms with common elements, with each door featuring a circular (albeit sometimes decorated) hole for the Emblem keys to fit into, while symbolic representation of the elemental symbols were also common.^{[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/3][Soul Reaver 2/6][Soul Reaver 2/8]}

The Reaver doors featured in Legacy of Kain: Defiance were even more uniform than their predecessors, with each represented as an arched double doorway with a circular design at the center of the door. Inside this were two circular motifs placed one above the other - the top circle contained the symbol of the wraith blade or appropriate elemental enhancement; while the bottom was effectively a large golden lock with a vertical slit for the Reaver to be used as a key, not unlike key-lock in real world door locks. Each design had unique subtle variations in color as did the particle effects emanating from the lock.^{[Defiance][Defiance/4][Defiance/5][Defiance/6][Defiance/8][Defiance/10][Defiance/12]}

The locks associated with the Balance Emblem were similarly uniform with each consisting of a golden circular dial with an impression of the completed emblem on it and the required fragment to unlock the barrier missing from the design. The only exception to this was the final emblem lock on the 'inner sanctum' of the Vampire Citadel, which required the emblem to be completed and was thus decorated with a space for the full emblem backed by the same design as was featured on the pillars dais. The Emblem locks could be placed on a variety of objects, walls, gates and doorways, but most often they were found on the golden doorways of the Citadel which consisted of several decorated interlocking circles.^{[Defiance][Defiance/5][Defiance/7][Defiance/9]}

The artifact locks of Defiance were a lot more diverse and unique, with each one bearing several unique designs - the only unifying features for these doors the presence of a space for the appropriate artifact on or nearby the doorway and occasionally illustrations of the item itself.^{[Defiance][Defiance/1][Defiance/3][Defiance/4][Defiance/7][Defiance/8][Defiance/9]}

Behind the scenes

In the Soul Reaver alpha versions there are no Sealed doors - or indeed regular doors - present. Part of the reason for this is the reshuffling of levels which push the Silenced Cathedral chapter earlier in the game and instead require the Scaling walls ability to enter the Sanctuary of the Clans. The optional passages under the Necropolis are not present at all.

Gallery

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Reaver Doors

Soul Reaver 2 Reaver Doors

Legacy of Kain: Defiance Reaver Doors

Emblem Doors

Balance Emblem Doors

Artifact Doors

Notes

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• The Sealed 'doors' come in many forms many of which are not even doors, hence in some places alternative terminology is used which is appropriate to the situation - alternative terms used in place of "door" include "barrier", "gate", "pillar", "coffin", "lock", "keyhole" and "obelisk".^{[Soul Reaver strategy guide (Prima)][Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/1][Soul Reaver 2/3][Soul Reaver 2/9][Soul Reaver 2 manual][Soul Reaver 2 strategy guide (Prima)][Defiance manual][Defiance strategy guide]}

• Sealed doors and barriers have been given many different labels and titles through the series.
  • Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver dialogue and manuals do not acknowledge the doors and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver: Prima's Official Strategy Guide uses only vague terminology only identifying "doors" (or a "coffin") and calling the Reaver portals on the doors "keyholes".^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver manual (US)][Soul Reaver manual (UK)][Soul Reaver strategy guide (Prima)]}
  • The Soul Reaver 2 scripts refers to the doors as "sealed doors" in stage directions and they are alluded to similarly in dialogue as "sealed" or "locked" "doors" or "barriers".^{[Soul Reaver 2/1][Soul Reaver 2/3][Soul Reaver 2/9]} while the manual refers to "sealed barriers" and "barriers and objects which are attuned to the various Reavers" and additionally mentions vague "doors" and "receptacles[s] for the puzzle object" under "puzzle objects".^{[Soul Reaver 2 manual]} Soul Reaver 2: Prima's Official Strategy Guide acknowledges the Reaver and elemental opened doors under its "training grounds" section on "opening doors" and give them several names in the walkthrough such as "Reaver doors" and "sealed doors"(sometimes prefaced with the appropriate element where necessary and occasionally using more descriptive terms for unusual objects) - it also names the doors activated by Emblem keys as "Emblem doors".^{[Soul Reaver 2 strategy guide (Prima)]}
  • The Defiance manual also acknowledges "obstacles where [Raziel or Kain's] progress is blocked without the aid of some object or artifact...[that] act as keys to trigger events and open paths that are otherwise sealed".^{[Defiance manual]} Legacy of Kain: Defiance: Prima's Official Strategy Guide refers to "sealed doors" and "Reaver doors" (again sometimes prefaced with the appropriate element where necessary and occasionally using more descriptive terms for unusual objects).^{[Defiance strategy guide]} Defiance scripts give more vague terms, mentioning phrases like "singular lock, requiring an unusual key", "unusual lock" or "door [that] would only open when fitted with an appropriate artifact" for artifact doors and "door sealed with the [element] symbol" for Reaver doors.^[Defiance]

The inaccurately described "Sealed gate" in the Cemetery that is activated by Orbs

• Scripts and descriptions give hints that some sealed doors were altered or exchanged for other mechanisms during the course of development, or that the mechanisms themselves were not clearly defined. At least one door is described in Defiance scripts as a "sealed gate" when the mechanism actually relies on the activation of Orbs, whilst in another place a a door is described as activated by an "orb" when the mechanism seen is a more traditional sealed door.^[Defiance/4]
  • At least one sealed door in Defiance is false. The sealed door above the Lake of Tears/Vampire Citadel vista is usually entered by Raziel in the events of Blood Omen using the Fire Reaver in the chapter Find the Location of Vorador's Mansion. Kain's earlier exploration of the area in Nosgoth's early history Reveal the Guardian Citadel presents a different version that is notably discolored and frozen. Closer inspection reveals the door actually bears a mirrored version of the Earth Reaver symbol instead of Fire. The cannot be approached or interacted with and is counted in files as a part of the environment.

• Sealed doors are a subdivision of Doors and one of a long line of means of locking and opening them seen throughout the series, some of which notably overlap:

  

  The false frozen mirrored earth sealed door in Defiance

  • In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain Levers and Switches could open locked doors as could Wall buttons and Floor buttons. Special classes of doors included Gates - which were permeable to Mist Form - and Moon gates - which opened only on a Full moon. Other obstructions such as Standing stones, Ugly statues and Trees acted as barriers until Kain possessed either the Spiked Mace or the Axes to break through them.
  • In Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, ordinary Doors could only be opened in the Material Realm and could not be moved in the Spectral Realm. Switches and Constrict objects could be used to open doors interacting with them or using the Constricting ability. Special classes of barrier included Gates - which could be phased through in the Spectral Realm and Sealed doors - which required the Wraith Blade to open. Other obstructions included Telekinetic breakables - which would shatter upon contact with Telekinetic force projectiles - and Force fields - which would drop when a specific task was completed.
  • In Soul Reaver 2 doors were again only available in the Material Realm, with switches, gates and sealed doors returning with similar functionality (although now Emblem keys could be used to open specific "Emblem doors"). Levers returned to enable doors to be opened physically, Light crystals allowed doors marked with special crystals to be opened with the Light Reaver, and the Engraved stone could be used in conjuction with the Light Reaver to turn a solid wall into a permeable gate. Special classes of barrier included Combat barriers, which prevented access until specific enemies were defeated in combat; Cracked doors, which could be blown apart by the Air Reaver .Other obstructions and barriers could be cleared with the presence of rays of Sunlight or the Sun Disk.
  • Blood Omen 2 doors could usually be opened with interaction or specific actions, and on occasion doors would be locked until a specific task was completed, most often combinations of Switches and wheels were used open doors. Much of the mechanics revolved around Glyph magic and was often used to provide power to switches or to open doors directly, with related items such as Glyph batteries and junction switches also being used. On occasion it was even possible to blast through barriers or walls with overloaded glyph batteries or Explosive devices. Other barriers included Ward gates which prevented Vampires from passing and required power to be cut to pass.
  • In Legacy of Kain: Defiance doors, combat barriers, gates and sealed doors returned with similar functionality to Soul Reaver 2 (although gates could once again be passed through using Mist and sealed doors now opened with fragments of the Balance Emblem and various other quest items). Doors could also be opened by the activaton of Orbs, Telekinetic switches or Rotatable and movable objects. Other special barriers included Breakables or Telekinetic breakables, which could be smashed through with regular attacks or telekinesis and Blessed barriers, which were dispelled by the Balance Reaver enhancement. Portcullises and fallen rubble were also used on occasion to prevent entry through certain doors.

See also

• Doors
• Wraith Blade/Soul Reaver
• Emblem keys
• Blessed barriers
• Permeable barriers
• Combat barriers
• Category:Items/Soul Reaver 2 Reavers
• Category:Items/Defiance Raziel's Reavers
• Category:Items/Defiance

References

This article is about the doors or barriers unlocked with various Reaver enhancements, the Balance emblem fragments or sepcific artifacts. For the magical barriers protecting doors that were dispelled by the Balance hub, see Blessed barriers. For other locked doors, see Doors.