Nier Automata's story is one of dark nihilistic and existentialistic themes. Sometimes it
hits so close to home it makes you feel just a little uncomfortable. Even if you weren't
a deep thinker before, this game forces you to make those comparisons between it's disturbing
themes and real life concepts. And that's what makes it so gosh dang great.
For someone who likes to write essays for fun, I had a hay day with this. Buckle up
because we're goin deep. And I mean deep. Like deep.
Playing through the perspective of the android forces we're biased right from the beginning.
However, skepticism is human nature after all and as revelations are made throughout
the game, we are left questioning who the true protagonists really are, or if there
are any at all. Nier Automata plays with grey areas like it's going out of style, but
haven't you heard? The interchangeability between the hero and the villain stereotypes is
all the rage these days.
So 9S and 2B. You want to root for them. Ever since that opening sequence when 9S charmed
his way into your soft little hearts with his boyish charm. You want him to find solace
in 2B's company. You want her to lighten up a bit in his. But most of all you want
them to win. Machines killed your entire squadron in the span of like 2 minutes. They're attacking
you and your new emotional, pun loving sidekick. They're dumb looking stumps with dumb round
heads and dumb stumpy legs. They're emotionless and they're the enemy, obviously. They
deserve to die. Right?
But that doesn't seem to be the case the further you get into the story.
The concept of humanity is an ambiguous one, I mean, I'm not going to sit here and go
all Karl Marx on you but this game takes a unique approach to illustrating what they
believe humanity to be. They toy with it and reference it in nearly every aspect of this
game, the idea of emotions, of what it means to feel. But most of all, in a world void
of humans, it's the most disturbing concept and it's what makes 9S's character the
most tragic.
The red flags start early, but they're subtle, borderline insignificant. It helps that 9S
is constantly dismissing them, something I'll touch more on later. Before you even
really delve into the game, everyone is nailing it into your head that machines can't feel.
Machines don't have that kind of intelligence. That's not how they're programmed. And
yet, you begin to see glimpses of scenarios and reactions that aren't supposed to be
happening. Many of the side quests exist to further exploit this. Machines that turn vengeful
after you slay their kin. Machines that worry about their appearance and trying to woo the
opposite sex. Machines that call themselves "mother", "father", "brother",
or "sister". Most of the time, it's downright creepy simply because they aren't
human.
But the most impactful revelation of these humanity-possessing machines has got to be
in the desert apartments when you stumble upon their domesticated, uh breeding nest–
for lack of a better term. Machines are rocking nonexistent babies, they're babbling about
love. It's at this moment that it kind of hits you: someone's got their facts messed
up because these things have more emotion than 2B's finger. They aren't unfeeling
and they sure as heck aren't unintelligent.
I consider this to be the official turning point, if you will, in regards to this illusive
concept of humanity. It's taboo amongst androids and completely rejected when concerning
machines. It's no longer simply a foil between 2B and 9S either, here, in this fight against
an unevolved adam, it's become a central theme of the game.
And yet, through it all, 9S is always there to dismiss the blatantly obvious. He can't
seem to wrap his head around the fact that his enemy could actually be more alike the
species that's responsible for his existence than himself. As the most intelligent Yorha
model, he actually cannot process this, always justifying killing them by labeling them as
less of what they are. Because if he were to truly acknowledge that they possess some
form of humanity, then that not only shatters his instilled beliefs of who the enemy is,
but it would force him to recognize the holes in the purpose of his existence. It would
force him to metaphorically take off his yorha blindfold and see the truth of what has been
hidden from him. And he's not ready to do that, yet.
The idea of knowledge is a concept in of itself in this game. It stands as a symbol, more
than anything, a symbol of danger— of dying. The relationship between knowledge and death
is something that is repeated. The first instance of this is seen after the evolution of Adam.
Unlike his brother that was literally born from him, his sole purpose seems to be to
learn, to gain knowledge. After some post-game reflection, it can be argued that he never
truly was after the androids on a power-trip kind of level— he was merely curious about
them. And curiosity killed the— well, you know. In the second fight against Adam and
Eve after they have evolved Adam explains what their purpose is, and that's to know
more about the humans and conversely the androids that were made in their image. He finds it
fascinating that, "they killed uncountable numbers of their own kind and yet loved in
equal measure," calling them, "an enigma."
9S once again nonchalantly brushes this off as Adam being "bonkers" but ironically
this statement is most applicable to him.
Another example of this is the machine children that commit suicide due to the intense fear
of being killed. Pascal blames himself for teaching them what fear is, because without
fear, there is no reason to end one's life. The knowledge of that concept proved to be
their demise in the end anyways.
But it doesn't end there. It's the sole purpose behind 2B and 9S's coexistence.
9S never stops searching for answers. 2B must kill him every time he finds them. An endless
cycle of knowledge and death. Their weapons are great foreshadowing to this plot point.
9S's sword, Blood Oath literally means a vow of truth made by blood— he's made
to learn what's true. 2B's sword, Virtuous Contract, is a fancy way of saying, "obligated
moral excellence"— to fulfill her duty. To do what needs to be done.
It's knowledge that throws 9S onto his war path. The truth is the cause of everything
crumbling around him. His beliefs. His existence.
And the loss of the one person he loved and hated the most.
Everything about him has become a dichotomy at this point and all he can focus on is the
hatred. The one intrinsic constant in a world where everything has become meaningless. A
direct mirror to both Adam and Eve.
The similarities aren't quite all there until the end of the game but looking back
on it, Adam and Eve can be seen as the machine counterparts to both sides of 9S.
Adam, too smart for his own good. 9S during routes A and B. Eve, fueled by rage over the
death of a loved one. 9S during route C.
And if I haven't completely confused you by the point, let me suggest something else.
Eve is also the counterpart to 2B.
Think about it, every time she had to kill 9S despite trying to hold him at arms length,
she had grown to care for him. Arguably he was the only living being she ever cared for.
And she had to kill him. Again and again. But she stifled those emotions, prohibiting
them, a defense mechanism for herself. Otherwise she might be as crazy with grief as Eve.
When stabbing him through the head, she does so with hesitation— with reluctance— and
relief. There's something there that bothers her. Something she can probably see in herself.
So what is the concept of humanity exactly? How do all these parallels between characters
relate to each other? What does it all mean? And why did this video game lore analysis
video somehow turn into a philosophy class? I don't know. But what I do know is that
I have a pretty educated guess. About the humanity concept thing. Not the philosophy
class thing.
The concept of humanity in accordance to Nier Automata, is purpose. And it's the free
will to achieve that purpose.
When 9S is held captive by Adam and is hacking into his memory data, he finds information
on the machine lifeforms that leads to the conclusion that, "it's like the network
was copying every possible human behavior and discipline, they keep preforming the
same behaviors and never learn. It's almost as if the objective is failure."
You see, the machines are so obsessed with humanity because they desire to have the purpose
that humanity had. They desire to exult in their freewill— to reach achievements. So
they try to imitate humans in every way they can, and what do humans notoriously do?
They fail.
They fail a lot.
It's how we learn. But the machine lifeforms get tripped up somewhere around there. They
can't ever see past the trial part of the equation. It's why the forest kingdom trapped
their king inside the body of an infant that'll never grow, if only to replicate human nature.
They reach the error but they go no further. Bottom line: They inadvertently look to failure
for a sense of purpose.
This can be seen as a commentary on humans in general. If you've ever taken one history
class in your entire life then you'll know that wars have always been a recurring thing
over the same exact problems. Despite how terrible they are, how many causalities they
cause, humanity repeats the same mistakes over and over. It's almost as if we just
don't learn.
Conversely, when looking at androids and their sense of purpose— there is none. It's
duty. It's obligation. Their reason for existence is following orders. They are imitations
of humans but are meant to exist without a concept of humanity. Yet, they put themselves
above the machines saying that the machines are the ones who aren't alive. The irony
in this is made clear when Adam laughs at 9S, saying, "and yet you androids claim
to be alive? How very odd. You are puppets who lack your own free will."
Puppets blinded by the lies established by command, fueling a war that has no purpose
so that they do have a purpose. And at the root of it all, they're more alike their
enemy than they ever thought.
It's quite funny when you think about it. The story of Nier Automata is all about becoming
more human, whether it's wanted or not. For a species that usurped their creators
and another that lived past theirs, it demonstrates the cycle of life. No matter how much these
species evolve, they always end up back where they started— back where everything started.
Endless cycles. There's another theme for ya.
This confrontation with Adam is the spark that ignites the descent of 9S. He seeks to
fester the desires that he can see 9S has.
"You're thinking about how much you want to ---- 2B, aren't you?"
Now this statement can be interpreted in a few different ways. But the most common would
be well, I'm trying to keep this a PG-13 channel guys, so uh, I think you can fill
in that blank. The other is something that doesn't quite make sense until finishing
the game.
"You're thinking about how much you want to kill 2B, aren't you?"
And why would 9S want to kill 2B?
2B is literally the personification of his hatred towards machines. He hates them because
they kill androids. So does 2B. It is her purpose as 2E. She is everything he has ever
stood against.
Both words fill in the blank to this sentence appropriately. Both make sense. Because after
all, isn't there a fine line between love and hate?
The line between love and hate is the perfect mirror to the line between sex and death.
A dichotomy that goes hand in hand versus a dichotomy that signifies a beginning and
an ending.
It's not a coincidence that 2B straddles 9S in a blatantly sexual manner when killing
him in endings A and B. Nor is it a coincidence that 9S violently stabs the image of 2B in
the chest while in the same position later on in route C. Death scenes being correlated
with sexual themes is a recurring motif and is made even more so when you consider the
fact that, "android brains contain an algorithm which allows them to derive pleasure from
battle." So basically, the act of killing for androids is the equivalent to a human's
sexual stimulus.
So what does this say about 2B and 9S? A definitive answer isn't given, but many can be inferred.
Nier Automata can possibly be hinting at what it means to love and the pain that comes with
it, or more simply, what it means to be human— and the ups and downs that it entails. In
route C, without a bunker to reload data, making death a permanent possibility, androids
are far more like humans than ever before.
9S's grief is a contender to that.
In terms of the game's concept of humanity, 9S never truly descended. He found his purpose.
His purpose to avenge 2B.
This realization is referenced many times throughout the game— what 9S will become,
what he needs to truly have a reason to exist.
A purpose brought forth from the depths of his own desires and his own free will.
But at what price? Was humanity truly worth it?
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