Opera Singer Reacts: Smiles From Juran || Warframe OST

There are plenty of pieces from video games that are beautiful to listen to that then allow you to move on with your day. Right? We get that, wow, that's pretty anyway...And then there are songs like this. That...Actually enter into your spirit and leave you changed. That's not hyperbole, either. Smiles from Juran is a poignant piece of video game music, and feels very...important. Warframe is such a unique video game, and this music makes it stand out even more to me.

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Credits:
Keith Power - composer

[aldahviirthedovah]

Step 1; Lay down.
Step 2: Try not to cry.
Step 3: Cry a lot.

[themisspultone]

"And it was not their force of will — not their Void devilry — not their alien darkness... it was something else. It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing — and take away its pain."
—Ballas in the Vitruvian

[ZiiiZero]

"We accept this memory, and move beyond its reach."

[mariapazgonzalezlesme]

Smiles from Juran represent all the unsaid words that a father couldn't express to his son. A song that tells that there's a heart beating within that frame. :^) I like to think the slow ending is finally letting go of that memory.

[proudlarry]

"We use this memory. It fuels our wrath.
We accept this memory, and move beyond its reach.
We return this memory to the void and find peace in our emptiness"

Your decisions make you.
Which string will you pluck? Which note will you sound? Play well, and the universe dances.
You are an instrument most perfect, Tenno.

[luisf.delcanto]

This is the song a soldier played for his children.

Years later, forced to do horrible things, the only thing that keeps his mind from finally breaking beyond repair, is remembering it.

[Yilue]

Damn I remember hearing this for the first time. Such an awesome moment in game. Wont spoil it for anyone.

[RiddleAnim]

In the game, when this song reaches its crescendo, a narrator says,
"We had created monsters we couldn't control. We drugged them, tortured them, eviscerated them... We brutalized their minds... But it did not work. Until *they* came. And it was not their force of will - Not their Void devilry - Not their alien darkness... It was something else. It was that somehow, within that derelict-horror, they learned to see inside an ugly, broken thing... *And take away its pain."*
The narrator comes from a society that's all about perfection and aesthetics. He says all of this with a tone of confusion and awe. All while your character does exactly as he describes; Seeing inside of an ugly, broken thing, and taking away its pain.

[bioraidos]

The questline from which this song comes from is quite the emotional ride as we discover more about the creation of the Warframes themselves. Already saw someone explain the context in the comments but I'll take a shot at it too because having more than one way of telling the story is always nice so SPOILER warning for those who haven't played and/or are interested in playing. We in the community never want you to be spoiled.




In this questline, The Sacrifice, we rebuild a weird Warframe, Excalibur Umbra (or just Umbra for short) and he has a deep tie with one of the game's antagonits, Ballas, the creator and designer of the titular Warframes, who are essentially weapons made using metal, viruses, drugs, Infested tissue, and living humans. We discover that the process to create a Warframe is rather painful, that the person who becomes one goes through extreme pain, and subjects used also tend to be people who have gone through a very rough patch, either recent or not. Success was not granted as they would go berzerk and go on a killing spree. That is until the Tenno, the suriving children of an incident regarding travelling through the Void (extra dimentional space area that is whacky and weird and dangerous and eldritgh) show up with uncontrollable void powers. Ballas then, with the help of his at the time lover and scientist, used their powers and channeled them through the Warframes, establishing a link between the 2 that would allow the Warframes to be calm, and the Tenno to focus their power on until they could control it entirely.

With the context out of the way let us get into the meat of it. We discover with each time we try to connect with Umbra that he used to be a soldier, a Dax soldier, one of the elites, and he was afflicted with a strange illness that left him bedridden. His son would be by his side the whole way through, and you can tell they have a deep loving bond, his son even following on his own father's footsteps and becoming a Dax too. With each flashback we discover more and more, how he was good at this in-universe game, Komi, and was never beat, a game he and Ballas, who is also there the whole time, are playing. We learn he was a good musician, that he played an in-universe instrument called the Shawzin, which is a string instrument (this will be relevant regarding the music). And in the last flashbacks we discover that the illness he was afflicted with was not random, it was Ballas who did it. He was infected with the same stuff he gave the other subjects to make the Warframes, and it was slowly changing him from inside out, and he couldn't speak, only breathe. He also implanted a rod in his brain that would stop him from attacking Ballas once the change took effect because once it happened he would go berzerk.
What happened? He changed, went berzerk, and killed his own son, not being able to kill Ballas in the process. Why did this happen? Because in order for the Warframe to be made, for the change to ocurr, the person must have a deep and traumatic experience. And what could be more traumatic than to kill your own child with your own hands?

And now we get to the song. In the scene, after the final flashback, we are in Umbra's headspace. We see a tree in the distance, and a wailing, grieving Umbra, cursed to re-live that one last memory over, and over, and over again. We get close, kneel down in front of him, the song begins to play as Umbra slowly but surely begins to calm down. The song playing is this one, and it is heavily hinted that this was the song that Umbra used to play to his son on the Shawzin. As the song plays we hear a monologue, almost like a sort of journal entry, from Ballas himself, explaining the reason why the Tenno and the Warframes could have such an excellent balance:
"We had created monsters we couldn't control. We drugged them, tortured them, eviscerated them... we brutalized their minds, but it did not work. Until they came. And it was not their force of will, not their Void devilry, not their alien darkness... it was something else. It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly broken thing...and take away its pain.".

We, the players, the Tenno, managed to ease the pain of Umbra, to allow him to move on. The pain of that memory will forever be there, it is a scar that cannot heal properly for it is too ugly, too brutal, too deep. But we manage to help the healing process, to help him embrace the memory, go beyond it, and move on. We manage to take away his pain.

[Voxrar]

I want more people to hear this short but beautiful song. This song has been described to me as so. "A child who is looking for their mother finds and consoles an old soldier who is grieving that he was forced by someone to kill his own son."

[rtrue_]

Will forever be an Umbra main. No main quest is done without him by my side. Such a wonderful song, hearing it the first time made me tear up, and for very good reason. What a game, man

[PiscesAustrinus]

''...We had created monsters we couldn't control. We drugged them, tortured them, eviscerated them... We brutalized their minds... but it did not work, until they came... And it was not their force of will, Not their void devilry, not their alien darkness... It was something else. It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.''

It hits SO hard when you get the context of that phrase, warframe its such a great game that despise being free its does so much when it comes to feelings. Its such n journey that can only be experienced by yourself

[geraldthegoose]

I remember pulling an all nighter just to play the sacrifice

[thecommentguy]

Smiles from Juran was a song played by a Dax soldier, a distinguished hero to both his empire and to his son. His tale was a massive tragedy because what he became was the result of him being too good at his duty.

[trinityskitz]

To me, smiles from juran is the perfect audio representation of a grief stricken father, which is exactly what Umbra is, this song feels both so sad and hopeless but also tranquil and accepting and comforting. it's a weird feeling

[nosalgodemiPC]

Thanks for reacting to the songs of one of my favorite games!

Small context (Spoiler free): Imagine a moment where you couldn't do anything but to watch someone take what you love the most, and after a really long time you're finally able to let go of that pain. That is what this song represents.

[Valysion]

it's amazing how some simple melodies made with soul can be so powerful.

[thefinestpiece]

I remember the song left me crying during the quest. You can feel the pain left by the father.

[jgrant]

I don’t even play Warframe, nor watch gameplay and listen to its music. Despite that, the emotions this piece brought me - I cannot describe in words. Reading everyone’s explanations in the comments here is a treat as well. What a community you have here, Marco. Wonderful reaction as always.

[DarkmegaGaming]

yes-yes-yes-YES.

1:25 as a contexty thing, I think the song looped here. It's pretty much meant to be timed to a cutscene with a voice over going and when that crescendo hits it pauses for a bit then goes to another scene.

Can I suggest "sleeping in the cold below" next? ;) you already listened to for narmer after all.