Clank meeting Orvus.
Clank's subconscious is a location in A Crack in Time. A part of Clank's deep mind, it is accessed by Clank in the Great Clock's mnemonic stations, which unlock secret partitions in his memory banks.[1] Within, a program of Orvus that serves as a digital simulation of the real Orvus guided Clank.[2]
History[]
The digital simulation of Orvus was installed in Clank's memory banks the day he was born in the Solana Galaxy.[2] Throughout Clank's subconscious were displays of some of his memories from Ratchet & Clank, Tools of Destruction, and Quest for Booty.
During A Crack in Time, Clank visited his subconscious three times. During "Unlock Clank's Memory Banks" in Mnemonic Station Beta,[1] he first met the digital Orvus and learned to use the Chronoscepter. In "Learn how to Repair Time", Clank used Mnemonic Station Gamma to learn how to repair time anomalies from the Great Clock's planet rooms.[3]
The Plumber in Clank's subconscious.
In "Test Mnemonic Station Iota", Clank tested Mnemonic Station Iota for Sigmund, only to meet the Plumber in there (who had thought he was in Captain Qwark's head due to the emptiness). The Plumber, seeing a blocked pipe, pulled out a few objects: a copy of Body By Qwark, the nuclear-powered rocket sled, Emperor Tachyon's crown, and finally Ratchet's OmniWrench, which actually was clogging the pipe. Helping Clank jump down the unclogged pipe,[a] the Plumber left a cryptic comment before departing.[4]
A puzzle inside Clank's subconscious.
Sigmund also programmed additional temporal recording challenges into Clank's subconscious. The digital simulation of Orvus also contrasted Clank's subconscious with Sigmund's less tidy one, claiming Sigmund's was filled with cartoons and broken sprockets.[5]
Behind the scenes[]
The pipe that the Plumber unblocks in Clank's subconscious represents pipes seen throughout the Super Mario franchise, in which the main character, Mario, is a plumber. As Clank invites the Plumber to enter, he responds that it'd be "ridiculous" to have plumbers "just go diving down strange pipes all willy-nilly",[4] a tongue-in-cheek nod to the Super Mario series.
Notes[]
Annotations[]
- ↑ The pipe that Clank jumped down caused Clank to exit the station but was also a metaphor for Clank's path as Senior Caretaker of the Great Clock. Of the objects found inside it, Ratchet's OmniWrench was blocking it, suggesting Ratchet was what was holding him back from taking on the responsibility. After helping Clank, the Plumber told him that if Ratchet was his friend, "he'll understand", suggesting he would understand going separate ways thereafter.[4]
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Crack in Time script § "Travel with Sigmund to meet Orvus (gameplay)"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Crack in Time script § "Unlock Clank's Memory Banks (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Meet Orvus in Clank's Subconscious (gameplay)"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A Crack in Time script § "Test Mnemonic Station Iota (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Mnemonic Station Beta"