- "The Matriarch was generated from [Myrrah]'s stem cells and Sire DNA. She amplified Myrrah's ability to communicate with the Locust."
- —Dr. Niles Samson explaining the Matriarch to Cpl. Kait Diaz.
Subject UL-119-2, also known as the Matriarch, was the first successful hybrid created at Mount Kadar Laboratory. She was the original Berserker, the progenitor of the Locust, and the source of the Hivemind. The Matriarch was created by Doctor Niles Samson through combining the embryonic stem cells of Myrrah, a human genetically immune to the negative effects of Imulsion, and Sire DNA, human children mutated by Imulsion exposure and genetic experimentation. The goal was to create a hybrid species that would be both resistant to Rustlung and utilized as a strong, obedient military force in aiding the COG Army during the Pendulum Wars.
Acting as the "mother" of the Locust, the Matriarch produced the first generation of Drones. She also established a psychomagnetic link between Myrrah and the Locust. Due to her embryonic stem cells used to create the Matriarch, Myrrah had complete control over the Locust through the Hivemind. Decades before Emergence Day, Myrrah used the Matriarch to lead the Locust to rebel and escape the lab. Preserved in cryogenic suspension, the Matriarch survived past the Locust War and connected Myrrah's daughter, Reyna Torres, and granddaughter, Kait Diaz, to the Swarm - an evolved form of Locust that survived the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon. While more Berserkers were created following the Matriarch, she is the only of her kind known to exist.
Following Myrrah's death in 17 A.E., her consciousness was contained in the Matriarch's mind for twenty-five years until the Locust evolved and reemerged as Scions. Through the Matriarch, she guided the evolved Locust to rebuild their army and find her a new physical host. She commanded the Speaker to locate her daughter and integrate Reyna in a Swarm Hive so she could possess her body. Reyna was disconnected by Kait and died in the process. The Swarm resurrected Reyna's body, but Myrrah focused the Hivemind onto Kait and guided her to the Matriarch in order to possess her body. The Matriarch was killed by Kait to sever her connection to the Hivemind. Despite this, Myrrah transferred her consciousness to Reyna, becoming the Swarm's Queen.
Biography
Creation
- "[The Matriarch] remains our most physically dominant and remarkable specimen, surviving longer than any hybrid developed with embryonic stem cells. I remain baffled as to why this is so. The bond she seemed to have developed with [Myrrah] continues to intrigue me. All at once, this mighty, matriarchal beast can be calmed into quiescence by no more than a glance! Dr. Torres has developed a containment module for [the Matriarch]. He believes that by suspending her in cryptochromic fluid, the psychomagnetic bond she and [Myrrah] appear to share could be amplified. I am skeptical but willing to entertain his flight of theoretical fancy."
- —Dr. Niles Samson on the Matriarch.
Prior to the creation of the Matriarch, Doctor Niles Samson was treating the children of Imulsion miners afflicted with Rustlung, a fatal respiratory condition caused by overexposure to Imulsion vapor, at the New Hope Research Facility. When discovering that Imulsion exposure would sometimes result in point mutations Samson considered beneficial, he began accelerating Imulsion exposure in the children to achieve results. One of the children that had a positive reaction was Myrrah, who displayed a genetic immunity to Imulsion's ill-effects and a resistance to other diseases. Unable to replicate her results in the other children, Samson began experimenting with transgenics and xenotransplantation of Hollow creature DNA into the children - resulting in distempered, sterile, and genetically unstable chimeras he called Sires. Samson's work went from curing Rustlung to forcing human evolution into stronger beings capable of following orders to end the Pendulum Wars. When the COG was made aware of his experiments, they shut the facility down and indicted all involved.
A shadow party within the COG supported Samson's research and relocated him and his research to a laboratory hidden in the caverns of Mount Kadar. There, Samson and his scientists worked with impunity on trying to develop a breed of enhanced soldiers that were healthy, and capable of following orders and reproduction. He attempted to create hybrids using Sire DNA and embryonic stem cells, but it resulted in deformed offspring that were not able to survive. Samson then considered Myrrah, who had entered adolescence, into being the subject of his hybrid studies. Upon combining her embryonic stem cells with Sire DNA, her genetic resistance to Imulsion complimented Sire DNA and allowed for the creation of a healthy hybrid, designated as Subject UL-119-2. A female hybrid, she was naturally myopic, but had heightened senses in hearing and smell. Her massive size and natural armor made her almost impervious, except for a large and vulnerable blister on her back. She also had increased speed, strength, and agility. She was deemed genetically stable, healthy and fertile. Due to her ability to reproduce, she was tagged as the Matriarch by the scientists as she gave birth to the first generation of hybrids they called the Locust.
The scientists were unable to control the Matriarch due to her volatile nature. It was then discovered that she had a psychomagnetic bond with Myrrah, in which Myrrah could control and calm the Matriarch in quiescence, telepathically. While Samson was unsure why this was so, it's likely that Myrrah's embryonic stem cells along with the fungal nature of Imulsion resulted in the Matriarch establishing a Hivemind between her and Myrrah, and by extension all the Locust species. This gave great interest to Samson and the scientists of the lab, as they believed this was the next step in creating the Locust as a controllable military force. Doctor Torres developed a containment module to suspend the Matriarch in cryptochromic fluid, allowing Myrrah's mental abilities to be amplified when connected to the Matriarch via a brain-computer interface. As the scientists continued to produce Drones and teach them how to communicate and fight, Myrrah developed their intellect through commanding them. Samson came to the conclusion that Myrrah, being the genetic mother of the Locust, served as a Queen similar to eusocial insects. He believed that without her presence and direction, they would remain unguided. But when present, the Locust were able to learn and grow.
Mount Kadar Uprising
- "Myrrah's mood remains bleak. I confess I underestimated the depth of her feelings for her daughter. I have had to curtail her exposure to the Matriarch as well, for I and others have noticed that, the more frequent their interaction, the more it affects the behavior of our test subjects. They have become... not docile, not exactly, but somehow... mindful, perhaps. Sometimes they seem to murmur in unison or simultaneously face the same direction. Dr. Van Neil remarked that it almost looked as if they were praying. I worry Myrrah's influence has allowed our test subjects to develop novel and unhelpful ideas. For the first time since I began this work, all those years ago, I am concerned for our safety."
- —Dr. Niles Samson regarding Myrrah and the Matriarch after Reyna's "death".
Torres eventually developed a romantic relationship with Myrrah and conceived a traditional human child named Reyna. Samson discovered that Reyna had inherited all of Myrrah's innate gifts, including a connection to the Hivemind. Reyna became a subject of the lab as the scientists learned that they could reproduce Myrrah's results. Torres became disillusioned with the lab's work as his daughter was being experimented on. Eventually, he fled the lab with Reyna as an infant and remained on the run for decades. Samson was unable to prevent their escape. In order to prevent Myrrah's departure from the lab in pursuit of her family, Samson lied to Myrrah that Reyna and Torres had perished in the escape attempt, believing this lie would settle the matter. Instead, Myrrah became incredibly vindictive of Samson and the scientists, having underestimated her maternal feelings for her daughter. Also disillusioned, Myrrah no longer saw herself as human, but instead Locust. As her hatred for humans intensified, she tested the extent of her abilities with the Matriarch by frequently interacting with her.
Samson and the other scientists noted that the more frequent the interactions between Myrrah and the Matriarch, the greater the Locust became mindful. Samson knew that the Locust longed for independence and resented their confinement and torture. For the first time in decades since beginning his research, Samson became fearful that Myrrah was encouraging her "children" to take charge. In an attempt to prevent an uprising, Samson separated Myrrah from the Matriarch. Unknown to him, Myrrah had discovered her full potential as Queen and telepathically led the Locust to an uprising. Using pipes and weapons from the killed Gears, the Locust began to slaughter the scientists and guards of the facility. Myrrah was freed along with her Locust and began their escape into the caverns of Mount Kadar, deeper into the Hollow. Samson was mortally wounded in the attack and, in his last act, initiated a cryogenic lockdown of the facility to prevent the rest of the Locust, and scientists, from escaping the facility. The majority of the Locust and Myrrah managed to escape before the lockdown, leaving behind the Matriarch. She remained alive and preserved within her stasis module, which was maintained by an AI construct of Samson's personality over the following decades.
Swarm Invasion
- "Freeing the Matriarch was... unwise. You will die. Which means you will never look upon the grandeur of your mother. Transfigured."
- —Dr. Niles Sampson after Cpl. Kait Diaz freed the Matriarch.
In the following decades, Myrrah led the Locust to construct Nexus, the cradle of their civilization in the caverns of Mount Kadar. They colonized the Inner Hollow, until the Imulsion evolved in the Locust as the Lambent Infection. The infected Locust began infecting or killing all life in the Hollow, forcing the Locust to invade the surface of Sera and wage a genocidal war against humanity to colonize the surface. In 17 A.E., Queen Myrrah was killed by Sgt. Marcus Fenix and the Locust were exposed to the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon, a targeted-radiation device that eliminated cells colonized by Imulsion. While intended to be lethal to the Locust due to the their exposure to Imulsion, they instead formed a chrysalis shell. This mechanism was designed by Samson to allow the Locust the ability to adapt and survive generational conflict. As they hibernated, Myrrah's consciousness survived by retreating into the mind of the Matriarch. In 42 A.E., the Locust reemerged as evolved lifeforms called Scions. From their hatching, the Locust Hivemind materialized into a bio-organism capable of transforming all life into a part of the network called the Swarm.
As the Locust Horde reemerged, they were without a physical Queen that was necessary for them to learn and grow. Through the Matriarch, Myrrah guided the Swarm to rebuild. She sought out her daughter Reyna, who also inherited her connection to the Hivemind. Using the Speaker, Myrrah had the Swarm connect Reyna to the Hive so that she could transfer her consciousness into a physical vessel and lead the Swarm. Reyna was disconnected and euthanized by her daughter, Kait Diaz. The Swarm recovered Reyna's body and reconnected her to the Hive. Though they were able to resurrect her, Myrrah desired Kait's healthy, living body as she also inherited the connection to the Hivemind. Using the Matriarch, Myrrah caused nightmares and hallucinations as messages to Kait. The Swarm was able to capture Kait, and Myrrah was temporarily able to control the Swarm through Kait which resulted in the death of her Uncle Oscar Diaz. She was rescued by Fenix and revealed that her family had a connection with the Locust Horde. As Fenix directed her to find answers at the New Hope Research Facility, Myrrah used the Matriarch to intensify Kait's visions. The visions became more frequent and intense as Kait neared the Matriarch.
Through intel at New Hope, Kait and Cpl. Delmont Walker located the source at the lab beneath Mount Kadar. Diaz and Walker entered the lab in search of information about Kait's family and her connection to the Swarm. There, the Niles Samson AI explained the Locust's origins, Myrrah's rebellion, and how Kait had developed the same telepathic ability as her grandmother. In order to sever that telepathic connection, Samson directed Kait to use the interface with the Matriarch, which was connected to the Swarm Hivemind. Inside the Hivemind, Kait encountered the Matriarch and was brought to Reyna's body in a Hive. Kait inadvertently awakened her mother. Myrrah's consciousness was transferred from the Matriarch to Reyna by Kait, becoming the Swarm Queen. The Niles AI betrayed Diaz and Walker, turning the lab's defenses against them and freeing the Matriarch in the process.
Death
- "This thing's your link to me, right? Well get ready to switch off!"
- —Cpl. Diaz to Queen Reyna before killing the Matriarch.
The Matriarch rampaged through the facility and the cell block where she destroyed the Samson AI, deactivating him. Diaz and Walker attacked the Matriarch and discovered that by dropping her into freezing water would subdue the Matriarch long enough to mount short attacks on her only weak spot. During the battle, Reyna telepathically contacted Kait, distorting her vision and making it harder for her to kill the Matriarch, particularly as the Matriarch neared death. Diaz was able to attack the Matriarch's weak points, finally killing her. While Diaz still had a physical connection with the Hivemind in her temporal lobe, her telepathic link to the Swarm was severed as the Matriarch died - making Diaz no longer vulnerable to them and Reyna.
Legacy
When First Minister Mina Jinn later suggested reconnecting Kait to the Hivemind in order to locate the Swarm's central Hive, Diaz informed her that they'd killed the creature that served as her link to the Hivemind.
Behind the Scenes
- The Matriarch is the first and only named Berserker.
- The Matriarch appears as a boss enemy in Horde, and like her descendant Berserkers she is also susceptible to fire.
Appearances
- Gears 5 (First appearance)