u/Sckorrow

I can barely put into words how fresh and just great both TMAT and SOL sound - and that’s only after the first few listens. I can almost guarantee that they’re growers as well.

Many people pick up on the obvious inspirations from Chamber’s The King in Yellow, but very few seem to have realised what I believe to be the even more important inspiration: Mahabharata. It’s what Greek mythology was to Returnal, though arguably even more crucial. I’ll use this post to highlight the direct inspirations and (more interestingly), plot parallels I’ve picked up from playing the game. There are more than you’d think.

First, the obvious:

The names Arjun and Nitya are directly lifted from Mahabharata. Arjuna is one of the main the protagonists of the story, and his wife is called Draupadi. You might think Draupadi doesn’t sound like Nitya at all, and you’d be right. But she is also known by another name: Nityayuvani. Or, more simply, just Nitya.

Another obvious link is the passage in Mahabharata which features an eclipse, which is used by Arjuna to lure his enemy Jayadratha (KING of Sindhu) out into the open to kill him. This is very similar to how we in Saros can only defeat the bosses by triggering the eclipse.

Now for the parallels (beware, spoilers!):

>!One of the reasons Arjuna wants to kill Jayadrtha is because he attempts to kidnap Draupadi. In Saros, Nitya leaves Arjun to go on an expedition with Delroy. One could argue that Arjun believes that this is similar to a kidnapping, with Delroy taking Nitya from him (even though its her decision).!<

>!In Mahabharata, the eclipse isn’t real; it is an illusion created by Krishna to aid Arjuna. In Saros through text and audio logs, we learn that just like Mahabharata’s eclipse, Saros’s one is also fake, with there being “no moon”.!<

>!The name Nityayuvani (Nitya) means “one who is forever youthful”. Not only does this reflect how people like Arjun don’t age because of the eclipse, but it also links to the cutscenes involving Arjun and Nitya is children; his love for her stems from their youth, and his repeated mantra “the sun is forever” as a sign of their love shows how he thinks this version of it is eternal. To Arjun, his love for her is just like it was when they were children, it is “forever youthful”.!<

>!Nitya is also not Arjuna’s only wife in Mahabharata – in fact he had five. This could easily be paralleled in Saros by Arjun’s infidelity, as in game it is clearly suggested that he has been less than loyal to her.!<

>!In the English translation of Mahabharata, Jayadratha is called “Chief of Sindhu’s sounding shore”, and is generally referred to as King of Sindhu. In Saros, we find that King (Delroy, who is supposedly paralleling Jayadratha), has set his throne directly on the yellow shore. This yellow shore is also the source of the voices that are “sounding” in the characters head, such as with Nitya’s voice for Arjun.!<

I’m sure there are far more connections between Saros and Mahabharata that I have overlooked (I am neither wholly familiar with Mahabharata, nor have I finished the true ending of Saros), but I hope this post will inspire others to hunt for the many connections.

Ultimately, I would absolutely consider Mahabharata crucial reading for anyone who wants to better understand Saros’s story.