Morklon is a planet featured in A Crack in Time. Located in the Corvus Sector of the Polaris Galaxy, it is a swamp planet inhabited by the fongoids. Many fongoids reside in the Gimlick Valley village located along a river, protected by the Erundai Floodgate. The Battle of Gimlick Valley, fought between the fongoids and agorians, was a historic event in the Breegus System for both races. The battle led to the destruction of the valley, turning the former village into a derelict swamp.
Ratchet and Clank crashed on the planet after being ejected there by Dr. Nefarious. Using time portals, they altered the history of the Battle of Gimlick Valley to find a way back to the Nefarious Space Station.
History[]
Before A Crack in Time[]
Chief Zahn Gribnak led the settlement in Gimlick Valley. The village was poorly defended, as soldiers were under-trained and poorly equipped. Ten years prior to the events of A Crack in Time,[1] the agorians, led by Commander Lornock Argos, invaded one day[a] while Chief Gribnak was manning his post at the Erundai Outpost, forcing Chief Zahn Gribnak to lead the under-prepared soldiers to battle against them.[3]
The agorians imprisoning the fongoids at the Battle of Gimlick Valley.
As Argos won the battle, under Article 17 of the Agorian Code of Interstellar Acquisition, he declared the sector his.[1] Chief Gribnak's soldiers were captured, imprisoned, briefly pardoned, imprisoned again, and killed. The agorians also destroyed the Erundai Floodgate, wiping out the village.[3]
Planet Morklon was voted the worst vacation spot in Polaris just ahead of Torren IV by the Polaris Board of Interstellar Tourism.[4][b]
A Crack in Time[]
Gimlick Valley was declared a historical site after Polaris Galactic Initiative 8917. On space radio, Kip Darling and Pepper Fairbanks covered the story and asked callers to judge if the valley was a historic hotspot or sprawling cesspool, only for callers to be entirely uninterested in discussing the topic and instead focused on asking if Pepper Fairbanks was single.[5]
Yurik retelling the events of the Battle of Gimlick Valley.
Dr. Nefarious used the Asteroid Flinger 5000 to send Ratchet and Clank to Morklon. The Zoni in Ratchet's Zoni Vessel saved them, and due to the urgency to return before Nefarious could reach the Great Clock, Ratchet advised against calling the authorities, preferring to look for a way back to the Nefarious Space Station on his own.[6] Shortly after, they met Yurik the historian, who told them of the fongoid's defeat ten years ago.[7] Clank then had the idea to contact Sigmund to activate a time portal in a nearby time rift to restore Gimlick Valley.[3]
Commander Argos' ship crash-landed in front of the dam after being defeated.
In "Free Zahn Gribnak", Ratchet and Clank entered the time portal and found Yurik as a child, who then directed them to where Gribnak was held.[1] Commander Argos directed the agorians to have Gribnak executed and to have the Erundai Floodgate destroyed, though Ratchet freed Gribnak first.[8] In "Destroy the Hydra Tanks", Gribnak's soldiers and Ratchet then fought to protect the floodgate, and Ratchet destroyed the elite hydra tanks blocking the way.[9] Finally, in "Defeat Commander Argos!", Ratchet beat Argos, altering the course of history, and requested the fongoids in the past restore Argos' ship for him to use in the present.[10]
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Ratchet and Clank meeting Yurik in the altered present.
In the now altered present day, Ratchet returned through the portal to find a statue erected for himself and Clank, and Yurik, no longer remembering them, preparing for a reenactment of the Battle of Gimlick Valley in which the fongoids had won. Yurik allowed them to borrow the now-restored agorian space cruiser (which they had intended to use for the reenactment) if they restored its power with battery bots.[11]
The Battle of Gimlick Valley later featured in Igliak's Intergalactic Museum of History, referring to Ratchet and Clank as "two mysterious heroes" who helped the fongoids win the battle.[12]
Geography[]
Morklon is a lush, green planet that appears largely covered in thick jungle and swampland, suggesting a tropical environment. Forested mountains are seen in the area around Gimlick Valley, and within, lush vegetation including vines, trees, and plants are seen.
Gimlick Valley itself is a fongoid village situated along a river.[c] A dam, known as the Erundai Floodgate,[3] keeps the water levels low for the village to be situated around it. Across the valley are a number of statues dedicated to the Zoni, as well as tall fongoid huts both on the ground and built into the plateaus around the valley.
Gimlick Valley's appearance was drastically different throughout time. In Ratchet's present prior to altering the past, with the dam destroyed, the valley was flooded, and thick, overgrown ivy covered the swamp in place of the old fongoid settlement. In the past, the intact valley held a containment camp where the agorians held the fongoid warriors. In Ratchet's present after altering time, the thriving village also featured statues dedicated to Ratchet and Clank.
Notes[]
Annotations[]
- ↑ The motives for the agorian invasion are unclear, but it was likely part of agorian's "Humiliate a Weaker Race" initiative that Argos had started ten years prior to A Crack in Time.[2] As such, it is possible that Morklon was the first world invaded by this initiative.
- ↑ Though the Polaris Board of Interstellar Tourism voted Morklon as the worst vacation spot in Polaris,[4] this may have occurred before Ratchet and Clank altered the course of history so that the fongoids won the battle, which may have changed the outcome.
- ↑ As "Erundai" is the name of the floodgate and the nearby outpost,[3] it is possible the river itself is named Erundai. Alister Azimuth referred to the "battle of Erundai" that he and Kaden participated in, in which they led an army of terraklons away from a fongoid refugee camp,[13] likely referring to another battle taking place on Morklon.
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 A Crack in Time script § "Enter the Time Portal (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Assault on Krell Canyon"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 A Crack in Time script § "The Battle of Gimlick Valley"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 A Crack in Time menu § "Galactic Trivia"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Gimlick Valley"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Gimlick Valley, Morklon"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Find a Way Off Planet Morklon (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Free Zahn Gribnak (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Destroy the Hydra Tanks (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Defeat Commander Argos! (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Return to the Present (Morklon) (gameplay)"
- ↑ Into the Nexus script § "Find the Dimensionator (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Master the Hoverboots (gameplay)"
References[]
- Insomniac Games (2009). Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Insomniac Games (2013). Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.