The Eye of Aarran
- "But one secret remained... The Eye of Aarran was discovered" — Narrator in Homeworld 2
The Eye of Aarran, variant spelling Eye of Arran[1], is a Progenitor hyperspace gate located to the galactic south of Hiigara, on the edge of the Galactic Core region. The gate is significant as it is the home of the Progenitor Overseer System, the complex computer system which operates the entire Great Network of Hyperspace Gates and is vital for the continued operation of the gate system.
The Eye is located on the Core Loop of the Gate Network, with additional connections leading to the Buran Gate and Watchtower Gate.
History[]
Like all Progenitor artefacts, the gate is more than 100,000 years old and is of stupendous size, dwarfing even Balcora Gate. It is able to admit starships of very large dimensions.
After the collapse of the Progenitor Empire, the Eye of Aarran was powered down and left alone for over a hundred millennia. It was rediscovered shortly after the end of the Vaygr War, when the Hiigaran Karan S'jet reunited the Three Hyperspace Cores with the starship Sajuuk. Information contained within the Cores allowed Karan to find the Eye of Aarran and reactivate it with the power of the Three. When she did so, the entire Gate Network powered up, along with the Overseer System, allowing her to realise the enormity of what had been discovered. The Gate Network allowed for Far Jumping by ships lacking even basic hyperdrives, revolutionising galactic trade, diplomacy and exploration.
Along with the rest of the Gate Network, the Eye of Aarran was shut down during the Incarnate War for the duration of the crisis.
The Progenitor Overseer System[]
The Overseer System is a powerful computer network which administers both the Eye of Aarran itself and the wider gate network. It allows for gates and traffic to be monitored and malfunctions recorded. It does not appear to be a true AI, lacking sentience or its own will, instead responding as the Progenitors programmed it to.
When the Anomaly began to afflict individual gates around ten years after the discovery of the Eye, the Overseer System was used to record the resulting Gate Malfunction Events. However, when entire gates and regions started going dark and no longer responding to commands, the Overseer System was unable to resolve the discrepancy, and in fact no longer recognised the gates as having ever been part of the system in the first place. As a result, the Overseer System's diagnostic systems were useless in combating the problem.[2]
Trivia[]
- The Eye of Aarran's name comes from the name of Jon Aaron Kambeitz, who was the lead artist of Homeworld and also who created the art of China Gate, concept of the Eye of Aarran.
- According to trivia from Homeworld Mobile, the Eye of Aarran is actually damaged, though few know this. Karan S’Jet is said to be seeking ways to repair it.
- The Eye of Aarran appears in the trailers for Homeworld 3 and Homeworld Mobile, and can be seen on the digital map of the Galaxy in the Homeworld 3 itself, bearing the name "Aarran Gate".