Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so all spoilers were removed. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned
The Firehawk: This is the Firehawk. Come to Frostburn Canyon or people will die.
Scooter: The Firehawk?! You mean that mass-murderin' bounty hunter?! Oh crap — if the Firehawk's got him, Roland is in DEEEEEP! You gotta get to Frostburn Canyon and rescue his ass!
Angel: If Roland has been captured by the Firehawk, he's in danger. You're the only one who can stop Jack, but Roland is the man with the plan, so to speak — he knows the best way to strike at Hyperion.
— Beginning of the mission on Sanctuary
After helping Scooter get the inner workings of Sanctuary in place and failing to take flight, the Vault Hunters begin to search for Roland's whereabouts. This takes them to Frostburn Canyon, a new location east of Three Horns - Divide where fire and ice ambient the location.
After looking for clues and searching a tumultuous and danger-filled path, you get to the aforementioned Firehawk's Lair and find out that said Firehawk is none other than... Lilith, one of the four original Vault Hunters, who was using a cult, and the surrounding in order to conceal her identity, fooling Hyperion into thinking she's dead.
The new level, Frostburn Canyon, is home to the "In Memoriam", "Cult Following" chain and "Swallowed Whole" missions, as well as the "Praise Be to Scorch", "Totems of Fire", "Burning Sensation" and "Cult of the Vault" challenges.
The mission, the related challenges and sidequests, and the Frostburn Canyon level itself provide examples of:
- And That's Terrible: The outcome of "Cult Following: Eternal Flame" has the following text:"You've pleased Incinerator Clayton (which is good) by committing brutal violence (which is bad) against a group of people who only find happiness in immolation-related death (which is kind of a grey area)."
- Backtracking: "Cult Following: Lighting the Match" requires you to bring a midget to the Southern Shelf level, all the way into Captain Flynt's ship.
- Badass in Distress: You meet Lilith when she's under attack from bandits and already exhausted.
- Brick Joke: As you're searching for the Firehawk, Jack echoes you that he hears the Firehawk "liquefies bandits and drinks them like flesh smoothies." Later, Lilith gives you a mission where you have to gather ECHO recordings that a bandit was going to sell to Hyperion, where she did, accidentally, liquefy at least one of her creepy worshippers thanks to the Eridium boosting her powers. Jury's out on whether she actually tried drinking what was left.
- Flat "What": During the "In Memoriam" sidequest, one of the ECHOes reflect Lilith's reaction to Roland's discovery that the Vault is not a cache of weapons or similar, but a living thing. Twice in a row.Lilith: I'm just gonna go ahead and repeat myself. What?
- A God Am I: Lilith has shades of it during the "Cult Following" sidequest chain.Lilith: I have to admit, seeing these guys kill that false god for me was kinda flattering. Oh, I'm a bad person...
- Hailfire Peaks: Frostburn Canyon, icy but full of nutty fire-worshippers who use flamethrowers.
- Human Sacrifice: Part of the "Cult Following" sidequest chain involves this trope:
- "Cult Following: Lighting the Match" requires you to sacrifice a midget in Flynt's ship in the Southern Shelf area.
- "Cult Following: The Enkindling" has Incinerator Clayton trying to sacrifice innocent people to the Firehawk. The Vault Hunters, with the help of Lilith, foil that plan, though.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Lilith plays along with being the "goddess Firehawk" of a certain bandit group. She states doing it so that she could keep the bandits in check while Roland focuses on taking down Jack. Sure enough, once you enter the Frostburn Canyon for the first time, the Bloodshots are seen attacking the Cultists, implying that Lilith was at least successful in making the bandits take down each other.
- Red Herring: The Firehawk's ECHO log in "In Memoriam" makes it as if she kidnapped Roland. Even Scooter and Jack were made to believe that the Firehawk actually hostaged him in Frostburn Canyon. It turns out, the Firehawk is Lilith, an ally who was just concealing her identity with a disguise, a cult and a voice modulator. She made you go through the canyon to enlist your help since Roland had been taken to the Bloodshot Camp.
- Story Breadcrumbs:
- The "In Memoriam" sidequest details the events that led to the breakup of Lilith and Roland while they were dealing with the bandits and Hyperion.
- The "Burning Sensation" challenge deals with Incinerator Clayton and his chronicles of the Firehawk.
- Stop Worshipping Me: Lilith is being worshiped by a band of fire-obsessed bandits as "The Firehawk". She finds it amusing at first, how they burn each other alive for her, but when the bandits plan to celebrate "The Enkindling" by torching a group of civilian captives taken from Sanctuary, she decides to intervene."Vault Hunter, smite these bitches!"
- Tsundere: As revealed in an audio log during "In Memoriam", Lilith decides to play hard-to-get to attract Roland after he dumped her. That... didn't work. More likely it didn't have enough time. It's implied Roland dumped her to focus on fighting Jack and he seemed visibly upset whenever she brings up their relationship.
- Unwanted False Faith: The end of the Cult Following questline. Lilith does not find bandits preparing to burn a cageload of kidnapped civilians flattering at all.Lilith: Your goddess has arrived... and she is very disappointed. Vault Hunter, smite these bitches.
