Golden Bough

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The Golden Boughs (황금가지, Hwanggeumgaji) are mysterious, tree-like branches with the power to actualize the feelings, wishes, and psyches of people.

The Boughs are a recent wonder of the City,[1] sought after by many different citizens looking to make their wishes come true. Gathering them is the LCB's primary objective.

Overview

The Golden Boughs are plantlike branches emitting an alluring golden glow. The Boughs are a potent energy source,[2] and are said to be the essence of Lobotomy Corporation's technology.[3] They stem from the abandoned L Corp. branches scattered across the City, but many have been moved from their original locations as City people snatch up Boughs for themselves. In fact, despite being a recent discovery,[1] the Golden Boughs have caught the attention of many different factions—from private companies, to Syndicates, to Wings—many of whom are interested in making use of the powers lying within them.[4] As they follow the distribution of L Corp. branches across the City, more than one Bough may be found in a single District.[1]

While the origin of the Golden Boughs is unknown, it is possible that certain Rivers had some part in their creation.[5] A connection to the Light is also probable, given that the Golden Boughs are an energy source related to Lobotomy Corporation that appear to succeed the White Nights and Dark Days. In their notes, Dante also writes that the Golden Boughs "have something to do with Mirror technology".[6]

Limbus Company and the Boughs

Limbus Company seeks to collect the Golden Boughs, and the LCB department was formed specifically for this purpose. For the higher-ups, obtaining and holding on to the Boughs is of the utmost importance, to the point of Faust equating the failure of their mission to the end of the world.[7] When the Sinners successfully retrieve a Bough, it is collected by Limbus Company's After Team and taken to the company headquarters.[8] These Boughs are seemingly being "reconstructed" into a greater Golden Bough.[9][10]

Dante possesses a Golden Bough shard within their prosthetic clock.[11] While this shard wasn't mentioned until Hell's Chicken, the contract made in the prologue, which must have involved a Golden Bough,[12] seems to suggest that Dante has always had this Bough in their head. This Bough grants Dante a number of abilities, such as telling Abnormalities and Distortions apart,[13] creating Dungeons of the Fathoms,[14] using the Sapling of Light powers,[15] and viewing other people's memories.[9] Dante's Bough can resonate with the other Boughs collected along their journey,[16] which enhances the powers of their own Golden Bough, and has ignited greater outside changes like the evolution of the Peccatula.[17] Dante also has the ability to sense the location of nearby Golden Boughs,[18] a trait which the Sinners share when it comes to the Bough relevant to their respective Cantos.[19][20]

Powers

The Golden Boughs are capable of a very wide variety of things, summed up as the capacity to "realize the thoughts or imaginations of people".[21] They are thought to possess unimaginable power, such as the ability to create new worlds or erase concepts from the universe.[22] Additionally, a Bough "amplifies and releases every feeling, from the hottest emotions to the warmest emotions".[23] As of now, nothing is known about how they work.

Fathoms of the Ego

"The Golden Bough is close, and it is resonating with Hong Lu's fathoms."

Fathoms of the Ego are places or images of someone's mind made manifest through the power of Golden Boughs.[24] Fathoms of the Ego are very common throughout Limbus Company, and both Dante's scenes of someone's memories (e.g. their vision of Ishmael drowning at sea in mid Canto V),[25][9][26] and individuals manifesting locations from their mind (e.g. Gregor's scenes of the Smoke War in Canto I), appear to count as Fathoms.[27]

Dante has the ability to peer into other people's Fathoms using the power of the Golden Bough inside of their head.[9] In these cases, Dante is able to get a glimpse of the individual's memories as they recall them.[28][29] While this has primarily occurred with the Sinners, Dante is also capable of accessing the memories of outside parties.[30] For a long time, these visions were exclusive to Dante and the person whose memories they belonged to. However, advancements in the Golden Boughs gave Dante the ability to share these scenes with the Sinners,[31] and other people relevant to the memories,[32] during Canto VIII.

There are more possibilities for the Fathoms if outside Golden Boughs are directly involved. If an individual resonates with a Golden Bough, the Fathoms may take the form of a physical location and/or display their memories to those nearby. The results of Golden Bough resonance are inconsistent and appear to lack much logic;[33] it is unclear why resonating with a Bough does not form a location or display memories every time, or why the people who can view the memories varies from case to case. While Dante always sees the resonator's memories when inside Fathoms created by Golden Bough resonance, the Sinners are not always given the same access.[34] When Golden Bough resonance does result in a physical Fathoms, the scene is more than a memory, but a representation of the individual's heart and mind that those inside the Fathoms can interact with.[27]

Dungeons of the Fathoms

Bamboo-hatted Kim's Dungeon of the Fathoms.

A Dungeon of the Fathoms, or Mirror Dungeon of the Fathoms,[14][35] seems to be a form of the Fathoms of the Ego.[21][36] It appears to refer specifically to when a Distortion's Fathoms produce a Dungeon, and does not apply to every case of the Fathoms manifesting a physical location.[37] The major difference between physically manifested Fathoms of the Ego (e.g. Yi Sang's Reminisced League of Nine Fathoms) and Dungeons of the Fathoms (e.g. Hohenheim's Final Check-up Fathoms) appears to be that Dungeons will produce enemies to be fought within them,[38] while Fathoms of the Ego can only be occupied by whatever real entities enter naturally.[39] However, the recreation of real people as part of the memories seems to be an exception, as depicted in Gregor's Fathoms of the Smoke War. Additionally, all parties who enter a Dungeon of the Fathoms will be able to see the distorted's memories while inside.[40]

Dungeons of the Fathoms do not occur spontaneously, but are created by Dante.[14] After a Dungeon is created, a door-shaped portal will appear next to the Distortion, acting as the entrance to the Dungeon.[41] Anyone can enter through this portal.[42] The Distortions have traditionally leapt into the portal themselves,[41][43] after which the key to destroying the Mirror Dungeon of the Fathoms and bringing the distorted back to their senses is to traverse to the end of the Dungeon and defeat the Distortion in combat.[44]

Miscellaneous

  • Adapting Mephistopheles: Mephistopheles' engine is designed to change as the LCB retrieves new Golden Boughs.[45] For instance, the various doors of Mephistopheles' corridor, leading to the likes of Mirror Dungeons, Refraction Railways, and Walpurgis Night scenarios, spring up due to a connection between the Backdoor and this engine.[45]
  • Qliphoth Deterrence: Golden Boughs naturally emit Qliphoth Deterrence.[46] Qlipoth Deterrence is a force that weakens Abnormalities,[47] once heavily relied on by Lobotomy Corporation.
  • Counteracting Pallidification: being in the presence of a Golden Bough will counteract the Pallidification effect that the Pallid Whale infects people with upon swallowing them.[11]
  • Spurring on Distortions: Golden Boughs are capable of "causing or amplifying Distortions".[48] This seems to have occurred to both Jia Mu and Kromer.[49][50]
  • Sapling of Light: since Canto VI, Dante has progressively unlocked new battle-helpful abilities collectively labeled Durante, or Sapling of Light. These developments are a result of Dante resonating with the Golden Bough inside of their clock.[15]
  • Connection: the Golden Boughs will automatically "connect" individuals who share a link to one.[12] This is why every member of the LCB was brought down to the same base combat level after making their contract with Dante in the prologue.[12] This is also likely the reason why Dante and Heathcliff were able to retain memories of Catherine after her universe-wide erasure.[51][52]
  • Diminishing strength: linking to a Golden Bough will weaken an individual.[12] Because a Golden Bough was involved in the contract Dante made with the Sinners, the Sinners were collectively depowered at the beginning of their journey.[12] Having a Bough lodged in oneself, such as after being stabbed, will also lead to this diminishing effect.[53] The Pallid Whale and First Kindred Don Quixote are both examples of enemies weakened by physical contact with a Golden Bough.[53][54]

Retrieved Golden Boughs

First Bough

Initial Location Later Location Claimed By Sought By Fathoms of the Ego
The location of the Bough.
District 4 Backstreets - Branch D-02
(Canto I)
The location of the Bough.
District 20 Nest - Wuthering Heights
(Canto VI)

New League of Nine Littérateurs

The fathoms seen in Canto I.
Midst of the Smoke War
(Gregor's fathoms)

Canto I: The Outcast

To obtain this Bough, the LCB traveled through an abandoned Lobotomy Corporation branch with Yuri, Aya, and Hopkins as guides. During this trip, Gregor resonated with the Bough, showing interactive scenes of the Smoke War to his coworkers. It turned out that this Golden Bough had taken root in an Abnormality,[55] which then ate and killed Yuri during the group's struggle against it.

After the Abnormality was cut down by Gregor, Hermann, Gubo, and Jia Huan appeared, making a declaration of war before departing with the Bough.

Canto VI: The Heartbreaking

After taking this Golden Bough, the New League would later lend it to Catherine in exchange for her allowing them to make a "dough".[56] While Catherine was already in possession of a Golden Bough, this second one was needed to help power the summoning of Every Catherine.[57] This Bough worked as a lightning rod, transferring power from the rooftop to the other Bough attached to Catherine's coffin.[57]

Heathcliff stabbed himself with this Bough in an attempt to disrupt Erlking Heathcliff's plans,[58] and after said Heathcliff was defeated, Nelly took the Golden Bough and returned it to Hermann.

Second Bough

Location Claimed By Sought By Fathoms of the Ego
The location of the Bough.
District 10 Backstreets - Branch J-03
(underneath a casino)
Limbus Company
The fathoms seen in Canto II.
Ice Castle Where Neighbors Lie
(Rodion's fathoms)

Canto II: The Unloving

The LCB originally planned to obtain this Bough by making their way through the casino disguised as the Tingtang Gang. After these plans fell through, the Sinners proceeded to the top floor of the casino undisguised, where Rodya played a bidding game against Sonya, Aida, and the Tieqiu Boss. This game collapsed partway through after a cheating scandal, allowing the LCB to make their way into the vaults beneath the casino.

Eventually, their group encountered Sonya by the Golden Bough, which Rodya immediately resonated with.[59] Her fathoms took the form of a grand ice castle. After a long, personal discussion between Rodya and Sonya, the mines were thrown into chaos by an Abnormality. During the Sinners' confusion, Sonya chose to help by directing them towards the Bough, and he departed as the LCB grabbed their prize and escaped toward the bus.

Third Bough

Location Claimed By Sought By Fathoms of the Ego
The location of the Bough.
District 11 Nest - Branch K-02
(underneath the Sinclair estate)

Limbus Company

The fathoms seen in Canto III.
Unending Hill of Corpses
(Kromer's fathoms)

Canto III: The Unconfronting

To obtain this Bough, the LCB made their way to the L Corp. branch lying beneath Sinclair's old home. The Sinners faced off against the N Corp. Inquisition during this excursion, who aimed to use the Bough to make the One Who Grips into a god.[60] This opposing group would reach the Bough first, resulting in Kromer resonating with it and creating fathoms stacked with corpses.[61]

In these fathoms, the Sinners fought Kromer and lost. They were only saved by the surprise arrival of Demian, who killed Kromer and departed without taking the Bough, allowing the Sinners to claim it.

Fourth Bough

Location Claimed By Sought By Fathoms of the Ego
The location of the Bough.
District 11 Nest
(branch near Dongrang's workplace)

Limbus Company

  • Limbus Company
The fathoms seen in Canto IV.
Reminisced League of Nine
(Yi Sang's fathoms)

Canto IV: The Unchanging

K Corp. offered Limbus Company this Golden Bough in exchange for helping them retake their local Lobotomy Corporation branch.[62][63] While K Corp. staff had once been using the branch as a research facility, it had recently been taken over by the Technology Liberation Alliance,[64] a terrorist organization using the Bough for its Qliphoth Deterrence.[65]

After Limbus Company pushed their way through the branch and were about to be allowed to take the Golden Bough, Dongbaek showed up with the Bough in hand, and stabbed Yi Sang with it for associating with Dongrang. She then took with Bough with her as she left.[66] When she encountered the group again later, Dongrang would take it back from her,[67] stabbing Dongbaek with the Bough and ending her life. At this point, the Golden Bough twisted the space around them and reanimated nearby corpses,[68] then resonated with Yi Sang. Yi Sang's fathoms were a recreation of the League of Nine in its heyday, a scenario which the Sinners had to carry out like a play.

After Dongrang's death and the destruction of the fathoms, the Bough would fall into Alfonso's hands. The LCB were allowed to take it after having their memories of K Corp.'s Singularity wiped.

Fifth Bough

Initial Location Later Location Claimed By Sought By Fathoms of the Ego
The location of the Bough.
District 21 territory - L Corp. Branch
(middle of the Great Lake)
The location of the Bough.
Inside the Pallid Whale
(swallowed and stolen from the branch)
Limbus Company
  • Limbus Company
  • The Pallid Whale
No fathoms.
No physical location

Canto V: The Evil Defining

This Bough originally resided in a Lobotomy Corporation branch within U Corp.'s section of the Great Lake.[69][70] While this was being confirmed by Limbus Company's Before Team, they were jumped by Ricardo and the Twinhook Pirates. However, the Pallid Whale then arrived, lured in by the Golden Bough,[71] and proceeded to scare everyone who could move away from the branch.[72][73] Afterwards, the Pallid Whale devoured the branch, swallowing the Bough and Abnormalities while leaving the building itself behind.[71]

Once the Sinners discovered that the Golden Bough was no longer at the L Corp. branch, they tracked the Bough using Dante's personal estimation of its location.[74] With this, the LCB entered the whale in search of the Bough, kept safe from the Pallidification using the Bough shard inside Dante's head.[11]

As it turned out, the Golden Bough was wedged in the Pallid Whale's heart. The LCB would join the members of Pequod Town on their journey to the heart, who were supposedly looking to destroy it in order to escape the whale. Ahab promised the LCB access to the Golden Bough so long as they helped her kill the Pallid Whale, and while this was ultimately an insincere deal, the Sinners managed to claim the Bough after Ishmael pierced the whale's heart and the Indigo Elder gave them a means to escape.

Sixth Bough

Location Claimed By Sought By Fathoms of the Ego
The location of the Bough.
District 20 Nest - Wuthering Heights
(owned by Catherine)

Limbus Company

No fathoms.
No physical location

Canto VI: The Heartbreaking

This Bough originally resided in the District 20 Lobotomy Corporation branch.[75] However, as Catherine fell victim to Mirror technology and set her mind on summoning Every Catherine to her world, she discovered that a Golden Bough would be necessary for the summoning.[76] To this end, she acquired the local Bough by having Linton buy it for her.[77][76]

This Golden Bough was attached to her coffin for the procedure. It gained power through the other Bough on the rooftop,[57] which upon being struck by lightning seven times, would overwrite Catherine with Every Catherine.[78] As described in her will, Catherine intended to leave Heathcliff this Golden Bough after the summoning was successful.[79]

In the end, the strain of the summoning left the Golden Bough burnt white.[80] While the LCB managed to retrieve it, it is unclear as to whether this Bough even has any more use.

Seventh Bough

Location Claimed By Sought By Fathoms of the Ego
The location of the Bough.
District 16 Backstreets - La Manchaland
(stabbed into Don Quixote)
Limbus Company
  • Limbus Company
The fathoms seen in Canto VII.
La Mancha Eye and Maze
(First Kindred Don Quixote's fathoms)

Canto VII: The Dream Ending

Two months before the events of Canto VII,[81] Sansón entered La Manchaland with a Golden Bough in hand. He "gifted" this Bough to the Manchegan Bloodfiends by stabbing Don Quixote with it,[82] stating that Sancho would eventually come to collect it from him.[83] While nothing confirms where Sansón obtained this Bough, it's known that La Manchaland happened to spawn on top of the District 16 Lobotomy Corporation branch upon its reopening.[84]

Limbus Company staff later contacted Cesara and struck a deal,[85] which allowed the LCB access to this Golden Bough in exchange for them bringing her the creator of La Manchaland.[86] Ultimately, the Sinners defeated the First Kindred Don Quixote, and claimed the Bough without issue after Don Quixote's corpse was handed over to P Corp.

Eighth Bough

Location Claimed By Sought By Fathoms of the Ego
The location of the Bough.
District 8 Nest - Daguanyuan treasury
(delivered at the Tiekan Temple)
 Limbus Company
  • Limbus Company
No fathoms.
No physical location

Canto VIII: The Surrendered Witnessing

This Golden Bough was stored in the Daguanyuan treasury, presumably taken from District 8's Lobotomy Corporation branch.[87] Because it was possible to obtain an item from the treasury by placing in the top ten in the Family Hierarch Evaluation, Hong Lu was tasked with ranking high and securing the Bough for Limbus Company. Eventually, he managed second place, and the LCB would arrive at Daguanyuan's Tiekan Temple to claim their Bough and save Jia Xichun from trouble. At one point it was thought that Jia Huan was also competing for the Bough,[88] but this turned out to be untrue.[89]

At the temple, Jia Mu presented the LCB with the Golden Bough, but Hong Lu rejected it following the realization that accepting it would mean throwing away Xichun's future. Jia Mu would then challenge them to battle in retaliation, stabbing herself with the Bough to glean power from it.[90] This assimilation would soon result in her distorting.[91]

After the Sinners successfully defeated Jia Mu and flooded the temple, they were able to grab the Golden Bough in the midst of the chaos.

Gallery

  • Branch D-02
    Branch D-02
  • Branch J-03
    Branch J-03
  • Dongbaek Stabbing Yi Sang
    Dongbaek Stabbing Yi Sang
  • Catherine's Coffin
    Catherine's Coffin
  • Catherine's Coffin
    Catherine's Coffin
  • Heathcliff Stabbing Himself
    Heathcliff Stabbing Himself
  • La Manchaland's Don Quixote
    La Manchaland's Don Quixote
  • La Manchaland's Don Quixote
    La Manchaland's Don Quixote

  • Branch J-03
    Branch J-03
  • Kromer's Fathoms of the Ego
    Kromer's Fathoms of the Ego
  • Kromer's Fathoms of the Ego
    Kromer's Fathoms of the Ego
  • Pallid Whale's Heart
    Pallid Whale's Heart
  • Catherine's Coffin
    Catherine's Coffin
  • Wuthering Heights Rooftop
    Wuthering Heights Rooftop

  • Kromer's Fathoms of the Ego
    Kromer's Fathoms of the Ego
  • Kromer's Fathoms of the Ego
    Kromer's Fathoms of the Ego
  • Pallid Whale's Heart
    Pallid Whale's Heart
  • Wuthering Heights Basement
    Wuthering Heights Basement

  • Theater Main Story Background
    Theater Main Story Background
  • "The Golden Bough's Forced Arbitration" Status Sffect
    "The Golden Bough's Forced Arbitration" Status Sffect
  • "Malattunement" Status Effect
    "Malattunement" Status Effect
  • Featured in Victory Graphic
    Featured in Victory Graphic

Trivia

  • The concept of the Golden Bough, or ramus aureus, originates from Vergil's Aeneid. In the poem's sixth book, the item is instrumental to Aeneas's descent into the underworld, as the hero leaves it as an offering to the goddess Proserpina to be allowed on the ferryman Charon's boat and to be allowed into the Elysian Fields.
    • The Bough is commonly depicted as having a Y shape, symbolizing the path of virtue and that of vice. In the Middle Ages, its iconography was associated with that of the Tree of Eden.
    • In Frazer's The Golden Bough, a study of comparative mythology that influenced later depictions of the Bough, the Golden Bough of the Aeneid is identified as a mistletoe bough, as the plant often changes from green to yellow during winter months.
  • In addition to a branch, the Golden Boughs resemble portions of a nervous system.
  • The in-game UI displayed upon obtaining a Golden Bough states "Ramus Aureus Receptus", which translates to "Golden Bough Recovered".
    • Similarly, the in-game UI displayed when Dante unlocks a new Sapling of Light ability states "Ramus Aureus Resonatus Est", which translates to "Golden Bough Resonance".

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Canto 4-1 - Vergilius: "As you all know, the Golden Boughs are a relatively recent discovery. (...) I never said that there were any rules that say only one Bough may exist in a District. The distribution of Lobotomy Corp’s branch facilities is more complicated than you’d expect. They can be found everywhere… spread quite literally like tree branches."
  2. ↑ Canto 2-1 - Vergilius: "The Golden Bough is a potent energy source, holding the essence of many technological marvels."
  3. ↑ Canto 1-5 - Faust: "In the deepest zones of these branch facilities are plantlike growths that have only recently begun to form: the essence of L Corp.'s technology."
  4. ↑ Canto 2-16 - Aida: "Any Syndicate worth its name has caught wind of the stories. Those about the Golden Bough buried down here… and the riches and fame it’ll bring to the owner."
  5. ↑ Canto 7-42: "It is said that when an efflorescent tree comes to blossom, steeped and nurtured in the waters of many rivers since its saplinghood, it becomes imbued with a special power. "
  6. ↑ Dante's Notes (The Golden Boughs, Record #3): "Some say that the Golden Boughs have something to do with the Mirror technology, but… how?"
  7. ↑ Canto 5-30 - Faust: "[Self-detonation] is our last resort—an emergency preventative measure to stop our enemies from getting their hands on the Golden Boughs. (...) … Even though this may be the end of LCB, the world… no. Limbus Company must continue to exist… Dante, you must make a judgment call."
  8. ↑ A Notable Change Mini Episode - Outis: "Are the Golden Boughs not immediately shipped to the headquarters by the After Team as soon as we retrieve them? How can they affect the engines if they’re not here?"
    (Faust goes on to explain how this can be the case.)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Second Round of the Family Hierarch Evaluation/Floor 1 - Faust (after Dante witnesses a memory): "It appears that the gradual reconstruction of the Golden Bough is expanding Dante's ability to peer into the fathoms."
  10. ↑ Intervallo 5.5-21 - Faust: "… Yes, the operating principles are the same. Dante is, via the Golden Boughs, connected to the root of the sapling planted in the subterranean area of the headquarters. Which is to say that—"
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Into the Dark/Floor 1 - Faust: "The Golden Bough inside Dante's head is likely counteracting the Pallidification effects on the Sinners' bodies."
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Intervallo 7.5-5 - Ishmael: "Did we all get depowered because of the Golden Bough? Wait, does this have anything to do with those chains that appeared when we first entered the contract with Dante…?"
    Hohenheim: "Indeed. One of the powers of a Golden Bough is 'connection'. You are now all fairly, evenly, and equally… mediocre."
  13. ↑ Dante's Notes (Peccatula, Record #1): "I'm not sure if this is thanks to the Golden Bough in my head, but I can somehow tell Abnormalities and Distortions apart just by the feelings they give off."
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 The Final Check-up/Floor 1 - Hohenheim: "Then, the manager here will open the entrance to my Dungeon of the Fathoms… … and you will progress through the Mirror Dungeon, as you have always done when facing a Distortion, to reach into its deepest fathoms to face my Distortion once again."
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Canto 6-43: "If I can… I mean, my clock or the Golden Bough… or whichever it is… can turn back time… … then what's there to say that I can't accelerate it or shorten it? Besides, I…… I did not want my Heathcliff to be tied down to his past like the Heathcliff from the other world was."
    [On-screen display]: "Ramus Aureus Resonatus Est - Golden Bough Resonance"
  16. ↑ Intervallo 3.5-5 - Faust: "Hmm, how curious. This could be due to the influence of the Golden Boughs we’ve collected resonating with Manager Dante’s head."
  17. ↑ Intervallo 5.5-21 - Faust: "They are evolutions of each Peccatula. (...) Collecting the Golden Boughs could have expedited the Peccatula growth process."
  18. ↑ Canto 5-33 - Dante: <Huh, so that's why… that's why I could feel the Golden Bough here, even when it was so far away...>
    "I raised my finger and pointed toward the general direction of this vague feeling."
  19. ↑ Canto 5-28 - Ishmael: "Looks like Rim wasn't lying. I don't think there's a Golden Bough here. I don't feel the bough, either."
  20. ↑ Canto 3-20 - Sinclair: "So… if my guess is right, then this passage should lead to the branch facility. (...) It’s like how magnetic fields draw a compass needle northward… I was brought here by intuition. (...) …Isn’t that what it is? You’re bringing us along to use as sensors for the Boughs."
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Dante's Notes (The Golden Boughs, Record #3): "Thinking back on it, resonating with a Golden Bough would create a sort of dungeon of the fathoms… or fathoms of ego, which we had to battle through. Perhaps the power of Golden Boughs is to realize the… thoughts or imaginations of people."
  22. ↑ Sonya discusses using the Boughs to create a new world with Rodya in Canto II. Catherine uses the Golden Bough to erase herself from all Mirror Worlds in Canto VI. She also remarks that "The Golden Bough has far more impressive powers than any of us could have ever imagined."
  23. ↑ Dante's Notes (Monoliths, Record #2): "The Golden Bough amplifies and releases every feeling, from the hottest emotions to the warmest emotions. But the Monolith makes people face what's boiling in the deepest abyss of one's self."
  24. ↑ Reminisced League of Nine/Floor 1 - Faust: "The fathoms of ego are places or images of someone’s mind made manifest. It releases a powerful and complex energy… It might draw in people other than the Sinners, like those deeply related to Yi Sang in this case."
  25. ↑ Intervallo LC-PC-3 - Dante's internal dialogue (referring to the fathoms as a memory they witnessed): "Though I only saw them in the fathoms... there were those terrifying things called the Cuckoospawns."
  26. ↑ Mayors, the Yearning Flotsam Combat Event: "Mayors's Despair. The repulsiveness of people's ill-intent. And the faint hope from the light found within. All kinds of emotions and memories rise to the surface of Amiya's fathoms, then sink again. Those same thoughts seep into me as well, unfiltered."
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Branch D-02/Floor 3 - Faust: "We’re in the fathoms of your ego, to be precise. An open path in your psyche. In other words... We’ve entered your heart and mind, Gregor."
  28. ↑ Canto 5-25 - Ishmael: "You hear it too, don't you…? You hear how the waves roared that day…"
    "Ishmael was right… Emotions of the past begin flooding, roaring before me. Ishmael… She stands alone in a sea of tall, rolling waves."
  29. ↑ Canto 8-5 - Hong Lu: "You saw that, didn't you? Dante. You saw my memory."
  30. ↑ Into the Dark/Floor 3: "Ahab looks into my head. And I, in turn, raise my head to return the gaze."
    Dante: <This is..!>
    "Ahab's journey through the pancreas plays right before my eyes."
  31. ↑ Second Round of the Family Hierarch Evaluation/Floor 1 - Heathcliff: "Uh… ain't these memories for Clockhead's eyes only? Why can we see it, too?"
    Dante: <Um... huh? You saw that, too?>
    Faust: "It appears that the gradual reconstruction of the Golden Bough is expanding Dante's ability to peer into the fathoms."
  32. ↑ Second Round of the Family Hierarch Evaluation/Floor 1 - Lin Daiyu: "What… was that? Visions… of the memories I never wished to see again…"
    Dante: <…?! Wait, she saw that, too…?>
    Faust: "… Dante. Perhaps this is another feature of the previously discussed expansion of your abilities. (...) In such a case… an individual who is a part of a powerful memory that causes the Sinner's emotional state to drastically spike could trigger a resonance effect."
  33. ↑ In Canto I, Gregor resonates with the Bough, and his Fathoms create real, interactable people. As of Canto VIII, there has never been another instance of this happening or explanation as to why it did. Another example of inconsistencies is that while the Sinners are within his Fathoms, they explicitly do not see Gregor's memories as they play. However, when in Yi Sang's Fathoms, all of the Sinners are able to see Yi Sang's memories. Additionally, Catherine's resonance with the Bough shows her memories to all of the Sinners, but does not create any Fathoms. When Kromer resonates with the Bough in Canto III, creating Fathoms, it is instead Sinclair's memories that play. Later in Canto V, no one seems to resonate with the Bough despite getting incredibly close to it. Additionally, getting stabbed with the Bough leads to Don Quixote resonating with it and creating Fathoms in Canto VII, but Jia Mu stabbing herself with the Bough does not do this, instead causing her to distort. As of now, with only patterns to be drawn from and no real explanations given, there's next to no rhyme or reason to the results of Bough resonance.
  34. ↑ There are no cases of Dante explicitly not seeing a Sinners' memories within the Fathoms. It is always either confirmed or just doesn't come up in the Canto. On the other hand, there are both cases of the Sinners explicitly seeing (Canto IV) and explicitly not seeing (Canto I) each other's memories while within their Fathoms.
  35. ↑ Intervallo 6.5-14 - Meursault: "A Mirror Dungeon of the Fathoms. It appears to be the same kind as the one we have seen before."
  36. ↑ A Blade Fiend's Fathoms/Floor 1 - Aeng-du [Location: Mirror Dungeon of the Fathoms]: "You call this place the 'fathoms of ego'…?"
  37. ↑ Distorted Bamboo-hatted Kim's Fathoms, the Time Ripper's Fathoms, Hohenheim's Fathoms, and Mayors' Fathoms are all exclusively referred to as Dungeons of the Fathoms. On the other hand, Yi Sang and Don Quixote (First Kindred)'s Fathoms are exclusively referred to as Fathoms of the Ego.
  38. ↑ This is consistently depicted through the gameplay of Intervallo Dungeons. Hohenheim's Dungeon is a good example, featuring Lobotomy Corporation employees wearing Lobotomy E.G.O, enemies which were clearly produced by the Dungeon and aren't real people who walked into the Fathoms.
  39. ↑ This is consistent throughout all Cantos other than Canto I. Canto IV in particular makes a point of explaining all of the enemies in Yi Sang's Fathoms by natural means, such as Meursault remarking "It's implausible for employees of T Corp's tech agency to chase him into N Corp. Which suggests this is a foreign substance attempting to breach into the fathoms of ego."
  40. ↑ This has been the case in every single Intervallo featuring a Dungeon of the Fathoms. The access has also explicitly extended past the Sinners to characters like Aeng-du and Amiya.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 The Final Check-up/Floor 1: "The all-too-familiar portal began to appear around Hohenheim's Distortion, as though they were a key to a door. Scattering shards of familiar yet alien sights appeared intermittently beyond the shimmering veil. Hohenheim had already entered the portal as we stood there gawking. But we could still hear his voice echoing through the laboratory."
  42. ↑ The LCB and anyone they're with have always been able to walk into the Dungeon without problem. This includes figures like Aeng-du, and in the now-unavailable Pilgrimage of Compassion Intervallo, Amiya, Irene, and the Doctor.
  43. ↑ A Blade Fiend's Fathoms/Floor 1 - Bamboo-hatted Kim: "……."
    Meursault: "He has already entered the dungeon."
    Heathcliff: "Haah… so we've got to follow the bloke, eh?"
  44. ↑ A Blade Fiend's Fathoms/Floor 1: "After a grueling battle, and as we finally managed to drag Bamboo-hatted Kim to his knees… Like a mirage, the fathoms of ego began to fall apart."
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 A Notable Change Mini Episode - Faust: "… Mephistopheles’ engine is designed to change and adapt every time a Golden Bough is retrieved. And the Backdoor is also a product of the engine. It would not be a reach to theorize that the 'incidents' with each Sinner would affect the engine, which in turn influences the contents of the Backdoor."
    Ishmael: "In other words, it’s pretty much a guarantee that with each Golden Bough retrieval, we’ll be getting a new ‘zone’, from now on."
  46. ↑ Canto 4-33 - Faust: "In other words, repeatedly researched the conditions of corrosion and trained themselves to repress it utilizing the Qliphoth Deterrence emitted by the Golden Bough…"
  47. ↑ Branch D-02/Floor 1 - Faust: "It’s the Qliphoth Deterrence in action. (...) ... A force that weakens Abnormalities. Its original purpose is to safely supervise them in containment."
  48. ↑ Dante's Notes (Monoliths, Record #1): "I think [the Monolith] does something similar to the Golden Boughs: causing or amplifying Distortions. But unlike the Golden Boughs, it seems that that's all it's good for."
  49. ↑ Jia Mu's Passive "Golden Bough Assimilation - Distortion".
  50. ↑ Branch K-02/Floor 3: "The Golden Bough on the altar resonated with her cackle, and began to glow brighter. Then…"
    Kromer: "Aah…! It’s begun… At last, my final grudge will be fulfilled!"
    "A mass of flesh engulfs her lower half. From the hideous organic growth, bundles of ambiguous appendages stretch outward in countless numbers."
  51. ↑ Canto 6-47 - Ishmael: "Why… why did you stab yourself [with the Bough]? Is this how you wanted this to end?"
    Heathcliff: "Because I need Cathy in every corner of this manor to hear my call. From what I've seen, the Golden Bough… … connects the hearts… together. Look, I'm flying by the seat of my trousers here."
  52. ↑ Canto 6-48 Combat Event - Catherine: "Can you hear me? Can you hear my voice?!"
    "I suddenly realize that an unfamiliar voice is echoing directly in my head."
    Dante: <Is this… is this sound coming directly through the Golden Bough…?>
    Heathcliff: "… You hear that too, Clockhead?" (...)
    "The Golden Bough that once pierced his chest was long removed after my clock turned… but its influence seemed to be lingering for some reason."
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 Intervallo 7.5-5 - Yi Sang: "Was it not the advantages granted to us by the Golden Bough impaled in the Pallid Whale of the Great Lake by which we triumphed?"
    Rodion: "Wha? Really?"
    Faust: "Correct. Had the Pallid Whale been at its full strength, it is highly likely that we may still have been trapped inside its stomach, struggling to survive."
  54. ↑ Don Quixote's Passive "The Golden Bough's Forced Arbitration" that causes him to lose 30 Offense and Defense Levels.
  55. ↑ Branch D-02/Floor 3 - Faust: "Yes, that is most likely where we can find the Abnormality in which the Golden Bough has taken root."
  56. ↑ Canto 6-47 - Catherine: "You are so kind. What kind of payment do you ask in return?"
    Hermann: "Not monetary, that's for certain. Instead… … allow us to make a 'dough'. That is all I ask."
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 Canto 6-47 - Hermann: "To summon a fully intact Identity… is an incredibly power-consuming procedure. A single Golden Bough won't be enough to power it. Lucky for you, we have recently procured ourselves a Golden Bough. This Golden Bough, once installed on the roof of your manor, will collect all the necessary energy and relay it to the Golden Bough installed in the laboratory."
  58. ↑ Canto 6-47 - Heathcliff: "I can't destroy it, no… but I can stop it from working."
    Erlking Heathcliff: "You mean to kill me? You?"
    Heathcliff: "No. I will stab myself, just as you wished."
  59. ↑ Branch J-03/Floor 3 - Sonya: "…Did you know, Rodya? This was little more than a somewhat eccentric hollow with frosty walls. Yet look at this. Now there’s a giant castle and thick columns of ice. This change happened the instant you walked in."
  60. ↑ Branch K-02/Floor 3 - Demian: "Kromer… attempted to become a god, like those which people of the past were said to believe in. Sinclair almost became her stepping stone."
  61. ↑ Branch K-02/Floor 3 - Faust: "The fathoms of the ego are already open. I see someone has resonated with the Bough before us."
  62. ↑ Canto 4-1 - Gregor: "In that case… Are you telling us that we’ve accepted the request to earn ownership of a Golden Bough?"
    Vergilius: "To be exact, they made the offer first."
  63. ↑ Canto 4-8 - Samjo: "If you help us retake the laboratory, we’ll yield the ownership of the Golden Bough we found to you."
  64. ↑ Canto 4-8 - Dongrang: "It was a recent discovery. We’d been using a Lobotomy Corp. branch near our research facility as a lab until a few months ago. (...) Then, one day, while we happily indulged in research in that laboratory of the Lobotomy Corp. branch facility, armed terrorists attacked the place." (...)
    Samjo: "In the end, the terrorist organization took over the laboratory Mr. Dongrang’s team had stayed in."
  65. ↑ Canto 4-33 - Faust: "If [the Technology Liberation Alliance] reduced Abnormalities to an ovate form and figured out a way to materialize their E.G.O the way Lobotomy Corporation did… In other words, repeatedly researched the conditions of corrosion and trained themselves to repress it utilizing the Qliphoth Deterrence emitted by the Golden Bough… It could be possible to use E.G.O well without being affected by corrosion even after a short period."
  66. ↑ Canto 4-30 - Dongrang (some time after Yi Sang was stabbed): "That’s true. But, as much as I want to give the Bough to you, it’s been taken before our eyes."
  67. ↑ While it is not explicitly stated how Dongrang ends up with the Golden Bough (Canto 4-48), him taking it from Dongbaek after she entered seems to be the only possible assumption.
  68. ↑ Canto 4-49 - Ishmael: "Did the Golden Bough have the power to do this? I don't think we’ve even entered the fathoms of ego yet… Was it capable of warping the real world?"
    Faust: "Excitement or questions over matters related to the Golden Boughs have little meaning." (...)
    Ishmael: "Even the dead… are coming back…""
  69. ↑ Canto 5-14 - Faust: "Indeed. But the Lobotomy Corp. Branch is within U Corp.'s borders."
  70. ↑ Canto 5-14 - Pilot: "After a thorough search, we identified the exact location of the Lobotomy Corp. Branch with the Golden Bough."
    Faust: "Did you find the Golden Bough?"
    Pilot: "Yup. Saw that fabled golden light, too."
  71. ↑ 71.0 71.1 Canto 5-26 - Rim: "The Whale, once fated to roam the Outskirts for all eternity… is now drawn by that same incandescent, gilded calling."
    Outis: "You're saying that the Whale came from the Outskirts all the way to the Great Lake of U Corp. for the Golden Bough?"
    Rim: "Quite. And swallowed this structure whole with that delicate Bough. The Abnormalities here have also left with that magnificent yet fragile Whale, drawn by that selfsame calling."
  72. ↑ Canto 5-14 - [Ricardo]: "Take only the high-value hostages. We're leaving. Now. That right there is one of the Five Calamities. We have to book it before that thing gets here. We're all dead meat if we don't."
  73. ↑ Several injured and unconscious members of the LCCB were left behind and caught up in the whale's Pallidification, as is demonstrated by the Pallidified Thing-Club and Shield enemies encountered by the LCB in part 2.
  74. ↑ Canto 5-33 - Faust: "If [Dante] can sense even the most general direction of the Golden Bough, please relay it to me. I can use that to approximate its location. (...) They are able to do this only under the peculiar conditions of the Great Lake, which has very few in the way of obstacles."
  75. ↑ Canto 6-4 Faust: "It can be shared that the Golden Bough wasn't… always located inside the manor."
    Yi Sang: "I see. Then, the Golden Bough, its previous location in an unknown area within the T Corp.'s Lobotomy Corp. branch, has been transferred to the manor for a reason we are yet to be aware of."
  76. ↑ 76.0 76.1 Canto 6-47 - Catherine: " I installed a massive laboratory in our basement to invite Catherine to our world. I acquired the Golden Bough with Linton's help."
  77. ↑ Canto 6-21 - Linton: "When my eldest brother left, most of the family fortune became mine. I quite enjoyed the affluence. One could say that it's the only thing of my possession that I liked. Though I have spent most of it… procuring… the Golden Bough… Cough…"
  78. ↑ Canto 6-47 - Hermann: "Now, after the lightning strikes seven times upon your coffin… … the path to the other world will open, summoning the Catherine you want from the other world here."
  79. ↑ Canto 6-12 - Catherine's will: "Once the seventh strike of lightning falls upon this manor… … my Golden Bough shall be yours [Heathcliff]."
  80. ↑ Canto 6-48: "All that remained on the rooftop was a burnt Golden Bough inside the coffin."
  81. ↑ Canto 7-6 - Alessio: "However, La Manchaland was largely unknown and invisible to the public until two months ago."
  82. ↑ This is not depicted in the text, but the CGs.
  83. ↑ The Tale of a Great Fixer Who Once Reached for The Dream/Floor 1 - Sansón: "It is the light of a Golden Bough. (...) The bough which your last Child will one day come to claim from you."
  84. ↑ The Tale of a Great Fixer Who Once Reached for The Dream/Floor 1 - Yi Sang: "Then, it stands to reason that… a Lobotomy Corp. branch was constructed here, upon La Manchaland's sealing. (...) It may be that, in the wake of La Manchaland's reopening, it was cast to the earth below; or, perhaps, this park of amusement has devoured it as the Whale of the Great Lake has done."
  85. ↑ Canto 7-2 - Cesara: "Yes. Your people were quite blunt about this when you contacted us first. That there's this 'Golden Bough' somewhere near our eradication target. My, I was so astonished when I picked up that call. Your people refused to answer our questions, refused to tell us what those 'Golden Boughs' are, insisted that we let your people inside the zone to confirm the exact coordinates… I almost thought it was a prank call or something."
    Vergilius: "I believe we also made you an offer you couldn't refuse."
  86. ↑ Canto 7-2 - Cesara: "Fine. I confess. The goal of our department… … isn't the eradication of La Manchaland. (...) Here is your mission. Enter La Manchaland. Find the thing—or someone—that created La Manchaland, and bring it to me."
  87. ↑ Canto 8-8 - Hong Lu: "My use is to be a ticket to participating in the Hierarch war, the only option for obtaining the Golden Bough in H Corp."
  88. ↑ Second Round of the Family Hierarch Evaluation/Floor 2 - Ishmael: "If we come in third place… considering that [the New League is] also likely shooting for the Golden Bough, we are almost guaranteed to lose our objective to them."
  89. ↑ Canto 8-31 - Jia Huan: "You must've come here in search of the Golden Bough, as you always are. But that is not what we've come here for."
  90. ↑ Canto 8-33: "The Golden Bough slides into Jia Mu's body and begins to flicker, its power spiraling into her body."
  91. ↑ Muddled Heishou of the Corpse Palanquin 混覺轀輬黑獸's Passive "Golden Bough Assimilation - Distortion"

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