Borderlands 3 has been out for over a year, bringing four full story expansions to the game along with numerous seasonal events. The content released thus far has given fans plenty of new lore for the many characters integral to the story, with even minor members of the huge cast getting time to shine. A second season pass full of Borderlands 3 content is on the way as well, opening up the possibility for even more stories to be told within the looter-shooter’s expansive universe.
However, even with all of this content, Borderlands 3 seems determined to avoid touching on a major cliffhanger from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. While The Pre-Sequel did not receive glowing reviews, as some of the changes made in the 2K Australia game left it feeling less polished and far clunkier than Borderlands 2, one thing that the game succeeded at was its story. The game’s conclusion, specifically, featured a thrilling teaser that set up a sequel that could change the Borderlands universe forever. For some reason, though, Gearbox has ignored this ending and The Watcher’s Warning entirely.
Who Is The Watcher?
Before getting into The Watcher’s Warning and what it could mean for the Borderlands universe going forward, some background on the character is necessary for anyone unfamiliar. The Watcher’s disappearance within Borderlands 3 truly makes no sense given how important the character seemed to be in The Pre-Sequel, as it served as an extremely interesting wild card throughout the game’s story. Following players every step of the way throughout their journey on Elpis, The Watcher protected villains and intimidated heroes — but never actually harmed anyone within the game.
One of the Guardians, an ancient alien race first introduced in the original Borderlands game that protects the series’ coveted Vaults, The Watcher seems to have special abilities that no other Guardian has. Often appearing out of nowhere, the alien can use telekinesis to completely stop bullets in their tracks. Further, The Watcher can seemingly see the future as well, warning of events that have yet to come to fruition. The powerful being is seen helping the antagonist of The Pre-Sequel, Colonel Zarpedon, though it is eventually revealed that the intentions of both characters were pure.
As of now, no explanation has been given for where The Watcher was during the events of Borderlands 3. Much like the popular Vault Hunter Athena, The Watcher plays no role in the story of the game and is not seen at all during the battles with the Calypsos. The character goes almost completely unmentioned throughout the events of the game, though a tiny bit of backstory is given regarding the age of the character via the Eridian Writing Slabs that can be found around the map. The audio recordings that play when the slabs are analyzed reveal that an ancient Siren named Nyriad encountered The Watcher as she fought The Destroyer, and fittingly, the Guardian simply watched it happen.
The Watcher’s Warning.
The character’s last known appearance saw The Watcher having a standoff with Lilith. The first playable Siren was coming close to killing Athena before The Watcher stepped in. Keeping the same neutral stance that it had shown throughout the game, however, the alien only saved Handsome Jack’s employed protection because Athena is supposedly needed for a higher purpose. The mysterious figure walks between the warring characters, telling them that “now is not the time for bickering.”
The Watcher then went on to utter the exciting phrase “war is coming, and you are going to need all the vault hunters you can get.” While 2K Australia was shut down before it could acknowledge the tease itself, this moment seemed like more of a setup for the next numbered Borderlands game due to it occurring after the events of Borderlands 2. It seems like Gearbox has completely ignored the moment, however, as The Watcher’s Warning is not mentioned at all by any of the characters that were there when it happened.
The exclusion of both Athena and The Watcher from the events of Borderlands 3, two characters integral to this teaser, makes it seem as if Gearbox is doing everything it can to avoid the moment entirely. While it is possible that Gearbox wants to only acknowledge its own games and story decisions, the inclusion of other characters from Tales from the Borderlands and The Pre-Sequel goes against this idea. Though he has a new voice actor, Tales protagonist Rhys is heavily involved in the Promethea section of Borderlands 3. Further, Timothy from The Pre-Sequel is the primary focus of the Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot expansion, making the lack of acknowledgement regarding The Watcher’s Warning confusing.
Where Did The Watcher Go?
Gearbox ignoring The Watcher’s Warning is an odd decision, and it has become one of the many reasons why some fans think The Pre-Sequel should just be deemed non-canon. With half the vault hunters from the game being dead and not seeing their backstories referenced often, as well as the largest story beat going unaddressed for years, it is hard to argue against the idea. Gearbox has written itself into a corner as well, as The Watcher’s Warning implied that the massive war being teased was imminent. All the characters moving on without even acknowledging the situation is confusing, and it will be a hard spot for Gearbox to work itself out of if it eventually tackles this war.
However, it seems like Gearbox is planning to do just that. Having already brought back fan-favorite characters like Krieg through his own DLC, as well as inserting Gaige the Mechcromancer into another expansion, the return of The Watcher is certainly possible. Given a teaser from Randy Varnell, the head of the Gearbox Story Group, the war teased in The Pre-Sequel will eventually come. Varnell in the second episode of The Borderlands Show discussed the teaser and says that the Borderlands universe was not yet ready for the Watcher’s war and needed to be built up. He also implies that The Watcher’s Warning may not come to fruition until Borderlands 4, leaving players waiting even longer for the event to take place.
“When we go to that war, it’s probably bigger than a DLC can contain. Like, if you’re talking an all Vault Hunter war, you’re talking about something that’s a main thematic of the game... so we are definitely aware that we left that hanging, it was very intentional that we did not address that yet on Borderlands 3. I think some of the reasoning there is that we wanted to go ahead and open the galaxy before we talked about this giant, multi-Vault Hunter war.”
While it is a bit disappointing and confusing that the war was skipped over in Borderlands 3 (and likely will not be touched on in future DLC), it is exciting to know that it will come to the series eventually. For players disappointed with Borderlands 3’s story and controversial characters like Maya’s apprentice Ava, the eventual return of The Watcher could reignite some interest in the series’ on-going narrative. The Watcher’s Warning was the strongest aspect of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and finally seeing it addressed in a meaningful way could be huge for the series going forward. After all, a gathering of every Borderlands Vault Hunter in a way similar to the final battle of Avengers: Endgame could be a video game moment that sticks with fans forever — and it is a moment that is long overdue.
Borderlands 3 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X upgrades coming as the consoles' launch.