SPOILER [Theory] The Silent Expanse was formerly corrupt

Something has always confused me ever since the Silent Expanse was released, the expanse is filled with spikes. Not of corruption, but of darkness. Spikes, which happen to look like a recolor of the entire theme of corruption.


But isn't corruption supposed to be the middleman between darkness and light? Why would darkness and corruption share the same themes (of having spikes) while light spikes aren't a thing that exists? Corruption seems to be more akin to darkness even though it shouldn't be. Maybe it's because what we see in SE isn't actually what pure darkness looks like.


We know that the olm had some form of control over the light, maybe not as much as the elves. But enough control over it, that an olm oracle was able to create a weapon of pure light (source: the fate of the olm). What if the olms once tried defending against dern with light, then had to resort to the magic of the crystals when the world around them began to corrupt, eventually fleeing into the Dernal Jungle, and then going insane due to the crystals' magic? Then when all of that was done, the darkness swept over the now corrupted remnants of the expanse and overtook it with darkness? Think of it as covering the exterior of the corruption with a layer of paint (darkness).

This could explain why darkness spikes aren't present in Kander or Dark forest. This could also explain why Dern Beast doesn't seem to mind having Ba'kal as one of his minions, maybe the Beast is aware that corruption can be used to further expand its domain?


Known Issues:
1. The entire theory is a bit of a stretch, we don't really know if darkness (or any other primordial force, such as light) can just cover up corruption like that.

2. If the Olm knew corruption was a thing, why did they still make the weapon of pure light in the fate of the olm?


This is my first theory, so I probably overlook a few important details. So tell me if I got anything wrong

 

Seems pretty legit

 

hm. well, you're not wrong that it's a bit of a stretch that darkness could completely cover up corruption like that, to the point that the lutho monolith contains the only visible sign of corruption left in the expanse, but this is pretty interesting. if we assume that the olm aren't complete idiots, they'd probably have stopped using light magic once the corruption started taking visible effect, so the darkness could've swept through the corruption before it could take hold anywhere
although, that's still fairly iffy because the spikes are around the entire expanse, which would then imply that corruption somehow spread to the entire expanse while still being weak enough to be swept over

perhaps the expanse could've been a battleground between dark and corruption until bak'al was recruited, at which point he was able to manipulate and weaken the corruption there to allow the dern beast to take full control? of course that's also iffy since we don't know if bak'al could or would do such a thing, and there aren't any signs that there was a cross-dimensional war going on there during the time of the lutho miners

still, interesting theory to think about, pretty cool

 

We've seen Dern itself, and that place also has the spikes. The lack of such spikes in Kander and the Dark Forest is due to the Darkness sapping the light from the area rather than a direct invasion of Darkness itself. The corrupted spikes are likely a result of Dern spikes appearing and then having their Dark energy removed by light

 

I don't remember any cutscenes or anything showing the actual look of the realm of Dern. The Silent Expanse's secret shows the inside of a building. I do remember seeing a few spikes (I think?) in the dark realm in Fantastic Voyage, although we do not know if that is Dern. Am I missing a cutscene?

 

Fantastic Voyage's Dark Realm is most likely dern. If it were another realm it would probably be corrupted rather than Dern-ified. Also it seems to have been how Bob got to Dern

 

Olm performed magic shit and spawned the Dern portal which only then trolled them and turned the province into what it is now (it looked normal before)

 

i mean i don’t think it necessarily has to be dern, if there’s a portal to actual dern somewhere inside it the Bob thing works fine and that feels a lot more logical to me than Relend magically being able to survive the realm of pure darkness by himself for a few minutes

that being said yeah it’s pretty telling that there are spikes there too, like krepel said se most likely looked like the rest of Wynn before

 

I could see the area in A Fantastic Voyage as some kind of gateway/tunnel into Dern without being entirely Dern. Sort of implying Gateway was once a normal island until a tunnel between Dern and Wynncraft's world was made. Thus making it semi-magical or half absorbed into Dern. Which is why it was not found on maps cause it wasn't part of this realm.

 

I would say kander and dark forest dont have them because they arent fully dernified. The se is when dark magic fully takes over while kander is still developing, also the spikes dont seem to be corruption spikes as they emmit dark energy

 

I dont agree, and its because it doesnt make sense, ESPECIALLY, if you look at Olux Swamp Ultimate Secret Discovery the parasites come out of a "gateway" to dern and SPIKES GROW AROUND THE GATEWAY,


Although, The Silent Expanse might have had something to do with corruption at some point, because below the broken bridge from A Journey Beyond(where elphaba and lucio disappeared)theres this ravine area and there are Spikes with a bit of red on them, and also in Path to Darkness or Portal To Dern behind the eldritch outlook, there are large Red Spikes,


Also i got a theory that Dern kinda "ate" or attracted parts of the area around the portal into dern and thats why theres void and floating stone spheres with some olmic buildings on some of them

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I dont think its dern but rather another realm Which was dernified, for example, Dern beast was trying to take over orphion and eliminate every bit of light from the world and take over the realm, so maybe this realm was overrun by dern from another portal, idk

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im almost 100% sure that SE was confirmed to be a part of wynn before being overrun by darkness,

 

Blood, blood of the Olm

 

Late post, but I believe the 'spikes' are intended as focal points of influence. Dern Monoliths, much like Corruption Spikes, likely grow out from deep within the earth and function similarly to a tree stretching its roots. The light seems to have no desire to spread without purpose (The only instance in game we see of the light trying to grow it's influence is Lutho's obelisk, which exists to give the opportunity for the forsaken people there to escape reality) but I imagine that if it desired to spread, it would do so in a similar way.
Old corruption spikes are also somewhat outdated in their design, as newer corruption builds have coal blocks incorporated around the base of where they emerge from the earth, whereas Dernic influence has twisting monoliths with crystalline growths warped around them or embedded into the otherworldly stone.

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That isn't to say that Corruption could not have had some role in The Expanse. Corruption represents War and Chaos, and it would not be out of the question that Dern would work in some fashion with Corruption - especially with Bak'al heeding the command of the Dern Embodiment. Further, in EO, as the area experiences 'Reversion', it begins to assume a more corrupted-adjacent color pallet (though this may not mean anything and may just be more primeval Dernic influence.)