Scion

Current Status:Broken

The Atlantean Scion is a fictional artefact that Lara Croft was looking for both in the original Tomb Raider game and Tomb Raider Anniversary. It consisted of three pieces and each piece was in the possession of one of the three god-rulers of Atlantis (Tihocan, Qualopec and Natla). When Natla tried to abuse its untold power to betray her fellow kings, she was imprisoned and the three pieces of the mystical artifact were scattered across the world. Qualopec was buried in Peru together with his piece. Tihocan buried his piece in Greece, under St Francis' Folly. The third piece was buried in Egypt, possibly at a location near the Red Sea. In 1996, Natla broke free from her prison in modern New Mexico. Now under the name Jacqueline, Natla tried to recover the three pieces of the Scion by hiring Lara Croft, Larson and Pierre for the job. The plots presented in the two games (original and Anniversary) have some differences.

Tomb Raider Anniversary

In Anniversary Lara's father Lord Richard Croft is desperate to find the Scion, believing it to be a storage vessel that would provide him with information to further his quest to discover the fate of his wife, Amelia Croft. With the aid of several colleagues he attempted to find the lost City of Vilcabamba, which would reveal the location of the Tomb of Qualopec, where part of the Scion was rumoured to reside. His attempts to find the artefact met with no success, and he died or disappeared before he was able to realise his goal.

When Natla contacts Lara, it is clear she has previous knowledge of Lord Croft's endeavours. Lara finds all three pieces of the Scion, but rather than the original's businesslike and emphasis on 'playing for sport', Anniversary's Lara attatches a deeply personal interest in the artefact. It is clear that she wants to use it in the way that her father wished, to unlock the secrets of her mother's disappearance.

Natla however, steals and re-connects the artefact, using it to power and control her genetic experiments within the Great Pyramid of Atlantis. When Lara confronts her at the end of the level, she offers Lara a seat in a new Triumvirate, to help usher in the Seventh Age. Lara realising that she has invested too much into the artefact (one of her actions included killing Larson Conway) and attempts to destroy Scion, sabotaging Natla's experiments. Its fate remains unknown.

Tomb Raider Underworld?

With the probable return of Natla in Underworld, the Scion may also be referred to, if not actually seen.

Powers

A masterpiece of mechanical design, the Scion is something like a modern computer disk in shape and in function. It is the key to mysteries both natural and ancient, and its origins are shrouded in pre-history. It is also a source of great power, as it is the key for Natla's experiments and merely placing it on the throneroom altar prompts a huge discharge of energy from the top of the Pyramid. It can also prompt visions of that past (more accurately, the Scion's past), but whether it has any other similar powers of prophecy or enlightenment is not made clear.