[D4] Lore speculation

Cain is dead, next. :ghost:

Laying in rest is no excuse.

We’ve already been to Heaven.

He could be kicked out or tasked to act as a tutor/mentor. Or maybe he’s so Lobo that neither the Hells nor the High Heavens accept him.

In that case, it wouldn’t be Cain himself resurrected, but just a clone or fake. As Avalon stated, Cain was cremated and not to mention that his soul likely moved on and was possibly one of the souls absorbed by Malthael during RoS, in which case Cain soul was destroyed and lost forever.

That said, it’d be something hilarious if we did see Cain in Diablo 4, only to learn later on that it was a demon in disguise to mess with folks.

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I think the old Horadrim (my speculation is Lorath Nahr) at the grave will be the next narrator in D4.

I’d actually agree with you if the Diablo games didn’t follow a timeline, and/or the increment of time in between the games were minimal (like a couple of weeks between Diablo 2 and 3, rather than 20 years), but that isn’t the case. Time does pass for these games, and Cain was growing older, and if he didn’t die by Magda back in D3, then he’d likely die of old age by Diablo 4 since that game takes place decades after Diablo 3.

So honestly, unless it had turned out that Cain wasn’t human, he was always going to die. It was only a question of how he would die, and dying from his wounds that were inflicted by Magda was the way he went. Could it had been better? Sure imo.

At the very least, he’ll be someone we’ll interact with throughout some of our journey (at least according to some screenshots). Good speculation btw.

My other pick would be that Kormac became a member of the new Horadrim after he wiped out the corrupted Templer order. Now he is much older, could he be talking to Lynden at the grave.

A demon in guise would be fine, and potentially fun, but it does not rule out the possqibility of a truly resurrected/reconstructed Cain especially if something like an Akashic Library (commonly also referred to as “universal mind”) exists which would house memories, residuals, and other aspects of one’s being and could therefore be replaced in a body, even a completely new and different, one – to appease the #hashtag crowd, maybe Cain comes back as a Jell-O pop.

Just look at Alfred from Batman, his servant and advisor. Batman is around since 1950 and Alfred is in every Batman movie. There is no problem of aging here. It’s a game. Lore can be updated. Let’s say God gave Cain another life and now he looks like he is 50 years old and full of vigor. The point is to bring back an ICON of this game.

Cain is gone. Just accept it. 1, his body was cremated. 2, his soul was not contained in a soul stone, so his soul cannot be transferred to a new vessel. 3, if his soul was out in the ether, Malthael devoured it in the events of RoS. 4, there is no universal mind to pull him from.

Like you said the only way would be if he was a demon, then he would have reconstituted in the Burning Hells and if he was ordered to go back to Sanctuary as DC. Then, and only then, could he come back. But then, as much as people claim his death crapped all over him, this, or he was really a demon in guise and we found the real one in D4, would be even worse.

What God would that be?

It means nothing to me, personally, as I have no vested interest. However, I do like to provide options especially when others are so walled up in their knickers as to have an oversized head.

It is a fiction. The writers can, and will, do whatever they like. Whether that floats with existing “canon” or not is irrelevant.

Comics rarely have any passage of time. It isn’t about them not aging. Diablo has specifically stated there is a timeline where D1 takes place a few years before D2. DI takes ace a few years after D2. D3 takes place 20 years after D2 and D4 takes place at least(decades) 20 years after D3RoS.

There is clear intent to show the passage of time. Originally the Barb from D3 was to be the same Barb from D2. Deckard Cain is clearly older in voice and appearance in D2. So the magic of comic/cartoon characters never aging despite being the same age for 50+ years, doesn’t fit.

And there is no “god” in Diablo. The Burning Hells and High Heavens are not like the Judeo-Christian heaven and hell. Inhabitants of Sanctuary do not die and become angelic good or get sent to the Burning Hells is they were bad.

Yes, and how many discussions have revolved around people losing faith in an IP due to devs ignoring lore?

A lot. Out of all Blizzard IPs, Diablo is the most consistent, I expect it to continue.

Nope. If Malthael didn’t devour all the souls maybe.

Except once again, those Diablo games aren’t different incarnations like those Batman movies, whereas some of those movies aren’t connected to one another and/or have their own timeline of events and such. Every Diablo game thus far, is connected to one another and share the same timeline. And as such Cain isn’t coming back, at least not in the way that most fans would want (staying in town and supplying info to the players). Besides it’d be even more ridiculous to have Cain brought back to life by some entity, just for the hell of it. Also, what reason would this entity bring Cain back for (aside from appeasing disgruntled fans)?

For that to work, Cain’s soul would still have to exist.

Indeed, after playing the campaign as a witch doctor, you’d learn that Malthael had consumed many souls and that those souls that were consumed by him are lost forever. So if Deckard Cain’s soul was consumed by Malthael, then his soul is forever lost and he won’t return as a spirit.

All in all, the only way I can see Cain coming back in a way that makes sense, is if the individual in question wasn’t actually Cain, but an inferior copy of some kind.

Which is just bad writing. Even too bad to be Blizzard’s.

Hence why I’d rather Cain simply rest. The man earned it as he’s been through too much to be brought back to the current messed up state of Sanctuary that we’ll be seeing in Diablo 4.

Cain was already like 80 years old in D1. Mortals don’t live forever. If he wasn’t killed in D3, he deffinetly would be dead either way in D4. Or you need a 120 year old mummy to id your stuff?

People seemed fine with the ghost of Zoltan Kulle doing the Cube stuff.
So, the ghost of Cain wouldn’t be much of a stretch.

Well, ghost Cain is possible if his soul wasn’t consumed by Malthael (on the other hand, if it was consumed, then there’s no chance for Cain to return as a ghost). However, most folks seem to want Cain back in his actual flesh, rather than being a spirit or ghost.