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A central catalyst that you will hear about over and over again when playing throughLies of Pis Ergo. In spite of how often this phrase comes up, what it actually is, and how to define it, remains ambiguous for most of the story.
The game will trail you along, tricking you into thinking you know exactly what Ergo is, and the repercussions it is having on the world of Krat, only to throw you another twist. However, by the time you are finished with Lies of P, you have been given all the pieces of the puzzle to understand Ergo. But with how long the journey to get there is, confusion is inevitable. So what actually is Ergo?
Spoilers Ahead
Ergo In The Story
Ergo is a crystallized form of energy that was discovered in Krat a few years before the events of Lies of P take place. However, the true nature of this mysterious mineral are not unearthed until much later in the game.
Themain usage of Ergo is to power puppets, which is why we hear so much about it when playing through Lies of P since it powers most of the enemies you face off against. This is also why Ergo is dropped by enemies once they are defeated.
However, Ergo is also related to other enemy types, for example,carcass-type enemies, sinceErgo is intertwined with the mutation that causes people to turn into the monsters that become a more common enemy type throughout the campaign.
To understand the significance of Ergo within the story of Lies of P, you need to understand the relationship between Ergo and the petrification disease, and how this led to the Puppet Frenzy that started the events in Lies of P to begin with.
Ergo In Gameplay
The simpler side of Ergo in Lies of P is how it is used in the gameplay.Ergo is used it to level up your statsso P can grow stronger and keep up with the gradual difficulty scaling that keeps the game challenging.
You will get incremental amounts of Ergo from defeating all types of enemies, whether they are puppets, carcasses, or bosses. However, to get larger amounts of Ergo,you will discover crystallized forms of Ergo as items around the world, or as drops from enemies.This type of Ergo will not be added to your Ergo count, but will instead be carried in your inventory.
This type of Ergo will not be lost when P falls, and you use it by selecting it in the inventory and claiming the set amount of Ergo it holds. When P falls, losing Ergo is the main punishment, and you will need to return to where P died before dying again to ensure that you do not permanently lose your Ergo, this is why crystallized Ergo is useful, since you do not have to worry about losing it.
Most main bosses in Lies of P will drop a rare type of Ergo specific to them. This Ergo will have a description about the enemy it was attached to, but it can be used for an impressive amount of Ergo like any crystallized Ergo if desired. However, it is not until after Chapter 4 you unlock the ability to trade thisrare Ergo for Special Weaponsand Amulets with Alidoro.
The History Of Ergo
Ergo is a mineral that is unique to Krat. We learn thatbefore Ergo was discovered in Krat, the city was just a standard port area, and it was only able to transform into the grandiose area we explore thanks to Ergo.The location where Ergo was initially discovered can be visited during Lies of P, being thesetting of Chapter 10, the Relic of Trismagistus.
It was discovered by alchemists, and this group became the most adept at using it. However, a character separate from the alchemists who also gained exemplary control over Ergo was Geppetto.Geppetto was the first person to use Ergo as a power source for puppets, and this led to puppets growing in use throughout the city, with certain jobs becoming completely automated thanks to how potent Ergo was an energy source. We can see how valuable and foundational Ergo became to society in Krat in how it replaced currency.
Throughout Lies of P, the only currency accepted by almost every vendor is Ergo, with only a few accepting a secondary currency. Geppetto worked alongside Venigni to create puppets at his factory, which is why there are so many puppets in use throughout Krat, but also why the Puppet Frenzy was such a catastrophic event.
Before the discovery of Ergo, the leaders of Krat were the rich older families, but when thealchemists gained so much influence due to the use of Ergo, they became more influential to the point where they had a massive level of hidden control. The influence of the alchemists can be seen in the Grand Exhibition Hall that can be found after Lorenzini Arcade in Chapter 7.
This area shows all of the developments being made thanks to Ergo. The event was planned to show off how Krat had developed since the discovery of Ergo to show off to the outer world. The event also hid darker secrets of the alchemists and their experimenting, but this was of course canceled due to the Puppet Frenzy.
The Hidden Uses Of Ergo
Ergo’s use as an energy source is what we are initially intended to assume is its sole function. However, you will notice that Ergo is also claimed from non-puppet enemies, like carcasses and stalkers.
Throughout Lies of P, we discover more and more facets of Ergo and how it can be used.One of the earliest extra uses we find for Ergo is it being used as a medium for communication. Venigni is shown to use Ergo waves to communicate with P throughout the game as a way to give him instructions. This is contextualized as being the same method that is used by the puppets to communicate among themselves and to take orders.
This is how the Puppet King becomes a target in Chapter 6 since it is believed that he was using Ergo to manipulate the puppets and cause the Puppet Frenzy. Venigni is also shown to create a device for P that decodes the messages on Ergo waves that are being passed between the puppets. Later in the game, we can give Venigni the decoder to listen to the messages from the Ergo waves. The most notable is from Romeo, the true identity of the King of Puppets, who was trying to communicate with Carlo, the boy who P resembles, to warn him of Geppetto’s true intentions.
This warning from an old friend decoded through Ergo waves is tragically too late, since at this point Romeo has already been defeated, and even sadder considering the boss tries to offer peace first, as well as foreshadowing the game’s ending.
Other unique uses for Ergo are how specific pieces of Ergo can be assigned unique roles. For example, the golden Ergo that P has to retrieve from the Barren Swamp in Chapter 8 is the only Ergo that can be used to power the submarine to reach the Isle of Alchemists.
A character that is shown to have control over some of the more unique qualities of Ergo is Sophia.
What Is Sophia’s Relationship With Ergo?
Sophia is an enigmatic character from the beginning, shown to have masterful control over Ergo. She is able to remotely awaken P at the start of the game, as well as use the Ergo he has collected to level him up.
Sophia describes herself as a Listener, and uses this as an explanation for why she is able to assist P in the way that she can. However, the true nature of her character is unraveled throughout the story.We learn later that the Sophia we interact with throughout the game is simply a projection of Ergo, and her true form is not found until late in Chapter 11.
She reveals that she is the daughter of Valentius, the former leader of the alchemists before Simon Manus took over. Manus took over from her father around the time her powers to manipulate Ergo awoke.He kept her captive as a tool for manipulating Ergo, and this twisted the alchemists into the antagonistic role they play in the story.
The extent to which Sophia is able to use Ergo is revealed in Chapter 11 when she reveals that she used her Ergo to save P from death, contextualizing his in-game ability to revive upon defeat.
This brings the connection between Ergo and time to the forefront, and is further exemplified after walking through the beach in Chapter 11, where the strong Ergo waves are able to materialize the memories of Carlo and Romeo back when they were human.
Ergo And Petrification
All the uses of Ergo in Lies of P seem fantastical, but they come at a steep cost.The society witnessed in Krat is shown to be suffering from a petrification disease that can harden people’s skinmaking them lose their sight and eventually pass away, but in more extreme cases can turn them into dangerous mutated monsters that become more and more common throughout the story. It is revealed thatthe cause of petrification disease is extended exposure to Ergo.
Since Krat is so dependent on Ergo as a power source, it is no wonder that the petrification disease is so widespread. It is shown that the alchemists believed that the petrification disease could be manipulated to make people stronger and force evolution, creating eternal life.
This can be seen in enemies like Victor, the boss for Chapter 7, who is a revived performer, with his abilities enhanced by using Ergo. The reason why this is possible is shown whenErgo is finally revealed to be the crystallized form of life essence.
This is why it is such an effective fuel for puppets since it lends them a form of humanity. This humanity is accentuated if the role of the puppet is similar to the role of the person whose Ergo was used to fuel it. Ergo as a life essence is why the alchemists believed it could be used to create eternal life, but this twisted form of new life ruined the natural flow, leading to petrification disease.
Arguably the biggest victim of Ergo is Sophia herself, whose physical form is shown to be in unbelievable pain, as her body is merged with mutated Ergo. Her pain is bad enough that sparing her from the Ergo-induced suffering is rewarded in-game and seen as the right action.
Ergo And The Krat Experiment
The final implications of Ergo’s true nature can be seen in the post-credit scene where Giangio, a character who aided P and seemingly suffered from petrification disease, is revealed to be an alchemist named Paracelsus. This is where the events of the game are contextualized as the ‘Krat Experiment’, and he is shown to set his targets on an unknown character named Dorothy.
For most, this reveal is most notable for the potential follow up with a Wizard of Oz theme. However, the phrasing of the ‘Krat Experiment’ implies that the events that took place were controlled by an unknown third party. With Ergo being the catalyst for all of the events, it can be surmised that Ergo was an artificial discovery placed by the third party, and the results were the consequences of this.
