The Hades 2 Technical Test has revealed an abundance of information about the sequel’s heavily-anticipated plot! Melinoë must venture into the Underworld, defeat Chronos, and rescue her family! Continue reading to discover all there is to know so far and what might happen next!
Hades 2 Technical Test Starts!
After a long drought where information about Hades 2 was scarce, Supergiant Games has finally commenced the technical test intended to iron out the kinks of the game before it hits a wider audience with early access. A select number of players can try their luck to get access to the technical test and play through the entire first region of Erebus. Access is given at random, so try your luck by requesting access on Hades 2’s Steam page and wait for the Gods to bless you with boons.
If you’re one of the unfortunate majority who couldn’t get access but are still rabid for any new details about the plot, then look no further! We’ll go through what plot points the technical test reveals and contains, and how they might spell eternal grace or doom for the future of Melinoë and her family.
OBVIOUS SPOILER WARNING AHEAD FOR THE HADES 2 TECHNICAL TEST
What We Know About Hades 2 Story So Far
The Reveal Trailer and What Came After
From the first announcement trailer, we can gather that Melinoë, the witch princess daughter of Hades and Persephone, is being trained by the Goddess of witchcraft and all things magic, Hecate. It wasn’t until the two repeat the words "Death to Chronos" did we get clued into the potential antagonist of the sequel, Chronos the Titan of Time himself. By the end of the trailer, we get a glimpse of the titular God of the Dead in chains, hopelessly stating that no one can defeat Time itself.
Many in the Hades community postulated that these events could be before Zagreus, our protagonist from the original, was even born, turning Hades 2 into a prequel. However, a press release confirmed that the game was going to take place after the events of Hades, which raised concerns as to the whereabouts of the royal family and friends in the Underworld.
So, Where Are Hades, Persephone, Best Boy Zagreus, and the Rest of our Beloved Cast?
Finally, as players got their hands on the Hade 2 technical test, it was revealed that Chronos struck and took control of the Underworld not long after Melinoë was born. In the process, Hades, Persephone, and even Zagreus have all been captured. Though their exact fates are unknown, they are mentioned to be ‘thralled’ under Chronos’ influence. Previous fan-favorite characters such as Achilles, Megaera, Thanatos, Dusa, and other Best Boy Cerberus have not been mentioned. Nyx, the Goddess of the Night, is continually mentioned in passing through her offspring, Moros and Nemesis – new Gods coming into the fold to aid our heroine.
A specific time frame between the first and second game has not been hinted on, but we can definitely confirm it to take place well after the events of the first game, as Melinoë owns a painting of her family, where Zagreus is seen alongside his parents handling her as a baby. The painting itself was said to be unfinished, as it wasn’t long before Chronos made his move and usurped the God of the Dead and his family.
Now, their fate rests on the youngest’s shoulders.
How Melinoë Found Herself Under Hecate's Tutelage
As Chronos took over the Underworld and Melinoë continually trains, Hecate once recalls how she rescued the princess infant away from harm and even alluded to having fought Chronos herself. Though she didn’t share details, she most likely suffered an overwhelming defeat, as she spoke rather solemnly while recollecting. Hecate then took and raised Melinoë in The Crossroads between the Underworld and the Overworld, where her influence is the strongest and could host in secrecy those who continue to rebel against the Titan of Time.
As Melinoë sets out on her life's mission to defeat Chronos, she’ll have the support of a handful of new faces to aid in her quest.
New and Familiar Friends Found in Undead, Mortal, and Godly Faces
The Crossroads, the main hub of Hades 2, houses all remaining supporters of the House of Hades, with a few key characters missing. As mentioned before, Achilles, Megaera, Thanatos, Dusa, Cerberus, and Nyx are all missing in action. Only two (or three) characters make a surprising return.
First is Skelly, who dons his former identity as Admiral Schelemus and continues to be the main training dummy, offering more quantifiable tips and tricks for combat compared to before. Second would be the God of sleep Hypnos! Unfortunately, with his hair grown out, he appears to have fallen into an indefinite sleep, unable to wake and grace us with his amazing advice. Lastly, and most important of all, gathering enough ingredients to consume at the cauldron, you will be able to resummon THE WRETCHED BROKER! I love that guy, always sells the good stuff.
Familiar faces aside, The Crossroads is home to other significant characters.
A new face would be Nemesis, the Goddess of Revenge, who seems to be always antsy with how Melinoë has been tasked with the Underworld’s retribution instead of her, the Goddess of it. She and Melinoë don’t quite get along, as they often bicker and trade snide jabs.
Another new character that surprised many is Odysseus! The Greek hero himself to whom the great work of the Odyssey revolved around. He seemingly fills in Achilles’ role as the mortal mentor for our heroine, as he offers advice and friendly banter with Melinoë.
Lastly, Melinoë has a ghostly best friend in the form of Dora! She seems to be a ghost in training, constantly flipping between being friendly and menacing as haunting practice. Not much is known of Dora’s true identity, but we might have an inkling for later on in the article…
Popular Theories Confirmed, Denied, or Still Up in the Air
The Narrator is Actually Homer, Author of the Iliad and Odyssey
A longstanding theory on the raspy narrator’s identity has finally been confirmed! In a flashback to when Melinoë was still a child, she acknowledges and calls the narrator by name to be Homer himself! The poet and author of the illustrious Iliad and Odyssey! Many in the community have tried to pinpoint the potential identity of the narrator since Hades has been out, and now it’s finally official.
Zagreus Will Be A God that Offers Help or Boons
Many were hopeful that our beloved protagonist would be featured in a major way in the sequel, from becoming some sort of big brother mentor figure, an ally in combat similar to how Thanatos would pop in, or perhaps a full-fledged God himself that could offer boons. However, as one of the main plot points is Zag and his parents being held captive by Chronos, the likelihood of him becoming any help is low. There COULD be a story event that would eventually free him (let’s save that theory for later), but as he remains imprisoned, he will most likely stay immobile for the majority of the game.
Fingers crossed for the endgame perhaps…?
Dora is Pandora, the one who Unleashed all the Evils in the World
Dora, being one of the new characters in Hades 2, shared some similarities with the predecessor’s Dusa. Both being ‘bubbly’ (most of the time for Dora) personalities that are good friends with our protagonists just chilling at their base of operations. So, of course fans are quick to speculate that the derivation of their names also shares the same process. Dusa, short for Medusa, and Dora, short for Pandora. Although Hades never explicitly confirms Dusa to be the infamous Medusa, some allusions heavily hint her to be the beheaded Gorgon cursed by Athena.
So far, however, none of Melinoë’s interactions and dialogue with Dora subtly hint or indicate her being the infamous Pandora who opened the jar (yes, it wasn’t a box) containing all the evils in the world.
All Twelve Major Olympian Gods Will be Present
For a quick runthrough, the twelve major Olympian Gods are seen not as the most powerful in Greek mythology, but most important. Though they were present in Hades for the majority of it, there was a noticeable absence of Hera, Hephaestus, Apollo, and, as a bit of a stretch, Hestia before she got replaced by Dionysus. So far in the technical test, Hephaestus, Apollo, and Hestia have been revealed to be included in the game! However, Athena, Ares, Hermes, and Dionysus have been absent, with only Hermes being mentioned in passing. Hera, the Queen Goddess herself, has yet to even have a presence in both games, so we’re all eagerly waiting for the Olympian Mother’s arrival.
Melinoë is Stuck in a Time Loop That Enables Her to be "Revived" After Each Death
This theory arose when players wanted to find a reason for Melinoë to ‘reset’ similarly to Zagreus. Since in Hades, Zagreus must always die when he accomplishes his goal of reaching the Overworld due to straying far from his home domain. This forces him to keep on taking treacherous runs through the underworld to once again reach the surface and spend time with his mother, only to die an agonizing death and be reborn once more for another run.
For Hades 2, people were rapidly theorizing how the folks at Supergiant were to spin the rogue-like mechanic of starting over for Melinoë, and thus arrived at the antagonist’s main power over time. The theory was that Melinoë, once slain in battle, will merely utilize his titan grandfather’s power and return to her original state and location before a run. Either she herself has time capabilities, or she utilizes an enforced time loop Chronos has imposed upon the Underworld, freezing it in place for his schemes.
However, as the technical test shows, as Melinoë is defeated in battle, she merely quickly casts a spell by chanting variations of "RETURN TO SHADOW!" in order to escape her demise. This was definitely a bit of a let-down, as fans were expecting something more clever akin to Zagreus’ unlimited deaths.
However, fans of a theory concerning time loops could still have hope…
Predictions and Speculations for the Future
Melinoë Will Get Herself Stuck in a Time Loop with Chronos to Keep him at Bay Forever
Okay yeah, it sounds rather depressing compared to the happy ending we received in Hades 1, but it’s always a possibility if presented with the ability to mess with time. The theory is that Melinoë will make the ultimate sacrifice and fight through the Underworld to slay or be slain by Chronos. The cycle will then repeat, locking the titan in a perpetual state of battle, refuting him of any power to move onto his bigger plans of possibly conquering Olympus. Some might identify this as similar to Marvel’s Dr. Strange and Dormammu, where the Sorcerer Supreme locks Dormammu into a time loop as he gets killed in countless different ways.
Although trapping Melinoë in eternal conflict with Chronos sounds rather dire, there’s a possible way it could be resolved…
Zagreus Will Be Freed and Become a Second Playable Character
Once Melinoë accomplishes her mission of freeing the captives of the Underworld, she herself might either be trapped in the aforementioned theoretical time loop or rendered injured or captive by grandfather Titan. This would open up Zagreus to retake the protagonist's mantle and rescue his sister. One comparison similar to this would be Devil May Cry 4, where the series introduced a new protagonist in Nero, who then ended up captured by the enemy and had to rely on the elder mentor and previous protagonist Dante to rescue him.
Who knows, Zagreus’ rescue mission might find him in a new unexplored territory he’s never been able to set foot on before…
Olympus Will be Accessible
The Crossroads has plenty of inaccessible areas in the technical test, with some gates and barriers in place barring access. One curious barrier stands opposite the path that leads down deeper into the Underworld, where if Melinoë goes near it, gives the prompt "Go Up?" Now, seeing as The Crossroads are still between the Overworld and Underworld, that path might only lead to some areas in the Overworld. However, what if there’s a scenario where Olympus has fallen, and it’ll be up to either Zagreus and/or Melinoë to fight their way up Olympus and defeat Chronos? That’d surely be a heavenly sight to see.
Chronos Will Control Hades, Persephone, or Zagreus to fight Melinoë
This one is a bit disconnected from the previous theories. As Chronos, one of the most evil figures in Greek Mythology with captive Gods under his control, he can’t NOT pull a mind-control angle and have Melinoë face the family members she’s spent her entire godly life desperately trying to save. They could easily rehash Hades’ boss fight from the first game, or have an AI controlled Zag absolutely destroy us. Persephone could even be the hardest fight among the three with her righteous maternal fury.
Regardless, there’s almost a sure guarantee that Melinoë will have to face a direct member of her family, be it under mind-controlled circumstances or friendly sparring perhaps with her brother.
