Mirrorverse

The Mirroverse is the setting of the VALORANT story. It consists of two parallel universes which are in conflict with each other. The universe we are familiar with, or rather where the bulk of the lore related content we are provided comes from for the moment, is referred to as the Alpha universe and its counterpart is referred to as the Omega universe. α-Earth and Ω-Earth are mostly the same- sharing most if not all of their history, inhabitants and locations. This is thought to be because of the fact that their timelines have only diverged recently. However, in the short time that they have diverged some significant differences between the two worlds have also arisen.

Terminology and Convention[]

Referring to the two universes and things relating to them are done by adding ‘Alpha’ or ‘Omega’ in front of the word, for example- Alpha Earth or Omega Brimstone. This system is the one used in-game^[1][2]. It can also be done by using Alpha and Omega’s respective symbols, for example- α-Brimstone and Ω-Lisbon. Mirror-Earth is also a popular term for Ω-Earth.

Conventionally, the defenders in the game are the agents of the α-Earth’s VALORANT Protocol while the attackers are the agents of the Ω-Earth’s VALORANT Legion. This is reversed on the maps of Pearl and Lotus which are set on Ω-Earth and have the Protocol’s agents attack while the Legion’s agents defend.

Retconned terminology

The terminology used to describe the two Earths has undergone considerable reiteration over time. In the DUELISTS cinematic, Ω-Jett's bag is marked with the text "AGENT ID • ???? | EARTH 67 ". This led to Ω-Earth being referred to as 'Earth 67' for some time, with the writing on the bag suggesting that at least 66 other Earths existed.

There was no number allotted to α-Earth, leading theorists to come up with various suggestions for its number. 'Earth 67' was later retconned by David Nottingham (Creative Director), claiming that it was not meant to reach the final cut for the DUELISTS cinematic and that only two Earths are relevant to the current story^[3]. As of Episode 8, 'Earth 67' is referred to as 'Earth 2', 'Ω-Earth' or 'Mirror Earth'.

The History of the Multiverse[]

The Mirroverse seems to have stemmed from a point where the Alpha universe and Omega universe split apart in their history. What caused this split is unknown, though there are theories that it could have been First Light.

Whatever caused the split, the history of each universe has accumulated differences since then, though their stories seem to largely revolve around the discovery of each other’s existence. Each universe has a Kingdom company that managed to gain a monopoly in the trade, research and exploitation of radianite. It is around this point in their history that we see the first difference between the universes. Firstly, it would seem that there was a difference in the rate at which technology advanced between the two universes. Secondly, Omega started to face a climate and reality destabilization crisis^[4] and a radianite shortage as it was used up to combat the crises. These two differences could very well be connected to each other as the crises necessitated the advancement of new technology to combat them.

This seemingly led to Omega’s discovery of Alpha as they created a teleportal that was capable of travelling between the two universes^[2]. Upon each other’s discovery Alpha and Omega entered a period where they collaborated in the research and development radianite technology and energy, through their respective Kingdom representatives- Kingdom Corporation and Kingdom Industries at the Everett-Linde Research Facility^[1]. This collaboration was not without its friction and distrust, however, as can be seen on the posters from both the Alpha and Omega sides of Fracture. Any semblance of open collaboration that could have been fostered between the two would be lost after the Everett-Linde disaster followed by the missions conducted by the VALORANT Legion to steal α-Earth’s radianite leading to the rise of Ascent.

The Alpha/Omega Conflict[]

The conflict between the two universes stems from the fact that the VALORANT Legion invades the α-universe and makes use of Spikes to collect radianite from the environment to take back to their universe. The usage and detonation of a Spike, however, leads to destructive consequences as can be seen in the case of Ascent. We have also seen missions conducted by the Legion in locations such as Icebox and Bind, as can be seen in the RETAKE and DUALITY cinematics. Fortunately for α-Earth, the Protocol was able to intervene and deactivate the spike before detonation in at least those two cases and it would seem many more when looking at the wall of spikes in the WARM UP cinematic^[5].

During the course of the SHATTERED cinematic we get more context for why the Legion do this. It would seem that Ω-Earth is facing a climate crisis alongside a radianite shortage. Ω-Earth makes use of radianite to power life support systems to keep areas such as the Geodomes of Ω-Lisbon powered and running in the face of extreme climate events and reality destabilization^[6].

Since the introduction of the map Pearl, we have seen the Protocol also invading the Omega universe in order to steal back the radianite that was previously taken from them. Upon the introduction of Lotus, we see the conflict escalate between the two universes with the VALORANT Legion now threatening to activate the Nexus located there which could lead to an apocalyptic event for α-Earth^[7]. The Protocol was once again able to intervene in time and disabled the Nexus using a Spike before any consequences were realised^[8].

This conflict over radianite continues to be the main focal point of the story as the Legion continue their campaign to steal α-Earth’s radianite following the incident at the Kingdom facility in LA^[9].

Differences of the two Earths[]

There have been some notable differences that have accumulated since the two universes split apart.

A State of Crisis

The Ω-Earth is suffering from a climate crisis seemingly caused by or coupled with reality destabilization. The exact cause and origin of these two problems is unknown. These problems are also causing a shortage of radianite as they attempt to manage the climate crisis and reality destabilization problems. They attempt to remedy this problem by stealing radianite from α-Earth. The radianite of each universe also seems to be markedly different, the processed radianite of α-Earth glowing green in its crates while the the radianite of Ω-Earth glows orange.

Technological capability

Ω-Earth’s technology seems to be more advanced than that of the α-Earth at the very least in terms of their climate control and reality stabilization measures. This can be linked to the crises faced by the Ω-Earth and the inherent needs created by those crises. Ω-Earth was also the only world able to carry out travel between universes before α-Chamber supplied the blueprints for a teleportal to the VP, the blueprints themselves provided to him by his Omega counterpart.

Name of the Kingdom organization

The Kingdom organization is referred to with different names in each universe. On α-Earth, it is referred to as Kingdom Corporation. On Ω-Earth, it is referred to as Kingdom Industries. It is unknown if any other differences in values or objectives exist between the two organizations, though it would seem that Kingdom Industries has a more governmental side to it as they oversee things such as the Geodomes of Ω-Lisbon^[10].

The VALORANT Organization

Each universe has its own version of the VALORANT organization, the Alpha version referring to themselves as the VALORANT Protocol and the Omega version referring to themselves as the VALORANT Legion. The two organizations also have different names and function at different levels of secrecy in each universe. On α-Earth, the VALORANT Protocol works at what seems to be the highest level of secrecy, resorting to cover-ups if necessary to maintain it^[11]. The agents themselves also receive suitable cover stories whenever they join the organization or have their records wiped in certain cases^[12]. The VALORANT Legion of Ω-Earth, on the other hand, is a lot more public about its presence and its activities. The Legion even spreads propaganda of their activities on α-Earth and paints the Protocol as the villain of the conflict. Nonetheless, it maintains a level of secrecy between itself and other organizations in the universe- the secrecy and friction between the Legion and ATLAS is an example of this^[13].

The Protocol and Legion also seem to have different recruiting orders and statuses. This is seen in the fact that Ω-Harbor seemed to have already been recruited by the Legion before the Protocol was even aware of his Alpha counterpart’s existence. It is also seen in the different agent numbers that Sage has in each universe- α-Sage is Agent 07 in the Protocol while Ω-Sage is Agent 10 in the Legion^[14].

The City of Flowers Nexus

The Nexus of α-Earth has been mysteriously destroyed. It is not known how or why it was destroyed^[15]. On the other hand, the Nexus of Ω-Earth is fully functioning and active. Supposedly, the activation of one Nexus without the other to handle the shock of its activation would lead to catastrophic events in the universe without the Nexus^[7].

Different organizations in each universe

Some organizations exist only in one of the universes. REALM, for example, only exists on α-Earth. Conversely, ATLAS only exists on Ω-Earth^[16].

References[]