WMG / Borderlands 3

Jossed

There will be an introduction subtitle saying "RIP Telltale".

• Jossed. There ain't.

The Vault hunter with a cybernetic eye isn't a new character.

They will be Loader Bot from Tales from the Borderlands.

• This image set has strong implications that FL4K could be LB, as does this promotional image◊ which shows that they are very clearly a robotic endoskeleton. The question of how LB became a Beastmaster remains to be seen.
  • Jossed; it appears that FL4K is an entirely new character, namely a former archivist bot that grew sentient and bloodthirsty.

Zane is in fact August, or related to him.

(Image originally from and further speculation available at this Reddit post.)

First of all, their hair and facial features◊ are too similar to be coincidental, even growing in the same manner. Second of all, Zane has been described as incredibly wealthy, and by the end of Tales, August has taken over his mother's profitable and influential gang. His stealth-focused approach and gadgets could come very much in handy for a mob boss, especially when assassinating rivals, collecting intel on other gangs or Faking the Dead. His older, more weathered appearance could simply be the passage of time - August seemed to be in his very late twenties or early thirties during Tales, and BL3 is apparently set 5-7 years after it. His hologram decoy is lit up in a way that makes it seem like it has rolled-up sleeves◊, reflecting August's appearance in Tales. And while August appeared to be a brawler in Tales, not only is that role filled by Amara the new Siren, but it's very possible that as a powerful mob boss, he was a huge target, and had to become stealthy to survive. Zane could also very much be a cover name, and hinting at his true identity in a "A-Z" manner. And looking closely at Zane's face again, while he does have a beard and lined forehead, he has similar freckles to August, and doesn't appear to have aged heavily in the cheeks◊. As for the hair, perhaps it is bleached, rather than having turned white due to high stress. It's also possible that the aged look could be a side effect of his cybernetics.

• Alternatively, Zane's aged look is simply because he's August's father, and presumably was absent for much of his son's life, leaving him in Vallory's care. Expect any conversations between the two to be rather awkward, plus giving Disappeared Dad a whole new meaning.
  • Or perhaps Zane is merely a relative of August, even an older sibling. It's common for gangs to be a family business, after all.
    • Zane is said to be an ex-corporate hitman, and August's description in Episode 5 of Tales says that much of his life was spent stabbing, shooting and punching his way to the top of Hollow Point. Wherever August went after Tales, working as a hitman would certainly be nothing new. It's possible that his entire gang joined the Children of the Vault in the years between Tales and BL3, and turned on him, forcing him to flee elsewhere for work. Perhaps to the new and revived Atlas?
    • As of recent, Zane has been revealed to have an Irish accent, is pretty old and appears to be related to the Flynt bandit clan. Although (like many other Pandoran characters), we never got August's last name, it's probably unlikely that Zane himself is August. Unless August was hiding an accent the entire time, but that seems rather outlandish. Otherwise, consider this theory Jossed.

The mysterious man standing next to the Hammerlocks in the trailer is Timothy Lawrence.

Elaborated here and here. Timothy was not the body double killed in BL2, as that was a hapless engineer forced to wear a voice modulator.

• Timothy was a broke college graduate when he fell in with Jack, he's not going to suddenly become an elderly man after a few years (as it's not been nearly long enough for that). Even if you account for reversing the surgery that turned him into Jack's double (which was stated to be impossible), his appearance doesn't track with what little Timothy describes of his original appearance (the lack of freckles, for one thing).
  • There's always the possibility that he remained in Jack's employ after TPS, and as Jack was pushing 50 by the time of BL2, Timothy's appearance under the mask could have been forcibly "updated".
    • Even then, while he's been surgically altered to look like a man in his 50s, he'd still be in his 20s/early 30s - the surgery is aesthetic, his body is still relatively young, so he's not going to age that much for a while, and certainly not to the degree the old man in the trailer is.
    • It's far more likely he's the Hammerlock family patriarch, since he's seen with Alistair and Aurelia.
    • Jossed; he is in fact Wainwright Jakobs, present owner of the Jakobs corporation by BL3, and working with the Hammerlocks.

Lilith will betray the Vault Hunters and become a villain, possibly even the Big Bad

She was already showing signs of severe Sanity Slippage in the wake of Roland's death in the ending of Pre-Sequel, and the fact that Brick, Mordecai and presumably the other Vault Hunters chose to side with Athena, who in Lilith's mind was directly responsible for Jack's rise to power and subsequently Roland's death, is seen by her as the biggest betrayal yet. As the game's main story goes on, her anger and resentment towards Athena and the other Hunters for siding with her grows more and more and she eventually snaps, turning on the Hunters for "daring" to deny her her "justice" against Athena.

• She does apologise to Athena at the end of Claptastic Voyage for trying to kill her, and cut audio from the same DLC has her acknowledging that she went too far, that Roland's death is on her for not killing Jack back in the Vault of the Sentinel, and that in trying to fight Jack she almost became him. So it's doubtful, especially given there's been a time skip and she's had plenty of time to work stuff out.
  • Jossed: She remains a hero and is already established as one by the start of the game, having saved Pandora twelve times by then.

Tannis was the very first Vault Hunter

A new teaser in Morse Code hints that there was a first, single Vault Hunter prior to the arrival of the OG Borderlands team. Out of all individuals, Tannis appears to be the most likely candidate. She not only became obsessed with the Vaults and the Eridians, but was the only Dahl personnel to not turn to banditry, despite going insane. Tannis has also survived on her own in a Death World for a truly remarkable amount of a time, despite not even being a native Pandoran or showing any combat skills. Aside from the past teaser that "Tannis is not what she seems", the remastered Borderlands has Marcus and Zed express high suspicion of Tannis.

• Jossed. Typhon DeLeon is established as the very first Vault Hunter.

FL4K will have an extra inventory slot as a starting bonus.

They are seen carrying a backpack - a first among player characters throughout the games - so maybe, as a case of Gameplay and Story Integration, they'll get a little extra space in the inventory. Or, alternately, some sort of special item from said backpack (other than an audiolog).

• Axton has a backpack. It does nothing.

There will be a choice on who the final antagonist will be

A mid game mission will have you face the twins and kill one. The surviving twin will be the main antagonist for the rest of the game. Both options will have different branching storyline paths.

• Jossed. The final antagonist is Tyreen, who has been fused into a Vault Monster by then.

Throughout the game you will hear Children of Vault propaganda broadcasts...

...which will at some point, in a specific location, be jammed by broadcasts from a certain DJ Rakk Attakk.

• Jossed in that the DJ in question unfortunately does not appear in any form whatsoever, aside from a picture of her that Rhys keeps on his desk in the Atlas HQ on Promethea.

The Crimson Raiders will pull an Enemy Mine with what's left of Hyperion.

Similar to how Roland recruited former Crimson Lance soldiers to rally against Handsome Jack, the Crimson Raiders will recruit various Hyperion engineers and loaders to fight against the Children of the Vault. Which is made easier given Hyperion's hatred of bandits.

• Jossed. Hyperion firmly stays out of the game's events, given just how badly they got beaten seven years back.

T.K. Baha will have a different voice actor for the Blood Harvest event and any other upcoming DLC.

After a tricky dispute between David Eddings and Randy Pitchford resulted in the former being terminated from Gearbox, a new voice actor will be brought in to voice T.K. Baha, as he and Claptrap shared voice actors. While Jim Foronda was able to replicate Eddings' speech patterns and voice (to an extent) for Claptrap, T.K. might require a separate actor. Of course, this all assumes that Teddy will not be Killed Offscreen, replaced with someone else, or be a no-show.

• Jossed. T.K. Baha was a no-show for Bloody Harvest.

The Children of Vault might be not the true antagonist and the true antagonist will be revealed after both died.

• Jossed. The COV are the main villains through and through.

The "Arena" DLC for Borderlands 3 will feature Gaige

Since every game so far has had some sort of tournament/arena themed DLC; it's established that Gaige is still being hunted by Marcy's family, and if video games have taught us anything, it's that extremely rich people love to use tournaments to lure in people they want dead.

• Jossed. She's featured in Guns, Love, and Tentacles, which is about a wedding and fighting (another) crazy cult. The only thing remotely arena-themed here is the recurring friendly bouts with a hunter named Eista.
  • Furthermore, the "Arms Race" pack, which is the closest thing to the "Arena" DLC of this game, guest stars Axton and Salvador instead.

Fiona will be a DLC Vault Hunter.

She was well on her way to becoming one throughout the course of Tales, and by the final episode's present day Rhys actually refers to her working as one. Her action skills could center around Awesomeness by Analysis.

• Jossed. Gearbox has explicitly confirmed they have no plans to add new vault hunters.

Gehenna was a Anshin colony

Between the Wutai architecture and the biotech research it's pretty obvious.

• Jossed. The company headquarters eventually turns out to be a Jacobs corporation branch.

Confirmed

This game will only bring up events and moments that happen regardless of the choices we make in Tales from the Borderlands.

Such as Scooter's death, the battle with the Traveler, and Helios crashing.

• 'Confirmed' in that the Sanctuary III has a decal art depicting Scooter Riding the Bomb in his moment of death.

There will be a mission that's a Take That! to Battle Royale games

Mr. Torgue will host a deathmatch game all over Pandora with 100 contestants because it's "all the rage." The mission objective will be to either kill all the other contestants, or for extra XP, just hide in the same spot for 20 minutes and kill the last player.

• It'd be even funnier if killing the other contestants was super-easy. Most battle royale games have the players' health at 100, 200 with shields/armor, but Vault Hunters use guns that could strip that off in a few shots. Besides, what's some dude with a bog-standard assault rifle to a friggin' Vault Hunter?
• Why stop there? The contestants could have horrible hair dye and obnoxious personalities that get criticized by Maya and Tiny Tina/Claptrap respectively.
• Sort-of confirmed; an ex-boyfriend of Moxxi's named Killavolt became a bazillionaire by hosting Battle Royale games, and the Vault Hunters are asked to infiltrate a free-for-all whose winner gets to sleep with him.

Roland's and Bloodwing's statues will appear.

• They will also be joined by more statues for Scooter, Angel and any more friends the Vault Hunters have lost.
  • A different kind of monument for Scooter appears in Borderlands 2's Fight for Sanctuary campaign. It's an Evel Knievel-style ramp for car jumps with either lightning or fire sparks coming out of it.
• Confirmed for Roland, with the area "Roland's Rest". Bloodwing's statue was moved to the area called "Boomtown" (it's Tiny Tina's outpost). Averted for everyone else.

Lilith's depowering by the Calypso Twins will allow her to move on and get rid of any potential Sanity Slippage.

As well as hopefully staving off her Eridium addiction over time. She did apologize for her paranoia and irrational behaviour to Athena's face in Claptastic Voyage. However, it's entirely possible that some still remains, and her losing her powers is a perfect chance for positive character development.

• Partially confirmed; she undergoes a good deal of positive development over the course of the game.

Atlas and Maliwan are fighting.

"War-torn cityscapes" are mentioned among the locations that the players will visit. One of the locations that is shown in the trailers is a futuristic city which has both Maliwan tech and logotypes and a small Atlas building - possibly an outpost. Also, during the shot of Rhys in the reveal trailer the scenery beyond the window looks similar to the aforementioned city. And, since Rhys is listed as one of our allies while Maliwan enemies can be fought, it is possible that we will help Atlas take down Maliwan.

• Confirmed in the gameplay reveal, we'll be visiting the home world of the Atlas company which is under siege by Maliwan.

Maliwan is not only a competitor to Atlas, but is directly funding the Children of the Vault.

This could be why we're focused on fighting them too, rather than something Rhys and his resources can take out. And while the Children are a strong military threat, having appeared to unite all bandits in Pandora into a single army, having corporate backing would possibly allow them to expand their reach outside of Pandora itself. Whether or not Maliwan wants Pandora's resources or something else entirely remains unclear.

• Turns out there is indeed a connection, though it looks more like Maliwan just hired the cult for extra manpower during there takeover of Atlas.
  • Confirmed: specifically, Katagawa brokered a deal with a Calypsos, with Maliwan getting a huge boost in manpower courtesy of the CoV, in exchange for the Cov being able to obtain Maliwan firepower.

The twins have already absorbed almost all the bandit clans on Pandora into their cult.

Brick could be running around with Tina and Mordecai because the Slabs all deserted him and joined the Children of the Vault. As for Vaughn, it's entirely possible that the Children of Helios might actually be resisting the COV, because the survivors of Helios are presumably still worshipping Rhys.

• Partially confirmed: Vaughn's new clan did not survive Colonel Hector's assault, and the new clan he forms eventually defects to the CoV.

One of the weapon manufacturer's CEOs will be one of the good guys.

• As to be a stark contrast to the villains of the game, who aren't part of a corporation. Either Torgue will return, or one of Jakobs' or Vladof's shareholders will be introduced as an ally.
  • Confirmed in that Wainwright Jakobs will be an ally. The game reveals him to be the heir to the Jakobs corporation, too.
  • The reformed Atlas, under Rhys, also aligns themselves with the Crimson Raiders.
  • Torgue reappears, but merely as the host for this game's Circles of Slaughter.

Someone from the second generation's Vault Hunters will die.

• Possibly Salvador or Zer0, but more likely Zer0 because his identity isn't revealed yet and he may have a Broken Faceplate. It could also be Salvador in a cruel twist of irony similar to Roland's death in Borderlands 2.
• Or, yet another option, Maya could fall victim to Mentor Occupational Hazard.
• If it ends up being Axton, Moze better say her prayers before Borderlands 4 comes out.
  • In a cruel twist of irony, Maya indeed falls victim to Mentor Occupational Hazard and kicks the bucket.

For the Grand Finale, Pandora will be converted into a giant planet-sized bomb and be set off to destroy some kind of gigantic evil

Just sort of seems like something they might try, you know?

• Sort of. The Great Vault the Calypsos are hunting is in fact the entire planet of Pandora itself, and Elpis is a massive Vault Key. Their destructive attempts to open the Great Vault set off the finale of the game.

Wainwright will somehow get possessed.

• His eyes appear to be glowing in the Guns, Love and Tentacles promotion art.
  • Confirmed, though it happens early. Much of the story revolves around undoing this.

Krieg will return in a DLC...

• But not as a playable character, and he comes back as a Tragic Villain after finding out about Maya's death. By this point, he's killed his sane personality out of sheer desperation and denial from losing her. He goes on a rampage to kill every last psycho, bandit and cult member he deems responsible for Maya's death until he eventually turns his eye on the remainder of the Crimson Raiders, thinking they did not even save her and makes Ava his primary target. The player/s will be forced to kill him until his last words come from his sane mind coming back and asks is he'll ever see Maya after this. This can be a way to resolve her abrupt end, similar to Tina and Roland in 2.
  • Alternatively, Krieg will decide to remain sane to honor Maya's memory, especially after all the hard work he went through in trying to get his sane personality to assert control. The DLC will center around whatever Maya was working on during her time on Athenas, and finishing it to commemorate her.
  • Krieg returns in the "Fantastic Fustercluck" DLC, but he doesn't become a villain.

Unconfirmed

Rhys's cybernetic eye will return.

It will be found after the Helios crash and the Handsome Jack A.I. will still be in it. Handsome Jack will think being stuck in a cybernetic eye the worst thing that could ever happen to him, only for the universe to prove him wrong by having his cybernetic eye be found by Claptrap, who decides to use it as an accessory, forcing Handsome Jack to listen to Claptrap forever. Claptrap might decide instead to install the eye into a Claptrap unit, turning Handsome Jack into a Claptrap.

If AI Jack wasn't crushed at the end of Tales...

...then he'll be directly responsible for guns with legs "hurling verbal insults", having been stuffed into one of them by Rhys.

Vials that Troy is wearing contain Siren powers.

They are orange-red and glowing - like his Siren tattoos.

A unique Vault awaits.

Both Mask of Mayhem teaser and the reveal trailer show a broken Vault symbol - the former even shows it hidden among the normal ones.

FL4K is related to Zer0 in some way.

Both have Leet Lingo in their names, and both are, if not robots (for Zer0 was Ambiguously Human), then at least not human. Not to mention, Zer0 had their assassin killed by someone called 0ne, another similar name.

Amara and Maya know each other.

Amara's skill is summoning extra Siren arms to punch stuff, but one of the trailers also briefly shows her using one of the arms for Phaselocking an enemy. Could it be that Maya taught her Phaselocking?

• Adding onto the previous WMG, perhaps the new Vault Hunters know previous generations in some way. Moze could have met Gaige, Zane could have met Zer0 and/or Timothy, and Axton could have given FL4K his patch as a gift, given how they wear similar patches◊ on their jackets. There's even the possibility that the new Vault Hunters were in fact trained by previous generations, and are now arriving to help their mentors fight the war.

At some point in the game Vaughn will be referred to as Badass Accountant.

As a Tales Call-Back joke.

This is, or will result in, the "Age of the Gods' Mercy" prophesied by Krieg in the second game.

Which gods remains to be seen. It could be a redeemed Atlas playing Big Good, the Eridians returning, or the beings worshiped by the Children of the Vault (which may be the latter). In the last case, this could make the Cult either Well-Intentioned Extremist antagonists, Necessarily Evil, or Good All Along with the real enemies being something else. Or "mercy" is ironic.

Shadowtrap personality will resurge and Claptrap will either become a new DLC Vault Hunter or a Big Bad to end all Big Bads after interfacing with an Eridian tech.

Brick legitimately learned to play the sax between games

It wasn't just a gimmick for the trailer.

• As of the Commander Lilith DLC, Mordecai did encourage Brick to get a non-punching-related hobby. Gardening was unsuccessful, but there's always many other things to try...

Dr. Zed (somehow) became the head of/is working with Anshin, explaining his absence from the hub area.

Tannis seems to have replaced him as The Medic aboard Sanctuary III, but he's still referenced by medical vending machines and the Anshin-produced health kits, which refer to themselves as "Dr. Zed's pick-me-up".

The second generation's Vault Hunters will reference "No Place for a Hero" at the end of the story

The Sirens are Infinity Stones.

As we all know, there only is and only can be six Sirens at one time. Each Siren also displays unique abilities in addition to a few shared properties. The WMG is thus that each of the six Sirens is tied to a different fundamental aspect of the universe. These would not be the same as the infinity stones of Marvel fame, but similar.We have, to date, seen 6 sirens in the games as well as two extras in the non-canon comics.We know the power of five of the Sirens seen in the games and one of the two comic-exclusive Sirens. Unfortunately Commandant Steele never used her powers on-screen so we cannot determine how she would fit in.my theory as it currently stands assigns the following attributes to each of these Sirens:

Lilith: Siren of Space (phasewalking)Maya: Siren of Time (Phaselocking)Angel: Siren of Matter (Phaseshifting)Tyreen: Siren of Life (her power drains the life from her non-siren victims as seen in the revealed gameplay)Amara: Siren of Force or Spirit (her abilities revolve around both brute force and astral projection, muddying the waters a bit)

The non-canon Siren whose power we've seen described it as "controlling the wild beasts of any planet." While she isn't canon, her attribute as a Siren under this theory may hold true.Tate: Siren of Life, Mind/Will, or Nature

The final piece of this theory is that, though Siren powers are each connected to a specific domain, each individual who is born or becomes a Siren has a unique power within the confines of said domain: Lilith can teleport, where a different Siren of Space might be able to create folds or ripples in space.

Some of the previous games villains will return.

They will appear in a holo-dome arena sidequest as holographic bosses that the Vault Hunters have to fight. During the battles characters from the previous games will talk about the events of that game, just like the Holodome in the Pre-Sequel.

Maya's death happens while the Vault Hunter is in the Vault

They are in the Vault when the Calypso twins show up, only returning when the hostage taking happens. The teleportation comes with a little sickness or they are just not able to digest the developements of anything in time to save Maya. Why they just stand around then afterwards, I don't know. Shock/circuit overload?

DLC will be themed after Vault Hunters who didn't appear in 3.

• Gaige's Robot Rumble

• Salvador's Once upon a Time in Truxico

• Axton's Operation Desert Rakk

• Kreig's Blood Axe Revenge
  • Timothy Lawrence, Jack's Doppleganger, does appear in the Handsome Jackpot pack, while Gaige appears in the Guns, Love, and Tentacles pack. Krieg is the central focus of the "Fantastic Fustercluck" DLC.

Lilith doesn't die at the end of the game, but instead disappears

When Lilith flies toward Elpis to close the Great Vault, Tannis remarks doing so "could kill her", not "would kill her" or "will kill her". This is followed up during the credits, where Tannis is attempting to find Lilith's current whereabouts. Given that Lilith goes to another dimension when she phasewalks, she and Elpis itself are likely in another dimension right now, and because of that she is unable to contact her fellow Crimson Raiders for help.

Regarding the Firehawk symbol she leaves behind, it is a shield Lilith crafted using her powers as a replacement for Elpis, also representing a symbol for her eventual return as phoenixes are known for rising from the ashes. This will likely happen at the end of the last DLC campaign or in Borderlands 4.

Who will lead the Crimson Raiders after the events of the main story?

• Didn't Lilith put Ava in charge of Sanctuary III?

A future DLC will give Ava some Character Development.

• Maybe enough for her to be Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.

Lilith makes Ava the leader of Sanctuary because it was a haste decision and she didn't want to overburden Tannis

Initially, it would make more sense for Lilith to leave Tannis in charge of Sanctuary instead of Ava, as she's known the former for years at this point and has only known the latter for perhaps a week or so. However, Ava has already become one with her Siren powers at such a young age, and Lilith knows Tannis will obsess herself with trying to find her while she's gone and doesn't want her to worry about that and be responsible for leading the Crimson Raiders at the same time (not to mention she has poor social skills and isn't a people person). As for Lilith leaving anyone else in charge, as far as she knew it was a do-or-die situation. If someone didn't act immediately, Pandora would've been destroyed by Elpis.

The reason for Tina's transition from Ambiguously Gay to bisexual In-Universe

She was still a kid in 2 and was most likely just confused about what she wants (not to mention she is also attracted to Buttstallion, of all things) and growing older and moving on from Roland's death let her be a lot more open. It's just too bad she prefers crazy people.

Sirens and Borderlands 4

We know five sets of siren powers:

• We follow Lilith throughout the series, so phasewalk is accounted for.
• It's implied that the Calypso twins got their powers from their mother, Leda, so we have a track of the "phasedrain" power throughout the series.
• Maya was identified as a siren when she was an infant, comes into the story in BL2 and exists in BL3, where she is killed, with her powers eventually ending with Ava. Maya is old enough to have been alive during BL1, so we can track phaselock throughout the series as well.
• Angel is accounted for in BL1 and BL2, with her powers transfering to Tannis after she dies, which means that we can track phaseshift throughout the series as well.
• Phasetrance is the odd one out of the powers we've seen so far, as we don't know when Amara got them.

Whether or not Amara got Steele's powers, five sets of siren powers are known at the end of Borderlands 3, which leads me to my two-part theory:
Part one: We will see all of the siren powers shown in Borderlands 4. The playable siren will have the unknown power. Could be Steele's daughter (will have the right age by the time that game comes out, may be attached to Atlas) or some unrelated character. First quest ends up in Lilith being alive and recovered (unless that happens in DLC). Another early quest will be to find the phasedrain siren, with the powers having passed on to some character who is an adult by that time. Side theory: Playable siren in BL4 is in fact Steele's daughter.
The main villain of Borderlands 4 will be the character Nyriad warns the player about, the seventh siren. And the game will scale up the only way it logically can, by including living eridians and happening in all six galaxies for a Grand Finale to the series.

• There are two unknown siren powers, but the phasedrain/leech power's originaly belonged to Nyriad and she died to seal her powers on the eridian homeworld so they don't enter the cycle. She is the Seventh Siren that must never be found because her powers are dangerous. So that's four fittingly enough missing sirens That can be used in the Fourth game. Lilith with her Phase-walk(currently MIA), Tyreen with her Phase-Drain/Phase-Leech(dead with power in a new host), Commander Steele with her unknown power (Dead, with power in a new host) and the last unknown original sixth siren(possibly holds the powers of Siren Queen Dido)

• The next playable Siren could be Phaseleech (Unless it's Ava who ends up playing like Maya.) and the way their ability works is that their melee is a Life Drain move that can be upgraded to an Area of Effect (like some of Amara's abilities.) Another could make her a super tank in which she instead empowers her shields. And another could be all about sending enemies flying or just, well, making them fight more like Troy Calypso.

Maliwan soldiers are a mix of Katagawa's personal army and a penal battalion

The sociopathic, warcrime-committing soldiers not seem to fit Maliwan's clear-cut, sophisticated design. It is because they are not mainstream Maliwan. They are the mix of Katagawa's soldiers, whom are being mindlessly loyal to him, and a penal battalion that is just more trained and well-armed convicts and brutal soldiers, kept on a very loose leash. Katagawa is not yet the leader of Maliwan, but he already transformed his share into what we see - even if regular Maliwan troops are not this insane and more professional.

Zane picked up his Unexplained Accent working with the Zafords

The Zafords are the clan of criminals on Pandora most likely to give an ambitious hitman his first gigs. As a more (relatively) more organized, professional work environment than he'd get working with the literal Psychos his relatives lorded over, they'd be a perfect stepping stone between Pandora's bloodthirst and corporate gigs.

Earth definitely exists in this verse; the human characters are descended from emigrants who came to this particular galaxy via Sleeper Starship

It's never been clearly stated, and no reference to Earth is ever made, but the naming conventions and accents are all clearly Earth-derived. Now that we've gotten a better look at the other planets, we can even make a few educated guesses about which countries were involved in this particular exodus:

• Promethea and the Eden system both seem to have been populated by Americans. One could make a resonable case for Hephaestus (Torgue's homeworld) and Tantalus (Jack's homeworld) as well.
• Hermes has only been represented by the Hammerlock siblings, but that would probably imply it's British-occupied.
• The existence of Maliwan suggests a pan-Asian country of some kind, given the Japanese-named CEO and the Thai-sounding company name.
• The existence of Vladof would imply Russians got off Earth. No surprise there.
• Amara's backstory suggests India was involved.
• We don't see the Dahl homeworld, but we know they set up the colonies on Elpis. Since they all sound Australian with a minority Russian presence, we can probably assume some Aussies, including Russian immigrants, made if off Earth.

Maya lied about Ava being her Siren apprentice

The reason Maya thinks Ava is going to become a Siren someday is never explained. What if the reason is simply because Maya lied about it? It could be the culmination of many factors. For one, claiming Ava as her apprentice establishes a mentor-student relationship between them since Ava needs a positive role model. Secondly it made it easier to justify Ava's presence on Athenas to the monks who could not be thrilled to have another woman in the monastery. Thirdly it gave Ava something to strive towards rather than just petty larceny. Maya might have intended to someday reveal the truth and apologize for her benign deception once Ava was mature enough.

After Tyreen died, Lilith received her own powers back along with a combination of Tyreen's, Troy's, and the part of the Destroyer that Tyreen merged with

She doesn't have Maya's powers because those were transferred to Ava when Troy died. However, Troy consumed a ton of eridium in order to pull Elpis closer to Pandora, and Tyreen leeched his remaining power after his death. Then she became one with part of the Destroyer while still having Lilith's powers.

With them gone and that deadly combination of power transferred to her, Lilith is stronger than ever which is why she was able to teleport Elpis, Pandora's moon without any trouble or hesitation to act, whereas in Borderlands 2 she needed to consume a great deal of eridium to teleport Sanctuary, a small town, away from Jack. Basically, she's unintentionally become the god that the Calypsos dreamed to be.

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