The Sea Emperor - Studying Subnautica's Saviour

the sea Emperor is subnautica's Ultimate creature unmatched in size or intelligence this Behemoth of the Seas even has the ability to whisper directly into your mind so it's a good job it's friendly otherwise it could probably make you do some seriously dangerous stuff all while making you think it was your own idea the sea Emperor is essential to all life on 4546b from the smallest of plants to the mightiest of creatures but to really analyze the story of the sea Emperors we have to travel back over 1,000 years far from 4546b an alien race called The Architects have been doing a little space exploration on this Mission everything was to be done by the book no stone left unturned everything must be mapped and analyzed that was until they kicked over a stone that really should have been left well alone whilst exploring an unknown Planet they came into contact with a strange new bacteria this infection would slowly take hold of the target's body covering its victims in green spots and progressively mutating their cells this would overwhelm the host IM immune system and eventually lead to death The Architects named this bacteria Cara and as hard as they tried they could find no cure Cara would eventually Escape its original Planet and run Riot among the architect home worlds causing up to 143 billion deaths across multiple star systems out of time and out of options The Architects took samples of Cara to far away worlds where they could be studied in isolation making plans to quarantine the planets if anything Went Wrong by destroying anything that ventured too close to the surface surface one of these planets was 4546b after setting up a presence on the planet The Architects began to search for anything that might be useful in their battle against Cara at first they looked to the small creatures singling out the Peeper for further study but they easily succumb to the disease in Just 4 days next they looked to the leviathans but they were too big for a dedicated study so they focused on collecting their eggs to test if they had any potential for immunity but again little to no progress was made they even looked to Long dead creatures that might give them some Clues as to what to do next setting up entire research projects around ancient fossils buried in the planet's depths after undertaking huge amounts of research on all parts of 4546 B's life one day The Architects made a breakthrough when conducting analysis of bone samples from Dead Sea Emperor specimens they found that the species had potential for Caro immunity the only problem was they were a massive 160 to 200 M long and easily the biggest living creature on the planet which made them incredibly difficult to study the sea Emperors themselves were covered in smooth armor and were light brown in color with small dark brown and gray spots detailing the rest of their bodies and running down their tentacles despite their massive size as filter feeders the sea Emperors did not feed on large prey relying on the consumption of huge amounts of microorganisms to power their giant bodies acting like blue whales here on Earth for their size sea Emperors were tipped with relatively small heads compared to the rest of their bodies on these heads they had two and antenna with glowing ends which were likely for attracting small microorganisms towards the creatur's mouth the slight serration on these mandibles suggests they may have also been used for eating small animals or plants to complement the creatures diet just below these mandibles sat a blue bioluminescent spot which could have served a similar purpose to its antenna by attracting prey towards the creature's mouth but its true purpose remains unknown like many creatures on 4546b the sea Emperor had four eyes with two bright bioluminescent eyes found on each side of its head to help the creature focus and move around tipping the creature's head were two large protrusions sticking out from either side of its skull with a further two smaller versions found underneath it's hard to say what role these played in the SE Emperor's anatomy and they could simply have been a form of armor and defense from attackers or for keeping the creature stable when moving these protrusions also give the creature a slight resemblance to a hammerhead shark here on Earth with them both sporting a uniquely shaped head moving down the sea Emperor's body the creature was distinctly smooth with no fins of any col kind the creature was propelled through the water using seven tentacles with the central tentacle being the largest and strongest these tentacles had a stripy look and were lined with bright bioluminescent spots ending in large clubs the sea Emperor's movement was further enhanced by its large paddle-like arms These Arms don't appear to have any obvious weapons and were likely used for helping push the creature through the water and keeping it stable while moving preventing it from rolling over these paddles had a number of small armored spikes near the elbow and mostly resemble those found on green seat Turtles here on Earth it's possible that if a large creature got too close to the Sea Emperor it could have used its arms for defense by using them to swap the creature away because due to their size they would still have packed a serious punch PDA datab Bank information suggests that in the wild sea Emperors would move in small herds around the planet's ocean trenches in what is now the crater's edge and the void coming to the surface to feed on the large amounts of microorganisms found in the ocean shallower waters due to the creatures size the amount of sea Emperors in an individual herd would be low as large groups would consume too much food and wouldn't be able to support themselves for long periods of time without suffering from starvation due to how far apart groups of creatures of this size would need to live and how few of them the ecosystem could support it's possible they only reproduced once a century or even once in their lifetimes scans of the creature's body show large ovaries can be found in the sea Emperor's middle section holding its eggs until the time comes to reproduce sea Emperors are the only large and complex creature to reproduce a sexually on 45 46 this means that every sea emperor born is able to lay eggs and doesn't require interaction with any other sea emperor in order to reproduce under normal circumstances the sea Emperors would likely have buried their eggs in Shallow Waters where the different compounds needed for them to hatch would be present it's possible that they even laid these eggs in the same areas in which they themselves were born after birth baby sea Emperors are almost fully formed and capable of independent travel meaning they would likely separate from the herd and venture to new feeding grounds almost immediately after being born over time these babies would develop new herds spreading over vast amounts of ocean sea Emperor babies are similar in appearance to their adult counterparts but they do have some slight differences with narrower heads larger eyes and distinct necks connecting their heads to their bodies they also have shorter and more rounded arms with much smaller upper bodies and mandibles after conducting further analysis on the sea Emperors The Architects discovered that the creatures produced a protein called enzyme 42 in their stomachs when breaking down their food this enzyme was often expelled from their bodies and into the surrounding water as a glittering Gold Trail this enzyme had the ability to reverse the effects of the chiro bacteria and make it go dormant in the host's bloodstream this was a breakthrough so far everything they had tried had failed to have any impact on the bacteria but now they had a lead the Architects tried as hard as they could to artificially recreate the enzyme but due to its complexity it was simply impossible so they decided their only option was to create a purpose-built facility to house a sea Emperor and capture one from the wild for further study for our sea Emperor this was a cruel fate with the rest of its species free to roam the Seas and give birth to their young as they pleased our unfortunate friend was captured and her eggs taken for experimentation this was a lonely existence for a creature used to living in a herd unfortunately for The Architects the sea Emperor they selected was 1,600 years old and either due to its age or some kind of illness was unable to produce a stable version of enzyme 42 the enzyme she produced was unstable and only to temporarily reverse K symptoms rather than cure them completely but if a healthy C Emperor could be found and a stable form of enzyme 402 produced they believed a cure was possible so they turned to the SE Emperor's eggs to find a stronger Source it's unknown whether the SE Emperor laid her eggs naturally but due to internal Scar Tissue revealed by scans of her body it's more likely that these were forcibly removed causing long-term infertility in the process as far as we know the sea Emperor had at least seven eggs these were covered in a tough layered Brown out of a shell with bioluminescent blue spots unlike other eggs on 4546b these eggs do not contain an inbuilt nutrient Supply used to grow the developing sea emor instead the eggs exist in a natural stasis waiting for the right hatching conditions before they can be born these layered shells are made of a carbon composite which is uncommonly strong for creatures found on the planet suggesting they need greater protection due to the long amount of time needed for them to hatch but the Architects had made a mistake they had designed their containment facility around the condition needed to support an adult SE Emperor which were vastly different from those needed to hatch SE Emperor eggs and either through lack of time or plain desperation to find a cure they resorted to extreme methods one egg was taken to the facility's dissection room where it was cut from its shell using a Precision laser but the juvenile died during the extraction process as it was not fully formed with its body later placed within a display case in the facility for further tests The Architects would take samples from the dead creatures digestive tra to try and analyze how how enzyme 42 was made but this didn't work without a living specimen the shattered egg was then placed inside a tank within the dissection lab in case it could yield further information after the failure of this first test The Architects took another egg for study conducting research to see what else they could discover this egg remains with an a specimen tank in the egg room of the primary containment facility and as far as we know didn't provide any useful information to the Architects unsure of what to do next The Architects placed the remaining five SE Emperor eggs upon an incubator within the main enclosure this incubator made microscopic holes in their shells allowing artificial chemicals and nutrients to be inserted to keep the babies alive while The Architects planned their next move after reaching this intellectual dead end The Architects decided they would look to other creatures to see if they might be able to help them and a distant relative of the sea Emperor the Sea Dragon was selected for study due to their similar genetics The Architects took a sea dragon egg to the disease research facility in order to conduct more tests hoping this would give them clues about how to hatch the sea Emperor eggs the mother Sea Dragon whose eggs had been stolen didn't take too kindly to this act of egg snatching she tracked down her stolen eggs to the disease research facility and rammed it in an attempt to get them back and while the massive head trauma from smashing her 112 M long body into the facility might have killed her and didn't get her any closer to freeing her eggs it did cause the Architects a big problem the facility was damaged Beyond repair and the carob bacteria samples brought to the planet for study poured into the surrounding ocean infecting 4546 B's ecosystem and causing mass extinction of the planet's life the architect scientists working on the research project either evacuated the planet or died from the infection the planet's quarantine procedures were activated restricting access to the primary containment facility and arming the quarantine enforcement platform which would destroy any spaceship which got too close to the planet's surface worldwide ecosystem collapse now began with life on the planet dying out an alarming rate the massive sea Emperors unchallenged in size weight or intelligence simply could not survive the loss of their habitats with the planet's life dying out on mass there was nothing left for them to eat and over time they simply succumbed to starvation it's also possible that not all sea Emperors were immune from the disease with only a select few having the enzyme 42 producing mutation required to survive but with nothing left to eat they soon died out too life on 4546b had ended or at least it would have done if it wasn't for the lonely sea Emperor trapped in the primary containment facility the last of its kind its prison had become its Lifeboat from the storm raging in the outside world providing it with food and nutrients to survive imprisoned in its cage for the next 1,000 years waiting with its eggs for a rescue that would never come the lonely sea Emperor would now be the only source of enzyme 42 on the planet meaning it was the final hope for a cure to be developed the very survival of this sea Emperor is the reason that life still exists on 4546b at all with its presence keeping the creatures in its enclosure alive and clear from car infection while the world outside was engulfed by disease during the 1 1,000 years that passed between the car bacteria's release and the arrival of Riley the sea Emperor somehow managed to train peepers to use the architect's intake vents for the facility to transport seeds from the shallows to her enclosure once they arrive the peepers approach the sea Emperor taking The Expelled enzyme 42 into their stomachs once ingested the enzyme gives them a bright Golden Trail as they move through the water signifying its life-preserving Force when the peepers again enter the pipes and return to the wider ocean they carry small amounts of enzyme 42 temporarily reversing the symptoms of the Cara bacteria allowing the crater to sustain life as a result of the sea Emperor Below in exchange the sea Emperor receives the fresh seeds and organic materials it needed from the peepers helping to sustain its self-contained ecosystem in the facility and the creatures that live within it it's likely that the sea Emperor trained the peepers to do this by either simple learned behavior over time or by the use of its telepathic abilities Data Bank entries state that the peepers do not suffer from any signs of distress and actively approach other creatures even if those creatures might be inclined to eat them if you look closely at the other creatures that inhabit the sea Emperor's tank you'll notice that none of these are hostile or feeding on each other this could indicate that the sea Emperor gives off a low form of telepathic control that soothes all nearby creatures it's also possible that enzyme 42 has some natural effect on the peepers and other creatures in the tank simply causing them to lose fear and any motive for attack we simply don't have a confirmed answer for why this is the case so you can decide which Theory you like the most either way the sea emperor is an incredibly intelligent creature using its telepathy to communicate with Riley on a number of occasions it's likely that the sea Emperor was also trying to communicate with Bart toal survivor of the deasi and who features in the subnotica trailer in his third and final audio log he says despite my best efforts ill health is taking hold of me the Visions are getting worse it's probable that once toal had become infected with Cara the sea Emperor was trying to communicate with him in a similar way to which she does with Riley although with less Success Through the use of her telepathic abilities the sea Emperor is able to tell Riley what he needs to do to get her egg to hatch to do this Riley must gather a number of naturally occurring materials found on the planet seeds from a sea Crown ghost weed and eye plant along with a fungal sample from the mushroom forest and a sample from a bulb Bush once these have been collected hatching enzymes can be created and once inserted into the incubator the eggs will begin to hatch it seems The Architects were unable to hear the SE Emperor's telepathic communication meaning they could never do what was required to hatch the eggs although it's never explained why the Architects were unable to hear her call with the eggs now hatched the baby sea Emperors are now free to escape the facility and spread a powerful and stable enzyme 42 to The Wider ecosystem curing Cara and allowing life to thrive once again on the planet the mother sea Emperor then finally passes away at the age of 2,600 years old well over her species typical lifespan having used the last of her energy to protect her young at the time of the chiro disaster the sea Emperor was 1,600 years old which is already stated in the PDA to be old for the creatures lifespan covered in internal and external scars it appears the sea Emperor has been kept alive due to her tailor made environment which likely includes a life support system which has greatly extended her life after hatching the five C Emperor babies will leave the facility through the reactivated teleporter system traveling across the crater to different locations finding homes in the mountains the grand Reef the dunes the crack field and the northern blood kelp Zone once they arrive the babies will transform into sea Emperor juveniles the teenage adolescent for form of the full sea Emperor these juveniles are much smaller than their adult counterparts being almost half the size of adults once they arrive at their new homes they begin to release enzyme 42 and Purge Cara from the area it's not clear whether all sea Emperors have the ability for telepathy but some of the things said by the Sea Emperor O'Reilly suggests the creatures are highly intelligent and philosophical one line she says is as follows perhaps next we meet I will be an ocean current carrying seeds to new lands or a creature so small it seeds the gaps between the grains of sand this shows the creature understands how ocean currents shape its ecosystem and how they affect life something that no ordinary creature could possibly understand it also suggests a belief in reincarnation as she seems to believe she will live on as something else after she dies during the game's development the sea Emperor had a number of different names with some suggesting that at one point the creature was hostile to the Player Development notes for the game reference the creature as the emperor Leviathan and also make reference to bite and attack animations other names for the sea Emperor found on the development board include the grand Leviathan and the magistrate Leviathan files in the magistrate Leviathan folder include a high-pitch version of the Reapers Roar which would again suggest that the creature was hostile it appears the idea of a hostile sea Emperor never quite died out though as the sea dragon was later created as an aggressive reskin for the now passive sea Emperor original concept art for the sea Emperor shows it with webbed claw-like hands similar to what would lat to be found on the sea dragon these claws were later changed for the creatures now distinctive paddles Sea Dragon concept AR also shows the creature to be much bigger than the sea Emperor although this appears to be an artistic impression as the developers never intended for the Sea Dragon to be larger than the sea Emperor ah it's good to be out of that containment facility and back near the surface it's a good job this teleporter was here wait what is that coming through behind us is that a shadow Leviathan if you want to make it home in one piece you'll need to watch this video next to make sure we don't get sucked into its stomach and special thanks to my patrons as modius matus Graham deoy and baron Wendy for making this video possible

Channel: Aletho

Views: 192,164

Keywords: Aletho, Subnautica 2024, subnautica below zero 2024, subnuatica, Subnautica story explained, aletho sea emperor, The Sea Emperor - Studying Subnautica's Saviour, subnautica leviathans, subnauitca creatures, subnautica scary, subnautica lore, subnautica 3, subnautica 2, subnautica mods, subnautica news, subnautica update, Sea Emperor Leviathan, Sea Emperor Subnautica, below zero lore, subnautica review, subnautica enzyme 42, Subnautica ending, subnautica story, subnautica egg

Id: 9b7PV8Hdr4s

Length: 17min 29sec (1049 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 17 2024