The Borderlands franchise is not known for its seriousness or dedication to a cohesive narrative. The main appeal of Borderlands is the game’s out-of-this-world characters, constant crude and off-color humor, and satisfying combat mechanics that feel different from any other looter-shooter. It’s a long-lasting franchise that has had some hiccups in the past (looking at you, Pre-Sequel) but is still celebrated as one of the most unique shooters ever made.
Once someone digs beneath the surface of some plot and character points, though, the game’s narrative falls apart. None are more so responsible for this than the Calypso Twins of Borderlands 3, Troy and Tyreen. While the two stand out among the rest of the Borderlands universe for their Gen-Z aesthetic, their actions in the story often don’t make any sense at all.
5 They Can Use Their Powers On Anyone Anywhere, For Any Reason, Anytime
Sirens in Borderlands 3 are described as the most powerful beings in the universe, and Tyreen Calypso just happens to be one of them. As one of the main antagonists, she uses her powers to rally her cultish followers and further her goals – typical for a villain. What isn’t typical, though, is both how quickly she learned her abilities and the incredible power of her teleport. Lilith never reached the level where she could teleport instantly from anywhere, but Tyreen is able to do this at a moment’s notice.
Tyreen can teleport anybody to any location whenever she wants, even if she’s nowhere nearby or if the target destination is a planet across the entire galaxy. This is also apparent when Troy phase locks the entire moon Elpis from another planet. Lilith had to learn her powers over time, and the player got to see that progression in Borderlands 2, whereas Tyreen apparently has immense power to do whatever she wants without having trained or learned anything about herself. There is a side quest in Borderlands 3 that explains that Sirens know what their powers are without training, but this would directly contradict Lilith’s journey in becoming the Firehawk.
4 Troy Being A Siren Makes No Sense, Despite Explanations
Troy is the parasitic twin of Tyreen, meaning when they were born he only survived because he was attached to her. Canonically, this gave him the ability to take on Siren powers when he siphons energy from Tyreen, but this makes no sense for two reasons: there can only be seven Sirens in the galaxy at any one time, and Troy is a male.
Being female has long been a central trait of the Sirens. Since the first Borderlands, this rule has never been broken and has been repeated over and over again by several characters throughout the series. Troy identifies as male, and it is never insinuated that Troy was a female at birth – not that Borderlands has ever explored whether a transgender person could be a Siren.
The parasitic nature of Troy’s powers somewhat explains why he has access to these abilities, but then the point that there can only be seven Sirens in the universe at one point comes into play. Even when Troy absorbs Maya’s abilities and kills her to become a full-fledged Siren, him being a male-at-birth should counteract that process. Being a Siren isn’t inherited by genetics or sharing a womb with a female, it’s a universal force bestowed upon random people, and ultimately Borderlands 3 throws a lot of established Siren lore into the trash.
3 They Ignore Amara Entirely, Despite Hunting Sirens
Amara is a melee-focused Siren introduced in Borderlands 3 who plays nearly no role in the grand Siren narrative of the game. She is a unique character, with great interactions with NPCs, and is as fun as any other Vault Hunter to play as, but her being a Siren plays nearly no part in the story of the Calypso Twins.
The Calypso Twins hunted Sirens and willingly took the powers of those who would oppose them. Maya and Lilith both get their powers taken away by the Calypso Twins at some point in the story to bolster the powers of Tyreen and Troy, but for some reason, they never try to take Amara’s powers – let alone make any unique reference to her. One would think the Calypso Twins would recognize a Siren close by and refer to them the same way they refer to NPC characters, but Amara doesn’t even show up in a cutscene.
It begs the question of whether Amara needed to be a Siren to have her abilities, and whether it was worth it to make that a part of her backstory at all.
2 They Choose Not To Kill Their Sworn Enemies Constantly
The Calypso Twins are opportunistic and mischievous, always choosing to play with their prey instead of killing it. They show off the battered bodies of characters they’ve captured to their followers for more attention and to rally them, but very rarely do they make the wise decision to just end the lives of their enemies. In-game, they say they don’t like to kill their enemies because it’s not good for views – it’s a rare example of their selfishness in action, and a rare decent explanation for a plot point.
However, why do they need psychos when their powers are apparently omnipotent?
What doesn’t make sense, though, is who they do choose to kill. They kill unimportant unseen characters with ease and refuse to kill the people who actually stand in their way. If their goal is to rally the Children of the Vault and eventually open the Great Vault, why would they leave Lilith, the player, Tannis, Ava, and all of the other major characters responsible for getting in the way of that goal alive? It’s a trope going all the way back to the oldest James Bond movies – why have the villain do what makes sense by killing their arch-rival when they can explain their plans and leave the main character alive instead?
1 They Know What The Player Is Doing At All Times, Except Sometimes
It’s pretty common in the Borderlands series for NPC characters to pop onto the player’s screen via ECHO to talk to them during a quest. It makes sense for the most part as a gameplay feature – the NPC talking to the player is usually nearby or gave the player the quest to start with, and can therefore offer advice or commentary when objectives are completed. Troy and Tyreen pop in just the same way without any warning and comment on what the player is doing throughout the game. They do this while on a completely different planet from extreme distances and often without being involved in the current quest at all.
It’s as if they can see the player’s every movement and know exactly what they are up to at any given point. If Tyreen is truly such a powerful Siren, this makes sense, but what doesn’t make sense is that major twists still come as a surprise to the apparently omniscient twins. They will go from immediately responding to something the player does to being taken surprise by the Vault Hunter’s plans. It’s something a lot of NPCs are guilty of to be sure, but one would think the developers would have thought a little bit more about this for the main antagonists.
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