Summary
Overwatch 2Season 6 launched on August 10 with several new features such as PvE story missions, a new game mode, and a revamped practice range. However, arguably one of the most exciting additions was the introduction of thenew support hero Illari. While Illari won’t be available in ranked games for two weeks, she can be played in other game modes as well as in the practice range.
Illari is already making waves in theOverwatch 2community for her impressive kit, which is a stark contrast to how Lifeweaver performed when he debuted in Season 4. Though not much was known about Illari prior to Season 6, a recent cinematic from the PlayOverwatch YouTube channel revealed some of the lore behind the solar-charged support. Much to some people’s surprise, the origin story is darker and more tragic than anticipated.
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Illari’s Lore Could Take The Cake As The Most Tragic Overwatch Origin Story
Blizzard’s impressive work on itsOverwatchheroes cannot be understated especially since its cinematics and artwork are typically well-received by the community. One of the most prominent examples is the popular “Dragons” animated short which focused on Hanzo and Genji’s strained relationship. More recently, to promote the upcoming Invasion storyline,Overwatch 2released “Genesis”, three anime-style episodes, which detailed how the Omnic Crisis ultimately began.
August 11 saw a new video released that explains who Illari is and what she stands for. In the cinematic titled"Illari Origin Story", the support character describes her life which included training amongst the Inti Warriors, a powerful group of people who utilized the sun’s energy to sustain themselves. According to her, the Inti Warriors acted as providers, healers, and protectors to the people of Peru.
When she’s deemed ready, Illari is supposed to join the ranks of the other Inti Warriors n a ceremonial initiation called the Solar Threading Ritual. Ill-fatedly, without knowinghow powerful her abilities actually are, Illari accidentally channels far too much solar energy for the mechanism to handle. The cinematic shows the horrifying moment when she effectively erases all the other warriors and the somber realization dawns upon her.
Overwatchhas several tragic backstoriesthat can compete with Illari’s, such as Widowmaker’s brainwashing at the hands of Talon or with Mei emerging as the sole survivor of a mission. Perhaps the saddest part of Illari’s story, however, is the fact that there was no intervention from outside forces. She became solely responsible for killing off each of the Inti Warriors, except herself.
It’s clear from Illari’s backstory that she blames herself for what went wrong on that day. She states that she “will make up for what [she’s] done,” which may have to do with her involvement with Overwatch. It’s not quite clear if she has any tie-ins with the other characters at this point, but it’s likely that Blizzard will continue weaving the storylines together asfutureOverwatch 2story missionsand seasons unfold.
Overwatch 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
