Yesterday I got caught up in rewatching Overwatch cinematics, as I happen to do regularly. I was interested in shorts Hero and Infiltration for some reason, and after watching Hero I decided to take a look at the in-game map that appeared in the short, Dorado. After just chilling in spectator view, I moved on to Castillo, where I got to take a long look at Sombra’s room. Looking at the items around the room, such as translocators in construction, inspired me to start researching. I watched Sombra’s origin story, and all of this combined had me thinking more and more of Sombra’s character and future role in the story.
A major thing I noticed had to do with what I believe to be Sombra’s apparent obsession with former Overwatch members. In her room are multiple images and references to the former Overwatch members Soldier: 76, Ana, and McCree. From the comics, we know Sombra has encountered McCree before, specifically in the other spawn point of Castillo, Calaveras. You can even see McCree’s hat there. More important are the icons on one of Sombra’s monitors. There, you can see not only McCree, but also Ana. Could this show Sombra being in communication with the two? Sombra does have an in-game interaction with McCree, but nothing with Ana. In addition to this, we know Sombra is regularly partnered with Widowmaker and Reaper, the wife of a former Overwatch member and the former commander of Blackwatch, respectively. As seen through Sombra’s web, Sombra is already aware of the secret identities of these people and their relationships with others. She knows more than any other character does in-universe. Even her technology is similar to that developed by Overwatch, specifically the translocator and Tracer’s chronal harness.
All of this leads me to speculate about what exactly it was that got Sombra caught in her origin story. I believe Sombra got close to the truth of Overwatch’s shutdown and downfall, which is the “conspiracy” we see mentioned but never given a proper name in Sombra’s story page on the Overwatch website. This would explain her reasons for discovering Soldier’s identity, as uncovering the reason Overwatch was shut down is Soldier’s motivation. Seeing as Soldier is currently traveling with Ana, it might also explain attempts at connection with Ana. Soldier and Ana have also managed to make themselves both enemies of LumeriCo, which could also bring them together.
Sombra researching Overwatch could potentially explain Sombra’s motivation for working as a Talon agent as well. Ex-Overwatch members are rampant in Talon, with Reaper, Widowmaker, and Moira all having ties to the organization. Being among their ranks is beneficial to her search for information, especially with Reaper and Moira being disgraced members of the organization that could have caused, at least in part, the disbanding of Overwatch. In Talon, she could have direct contact with these people.
This is where I believe there was more meaning to the title of Sombra’s cinematic than we knew. Sure, the cinematic revolved around Talon’s “Infiltration” of Volskaya Industries, but perhaps Sombra herself is infiltrating Talon to uncover information. She’s using Talon as a means to an end. When you look at her actions, personality, and voice lines, Sombra feels quite different from the rest of Talon. She’s not a very mean person at all, with her goal in joining Los Muertos being to overthrow the corrupt Mexican government who left behind the poor. She isn’t in it to gain her own money, or to throw the world into conflict like Doomfist. Sombra would rather buy pizza for the neighborhood and pay for everyone’s rent and debt. Sure, she’s a thief and a trickster, but it doesn’t seem to be in the pursuit of evil. Heck, even one of her emotes alludes to this, with Sombra controlling a Reaper puppet.
Sombra is apparently not very good at making friends naturally, as stated by Michael Chu, but she does manage to have at least one close friend she made while in Talon, Baptiste. This friendship strikes me as odd, especially considering the actions she presumably takes to help Baptiste. When Baptiste finds that Mercy is potentially a target of Talon, he calls Sombra to get her help in contacting Mercy to alert her of the danger. Think about that. An ex-Talon traitor calls a current member of Talon, who then connects the ex-Talon traitor with a target of Talon? If Sombra’s heart were truly in it, she’d likely use Baptiste and get both him and Mercy taken care of easily, but for some reason I don’t believe Sombra would do that. I think she’s the type to not betray people so easily. I could be wrong though.
At this point begins the usual outlandishness, but perhaps Sombra is doing everything she’s doing to help Overwatch. She’s hunting the reason for its downfall, helping her supposed enemies, and has been fighting for good in her own way; by hacking and exposing corruption. I don’t exactly know where all of this could take her. Perhaps she changes sides? Maybe she gets caught again. But this is everything my brain could come up with. I’m very interested in Sombra’s story. I’m just waiting to see what exactly she does in Overwatch 2, and I’m hoping this web in Sombra’s room, with all its extra parts, becomes complete at some point.