Thread by @Strawberry79

I'm working on my next art piece right now but could not help but make one more #Valorant #Lore Theory thread in the meantime, this time focusing on Pearl. This is a follow up again on my Odyssey theory thread which you can find here:

What I'm going to discuss here is the rooster motifs we see all over the B side of the map & what it could possibly mean. The best example of these rooster motifs can be seen on the double doors in mid section. small rooster statues as well as floor tiles bearing the sign.

The map Pearl is located in Lisbon,Portugal. So let's start by looking into the significance of rooster as a symbol in Portuguese culture. In Portugal, the rooster is a symbol of faith, good luck & justice based on the legend of the "Old rooster of Barcelos" or "Galo de Barcelos"

The legend tells a story about a pilgrim traveling through Spain who is accused of stealing silver from a landowner, and is sentenced to death by hanging.
To plead his innocence, he begs the judge to reverse his sentence.

The judge was about to tuck into a roasted cockerel, when the pilgrim vowed that as proof of his innocence the cockerel will stand up on his plate and crow. As the pilgrim was about to be hung, the cockerel miraculously stood up and crowed and the judge stops the sentence.

There are variations in the story, one is where the pilgrim is falsely accused of stealing silver.
The pilgrim stays at a local inn, and it is the greedy owner of the inn who falsely accuses the pilgrim of the crime.

Or in some versions there are two pilgrims, a father and his son. The son is accused, and the father pleads his innocence by calling on the rooster to crow.

Now that we have a general idea of what it symbolizes in the local culture of the map's location, let's go back and take a look around again. A lot of Things are happening on the B side Pearl. One thing that specially can catch your attention is this poster:

In that poster we see that Oran McEneff & Ruben Pontes ( the two scientists who were working on the large Radian collider in Fracture) are both on the run. Oran is wanted for entering Omega illegally and conspiring against Alpha & Ruben is a fugitive marked as a dangerous person.

It seems like Oran & Ruben survived Fracture & escaped to Ω earth together.We can see Ruben's house has been sealed off possibly after being investigated by Ω officials. In front of Ruben's house, there is a shop,The Red Reflection. There's again a tiny rooster on the counter.

I am going to theorize here, that Oran and Ruben on pearl, represent the pilgrims in the Old rooster of Barcelos legend. They are falsely seen as the people who have caused the Fracture incident and are in hiding.

Who is the only person that can actually prove their innocence in this? Our favorite Frenchman. In a fun coincidence the rooster is also the national animal of France. Chamber could potentially be the person to clear their names. will it happen? we shall wait and see.

Interestingly enough there is a little rooster statue also near the Odyssey club:

Sorry for the long thread again :D