The Director’s Cut DLC for Borderlands 3 does a lot of work to improve the game further, with both the gameplay and story of the game being expanded upon via the expansion. On the gameplay side, the addition of Vault Cards provides rewards for just playing, while Hemovorous The Invincible serves as some true endgame content to grind out. Story-wise, the Mysteriouslier missions are packed with reveals, while the deleted scenes show how the original story could have been better.
However, one interesting aspect of the latest and possibly final Borderlands 3 expansion is a connection to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Gearbox is continuing to make one specific faction more important to the overall storyline, and the narrative might just be building toward a huge moment discussed in the finale of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. While this is purely speculation, it is exciting to think about, as gamers could be seeing a massive Borderlands event take place in the next game. NOTE: Director’s Cut spoilers seen beyond this point.
An Interfering Guardian
While The Director’s Cut’s major reveal is that Lilith is supposedly still alive, fans might be seeing more than just the rescue of the Firehawk when they play through Borderlands 4’s story. The reveal itself comes courtesy of The Seer, a Guardian that is entirely new to Borderlands fans. While its motivations are not completely clear, it seems to have been trying to create a specific future — with Lilith shattering this timeline by flying into Elpis.
To create the future, it is revealed that The Seer was manipulating random soldiers and characters within the Borderlands universe to kill and distract others. The true culprit behind the Director’s Cut murder mystery missions, The Seer helped and hurt The Calypso Twins at different points in the story. The ultimate goal was to have the Calypsos die, with Pandora then being destroyed as The Great Vault is opened. Why The Seer wanted this is puzzling, as it seemingly goes against the directives that most Guardians have to protect the Vaults. However, this could be an example of a Guardian breaking from its programming, something that Nyriad said she saw in the Eridian Writing audio logs.
Regardless, players do eventually kill The Seer, as the being attacks players after claiming that all Sirens must be removed due to their free will and dangerous powers. Not only is this grudge against Sirens interesting, as it could be a belief held by other Guardians, but players have not seen a Guardian interfering in the story to this extent since Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. While players have encountered other intelligent Guardians, like Scourge The Invincible Martyr, none have directly involved themselves in the main plot and tried to manipulate events since The Watcher.
The Watcher’s War
In Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, The Watcher was seen every step of the way, with the mysterious Guardian serving as a seemingly neutral force in the story. Getting involved in certain events while staying out of others, the Eridian creation does what its name suggests. Witnessing other events in the Borderlands universe, like the sealing of the Destroyer, The Watcher has seemingly been present for a long time. While it does not seem to have the prophetic power of The Seer, it does seem to know that The Vaults will soon be threatened.
At the end of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, The Watcher warns Lilith and the rest of the Vault Hunters that “war is coming.” It adds that the Crimson Raiders will need all the Vault Hunters they can get, implying that whatever conflict comes will be massive. The Watcher does not specify the threat, nor does it say when it will come, allowing Borderlands 3 to hold off on the war. Randy Varnell, head of the Gearbox Story Group, has said that the war has not yet been touched on because Gearbox further wants to expand the universe beforehand. With Borderlands 3 doing just that via its planet-hopping narrative, the Watcher’s War could be imminent.
At the same time, players should not expect anything until it is officially confirmed. After all, Borderlands 4 could continue adding new planets and characters to the mix, building things up more as players hunt down Lilith — with the War saved for a game even further down the line. Still, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is very much canon, and the continued use of Guardians like The Seer along with references to The Watcher prove that Gearbox has not forgotten the exciting premise that The Watcher’s Warning presents.
What The War Could Entail
If The Watcher’s War does come, be it in the next Borderlands game or further down the line, players know very little about what to expect. However, they can be certain that the Vaults will be involved in some way or another. Beyond that, players could actually be seeing Guardians like The Seer serving as the opposing faction in this war. Assuming that other Guardians believe that Sirens are too dangerous to keep alive, battles could be fought between the powerful Sirens and mysterious Guardians, with Vault Hunters sure to side with the former.
The Seer’s premonition that it used to convince its helpers also predicted ruin, which could imply that The Watcher’s War has severe consequences. At the same time, Borderlands 3 players know little about the future The Seer was trying to avoid — nor the one that it was trying to create. In turn, its prediction could be an act of deceit, with The Seer twisting the truth. At the same time, The Seer failed to see its own fate, suggesting that its abilities are both limiter and flawed. Regardless, The Seer and The Watcher taking such different approaches implies that the Guardians have their own factions, with some supportive or neutral to humans and Sirens while others are more aggressive.
Much like Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, The Director’s Cut has revealed that an intelligent Guardian was messing with the events of the Borderlands 3 story the entire time. While this is an interesting connection in its own right, as it once again shapes the events of the plot around a Guardian, The Seer’s hostility toward Sirens sets up some interesting possibilities for future stories. Further, with The Seer’s hopes for a future shattered, “ruin” will supposedly come to the Borderlands universe. That ruin may just come via The Watcher’s heavily anticipated war, and if there are other Guardians like The Seer, The Vault’s protectors could be heavily involved in the eventual conflict.
Borderlands 3 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.