The Rings of Command are five ancient rings which can control the legions of Bronze and Silver Guardians.
History[]
Early History[]
Though unconfirmed, the five Rings of Command were likely crafted by the Super-Ancient Beings long ago during an unknown point in Earth's history. Though four of the rings were each capable of commanding a single contingent of the bronze and silver guardians, the fifth one, designated the Emperor's Ring, could control all of the automatons.
During the Ancients' planning for the Trial of the Mountains, they hid the Rings of Command in a concealed shelf at the Altar of the Cosmos, so that, upon the completion of the Trial of the Cities, whomever enacted the sacrificial ritual would be rewarded with the Rings in order to control the legions of automatons.
Long after the Super-Ancients were gone, the knowledge of the Rings' existence, among the information relevant to their trials, were left to the Four Legendary Kingdoms.
The Two Lost Mountains[]
After he had completed the Trial of the Cities, Hardin "Sphinx" Lancaster was awarded the Rings of Command when they were revealed behind a secret panel in the Altar. Taking the Mace of the Sealord and holding it close to the Rings, Sphinx transferred the Immortal Weapon's "power" into the Rings, given him command over all of the automatons. Keeping the Emperor's Ring for himself, Sphinx handed two of the lesser rings to Jaeger Eins and Dion DeSaxe, instructing them to begin gathering the numerous bronzemen from the Underworld and Atlas.
Over the next few weeks, Sphinx's entourage used the Rings to command the bronze and silvermen from each of the Secret Cities and order them onto the gigantic Super Galaxys in order to transport them away.
When Sphinx went after the Siren bells kept at the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, he and his forces used the Rings of Command to control the bronzemen as they invaded the Convent. When Sphinx was confronting the Order of the Serene Maidens, Sister Beatrice noted the Emperor's Ring on his finger.
Once the bells were acquired, Sphinx then arranged an ambush for Jack West Jr and his team, knowing they would come to rescue Lily, and Jaeger Zwei was given one of the Rings of Command to command a few dozen bronzemen which were placed on four car carrier trucks spread out around the Red Square. When Zwei saw that Jack had not been knocked out by the ringing of the siren bell, he ordered the squires driving the trucks to move in, with Zwei presumably controlling the bronzemen from afar with his Ring. However, Jack and Alby Calvin managed to keep their unconscious allies moving long enough for Rufus in the Black Raven to use tracer fire to hold the automatons back and even crushed a few under a collapsing bridge.
When Sphinx went to undertake the Fall at the first iron mountain at Mont Saint-Michel, he brought several bronze and silver guardians with him under the control of his Emperor's Ring. After the Fall was completed, Sphinx used the ring to command a silverman to decapitate Hades and the bronzemen to kill Father Rasmussen and his subordinates, and sent to pursue Jack and Iolanthe.
Soon after, Yago DeSaxe was sent with a Ring of Command and a squad of bronzemen to attack the team's hideout at Hades's estate. As he flew off with a captive Easton, Yago toyed with Easton by demonstrating the loyalty of the bronzemen thanks to the ring he wore, and ordered two of the automatons to walk out of the plane with the minotaur in their grip. When Jack and Nobody arrived, Easton took advantage of the commotion and grappled with Yago, taking his Ring of Command and then ordering the bronzemen to stand down. Loyal only to whomever wore the ring, the bronzemen obeyed, and two grabbed Yago at Easton's instruction. Easton gave Jack and the Ring, who used it to command the bronzemen holding Yago to walk him off of the plane. Now in control of the bronzemen still remaining on the plane, Jack entrusted Easton with the Ring to command them for their side.
Soon after, at the second iron mountain beneath Aiguille du Midi, either Dion, Jaeger Eins, or one of the other Knights of the Golden Eight wore one of the Rings of Command, using it have their platoon of bronzemen hold off the Order of the Omega and their Romanian troops as they prepared the falling temple. Jack and Easton, along with four of their new blue-painted "palemen" controlled by the latter's Ring, arrived on the scene too late as Dion performed the Fall and then departed.
Once Sphinx arrived at the Supreme Labyrinth, he used his Emperor's Ring to deploy the bronze and silver guardians to the five gates in order to prevent anyone from following him into the ancient maze. Before his team headed inside, he gave one of the Rings of Command to Jaeger Fünf so that the Golden Knight could finish overseeing the automatons' positioning.
Jaeger Zwei was still wearing a Ring of Command when he was in Jerusalem putting people to sleep with a Siren bell. When he spotted Jack following Rastor's Fall beneath the Temple Mount, he used a Siren bell to put him, Pooh Bear and Easton to sleep, then moved in with his squad of bronzemen. However, when Zoe and Lily's group arrived arrived and began taking down the bronzemen with their specially-tipped bullets, he was forced to abandon them and take cover.
A unknown member of Sphinx's forces used a Ring of Command from afar to remotely command a battalion of bronzemen to assault the Zapadny Cosmodrome while Alby and Rufus were trying to create an uplink to the moon pedestal so that Jack, Zoe and Lily could perform the Fall at the last iron mountain.
When General Garthon Rastor and his forces were trying to get to the gates to the Supreme Labyrinth, Fünf or another Knight was presumably using a Ring of Command to rally the defences against him. When Jack's team arrived and used the "Russian Doll" plan to barrel through the automatons, the West family eventually came up short against Zwei and the bronzemen under his control. Luckily, some palemen controlled by Easton's Ring helped them continue their sprint to the gate. When the Wests eventually made it through the gate, they were accompanied by the Ring-wearing Easton and four palemen.
The One Impossible Labyrinth[]
When Sphinx and his group arrived on their bridge in the First Cavern, a silver guardian activated upon detecting their presence, however Sphinx simply held up the hand adorned with his Emperor's Ring, which made the automaton go still and bow to him.
Easton used his Ring of Command to control his group's palemen as they attempted to pass through the First Cavern, though soon he was left with only one automaton left to control.
After Sphinx's defences failed to prevent their enemies from getting into the Labyrinth, Jaeger Eins began organising Sphinx's forces as they prepared to relocate, using a Ring of Command to have the remaining bronzemen begin marching towards the coast of the Red Sea.
Around this time, a Knight of the Golden Eight arrived at the Lake Albano Vault with a dozen bronzemen, presumably wearing a Ring of Command to control them.
Dion was still wearing his Ring of Command when Lily kicked him into the abyss with a live grenade, and it was subsequently lost as a result.
Eins would also be lost with the Ring he wore, as he lost his fight with Alby and fell into the water rushing into the flooding City-Maze.
The Ring-wearing Golden Knight relocated to Raven Rock, where he and his bronemen joined the base's guards as they confronted Pooh Bear and Stretch's group when they were forced to land at the shelter. However, after catching the Knight off-guard and killing him, Pooh took his Ring of Command, usurping control of the present bronzemen.
After averting the Omega Event and being bestowed with the authority of command over others, Jack used his new power to have Sphinx stop moving, and took from his hand the Emperor's Ring.
In the aftermath, with only three of the Rings of Command remaining, Jack chose to use the Emperor's Ring to instruct all of the remaining bronze and silver guardians to the Royal Prison of Erebus with the single directive to never allow Sphinx to escape.
Attributes[]
Appearance[]
All of the Rings of Command are non-gaudy - yet still appearing formidable in their own way - signet rings made from gold (or, seeing as they were created by the Super-Ancients, a gold-like metal that is actually far sturdier than anything found on Earth). Each Ring bears a gemstone on it; while the four "lesser" rings are amber-like gemstones, the Emperor's Ring has a larger, red-coloured gemstone. The Emperor's Ring also has an image of a crown cut into it to identify it, and, while unconfirmed, the lesser Rings presumably also have unique images carved into them to help identify which base's automatons they can control. After the "power" of the Mace of Poseidon was transferred to the Rings of Command, each one's gemstone started to glow due to a light coming from within the gem.
Automaton Command Properties[]
Like many other creations of the Super-Ancient Beings, the Rings possess special properties that modern human technology cannot analyse. Through some unknown means, each of the Rings has the "ability" to command the bronze and silver automatons from the Three Secret Cities and the Underworld. The commanding ability of the Rings do not seem to be restricted by language, as the automatons obeyed any commands spoken in English when they were issued by a Ring-wearer. Unlike the Mace of the Immortal Weapons, however, the command does need to be spoken out loud by the wearer of the Ring.
Each of the four "lesser" Rings can each command a contingent of the bronze and silver automatons from one of their respective bases themselves; one ring commands the units from Atlas alone, one the units from the Underworld, and so on. There is no mention of how one matches the ring to its particular contingent of automatons, though Sphinx seemed to be able to tell which Ring belonged to which base when he first handed them out to Dion and Eins.
Meanwhile, the Emperor's Ring is unique in that it can control all of the guardians regardless of which location they originated from. Beyond this, the Emperor's Ring has no other apparent abilities, though it can presumably override the commands given by the holders of the lesser rings.
Trivia[]
- It is unknown whether or not the goldmen are programmed to obey the orders whomever wears a Ring of Command;
- Any encounter Sphinx and his team had with the goldmen in the Endless Tunnel is unmentioned, though his Emperor's Ring may have been able to control them.
- During Dion's team's fatal encounter with the gold guardian in their tunnel, it is unmentioned if Dion attempted to command it with his Ring of Command; if he attempted to do so, it clearly ended in failure.
- Similarly, Easton was not mentioned attempting to command it with his Ring during his group's first encounter.
- Why the Rings of Command exist is not clearly stated, as the King of Kings who receives the Mysteries is supposed to be able to control the bronze guardians at the Secret Cities. Though not stated, it is possible that the Rings were a backup measure to control the automatons should the King of Kings die during the Trial of the Cities or have otherwise been challenged in fulfilling the remaining trials.