This has bothered me since I first started playing. What was the deal with the Mask in Spinal’s second ending?
Spinal defeats Sabrewulf, only to discover control of his body is no longer his own. He struggles to break free, but is powerless against an unseen force, a chilling voice gloats, “An immortal warrior? I do believe I’ll have a good use for you…”
The visuals show the Mask floating, implying that the voice is coming from it, but whether the Mask itself is speaking, or merely being used as a proxy by someone else is left unclear.
I really doubt that the Mask itself was sentient, and even if it was, whoever’s speaking doesn’t seem to particularly familiar with Spinal. Obviously, this ending isn’t canon in the literal sense, but what if it was metaphorical?
We know that ARIA was in possession of the Mask at the time, and used it as bait to lure Spinal to the KI tournament, pulling the strings throughout the tournament. That, combined with many of Season 1’s endings hinting at ARIA, could mean the voice is meant to represent ARIA.
On the other hand, it could be Gargos. It might be referencing KI2, where Gargos used an ancient macguffin to control Spinal, in a manner similar to what is shown here.
Thoughts?