Conspiracy Theory part 2: Tangmazu Never Lies

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Still sane, Exiles?

I had this one in mind for the longest time but could not verify it until I found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPlXB5xW0uY with all of the Strange Voice's dialogues. I will also assume for this that the Strange Voice is in fact lost god Tangmazu because just yes.

My theory is that Tangmazu, the god of mischief and lies, never actually lies about anything.

I will not consider the story mode dialogue which has been dissected more than the aliens in the Roswell video and will instead analyze the lines of dialogue we hear in maps every time we encounter a mirror of delirium.


Someone wants you dead: duh.

You are being followed: well yes, every monster in the map is technically following you.

You are completely alone: I don't know if this dialogue activates also if you have members in your party, in which case it would not be always true, but for solo-mappers it is.

Guilt is weighing you down: why are you playing POE while you could be outside making millions in bitcoins?

No one will remember you: I forget about my characters the moment I make a new one.

Time is an illusion: this sounds very philosophical but philosophy aside from a gaming point of view you are treating time like an afterthought: you travel in the past (Alva), in the future (Scourge, at least the first iteration), you make in seconds journeys that take weeks (Weylam Roth, Lilly Roth) so yes, he is right again.

This world is an illusion: duh. It's a game.

Your grief will be your downfall: this is for every person who backtracked to recover a scroll fragment and got one shot from nowhere.

Your actions serve no one: this is almost inspiring.

You are your own worst enemy: remember that time you tried to beat the Maven with no res capped and a stick? Yep.

Rich and poor alike are destined to rot: here we discover Tangmazu votes socialist.

What will be the straw that finally breaks you: next patch?

You are greater than a god. You've already done this before - you are caught in a loop: this is the definition of farming.

You've fabricated your entire memory: technically yes, your character's background is all fake.

They are using you. Everyone is simply using you: this is the POE storyline handbook: meet character -> character gives you mission -> help character -> character betrays you and tries to kill you. And on a similar note:

You're free to explore this vast world, yet you're doing the bidding of others: same.

You will never get that what you seek: never got a mirror once.

They know all your secrets. Nothing is hidden from their view: did you know GGG can actually see what loot is randomly generated in maps, what is picked up and other information like this? Think about it next time you want to make real money trades.

Feeling OK? You're looking a little pale, exile: after 3 hours of City Square farming who wouldn't.

You are rotting from inside out: philosophical moment part 2. Technically speaking everybody started dying the moment they were born. Either that or you should cut on Cheetos.

Time is a veil. You exist in a singular eternity: game time is fake, the real time is the one of the real world.

The face that stares back in the mirror is a stranger: well your character isn't you, it's a character.

Nothing about you is special or remarkable: quoting Fight Club.

You are destined to bring ruin to all you touch: it's the reason I'm here killing everything that moves, really.

They will all abandon you when they learn the truth: that you didn't get 7 mirrors the first week of league (quoted).

You'll be captured, stupid beast: unless you are Ziz.

You are just another stumbling corpse: philosophical moment 4.

You are lost in the middle of the jungle: this would need context but basically I take it as philosophical moment 5 and leave it at that.

They're watching you from beyond this world. Can you feel them?: this either refers to the player watching the game while they play, or when you stream your games over Twitch.

No one knows you name. No one but me: unless you used your god-given name as your account name, but it is very unlikely.

You'll never escape this nightmare. This is your eternity: unless I want to stop playing. I can stop whenever I want! Just another map.

True strength comes from within and I know for a fact you're empty: technically the 3D model of each character is an empty puppet.

You destroy that which you can't control. Are you the hunter or are you the prey?: I'm a player in an ARPG game. I destroy ALSO what I can control.

Everyone around you is sick. Put them out of their misery: don't mind if I do.

They're all sick and dying. And it's spreading: I've always suspected that the source of all monsters in POE is corruption. Here Tangmazu is giving you a freebie for killing everything that moves. And on a similar note:

They've come to you to die. You're their mercy: ditto.

Are you the fisherman or are you the bait: both depending on the situation.

Panic builds within you. You can feel it haunting you, can't you?: Delirium encounters are more and more difficult the more delirious the player is.

If I skipped some let me know in the comments.



Conclusions: all of Tangmazu's lines are true if we assume he can see beyond the fourth wall and knows that we are characters in an ARPG game. The real power of Tangmazu is not deception but being able to see on the other side of the screen.

How did Tangmazu survive the Godslayer? He hid in the only place where they couldn't find him: beyond the fourth wall.

In fact he is just behind you right now, exile. Don't look..

My favourite line is something where he says that the gods are dead and now he puts his full attention on the player.

Dont remember the exact voiceline.

Listening to the whole thing right now x'D

So while I have discarded this in basement my own basement wizardry, mostly because it's an actually unsatisfiying answer, but it does line up all with a lot of other information.

A few characters (Kalandra, Olrath, Tangmazu) realizing they're in a game. References to a mirror in the sky they want to shatter (artistically, they talk like it's the sky, but you could also easily see it as a PC screen (due to the games isometric viewpoint). The quick depresion and hostility creatures get at learning they're just parts in a game, etc. Just like Sirus (and all of the conqurers) where somewhat takes on players endlessly farming without in world 'point', the so called 'Madness' of the Atlas (later you could claim that this desire to murder and fight is due to the Maven's watchful presence, multithreaded means, or something else). But a lot of facts do line up nicely with this, despite me finding 'it's all a game' about as narratively satisfying as 'it was all a dream', and fits in well with other factors, "This world is an illusion." from big boy blue, the comments of the Trial Master and the endless iterations of the world (i.e Leagues).

It will be a bit interesting if they move away from this in PoE 2, or keep in line with it, or both (you wake up in PoE 2 having been the same character who had been stuck in the dream that was PoE 1.

Still, I've a fairly visceral reaction to Dream plots and the like, without them being extremely clear that's what they are from the get go, so I still hope that's not the case here.

Afternote, most of his Campaign dialogue is similar, where he prefers to dance around truths, than outright lie. He makes claim to his hand in making Solaris and Lunaris fight, while also claiming no credit in Arakalaai and Grukthul's conflict (with a very defensive tone I'd add). He's written very much in line with the "Truthful Trickster" archetype. Even the events that kicked off the Solar / Lunar war don't seem to have had any direct lies, only using illusions neither side questioned to tigger them into conflict. Which is sorta the point. He wanted people who would question reality, to make people doubt what they see and hear and touch.