[SPOILER] Plot Discussion Thread *Spoiler Alert*

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Back with more information. Prepare yourselves. Really.

A summary regarding the Fire Ceremony (courtesy of English Wikipedia).

Spoiler below!

"The New Fire ceremony (in Nahuatl xiuhmolpilli—the Binding of the Years) was an Aztec ceremony performed once every 52 years — a full cycle of the Aztec calendar— in order to stave off the end of the world."

Nope. According to researches, 1899 wouldn't be the year of the ritual. (Last ceremony was held in 1507 and adding 52 years doesn't pinpoint 1899). However, not being the end of the Aztec's cycle doesn't mean it wouldn't be Mandus'. It was said, that during the last 5 days before commencing the ceremony, the unstable world would tend to shift. That'd explain, why some areas of the game seem to re-shape.

The Machine (imo influenced by an Aztec... something) also needed the ritual to continue (killing all those people of London) and had many times warned Mandus' of the future instability of world, it promised to stop the world from ending, from all the wars etc. Mandus destroyed the Machine, simultaneously destroying the mean to held the Fire Ceremony. All the wars happended - a symbolic end of the world wouldn't stop.

Tlaloc - a god. "He is known for having demanded child sacrifices".

Now, many gods had such demands, but there's something else about that one. One of the Tlaloc rites:

"The Atlcahualo was celebrated from the 12th of February until the 3rd of March. Dedicated to the Tlaloque, this veintena involved the sacrifice of many children on sacred mountaintops. The children were beautifully adorned, dressed in the style of Tlaloc and the Tlaloque. On litters strewn with flowers and feathers; surrounded by dancers, they were transported to a shrine and their hearts would be pulled out by priests".

12.02-03.03 - The Mexico trip, anyone? Days correct?
Sacrifice of many children? - checked.
Pulling out hearts? - checked.

Mandus performed Atlcahualo on his children in Mexico.

"Afterwards their doughy chests were opened, their "hearts" taken out and, finally, their bodies cut up and eaten. The ornaments with which they had been adorned were taken and burned in peoples’ patios. On the final day of the "veintena" people celebrated and held banquets".

Burned in peoples' patios... Mandus' garden and children's skulls? Well, it depends on what he considered to be... ornaments, with which his children were to be adorned.

So, it is all around Tlaloc. Oh, and he fancied feathers. Not sure about jaguars' skins though.