Gallagher’s Role in Honkai: Star Rail Was Very Telegraphed

The 2.0 and 2.1 Penacony Trailblaze Missions in Honkai: Star Rail pack the same weight as some of the Xianzhou Luofu ones, lending the same weight to Gallagher as past ones did to another member of the cast. However, in this case there were far more hints something was awry. 

Editor’s Note: There will be spoilers for Gallagher and the part he plays on Penacony in the “The Sound and the Fury” and “Cat Among Pigeons” Trailblaze Missions in Honkai: Star Rail.

One question that we’ve had about Gallagher, as well as any character who we met on Penacony, is if he’s good in Honkai: Star Rail. The fact that he is a Bloodhound Family security officer makes it seem like he should be a good guy. He’s also a huge mystery. Each time we encounter him, it seems like he isn’t just a Penacony family member, but something else is going on. The thing is the whole time, HoYoVerse seemed to be letting us know who and what he is. He appears to be a memetic entity directly tied to the unseemly things happening on Penacony, and hints kept coming up to let us know that. 

There are all of these little hints in Honkai: Star Rail that suggested that Gallagher is not entirely good, trustworthy, or who he seems to be. Let’s look all the way back to his appearance at the 23 second mark in the “White Night” music video. He’s shown with a lighter, which he snuffs out. Now, this could be a subtle hint to the fact that he is a fire element character in the game. However, it could also reference the fact that he’s snuffed out the lives of Sam, Robin, and Sunday with Something Unto Death. Especially since the background behind him turns the same shade as the Memory Zone in Penacony. 

The most obvious came from how Gallagher was handled in “Sleepless Night” and “When the Sacred Ginmill Closes.” In both cases, we happen upon Bloodhound Family members working security and dealing with issues. In each, Gallagher is nearby. However, these people who apparently work with him don’t know who he is. Given his age and degree of authority, something is quite awry. Only select people know who he is or are allowed to perceive and interact with him. It seems to be folks he takes an interest in and allows to know him.

We also need to take into account that Gallagher says that he is 13. Given he’s also seen to be about 30, the lie is weird. Unless we consider he’s an amalgamation under Mythus and the Enigmata path, in which case the entity known as Gallagher could truly be only 13 years old. After all, we don’t know when the first Something Unto Death victim Ansorol died. However, the number 13 itself also is often tied to unlucky or deadly things. It’s also the Death card in any Tarot deck. 

For those who actually pulled Gallagher on the banner and spent time leveling him up, his Character Story also includes a hint that something is wrong and he isn’t who he seems to be. You have to get him to level 80, first. Before that, there are just the suggestions that he’s so many contradictory things at once, in retrospect, betrays Gallagher. (How can he professional, respected, and organized, while also casual, unrecognizable, and a slacker?) The wham line for that part is, Gallagher is my most genuine lie. Sometimes, I can’t even distinguish between him and myself.” He’s flat out telling us he isn’t who he claims to be. 

Plus that level 80 discussion also brings up the point that Sunday himself makes in “Cat Among Pigeons.” Gallagher isn’t any one person. He’s an amalgamation of data and elements of other people and things. In his level 80 Character Story, it’s talking about him essentially bringing up past lives and other people’s stories. When Sunday confronts him, he’s bringing up how Gallagher contains parts of all 52 suspects. This suggests that like Black Swan and Something Unto Death, Gallagher maybe a memetic entity based on ideas too.

It’s one of those situations where if you paid attention, you would absolutely know something is about to happen with Gallagher in Honkai: Star Rail before it did. HoYoVerse was trickling out all these hints, some more obvious than others. People who paid attention to his interactions with others, appearances, and details if they were lucky enough to get him probably already had some idea of what was going on long before the events of “Cat Among Pigeons” happened.

Honkai: Star Rail is available for the PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and Gallagher is a permanent four-star character available on all banners.