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Stationed at the Kazdel border in a Babel encampment, Oracle sits alone in his tent. It's been a grueling month of headaches for Babel as support for the organization dwindles. The Sarcaz have made their decision. The Royal Court and
Analysis of a pivotal scene in Arknights revealing Oracle's true character amid Babel's collapse and Sarcaz tensions.
Key Takeaways
- Oracle’s character is more complex and morally ambiguous than initially perceived.
- The political landscape of Babel is unstable, with factions losing faith in Teresa’s vision.
- The Sarcaz’s distrust of outsiders symbolizes broader cultural and political conflicts.
- Dialogue-driven storytelling can effectively reveal character and plot without action scenes.
- Oracle’s neutrality is challenged but he remains a pivotal figure navigating the chaos.
What the video covers
- The video analyzes a key scene where Oracle, the Doctor before amnesia, is confronted by a Sarcaz warrior at the Kazdel border.
- It explores the political and social tensions in Babel as support dwindles and factions prepare to attack Teresa in the fall.
- Oracle’s cold and direct response to the Sarcaz warrior reveals deep insights into his character and the state of Babel.
- The Sarcaz warrior expresses frustration over Teresa’s leadership and the influence of outsiders like Oracle and Kal'tsit.
- Oracle’s refusal to placate the attacker and his blunt critique highlight his complex personality and detachment.
- Scout intervenes to stop the assassination attempt, emphasizing the betrayal against Teresa’s ideals and Oracle’s neutrality.
- Oracle uses the confrontation as an intelligence opportunity, probing the Sarcaz’s distrust and motivations.
- The scene illustrates the fracturing loyalty within Sarcaz and the broader conflict over Kazdel’s future.
- Oracle’s final words show a rare moment of genuine concern, wishing the Sarcaz warrior to survive despite their conflict.
- The video praises Arknights’ writing for conveying deep character development and political intrigue through dialogue.
Chapters
- 00:00Setting the Scene at Kazdel Border
- 00:48Context of Babel's Decline and Doctor's State
- 01:38Loss of Hope in Teresa's Dream
- 02:24Teresa's Tough Decision to Retreat
- 03:10Outsiders in Teresa's Inner Circle
- 04:03The Tent Confrontation Begins
- 04:42Sarcaz Warrior's Frustration and Accusations
- 05:22Oracle's Bold Response
- 05:36Scout Intervenes to Stop Attack
- 06:27Oracle Uses the Situation as Intelligence
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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the Military Commission will commence their attack on Teresa in the fall. Suddenly, he hears movement from outside the tent. Before he knows it, a blade points to his throat. A Sarcaz warrior stands before him, visibly frustrated.
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What the Doctor does here and after this initial confrontation is one of the most telling moments of his character in the entire game. This version of Doctor, commonly referred to as Oracle, is before the amnesia, before the end of
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Babel and the death of Her Majesty Teresa. It's just one chapter in the side story of Vigilio. Yet, it paints not only the harsh circumstances of Babel's failure, but also the status of Doctor's mind at the time. Tensions are
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nearing the breaking point, and the most important man in the world has a blade to his throat. What did Oracle do here that changed the way we saw this character forever? First, let's give you a little more context. The King of
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Sarcaz has been in talks with the Chairman's office, making negotiations with the other leaders of Kazdel. This was 13 days prior to the assassination attempt on the Doctor. And so far, there's been no luck. None of the leaders are willing to compromise and
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believe Teresa's dream is simply that, a dream. The people of Kazdel are also losing hope in the promises of Babel.
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More and more Sarcaz are reluctantly siding with the Military Commission and the Royal Court, two groups with a completely different vision of Kazdel's future. With the doctor's nod, Teresa makes a tough decision to retreat from Kazdel entirely. A choice described
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as temporary, this was essentially a last resort to abandon all facilities and research to buy more time. A time to recuperate or gather defenses for the upcoming battle in the fall. In other words, everything was failing. Even after the awakening of the doctor, it
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seemed the comfort in his knowledge could only withstand so much. The impending doom of Babel was at its door, and the beloved king herself was the one to open it. Teresa laments, quoting that she truly believes that they have the
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same heart and same blood, but even that blood can be separated and transfused. The doctor replies to this coldly and tells Teresa that there would still be many Sarcaz willing to follow her. He won't, however, make a decision. The
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doctor can and will only bear witness, which looking back after knowing what happened was only partially true. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here are two videos explaining. An important detail here is that the doctor and
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Kal'tsit are outsiders. They aren't Sarcaz, although arguably Kal'tsit is more Sarcaz than some actual Sarcaz, yet they are key figures in Teresa's innermost circle. Now, back to the tent scene. So, having been broken into, let's say, the doctor replies flatly
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with a "Who are you?" The attacker identifies himself as someone who caught him alone and distances himself from those idiots getting themselves killed for no reason. Meaning, this wasn't meant to be a desperate [ __ ] this guy
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attack, it was planned. The doctor is still pretty much unmoved. With sounds like a smidge of disappointment, he replies that the Sarcaz shouldn't be doing this. Then the Sarcaz goes on a rant. He's lost his patience with Teresa. Although he will definitely not
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state explicitly, she elevated the doctor and cultists to a position where they can talk down to the Sarcaz.
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Neither of them are of Sarcaz blood. Neither understand what it means to be tied to the myriad souls so closely, to hear the callings of ancestors in their bones. And yet here they are using their closeness to Teresa to push this vision
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of Babel onto the people. Again, he won't say it outright, but he's pretty much accusing his king, the centuries-old war hero of pure wisdom, of needing foreigners to direct her, to which he finds utterly humiliating.
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After his explosive rant finishes, he asks a question. Which side has a better chance of winning? Now, this next part is a key moment of the chapter. What the doctor says here holds so much weight, it's almost laughable. He doesn't answer
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the question or try to talk the Sarcaz down emotionally. He goes straight for the throat himself and says, "The fact that you can only think of preserving your own hide proves how pathetic you are." You think that's impressive? Check this
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out. With a blade inches away, Oracle tells it how it is. Sure, he probably knew that in the next instant Scout would come out of nowhere and save him, but it doesn't change the fact that he stood his ground the entire time. Let's
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continue. Scout indeed swoops in and knocks the blade from the assassin's hand. He lays out why this is so egregious, that Teresa runs a system built on freedom for the Sarcaz, that the Sarcaz man weaponized that freedom against her. The traitor knew Teresa
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respects the doctor, knew the doctor's neutral stance in the war was public. So, it wasn't ignorance. It was a deliberate violation of both Teresa's trust and the doctor's stated neutrality. Just before landing the killing blow, Scout is stopped by doctor
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shouting his name. The doctor has figured this Sarcaz wants answers more than his life. If he wanted to kill me, he could have done it already. The traitor was never actually going to kill him, just using the knife as leverage
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for conversation. He makes the correct assessment that the traitor was an agent looking for answers on behalf of someone else. And so, he uses the situation as an intelligence opportunity. "Let me talk to him, Scout. Teresa won't mind,"
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he says. With Scout standing down, Oracle turns the tables. He asks the traitor why he thinks Teresa had chosen to trust two outsiders. The Sarcaz wasn't having it. To him, it was obvious the doctor is just some smooth-talking
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snake who manipulated his king. "Her majesty, our king with her lofty ideals is buying into this clown show." Oracle catches on quickly and agrees, sort of.
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He states that he can't walk with Teresa anymore, that that ship had sailed. "It's her majesty you don't trust." This, of course, [ __ ] YOU SAY TO ME, YOU LITTLE [ __ ] MAKES the Sarcaz lose his [ __ ] but the
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doc keeps going. "All you've got is that title, her majesty, you can throw around to add weight to your choices." The traitor is in denial. Oracle knows it.
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The Sarcaz guy snaps back insisting he believes in Teresa, and this is where Oracle drops a bar that really should be displayed in Rhodes Island or something.
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Actually, that's a terrible idea. If it's really my fault you don't buy into Her Majesty's sermons anymore, why bother confronting me? Are you scared you can't change Her Majesty's mind? You don't know your own destiny, but he wants it. They awakened you, worked you
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up, and it's not so I could listen to your talk. Basically, this wasn't really just about the doctor. Someone, some third party, almost certainly her brother, engineered this entire confrontation as a test. The traitor was just the delivery boy, and the doctor
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figured this out during the attack. The Sarcaz is denying it now. He might be saying the truth, but he's spiraling, accusing the doctor of putting on a show for Scout. Oracle still ain't done, and says something nobody in this scene
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expected. "No, Sarcaz, I only want you to walk out of this place alive." He's being serious here. This is what I mean when I say this small chapter, this small section, is incredible. You can learn so much about a character in just
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a few lines of dialogue, and it's a masterclass, at least to me, of how Arknights writing can be so good. It's a conversation between the protagonist and a random Sarcaz with Scout chilling in the corner, yet an entire truckload of
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personality just got unloaded. Oracle remembers this guy. "I recognize you, traitor," he says. Not
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whereabouts of the recon team. Take a moment to reel this moment in. Oracle, the dude who just moments ago was being held at knife point by this guy, had picked up on a specific act of loyalty the traitor performed, something he
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thought nobody important noticed and then used it as a basis for clemency. Was it genuine compassion or just some cold calculation to put on a show? A demonstration to the royal court to prove he's no threat? The Sarcaz dude
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still won't budge and thinks it's a trap. But before any more escalation, the king herself arrives and ends the standoff. Before they make a verdict on the traitor's life, Teresa asks if he did anything to the doctor, to which the
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doctor responds, "No." Then he says this, "Teresa, if I was to say that he is by far the most innocent one, would you believe me?" Now, hold on. What?
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Even Monster shrieks in the background. Cultist like, "Okay, dude." and brushes it off as a play. Instead, calling for the execution of the traitor, who we are reminded by Teresa is named Marco.
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Here's the thing, I don't think the doctor was cracking jokes when he said that. He makes the case that Marco didn't betray him, he betrayed an idealized image of Teresa that disappointed him. Why does he have so much buttery smooth empathy for this
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guy? Even the player, the reader starts to doubt themselves. Is Oracle making a play or being human? "Marco cannot be called a traitor," he states, and suggests the fate of this mercenary Sarcaz to be exiled. Teresa says no and
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would rather leave it to Aschelon. Marco breaks down. First, it's denial, then an odd reversal, like he heard the calls of the dead, agreeing that he deserves execution. "Death is what the Sarcaz is founded upon. Teresa would fulfill the
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legend he's been waiting for his whole life." Some time passes and we learn from Oracle himself that Marco committed suicide out of embarrassment. The shame of being seen as a traitor by his king was too much. Teresa says she knows, but
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the way she says it makes it obvious. The outcome did not go as planned. After saying his peace, the doctor moves straight to logistics, and that is where I'll end the scene. His solution was more humane. It ended exactly how he
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most likely predicted. This is the exact moment you realize as a player why this man is considered a genius commander.
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There truly is no one better at understanding people than him. It's cold and perhaps even ruthless, but despite it all, it still feels human. Effective for sure, but that human side of Oracle now lives brightly in the doctor today.
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To me, this simple on paper altercation is a masterclass of how to write a dialogue between multiple complex characters while simultaneously emphasizing on the protagonist without needing a decisive battle or over-the-top confrontation. Arknights sculpts a character who makes you
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realize the most dangerous person in the room isn't always the one holding the knife.
Topics:ArknightsOracleDoctorBabelTeresaSarcazKazdelcharacter analysisgame storypolitical conflict
