History Headscratchers / XCom2

* How did the Advent guards get onto the external 2nd floor as seen in the WotC Reapper intro when the building literally has no stairs or ladders on the outside and none on the inside?

* Why didn't they take one more guy? Even if you accept the limit of 6 people (WotC mission introducing Mox had you evacuating 6 people.), they could have taken a 3rd party members.

* ADVENT never refer to the MECs as such. XCOM calls them MECs as they have a resemblance to their namesakes, presumably in development by the time of the base attack.

* What's the deal with the human enclosure? If it really held early abductees, then that means that the alien's [[spoiler: underwater]] base must have been created early on in their campaign. Is the enclosure designed to allow an observation of "typical" human interaction as part of an effort to determine what makes humans unique psionically?

* How did the aliens manage to construct such an extensive facility [[spoiler: at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean]] without anyone getting wise? Even with the world government being controlled by Advent, a project of that scale would be impossible to cover up.

* In the final cutscene. [[spoiler: How did the resistance fighters at the checkpoint pick up Advent guns? Didn't a research project explicitly state that doing so caused, in some cases lethal, damage? Isn't this the exact reason you can't do so in-game?]]

** Perhaps the Cyberdisks ARE the Gatekeepers. It's never really revealed in Enemy Unknown if the Cyberdiscs are wholly mechanical or not. Maybe there is an organic component, and that was re-engineered by the aliens using human DNA to create the Gatekeepers. We know [[spoiler: the Ethereals' endgame is to create psionically powerful Avatars to house their consciousnesses and defeat their species-wide deterioration. Perhaps the Gatekeepers were one of the experiments leading into the Avatar Project, seeing just how adaptable human genetics were, and just how far humans could be pushed psionically.]]

** Given how NintendoHard Enemy Unknown/Within was, presumably the Commander making any headway at all is seen as nothing short of miraculous. [[spoiler: Certainly the aliens thought highly enough of him/her to integrate his/her mind into their psionic network to utilize his/her tactical skills and knowledge.]]

** It's also shown that [[spoiler: the Commander was kidnapped when the aliens attacked the XCOM Base. This means that XCOM didn't fall because the Commander was a GeneralFailure, but because XCOM was turned into a DecapitatedArmy after the Commander was kidnapped (and it's likely the rest of its manpower got chewed up and spat out in the defense as well).]]

** XCOM was wiped out earlier than the base assault in Enemy Within, that's true; however, [[spoiler: XCOM was only wiped out because the world leaders defected, and presumably, gave away the base's location because XCOM didn't accept their surrender]]. The Commander, by the way they are spoken of by Bradford and Shen Sr., put up one hell of a fight against the invasion. XCOM may have lost soldiers, and it may have failed missions -we don't know all the details. What we do know is that the Commander was highly respected for their tactical mind and leadership, by friend and foe alike. [[spoiler: Enough that the Ethereals, haughty, arrogant, and prideful as they are, were willing to offer the Commander a spot in their circle for the Commander's feats. It may have been a last-ditch attempt to persuade the Commander, but whether through fear or respect, they did NOT want to be on the business end of the Commander's war machine any longer.]] Not to mention how XCOM goes from a hopeless rebellion to an alien ass-kicking machine mere months (if that) after the Commander is rescued and takes charge...

* Final Mission Spoilers: [[spoiler:During the Final Mission, while the Angelis Ethereal trying to talk you down (Somehow arguing that her juicing people is for their own benefit), another Ethereal chimes in, telling you (And it's specifically addressing you as Commander) That you beat "them" before, and can do it again? Who is this guy? Why does he want me to beat the other Ethereals? And what does he mean I beat them before? Didn't XCOM lose badly?]]
** That might actually be an allusion to [[spoiler:statements from Firaxis developers that XCOM 2 takes place in a different timeline where XCOM failed. Maybe that Ethereal is from the timeline where XCOM won and made peace, and managed to send a message into another world.]]
** That same Ethereal also says later on [[spoiler: "You were our greatest weapon against this world, and you will be again!". I interpreted his earlier line as a reference to the Commander providing tactical information to alien forces while in stasis. The "them" he is referring to in his first line isn't the Ethereals, it's humanity. As to who he is, he's probably just another Elder who realized the Angelis' "for your own good" speech wasn't working.]]

** WMG:[[spoiler: that Etheral knows that The Commander is Asaru, who has beaten the Aliens once during the cold war]]
** WMG:[[spoiler: The Commander of XCOM 2 was actually The Volunteer from XCOM: Enemy Unknown, dropped into the XCOM 2 timeline after being sucked through the black hole created by the Uber Ethereal's ship, and thus "defeated them once before" was meant to be when they led a squad to kill the Uber Ethereal.]]

** With the Alien Rulers DLC, we find out what Vahlen was up to...[[spoiler:She's defrosted and modified 3 aliens with massively upgraded genetics. They were frozen for a damned good reason, being a massive threat to all of humanity.]]

* Who's running the show at ADVENT after Operation Leviathan? With [[spoiler: the Elders dead, their psionic network + seat of power destroyed,]], and 6+ months roughly of XCOM's war against ADVENT, who is still in charge and what is their game here? Who is keeping the propaganda produced and airing, and what for? Human collaborators who know they're going to be summarily executed by a mob if ADVENT falls? They're clearly not keeping ADVENT going for the sake of their alien masters at that point.

* Why can't you find MELD anymore? Considering the fact that the aliens are running gene therapy clinics, you'd think there'd be a ton of it laying around [[spoiler: Ignoring the fact that they probably didn't want to have to program the Enemy Within stuff and may add it in future DLC.]]

* Exactly how does the avatar project = the apocalypse? Everyone is so sure that if the project is completed, it will be "the end, for all of us" but why? HOW? Alright so [[spoiler: millions of people were melted down into soylent green.]] But that's not the apocalypse....
** The sheer [[spoiler: psionic power of a ''completed'']] Avatar would be enough to wipe out anything humanity can muster against it. Its psionic abilities are off the charts, as seen by how [[spoiler:The Commander, a human[[note]]with psionic augmentation, but still, human[[/note]], is able to fight off the psionic assault of '''5''' ''ethereals'' and ''win'' in an ''incomplete'' avatar]]. "Alright", you may say. "But how is that the end of humanity?" Two cases can be made for that:
### The Ethereals would leave Earth, having [[spoiler: found their cure and now seeking new races to subjugate in their fight against what has destroyed the world of all those alien races they have in their arsenal.]] This, of course, would leave humanity to fend for itself against an enemy we have no way of stopping in our weakened state. Our race [[spoiler: in the form of the Avatar]], would only live on as part of the Aliens' armies, in the same way the Mutons and Sectoids are: genetically perfected individuals with no deviation from each other.
### The Ethereals [[spoiler: having found their cure]], choose to make their final stand on Earth. If they're unable to convince X-com and any resistance to stand with them, X-Com and the rest of humanity would be wiped out easily by the [[spoiler: ''Ethereal-controlled'' completed]] Avatars so they wouldn't have to fight a war on two fronts. In neither case, humanity survives as we know it.
** honestly I don't really get what is supposed to be so powerful about the avatars. My death squad killed one, and [[spoiler: in my own avatar I managed to kill 4 at the same time.]] I mean, as I understood it, the avatar was never really about making the ethereals MORE powerful. They are already psionic gods. [[spoiler: The point of the avatar project was to genetically engineer a physical form sturdy enough to contain the immense psionic power of an ethereal mind/soul since their own bodies were slowly being destroyed by their immense power. its a cure, not a weapon]]

*** If the MECs and Sectopods can b given decent aiming capabilities, then so can the andromedon suit.

** In the real world, soldiers are trained to shoot center mass at any target, even tanks and IFVs. Heck, even ATGMs will aim for the whole tank and not go for specific parts of the tank. Sure, it'd be easier to punch through a hatch, but a Javelin isn't that accurate, and it's a OneHitKill anywhere it hits anyway. The point is, it's better to score a guaranteed damaging hit, than waste ammo going for something more vital that you might not hit anyway.

* Why does the Proving Grounds need to repeatedly research Experimental Ammo/Grenade/Armor to get multiples of the same thing? As it is now, if you wanted multiple sets of an experimental whatjamacallit, you need to keep sacrificing Cores to the R&D gods and hope for the best. If the Engineers were able to invent one Blaster Bomb, why doesn't Lily Shen just tell them "Great, now do it again, the Commander wants six of these by the end of the month"?

* Why is it necessary to kill all the enemies and secure the area on the Neutralize the Enemy commander mission? If your only goal is killing the commander, shouldn't you be able to extract after you do it? Central says you have to kill everyone to prevent them from recovering his body for some reason, but he doesn't say why. Even if that is necessary, why can't you just pick up his corpse and extract with it, just like you extract downed VIPs or squadmates?

** If you accept 'Tactical Legacy Pack' as even pseudo-canon, then the people chosen were among the best that XCOM had at the time. Plus, the amount of people was probably restricted due to a need for it to be a massively important mission; several missions later on do have the amount of people that can be sent in restricted.