Xat RP Season 3

Following the previous season's abrupt end, the Xat RP returned with a vengeance. Now given the full attention from SDM, Season Three continued where Two left off and built upon the gothic storyline, now focused on the Anathemites and their participation in a war in a much colder world.

The Age of Executor
Executor's plan, formulated in the last episode of the previous season, is set in motion. Orachnos, T-Arachnos and Lynna stage an "escape" from the Nihilius Clan, trying to convince the Factory that Executor has gone rogue and has taken control of the Nihilius Clan, and that they are seeking refuge from him. Although reluctant at first, insistence from Patchouli Knowledge and his own Grand Engineer Arachnos convinced The Factory to give the three a chance. Executor wastes no time starting to establish himself as a vicious monster to take the pressure off his three friends. After a painful telepathic broadcast diffused throughout Equestria, the mechanical alicorn sends an offensive of powerful Nihilius mages upon the capital city of Canterlot. The Factory's forces together with the three refugees fight the Clan off, but the city still incurrs catastrophic damage.

Personally joining in the assault, Executor clashes with Princess Celestia. T-Arachnos makes use of a device supposedly intended to try and disable Executor, but unbeknownst to the Factory, it's actually a dud. The Princess manages to overpower the High Lord, who vanishes in a black flash, suggesting that he might really have Nihility-based powers.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the attack on Canterlot was merely a decoy - while the Factory's forces were occupied fighting off the invasion, the Clan was able to raze the city of Manehattan. Testing in the Factory reveals that Orachnos, T-Arachnos and Lynna are literally composed of Nothingness. The realization that they are mere shadows of themselves created by Anathemus makes Lynna panic, and she flees the Factory.

Meanwhile, Grand Engineer Arachnos comes to the conclusion that, if indeed Executor has powers from Anathemus, they stand no chance against him unless the three refugees can unlock their own equivalents of it and assist them. Together with the Factory, the two theorize that the group may require to be put under sufficient physical and psychological stress, and a plan is formulated. Some time after, Canterlot once again comes under attack by Executor, who promptly slays Princess Celestia. Orachnos and T-Arachnos are dispatched to deal with him. Unbeknownst to the newly christened "Anathemites", this is all a setup: "Executor" is actually Model EXE, a powerful remote-controlled copy piloted by Engineer Arachnos and voiced by The Factory, and Celestia is only playing dead. The twin spiders clash with the machine, at first to no avail, but when Arachnos cranks the power high enough to kill them, they hear a voice stating that "facing death has given them control over it" and that they have Manifested. Using newfound Nihilitic powers, they annihilate Model EXE, and The Factory proceeds to explain his plan to them. With the spiders Manifested, only Lynna remains.

To Manifest Lynna's powers, a new setup is planned. Upon tracking her location, Kanako was sent out, ostentously with the mission to bring her back to The Factory. Over the course of their conversation, Kanako starts confessing his love for her, only to be "killed" by a rebuilt Model EXE and the two Manifested spiders, feigning to have in turn defected to the Clan. They introduce themselves with new names: Orachnos has rechristened himself Oneiros (Dream) and T-Arachnos now goes by Terminos (End). They would take a liking to the names and keep them permanently.

Lynna is overpowered and taken to death's door, where she too Manifests, although she takes the duplicity worse than the spiders. Shortly after, the group has an encounter with the ghastly doppelganger of Reimu (actually the Anathemite Nihilius) which had been haunting them for a while. The Factory's forces wage battle against a group of Nihilius Clansmen trying to wipe out Las Pegasus and Baltimare with giant pillars of darkness, the same technique they used to destroy Manehattan. It is revealed that the darkness is actually a portal that leads into a sacrificial compound, where the captured ponies are sacrificed to Anathemus. The Anathemites attempt to distrupt the Clan's activities, but are foiled by the vastly more experienced Executor. Since the Anathemites have very poor control over their newfound powers, The Factory suggests to make use of the clansmen's continued reverence for them to "reintegrate" the Clan, where they could develop their powers further. An (unsuccessful) Factory attack on the sacrificial compound is launched, over the course of which the Anathemites rejoin the Clan. They are surprised to find Executor extremely cold and even hostile to them - it would later turn out this is due to him not wanting his former friends to sympathize with him, as he fully intends to meet his end at their hands. The Anathemites develop their powers with the help of one member of the Council of Vocus and the occasional (much more helpful, if delivered in an obnoxious way) tip from Executor.

To maintain their facade of loyalty to the Clan, the Anathemites participate in a battle against the Factory forces, which are soundly demolished and humiliated, with Patchouli even having been held hostage by Executor for a while. Oneiros and Terminos act just a little bit too in-character over the course of the battle, which leads to frictions between them and Lynna.

Meanwhile, Factory agent Brandon Persus finds a mysterious mask on the ground, which is not unlike the one that "Negative" Reimu wears... Equestria comes under attack by a new threat - one that emits Anathemus' signature. This entity, which resembles a dark silhouette of an old man and attacks by manifesting guns out of nowhere, is able to easily demolish the forces of the Factory. Even when the Clan also attacks the entity (with the belief that the thing before them represents The End of the Dream which they fear so), they are not able to make a difference. Executor is severely damaged and requires repairs, which can only be performed in The Factory. In the face of those grim events, the Factory and the Clan negotiate a ceasefire. Executor is successfully rebuilt. The Clan and The Factory manage to establish an uneasy alliance in the face of this new threat to both of them. Just in time, too, as the entity attacks again, but this time the combined efforts of the two armies manage to actually damage it. The Anathemites retreat back to the Clan's asteroid base to continue their training, while the Factory's agents find themselves facing a new, sinister threat...

Episodes

 * Main Article: Category:Xat RP Season 3 Episodes
 * Main Article: The Dark Beast Saga

Openings/Endings
(*See below for explanation)
 * Main Theme (Buck Bumble) - Opening/Closing*

Production Notes
Following SDM's return from homelessness, he began to take the Xat RP much more seriously. This was evident in the much more structured story than the previous seasons, as well as the focus on more original content. The RP also became much more serious in tone, on-par with SDM's usual works. Episodes actually became planned out (albeit in a different fashion form his usual method), and there was a clear desire to humanize the previously shallow Nihilius Clan. A very strong emphasis was placed on having their point of views made clear, pointing out that even if they are the primary antagonists, they are no more wrong than anyone else in their morals.

This season also saw the proper introduction of Nihilius, the titular antagonist from the RP of the same name. Originally conceived around Halloween of 2013, the conept expanded into a very visual project, of which SDM is still purportedly working on. In the meantime, SDM saw it fit to introduce the character and its driving theme early, and the groundwork was laid as far back as the Rift arc of season 2. A new villain in the rogues gallery was also added to the Mythos in the form of the Supreme Judge Valis Ail, Founder of the Nihilius Clan. Valis was conceived on the spot, due to how powerful the Anathemites were in comparison to the rest of the Nihilius Clan (even more so since Executor had been killed early).

Season Three was also victim to various Off the Rail moments, even disregarding the fact that the season in its entirety was a result of one. The first was the existence of the Dark Beast Saga, though the fault was SDM's. Originally conceived as just another Solo to work with Magemtor7 on (in-line with Exception and Anomaly), the idea of Nihilius recovering through the farming of negative emotions was determined to be an interesting story all to its own, and thus it was turned into its own arc. It then went on to become one of SDM's most well-recieved plots.

The next derailment happened during the battle against Executor in Canterlot. Originally, Executor was planned to survive and be the final opponent aboard the Nihilius Clan comet. However, the other Anathemites were attacking so ruthlessly that, in-story, it made it illogical for Executor to not complete his plan right then and there. Though due to its unplanned nature, SDM felt Executor's death wasn't as hard-hitting as it could have been, and wrote a solo to remedy this. This also resulted in the Vocus Remnant arc in order to reach the original conclusion SDM had planned (which involved the assault by The General's Head, ' 'which SDM determined would not be approrpriate after the comet episode). Similarly, the remaining planned episodes of Exeuctor's campaign were also moved to this arc, where they were carried out by Vocus instead.

Season Three was also the first to be fully recognized as a "season," and by the start of the Remnant arc the sessions were being officially called episodes. This was further emphasized, when, by accident, SDM posted the main theme of Buck Bumble instead of the intended song. As a result, as a joke, the song was played at the beginning and end of each episode, as an unofficial theme. Over time, it became officially recognized as the Xat RP's opening and closing theme, and the trend cotninued into Season Four with a new selection of music. Solos also became a common event, essentialy giving the RP its own dedicated Gaidens.

Thanks in part to the success of the Dark Beast Saga and the overall effort SDM was now putting into the Xat RP, it was eventually recognized as a fully canon aspect to the Anathemus Mythos. In previous seasons, it began as decidedly non-canon and then slowly slid into the territory of semi-canon when Nihilius and the Nihilius Clan's new beliefs were shown off. The aspects on display were canon to the mainline RPs. Once it was officially recognized as fully canon, however, it opened up much more possibility to expand the Mythos. A strong connection was formed between the Xat RP and the Hellgate Saga in particular, beginning with some inklings of The General's involvement, and eventually culimating in the appearance of Souichirou Kusakabe in the season finale. SDM has confirmed that the Kusakabe seen in the RP is the exact same one seen in both the Hellgate Gaiden and the main Hellgate Saga, here portrayed as a younger, more brash man. This places the Xat RP roughly 20 years before the Hellgate Saga proper in the grand scheme. Since recognizing the Xat RP as canon, numerous nods to it have been made from the mainline series, particularly by Kusakabe himself, and given what SDM has said about Season Four, the connections will only get stronger.

Season 3 also expanded the player roster, with Magmetor7 joining for a brief time for the Nihilius arc, and then ShadowAurion joining his other Hellgate Crew players shortly after the beginning of the Remnant arc. He has remained a mainstay ever since.

Trivia

 * The first solo written was Fallen Friend, by SDM.
 * Continuing the parallels with the Hellgate Saga, Season Three mirrors the main part of Hellgate 2 Part II, which was also marked by a sharp increase in focus by SDM as well as a gothic storyline. Even the Nihilius Clan returns and serves as the primary antagonists.