Oubliette

Oubliette
The Oubliette.
Location	"Hidden in another dimension" Alimbic Cluster, Tetra Galaxy
Distinct features	Gorea's "prison", dirt- or stone-constructed interior

The Oubliette is the final area in Metroid Prime Hunters. It is found in the Infinity Void, and the only way to get there is to bring all eight Octoliths to the cannon room in Alinos to fire the Alimbic Cannon. It is home to the final boss of the game, Gorea, and is destroyed in both endings. The second ending includes a short scene in which it appears that the six rival hunters escape Oubliette in their ships along with Samus Aran.

There is also a multiplayer level with the same name.

Complete Map of Oubliette: [1]

Description

Gorea

In Alimbic Lore, the Oubliette is described as a prison built especially for Gorea. In appearance, it looks more like a capital ship than a structure; this may have been necessary to transport it to the Infinity Void after construction, or it may have simply been built according to principles of the very foreign Alimbic aesthetic, like the homely Crash Pillars.

Inside the Oubliette, most of the rooms are larger than would appear necessary, and have a curious overgrown appearance and green color, with large glowing green lights in the walls, ceiling or floor at seemingly random locations. Much of the interior appears to be constructed of stone, and what appear to be brown tree trunks are abundant. In the "open-air" areas like the Main Chamber and the final area, there is no sky, and instead there is nothing but an enormous, swirling green void. The overall environment of the Oubliette particularly resembles a Stronghold Void, and even share the same ominous music as that area.

Landing Site

The Landing Site has a tunnel leading in from the outside of the Oubliette, which is shaped like a triangular prism with squared edges. The room has six of the trees, and four opaque green-colored windows are in between some of them. Underneath the landing pad there is a glowing green bowl-like floor with a brown edge. In between the tree-like constructions, the grass plants grow out of the floor. While not explored by Samus, there mwere likely other Landing Sites in the Oubliette used by fellow Hunters Kanden, Weavel, Spire, Sylux, Noxus and Trace.

Elevator shaft

The Landing Site then directly connects to a short corridor common in Alimbic areas, which in turn connects to a long shaft leading upward, with an Elevator automatically taking Samus up without her having to activate a Switch. From the top floor, a room containing much Alimbic Lore on Gorea can be seen through a transparent window in its own chamber, and a Portal is there to transport Samus further.

Lore chamber

Alimbic emblems.

The Lore chamber can be seen from the Elevator shaft and is situated in a dome-like room, with a glowing green ceiling and windows featuring eight differently-coloured symbols, each one likely representing a different Octolith. As the name implies, the Lore chamber features the Sealing Gorea 1-5 Lore entries. Of course, the Elevator shaft can be seen through the window, and if Samus looks close enough, she can see that the outside of the Lore chamber would appear to be a long drop down in a thin corridor. Two yellow windows can be seen in the distance from both directions.

Main chamber

The Main chamber is quite possibly the largest room of the Oubliette in terms of width. Connecting from another small hallway and in turn the Lore chamber, it is the second-to-last room leading to Gorea. Embedded in the rock walls are more glowing green lights, smaller than what Samus has previously encountered. The chamber opens up into a ramp leading down to the entrance to the Gorea lair drop. A Stronghold Door exists in the middle of the connecting chamber, which can be seen through windows.

At the start of the room a Morph Ball tunnel can be explored, and leads through two tunnels constructed of branches that hovered over the room, that in turn leads to a cliff suspended over the room, with a platform hovering in midair containing a Portal. The Portal to Gorea's second lair can be seen in the distance.

Item chamber

Connecting from the Main chamber's Portal, the Item chamber lives up to its name by holding the game's final Energy Tank. With more embedded rock circles, three hexagon-shaped windows are constructed on the wall behind the Portal, through which the other Portal leading to the second Gorea lair. A larger window exists in front of Samus, through which she can see the second lair itself.

Dropdown chamber

The last chamber before Gorea's lairs, it is relatively small and features several rock pillars, with a large circular hole in the ground emitting blue light. Jumping down will cause Samus to enter the first lair of Gorea.

Gorea's lair 1

When Samus enters the room, she can see the other Hunters firing at a pillar with a Seal Sphere atop it, eager to find out the true Ultimate Power. It explodes, and reveals Gorea, much to their horror. The monster unleashes several tentacles that impale the Hunters, though not fatally, and it assimilates their weapons before confronting Samus.

The room has a blue tint to it, with a small circular platform serving as the arena for Gorea's boss fight, with a larger rim around the edge of the room for Samus to recharge her energy or ammunition and/or fight Gorea less up close and personal. Scattered around the rim of the room are Trocra, which Samus can destroy for necessary supplies. The Trocra will also be used as Gorea's attacks. Separating the rim and arena floor is a yellow ring that is very damaging to Samus for reasons unknown. Through the ring the bottom of the central platform can be seen.

Scattered throughout the room are panels color-coded to match the Affinity Weapons. Shooting these targets with the correct weapon will cause it to spin and eventually fulfill the Alimbic Prophecy. These are crucial to go onto the second phase of the battle; if the prophecy is not fulfilled, Samus will die in the resulting ending.

After defeating Gorea, the targets, if shot, will fire beams of their respective color at both Gorea and Samus, transporting them into the second lair.

Gorea's lair 2

The lair appears to be entirely made out of a tree, with several platforms circling around the interior, some Ultra Energy Capsules in different spots, Jump Pads to transport Samus up and a large blue arena at the top serve as a challenging area for Samus to finish Gorea off. On the lower floor, an Artifact Shield holds the final weapon of the game, the Omega Cannon. The shield automatically lowers when Samus nears, allowing her to obtain the weapon that would be used to defeat Gorea.

Etymology

Oubliette is actually a French word. It is derived from the French verb oublier, which means "to forget." In modern language, Oubliette translates roughly to "forget hole" or "memory hole," a term coined in the novel 1984 to describe the systematic destruction and control of data and information available to the public. An oubliette is a type of pit-like dungeon as well, with the only entrance being a ceiling hatch, in which criminals or prisoners were locked up and abandoned or forgotten. In the Spanish version of the game, the Oubliette is called Mazmorra, and in the German version it is called Kerker, both of which translate to "dungeon".

Trivia

• The Oubliette is one of four space stations to be destroyed, the other three being the Ceres Space Colony, the BOTTLE SHIP, and the Biologic Space Laboratories research station.
• An Oubliette is mentioned in the movie Labyrinth and is described as being "a place for one to forget all".
• The Oubliette is the only area in the game to not have an object scan directly next to the landing pad, or have a map naming the rooms.
• The Oubliette is one of six areas to be in an alternate dimension for an extended amount of time, the others being the regions and Sky Temple of Dark Aether.
• The Oubliette is marked by a different color on the gunship chart of the Alimbic Cluster compared to the other Alimbic territories, that color being red.
• The Oubliette is the only major setting in the Alimbic Cluster to have its own set of datashade entries.