One Borderlands 3 Planet Deserves the Pandora Treatment in BL4

Highlights

• Borderlands 4 should revisit underutilized planets for unanswered questions and diversity in gameplay exploration.
• Athenas, home to powerful Sirens, deserves more spotlight in Borderlands lore and potential alternate character starts.
• Revisiting Athenas in Borderlands 4 could provide answers to Siren lore mysteries and enrich the franchise’s storyline.

In a sense, Borderlands 3 opened up Pandora’s Box by bringing the franchise to several planets that players had never seen before, most of which featured their own vaults. However, some of these planets ultimately didn’t get the attention that they deserve, so Borderlands 4 should arguably revisit them to hopefully solve some of the franchise’s unanswered questions.

Especially considering how many times players have gotten to explore deeper and deeper into Pandora, it’s time that some of the other prominent planets in the Borderlands franchise got this same treatment. Among these underutilized planets that deserve to be further explored in future Borderlands games, Athenas arguably stands out as one that deserves the spotlight more than any other.

Pandora is the Heart of the Borderlands Franchise

The story of the Vault Hunters begins on the planet Pandora, with the original Borderlands game. Borderlands 2 also takes place exclusively on Pandora, except players get to explore the farther reaches of the planet, revealing it to be quite a diverse environment. Borderlands the Pre-Sequel begins on Pandora as well, though the majority of this game is set on Pandora’s moon, Elpis.

By the time Borderlands 3’s story takes place, it’s revealed that several other nearby planets in the galaxy host their own Eridian vaults. So while Pandora is still revisited in Borderlands 3, the great hunt for these vaults takes players across the galaxy.

Getting to see how this planet has evolved throughout each new Borderlands game has been a sweet treat for longtime fans of the franchise. Rather, by now it’s time that Borderlands gave this same treatment to other planets, considering that some of these planets have played a major role in the franchise’s ongoing story, except they haven’t gotten their proper time in the spotlight.

Borderlands’ Siren Lore is Still a Mystery

Among all of the new planets that have been introduced by the recent games in the Borderlands franchise, the one planet that arguably deserves to be revisited most is Athenas. Athenas is the planet where Maya trained as a Siren, who later trained Ava as a Siren. Borderlands’ Sirens are some of the most powerful beings in the entire game’s universe, except the majority of information about their origins is still unknown, hence why Borderlands 4 should revisit Athenas to clarify some of the missing lore surrounding the Borderlands franchise’s mysterious Sirens.

Athenas is also home to an Eridian Vault, which is one of the main reasons that the story of
Borderlands 3
takes players to this planet. By prioritizing the Vault over Athenas’ history as being a training ground for Sirens, this noteworthy bit of lore goes underutilized.

One way that Borderlands 4 could give the Sirens’ home planet Athenas more time in the spotlight is to feature alternate starts for the different characters, meaning that any player that picks the Siren Vault Hunter character class could begin their journey here and potentially undergo similar Siren training as Maya and Ava did, firsthand. Alternate starts could be a win-win opportunity for Borderlands 4 to experiment with, as it could shine more light on the origins of the Borderlands franchise’s Sirens and other Vault Hunters, while also incentivizing lore enthusiasts to play as multiple characters to experience each alternate start to the game.

Otherwise, revisiting Athenas in any capacity would be a well-deserved journey. Considering how much lore surrounding Borderlands’ Sirens is still unknown, revisiting the planet dedicated to training Sirens seems like the franchise’s best opportunity to answer some of the Borderlands franchise’s unanswered questions. Ultimately, compared to Pandora, each of the new planets that the recent Borderlands games have introduced still deserves more time in the spotlight, especially Athenas.