Life energy and Souls // Reyna and Lucía

There is one scene in the REVELATION cinematic that rekindled my interest for life energy in the world of VALORANT, and that's the training montage. Sage enters room 5 of VALORANT HQ, grabs her gun and enters the training room, not before overriding the difficulty of the bots. All this time Omen is also in the room, calmly pruning a bonsai tree. While that whole montage is cool on its own, it is the small detail shown in the image below that really makes it one of the most meaningful scenes in the whole cinematic.

Clip of the scene

After destroying over a dozen bots, Sage is shot in the shoulder and knocked to the ground. She pulls herself up against the wall and uses her heal ability to restore the damage while still fighting off the bots. The focus then changes to Omen who turns around, alerted. And this alert poses a question: why does he do this?

Well, if you've read the title of this blog post you already know the answer. Life energy. You may also think that after all that intro fluff I would be talking about Sage and Omen, but you would be wrong! 

This is the first part in a series of essays talking about the agents (and maps?) that have a connection to life energy and souls, the first one being Reyna and her soul sucking powers, powers that bring with them a lot of questions I will hopefully address in future parts. Let's get to it!

Reyna, the empress

9 times. Throughout Reyna’s voicelines, she says “heart” 9 times. That is if we don’t count her ult lines. If we do, it's 12 times, the same as all the other agents combined. And from those other 12 voicelines, 5 are directed at Reyna. Suffice to say, Reyna’s heart is a central part of her as a character. And it’s not just her heart that is central, I pulled those voiceline statistics to show she is easily the agent whose voicelines have the most lore relevance if taken literally.

Reyna is generally known as sadistic and vicious when facing her enemies, whoever that may be. And while she enjoys taking the lives of her opponents, it’s not just a game. Spread throughout her voicelines is the abundant evidence that points towards Reyna physically needing to do so to survive:

• "Don't worry, your life won't go to waste."
• "All dead. And I'm still hungry."
•  "They're just batteries, and I need a recharge."
•  "That was a snack, I want a meal."
• "I will drain the life from our prey. That's all they're good for."
• "I have lied, beaten, killed to survive. I will kill again and again if it means one more day."
• "Somehow, the hunger always lingers."

While most of these lines display that sadistic personality, they also showcase that need to kill. If you go hungry for too long, you die. If you run out of battery, you die. But what is she looking for when she kills? What is it that she needs to survive? It’s souls. Surprisingly, she only mentions them one in her voicelines, “three souls”, when she gets a triple kill. That doesn’t mean it’s the only explicit mention of Reyna’s connection to souls, as the other agents make it clear:

• Brimstone: "Let's kill that Reyna, our team has got soul, I wanna keep it that way."

• Cypher: "Remember everyone, she can only suck our souls after we die. What a charming woman."

• KAY/O: "That Reyna won't touch a soul. I'll make sure of it."

• Omen: "Reyna, the souls you consume, do you hear their voices as I do?"

• Skye: "I'll keep my soul, thank you."

So Reyna needs souls to survive, that’s it right? Well, yeah, but survival is just the baseline. There are some voicelines that hint towards Reyna not always being at her full potential. When she consumes enough souls, she can enter her Empress form, and it’s when she wins a match in this form that she says the following:

• "This is who I was meant to be."

This could just be her rejoicing in the souls she has consumed, but let’s consider it’s not just that. Let’s put it in conjunction with two other voicelines:

• "These enemies have nothing special. Still human. Still mortal."

• "Oh. This poor place, it clings to life. A city after my own heart."

“Still mortal”. “Cling to life”. Both lines in reference to mortality, and in both of them Reyna denies her own. This is further emphasized by her name, Zyanya Mondragón. While the surname doesn’t bear much significance, Zyanya does. It has Zapotec origin, an indigenous civilization from the Mexico area, which according to multiple websites (although a more reliable source would be welcome) means “forever, always”, which given the previous context can be interpreted as living forever.

One additional line, said by Phoenix, also follows this line of thought, bringing attention to Reyna’s age, more specifically saying that Reyna looks younger than she may be:

• Phoenix: "Hey Reyna, how old are you? No shade, you look great! But like, sometimes you say the strangest things."

Name and lines come together to hint at a literal ultimate form which, given she consumes enough souls, allows her to be immortal (not invincible, as she is seen being forced avoid attacks in SHATTERED). And that’s the key part: if she can consume enough of them, which is a challenge considering she has to care for her sister alongside herself. The question now is how she absorbs and consumes those souls.

Remember I said her heart is a central part of her character? Let’s go back to the lines that show Reyna’s connection to souls. I purposefully left one out, a voiceline from Viper said on round start:

• Viper: "Fill your heart, Reyna. If you want results, I need those souls."

There’s two relevant elements: “fill your heart” and “I need those souls”. The second one is making reference to Reyna’s sister, which we will talk about in just a moment, so let’s focus on the first one, “fill your heart”.

Is Viper saying that’s where Reyna stores the souls? Her heart? Yes, but not her regular heart. Reyna is frequently depicted with a bright purple spot on her chest. Considering the color of the souls she consumes is very similar, it is a reasonable assumption that this is where the souls are stored.

A look at her tattoo drives this home. Running from the palm of her left hand, up her arm and according to multiple visuals, down to the center of her chest, this tattoo is a direct line for souls to be gathered and transported to this special heart. 

View the model on Kingdom Archives

And when I say transport, I mean literally. Both times we see Reyna consuming souls, that being in-game and in SHATTERED, she uses her left hand to absorb the soul, which causes the tattoo to progressively light up the same purplish color as the soul until it is all colored, at which point it returns to normal, signifying the soul has been absorbed or consumed, like electricity passing through a wire.

I'd like to point out that adding the tattoo on Reyna's left arm instead of her right is probably intentional, as humans most often have their heart slightly to the left on their chest, meaning that absorbing souls using her left hand is the fastest way for them to reach the heart.

Furthermore, it seems that the shape of the tattoo itself has a purpose. Let’s take a look at the hand and shoulder tattoos, to which I will refer to as nodes. A line comes off of the top part of the hand node, going all the way up her arm and into the shoulder node, which does does something similar, as another line comes off of it in the direction of the chest, where the glowing spot is, connecting them like, again, a wire, that directs where the souls should go. This begs the question, what does it mean for the nodes to be filled in? 

Right, so the souls are stored in some kind of heart. But what is that heart? Well, the key to this may lie in the Revenge for Life card, Reyna’s contract’s tier 9. In the wide version of Revenge for Life, a circular shape is covering the “Y” in Reyna’s name. A close look at this shape reveals that the centerpiece bears some resemblance to the tattoos in her hand and shoulder, the nodes.

View the card on Kingdom Archives

While this is a stretch, it’s possible that this circular shape is what causes the bright spot, the “heart”where Reyna stores the souls. There’s four pieces of evidence to support this. One of them is the curves coming into the “heart”, which are similar to those seen when she absorbs souls. This could be seen as the soul, or souls, entering the “heart”.

The second one, even less solid than the previous one, is the following Phoenix voiceline:

• Phoenix: "I'll crush her radiant heart."

It’s likely this voiceline is meant to show Phoenix hyping himself up to face a terrifying opponent such as Reyna, but it could also be seen as Phoenix referring to this separate, soul storing heart. Also, since it’s such a cool name, I’ll call the “heart” “Reyna’s radiant heart” from now on.

The third piece seems to be more intentional and it circles back on the idea of Reyna’s heart being a central part of her character. Just as the term centerpiece suggests, the circular figure is right at the center of Reyna’s name, drawing a parallel between the concept of the radiant heart and the figure.

The last one is the most intriguing. I’ve already talked about Reyna’s tattoo being some sort of wiring and the centerpiece being similar to the nodes, but this becomes relevant when noticing that it not only resembles the nodes but has a similar behavior. Looking closely, we can see that all “connections” coming off of and into it are only connected where there’s a pointy part, which is also the case for the nodes. Combined with the fact that the shoulder node has a wire headed to the glowing spot, the radiant heart, this could be a representation of its inner workings and the possibility that this is the final node, the place where the souls are stored.

Game texture of the tattoo, the red represents the connection
between the hand (left) and shoulder (right) nodes

As an extra point of interest, it is possible to see the glowing spot on Reyna’s chest pulsating during Agent Select, mimicking the beat of a heart. Considering these points, it could be that the shape seen in Revenge for a Life is some sort of container that causes the bright purple glow on Reyna’s chest. Is this the heart Viper is talking about? Can it physically be filled? Is this an insane stretch? Many questions, little to no answers.

Since I’ve said myself that this is a stretch, I should address any concerns regarding whether the centerpiece actually resembles Reyna’s abilities. On one hand there is the eye-looking orb from her Leer ability, which is not really similar given that there is only a vertical slit, nothing that resembles the “connections”.

 

On the other hand are the soul orbs, which feature an element similar to the curves surrounding the centerpiece. In my opinion, even this similarity isn’t close as the curves in the soul orbs all come out of and into itself, while the curves in the card each come from a different direction. If anything those curves are more representative of the beam formed between the souls orb and Reyna while it is being collected, furthering the motif of the centerpiece being the soul-storing radiant heart.

Still, this is just one interpretation that tries to make sense of a mere background element from the Revenge for Life card, so please take it with a grain of salt. Now onto Reyna’s sister, Lucía.

 

Lucía Mondragón

Reyna’s sister has been in fan theories since VALORANT came out, first introduced in the “For you, hermanita” voiceline. At first it was speculated that she may be dead due to another one of Reyna’s voicelines:

• "I remember the machines Killjoy made. What they did to... Nevermind. It does not matter."

However, recent developments such as Fade’s dossiers have made it clear that she is still alive. It is also interesting that Killjoy doesn’t seem to realize what her inventions have caused, saying:

• Killjoy: "It always feels like Reyna is after me personally. Does anyone else feel that way? No? Just me?"

Viper further confirms the idea of Lucía being alive in a follow up to her previously mentioned voiceline, the one regarding needing souls, in a 4.10 voicemail. This voicemail features Viper saying that they “owe it to Reyna” to keep Lucía alive, likely due to Killjoy’s involvement in the situation, and how it would be impossible to predict what Reyna would do if Lucía were to die. 

 

So essentially, fueled by her talent and genius, Killjoy has created machines that were used by other people (presumably Kingdom Corporation employees) to maim Lucía in ways we do not fully understand. Viper, likely out of fear for what Reyna would do should Lucía die, started treating Lucía with the help of the souls gathered in combat by Reyna in an attempt to stabilize her.

On this note, the VERSUS // Reyna + Viper card could be a depiction of Viper taking in Lucía, meaning that even if she is maimed she is still able to walk. However, it is also possible that this card shows Viper and Lucía before she is hurt, having dark implications for Viper. This is very unlikely as there is no clear cut evidence aside from this card to suggest that she was one of the scientists doing research on radiants.

View the card on Kingdom Archives

Going back to the voicemail, it’s with those attempts at stabilization that three other concepts introduced in the voicemail become central to the topic of this post: 

• Limited equipment

• Transfer process, unit infusion and conversion

• Chemical Radian equilibrium.

Viper is using some unspecified equipment to infuse life energy into Lucía, but this equipment is limited. The boundaries of the equipment imply one of two things:

1. Scientific research on life energy has started somewhat recently, possibly in relation to the Radiants that appeared after First Light. 

2. Research has been ongoing for some time but it’s advancing very slowly.

Either possibility has large implications with regards to life energy which we’ll discuss the next parts of this series, but they both indicate that the technology around it is still in its infancy.

The next central concept is the transfer process, which given it is preceded by Viper asking for more souls, it is safe to assume that it is souls that are being transferred from Reyna to Lucía. On this same line, the “units infused” are also the souls, however this is preceded by the  concept of conversion, which finally ties together the concept of souls with life energy.

Viper explains that only 1 of 3 units, which I said most likely refer to souls, make it through the conversion process, and immediately after she says that life energy is not her area of expertise, implying that those souls are being converted into something else within the field of life energy.

But what is that something else? I see two possibilities:

• A derivative of souls, akin to refining raw Radianite into the Radianite we see in the boxes

• Souls “compatible” with her sister

Radianite refinement process seen in Bind

As much as the first one of the two possibilities sounds cooler, I think evidence points towards the second one being the case. We know that Reyna collects and absorbs souls, mentioned explicitly at the start of the voicemail, “She has to collect more souls”. But then, at the end of the voicemail, “souls” is replaced with the term “life”, “Collecting enough life for the both of them”, creating the implication that souls and life are interchangeable.

In my opinion, this implication is indicative of there not existing a derivative product, just a modification in the soul, or life, so that Lucías body is able to accept it. The question then becomes why this is necessary. What ties collected souls to one person? I think the answer may lay in one of the key components to Radiance: genetic makeup. Queue speculation.

Quote from David Nottingham, Creative Director of VALORANT

A good analogy in this situation is an organ transplant. Each person has their own set of genes which determines among other things, their blood type. The blood type of the recipient has to be compatible with that of the donor for the transplant to even be considered. Given this, a similar situation could be happening with the souls collected by Reyna, but since Viper can’t really choose where the souls come from they are forced to convert them to Lucía’s “type”.

But then, how does Reyna absorb the souls without facing this issue? Well, she may face the issue as well, but her powers, maybe the nodes, do the conversion when the soul is being absorbed.

In any case, this is solid evidence for a connection between souls and life energy, and what it means for Lucía is that Viper can only do so much to help her, as both the equipment and Viper’s understanding of the field are limiting factors.

Finally, we have one more concept to address, chemical Radian equilibrium. It’s quite a vague sentence, so let’s try to dissect it:

• Chemical equilibrium happens when the reactants and products of a reaction are such that there is no change over time in a reaction.

• Radians, while largely unknown to the player and perhaps the PROTOCOL itself, are likely particles related to Radianite according to the Large Radian Collider in Fracture.

Game texture from Fracture mentioning Radians (bottom right)

Putting the two of them together, it seems chemical compounds that contain radians should be reacting with other compounds in such a way that chemical equilibrium is achieved. Given the context of the voicemail, it could apply to one of two elements in the voicemail:

• Lucía’s affliction.

• The conversion process.

For this post I will only consider the context applying to the first element, Lucía’s affliction, for the theories and speculation presented, so feel free to comment with your own ideas for how this applies to the conversion process!

My interpretation of how the concept of chemical Radian equilibrium applies to Lucía’s affliction is that Lucías body is unable to achieve it, and Viper is aiming to solve this issue.

Assuming Lucía is also a Radiant, there is one major takeaway from this situation: Radiants’ bodies contain Radian particles. Building upon this, we can theorize that the reactions that those Radian particles undergo within their bodies dictate the sort of radiant powers they have. For a regular radiant, those reactions achieve this chemical Radian equilibrium, but it seems Reyna’s sister is not able to, but why?

I’d like to bring back the previously mentioned genetic makeup, or genotype. We know that this, along with other factors, is what triggers Radiance within humans. Together with the theory in the previous paragraph, it could also be theorized that it is that same genetic makeup that determines what those reactions are. So what happens when the genotype is altered? What happens when the underlying DNA is damaged?

Let’s present another analogy: cancer and radiation. Cancer, an often deadly disease in which cells with damaged DNA divide uncontrollably, counts radiation, a threat to the integrity of a person’s DNA, as one of its causes. Applied to a medical context, we find that one of the key components of modern medicine is the x-ray, powered by electromagnetic-radiation. Although extremely safe to use nowadays, past investigation and manufacture of x-ray devices caused a number of deaths due to cancer.

Similarly, it seems manipulation of Radianite is largely controlled by the time of the events of the game. Kingdom has the standard issue hazmat suits seen in Icebox, which bear resemblance to the real life hazmat suits used in high-radiation situations, the same type of radiation that causes damage to DNA. And to further the parallel between the dangers of Radianite and the dangers of real life radiation, even the danger signs designed for each are similar:

       

There is also a standard procedure to follow when exposed to it, according to the Fracture announcements:

• "If you believe you have been exposed to excess Radianite, report to Facility Medical immediately."

However, this is only the current state of Radianite hazard control. Much like the early days of modern science, it is likely some research surrounding the substance was performed without the necessary protective equipment, especially if there wasn’t much regard for the subjects of the study. And what research project with dubious morality do we know of?

The research on radiants, not only adult but child radiants too. The one Lucía presumably was a part of according to Reyna’s dossier. On the line of thought of unethical science, Killjoy’s dossier introduces the idea that her machines were twisted from their original intention, so it is possible that the research team, while using Killjoy’s machines, exposed Lucía to an excessive amount of Radianite which radiation caused damage in her DNA, affecting her body’s ability to control the Radian reactions and causing the broken equilibrium. With this theory in mind, I propose two causes for Reyna needing to collect souls for Lucía.

View the dossier on Kingdom Archives

The first cause has one of the elements in the Radian reactions being the life mentioned by Viper, acting similarly to heat, an external factor that is also a form of energy, in endothermic (heat is absorbed) and exothermic (heat is released) reactions so that some of the reactions consume life, which is also referred to as energy, and others release it. If so, it is possible that after the DNA damage too much of it is being consumed, requiring Reyna to “collect life for the both of them” in order to compensate.

The second cause is a lot more interesting in my opinion. So assuming once again that Lucía is a Radiant as well, what if the DNA mutations didn’t have anything to do with the life consumed in the reactions but with Lucía’s ability to consume souls on her own? It seems like Reyna’s powers already face the issue of consuming life energy as evidenced by her being forced to consume souls like explained earlier. 

The Radian reactions achieve equilibrium in terms of reactants and products, but they consume more life than Reyna is able to produce on her own. This deficit is made up through her Radiant abilities. Then, it could be that Lucía has powers similar to Reyna, which require her to consume souls on a regular basis to force the equilibrium, but that those powers were removed or limited by the DNA damage.

For clarification, a lack of life would affect the equilibrium as the less life there is available, less reactions that consume it can take place, forcing less reactions that produce it. This results in a constant decrease in the number of reactions until eventually there is no life left.

This would also imply that Viper is trying to fix the right thing for the wrong reasons, as in she is trying to fix Lucías DNA to address the imbalance in her Radian reactions, which is a symptom, instead of the cause, the loss of her powers

Then the questions are: how could Lucía’s DNA be restored? How many souls does it take for Reyna to keep herself and her sister alive? How many people must she kill?

However, there’s an issue that comes with the consumption and production of life on Radiant. If most Radiants are able to achieve a perfect balance in this process, we would be looking at a perpetual motion machine. In real life this concept is impossible as it violates the laws of thermodynamics, but the world of VALORANT has Radianite which has been shown to do incredible things, so I present, once again, two possibilities:

• Radianite magic! We’ve been told there are physics behind Radianite that could explain a perpetual motion machine, and Kingdom Corporation does produce ¾ of the world’s energy, so… Radianite Guide when?

• Humans, or at least radiants, generate life through separate means. An interesting thought that derives from this is the possibility that the lifespan of a Radiant is affected by their increased use of life energy.

Radianite Guide teaser image from the End of Year: Creative Team article

Closing thoughts

Suffice to say, Reyna and Lucía have some of the most interesting yet undeveloped lore in the entirety of VALORANT, with content surrounding their story and their powers spread throughout multiple lore delivery format.

This first look at life energy and souls through the lense of the two sisters raises a lot of questions in regard to not only the main topic of this series but also to how does Radiance really work, and the next entry in the series will get even further into the rabbit hole with a look at Skye's abilities!

I hope you enjoyed the lengthy read, until next time... happy lore hunting and have a nice day!

PS: Thank you Strawberry7, "1 AM B34ST#5566" and QueenLoutre!