By carefully analyzing Samuel Hayden’s behaviors, words, and attitudes in Doom Eternal, you may realize that he is not a villain. But who is he?
In the third part of the Doom Eternal series, you learn about what Samuel Hayden did after taking the Crucible from Doom Slayer and disappeared. According to in-game records, Samuel brought the sword back to Earth to rescue humanity from the catastrophic energy depletion that occurred after Doom Slayer destroyed Argent’s energy extraction and transmission facilities on Mars. This helped Samuel become the savior of humankind. The ARC organization he founded was credited with serving as the Earth’s resistance effort against the invading demon army.
But during Doom Eternal, Samuel Hayden’s behaviors, words, and deeds created many suspicions. Why is his robot body so strange to Earth scientists? Why does he know Hell, Urdak, and the Maykr clan like the back of his hand? Why and why?
Past and past
Did you know that during the war between Argent D’Nur and Hell, the Doom Slayer is part of the Night Sentinel army that protects Argent D’Nur from the evil mobs? During a wartime battle at Taras Nabad, Doom Slayer was led by a mysterious hooded figure called Seraphim into “Divinity Machine,” a machine created by Khan Maykr years ago to refine the souls of the inhabitants. Argentinians to prevent one of them from turning into “The Unholy One” (the evil) and destroying the Maykr clan according to an ancient prophecy. For some reason, this machine gives the Doom Slayer the gift of endless energy and boundless power, making the Doom Slayer truly become a nightmare of the demons.
Seraphim’s true identity was confirmed in the book “Ligria Sultagenta” (Book of Kings) handed down in the Argent D’Nur civilization. The book notes that during the Battle of Taras Nabad, the Doom Slayer was firmly in position, while his comrades in the Night Sentinel Corps fell one after another with the relentless attacks of the demons. Seeing this, a Maykr takes on the Chancellor’s role (often translated as Prime Minister or Prime Minister) for the Mother God (Khan Maykr) named Samur, who dragged him out of the battlefield to participate in a secret ritual. This ritual was considered a superstition because Samur was not allowed to do so without Khan Maykr’s consent.
In Doom Eternal, we learn about this ritual: Samur leads the Doom Slayer to the Divinity Machine, and he lies there on Samur’s advice: “Take it. It will give you strength. Help you on your journey. ” The old book Ligria Sultagenta says that the machine has refined the body of the Doom Slayer and created a man capable of leading Argent D’Nur into the battlefield ever since.
“What emerges from the sacred casket on that fateful day is not an impure monster as the ancient contract had warned,” wrote Ligria Sultagenta. Instead, it created “a hero with a blazing sword, which would open the way for right and cut through the swarms of demons with a vengeance that only a Holy Emperor could summon.” He awakened fully after the ceremony, his eyes burning with Maykr’s miracle. He took the Crucible in his hand, and the Wraith flames spilled from the blade as if a true Sentinel regal was using it. ”
Thus Seraphim’s real name is Samur, a courtier of Khan Maykr. But why talk about this character while our article is centered around the topic of Samuel Hayden?
Present
That’s because the current clues show that Samuel Hayden is Samur. This has not been officially confirmed in Doom Eternal, but the game contains obvious clues indicating that both are.
The first clue was the robot body that Samuel Hayden used. In Doom 2016, there was some information that Samuel Hayden was an ordinary Earthman, belonging to a prestigious family, and he was very famous. However, due to illness, Samuel gave up his body and turned his mind into a mechanical body to continue living and scientific research. However, the words of the scientist standing beside Samuel Hayden’s devastating body after failing in Operation Hellbreaker, the communication that Samuel used for his robot body was too strange, causing them trouble. In connecting to Samuel’s mind inside the robot.
But when you bring the rest of Samuel Hayden to Fortress of Doom – an ancient fortress created by the Maykr clan – VEGA says that the body “is not too different from the system of Fortress of Doom” and he woke up immediately. That similarity also allowed Samuel to become the driver of the Fortress of Doom when Doom Slayer brought VEGA to the Mayrian city of Urdak. A robot body created by a normal Earth human could not resemble a fortress created by the Maykr clan unless that “Earth person” was originally Maykr.
The second clue is further away because you have to look back to the 2016 Doom version to realize: at Taras Nabad, the words that Samur uttered when persuading Doom Slayer to step into the Divinity Machine. “Take it. It will give you strength. Help you on your journey ”is the same words that Samuel Hayden told Doom Slayer when he gave him the first Argent pin in Doom 2016. This is not a coincidence, but only possible as Samur / Samuel repeats his words to old acquaintances.
The third clue is a collection of things that are relatively obscure and rely heavily on prediction. When you first stepped on Urdak, Samuel Hayden could not hide his pride in his voice: “Gorgeous, isn’t it?” When the Doom Slayer entered the room containing the Icon of Sin, a voice called out, “Welcome, Seraphim.” At first, I did not know the reason for this greeting, but after stringing the clues, I realized that this was a greeting for Samuel because even though there was no entity in Urdak, Samuel Hayden was still in direct contact.
This game also revealed that VEGA is not just a normal AI: when you insert the device (hard drive? USB? Chip?) Containing VEGA into the control panel to activate the gate to Earth. VEGA also said, “Am I, Father, Dr. Hayden?” If you have forgotten, please repeat that in the Maykr clan’s legend, Father is a mysterious character originating from both the Maykr race and the city of Urdak. Thus, VEGA is Father or at least part of Father, “picked up” by Samuel and renovated after the entity disappeared from Urdak.
There are still too many questions
Why would Samur give the Doom Slayer the power against the legions of Hell if the Hell invaded Argent D’Nur more or less came from the alliance between Maykr and Hell? Perhaps it was because Samur felt he had no other way to save heaven. During the game on Urdak, Samuel said that when Khan Maykr brought Icon of Sin back to Urdak, she broke the old treaty, and now the demons will be able to flood into Urdak – something they could not do before. Perhaps by some means, Samuel knew that Khan Maykr’s arrogance would push Urdak’s “paradise” to the brink of extinction under the clutches of evil, and the only way to prevent this was to create a Super warrior is out of control of Khan Maykr.
There is also a problem in the conclusion that Seraphim Samur is Samuel Hayden. As Doom Eternal revealed, when Maykr and Hell allied, the two sides agreed that the demons must not set foot in Urdak and vice versa, Maykr must not enter Hell. But in the 2016 Doom, Samuel Hayden himself walked down the Kadingir Sanctum of Hell to see the rock casket sealed Doom Slayer before bringing him to store on Mars.
Perhaps we can explain that Samuel Hayden no longer kept a Maykr body. After “surpassing” Khan Maykr to bring Doom Slayer into the Divinity Machine, his violation of the treaty between Maykr and Hell on Mars is not surprising. At the end of Doom 2016, he explained that he didn’t have any other options but only did what he had to do – maybe because of the existence of Doom Slayer. He came to the human world with hope—looking for seeds to “make” new warriors no less than Doom Slayer?
Until now, the purpose of Samur / Samuel Hayden is still unknown. Hopefully, we will learn more about this character in two new Doom Eternal expansions. However, the chances are low because their content will revolve around events taking place on Earth after Hell begins to invade. If the answer is not in these expansions, we might have to wait a few more years to know the correct answer.
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