Topic: Metroid Prime Hunters topic: Arcterrestrial Chozo Ruins

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The Chozo are known to have once inhabited the worlds Zebes, SR-388, Tallon IV and Elysia, but could they have resided in more worlds currently in the Metroid universe? Arcterra is one world that makes that a likely possibility. While the world is known to be home to Alimbic ruin sites, the world's structures become more of a mystery the further Samus explores. The furthest location from the Arcterra Gateway, Subterranean, is perhaps home to Arcterra's biggest mystery. Were the underground tunnels of the Subterranean once a chunk of a Chozo settlement in the depths of Arcterra?

Subterranean's lower level contains a curved hall, leading to the location's Cartograph Artifact, which has a decorative architectural pattern on its left wall. For those who have played Metroid Prime, the Arboretum in Tallon IV's Chozo Ruins features that same architectural pattern prominently, starting simple towards the water at the base of the location's central tree and becoming more intricate towards the room's third runic symbol. The pattern is not ordinary for the Chozo, as, with the presence of Chozo Ghosts that are "drawn to Chozo religious sites" (scan: Chozo Ghost), the Arboretum is a religious site. To have a pattern featured up and down the Arboretum to enhance its presentation, it is a special part of the room's architecture. For the Subterranean to contain that pattern, the potential for the Chozo to have once inhabited Arcterra is no longer the only implication. Arcterra's furthest location now might have had ties to Chozo religious beliefs.

Subterranean is home to a special architectural pattern associated to a Chozo religious site, Arboretum, but this only implies one location on Arcterra as linked to the Chozo and it hasn't been like the Chozo to have such a small settlement. Breaking up the pattern to focus on the repeated designs that it consists of, that design can be seen etched and framed upon structures in the Sanctorus and Drip Moat. What that presence of the pattern design implies is that most of Arcterra's latter locations may have once been active with Chozo, considering the route from the Drip Moat to the Sanctorus which includes the Fault Line and Frost Labyrinth. What the spread of the design could mean is that the Chozo once on Arcterra tried to conduct their religion in multiple locations, not just Subterranean.

If these ruins had several potential religious sites, what was the basis for Chozo religion on Arcterra? Well, it was likely the world's ice and formations. The pattern strip relates to Tallon IV, a world where the Chozo forgo their advanced technological achievements in favor of seeking a strong harmony with nature. The Chozo of Tallon IV were so bonded with nature that they saw "prophecy in the ripples of the water," (Worm). Whether Arcterra's ice is actually water or another compound, I do not know, but there is an association to water here to the extent that the ice very well could have offered a similar visionary ability to the Chozo and they cherished it.

What supports the idea of the ice providing visions to the Chozo is that at Subterranean and Fault Line there are "ice doors." Leading into the pattern curve at Subterranean is an archway clear of an ice sheet, so an ice sheet being present in what should be an opening could symbolize that ice is viewed as a doorway for the Chozo that provides them insight when "opened." What is strange about the "ice doors" is that they might providing images in the present cluster. Look long enough at the left "ice door" on the ground level of Fault Line and you may just see a face in the ice. The "ice doors" at Subterranean may offer some interesting shapes too, so definitely check them out.

Besides the potential of providing prophecy to the Chozo, there is another mystery with the presence of these "ice doors" at Subterranean and Fault Line. In the multiplayer, where these locations are switched, the arena Fault Line is absent of the "ice doors" and the lower levels of both the Fault Line and Subterranean from the single player connect in that arena's structure. Does that imply that, if these "ice doors" weren't in the single player, Fault Line connects right to Subterranean? Not exactly. In the single player, where Arcterra is shown in its true representation, going through the Fault Line's "ice doors" would not give Samus such immediate access to the underground passages of Subterranean even if she could get through them. The large Drip Moat stretches between the two locations in the single player, so breaking through an "ice door" may reveal a more extensive ruin site below or just beyond the side walls of Arcterra's Drip Moat.

There may also be no hidden ruins. The Chozo may have reached a massive block of ice that they simply decided to incorporate into the build of their settlement, and again, have these "ice doors" as a way of symbolizing the sight the ice provided to them if not built to enhance their focus on visions provided by the ice.

It is known that Arcterra use to be home to the Alimbics, it is one of their four major territories, but it may have once been home to the Chozo as well. From a religious pattern to incorporating the planet's abundant ice into their architectural design, an Arcterrestrial Chozo Ruins is a real possibility. To leave this topic with a final thought, I am addressing most of the second visit locations of Arcterra with this theory. Is it just coincidence that a new Arcterra theme is introduced on Arcterra's second Octolith quest that just happens to be a remix of a track from Phendrana Drifts, furthering linking Arcterra's depths to a major region on Tallon IV? Do you believe in an Arcterrestrial Chozo Ruins that you can see and hear?

Thoughts on the subject?