"The City of Flowers" is also the name of the ancient city that Lotus is set in. For more information about it, see its page.
As the YouTube short, 'The Flower Blooms', canonically takes place alongside 'City of Flowers', its content has been described on this page as well.
The City of Flowers Map Trailer, released on January 6th, 2023, was the first showcase of Lotus, the new map released in Episode 6 Act 1. The cinematic's description reads 'Rediscover the wonders of a forgotten world on Lotus: a new 3-site map launching with Episode 6: REVELATION.'
Synopsis[]
City of Flowers depicts the first battle between the VALORANT PROTOCOL and VALORANT LEGION at Lotus. Aside from showcasing gameplay and the new map, the cinematic gives backstory on the Astral Guardians and the Nexus through Astra's narration of her tour through the map.
The City of Flowers trailer is a direct continuation of the events in the REVELATION cinematic, and doubles as a map showcase and a lore cinematic. The YouTube short 'The Flower Blooms' takes place at the same time City of Flowers, showing Ω-Astra and Ω-Fade's perspectives during the fight.
As the video was a continuation of the REVELATION cinematic, it follows through with the same overarching plot: the Protocol was looking the lost City of Flowers on Omega Earth, in order to stop Legion from activating the Multiverse Nexus housed inside.
Plot[]
The trailer begins moments after the end of REVELATION, with α-Harbor and α-Astra battling Ω-Fade, Ω-Jett, Ω-Sage, Ω-Killjoy and Ω-Raze. The Alpha agents are hiding behind cover as they request support from α-Brimstone. Brimstone requires information about the location before he can come to help, and so Astra uses her Astral Form to scout out the map. Harbor uses his Cove to shield Astra while she uses her abilities.
α-Astra using her Astral Form
While projected, Astra flies through A Lobby, marveling at the architecture while remarking that it seems "familiar" somehow. The trailer proceeds to show some gameplay on the map before Astra travels to A Site. She tells Brimstone that the City of Flowers is not dead or abandoned, and that certain people can use it. Astra does not specify who she is referring to, but they may be the VALORANT LEGION or the Astral Guardians.
Astra find Brimstone a "silent approach" through A drop, and the cinematic shows some gameplay around A Site. Astra continues exploring the map, destroying the breakable wall between A Main and A Link then goes to B Site. On entering the site, she notices the reliefs carved onto the walls, and interprets them to mean that there was once collaboration between the Astral Guardians and regular people in the past.
Some more gameplay is featured and then Astra travels to C Site. She reaffirms that there is an immense amount of power at the Nexus and that they must stop the VALORANT LEGION from unlocking it before exiting her Astral Form.
Harbor welcomes α-Astra back and asks for her help in dealing with her doppelgänger, who has just arrived at the City of Flowers. α-Astra stares in shock, aware of the full meaning this carries - if Ω-Astra had arrived at the city, there was nothing stopping her from activating the Nexus.
Suddenly, a loud rhythmic noise erupts from the city, as the color of the sky gets tinted to a faint purple. The video shows Harbor and Astra, focusing on their stunned expression, as they stare up - despite all their efforts, the Nexus had been activated.
The Flower Blooms[]
The story of the fateful battle in the lost city was continued in the YouTube short, The Flower Blooms, which was released on 18th January with the launch of Patch 6.01. In it, we saw Ω-Astra and Ω-Fade as they entered B Site, having made their way out of the fighting, and then activating the Nexus. The description read, 'A key turns, and an ancient door opens. Catch a glimpse at what happened in the wake of the City of Flowers Lotus map trailer.'
As we watched, Ω-Astra made her way to the circular mechanism on the wall closest to Defender Spawn. After taken a moment to contemplate her actions, Astra shoved her hand into it, rotating her arm as she did. The system instantly responded to the Guardian's actions, with the centuries-old machinery grinding to a start.
The circular bronze plate at the base of the site retracted outwards, being replaced with a powerful beam of energy that surged upwards into the sky. However, just a few seconds after the beam had been triggered, the entire map was rocked with a Spike detonating in C Site. Following the explosion, the beam cut off immediately, after which the video ended.
Lore Breakdown[]
Astra's Astral Form[]
As seen in the trailer, Astra's Astral Form is not only a method for her to place stars for her abilities as it is in-game, but also a way to 'project' her consciousness and explore her surroundings. This system is the primary means in which the trailer shows off the map.
While projected, α-Astra came to several important discoveries about the city as she is exploring it - her voicing out the two most prominent of them, stating "Brim, this place is far from dead... they can use it!" and "They worked together? Guardians... and people".
The latter likely refers to the depictions in the reliefs on the walls at B Site, but the meaning of the former is unclear. It is possible that she's referring to system of Root Circuitry with which the mechanisms in the city are powered (see below), with 'them' being the Legion Agents.
Astra's ability to explore and scout using her Astral Form does come with its limits, however. As we saw in fight that took place in A Site, Astra was unable to see allied or enemy Agents while projected, nor the wall and the smoke which Ω-Sage and α-Brimstone respectively had placed down.
Sadly, it is also possible that this is just a detail which was missed during production - especially seeing as the Astral Form sections are essentially just regular map exploration in ghost mode with a filter and voiceover applied on top.
The Activation Mechanism[]
Astra before activating the Nexus
The activation mechanism for the Nexus was located, as we saw, in B Site. Its functioning is similar to the system located at the door to the city, which Harbor opened in REVELATION. The contraption was a hole in a wall, into which a user would have to shove their hand. In Astra's case, she had to rotate her arm (almost as if she were turning a 'key', which is likely what the video's description was referring to) to active it.
While the mechanism seen here was normally 'inert', the patterns carved into it began to glow and pulsate with a purplish-pink energy when Astra approached it (likely representing it responding to the presence of an Astral Guardian nearby). When the activation itself was performed, the system once again functioned without any physical contact, responding directly to the movement.
The Nexus and the Spike[]
At the end of the YouTube short, we saw how a Spike detonation was somehow capable of shutting the Nexus beam down. While the Spike and the Nexus may seem to have nothing to do with each other, the miraculous event makes more sense when we consider how the Nexus is supplied with energy.
We know that the various mechanisms in the city (such as the revolving doors which are the map's main gimmick) are powered through a system called 'root circuitry', with energy supplied to them through the massive roots and vines seen around the map, which the Guardians had genetically mutated for the purpose. When the Nexus had been activated, the many large plant roots around the structure lit up and glowed pink - suggesting that the Nexus also derived its power from this system[1].
The energy the roots supplied was produced through their standard photosynthesis, but was stored up in the blue radianite-encased panels seen along the walls of the city, allowing it to be used later on[1]. When the Spike detonated, it stole away large amounts of radianite from the environment as it normally did - and in the process, disrupted this system. With its energy supply staggered, the Nexus beam was forced to shut down.
Who planted the Spike?[]
While the Spike detonation certainly saved the Protocol from utter failure in their mission, it is unclear if they had planned for it to happen. Nobody from the Protocol who we saw in the cinematic would have had the time to plant it: Harbor and Astra both stayed in one place, and Brimstone would not have had enough time to make it to C Site.
The Email from Patch 6.0, as seen in-game
From Astra's reaction to realizing that her Omega counterpart had arrived and the Nexus could be activated (shock, disbelief, and genuine fear), it can be assumed that she hadn't expected the Nexus to suddenly deactivate as it did. This suggests that, even if one of the Agents had planted the Spike by then, she wasn't aware of it.
This raises the question: who, then, planted the Spike? α-Skye is a likely candidate - she was a part of the original team sent to the Nexus, but had to stay behind to hold back a few ATLAS soldiers who were on their trail[2]; she claimed that she would attempt to regroup with the others after she got separated[3]. When coming to help, Brimstone also said "'We're on our way" (which suggests that he was with someone else), making this theory more likely.
Despite this, the theory is not set in stone, and there are other possibilities. Speculation of about the identity of the mystery planter range everywhere from a rouge Legion Agent, to an ATLAS official, to even as wild as another unknown Astral Guardian. Due to the lack of information, we cannot say if any of these are true or false.
Transcript[]
Harbor: "Oi! Kal aana! [Oi! Come back tomorrow!]
Astra: "Fall back." Astra: "Brim, you copy?" Astra: "Brim, this place is far from dead. They can use it." Astra: "Out of my way!" Astra: "Another radianite site. The amount of power held here is staggering.... We have to stop them. Harbor: "Good, you're back! Now help me deal with your counterpart." | ||
— City of Flowers Trailer
| ||
Notes[]
- The Flower Blooms is the first time we have seen a Spike detonate canonically.
- From this depiction, it is quite likely that the Spike (or, at least, Alpha's version of the Spike) does not damage nearby structures.
- At 0:14 in The Flower Blooms, we see an explosion rock the city. This could have been caused by the Spike when it entered its second stage.
- If this is the case, it is likely that Ω-Astra recognized a Spike was planted, but proceeded with the activation regardless - which could mean that she hadn't expected it to disrupt the Nexus.
Sources[]
- City of Flowers // Lotus Official Map Trailer - VALORANT Go
- The Flower Blooms // Lotus Story Trailer - VALORANT Go
- The Lotus: Unearthing VALORANT's Lost City dev article, from VALORANT's official website Go
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 From the Lotus: Unearthing VALORANT's Lost City article - VALORANT's official website Go
- ↑ When they were nearing the entrance, Skye opted to stay back to fight the soldiers pursuing them, and then proceeded to go on a rampage killing more than 15 enemy troops - the Patch 5.12 Audio Log in Cypher's Office
- ↑ Following her 'rampage', Skye sent a voicemail to Brimstone reporting the new events which had taken place - Patch 5.12 Voicemail Go