Apex Legends Season 17: Arsenal is nearing its end, and true to their word, Respawn developers have detonated the long-awaited "lore bomb" they teased earlier this season with the release of a new animated series unlike anything Apex Legends players have seen before. Entitled "Kill Code: Part 1," the four-minute animated short is the first of its kind in a number of ways and suggests the game's plot is going to get some much-needed TLC in the coming weeks, as the second episode of Kill Code is scheduled to release two weeks after the first. Respawn appears to have big plans for the series and seems committed to using this new narrative avenue to make Apex's story more cohesive. In a press release regarding the new series, Respawn revealed that Kill Code: Part 1 is the beginning of "a year-long storytelling journey in Apex Legends."

Respawn's animated videos typically come in three flavors: They're an episode of Stories From The Outlands, a fully voiced but non-animated short uploaded to Twitter, or a pre-season launch trailer showing off new gameplay features, map additions, and legend abilities. But Kill Code is not classified as a Stories From The Outlands episode, nor is it a standard part of pre-season hype, like the season launch trailers typically posted to Apex's YouTube Channel. Kill Code is something entirely new.

"Since launch, Apex Legends lore has continued to evolve and expand season to season, building a deep narrative told both in-game and out," reads Respawn's Kill Code press release. "With dozens of artfully crafted and riveting story videos, in-game elements ranging from comics, collectible lore breadcrumbs, new story-driven hubs weaved throughout each map and in-game conversations amongst squadmates--each play their own role in expanding the chronicles of Apex Legends.

"Today, the release of Kill Code: Part 1 marks the beginning of a year-long storytelling journey in Apex Legends. The miniseries will spotlight an explosive narrative arc that will have players and audiences at the edge of their seats waiting for the next episode and game changing update to roll out in Apex Legends."

Kill Code breaks the Apex Legends mold in multiple ways. It's the first-ever animated Apex Legends short to feature a sequel, and it's possible this series isn't simply a two-part endeavor, but the beginning of an ongoing, multi-part story arc. It's also the first time players have ever gotten a good, long look at how the legends actually interact. Episodes of Stories From The Outlands typically focus on a single legend's past and backstory, leaving little opportunity for players to see how the characters actually get along today. Season launch trailers sometimes show players what the legends get up to in their spare time, but they only ever provide brief, slice-of-life glimpses into the legends' word--not fully developed plotlines involving multiple legends.

The new animation's story focuses on Lifeline, Loba, and Mad Maggie, who are on a mission to unmask Octane's grandfather, Duardo "Torres" Silva. After Lifeline and Loba break Maggie out of her Syndicate jail cell, she leads her fellow legends to a massive Silva-affiliated warehouse full of slumbering Spectres--not unlike the massive Revenant factory Loba destroyed in the Season 5 launch trailer. Once inside the warehouse, Loba gets distracted by a blinking terminal monitor and wanders offscreen. Across the room, Lifeline is focused on downloading data that will hopefully provide evidence of Duardo's crimes, while Maggie entertains herself by using an inoperative Spectre for some knife-throwing target practice.

A successful hit causes the Spectre's body to drop down into the massive chasm below the warehouse, which then sets off the warehouse's security systems. After mowing down the fully armed security Spectres with her Wrecking Ball ability (and nearly hitting Loba in the process), Maggie and Lifeline escape the facility just in the knick of time. Loba, however, continues fighting inside the warehouse, clearly driven by her hatred for Spectres rather than neccessity.

Luckily for her, Lifeline's trusty medical drone, DOC, saw this coming, and preemptively yanked off Loba's teleportation bracelet before the doors closed, allowing her to escape. But just when things seem calm, something huge begins leaving dents in the warehouse door, clearly strong enough to eventually knock them down. Thankfully, Loba planned her exit well, and her girlfriend (and fellow legend) Valkyrie quickly arrives to scoop the other legends up (literally, in Loba's case), flying them back to safety. This moment serves as a nod to Valkyrie's in-game ability to fly her squadmates through the air. Since Apex Games consist of three-person squads, only two "passengers" can take advantage of Valkyrie's jetpack, and it seems these rules apply even outside the ring--hence Loba having to be carried while Maggie and Lifeline just hand on to Valkyrie's jetpack.

Loba sneakily stole an ominous-looking, unnamed piece of tech while her fellow legends were distracted.

It seems like a happy ending, but the episode ends with a cliffhanger and a few loose ends that need tying up--the first one being the drive Lifeline used to store the data she stole from Silva's warehouse. As seen in the episode, Maggie's knife-throwing stunt forces Lifeline to remove the drive early and make her escape before the data is finished downloading, meaning it's likely the data is corrupted or incomplete. Still, Maggie has hope, hinting that Crypto may be able to access whatever data Lifeline did manage to download.

Far more concerning is the situation with Loba. After getting distracted by the blinking terminal in the warehouse and wandering off from the group, it seems her sticky fingers struck once again: As Valkyrie soars through the sky with Loba in her arms, the teleporting thief can be seen clutching a small metal object with a faint red glow that looks very much like some sort of robotic eyeball. Given the warehouse's similarity to the Revenant factory beneath Kings Canyon, it's possible this item is related to Loba's quest to kill the homicidal simulacrum known as Revenant for good.

The good news is that answers are on the horizon, and they're not far away. Players will likely find out more about the data on Lifeline's drive and the strange object in Loba's hands when Kill Code: Part 2 airs on July 31 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET.