Three theories about what will happen once Helldivers 2 players destroy Meridia

Things are heating up in Helldivers 2 as the current Major Order will see players destroy the first planet in the galaxy, permanently removing it from the game. This is something that has never been done in the game before and shows that the galaxy could become an ever-evolving aspect of the game. Destroying the planet is said to wipe out the Terminid Supercolony once and for all, but there are far more serious implications to this that Super Earth isn’t aware of…yet. 

NOTE: The rest of this post contains potential spoilers for the future of the Helldivers 2 story.
It was revealed recently on the Helldivers Leaks sub-Reddit, that the conclusion of this Major Order will be the beginning of the arrival of The Illuminate, the futuristic third faction that was previously seen in the first game before becoming extinct at the end of the original Galactic War. When this Major Order is completed and Meridia is destroyed, it will create a black hole that threatens the entire galaxy as its gravity will pull in every planet and destroy them all, which isn’t ideal news to hear.

So what will happen after this Major Order?

I don’t think that we will immediately see The Illuminate come to Helldivers 2, with another Major Order or two likely taking place before this. Once the black hole appears, Super Earth will panic and try to look at ways to somehow fix the problem. I do think that the next Major Order will see us go for a full assault on the Automatons to try and steal any of their robot technology to try and figure out a way to stop the black hole from sucking in all of the planets in the galaxy. When that fails, well, this is when it could get interesting. 

With the future of not only Super Earth, but the entire galaxy, hanging in the balance, this is going to somehow bring The Illuminate to Helldivers 2, and I have a few theories about how this might happen, let’s talk about it. 

Theory 1: The White Hole Theory

Scientists have known about black holes for some time now, but it has also been theorized that white holes could exist. Opposite to black holes, instead of sucking matter into it, a white hole would spit it out. It has been theorized that the ‘big bang’ was a white hole, but so far no concrete evidence of its existence has been found and many believe they can’t exist based on the laws of physics. If you want an explanation of a white hole in layman’s terms, here is it explained by everyone’s favorite Canadian-sounding British robot Kryten from Red Dwarf

Since Helldivers 2 is a video game, the laws of physics don’t necessarily need to apply, so a white hole theory is possible. One theory I have is that The Illuminate, who are thought to be extinct, could be hiding out in another dimension and could use their futuristic technology to turn the black hole into a white hole and escape from it back into our galaxy. This is extremely unlikely and I’m not going to pretend I can do the mental gymnastics to make this theory work, but it is a fun one to think about.

Theory 2: The Illuminate re-emerges to close the black hole

Helldivers 1 takes place in 2084 and after the Galactic War, it is believed that The Illuminate became extinct and was wiped out by Super Earth. Of course, we now know that to be incorrect and they somehow survived and have managed to evade detection for the past 100 years until the events of Helldivers 2. This means that they are either somewhere in the galaxy or further away in another galaxy somewhere in the universe. When the black hole event occurs, The Illuminate will become aware of it, and like Super Earth will want to somehow close it to, well, not die. This will force them out of hiding as they use their futuristic technology to close the black hole and save the galaxy, revealing the next part of the galaxy that players can access to begin our fight against The Illuminate. 

Theory 3: Super Earth asks The Illuminate for help 

Super Earth believes that The Illuminate has gone extinct. However, it is not like the government has ever covered something up before. The SEAF may be aware that The Illuminate survived and is in hiding and could call upon them to save the day when the black hole appears. But, with The Illuminate once again making their presence known in the galaxy, Super Earth will be forced to go to war with the futuristic beings once its citizens become aware that The Illuminate survived the Galactic War. 

When it comes to theories, I think theory 2 makes the most sense, but is fun to think about how Arrowhead Game Studios could play out this pivotal moment in the Helldivers 2 story. It was first leaked back in March 2024 that The Illuminate was coming to the game and it is exciting that the time has finally arrived and we will be able to fight another enemy rather than the Automatons and Terminids. 

With a new group of enemies to fight, now is the perfect time to update your loadout to put yourself in the best position to battle The Illuminate. To do this, we highly recommend checking out our Helldivers 2 best weapons guide and best armor guide. And with the new Emancipator Exosuit Mech recently being added to the game, check out our stratagems tier list to see what you should be carrying with you into battle.

But hey, that’s just a theory, a game theory, thanks for reading.