With Borderlands 3 the universe of the franchise is much larger and deeper than before. New characters and beings were introduced to the series, and old ones reappeared in many different ways, either as allies or enemies. There are side quests that even expand on the lore from previous games, such as the one where players learn what happened to Jack's wife back when he was just the preoccupied father of a young Siren, way before he became Handsome Jack.
Borderlands 3, and by extension the whole Borderlands franchise, is a game where the role of women is extremely significant to the plot and the way events are going to unfold in the future of the series. In Borderlands 3 Sirens are even more a focal lore point than they ever were in the other titles of the franchise, and their prominence is highlighted further by Nyriad's messages in the form of Eridian Writings and the confrontation players have with the Seer. However, the importance of the role of women is not shown only through these powerful beings, as some side characters players never meet go to show.
Handsome Jack's Wife, Daughter, And Grandmother
Handsome Jack is arguably one of the most loved villains in the history of video games, and that's because he is portrayed as a very human character that has flaws, rather than an all-powerful big baddie. Jack has his motives, and he sincerely believes them to be good and just, despite him losing the filter of good and evil over time. Jack became the monster he was in gradual fashion because of certain events, most of them revolving around the women in his life.
As a kid, Jack lost his father and was abandoned by his mother at his grandmother's house so that she could care for him, instead. Unfortunately, Jack's grandmother was abusive to him, and this contributed to his mental decline as an adult, especially when combined with his trauma of abandonment. To complicate things, when he managed to start a family of his own and live a tranquil life, his daughter started manifesting her Siren powers. Jack and his wife tried to protect her and hide her in fear, but eventually, they were discovered and Angel was about to be kidnapped so she activated security drones with her powers and accidentally killed her mother.
Jack lost his wife and, with her, the normalcy he had acquired. He tries to prevent Angel from hurting others in the future but he ends up hurting her instead, which causes her to betray him and help the Vault Hunters he tries to kill in Borderlands 2. Jack is also betrayed and abandoned by other women, including Moxxi and Lilith, who teamed up in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel to destroy the Eye of Helios laser. Then, Lilith followed Jack into the Vault on Elpis, and while he was having visions of events to come (including the awakening of the Warrior), she created a blast of energy that interrupted the visions and scarred Jack's face. If things had gone differently, then it is likely that Jack wouldn't become the sociopath he is in Borderlands 2; instead, he lost the people he cared for, and that destroyed his future relationships.
The Sirens in Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 hinges on the Sirens as its main theme, with a particular focus on Lilith, Maya, Tannis, Ava, Tyreen, and Troy. Sirens are beings possessing special abilities, which are either inherited because that person is deemed worthy by a dying Siren, or they are passed onto random people when a Siren dies without appointing an heir. The origins of the Sirens are unknown to them as they were to the Eridians, the advanced people living on the planet Nekrotafeyo back when Pandora did not exist yet.
According to the Seer, a Guardian made by the Eridians back in the day, which players encounter at the end of the Director's Cut DLC, the Sirens are acausal beings. What this means is, Sirens can take action without having to face the consequences of the cause-effect chain, and they can change the course of events in ways that the Seer cannot predict. The Guardian is particularly mad at Lilith for stopping the moon Elpis from destroying Pandora, unleashing the Destroyer held prison within, saying that her actions did not only make the course impossible to correct, but it shattered it.
The Calypso Twins are also a big focal point for Borderlands 3's storyline, with them being the bad guys and also Sirens. Troy, Tyreen's brother, is the first known exception to the rule that Sirens are all women, but that could easily be explained by the fact that he was a parasitic twin to Tyreen, displaying a weaker and more limited version of her powers. The Seer also refers to the twins as an acausal threat that was eliminated and then proceeds to try and kill Ava simply because she is a Siren, and as such, uncontrollable by nature.
With this in mind, more questions emerge when reading Nyriad's messages found in the game. She was a Siren, likely one of the few beings that managed to meet the Eridians and even live side by side with them, and, at the same time, she was also the one who ended them. In fact, Nyriad had the powers of Tyreen, the leech. She used them to drain the lifeforce from the Eridians and then use it to power up the machine they had built: Pandora, the prison meant for the primordial creature that is the Destroyer.
In her messages, Nyriad warns the listeners that they must never find the Seventh. It's not confirmed, but it's implied that she is referring to a Seventh Siren. Nyriad also talks about how the Destroyer is likely to have a "reflection," a being whose purpose is not endless consuming hunger, but rather unstoppable creation. Is it possible that the Seventh Siren is the origin of their powers? She could be a "mother" of sorts, infinitely disrupting the causality of events due to the endless creation of power. It would fit the narrative, and it would explain why the Sirens never found out their origin, given they never found the Seventh.
Women and mothers do play a significant role in the story of Borderlands, and with the Watcher's war coming it is likely that their role, and the role of Sirens, will be even more crucial to the unfolding of the events.
Borderlands 3 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.