The Great Wheel


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The great wheel is the natural cycle of life and death or existence and nonexistence in the terrene plane in the lore of Dota 2.

Description
The great wheel is the cycle that ascribes the essence of change to the material world. It is the reason why the material plane is ephemeral and fleeting, one plane of existence where eternity is impossible and faux. This is because a cycle or a wheel signifies change, hence whatever is included in the wheel is never the same as it undergoes different phases with each turn of the wheel in a cyclical manner. That being said, truly nothing in the terrene plane is eternal because they are all subject to the cycle. Everything in nature must change and come to an end. Kaolin, once a mortal general and now the immortal Spirit of the Earth, aptly describes the great wheel in the form of proverbs.
 * “That which is arises from that which is not.”
 * “Death comes so birth may follow.”
 * “What rises must someday fall.”
 * “Death is birth foretold.”
 * “Out of death comes birth.”
 * “From death's soil, new life sprouts.”

When something is born, created, or given new life one way or another; the great wheel turns and thus the phase of death or nonexistence ends. When something has been killed or annihilated, the wheel turns and the phase of life or existence ends. Both phases end at each other's beginnings and in that ending between them their ways converge, completing the eternal cycle of nature.

In Dota: Dragon's Blood
The great wheel exists in the animated series Dota: Dragon's Blood, but it is not called as such. It is essentially the same cycle, albeit it also applies to the immortality of some beings. Such beings include the Eldwurms, cosmic dragon spirits who are the elements and forces of nature themselves. Their essential selves, their spirits, may be eternal, but their bodies are not. As such, when an Eldwurm's physical body expires, their spirit is loosed to find the next, oldest eldwurm of their kind (or, in some cases, a special vessel like Davion ) to incarnate themselves in. This process will continue as a cycle of life and death for as long as there are available “flesh illusions” for their souls to inhabit. It seems that an Eldwurm's spirit inhabiting the body of someone like Davion is a violation that disrupts this natural order and breaks this cycle, despite all of them reincarnating in his body due to him being the last available vessel on this planet. Perhaps the devastation of their planet was bad enough to make them go against their natural order to save themselves and, by extension, the world. But the Eldwurms can repair the broken cycle by simply “turning the wheel” promptly, case in point killing the abnormality that disrupted the cycle so that its death may beget a more natural rebirth and restore order to the process by letting the loosed dragon soul reincarnate as an eldwurm and nothing else. That being said, it is the Eldwurms that sustain and support the cycle of creation. Bound to their flesh illusions, the Thunder assures that the infinite multiverse will regenerate from its destruction. Otherwise, existence and everything that forms it will be truly destroyed with no restoration to follow. Among the eight Pillars, the role of destroying all of creation lies solely on the dark Eldwurm Vahdrak, the Father of Chaos. Like the other Eldwurms, he believes that all that is must be destroyed, and all that is not must rise into being. The gods are also subject to the cycle, but it functions differently for them. Their cycle of life is fueled by an external magic beyond themselves: Love. What eventually turns the wheel from a deity's oblivion to their reincarnation is love from their worshippers, expressed from mere prayers to coitus. In the case of Mene, she was eventually reborn because her beloved Coriel'tauvi's faith in her persisted even though Selemene killed her and took over. Her faithful yearned for her return through prayer and loving. In time, their love for her found echo in Mene's divine spark that was still being held by Selemene and the former's answer took form in one of the offspring produced from their love: Fymryn. Not like the more powerful Eldwurms, the cycle of a god's life requires a driving force beyond themselves to turn it, in contrast to the Eldwurms who simply will themselves to life. Creation requiring destruction and vice versa is a recurring theme in Dragon's Blood. The following are instances of this:
 * The Oracle prophesied that Mirana will make a sacrifice in order to undo the Invoker's reality Experiment 12,403. She was destined to do this by using the Eldwurms' souls (who are inside Davion) with the Forge. By fusing their souls, she would end Davion's life before her own eyes when he was fused with them as well. Once these souls were fused into the one essence of creation, the next thing she would sacrifice would be Experiment 12,403 itself, which had everyone she loved in it, especially Marci. She must destroy Experiment 12,403 using the Forge with the essence she coalesced because there cannot be two realities at once, so she must let go of it to make anew. Once she was successful, she recreated (but not returned to, since that reality was irreversibly destroyed) the reality before all of the Invoker's experiments, leaving her in a reality where her lover Davion and her best friend Marci died.
 * Desperate from the planet being destroyed by the broken moon (ruining their plans to temporarily cohere it until they can permanently stop the warring Ancients inside of it) and losing Mirana, the Heroes had no option left but to use the Forge to destroy Experiment 12,403 in order to recreate it into the world it once was before the Invoker changed it. As a certain human-dragon warrior put it: “Restoration requires destruction, little mouse.”
 * As stated above, the Forge with the powers of the eight Eldwurm spirits fused into one is capable of creating worlds, but it can only do so after destroying the current world. It's an impossibility to have two worlds at once, so if one's not satisfied with the world they are in and one seeks to be in a new one, one must destroy the current world they are in to have the one they imagined that will satisfy them. DOTA: Dragon's Blood, Book 3, Chapter 7: Lunartropism (00:43) Invoker: Reach out with your mind. Find the Eldwurms. (Filomena follows his instructions, and her consciousness enters the dream of the Eldwurms, where their souls are orbiting her) Filomena: They have mass...form. It's almost as though I could touch them. Invoker: Because you can. Draw them to you. (The souls coalesce into her hands, merging into their concentrated form) Invoker: It's quite safe. Were the moment to come, it would be too late for them to stop you. Now imagine the world as you would have it be. But first, you must let go of this one. Filomena: I don't understand. Invoker: Let go of all hope for it. Just...wish it away. (Filomena closes her eyes, concentrating her power. The Forge, slotted with the dragon souls, begins to spin rapidly as a result. Images of planetary cataclysm, the Mad Moon's destruction, and the same scene of the Invoker recreating the world back in Chapter 2―a nova of light in space consuming floating rocks in the void with its flare―flash in her mind. She stops out of hesitation, waking up with the sweat of her struggle on her face) Filomena: I can't. Invoker: But this is what you want. You have the power. Wish everything you love into nonexistence. (Filomena falls to her knees, exhausted and me no like forge) Invoker: Know that you will do this again and again until you master the Forge. Filomena: I don't want this. No one could want this. Invoker: No one at all. (The Forge dissipates, the scene returns to the both of them in their Tower) Invoker: So ends the lesson. (The Invoker teleports away, leaving behind Filomena to contemplate on forge) DOTA: Dragon's Blood, Book 3, Episode 8: Consider Phlebas (18:00) (The Invoker and Filomena operate the Forge to begin creating the universe anew, this time with Mirana and Davion) Invoker: Reach out with your mind. Ignore the illusion of the physical world. See the Pillars as they truly are. (They both follow his instructions. Mirana closes her eyes, finding herself in a dream with the eight Eldwurms surrounding her. Davion appears in front of her) Invoker: Draw them to you. (Mirana reaches her hand out towards Davion, pulling him towards her. Davion slowly begins to dissipate as the Eye behind her starts to glow. Memories of her time with Davion in the past universe flash in her mind. As the Forge's mechanism begins to intensify, Mirana suddenly hesitates and stops, ceasing the Forge from spinning and reprieving Davion from dissolving) Davion: Mirana, no. It's okay, I'm okay. I used to think my name was the most important thing in the world. Now, I know it's how I'm remembered that matters, and who remembers me. Mirana: Even if this works, the last thing I'll see is you. I'll watch you die, knowing I was the cause. Davion: You're not the cause. (Mirana begins to tear up) Mirana: I can let you go, him go. I don't know that I can kill you. Davion: This is my choice. (His words divert Mirana's attention from her woe to Davion) Davion: What I want. (Davion smiles at her. Mirana wipes a tear from her eyes) Mirana: You know, most men would say the opposite. Davion: I'm not most men. Mirana: Come here. Come to me on your own. (They both float towards each other and embrace) Mirana: We'll do this together. (The Eye behind her begins to glow) Invoker: Now, think of the old world as your remember it, and let this world go. (Davion and Mirana share one last kiss together as the Eye and the Forge resume their work, causing Davion to disappear and killing him in the physical world. In the Invoker's tower, the remaining Heroes watch as the Forge starts spinning, while Filomena holds her father's hand and leans on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Mirana catches the Thunder in its concentrated form falling slowly into her hands and holds it tightly) Invoker: Let it go, Mirana. Let it all go. (Mirana proceeds to destroy Universe 12,403. The Forge emits a powerful flare that consumes everything in its light. We then see the planet's destruction being reversed, followed by everything that happened in Universe 12,403. Successful, Mirana finds herself in a copy of the old universe, sitting in the same spot where she held Davion's body as she watches Invoker's Forge fail)

In reality and nature
The entire cosmos is subject to the cycle. For instance, reincarnation takes its course after one's death. One may be reborn as something else or remain the same. In nature, the elements of those who have perished are relinquished back to it to be recycled for fresh lives. The food chain is a great example of the great wheel in action. Dead animals are not wasted and still consumed by other creatures, sustaining their life from the deaths of others. Decomposers like worms break down dead organic material to nourish the soil, bringing life from the deaths of other creatures to feed the plants that grow and provide food to those that eat them and thus completing the cycle. Even the stars must die in a supernova so that their elements will be scattered across the void to be accumulated by gravity, eventually coalescing and sparking into new stars. In time, these stars' supernovae will come and hence their deaths will beget the birth of other stars, forever repeating this cycle of life even in what seems to be the most desolate environment in nature: outer space.

Adherents
Most, if not all, of these adherents and followers are subordinate and subject to the great cycle, thus they are mortal and expect themselves to die and return to Nature. Those who are included in this list are usually aligned with nature or order, seeing how the cycle is a law of nature.

Heroes
says that all greenery will return to dust or the earth. He also believes that life is an endless cycle, especially with the.

A warrior at one with the savagery of nature's beasts, the is well aligned to the revolutions of the great wheel of life. At one with the woods itself, leaves anyone and anything fallen at her wake to be consumed by the earth and its greenery.
 * Karroch states that all material beings must relinquish the elements of their bodies back to nature after they perish.
 * A process similar to the one above will also happen to him when he dies, with Karroch calling the soil that he falls upon his genesis.
 * He may mention the cycle taking its course after killing someone  or when he is reborn. To him, death breaks an organism's life cycle.

The is a powerful earth elemental, his soul is at one with the planet and its spirit. As such, he is subject to and acknowledges the great wheel. is aligned with the cycle of nature, as he believes that anything that lives must die. The Titan also returns Tiny to the bedrock he came from after destroying him. A dark force of nature, is an entity who adheres to the cosmic order. As such, he adheres to the great wheel and is subject to its revolutions. was chosen as a vessel of a primeval nature deity's power to heal the blighted Wood Tomo'kan whose cycle of life has been disrupted by all sorts of pollution.
 * Born from the earth of Nishai through his sheer will, Raigor is destined to return to the earth from whence he came once he dies.
 * But Raigor isn't the only one who will be returning to his element. He expects those slain by his hand to return to the ground they came from.
 * Raigor references the cycle when he kills the Prophet, saying that life will continue with his death by wishing that a sapling will sprout from his remains.
 * When announcing his confidence in his victory, Elder Titan will mention that he was witnessed the world being made and remade many times, implying at a cycle of creation.
 * After killing an enemy Hero, he will reveal to them that everything that is material is perishable. He knows that those he destroys will proceed to their next incarnation.
 * But even the Enigma is subject to the cycle, so he must proceed to his next incarnation after he dissipates. Appearing unto the world is one instance of his incarnation.
 * Enigma believes that all of existence springs from nonexistence; as such, he believes all creation will return to the void whence it all came via destruction.
 * As gravity itself, he is the force that forms stars and ends their lives. Together with Ezalor who sparks stars to life, they complete the stars' cycle of life and death.

Sylla, the of the now extinct and forgotten Bear Clan, is in harmony with nature―from its vast variety of organisms to its strict laws. is inherently attuned to the phases of the great wheel, he lives by the cycle and dies by the cycle. is the latest descendant in a lineage of reincarnated beings who are the Grandmasters of the Arts of Oblivion.
 * Like many others who are attuned to nature, Sylla shares the same idea that all material beings that die must return to the earth from where they sprung.
 * His Seed, entrusted to him by his deities, is meant to be planted once the planet has utterly died, so that it may revive nature and turn the wheel once more.
 * To him, quick resurrection (such as the one granted by the ) shortens the phase of death in the great cycle.
 * Even during war―a time of death and destruction―the Prophet revolves the cycle by leaving his foes' remains to be consumed by nature so that all may thrive from their deaths in order to continue life. The corpses in his wake add to the humus,  while their less perishable bones are used by nature as a foundation to grow anew from.
 * In accordance with the great cycle, he states that even the inanimate creations must return to nature, whence their own components were sourced from, to be recycled anew after their destruction.     They may also return to the state of oblivion or nothingness that has always predated their creation and existence once they are destroyed.
 * Sprouted from his mother's remains, the Prophet is a mortal like her. When the kills him, she will state that a cycle continues after his death.
 * He is sometimes depicted wearing a looped beard style that may symbolize the brutal cycle of life in the wild.
 * The Prophet inherited a sapphire imbued with a spark of his mother's essence. It is meant to be left in the wastes of a war-torn land so that it may restore the cycle of life.
 * In Dota Underlords, the Prophet is still aligned with the cycle. When losing, he copes with his defeat knowing that death is a natural part of the cycle.

Rooftrellen the adheres to the natural order of the great wheel that transforms life into death and death into life in an eternal cycle. As a force of nature born from it with unknown origins, the earth-forged elemental sometimes references the great cycle of nature.
 * In battle, Rooftrellen feeds the remains of his foes as nutrients for the greenery, such as fertilizer, humus,  mulch,  or simply a foundation to grow from.
 * He still feeds nature the remains of others in Artifact.   As such, new life will sprout wherever his enemies fall as nature reclaims the blasted lands.
 * Rooftrellen believes that spent lives will fuel and support new life. The deaths of others nourish him, while his death will sustain others when he returns to the earth.
 * His spell is a case in point as it siphons the lifeforce of his foes to sustain whoever and whatever he protects.
 * In Artifact, his beliefs about nature still remain rooted in him when he asserts that all things must feed the cycle of nature.
 * Should he ever fall far from his homeland's nourishing soil, a seed will eventually grow from his remains into another Protector that inherits his mission.
 * In Dota Underlords, he still sticks to believing in the cycle as he states that all things must come to an end.
 * For example, he states that the fates of his enemies' remains lie within the earth where they will return to, presumably to dissolve into it.
 * Though the Stone Giant is no different from his enemies as he will return to the bedrock he was made from or become sediment.
 * Before he dies, Tiny may wish for his stone remains to be recycled and turned into a henge.

Gods
The three spirits of nature's elements and the surreptitious soul of the void itself, the Celestials are the guardians and enforcers of the natural order of life and death. Although divinity usually implies immortality, this was not case with the woods goddess Verodicia who was fated to die before she could even finish her work for nature. Still, the cycle continued after her death when her remains nourished the seeds she planted, including the one that she enchanted with her last breath to become Nature's Prophet. Even after her death, her duty to tend to all life still remains in a sapphire gem imbued with a spark of her essence, meant to left in the wastes of a dead land ravaged by war, so it may sooner restore the cycle of life in places that lack it.
 * Besides his proverbs, expresses his harmony with the great wheel in his actions. Those he destroys are returned to the earth whence they came.
 * Violators of the cycle who have been exempted from its phases of life and death are forcefully returned to it by Kaolin.
 * With the preserving him with resurrection, Kaolin now sees that the cycle of life will continue to turn.
 * , acknowledging the material plane's impermanence, believes that no life is immortal. As such, he also believes that all lives must end.
 * was involved in Wukong's punishment for removing himself from the cycle, implying he at least cared enough about the cycle to do this.
 * was also involved in Wukong's punishment in secret. He firmly believes that all things and beings that live must also die.

Characters
The and  manifest and disappear in a cyclical manner, appearing once the winter season is over to terrorize the spring.

Violators
Because these entities are beyond the great wheel, which includes death, these violators are immortal in one way or another. As lawbreakers, they are usually aligned to chaos.

Heroes
The 's deathless immortality was derived from expunging his name from the, also removing him from the cycle of nature.

's immortality from the Dead God has broken the great wheel of life in him and ascended him beyond it, making him unable to die.

World
The great wheel is inapplicable in the Fields of Endless Carnage, a land where nothing can decay or decompose and no corpse that falls there will ever return to the earth.

Trivia

 * The story of material beings returning to the earth they were made from or anything similar is a recurring theme in many real-life religions.
 * In the Bible, God shaped the first man's body, Adam, from the dust of the earth in Genesis 2:7 before he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, making him alive and (implicitly) immortal. Later on in Genesis 3:19, God punishes Adam after he and his wife were tempted to eat fruit from the forbidden tree by sentencing him to a mortal life, saying “By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
 * Humans in Greek mythology were molded from the mud into a clay figure by Prometheus, the god of fire. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, breathed the gifts of life into his clay figure, animating it. Prometheus also gave humans the ability to stand upright like the gods did and gave them the gift of fire.
 * The great wheel may have been inspired by reincarnation cycles found in real-life religions such as saṃsāra found in most Dharmic religions.