[D4] Is Rathma still alive?

Great comments everyone I was really getting tired of seeing all of the D2R threads.

That could be a fault in the lore.
I quoted it before, in BlizzCon 2019 | Diablo IV: Unveiled | Full Panel there is
conveyed that creating sanctuary comes along with created the first mortals.
Sounds for me like he means the first generation of nephalems

min 03:02.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7UsescTKec&t=50s&ab_channel=BlizzardEntertainment

Additionally Cain himself wrotes in the Cain Chronik to Leah, that not all of the information in the book are proofed not even he can say that they are true. She shouldn’t believe it all and so we shouldn’t too.

But at least i’m fine that there are no rly proofed facts. Not for the one, not for the other side. More space for discussion, imagination and clan history. :wink:

At least, when something don’t seems agree like our clan history tells, that are simple fake news. So easy it can be :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Thanks for the conversation and information.

Thanks man. I like your last posts (and their opening questions) too. They are rly immersive. :slight_smile:

Thank you this is a great read you “guys” are putting together.

I think it’s more likely that they made a mistake at BlizzCon referring to the 1st generations of Nephalems as Mortals. Because during the sin war trilogy, the first generation Nephalems referred to humanity as “Mortals”, and called themselves the “Ancients”. Also, Mendeln stated that was the “First Mortal” to walk the same path as Rathma. If Rathma was actually mortal, then Mendeln wouldn’t had said this.

So honestly, I see it more as Blizzard making a mistake, since that’s probably the only time they referred to the 1st generations as Mortals, in comparison to the number of times that the lore that refers to them as god-like beings.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that they retconned and/or changed a bit of the lore for Diablo 4 to make the Original Nephalems mortal.

Np, and thank you for humoring me. Discussing the lore is always a treat for me.

Nope. Immortals can be killed just not by natural causes.

About the topic question i find something:

[free translated]

,He had dedicated his life to Trag’Oul, the mighty dragon and guardian of Sanctuary, and believed wholeheartedly that there was that other world to which Rathma had withdrawn centuries ago. Now the mythical dragon outlasted the ages as a constellation that heralded the past, present and future of human beings - and this future, whatever it might look like, could only exist in equilibrium’’
Storm of the Light, Chapter 31. In my Edition Site 314.

So before centuries ago Rathma was actual alive. Centuries are not a time for the ancients (its more maybe like some days for the humans) and he can be still there and be alive.

Back to our mortal/immortal discussion:
What we know so far is that the ancients nephalem age very slowly.
So slowly, that their bodys may rot over time - we saw that by Bul Kathos for example.
After that rotten by age progress, they don’t die, but they become/convert to ghosts forms.
But i think in difference to the dead ghosts of killed nephalem, the (immortal?) ghost of them can stay consolidated on sanctuary for themselve.

Another information i found too:
[free translated]

So, it’s a total hard question what means mortal/immortal in sanctuary.
when we think on mendeln, he could speak with the ghost of killed villager. I would say, that the villager wasn’t immortal, but still they can talk to mendeln as deads.

The ancients nephalem once killed, could talk to mendeln too. And in D3 we saw Orek, another ancient Nephalem ghost. Is he immortal? What about Zoltun? And what about Cain. We shouldn’t be able to talk to his (Cains) ghost but it’s possible.

But like i quoted, the ancients could be a connection and in the middle betwee mortality and immortality.

That would it be.

In the world of diablo it is rlynecessary to kill all beings more than just once. And even then, you can’t be sure that they are really dead. :ghost:

Edit:
now i’m convinced the answer of mortal and immortal is easy to find by the reborn possibility.

  • immortals (like demons and angels) can reborn after beeing killed but can’t exists as ghost.
  • mortals (like nephalems and humans) can’t reborn after beeing killed but can further exists as ghosts.

I don’t think so. Bul-Kathos had done something to become one with the earth, a mountain so to speak. Most of the Nephalem ghosts that we’ve seen only become such, if they are killed in battle, or they performed a ceremony of such to shed their physical bodies and become like spirits (for example, the ancients who guarded Mount Arreat that the Barbarians revered as gods).

As I said before, there’s an ancient Nephalem who lived all the way into Diablo 3 RoS (effectively making him one of the longest living beings on Sanctuary), and showed no sign of old age. If this ancient Nephalem could live that long, then it suggests the others can as well if they had chosen to.

Problem with this is that you have people like Zoltun Kulle who can revive themselves if killed, through ceremonies and/or rituals. If Zoltun Kulle could do it, then there may be others who are capable as well.

Anyway if we’re looking at immortal from the textbook definition, then there’s probably no being in the Diablo franchise who is truly immortal, as nearly any being can be killed, and even their revival ability can be put on hold or negated.

For example, Diablo and Mephisto had their soulstones destroyed at the Hellforge, which should’ve forever banished them to the abyss (meaning no more reviving apparently). However due to Adria’s machinations, this did not come to pass.

As such, I simply see Immortality for Diablo as something similar to Beefhammer’s. If you don’t die of old age, then you’re immortal, since that’s how the Diablo franchise uses it also it seems.

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Rathma is most likely dead. He aged at the time of the Sin War.

Looking over his shoulder, Uldyssian’s brother found Rathma standing atop a fallen tree trunk. The cowled figure still had the graying hair and age lines earned during the battle, but his demeanor was more as Mendeln knew it.
— The Sin War, Veiled Prophet

But more importantly, Rathma himself said to Mendeln:

“And then I prepare you for when I am gone. The day of the nephalem is, as they said, long over. One by one, I and my kind will cease to be. There are fewer now than during the battle even.”

Note his specific wording “And then I prepare you for when I am gone” and “I and my kind will cease to be”, referring to himself. The generations of nephalem are long gone.

The ideology of the necromancers is that “death merely as a natural part of life and do not seek to deny its arrival”, so Rathma simply accepted death and did not prolong his life.

The context of the passage is that Rathma founded the necromancer priesthood because he knew there would be a time where he will be dead.


Anyway, it’s also important to note that Rathma was absent in times of great imbalance, like during Reaper of Souls, the Siege on Harrogath, and the Hunt for the Three, where there were many casualties (especially the first, which had millions dead).

Why would he not be an active part of the worst tragedies on Sanctuary? As with the principle of parsimony, the obvious answer is he can’t because he’s dead. His absence outside of the Sin War is also an example of Chekhov’s gun.

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Okay. I am walking away.

Aren’t Demons and Angels born from the different parts of the great being? Anu?

You can but in mythology and in general, fantasy, immortals live forever and cannot due of natural causes. They can be killed. NEs are immortal but die all the time. Just because the official dictionary definition says one cannot die, you need to factor in context.

Maybe he was a special talented like Zoll.

  • mortals
  • immortals
  • a few exceptions (like that Nephalem u told about, Zoltun Kull, Tyrael (once immortal now mortal)

In his Book Cain wrotes:

Years became decades, and then centuries, leading to millennia of time elapsed. Generations of nephalem, even with the remarkably longe lives they were said to have possessed, passed away. With each generation, those events which might have been truth turned to legend, eventually settling into myth. The angels and demons faded from consciousness. The nephalem themselves slowly became >mere< [in meaning of: now more as before; i interpet ) mortals not unlike ourselves.

So indeed the ancients are ageing.

Additional Bul Kathos said in the Sinwar Book 2 something what could be interpret as ageing of the ancients nephalem too:
[free translated]

“The name … the name doesn’t mean anything … is it … was it that long ago?” He examined his body critically. , Yeah … that’s only a little of me … and much more of the world! ‘’ […] ‘‘We have sworn that the way to the mountain is forever blocked for everyone like Esu remains"[…] "And even if the others are more of the earth than I would like to be myself, I will fulfill my sacred duty for the sake of their memory!’’

Edit:

Thats true. But don’t change anything. After an Demon / Angel is killed, there is the possibility they will reborn later. Atm I don’t knowing more about it.

Maybe, but since nothing of the sort was stated, and his tomes didn’t imply such talents, I don’t think that’s the case.

That’s referring to the Nephalems after the Rathma’s generation, not the first generations themselves.

Possibly, but it just because they age, doesn’t mean they die of old age. Again, there isn’t anything to suggest that the ancient Nephalems (once again the 1st generation) die of old age.

Only powerful demons revive, weaker demons are birthed and replaced. Angels revive with different identities, or in other words are replaced with angels sharing the same essence as the previous (unless they’ve been corrupted like Izual). The only angel to have actually revived without being replaced was Tyrael, when he destroyed the Worldstone.

Conceivably, someone dedicated to understanding life and death and getting control over it (like the necromancer though this is technically inaccurate) could rather easily become a form of immortal, ageless or unkillable. Or maybe you just need to whack it off at the head and burn the stump! Wouldn’t want a Rathydra that can breathe area effect level drain.

I don’t agree with you and showed u sources who suggest it.
On the other hand u showed me other sources who suggest something else.
Both possible for me.

We will see.

hell is coming brother!

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Indeed, there’s no absolute source, so we can leave it at that. This was a wonderful discussion. I thank you for that!

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That face when you realize Oblivion never thanked you. :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:

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Really, I’m more than sure that I’ve thanked you before.

In fact almost precisely one year ago:

You dug deep for that one. Well played.

Whether or not the firstborn nephalem die of old age doesn’t matter. What is fact is that, if you read what I wrote, Rathma himself spoke about the inevitability of the death of his kind — the ancient nephalem.

“And then I prepare you for when I am gone. The day of the nephalem is, as they said, long over. One by one, I and my kind will cease to be. There are fewer now than during the battle even.”

Actually it does, or at least that’s what I was mostly discussing. We already know that Nephalem (including the 1st generation) can die. The question though is that can they die of age, or must it be through the hands of another (like in battle or an assassination). If they can die from old age, then that suggests that the ancient Nephalems possesses life spans that greatly differs for each individual, as there was an ancient Nephalem who you fight in Diablo 3 RoS, who not only showed no signs of old age, but also described his days as “Endless”.