So, the new vengeance information (the character bios, sorry to crush your hopes) as well as the new thoughts on the matriarch inspired me to go back through my cards and see what new things I could dig up. This is a bunch of little things, some of which I have theories for, others to debunk previous theories, and some which... I have no clue and ask the gurus of the forum to provide their wisdom upon. So in no particular order
We now have an archer character in Parse, I don't know anything about her deck (and fully realize that playtesters won't and shoukdn't reveal anything) but now we have a potential culprit for all those arrows sticking out of the Operative on her flip side. Whether or not these are deathblows or simply needed to subdue her depends on Parse's attitude and accuracy, but it is worth noting.
In a sad turn of affairs I realize we may not get a ninja deck. I always assumed we would because of the pair of ninjas seen in Fixer's deck, however, looking back through the Chairman's deck I realized that a pair of ninjas appears on "Rook City is Mine" meaning any and all ninjas seen may work for the chairman. We still have the two green robed mystics and the dragon though to look forward to.
I looked again at the Scholar's "Proverbs and Axioms" and the flipside of the Wraith and it led me to an interesting couple of ideas. The Scholar says "I didn't come here to talk about Legacy. Who are you?" It looks like he is talking to Maia. Now there are two things about this. The first, if there is something to talk about concerning legacy it is either his death or Iron Legacy, in my opinion. Could the scholar be able to travel between time and dimensions? maybe. But also his question is important. The scene sort of reminds me of the star wars scene where yoda is training Luke in the swamps. Not saying the scholar does, but when the "wise old man" asks "who are you?" it often becomes an existential question. Maia's moniker "Wraith" came from a safe place, something her father told her to make her feel safe at night. Looking again at her incapaciated side, what does the grave marker say? "Here lies the Wraith" and it is wrapped in the bandages Maia wore as part of her costume. I wonder if after some major event with Legacy, such as the revelation of Iron Legacy or his death, Maia suddenly feels inadequate. How can you feel safe in a world were the greatest hero turns into a tyrant. What if she abandons the name wraith and seeks an answer, running across the Scholar where he helps guide her. It is also possible that her name is the "Price of Freedom" mentioned in the F6 promo. After all, for mechanics reasons she needs to stay the Wraith, but that doesn't mean that is the name she is actually using at the time.
The Whole Gang bugs me, as it does many people, so yet again I'm throwing out another theory. Parse's bio pic at the bottom shows us once again the fiery lava guy, but also a woman made of water, Calypso is the name I think, but I don't know where I got that from. Looking at the Whole Gang we see four people, one of whom is a woman in a wheelchair. Our water woman is shown with no legs, simply a stream. This is a major stretch, but I wonder if the Whole Gang will be an elemental themed group. The problem with this theory is of course the fact that the lava dude has been shown as horribly scarred, and looks like none of the gang. We also might have our wind user on Tachyon's flipside, but the water user there is surfing and clearly has use of her legs... I'm talking myself out of my own theory, that's a bad sign isn't it? Their origin might be found in the Pike plant's PLasma vats though, which clearly show figures in those vats and hints at human testing. "Humanity, improved" (chairman's healing vat card) might have created these four.
New thought: Baron Blade is quoted on one of the chairman's cards, and someone could have provided the baron with chemicals for his testing on Setback. I wonder if Baron Blade and The Chairman have a working relationship where they assist each other in their pursuits
Tempest's "Flash Flood" card has text from early in his appearence (book #3 of his introduction I beleive) I wonder if the red guy, unidentified as of yet, is somehow related to F.I.L.T.E.R. since we know they were pursueing Tempest
Also in Tempest I was looking at his card "Reclaim from the Deep", and I realized I couldn't identify all of the objects. The helmet is obviously Bunker's, the staff is Ra, I think the armbands belong to Wraith (her bio pic on the bottom shows her wearing a similiar gauntlet which I think has her razor ordinance), that leaves a white necklace (nightmist?), a golden lasso, and a green gem. Though picking the card back up I think I just saw a hammer by his legs and the object out of focus may be the edge of shield... maybe the gen is actually a green ring in which case not all of these may be related to new characters and may have instead been Adam having a little bit of fun with us.
The green gem did lead me to Gloomweaver though, who is holding a small pink gem. Pink and green energy lead me to think about Visionary. Particularly the interesting duality between Visionary and Dark Visionary, as well as the one between the Dreamer's two sides. The switch between the Visionary's two sides as two obvious effects on her appearance. Her outfit goes from an olivey green to black, and her psychic energy goes from pink to green. Look at the two sides of the Dreamer. The first side is wearing a pale green dress and has pink energy, her flip side is wearing a black dress and has green energy. I think it may also be signifigant that the doll floating beside the 1st Dreamer has s green crystal embedded inside of it. What if Dark Visionary isn't exactly the "hitchhiker" Vanessa picked up, but a representation of her darker side which has always been there. OR perhaps that alternate version chose to embrace that side of herself, and the Dreamer has yet to make that choice so flips between them. It is also interesting to note Visionary's card "Mental Divergence" which does seem to indicate a multiple personality or potential within the Vanessa.
Also, reading the Grotesque Arachnoid flavor text I think is interesting. It says "Beware! This beast is born from Dreams tainted by another world". In the thread positing the Matriarch and the signifgance of her mask (really smart stuff, I'd link it but I'm not sure how) I wondered if Vanessa developed her powers by being exposed to the power of the "prescence" which the Matriarch called upon. This would seem to strengthen that claim, though it may also point to Gloomweaver... I wonder if Gloomy might be that prescence as well...
Finally, on our subject of duality, the Atlantean throne room I just realized has pictured two beings. One reminds me of a Cthulu figure, and has molten red steel flowing beneath it. Destruction obviously. The other one is a serpent/dragon figure with silvery mercury flowing beneath it. I wonder, completely without further hard evidence, if we have two "Cosmic Entities", one as a protector, creator type of prescence the other as destruction.
Well, that's everything I can think of at the moment. Hope to spark some interesting theories :D
