TALOS& TALOS-II

The gas giant, its second moon, and why there is no Talos-I

Last updated: 2026-09-19

Talos is a gas giant. Talos-II is its second natural satellite and the world Arknights: Endfield takes place on. The numeral is a moon designation, not a sequel number, which is why searches for a Talos-I setting turn up nothing.

The short answer

If you came here looking for Talos-I, it does not exist as a place. Talos is the gas giant. Talos-II is the second moon orbiting it, and that moon is the entire setting of Endfield. In-game text puts it plainly: everyone calls Talos-II a planet, but it is actually the second moon of the planet named Talos.

So a "Talos-I" would just be the first moon of the same gas giant. No story, region, faction or earlier game sits behind that name. Endfield is not a sequel to a Talos-I; the II is astronomy, not a version number.

If you searched for Talos 1 or Talos 2 in Arabic numerals, those are the same thing written differently. The game only ever writes Talos-II. Talos 2 is the moon you play on; Talos 1 does not exist.

Talos-II at a glance

	Detail
What Talos is	A gas giant. Talos-II is its second natural satellite.
What Talos-II is	The moon Endfield is set on. Called a planet by nearly everyone in-game.
Habitability	Nitrogen-rich atmosphere, enough oxygen for life, enough greenhouse gas to stay warm.
Sky	An alien sun, plus the gas giant Talos looming overhead.
Settled	About 152 years ago, by frontiersmates arriving from Terra.
Route in	The Cosmic Gate, paired to Terra's restored Sami Cosmic Gate.
Route home	None. The Cosmic Gate was destroyed in the First Aggeloi War.

Talos-II is not Terra

The original Arknights takes place on Terra. Talos-II is a different world entirely, separated from Terra by countless light-years, and Terra is described as a distant planet that is nonetheless the home of the present civilization on Talos-II. Every human faction on the moon traces back to Terran settlers.

Getting there took the Cosmic Gate. Both Cosmic Gates found on Terra were severely damaged; researchers restored the less-damaged northern structure, the Sami Cosmic Gate, then reactivated a precursor celestial calculation device known as the Celestial Fulcrum to identify the gate's paired counterpart. That is what allowed the first steps onto Talos-II soil, roughly 152 years before the events of the game.

The return trip is gone. The Cosmic Gate was destroyed during the First Aggeloi War, severing all connection between the two worlds, and the survivors know Terra only through fragmented records. Endfield Industries' Protocol-Originium network now moves people and materials across Talos-II without relying on what the game calls legacy tech such as the Cosmic Gate.

Why there is Originium here

Terra is the primordial birthplace of Originium, where the Prime Veins first emerged. One of Terra's three First Originium fragments was transported to Talos-II and became the progenitor of all Originium on this world, spreading through the mineral's natural growth properties. Terra's resource abundance still dwarfs anything on present-day Talos-II.

The consequences differ too. Originium-induced Catastrophes do not happen on Talos-II, and the Infected are no longer persecuted on a large scale, which is a meaningful break from Terran history.

Who lives on Talos-II

After the Ancients, the Sarkaz form the second largest demographic on Talos-II, and the racial conflicts that defined Terran history have largely been resolved here. Rarer Ancient races (Anurans, Ceratoes, Itra, Manticores, Petrams, Pilosa and Reprobas) also crossed the Cosmic Gate, and stayed about as rare as they were on Terra.

Talos City is the political centre. After the Humiliation War, the Big Three signed the Band Accord and jointly built it as the first neutral city for the Terrans, and it is still incomplete after a century of construction. The player's own employer, Endfield Industries, is an independent company focused on pioneering industrial technology, with a stated vision of building out into the frontiers of Talos-II.

The regions of Talos-II

Settlement is confined to the Civilization Band, the belt of land held against the Blight. Everything past it is frontier. The regions you actually play through sit inside that band, and each one is a different answer to the same problem of living on a hostile moon.

Valley IV

The starting region and Endfield Industries' base of operations. Roughly two decades before the game the UWST destroyed a Giant Aggelos called Astarron that had assaulted the valley, at grievous cost, and the conflict left regional development paralysed. Endfield Industries arrived looking for accessible, open terrain suited to Automated Industry Complex construction, and the two needs met in a renewable ten-year lease. Valley IV's north holds the Power Plateau, chosen for the Æther Test Site because it contains a naturally stable rift that shows no observable expansion and carries minimal Blight risk.

Wuling

Wuling City is the foremost frontier for monitoring Æther activity and studying rifts and Blight environments, serving both HAS and the wider Civilization Band. It is recognisable by its arrays of Tianshi Pillars and its hydraulic infrastructure, and its population is mostly HAS Tianshi, farmers and labourers. It also holds the Wuling Very Large Rift, the largest known rift in the Civilization Band. Full walkthrough in the Wuling region guide.

Yinglung Pass

The quarantine line beyond Wuling, held by the Yinglung Special Task Force and defined by Blight Tide monitoring. It is where area defence becomes a mode rather than a story beat, covered in theYinglung Pass area defence guide.

Dijiang

Not a region. Dijiang is the headquarters of Endfield Industries and the only orbital vehicle on Talos-II, built after the Aethergate collapsed from non-renewable resources that can never be sourced again, which is the in-fiction reason no second ship is coming. Most operators live aboard it, and the Control Nexus, Growth Chamber and Reception Room are all rooms on the ship. Details in theControl Nexus guide.

What you actually do on Talos-II

The job is industrialising a frontier. Endfield Industries runs theAutomated Industry Complex, whose stated advantages are miniaturisation, modularisation and automation, and building out AIC production lines is the loop the rest of the game feeds. That is the part players spend the most time on, and it has its owngearing and factory planning tooling on this site.

Against that, the moon pushes back. Æther rifts open, the Blight spreads from them, and the Blight Tide rises on a cycle that regions like Wuling and Yinglung Pass are built to monitor. Combat is real-time and squad-based, so operators are recruited, built and rotated against those threats rather than the other way around. Start with the character tier listif you are deciding who to invest in.

Between the two sits exploration: Valley IV, Wuling and the areas opened by each version are open-world regions with resource nodes, Protocol Spaces and hidden locations. Theinteractive map plots 5,600+ markers across them.

Where to go next

The Foundation and the exiles— how Talos-II's power blocs formed.
Feranmut proxies and the Wuling hegemony— the forces behind the Wuling region.
Sarkaz identity and Seš'qa— the second largest demographic, and its politics.
Interactive map of Talos-II— Valley IV, Wuling and Dijiang, with 5,600+ markers.

Talos & Talos-II FAQ

Is Endfield set on Talos 1 or Talos 2?

Talos 2, though the game always writes it Talos-II with Roman numerals. Talos itself is a gas giant; Talos-II is the second moon orbiting it, and that moon is the whole setting. There is no Talos 1 region, story or earlier game, because the numeral counts moons rather than sequels.

Is there a Talos-I in Arknights: Endfield?

Not as a place you can visit, and not as a previous game. Talos is a gas giant, and Talos-II is its second natural satellite. A Talos-I would simply be the first moon of the same gas giant. The numeral is a moon designation, not a sequel number, so there is no Talos-I setting, story or region.

Is Talos-II a planet or a moon?

Technically a moon. In-game text is blunt about it: everyone calls Talos-II a planet, but it is actually the second moon of the planet named Talos. It reads as a planet in practice because it holds a nitrogen-rich atmosphere, enough oxygen for life, and enough greenhouse gas to stay warm.

Is Talos-II the same world as Arknights?

No. The original Arknights is set on Terra. Talos-II is a separate world, light-years away, reached through the Cosmic Gate. Terra is described as a distant planet and the home of the present civilization on Talos-II.

How did people get from Terra to Talos-II?

Through the Cosmic Gate. Both Cosmic Gates on Terra were found severely damaged; researchers restored the less-damaged northern one, the Sami Cosmic Gate, and located its paired counterpart after reactivating a precursor device called the Celestial Fulcrum. Frontiersmates first stepped onto Talos-II roughly 152 years before the game.

Can you still travel back to Terra?

No. The Cosmic Gate was destroyed during the First Aggeloi War, severing all connection between Talos-II and Terra. Surviving humanity knows its ancestral home only through fragmented records.

Why is there Originium on Talos-II if it came from Terra?

One of Terra's three First Originium fragments was carried to Talos-II and became the progenitor of all Originium on the new world, spreading through the mineral's natural growth properties. Terra remains the far richer source; Catastrophes do not occur on Talos-II, and the Infected are no longer persecuted at scale.