If there’s one factor I like about Valorant, it’s the lore. With new brokers repeatedly becoming a member of the fray, there’s at all times one thing thrilling taking place in Riot’s FPS sport. However don’t let the brand new brokers distract you from the truth that Riot remains to be maintaining the whereabouts of Agent Eight (A8) a carefully guarded secret. For these unaware, one individual is lacking from Valorant protocol, and for some ridiculous purpose, everybody’s okay with it.
It wasn’t earlier than a curious teaser for agent 23 was dropped that gamers paid consideration to the lacking quantity eight within the agent checklist. A8 could possibly be the subsequent agent in Valorant, however in case you hear carefully to Viper, Cypher, Omen, and Kay/O’s voice traces, you’d additionally fear in regards to the security of the lacking agent. Horrible issues have occurred within the Kingdom, and I can’t assist however surprise the place A8 is.
“They’re scared. I don’t need cameras to see that.”
Who’s Valorant agent eight?
Formally, we don’t know who Valorant A8 is, however we do know that they exist, because of Joe Killeen (aka Riot ParmCheesy), who clarified that they’ll be a part of the Protocol as quickly as they “get back.”
On Riot’s official web site, Valorant brokers are listed numerically, with Killjoy buying the eighth spot. However if you transfer to the Valorant Spotify playlist, issues begin to get fishy; you’ll discover that the eighth slot is lacking. Valorant’s official cinematics additional affirm that A8 is actual, and it’s doubtless simply that Legion (the unhealthy guys) are sweeping one thing below the rug.
So, we’ve two cinematics that trace at A8’s existence: Heat Up and Revelation. Heat-up gives a peek into Protocol’s (Alpha) HQ, the place we will see A8’s locker, although their numeric designation has been scratched out. This doesn’t look good. Nevertheless, issues are even worse in Legion – there isn’t even a locker for A8. As a substitute, the sequence jumps from locker seven straight to 9, suggesting that the lacking agent has been utterly erased from their data.
Should you don’t already know, Legion are the unhealthy guys, at the least from what we all know. So, a lacking locker isn’t a great omen. Now, Riot refuses to spill the beans, and it’s solely fanning wild theories. Nevertheless, a few of them make a number of sense.
What occurred to the mysterious Valorant agent eight?
Is A8 Nora, Cypher’s alleged useless spouse? Have they got one thing to do with Reyna’s useless or ailing sister Lucia? Or may they be associated to Brimstone? Gamers are working wild with concepts, however a time-meddler concept makes probably the most sense.
In Valorant EP1 Act 2, Riot rolled out a card dubbed Memento Mori with an hourglass hooked up, pointing on the thought of time. Now, it’s price noting that ‘Memento Mori’ is a Latin phrase meaning ‘remember your mortality.’ Subsequent, in EP2 Act 1, we obtained an Infinity pores and skin assortment, the place one variant has the quantity 8 stamped on the facet. It appears Riot has been hinting at A8’s time-traveling shenanigans, so A8 doubtless has the powers to meddle with time and actuality, not in contrast to Yoru.
On the floor, it appears like A8 is simply chilling in another actuality. Nevertheless, the scratched-out numbers on the locker factors to some stress between the Protocol and the lacking agent. It’s not totally out of left subject to imagine that A8 isn’t on good phrases with the Protocol. Chamber, Viper, Omen, and Breach all appear to have a shared historical past, however what precisely did A8 do this was so horrible as to warrant their exile from the group? In spite of everything, Protocol embraced the corrupt Chamber, who actually destroyed a peace initiative between Alpha and Omega.
So, the one factor that is smart at this level is that Legion has kidnapped A8 since they’re those pretending that no such agent exists. It’s potential that Protocol despatched out A8 for an important mission to Earth 2, and when A8 by no means returned, the Protocol squad assumed that A8 had betrayed their belief.
Chamber was welcomed again into the squad after he saved Brimstone and Sage, however A8 by no means returned – there’s no forgiveness for betrayal, in spite of everything. It’s additionally potential that A8’s disappearance is tied to Chamber’s villain arc, encouraging him to destroy the collider for a higher goal. Nobody is aware of what that goal is, however perhaps A8 is in some way behind these mysterious machinations.
Regardless of the case, I hope Brimstone and the group can put their variations with A8 apart and rescue them in time for the subsequent agent’s launch. Who is aware of, the subsequent agent would carry one thing new to the roster. Riot has beforehand confirmed that numerous new Valorant characters are coming, however one in every of them could also be very, very totally different, so I’d recommend slotting in the most effective Valorant crosshairs simply in case – you’ll be able to by no means be too ready, proper?
