- "The path to your mother lies through me."
- —The Speaker
The Speaker was a prominent Locust figure during the Locust War, and later transformed into a Scion Elite who led the Swarm during the Swarm Invasion. A former Locust Drone of great importance, the Speaker's body was crystallized in 17 A.E. following the detonation of the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon. Placed in a burial site within the Tollen Dam, the Speaker was transformed into a Scion after twenty-five years, along with other Drones, and created the Swarm to rebuild their army. Led by the consciousness of the late Queen Myrrah, the Speaker was made commander of her new army due to his ability to speak fluent Tyran.[1] He was responsible for the abduction of Fort Umson's villagers, including Reyna Diaz - the daughter of Myrrah. The Speaker placed Reyna within their Hive to allow Myrrah to possess her, transforming Reyna into their new Queen. The Speaker was later killed in 42 A.E. by Reyna's daughter, Kait Diaz.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
The Speaker was once a Drone in the Locust Horde who lived and fought during the Lambent War and Locust War. Due to his imposing size and ability to speak fluent Tyran, he was a Locust of major importance, most likely a Theron Guard.
Locust War[]
Destruction of Nexus[]
The Speaker fought in the Locust War against the humans of Sera. On 2nd Frost, 14 A.E., the Coalition of Ordered Governments sacrificed one of their last safe places, Jacinto City, in order to flood the Hollow, destroy Nexus, and drown all the Locust and Lambent underground. The Speaker managed to survive and escape the Hollow, but it is unknown if he remained with the other loyalists in the Queen's Guard or joined one of the nomadic tribes of the Savage Locust.
Victory Day[]
Within the three years after the Sinking of Jacinto, the Lambent emerged on the surface of Sera and began a global pandemic. However, humanity was ready to end the war and to destroy the Locust and Lambent. On the island of Azura, Professor Adam Fenix completed the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon - a device that would trigger a targeted-radiation pulse wave capable of destroying Imulsion cells. Due to the Locust's ancestors being infected with Rustlung and being exposed to Imulsion their entire lives, the Locust and Queen Myrrah feared this would destroy them.
In a final battle to keep Professor Fenix from activating the device, the Locust failed. The Imulsion Countermeasure was triggered and a pulse wave of radiation swept the entire planet - vaporizing the Lambent and crystallizing the Imulsion. However, the Speaker and all other Locust forces collapses and began to form Imulsion crystals from their skin. The humans of Sera did not understand this phenomena but could not destroy the bodies nor detect life within the Locust Shells. Believing them to be dead, the humans disposed of the Locust bodies in ad hoc mass burial sites. The Speaker's body was placed behind the Tollen Dam.
Swarm Invasion[]
Evolution into Scion[]
Unknown to the humans, the Locust survived. Dr. Niles Samson, the creator of the Locust Horde, genetically designed them to withstand generational conflict. In an extinction-level event, the Locust would hibernate and cocoon themselves in order to adapt and survive by evolving against their destruction. In this case, the Locust's Imulsion-filled cells weren't destroyed when they were exposed to the Imulsion Countermeasure. Instead, the Imulsion in their cells were extracted and pushed out of their bodies, forming the crystallized shells needed to cocoon them for their metamorphosis.
In 42 A.E., twenty-five years after Victory Day, the Speaker and other Locusts emerged from their shells. Larger, stronger, and more intelligent - the Locust had evolved into Scions. The Hivemind that connected them before still remained, with the consciousness of Myrrah still within, despite her being physically killed in battle during Victory Day. The Scions began to rebuild their army in order to finish what they started - by destroying humanity and colonizing the surface of Sera. To rebuild their army, they created a bio-organism capable of transforming living beings into members of their Hivemind called the Swarm.
Building the Swarm[]
The burial site at the Tollen Dam awoke and with the Swarm built a Hive. More and more burial sites across the planet began to awaken and unleashed the Swarm to build a Hive. While the Locust were hibernating, the humans of Sera managed to rebuild civilization and constructed New Ephyra and walled cities called Settlements. However, some humans such as Outsiders, Nomads, and Pickers remained outside the walls and rejected living under the COG. These vulnerable humans were the first targets of the Swarm - by kidnapping the humans via Snatchers, podding them within the Hive, and transforming them into Drones for their army.
After transforming outsider humans and patrolling Gears squads, the Swarm managed to rebuild a small army. However, the Swarm lacked a physical Queen to lead them. Myrrah's consciousness was able to delegate leadership to the Speaker, but was unable to properly lead the Swarm to learn and grow. The only solution was to find Myrrah's descendant, Reyna, who inherited her mother's connection to the Hivemind, and convert her within the Hive to allow Myrrah's consciousness to possess Reyna and become Queen of the Swarm. Myrrah and the Speaker were able to locate Reyna - acting as the Chief of Fort Umson, an Outsider Village.
Siege of Fort Umson[]
During the night, the Speaker led a siege on Fort Umson. Dozens of Snatchers were dispatched to capture the humans of the village and relocate them to the Tollen Dam to be podded and transformed. The Speaker then found Reyna barricading her daughter, Kait Diaz, and her friends, James Dominic Fenix and Delmont Walker, in the power station to keep them safe. The Speaker grabbed Reyna, but she used one of her knives to cut off his hand. The Speaker then attacked Reyna to incapacitate her. Her brother-in-law, Oscar Diaz, shot the Speaker in an attempt to save Reyna, but the Speaker attacked him, broke his wrist, and kicked him into the path of a Snatcher. Reyna then resigned and let the Speaker take her. While the villagers were taken to the Tollen Dam to be podded and transformed, the Speaker took Reyna to the heart of the Tollen Dam Hive.
At the Tollen Dam Hive, she was physically connected to the heart of the Hive in order to be converted and possessed by Myrrah. The Speaker connected Reyna to the heart so that disconnecting her would be fatal. Reyna then began to become converted, physically and mentally, while her people were dissolved and transformed into soldiers for the Swarm army. It was during this time that Kait Diaz and her friends recruited the help of James Fenix's father, Marcus Fenix, to help find Reyna. He was captured by a Snatcher, as well, and was connected to the Hivemind and saw Reyna. When he was freed by his son, he revealed to Kait that she was being held at the Tollen Dam, but neglected to acknowledge her current state.
The four then made their way to the Tollen Dam to free and rescue Reyna, but discovered that the Hive was heavily guarded. The Speaker was encountered again as JD Fenix, Kait Diaz, Delmont Walker and Marcus Fenix attempted to escape from the Tollen Dam on their way to the abandoned town of Speyer to call for reinforcements. Kait noticed his severed hand and realizes that the Speaker was the one who took her mother. The Speaker revealed to them that Reyna was where she belonged and that the only way to her was through him. He then unleashed and piloted his own Swarmak mount. In the ensuing battle, the Speaker is assisted by Swarm reinforcements. However, he is defeated after the humans use the dam's generators to shock the Swarmak and allowing it's blisters to be destroyed.
Death[]
Upon the Swarmak's death, the Speaker is thrown onto the ground where he noticed a Boomshot lying in front of him and scrambled to get it, but is dragged back by JD and Del, who aim their Lancers at him. Kait speaks directly to the Hivemind of the Swarm, declaring that she is coming to wipe them out and save her mother before violently curb stomping the Speaker.[2]
Legacy[]
Following his death, the Speaker kept appearing in Kait's nightmares.
Behind the scenes[]
- The Speaker is voiced by Fred Tatasciore.[3]
- The Speaker shares the same model with the Scion Elite multiplayer character and the Scion Buzzkill enemy in Horde mode.
Appearances[]
- Gears of War 4 (First appearance)
- Ascendance (Dream only)
- Gears 5 (Multiplayer only)
References[]
- ↑ Gears 5: MP character description: "A Scion with the seeming ability to speak fluent Tyran, the Speaker was responsible for the abduction of Reyna Diaz. His qualities suggest that he was once a Locust of great importance."
- ↑ Gears of War 4: Act IV: Storm Warning
- ↑ Gears of War 4 credits