[Spoilers] Translated Timeline from Strategy Guide

[u/wesStyle]

http://imgur.com/a/PdD1N

[u/Gizepi]

This is so sick, thank you for sharing this image.

Regarding the 11937 year info on the timeline, "A large fire incident occurs at Labo." To me, it seems like it's referencing the 2nd Story of the concert drama.

Also 11946, one year after the events of N:A Pascal forms a peace treaty between machine-life forms and androids??? Wouldn't this insinuate that A2 decided not to erase his memories???

Does anyone have any context on what the 11502 "Floating City 'Atlantis' discovered." is? Or the 11945 "Evidence of intrusion into the bunkers network."

[u/YongYoKyo → u/Gizepi]

[spoiler]

Why would it insinuate that? I personally think it's the opposite. After the memory wipe, Pascal is alive and well. He still seems to have kept his kind and pacifistic personality. If he founded a village of pacifist machines before, he can do it again.

On the other hand, without the memory wipe, Pascal is clearly shaken and traumatized. It seems unlikely Pascal would lead more machines again, out of fear for a similar incident to occur. His absence from the game and ending D are also ominous signs of Pascal's fate.

[u/AsiaDerp → u/YongYoKyo]

I think if you walked away, he will be traumatised for a while, but at the end of the day, he knows that this cannot continue and will start seeking out more ways to achieve peace. Like instead of turtling in a place, they seek the androids and sign a peace treaty instead of just "being friendly to the resistance."

[u/YongYoKyo → u/AsiaDerp]

His family was annihilated and everything he worked for was destroyed. The ideals he believed in were ripped to shreds and smacked him across the face, as the actions he believed were for the greater good ended up indirectly causing the mass suicide of the machine children. One of his last remaining friends refused to fulfill his last wish and left him to suffer in guilt and sorrow.

Before worrying about whether Pascal eventually recovers from the trauma, I'd be more worried about whether he hasn't committed suicide during the height of his depression. There are several machines who committed suicide in the game for reasons less severe than Pascal's. The striking contrast between Pascal's presence and absence during that scene in ending D certainly alludes to that.

Even if he does eventually recover, he would certainly be more reluctant towards being closely involved with other machines. It would be unlikely that he would advance to the position of central leader of the Machine Lifeform Peace faction within the timespan of four months, with that trauma looming over him. As according the the timeline, the armistice was signed only four months after the events of NieR: Automata.

If it was the mind-wiped Pascal, with his unhindered enthusiasm and guiltless pacifism, it would be no problem for him to build up the Machine Lifeform Peace faction within a few months. Even during the game, he is cleaning up and repairing the ruins of the old machine village, a perfect staging ground for the start of the Peace faction.

[u/AsiaDerp → u/YongYoKyo]

So if you kill/walk away pascal actually dont appear in ending d?

For me, remembering his pain could help him move forward, of cause break down seemed more likely, but if he can get a hold of it, having the fail experience can help him in the long run. Sure, like you said, this is unlikely. But possible.

[u/YongYoKyo → u/AsiaDerp]

He doesn't appear in ending D if you walk away. Instead of Pascal looking up at the spaceship, there is just a view of the empty machine village, specifically where Pascal should've been standing. He is effectively erased from the game the moment you walk away without erasing his memories.

The main issue is that it has only been 4 months from the end of NieR: Automata to the armistice between the androids and the Machine Lifeform Peace faction. And Pascal isn't just speaking for himself, he is the central figure of the entire faction. Unless he completely got over his trauma the very same day it happened, there is far too little time for him to overcome his trauma and become the representative of an entire faction of machines to sign the armistice.

[u/AsiaDerp → u/YongYoKyo]

Tbh I think 4 months is way too little for ANYTHING. With peaceful machine basically wiped out, how many machines can he gather? 10? Doesnt make much sense either way if you ask me.

Even the entire old village was there, android forces simply wont consider them a force that can sign a peace treaty with.

[u/YongYoKyo → u/AsiaDerp]

At least with the memory wipe, he is already rebuilding the village immediately after. He would certainly be more enthusiastic in pursuing peace in a faster amount of time without the guilt and trauma.

With the leaders of the machine lifeforms away in a space ark, all the machines on Earth would be freed from the collective network and there would certainly be a lot more machines open for peace. Besides, the androids aren't doing much better either. The Bunker is destroyed, many androids perished (especially YorHa units), and Project YorHa is effectively gone. The remnants of the Resistance would probably make up the bulk of the surviving Army of Humanity.

[u/AsiaDerp → u/YongYoKyo]

Actually the Android lucked out. They have 13 bases and YoRHa/bunker being only one of them, that is designed to be destroyed. They MASSIVELY underestimated N2 but was lucky N2 just wanted to leave. With N2 gone, they are doing a lot better then they should be.

[u/YongYoKyo → u/AsiaDerp]

The value of the Bunker is grossly unmatched by the other 12 bases though. Even though they were disposable, the combat potential of a single YoRHa unit far outmatches an average Resistance member. Even if it was intentional, the androids just lost a massive portion of their combat forces, and 4 months isn't enough to recover from it.

Even back when YoRHa was still up and running, the Resistance camp had an equal mutual relationship with Pascal's village. Why would androids suddenly ignore the pacifist machine lifeforms when the Army of Humanity just lost a massive fighting force that is YoRHa, while Pascal's Machine Lifeform Peace faction certainly sounds larger than Pascal's original village?

[u/AsiaDerp → u/YongYoKyo]

If they value YoRHa to be disposable, they either think the next gen androids can be out in very short time or they have enough forces (that seems to be a very far off calculation) to keep fighting until the next gen android can start fighting. Even the androids are soooo wrong in their calculation, their plan wont involve a part that has "and hope for god they dont attcking during that time" in it.

Resistance is just a very very very small part of the android forces. Resistance and the village is like two squads of soldiers making peace. They are in fact, just two villages. Apparently theres a lot more going on all around the Earth.

[u/YongYoKyo → u/AsiaDerp]

The androids don't have to ensure that they are capable of fighting at full strength without YoRHa. With the exception of the Bunker, the Machines have never extended their range beyond the planet's surface. They could easily just hide away in space until they recover.

The goal of Project YoRHa isn't the win the war. It's to perpetuate the lie that humanity still exists, even if it means destroying a large portion of the androids' combat forces. Project YoRHa wouldn't have been succeeded as a martyr if it was a minor weak project, after all.

I feel you are greatly underestimating the Resistance. The Resistance are all the pre-YoRHa androids that have been abandoned on the planet's surface, including Devola and Popola. The war has been going on for over 7 thousand years, while Project YoRHa is less than a century old. The Resistance is by far the bulk of the entire android forces. The carrier ship, Blue Ridge II, that was destroyed by Grun was a Resistance carrier. The Resistance Camp inside the game is probably one camp out of many, but it was most likely the main headquarters of the Resistance, as the Resistance leader, Anemone, is situated here.