Borderlands 3 PSA: One Early-Game Side Quest Has Major Story Ramifications (Spoilers)

Like its predecessors, Borderlands 3 contains a bunch of side missions to do. Three of those missions are extended collectible-focused quests that will see you travel to every planet in the game and search out specific items. In comparison to the search for Eridian symbols, which can be completed for extra lore, and the hunt for Claptrap parts, which is good for some more cringy Claptrap jokes, the quest for Typhon de Leon’s audio recordings doesn’t seem all that important. But they are.

As Tannis explains, Typhon de Leon is the very first Vault Hunter. It’s his adventures and prestige that initially inspired the likes of Borderlands‘ Roland, Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai. Though a few of Typhon’s major exploits are well-known, the vast majority of what he did has never been told. Borderlands 3 provides the first opportunity to learn about the man’s adventures.

At first, Typhon’s quest is presented as a way to learn a bit more about the adventures of the first Vault Hunter and gain some extra loot in the process. When all of the Typhon de Leon recordings in a certain location are found, Tannis will point you towards a T-marked chest that contains some of the gear that Typhon de Leon talks about in his adventures. You’ll want to look for these recordings. Not for the loot–though some of it is pretty good–but for the recordings themselves.

Why? Well, as it turns out, some of the information learned in the quest’s recordings do relate to a fairly big story reveal in Borderlands 3’s campaign. As a result, I wish I’d found more of them early on. You should do as much of this side quest as you can before visiting the fifth planet that becomes available in Borderlands 3. If you want to know why and don’t care about spoilers, then keep reading.

If you’re still on the fence about picking up Borderlands 3, consider reading our roundup of reviews on the game. In GameSpot’s Borderlands 3 review, I wrote, ” Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game’s rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor. The game’s character-driven narrative acts as a satisfying finale for the loot-shooter franchise, and the new mechanics and features–especially the reworked skill trees and weapon manufacturer effects–give you plenty of agency in how you want to play through it.”

Full warning: The remainder of this article goes into one of the biggest story spoilers in Borderlands 3’s campaign. If you don’t want to be spoiled, this is your chance to click away.

Eventually, the campaign will take you to the planet of Nekrotafeyo–which in it of itself is a massive reveal for the franchise–and here you’ll discover Typhon de Leon. As surprising as it is to see him alive, though, that’s not the big reveal.

The big reveal is what you learn next: that Typhon is the father of Tyreen and Troy Calypso, the twin antagonists of Borderlands 3. Apparently their repeated declarations that the vaults are their god-given right isn’t all bluster. A lot of information about Typhon, his wife, and their kids is loaded into the few hours of story that follow, and much of it makes a bit more sense and hits with greater emotional impact with the added context provided from Typhon’s audio recordings.