New Tales of the Borderlandsis a wild adventure full of the same irreverence and crass humor you’ve come to expend from Borderlands. Like its predecessor, New Tales of the Borderlands is more like a visual novel than the shoot ‘em up bullet fest like the other games, and, as a result, has a heavier focus on the story.
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While that story is full of sarcasm, fourth-wall breaks, and a disdain for storytelling conventions, beneath all that postmodernism, is a lore that links all the games. Which is why after all is said and done, and the (roughly) three protagonists surface victorious, we have some lingering questions.
There are major unmarked spoilers ahead. If you haven’t beaten New Tales of the Borderlands, consider doing so and coming back after.
7How Did Rhys Escape Tediore?
Rhys, deuteragonist of the previous Tales of the Borderlands, finds himself in quite the pickle early on. After an impromptu exit interview with Anu, he finds himself having to entertain two Tediore soldiers in a hostile takeover.
He contacts Anu later, no worse for wear, and asking the good guys for help finding the Vault Treasure via teleconference. How did he escape? Was it because of derring-do or dumb luck? An office full of traps?Some tricks picked up from a former fellow CEO? The simplest answer is that he gave up the goods on the Vault, and Coldwell let him go.
While this means she gave up an opportunity to off one of her direct competitors, given what she does later, it’s not too surprising that she’d let Rhys go just to further humiliate him.
6What Happened To Sasha And Vaughn?
Speaking of characters from previous games, what are Sasha and Vaughn up to? The last time we saw the latter, he was the head of a group of bandits, only to be left for dead once Borderlands 3 rolls around, just in time to be rescued in a quest chain. But it’s odd that he doesn’t seem to ever attempt to work alongside his best bro.
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Sasha is an intriguing case. She’s aromantic interest for Rhys, so we’d expect to see her, since Rhys had a big role in one of the areas of Borderlands 3. But in that game, and in New Tales of the Borderlands, we get nary a mention of her. She only gets a cameo in the form of a portrait on Rhys desk in both games, but that’s it.
At least the portrait suggests that they’re on good terms, and perhaps even in a romantic relationship.
5Where Is The “Vacation Spot”?
Anu’s device (gun) is an important element in the plot, though its function varies across the game. Initially, it’s conceived as a device that teleports people away, removing targets from conflict non-lethally. Anu insists that’s what the gun does, but she hasn’t worked the functionality to recall anything sent away.
There’s evidence that the device functions as she insists it does, but if so, where are all these things going? We only ever see Timm-E return from this place, and even then only briefly, as he is said to have some quantum entanglement weirdness.
At one of the ending paths, Anahatium Susan is nearly “sent on vacation” by the device, saved by the remaining crystal and a little bit of biomatter she left behind. But it could be argued that this is an unintended result, and that she was the victim of a partial teleportation.
4What Happened To Octavio’s Friends?
Early on in the game, we’re introduced to Octavio’s gang of friends: Assassin-bot L0U13, Sniper and Thief Diamond Danielle, Demolitions Expert Radon, and Taco Vendor Paco. Of these, only L0U13 is a major player in the plot, with the rest showing up briefly in cutscenes during the game and in a few of the endings.
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The thing is, it looked like they would play a bigger part in the game. In an early section, Octavio can call one of them for assistance in eliminating a Tediore commander, and, if you summon Danielle, she implies that she’ll no longer be available for favors later in the story.
While this looks like a mechanic that would crop up again, it never does. So what did they get up to during the invasion? Were they ever caught? Did they shoot their way through it or just lay low?
3Why Did Stapleface Die?
Near the beginning of the game, Anu accidentally befriends a Psycho who is attempting to reform. We don’t see her again until near the end, where after joining the party briefly, she is killed in a firefight.
But… why? She’s one of the more interesting characters in the game, being one of the few Psychos who was able to leave the Psycho life behind, and she still dies a death befitting one. Saving her should have been trivial, since unlike L0U13, she’s a living being and therefore could be healed by the Shard.
The Shard seems to work like any other healing device, being able to heal at the behest of the user, but for some reason, it didn’t save Stapleface. Did it not find her worthy of saving, or did Stapleface’s death fit into its scheme of reintegrating?
2What Is The Integrated Being?
Speaking of the Shard, we see it traveling through space before meeting up with thequantum-entangled Timm-E, who says he can control “it”. Whether he means his teleportation powers, or the approaching particles of the Anahatium Shard, is not clear.
He welcomes the Shardlight into his being and celebrates joyfully after, his voice altered similarly to others possessed by the Shard, and his name in the subtitles changed to “Integrated”.
Who is this new being, and how much of it is the original Timm-E? What does it hold for the future of Borderlands? The last we hear of it, it’s hurtling towards the Gladius Nebula, perhaps a possible setting for Borderlands 4?
1What’s Fiona’s Deal?
Marcus is one of the most interesting characters in the Borderlands canon. He’s the narrator of the series, and one of Moxxi’s (many) former paramours. He’s supposedly just another character, but his narration of events he took no part in implies an omniscience that no other character is shown to have… until this game.
Joining him in the epilogue is Fiona, another intriguing character who has remained conspicuously absent since her initial appearance. Here, we see her discussing the events of the game, and even working out something that Marcus had not.
Even if there’s nothing mystical about Marcus’ role and they’re justtrading stories they’ve heard second hand, that still begs the question of where Fiona has been this whole time and what’s next for her.
Will we finally see her realize her dream of being a Vault Hunter? Or does she have some grander role to play in the lore and story?
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