Project Divinity | Reboot, Sequel, or the End of the Gods? Decoding Larian’s Next Masterpiece

Listen up, Source Hunters and Godwoken. If you thought the mind-bending narrative of Baldur’s Gate 3 was the peak of Larian Studios’ ambition, you need to reset your calibration. The masters of the CRPG are returning to their home turf, back to the world of Rivellon. But they didn’t announce Divinity | Original Sin 3. They didn’t announce a remake of Divine Divinity.

They just dropped a name. One word. Divinity.

That lack of a subtitle? That’s not laziness. That’s a statement. It screams of a clean slate, a unification of a fractured timeline, or perhaps a soft reboot designed to pull in the millions of new fans who have no idea who Lucian or Braccus Rex are.

We are diving deep into the code of Rivellon today. We’re cracking open the lore archives, dissecting that TGA trailer, and trying to figure out if the Seven Gods are dead, returning, or something far worse.

WARNING | CRITICAL SPOILERS AHEAD for Divinity | Original Sin 2, Divine Divinity, and basically the entire franchise history. Proceed at your own risk.

The Trailer Analysis | A World in Regression?

Let’s process what we actually saw. The Cinematic Announcement Trailer dropped at TGA wasn’t just a hype reel; it was a lore dump disguised as a teaser.

We see a world that looks gritty. Dirtier. Less “high fantasy” and more “cultist survival.” We see rituals. We see totems. We see sacrifices. This suggests a timeline where the established order—the shiny, golden reign of the Divine Order—has collapsed.

If this takes place after the canonical endings of Divinity | Original Sin 2 (DOS2), Rivellon has been stripped of Source. The Gods are gone. The vacuum of power left behind isn’t empty; it’s being filled by primal, desperate belief. When the high-tech magic fails, people turn back to sticks, stones, and blood.

The central figure—a burning old man—is the key. Is this a new antagonist? Or is this the ultimate punishment for a hero who went too far?

The Chronology Glitch | Understanding the Timeline

To understand where Divinity fits, you have to understand the absolutely chaotic timeline of this universe. Larian loves jumping around the calendar. Here is the current processing order of the Rivellon timeline, decoded for your convenience.

The Era of Lost Tech (8800 AR)

• Game: Divinity | Dragon Commander
• The Vibe: Steampunk, jetpacks, and political marriages.
• Key Event: Emperor Sigurd I is assassinated. The Flame Knight (a dragon-human hybrid) unites the empire using giant mechs and ancient tech.

The Era of the Source Hunters (4 AR -> 1200 AD)

• Game: Divinity | Original Sin
• The Vibe: High magic, bright colors, solving murders.
• Key Event: Two Source Hunters prevent the Void Dragon from consuming the world. Following this, the calendar resets from “Anno Rivellonis” to “Anno Deorum” (Year of the Gods).

The Rise of the Divine (1218 AD)

• Game: Divine Divinity
• The Vibe: Classic Hack-and-Slash RPG.
• Key Event: Lucian undergoes the Ritual of the Seven and becomes The Divine. He defeats the Demon of Lies but makes a critical error | he spares a baby infused with the soul of Chaos. That baby is Damian.

The Betrayal (1238 AD)

• Game: Beyond Divinity
• The Vibe: A prison break buddy-cop story (with a demon).
• Key Event: Damian grows up, falls in love with a necromancer’s daughter, goes mad with grief when Lucian executes her, and is banished to the Nemesis dimension. He eventually escapes.

The Godwoken Crisis (~1250 AD)

• Game: Divinity | Original Sin 2
• The Vibe: Tactical mastery, tactical nuke spells, and godhood.
• Key Event: The Seven Gods are revealed to be Source-stealing parasites. The Veil (the barrier between worlds) is shattered. In the canon ending, Lucian and Dallis use the Aeteran to purge Source from the world to seal the Veil and the God King forever.

The Dragon Knight Saga (1300 AD)

• Game: Divinity 2 | Ego Draconis
• The Vibe: You can turn into a dragon. It’s awesome.
• Key Event: The Dragon Slayers hunt the last Dragon Knights. Lucian is revealed to be alive (surprise!). Damian is still a threat.

Theory 1 | The “Burning Old Man” is Lucian the Divine

If the new game acts as a bridge between DOS2 and Divinity 2, or perhaps retcons the future entirely, that burning figure in the trailer is almost certainly Lucian.

Think about the visual storytelling. Lucian is the “Father” of this world. He is the Divine. But in DOS2, we learned that he is not a benevolent saint. He sanctioned the use of Deathfog, wiping out the Elven race to stop the Black Circle. He drained the Source from the world. He is a “hero” built on a mountain of corpses.

The Evidence:

• The Symbolism: The figure wears a crown and is associated with light/fire.
• The Punishment: Why is he burning? Perhaps the new cults, or the returning Damian, are punishing him for his “sins.” The sacrifice of the “Old God” to usher in the new era.
• The Narrative Arc: Lucian has faked his death before. Seeing him broken, old, and facing judgment fits the darker, grittier tone Larian is aiming for.

Theory 2 | The Return of the Eighth God (Chaos)

Let’s talk about the Pantheon. We know the Seven Gods:

1. Ralik (Humans)
2. Dune (Dwarves)
3. Tir-Cendelius (Elves)
4. Zorl-Stissa (Lizards)
5. Vrogir (Orcs)
6. Xantezza (Imps)
7. Amadia (Wizards)

But there is always an outlier. The Lord of Chaos. The God King is the ruler of the Void, but Chaos is a separate entity that has plagued Rivellon since the Divine Divinity era.

If the Seven Gods were killed or deposed in DOS2, and the Source has left the world, there is a vacuum. Nature abhors a vacuum. The trailer might be showing the rise of the Eighth God. Damian, the “Accursed,” was the vessel for this Chaos. If this is a sequel, Damian is the most logical protagonist—or antagonist.

The “Soft Reboot” Protocol

Why drop the numbers? Why just Divinity?

Larian is currently the biggest RPG studio on the planet. Baldur’s Gate 3 brought in millions of players who have never touched a Divinity game. Asking them to buy Original Sin 3 is a hard sell—it implies they have homework to do.

Calling it Divinity suggests a fresh start. It allows Larian to keep the deep lore (Lucian, Damian, the Source) but reframe it so new players don’t feel lost. It solves the canon conflicts between the novels and the games (like Alexander’s parentage) by simply establishing a definitive “New Era.”

The Orc Factor Did you notice the brutality in the trailer? The Orcs have been missing from the main stage for a while. In DOS2, they were largely absent, having fled a world that was becoming “too civilized” and dangerous. The return of tribal, totem-based imagery suggests the Orcs might be back—possibly even as a playable race.

The Braccus Rex Connection Keen-eyed net-runners spotted a symbol on a torch in the trailer that looks suspiciously like the shield of King Braccus Rex. Braccus is the “bad penny” of Rivellon—he keeps turning up. He is the Source King, the master of the Blood Rose.

“The blood rose grows only on the ground watered with suffering and fertilized with abomination.”

If Braccus is involved, or if his legacy is being revived by these new cults, we are in for a very dark, very difficult ride.

Final Analysis | What to Expect

We are looking at a game that will likely bridge the massive gap between the tactical godhood of Original Sin 2 and the dragon-flying action of Divinity 2.

Expect a turn-based system (it’s Larian’s DNA), but evolved. Expect a darker narrative that questions the nature of divinity itself. And expect to see Lucian answer for his crimes. The Age of the Seven is over. The Age of Chaos—or something entirely new—is beginning.

Prepare your party. Gather your scrolls. Rivellon is calling, and it looks like it’s burning.