Atlas True
As you may have gathered from the ending that allows you to walk away, Atlas is an interesting entity. On the one hand, it requests your complete obedience in exchange for its guidance. On the other, it means you no ill will if you choose to go a different route in your journey. Players that stick to the Atlas Path through to the end witness several things, including a sudden switch right when it’s all said and done.
Atlas is many things, and in time it will reveal several forms. One form, and this is the one that gives the most insight into what this being truly is, is a bright light with each of the three alien races. At the center, glowing the brightest, is an outline of the Korvax. It made sense that the Korvax would be at the center, seeing as how throughout the worlds they clearly had the closest attachment to Atlas.
From this point, it starts to become clear just what Atlas is. It is not just one sentient being, it is many. It is made up of all those that have come before you in search of truth. The knowledge comes from a collective, which is why the observation that the player character makes about Atlas needing them is so astute. It needs the player not for worship, but for growth. The bodies at the core are illuminated by discovery, the discovery of what the galaxy actually is.
Now, once you’re at the ending you can find out exactly what it is for yourself. To do this you need to have saved 10 Atlas Cores (who knew?). You will then have the ability to “birth a new star.” The player character’s quote that follows is:
“The orb floods my mind with an image. A new star has been created at the edge of the Galaxy. A new traveler will awaken there. I’m released, free to explore now. I can see the fabric of space, this simulation and black holes within it. Perhaps I’ll find answers there.”
Once you’re done, you’ll be able to travel to that new galaxy. The game starts anew, only this time you are full of the knowledge of your predecessor and have all of the upgrades you collected. It’s time to continue your quest for knowledge.
This whole time, those stern messages and requests for allegiance were to lead you to this point, to your own becoming. You are now Atlas, as those before you also were. It asked for commitment because there is no turning back to whence you came. Your duty was to reach a higher plane and allow for the next explorer to expand even further than you had. Through that effort the universe is born as other explore this simulation that is nothing but a stepping stone into what lies ahead. From that point you awaken in a new explorer.
It’s not entirely clear what that next plane of No Man’s Sky is, but we hope to meet our characters in the light once again in the future.
