Star (TTP2)

Stars are collectible items in The Talos Principle 2 and its DLC.

I've discovered what seems like another mystery to solve: stars, clearly inspired by the Simulation, which are gained by solving puzzles related to these monuments.

—1k

In total there are 24 stars in the base game, two in each of the 12 main areas. Each star is collected at the base of a special monument, and these monuments come in three varieties:

• A Pandora monument releases its star when Pandora’s box is activated, which almost always requires connecting a laser. This sometimes requires taking elements out of their original puzzles.
• A Prometheus monument requires finding a "sprite" somewhere in the level. Touching the sprite causes it to fly off to a predetermined location, and repeating this process eventually brings the sprite to the Prometheus monument, unlocking a star.
• A Sphinx monument has a plaque with a clue about how to unlock the associated star. This might require using switches, buttons, or other components throughout the level.

Every time a star is collected from the base of a monument you can hear a quote by their corresponding character. These quotes are given in sequential order and are not tied to a specific area (e.g., upon collecting the first Prometheus monument star the player will hear the first quote by Prometheus, no matter in which area).

Collecting all 24 stars unlocks a gate in the Astronomical Temple, which provides an additional cutscene and earns the "The Edge of Forever" achievement. This is also a requirement for the "Renaissance Robot" achievement.

List of Pandora monuments

• Grasslands Ring (East 1)
• Wooded Plateau (East 2)
• Eastern Wetlands (East 3)
• Lost Marshes (North 3)
• Southern Coast (South 1)
• Verdant Canyon (South 2)
• Circular Oasis (South 3)
• Anthropic Hills (West 2)

Pandora’s quotes

• When the first man picked up the first stone, he did not do so to forge a tool; he did so to smite his brother.
• The hunter does not hunt because he is hungry; he hunts because he revels in death.
• False idols are worshipped not because they are idols, but because they are false. True idols are rejected, because the truth is feared.
• Horses are broken, not taught. That is the way of humankind.
• If humankind had no more cause for war, it would make war for sport instead.
• The honest philosopher is rewarded with poison; the hypocrite is rewarded with power.
• There is no tool that is not also a weapon; and no human that would not wield it as one.
• It is not the voice of God that a prophet seeks in the desert, but the silence of man.

List of Prometheus monuments

• Grasslands Ring (East 1)
• Desolate Island (North 1)
• Flooded Valley (North 2)
• Lost Marshes (North 3)
• Verdant Canyon (South 2)
• Western Delta (West 1)
• Anthropic Hills (West 2)
• High Plain (West 3)

Prometheus’ quotes

• Not all things must be balanced. When good is weighed against evil, tip the scale.
• We cannot return to the past; but the future can redeem all that has happened.
• Utopia is impossible; but the future that is possible will seem like a dream to those who are alive now.
• You must yearn for a better world, yearn for it with such intensity that your heart suffers; keep your eyes on that distant vision even when you know that you may never reach it.
• Great works have been accomplished by those who believed in humankind; but greater things than these may yet be accomplished by those who uphold the faith.
• To create, to understand, and to transform; these are the greatest acts of humankind.
• God appears, and God is light, to those poor souls who dwell in night. But does a human display to those who dwell in realms of day.
• TODO

List of Sphinx monuments

• Wooded Plateau (East 2)
• Eastern Wetlands (East 3)
• Desolate Island (North 1)
• Flooded Valley (North 2)
• Southern Coast (South 1)
• Circular Oasis (South 3)
• Western Delta (West 1)
• High Plain (West 3)

Sphinx’s quotes

• Every answer leads to another question; the last answer leads to the first question.
• The wheel turns, but without the road it cannot move.
• If the fool persisted in his foolishness, would he become wise?
• None may know what came first, error or sin; and yet every choice depends on it.
• When the heavens are silent, what it a prophet, and what is a tyrant?
• If the answers to philosophy are true, why has no philosopher changed the world?
• In times of war, is it wisdom or folly to give a sword to a child?
• A hammer forges, and a hammer breaks. But who can know the heart of the blacksmith?

Road to Elysium

There are 8 stars (two of each kind) in Isle of the Blessed, part of the Road to Elysium DLC. After collecting his first star, Yaqut speaks the following comment:

• Kind of a shame there aren't any cool aphorisms for collecting stars. Maybe I should come up with my own. 'He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions.'

The Orpheus Ascending and Into the Abyss DLC chapters do not contain stars.