What is Detritus?

[SteveD]

What is Detritus, and is it alive?

I’ve not seen a lot of talk about the planet itself yet, which for me is a bigger part of the mystery about what’s going on. After the climactic battle the ‘debris field’ aligned to give our hero a clear pathway into space, almost if she was being encouraged (or fated) to go up there. She notes that this happening for her, in the same way it did a decade previously for her father, is incredibly unlikely. Does that imply that something was watching, and did it intentionally?

In the PC strategy game ‘Endless Legends’, the backstory involves various races competing to escape a dying planet, which is also alive and aware of their plight in a sort of mother-eathy way. It would be cool if Detritus was a mechanical version of this; a vast form of machine intelligence built by humans centuries ago that on some level is also trying to protect them from extinction (this is similar to the dystopian manga ‘Blame!’ in which out-of-control building machines have turned the earth into one giant megastructure, extending out beyond the orbit of the moon). 

We’re given few clues to what Detritus was. A planet-sized orbital shell of shipyards, defensive planets and habitats, with light-emitting panels mounted below to re-create the solar light blocked by the multiple levels of orbiting platforms.

The resources required to build such a facility would be vast, and the work of centuries to complete. An industrial site of this magnitude couldn’t be sustained by the resources of the planet below; it’s more likely to have been the centre of a vast network of systems providing metals and rare elements; a centralised bastion for a galactic empire capable of producing fleets of ships.

The timeline of events with the war and the Defiant arriving on Detritus seems left intentionally vague, but it seems that the planet’s infrastructure was built and abandoned long before the war, that M-Bot arrived at some point before or during the war, and that the Defiant arrived towards its end.

I’m guessing that humans didn’t build the planet, simply due to the resources involved and time required against the fact that they were already fighting the entire galaxy. I think that M-Bot was sent to scout the planet for useful resources to use in the war effort; that may explain his configuration as a long-range stealth recon fighter. The planet was a known facility built by some long-gone ancient race of aliens, largely avoided due to its automated defences. M-Bot was disabled during the survey and crashed onto the surface. With his self-repair features offline, the pilot decided to go and explore the planet to search for a means of survival (and is never heard of again).

Thoughts?

[I think I am here.]

Maybe it’s aliveness has something to do with the mysterious ‘eyes’?

[+Invocation]

2 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

Maybe it’s aliveness has something to do with the mysterious ‘eyes’?

I think those eyes are just all the other Cytonic beings hanging around.

[old man moomba]

Just hanging, ya know.

[Ashertliden]

I just think its cool that the latin participle Detritus means "Having been worn away"

[+Invocation]

5 hours ago, Dr. Jacques Rodriguez said:

Just hanging, ya know.

I mean what else are you gonna do? Everyone is scared of the humans getting off of Detrius, so if you're Cytonic and have the slightest free time, you're going to be focused there, which might cause the eyes to appear.

[Weltall]

On 11/19/2018 at 6:01 AM, SteveD said:

I’m guessing that humans didn’t build the planet, simply due to the resources involved and time required against the fact that they were already fighting the entire galaxy.

All the facilities on the planet appear to have been built by humans. The apparatus and related machinery is human-scaled and Spensa notes that all the writing is in human languages. This is also true of the orbital shells, since M-Bot is able to recognize various components by types (such as identifying the shipyard as a 'C-137-KJM' and when flying through the falling shipyard Spensa notes that the design is similar to the underground facilities that she's already noted were made by humans.

As to what exactly the planet was originally intended for... given the shipyards and the massive defense grids, I'm guessing that it was originally a fortress that humanity abandoned at some point during the war. Possibly it became isolated as the war turned against them and they couldn't hold onto it any longer, or maintaining it required more manpower and resources than the larger war effort could spare after a certain point.

[mr.bug]

I believe this shipyard might prove vital for the humans getting of detritus. At the end of the book it hinted they were going to try to create another large ship and use ftl to escape. I wonder if they might end up fixing the shipyards and using them to more effectively fight back. 

Edited November 27, 2018 by mr.bug

[Mailnaise]

On 11/27/2018 at 10:39 AM, mr.bug said:

I believe this shipyard might prove vital for the humans getting of detritus. At the end of the book it hinted they were going to try to create another large ship and use ftl to escape. I wonder if they might end up fixing the shipyards and using them to more effectively fight back. 

Maybe not that specific shipyard, but other shipyards and collections of rubble will definitely be instrumental in getting humans off Detritus. 

As for the planets origin, I know there are clues and information in Defending Elysium, which I haven't actually read yet, but I listened to the Skyward Reactions podcast, and they talked about it. I like your idea @SteveD that the planet may be a little alive, or at least aware. Most of the technology on Detritus seems to just be in the atmosphere, but who's to say if there's more underground, giving it awareness similar to M-Bot. I hope we know a lot more about the planet by the next book.

[ZenBossanova]

On 11/23/2018 at 4:20 PM, Ookla the Gralsritter said:

 

 

On 11/28/2018 at 4:40 PM, Mailnaise said:

I like your idea @SteveD that the planet may be a little alive, or at least aware.

Fungi creates natural networks. Something is interfering cytonically, at least near the surface. 

On 11/23/2018 at 4:20 PM, Ookla the Gralsritter said:

All the facilities on the planet appear to have been built by humans. The apparatus and related machinery is human-scaled and Spensa notes that all the writing is in human languages. 

I have suspicions about the Artifact. 

Edited December 9, 2018 by ZenBossanova

[Arcoss]

The Human Imperium in 40k has what they call Forge Worlds- planets whom are completely covered in industrial apparati, those made the bulk of the Imperium's industrial capacity

I think Detritus is something similar

[Mailnaise]

I was listening to the newest Shardcast, Predictions for Starsight, and they talked a lot about theories of the purpose of the debris field and the like. Go listen to/watch it if you liked Skyward.

I really liked their idea that the debris, combined with that fact that the humans are underground, was there as protection from something, therefore implying that Detritus was a human? manufactured fortress world. If we apply the fact that humans had AI capabilities, saying that Detritus had some AI doesn't seem that far off to me.  

Edited December 16, 2018 by Mailnaise
Typo

[Wyndlerunner]

Dyson sphere all the way! 

[Weltall]

On 12/24/2018 at 5:26 PM, Wyndlerunner said:

Dyson sphere all the way! 

That... doesn't actually make any sense. Dyson spheres (and more plausible variations than the solid-shell idea) are supposed to go around stars and capture their energy output, such a structure would be wasted on a planet.

[Wyndlerunner]

On 12/29/2018 at 6:42 PM, Weltall said:

That... doesn't actually make any sense. Dyson spheres (and more plausible variations than the solid-shell idea) are supposed to go around stars and capture their energy output, such a structure would be wasted on a planet.

Have you listened to the Skyward Reaction Shardcast? It was actually brought up there, and I simply liked the idea enough to espouse it. And who's to say it is a traditional Dyson sphere in that sense? It is possible that Perhaps Dyson sphere-esque structures could be used to surpress cytonics, as the weirdness with Chaser and Spensa only starts once they see through the 'debris field'.

[Rossamund]

A Dyson sphere is supposed to harvest energy whereas the debris field in this case is putting energy into the planet via the giant skylights. I think it would be best if we called it we called it something else since a Dyson sphere means something else.

[Wyndlerunner]

On 1/2/2019 at 3:11 PM, Rossamund Rhapadocera said:

A Dyson sphere is supposed to harvest energy whereas the debris field in this case is putting energy into the planet via the giant skylights. I think it would be best if we called it we called it something else since a Dyson sphere means something else.

Perhaps. Also, seeing as how this post was intended as a response to my prior post, you can either quote me or @ me to let me know.

[Thrand_Antharo]

I agree with @Rossamund Rhapadocera, Detritus is a shell world rather than a Dyson sphere

[cfphelps]

I wondered if Detritus could be an astroid that was harvested for resources, and built into a giant shipyard/manufacturing complex.  Spensa notes that Detritus doesn't have any oceans (possibly any bodies of water?), and it has such an extensive cave network, that originally being a giant chunk of space-rock that was mined out for resources could make sense...

 

I also thought one of the comments/thoughts from Spenda early on mentioned Detritus showing the scars of the previous inhabitants war, so it was sort of implied that whoever lived there went full on world war and eradicated themselves, but maybe it was really part of the greater war with the Krell and other alien species.

Edited April 15, 2019 by cfphelps

[Starborn42]

On 19/11/2018 at 10:01 PM, SteveD said:

What is Detritus, and is it alive?

I’ve not seen a lot of talk about the planet itself yet, which for me is a bigger part of the mystery about what’s going on. After the climactic battle the ‘debris field’ aligned to give our hero a clear pathway into space, almost if she was being encouraged (or fated) to go up there. She notes that this happening for her, in the same way it did a decade previously for her father, is incredibly unlikely. Does that imply that something was watching, and did it intentionally?

In the PC strategy game ‘Endless Legends’, the backstory involves various races competing to escape a dying planet, which is also alive and aware of their plight in a sort of mother-eathy way. It would be cool if Detritus was a mechanical version of this; a vast form of machine intelligence built by humans centuries ago that on some level is also trying to protect them from extinction (this is similar to the dystopian manga ‘Blame!’ in which out-of-control building machines have turned the earth into one giant megastructure, extending out beyond the orbit of the moon). 

We’re given few clues to what Detritus was. A planet-sized orbital shell of shipyards, defensive planets and habitats, with light-emitting panels mounted below to re-create the solar light blocked by the multiple levels of orbiting platforms.

The resources required to build such a facility would be vast, and the work of centuries to complete. An industrial site of this magnitude couldn’t be sustained by the resources of the planet below; it’s more likely to have been the centre of a vast network of systems providing metals and rare elements; a centralised bastion for a galactic empire capable of producing fleets of ships.

The timeline of events with the war and the Defiant arriving on Detritus seems left intentionally vague, but it seems that the planet’s infrastructure was built and abandoned long before the war, that M-Bot arrived at some point before or during the war, and that the Defiant arrived towards its end.

I’m guessing that humans didn’t build the planet, simply due to the resources involved and time required against the fact that they were already fighting the entire galaxy. I think that M-Bot was sent to scout the planet for useful resources to use in the war effort; that may explain his configuration as a long-range stealth recon fighter. The planet was a known facility built by some long-gone ancient race of aliens, largely avoided due to its automated defences. M-Bot was disabled during the survey and crashed onto the surface. With his self-repair features offline, the pilot decided to go and explore the planet to search for a means of survival (and is never heard of again).

Thoughts?

Interesting idea... However, I support the theory that Detritus is a delver corpse. It would make sense because of the caverns. These are like the tunnels that delver mazes have, except without the illusions because the delver/planet is dead. Also, the symbols Spensa saw in the Delver maze were apparently the same ones she saw in the caverns on Detritus. 

[Iarwainiel I]

On 11/19/2018 at 2:42 PM, Ashertliden said:

I just think its cool that the latin participle Detritus means "Having been worn away"

That is cool!

I wonder if the planet was always called Detritus, or if that's what they (whoever 'they' are) called it after it all fell to pieces? Because in current usage, "detritus" means debris or disintegrated matter.

Edited October 19, 2020 by Iarwainiel

[Use the Falchion]

1 hour ago, Starborn42 said:

Interesting idea... However, I support the theory that Detritus is a delver corpse. It would make sense because of the caverns. These are like the tunnels that delver mazes have, except without the illusions because the delver/planet is dead. Also, the symbols Spensa saw in the Delver maze were apparently the same ones she saw in the caverns on Detritus. 

Seconding that theory (although I do think it's a reasonably popular one)!

Edited October 19, 2020 by Use the Falchion

[Starborn42]

21 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Seconding that theory (although I do think it's a reasonably popular one)!

I’d heard it on Shardcast, I think.