Talk:Alien Relics (Disambiguation)/@comment-35376163-20180422134113/@comment-38204203-20190117203941

BlueBottle2 may be at least partially joking, but I really think they are on to something with this Black Death/Kharaa connection.

I don't think they're necessarily genetically related, though perhaps some of the Plague was brought along with some Earth relics and mutated into the Kharaa in a new alien environment.

I personally think it's more likely that the Precursors have had a presence on Earth for at least a millenium (more than that if the yin yang really was inspired by that one particular relic), and already did have that presence by the time they ran into the Kharaa bacteria. In that time, they would have definitely been aware of the Black Death as it was a massively impactful event. If we think about the timing of that sword in particular, it dates back to the 13th century, just 100 years or so before the Black Death really took off. This also matches up with the Precursor bases being almost 1,000 years old: Subnautica takes place in the late 22nd century, which is a bit less than 1,000 years after the Black Death took off.

I think it's probable that the Precursors would have had a very powerful communication network (or long-distance teleporters), so in the process of trying to understand the Kharaa, the Precursor presence on Earth tipped off the researchers on 4546B about the Black Death, which was then used as a case study.

That explains why the blade is on display. I don't think it's for decoration. The Precursors had a very practical mission on 4546B, at least by the time the Kharaa emerged. I doubt they were just trying to "spruce up the place." Notice how almost all of the displays are some sort of destructive tool. Many of the other relics they have are far more powerful - a super high-tech rifle, a sterilization bomb, and an explosive capable of wiping out an entire solar system. Compared to those, that blade is as threatening as a wet bagel.

I agree: it's gotta be the DNA. If the Trivia section is right, and the blade is connected to Genghis Khan, then they probably wanted that DNA as a way to study the resistence that the Mongolians developed. In his conquests, Genghis would have used the blade against at least one head of state (as indicated by the databank entry); for example, during his conquest of the Qara Khitai, who based on linguistic evidence are likely related to the Mongolians.

It becomes even more likely that the developers intended for this connection when we take into account the other links to Mongolia that are in the game: the Mongolians are a notable trans-gov in this universe, AND the very name Kharaa is a Mongolian word for "curse."

Tin foil hat or not, it's fun to speculate.