Arknights Lore: Theory - Sesa Is The Older Brother In His Archives

DISCLAIMER: Before Hypergryph confirms anything, this is ultimately a theory. Not canon until confirmed by Hypergryph. But I have sufficient evidence and analysis.

High Trust Conversation 3: You know who I am? And my past? No, you don’t know. You shouldn’t know. I hid my name, just to escape my past. Forget it, bury it in the desert.

A mysterious operator who shuts Doctor out at 200 trust. Can we truly believe his archives, especially with his murky resume and how he avoids questioning from Rhodes Island? As much as Archives provides lore, they may not be 100% accurate as it's from a third person perspective and may be inaccurate due to the operator lying and withholding information. Take Midnight for example. He claims that he doesn't know how he got Oripathy. But Stories of Afternoon shows otherwise. Sesa is likely a similar case, but with more tragedy.

While translating Sesa's Archives before his global release, I realise that there were many contradictions in his Archives. These main reasons are why I believe that Sesa is purposely hiding his identity which I will discuss here:
-Sesa’s abilities are always described as amazing and unbelievable in his Archives
-Promotion Record establishes the fact that Sesa is pretending and downplaying his abilities
-The impression the operator gives is the older brother, not the younger brother he claims to be.
-Voiced lines reveal part of his true personality, differing from the nonsensical eccentric impression he gives.

Translation here will be the official as it's mostly better than mine. But I'll point out things that Yostar leaves out. I can't believe that an operator I translated for is finally out, and I'll also be writing analysis for Phantom for when he releases globally.

Archives 2 describe the two brothers. It is important to establish how the brothers are like before I go on.

Younger brother (who Sesa claims to be):
-past Sesa was too into studies, causing him to be awkward when it comes to people. He was always seen as a stereotypical nerd. Besides his good grades, there was nothing else good about him.
-Barely graduated from college due to the accident.
(Sounds like a rather average person who had to work very hard. Also, an intern is barely allowed to touch things in the lab, yet Sesa sounds like he has lots of experience.)

Older brother (who supposedly died in the laboratory accident):
-clever, witty, friendly genius older brother who easily had many patents at a young age.
-Used to be lead researcher of Columbian military company’s biggest laboratory.
(In short, an inventor and a genius who was way ahead of everyone else. Implying higher qualifications, like maybe a doctorate.)

Later on, the Archives keep mentioning the older brother who is a lot more accomplished. Voiced lines also sounds like a genius with regrets instead of a more average person who looks up to a genius.

Resume:

The resume he provided was murky and proved impossible to follow up upon.

Why though? For someone this proud, this is suspicious.

Archives 1:

This leaves little to doubt about his Originium engineering skills.

This is just the beginning of how the Archives keep saying that Sesa's skills are incredible.

Archives 3:

From the fact that his modifications allow those who are not adept with Originium Arts to operate these weapons, one can surmise that Sesa must have made many unfathomable breakthroughs in his craftsmanship. His name soon became a mainstay in the black markets due to his reputation for excellent craftsmanship. Surprisingly, Sesa's own talent for Originium Arts is not enough for him to easily master the use of Originium equipment. In fact, he struggles to operate even the most basic of Originium weapons. For this somewhat famous weapon modifier, the reality seems a bit hard to believe as well, and this is perhaps the reason for the modifications he's made upon his own grenade launcher.
Later, when we investigated the laboratory incident, we found that Sesa's late brother, as the leader of the military laboratory, was far more proficient in Originium Arts than Sesa.

Referring to older brother’s multiple patents, these are the breakthroughs. And this entire part reeks of suspicion. A weapons adjuster who can't use weapons well? Anyway, I have a theory that Sesa's grenade launcher of the same family as Ifrit's flamethrower and Ayerscarpe's floating blades (powerful weapons with AOE and debuff effects that are extremely difficult to use), but this will come in another article of the possible Rhine Lab connection and theory.

Archives 4:

-Though the most crucial information can only be understood by Columbian military and government officials, according to some contacts, we have every reason to believe that the project the two brothers pursued is the same one that Sesa has mastered - eliminate the high barrier of entry of using Originium firearms.
-Though Sesa might come closer to it than most people, the idea of "letting anyone pick up an Originium firearm even without being able to use Arts" is inherently not feasible and not allowed. Originium-based technology might still have its limitations, but if certain people throughout Terra catch wind of these developments and attempt to use this technology to escalate geopolitical conflicts, there is no telling what kind of brutal, all-consuming wars we may face in the future.
-"The power I deliver is growing closer to the real deal, and it is both dangerous and eye-catching... So, uh, that's why it's absolutely necessary to keep this technology under wraps!" He explained it himself.
-But if this is true, is it possible that the person responsible for the accident that buried Sesa's brother... Sesa himself? Despite attempts to verify this, Rhodes Island has no right to pry into a subject that he seeks to avoid.

A thing I want to point out is that Yostar left out the industry part in Sesa's Archives. In Chinese, eliminate the high barrier of entry of using Originium firearms was 如何从工业技巧上消解源石枪械使用困难 where 工业 meaning industry was completely left out. Previously, I translated it to 'how to get rid of difficulty in using Originium firearms for industrial purposes.

Industry is very important to know Sesa's work and intentions. After all, his base skill is called Industrial Design and it was his first specialty on the CN introduction. And it's fitting because his Archives mirrors the biography of Alfred Nobel, most famous for inventing dynamite and the Nobel Prize. Both of them had a brother who died in an explosion. And more similarities. I'll elaborate in another article.

Anyway, this is just like how Nobel invented dynamite to be used for construction and mining. It changed the world for it's safer than nitroglycerin, but in the end, it's used for wars instead.

Back to Sesa. The research topic of the brothers is so controversial that it will change the world. Even Rhodes Island cannot accept it. Something that others would even kill for.

The laboratory accident? That’s no accident. It could be intentional, to stop the research by killing the researchers involved. Instead of killing the lead researcher, the intern was killed instead.

The operator here is keeping his secrets and not telling Rhodes Island, even if he works for them. He has also realised that this research has caused his brother to die, and he is in danger after the incident. Since the cause of death was explosion, the corpse can be misidentified. If the older brother pretended to be his younger brother, nobody would be after an intern.

After isolating at home from the incident, this researcher decides to work again, but he needs to disguise himself to hide from those who were after his life previously. So he picks up a disguise and code name, then impersonates his brother to go into black market and eventually seeks Rhodes Island for protection. Note that when Rhodes Island tries to ask Sesa, he doesn’t say a single word. He’s hiding a lot of things.

Promotion Record

"Sesa is not at all some kind of delusional patient. I've seen his meticulous enhancements, masterpieces of minimalist pragmatism. His genius far eclipses what we originally thought."
"What? But he's always..."
"This is a bit of a joke, but I think even the jokes he makes are completely serious."
"Then why's he always spouting that nonsense about souls and true power? Besides, he's the one who can't even keep a straight face. Why not just admit he's a super genius?"
"He's faking it."
"Why?"
"How would I know? He's too good at faking it."

To other operators, Sesa is a nonsensical eccentric and even go to the extent of chuunibyou. But those who have seen him at work acknowledge that he’s actually a genius. And one operator has noticed that his nonsense is a pretense and he’s just acting.

The younger brother was socially awkward. No way he could have pretended and acted this well. However, the older brother was friendly and witty, so he can pull off this act and even impersonate his younger brother. Later on in the voiced lines, this act falls off sometimes.

Overall, Sesa’s archives seems to keep mentioning the genius older brother instead of the average younger brother whom Sesa is supposed to be. Rhodes Island also have the impression that he’s a genius, which describes the older brother, not the younger brother.

Over here, we get to see his operator’s true personality, which is evident in high trust conversations. Despite his silliness, some lines show the true him, which really sounds more like the older brother than the younger brother.

Most of all, Sesa talks a lot. His lines often need scrolling on the home page. Can an socially clumsy person talk so much to Doctor? I don't think so. Awkward would be operators like Melantha and Mousse. Sesa is loud and noisy in most of his lines. Doesn't really match that impression.

Below are further evidence.

Talk 2: @nickname}, I take greater pride in natural wisdom than the knowledge that is deliberately taught! With Rhodes Island at my side, we will get ever-closer to the Great Truth. Hey, don't avert your gaze. There's nothing to be ashamed of, is there?

The one with natural wisdom was the older brother, who was a genius. The younger brother had to work exceptionally hard to keep up with his older brother with knowledge that was deliberately taught.

Talk after Promotion 1: Rhodes Island has some pretty tasteless folks, acting like their outer appearance is just some decoration, like a skin to be taken off! You'll come off as slovenly to people if you don't carefully coordinate your look, right? What, my clothes are tattered? You simply don't understand the boldness of this fashion statement...

Here, he talks about disguise and he is very insistent about his style. Some evidence that he’s pretending to be someone he’s not. The disguise would throw people off.

Talk after Trust Increase 1: A genius? Do people like that really exist...? Most craftspeople in Sargon are just ordinary apprentices who are still learning to walk, tinkering with metals. But as long as they continue down the path, even they can reach the road's destination.

To think about people in an entire country, this sounds very much like a lead researcher with multiple patents instead of his average younger brother who did not have much work experience. And maybe this line could be about the younger brother... who sadly died.

Need my help making some adjustments? My skills aren't something that can ever see the light of day. "Allowing everyone to just pick up a weapon is the way to creating wars." I must wear these shackles to restrict myself. Or, do you wish to unchain me and unleash havoc upon this world?

He knows about the dangers of his knowledge that can destroy the world and he can be killed by it. So he keeps it a secret.

Talk after Trust Increase 3: Do you know about who I am? And about my past? No, you don't know, nor should you know. My incognito exists to bury the past behind me. Forget about it, and let these things sink into the depths of the deserts.

A truly painful line, considering that most operators bare their all at maxed trust. But not Sesa. Over here, he’s upset at the possibility of Doctor knowing who he really is. If he was really just an average person, he would not react this vehemently. It would make more sense if this was the former lead researcher who disguised himself and pretended to be the younger brother.

In conclusion, there’s lots of evidence that Sesa is not the younger brother that he claims to be, and he is the older brother mentioned in the archives. Poor thing though, to have been through so much. ;;;;

Sesa or Shesha (CN/JP pronunciation) has origins in the Sanskrit language. It means remainder, especially in mathematics, which is that which remains when all else ceases to exist. Rather fitting for the survivor of the explosion.

Also, he exists but does not exist at the same time. Sesa is alive, but his true identity doesn’t exist. The lead researcher is legally dead, but he survives, trying to live as his younger brother.

Besides that, it’s also the name of a Hindu deity, who is a nagaraja (king of nagas) with multiple heads and the primal being of creation who supports the earth. He is also the oldest sibling in his family.

Nagas are based on the hooded cobra and Sesa’s heads are usually the hood of Vishnu. Finally there’s an explanation of that egg or Originium slug looking hood. The pattern really looks like snake/dragon scales.

Since Sesa is a code name of our operator, the fact that he names himself after a primal being of creation is really more confirmation that he’s actually a genius inventor whose creations will remain even after his death, whether fake (being legally dead right now and unable to live as his true identity) or real (when he gives his last breath).

Before I start anything else, let me show you the most obvious thing about Sesa: He clearly has the superior E2 art compared to Bagpipe even if his rarity is lower. Bless Ryuzaki Ichi.

Worth noting that he has two dragons in his E2 art unlike all other dragon type operators. Especially evident with Bagpipe, who is a fellow red-haired Vouirve who appears in the same banner as the 6* operator. All other dragons either have grey plain dragon like Bagpipe (Saria, Nian), is Chen (detailed dragon but still only 1 dragon), or have no dragons (Reed and Liskarm) in their E2 art. Very suspicious. Why does he get to have 2 dragons? What does it mean?

It’s difficult to notice that there are two dragons because of how the two dragons are intertwined and one is faded. This points to his existence being like two people at the same time. The younger brother he pretends to be, and his true self that he wants to forget.

In fact it's not even 2 dragons. It's more like 1 < x < 2 dragons where x is undefined. How enigmatic.

The CN comment that tipped me off to this thought that the dragon had two heads. Upon closer inspection, it’s actually two dragons due to two different types of claws and colours used.

Two dragons: Big and small

One dragon is bigger than the other. The bigger dragon is clear and strong looking. The smaller dragon behind is blueish, fading away and has less developed claws. Also, its eye looks sort of dim and the eye is like deformed.

Different colours and smoke

In the second picture, only the red bigger dragon has its claw and wing. Blue smoke surrounds it and it’s a similar shade as the small dragon who does not have its claw and wing. Those are just smoke by now. The sparkles are red.

If you've made it here, thank you for reading. I never expected myself to analyse Sesa this far, but here I am. He's the first operator I summarised and translated for 6 months ago, and it brings me great joy that he's finally released in EN.

I hope you can see Sesa differently from now on, as his personality is a lot more deeper than he pretends to be. In short, he's likely legally dead due to the corpse at the explosion being misidentified. At the same time, he is pretending to be his younger brother at Rhodes Island. But Doctor might have found at max trust, or more specifically, myself.

Now that we know that Sesa is a genius inventor with technology that can potentially change Terra, he's actually very significant to Arknights lore and plot. We'll see how Hypergryph decides to handle this and whether this theory will be confirmed.

Finally I also never expected to be here in the Gamepress team either. I hope to contribute here with other analysis I've done for other operators.