Is the bald priest Rathma like the wiki says? I doubt, it since lorewise he does not like his parents. I doubt that it’s just some random evil priest either. Any clues to his identity?
Also, what IS Rathma up to?
I figured it was Rathma since he’s very pale, tall, priestly, stoic and the corpse shenanigans. Looks like he made up with mommy. Obviously a true Nephalem since only he refers to her as ‘mother’ while the last of the three does not refer to her as mother at all.
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I hope so! I was thinking that what random priest has the abilities he has? He took his broken body and transformed into something else entirely, he’s using very advanced necromancer abilities.
If it’s not he won’t be nameless for long, he’s obviously powerful.
Looking into it more, it seems that he tried to stop her before, so the change of heart would need to be explained away.
He could be referring to her as “mother” in a general or religious sort of sense since she is the mother of humans.
If it IS Rathma, maybe this is all misdirection and Lilith won’t even be the villain this time, or at least not the only one.
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I’m yet to see this mentioned elsewhere in this forum or even on Reddit, but he’s also missing the smallest finger on his left hand, which you can see at the 6:02 and 8:37 minute marks in the cinematic trailer.
Anyone more familiar with the lore than I am who can identify him based on this?
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He is not Rathma for several reasons;
1st his human appearance is very different from the known and his dress corresponds to triune cultist
2nd Rathma despises his mother, he would never help his mother.
3rd Rathma is powerful enough to invoke his mother without help, he would even be able to travel to the Void.
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I hope he’s Rathma. Maintaining balance must’ve be hard for the Necromancers ever since the Seven were defeated that Rathma himself was needed to restore it.
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I figured Rathma to be long dead by now, as he was not immortal, I hope it is not. He is about balance, but I don’t think sacrifing innocence ( the black man) to bring back Lilith, is like him.
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I don’t think that’s Rathma, but if that is he, he probably meant it literally (“mother” and “save us”). A 4chan leak claimed that the villains in D4 would be the Angels and he would want the help of his demonic parent to bring balance.
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My best guess is Malic based solely on motivation and abilities. I am trying to queue off the stub finger, but I cant recall anyone with that trait. Malic, if freed during the events of D3-ros, could possess anyone’s body making bodily traits superfluous.
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It’s absolutely Malic! Thanks! He’s known to possess people AND he has the ability to steal flesh.
I will believe this until I am told otherwise.
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Didn’t Malic die though? Like, super-dead, soul-banished levels of die?
As for it being Rathma, they’re gonna have to have some HELLuvan (
) explanation as to why he’s wanting to be on good terms with mommy now
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Really don’t get why anyone would think this is Rathma.
Rathma is all about maintaining the Balance. The angels closed the gates of heaven and retreated from Sanctuary between D3 and D4 - the balance has already swung heavily towards Hell. Why would Rathma choose to help the forces of darkness when it already has the advantage?
The only scenario where I could see Rathma being on Lilith’s side is a timeline where Tyrael isn’t around to keep Imperious in check. Imperious goes full scorched earth in Sanctuary to screw over Hell’s plans (basically the original story of Reaper of Souls) - at that point I could see Rathma trying to bring someone like Lilith into Sanctuary in order to maintain the balance.
There’s just no part of Rathma’s personality or beliefs that would end with him helping Lilith in the current state of the world in D4.
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Ok, crazy theory, really far out there…
What if it’s Inarius?
Those holes in the guy’s head look like they could be hook marks. And Inarius had his wings torn off. If Tyrael is any example to go by, when that happens the angel turns to flesh.
Crazy crazy theory, I know. Don’t believe it myself. But still, who knows?
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The way the D4 panel made it sound, the events of ROS did a sort of retcon on who can be alive or reincarnate. I also vaguely recall hearing one of the panel members refer the the summoner as a Triune cultist (but my memory could be faulty on this and I cant find the videos anymore on youtube.)
The necklace is another sticking point for me on the Rathma theory. Even if Rathma were to decide Lilith was needed to balance the power spectrum, why would he be wearing a pentagram necklace? The pale skin is something others are pointing to as a sign it’s Rathma, but look again at the appearance of Dark Cultists in diablo 3. There aren’t a lot of art images specific to Triune cultists but the concept art sketch I found looks very similar to the pale summoner.
It was said in the World and Lore panel that it’s the Triune who are summoning Lilith, and the cultists of D3 are described in the lore as remnants of the Triune. The symbols in the cinematic are reminiscent of symbols connected to cultists in D3 and art books. Note also that the last season of D3, leading up to Blizzcon, was Triune themed.
If I see another post saying it’s Rathma, I’m gonna start tearing my hair out. 
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narrows eyes
Well that would prompt the question of just HOW did he escape Mephistos torture chamber?
Then it makes the whole “blessed mother” comment seem a little… strange, though not unheard, of I guess, for a “significant other” to use that term?
The theory of it being Rathma just doesn’t make sense to me either, why would he be summoning Lilith? last I heard he wasn’t exactly on good terms with his parents
Since he’s all about that balance, perhaps heaven held that extermination vote again, and its time for us to ally with demons?
I can see the resemblance though towards descriptions of rathma, including the telekinetic abilities, but it just doesn’t make sense.
My guess is it’s going to be a brand new character, a recurring one I hope, would be a shame if they didn’t keep using that voice actor.
Could you link the wiki so I see about correcting the record? Whoever wrote that in is straight up doing it wrong.
It’s since been removed, but you can see where it was changed in the page history.
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Rathma?action=history
Good. Glad to see random fanfiction doesn’t take precedence.
I’m reading the page and wow, there’s a lot of bad edits. Guess I’m going to have to steep in.