- Date: 10/01/2007 | Author: CK
It was by chance that I happened to watch parts of Disney’s “The Prince of Egypt” on TV just an hour ago. For the whole day I have been playing and thinking about Tiberian Dawn, trying to make some sense and/or meaning of it all. It was known to me that the Tiberium series had strong connections with the bible, Kane-Caine, The Messiah, Seth and so on. However, after watching the animation film, one possible answer came up, and it was right in front of me, on TV.
Allow me to explain. In The Prince, Egypt’s foundation was built upon the shoulders of the Hebrews. The slaves, who were neglected, abused and worked to death. That was fine with the Egyptians. They lived in luxury and happiness. They didn’t need to work, let the slaves do it, after all, who cares!
The world in TD is somewhat a mirror image of today’s world. The rich GDI nations have all the money they want. They have technology, food, shelter and whatever else the citizen desire. Of course, the people in Africa have nothing.
Now, the Hebrews wanted nothing but to live like the rest, in peace and harmony. Free from slavery and torture. The Africans want very much the same thing. However, both “superior” states deny it to them. The Pharaoh wanted to build a magnificent city, while GDI wants nothing more but continue their way of life and forget about other people’s problems, although they say they care!
Let’s face it though. Who here really cares about ‘Africa’! Who bothers going on-line just to check how the Africans are doing or organize a fund-raising activity to send them some money. I must confess, I don’t. Do you?
No one cared for the Hebrews until Moses said to Ramses “Let them go!” Or face the consequences. No one cared for Africa, or any other Third-World country, until Kane came out of nowhere and let GDI know, help the needy, or face the consequences! Now, both the Hebrews and the ‘other countries’ wanted a better life, but lacked a plan to get there. Both were abused and mistreated to serve a ‘superior’ system (Africa was invaded and stripped of most of its minerals, not to mention slave trade).
Moses returned to his old city and told Ramses that the Hebrews should be free. Ramses declined and was warned that bad things would happen should he not comply. Now Kane created his Brotherhood of NOD which reached “out to otherwise abused nations…and desires a world of peace, unity and eternal brotherhood” and united these nations to fight GDI for a New Order. Both men created trouble to the superior system and both would be labeled terrorists for trying to change the way things were.
This is where Tiberium comes in. Moses didn’t actually fight against the Egyptians, but he was aided by God, who brought about plagues to Egypt. The Hebrews saw this as their salvation while the Egyptians were utterly destroyed by something Supernatural.
Tiberium is not of earthly nature, but neither has it been explicitly that it is an alien product. Kane sees Tiberium as the future, the salvation and next step in the evolution of the human species. GDI sees it as an anomaly, a curiosity which is quite fatal. Because of this, they, at first, try to keep the tiberium for themselves, then to remove it. Simply put, Nod’s salvation is GDI’s poison. And nothing can stop God or the Tiberium. While one side sees freedom, the other side desperately tries to keep the way things have always been.
In short, Moses is to the Hebrews what Kane is to NOD and the Hebrew are to the Egyptians what Africa is to us. Neglected and abused until someone says enough is enough and they start fighting back in force.
To further tie both sides together, Kane was vaporized by the light of the Ion Cannon, only to reappear later on to trouble General Solomon. Again he was killed and again he reappeared, having aged not a day, to proclaim “You can’t kill the Messiah!”
The world in which we live is slowly falling apart. Wars everywhere, the UN has a year or so back, officially sanctioned the formation of an army to deal with global threats, just like GDI. If Kane really were a Messiah, then GDI, our way of living, is ignoring the signs they have so long looked for! There is a message behind this game. I understand that this may be off the mark, as it is only a smart guess, but the message, the moral of the story is that people can no longer treat others unequally. The world needs to wake up and face the problems we have created. Someday, someone is going to unite all those who have suffered and hold us, the free world, responsible for their problems. Just like Kane, just like Moses.