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“You're not supposed to be in here! You're going to ruin the surprise!” This article contains spoilers about the game's lore.
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Excalibur facing an army of Conculysts and Battalysts in the 'Tombs of the Sentient' trailer.
The Sentients had won. They had turned our weapons, our technology, against us. The more advanced we became, the greater our losses.
- Not to be confused with Sentinels.
The Sentients are a race of machines, coming from the Tau System that were the chief enemies of the Orokin during the Old War. Originally suspected to be a truly alien race (whereas the Orokin, Grineer, Corpus and Tenno all seem to be human or trans-human variations originating from Earth), memory imprints revealed by Cephalon Simaris seem to indicate they were originally created as terraforming drones bound for the Tau System. As their name suggests, they inadvertently gained Sentience, which coupled with their own innate abilities made them a dangerous threat to the Orokin Empire.
History[]
Sentient wreckage on Earth, as shown during the Natah quest
The Detron Crewman's memory imprint seems to suggest that the Sentients (or their ancestors) were originally developed as terraforming tools bound for the Tau system. To survive, they were given the ability to adapt to any sort of damage that they would encounter as well as the ability to replicate from damaged components. This came with its costs however; the Void was "poison" to them and they could not travel through it safely. Thus, once the drones reached their destination they were effectively stranded there, with no safe means of returning to the Origin System.
At some point the Sentients returned, and waged war on their former masters. With their ability to adapt, the Sentients quickly became resilient to the most advanced weaponry the Orokin threw at them. As the Orokin developed more powerful means to combat against them, the stronger the Sentients became. In desperation the Orokin utilized the survivors of the Zariman Ten Zero incident, who had gained immense power from the Void, as warriors. They were trained in the old ways of battle and a conduit that could withstand and channel their power was created for them. Thus, the first Tenno were created. With their new soldiers ready for combat, the Orokin managed to turn the tide of battle.
With the odds stacked against them, the Sentient Hunhow planned to destroy the Tenno. His youngest child, Natah, was disguised as a human to serve as a mole within the Origin system, with the intent of destroying the Orokin empire and exterminating the Tenno. Though Natah succeeded to do the former, she decided to spare the Tenno however, choosing to adopt them instead, as the journey to the Origin system had rendered her sterile. Natah decided to transfer the Tenno to the Reservoir and hide the Reservoir in the Void, keeping it safe from Sentient retaliation. Discarding her old identity, Natah became the Lotus, watching over the Tenno and awakening them when the time was right.
Enemies[]
Trivia[]
- Although the Sentients were mentioned occasionally in earlier builds of the game, it wasn't until 17 where more detailed information about them was revealed.
- While it's never specified which Tau system that the Sentients were destined to go, the most likely candidate would be the Tau Ceti system, as it is a major candidate for extraterrestrial life to develop and possibly thrive, making it a reasonable choice for colonization.
- One of the earlier Sentinel Cosmetics is called the "Hunhow Sentinel Mask" and not only does it share Hunhow's name, but its overall design is similar to the faces of the Battalyst and the Conculyst. It remains to be seen if this was a deliberate piece of foreshadowing however.