- Not to be confused with Season of The Two Embers - Part 1.
| “ | A friend worth saving. A ruler worth stopping. |
” |
Sky: The Two Embers is an ongoing animated series released by thatgamecompany. The series began production in 2021, and is to be released in multiple Parts. The first chapter of Part 1 premiered on July 21, 2025 as an in-game preview screening alongside the Season of The Two Embers - Part 1. According to a recent interview, Part 2 is estimated to release in early 2027[2].
The series is set long ago, in the same universe as the game.[3]
Where To Watch[]
Sky: The Two Embers - Part One can be viewed in the Cinema, introduced for Sky Anniversary 2025. Chapter showings begin at :00 and :15 every other hour, starting at 1AM PT. Each chapter can also be seen approximately every 20 minutes by using the corresponding meditation circle beside the Vault Elder's Lantern in the Cinema.
External Screenings[]
Chapters 1-4 were also shown in sequence at the following out-of-game special showings:
- in theaters nationwide across Japan, on various dates August 8, 2025 – August 22, 2025[4].
- Sky: The Two Embers - Part 1 Los Angeles Screening, on September 12, 2025[5].
Trailers[]
Synopsis[]
Chapter 1[]
| “ | The Light has always healed us. With it, we tried to build a better, brighter world. Now, in the Last City, a sickness is spreading. The Darkness is closing in. |
” |
–Chapter 1 Opening | ||
The Orphan, as a young child, plays with butterflies through a hazy, dream-like field. The dream's scene dissolves into the marketplace at the Lost City, where the Orphan shows the Tender Toymaker the wooden butterfly they carved. Now in the field once more, they paint the toy together. The Toymaker is afflicted with the darkness sickness, purple crystals covering their arm. The Toymaker headpats and hugs them fondly, then tucks them in to sleep.
The Orphan awakes from their dream, alone. They bring their ever-treasured butterfly toy as they emerge into a bustling camp and climb up pipes, walking along the wall towards the marketplace.
The Last City is located in what will become the Golden Wasteland. The camp is at the foot of a great mountain ringed in imposing walls and crawling with pipes. These walls are heavily guarded, with citizens lining up at a gateway inward. The Elder of the Vault allows a sick citizen through. The Orphan glances up at the summit and the floating structure atop it, both shining with a cold light.
Arriving at the marketplace, the Orphan sets up a tarp and begins to peddle crab toys, but they aren't having much luck. Suddenly, a great commotion — the light atop one of the towers along the wall is wavering. A herd of manatees watched over by the Stern Shepherd becomes agitated and stampedes through the market. The Orphan's butterfly toy is knocked out of their hands and taken by the herd's littlest manatee.
The herd is quickly re-gathered, and the Orphan sneaks over and yanks the toy away from the manatee. The little manatee is sick, one flipper covered in dark crystals. The Stern Shepherd is seen bringing a sick manatee away from the rest of the herd, and the Orphan decides to steal the little manatee away. The Shepherd spots them and gives chase. The Orphan runs into a dead end, the Shepherd and city guards closing in. The Resourceful Recluse waves them over and reveals a manhole down into a system of pipes below the city. The Orphan and manatee escape underground, waiting anxiously as the Shepherd and guards search the dead end but find nothing. Suddenly, the manatee is startled by thunder, alerting the Shepherd to their location. Fleeing further into the dark of the tunnel system, the pair find a cracked pipe with sparks of light racing through it.
Nearby, a beam of light leads them to a small, lush refuge under the city. The Orphan lays the manatee down, giving it the toy. The room is safe, but cold. Searching the chamber, the Orphan finds a stout candle on one of the shelves lining the walls. Glowing murals also depict a sparking stream from which one can light a candle.
The Orphan rushes back to the cracked pipe. Holding the candle to the stream of sparks, the wick alights. The Orphan places the candle between them and the manatee as they settle down to sleep in this unfamiliar place. Orbs of light descend from the walls of the chamber, vitalising the leafy overgrowth and washing over the dark crystals on the manatee's fin.
Outside, furious winds howl against the slopes of the City. At the summit, an ominous figure floats before a great, diamond-shaped crystal. Beams of light erupt from within the mountain, lightning splitting the sky as the city is covered by a swirling darkness.
Chapter 2[]
| “ | The Child grows, but the Light continues to fade. |
” |
–Chapter 2 Opening | ||
Beside a beached ship in the Crab Fields/Shipwreck area, orbs of light drift down from the clouds to land atop the sand and surf. Workers arrive, carrying three star-shaped mechanisms mounted on posts. Each mechanism opens, revealing a blue diamond at its center. With a low hum, they draw in nearby light orbs before closing. The workers hurry to take them away.
From a careful distance, the Orphan watches this. When the workers leave, they whistle for the manatee, who now sports a shortened fin with no dark crystals. Together, they scour the beach, scavenging some remaining light and collecting them in a jar. The manatee brings the Orphan's attention to a little fish. It is barely moving, covered in dark crystals. The Orphan spares a handful of the light orbs, which wash over the fish's dark crystals, soothing it, and the fish swims away.
The Orphan returns to their tent in The Last City and pours the light, now a sparking liquid, into a larger canister. They then pour it into a casting mold. Once cooled, they carefully unseal it to reveal a white candle.
The Orphan greets others in the City as they navigate to the marketplace. They take the same path as before, racing along the pipes with the manatee following close. They are bartering a toy for a belt when the manatee notices something strange with the summit structure's light.
The two find the Resourceful Recluse pruning a climbing plant, and the Orphan races in for a hug. They give the newly-forged candle to the Recluse, who places it in a candle dish alongside a stub.
The Orphan uses the belt to affix something to the manatee's fin stub — a metal-tipped prosthetic the size and shape of the old fin. The Orphan helps it get used to flying again, and the manatee calls and twirls happily. The manatee plays with the butterfly toy as the Recluse and child look on affectionately. Then, a thud. The lights embedded in three nearby towers flicker and go out. In a cascade up the mountainside, the City slowly dims. The light of the summit sputters and fails as well, as citizens gasp. The Resourceful Recluse, a grim look on their face, places a bag in the Orphan's hands.
Along the wall, a call to arms sounds from curved horns held by stone statues. Soldiers grab spears and shields and march under a portcullis gate into an interior chamber.
Some citizens slowly evacuate while others wait in trepidation; the Orphan and manatee race out of the marketplace, sparing one last glance at the lightning and encroaching clouds.
Chapter 3[]
| “ | The Child flees, hoping to protect what little Light remains. |
” |
–Chapter 3 Opening | ||
The Last City is under siege. Dark, red-tinged clouds eat at the sky and a clamour fills the air, as citizens flee across the top of the walls and soldiers cover their escape. The encroaching storm seems to have a physical heft to it; a shrieking wind pushes the Scarred Sentry over, cracking their mask, as a dark shape whooshes past. A Dark Dragon fells the guards next to the Sentry, its red gaze fixing upon them next. It hisses and lunges, before being driven back by the light of a tower that re-alights. All across the wall, the towers flick on one by one, keeping the dark clouds at bay.
Watching this all from a balcony at the summit, the Ruler is visited by the Elder of the Vault.
The towers shine weakly. One's light source gutters out, and soldiers hurriedly swap out the diamond-shaped power source. It appears that the light-collecting contraption from Chapter 2 is used to charge these power cores. Light streams up a conduit from the source to the light, which gleams once again at full power. Then, another starts to fail as well.
The Ruler clutches at the balcony rail, turning to reveal a mask without eyes, just a dark star with a diamond embedded in the center. The Vault Elder bows and leaves.
The alarm horns continue to sound as the soldiers sweep the marketplace, helping with evacuations. The Orphan is there, and they watch the soldiers round up a herd of manatees and bring out the light-collecting mechanism. The three mechanisms are placed among the herd, and opened, and light is drained out of the manatees into the machine. They are left slumped on the floor.
The Orphan hurries back to their tent, stuffing their things — toys, candles, and some safeguarded keepsakes — into saddlebags they load onto the manatee. They flee back along the pipes. The lights are failing; that portion of the City is not safe anymore. Without the protection of the lights, the storm advances, blowing over the now-deserted tents and makeshift houses of those who had made their home on the outskirts of the city.
The Resourceful Recluse, in a stream of people ushered into a still-sheltered part of the City, glances back and sighs sadly. Slipping into the line, the Orphan tries to sneak into the refuge with their manatee. However, there’s a sudden commotion — someone has tried to bring a bird, hidden in a jar, but has been caught. In the crowded chaos, the manatee drops the butterfly toy it was holding. The Orphan rushes to get it, but the manatee calls for them and alerts the guards.
They pursue the Orphan and the manatee out of the marketplace and through the city until the two of them are cornered in a quiet alley. The guards restrain the Orphan and manatee and bring out one of the light-extracting mechanisms. The light is siphoned, slowly, out of the manatee. The Recluse catches up with them all and charges in, knocking the mechanism over; it closes after it steals the last bit of light from the Recluse instead. It appears that losing light is the sickness terrorizing the City; when the Recluse is restrained, they now have dark crystals sprouting from their mask. When the guards are distracted, the Orphan darts forward, freeing the manatee from the rope and the saddlebags and escaping. The manatee is also covered in dark crystals.
The City's towers have mostly gone out — only the refuge and a handful at the summit still shine. Red clouds close in on the summit like a jagged maw. Beyond a wall engulfed by the roiling clouds, the Scarred Sentry and some of their comrades make a last stand against a Dark Dragon.
The Orphan has dragged the depleted manatee to safety under an outcropping of rubble, shielded from the rain. The manatee groans softly. The Orphan digs through their bag for a candle, but there is nothing to light it with, and it's too late. The manatee is still, and the Orphan curls up next to the body.
Back in a contested part of the City, present-day Battlefield, Dark Dragons soar overhead. Soldiers charge across the muddy field but are quickly overwhelmed by the Dragons as they swoop in and pick off several at a time. One of the towers shudders and collapses.
The Orphan is there, clutching the butterfly toy, lost in grief. They come across a shattered light-siphoning mechanism half-buried in the mud. Grief hardens into rage; they snatch a shard from the diamond of the mechanism. Their grip tightens as they glare up at the summit.
Chapter 4[]
| “ | The Darkness is here. The Child is faced with one final choice. |
” |
–Chapter 4 Opening | ||
As rain pours and thunder crashes, the Orphan storms up the steps into the Wasteland Temple, jagged shard in hand. The Temple is the last refuge for many citizens, including the Scarred Sentry and Resourceful Recluse. Aides from the Vault of Knowledge distribute towels and supplies, even as the Temple shakes and stones fall from the ceiling. The Orphan pays this no mind as they shove towards the glowing door at the back. The Sentry notices them with the shard and discreetly follows after.
In the Vault of Knowledge, workers shelve memory lanterns and lay out the shrouded dead. The Sentry catches up and grabs the Orphan before they can do anything. The Orphan beats at their armor to get away. The Elder of the Vault notices the commotion — using their powers, they view a memory of the Orphan's. In this memory, the Orphan is dragging the manatee's body through the rain.
The Vault Elder takes a memory lantern and walks up to the Sentry; dismissing them. The Vault Elder takes the Orphan up the elevator. Placing a hand on the Orphan's forehead, they are transported into a memory space; dark blue with glowing orbs that descend like a starscape. One is brighter than the others. The Orphan reaches for it, and it bursts into the glowing butterfly field from Chapter 1. In the memory, the Tender Toymaker opens the Orphan's hands to reveal a butterfly kept between them. The memory collapses.
The Vault Elder uses the memory lantern to find another memory: the manatee overjoyed at their prosthetic, flying circles around the Orphan. The Orphan races into the memory, but it dissolves. The Orphan falls to their hands and knees, bereft, then looks to the Vault Elder, demanding to relive another memory.
The moment passes. The Orphan begins to cry on the Vault Elder's clothes, when the Vault Elder fades and memory orbs blink out until the Orphan is left alone in the blue. Sitting on the steps to cry, it starts raining — another memory appears, this one of the manatee's last moments as the Orphan had fumbled through their backpack for a candle.
The Orphan places a hand on the memory manatee, and it turns golden, dissolving into a shimmering cloud that condenses into an orb. A light within the Orphan's clothes answers, and they take out the butterfly toy. In the cupped hands of the Orphan, it turns into a real butterfly. The butterfly flies up to join the manatee, and as the glow fades, so does the memory space. The Vault and Vault Elder return to view, holding the lantern with the manatee's memory now inside.
The two ascend to an exit door. They're near the summit, the floating structure looming large right in front of them. the Orphan pauses, considering the shard in their hands. They turn back to the Vault Elder, abandoning their vengeance mission. Instead, they take the manatee's memory lantern to shelve amongst the others, leaving jagged shard to lie on the floor.
Outside, the storm rages. Soldiers ready themselves to protect the doors as the Temple shakes ominously. Suddenly, a warm glow from the back of the room as the Orphan returns, a lit candle cupped in their hands.
They hand out candles to afflicted refugees, and everyone lights each other's candles. The refugees pass around the candles, filling the Temple with a golden glow.
The scene zooms out, showing all of these people as golden stars among a nebula of others.
Soundtrack[]
_Cover.jpg){kind=link}
Sky: The Two Embers - Part One (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Kevin Penkin was released on July 21, 2025. See Original Sound Track for more information.
Stills[]
Trivia[]
- The series is set five hundred years before the Children of the Light walked the land of Sky.[6]
- The characters will have no dialogue, but there will be narration.[7]
- TGC has changed the script a couple times.[7]
- It becomes pretty dark in the later half of the series.[7]
- It tells the story of two children, and the drama about the two of them trying to help people. One of them seeks power to change the world, but in the process he’s corrupted and destroyed. The other one tries to save the world by convincing the former world to give up its power. It is mentioned that “the boy becomes a king” but it is unclear which child they are referring to.[7]
References[]
- ↑ https://gamesbeat.com/how-sky-the-children-of-the-light-broke-records-for-most-simultaneous-people-on-the-screen-jenova-chen-interview/
- ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1HQbbzGEQ1
- ↑ https://www.thatskygame.com/thetwoembers/
- ↑ https://www.thatskygame.com/ja/thetwoembers/
- ↑ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sky-the-two-embers-part-1-los-angeles-screening-tickets-1557521361319
- ↑ https://x.com/JenovaChen/status/1924628221133521070
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 https://venturebeat.com/games/how-sky-the-children-of-the-light-broke-records-for-most-simultaneous-people-on-the-screen-jenova-chen-interview/