10 Video Game Plot-Holes You Can't Ignore
4. Pillars Of Eternity - The Gods Are Real
‘Are the gods real?’ That’s about as weighty a philosophical question as you can ask, and mighty tricky ground to walk on, especially when your answer is ‘no.’
When it was found that the gods worshiped by the people of Eora did not exist, gods were manufactured to make what was imagined real. A secret society – the game’s antagonists – tried to conceal this. One of their own then discovered the truth and attempted to spread the word, resulting in their public torture and execution.
This is where the problem begins.
By associating the antagonist with the affirmative and a martyr with the negative, Obsidian definitively answers the question in favour of the latter.
However, the gods of Eora are sentient, scheme among themselves, and possess all the power of deities. This makes sense: if you build your god as per your understanding of what a god is then it follows logically that what you create is, by definition, a god. That the god is manufactured is irrelevant. Put another way: build a human exactly as you know a human to be and what do you have?
It’s a subtle contradiction, but makes the plot inconsequential. A sad blight on a great game.