After you talk to Chert on Ember Twin in Outer Wilds, he’ll point you to the south pole where there’s a crash site.

This guide will walk you through finding Escape Pod 2 and the attached underground settlement, Sunless City.

Table of contents

• Quantum Moon Locator
• Escape Pod 2
• Path to the Sunless City

Sunless City

• Anglerfish Overlook District and Stepping Stone District
• Eye Shrine District and Ember Twin Gravity Cannon
• High Energy Lab Trailhead
• What have we learned? // What’s next?

Quantum Moon Locator

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On your way to the south pole to find Escape Pod 2, there’s a Nomai ruin to check out first. It’s directly on the south pole. Land nearby, and start poking around.

Read the scroll on the nearby wall, and then step through the doorway on the right. Hop across to the other building, and pick up the scroll inside. Take that scroll back to the wall and swap it out to read some more about the Quantum Moon and the Quantum Moon locator.

Escape Pod 2

Escape Pod 2 looks just like the one you visited on Brittle Hollow.

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Identify the distress beacon with your signal locator, and head into the escape pod. Translate the two recordings and the Nomai script inside, and continue down and through.

Path to the Sunless City

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Follow the Nomai script inside the cave below Escape Pod 2. Follow the directions that the Nomai left. (Across the gap, there’s a cave with breathable air if you need to refill your oxygen tank.)

Turn left at the sand wall — like the instructions said — and keep following the narrow path. You’ll come a room with broken stairs. Keep dropping down on the ledges, using the Nomai script to guide you. Once again, turn left at the falling sand and follow another narrow path.

After you pass through the room with the stalagmites, look for a hole in the ceiling. Keep following the path, and jetpack across the broken bridge. Keep following the path and passing through falling sand until you reach the locked door to Sunless City. (Ignore the stairs for now.)

Sunless City

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Inside the Sunless City, look to the right for a lit area. Make your way over to it, and read the script up the nearby stairs to learn about the Sun Station and its connection to the Ash Twin Project.

The four switches turn on the lights for the city’s four districts: Anglerfish Overlook District, Stepping Stone District, High Energy Lab Trailhead, and Eye Shrine District.

Anglerfish Overlook District and Stepping Stone District

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Before we head over to the anglerfish fossil, head down to the Stepping Stone District. It’s down and to the right from the light switches. Turn the lights on and off to identify it.

Before you head inside, go into the building to the left of the door. Follow the stairs up, and through the tunnel with more stairs. Duck into the room on the left to find more script that tells you to throw a light into the anglerfish’s mouth. Exit the room and turn left.

Jump up to the ledge above you in the tunnel. There’s another room on the left with more script. Head back to the main room.

Climb back up to the Anglerfish Overlook District entrance — the door you came in through. Take the stairs up and approach the window (and read the script above it).

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Fire your scout so that it lands inside the anglerfish’s mouth. You’re only using this to light your path, so don’t worry about snapping any pictures.

Head back to the main room again, and return to the Stepping Stone District door. Unlock it, and head inside.

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Turn off your flashlight and look around for the light from your scout — it’s off to the left. Once you spot it, jetpack up and through the crack in the floor. You’ll emerge inside the anglerfish fossil.

Read the script on the floor to get your first clue about the anglerfish from the Nomai children. Look above the fossil for an elevator beam. Jetpack up to it.

Read the script at the top of the beam to get some more information for you ship’s log.

Unlock the door, and head out onto the planet’s surface. Your ship and Escape Pod 2 are off to your right.

Eye Shrine District and Ember Twin Gravity Cannon

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The entrance to the Eye Shrine District is on about the same level as the light switches. Hop across and go through the door to the elevator. Step out of the beam on the first floor you come to for some Nomai script.

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Get back in the elevator beam and ride up. At the top, head outside and jump to the ruins on your left. Open the first locked door you come to, and snake through the room inside to the stairs in the back.

Head down to the ghost matter area. You’re safe as long as you don’t touch it, so carefully jump across to the platform ahead of you. Turn around and look for another platform just past the stairs. Use that to jetpack up to the elevator beam above you. Read all of the script inside.

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When you’re done, go to the window at the top of the stairs. Turn left and look for a hole in the wall along the edge closest to the window. Jetpack through. Follow the lighted path to the Gravity Cannon door.

Jetpack carefully through the ghost matter canyon, and climb out of the hole at the far end. to find this planet’s Gravity Cannon.

Jetpack down to the landing pad in the center, and then climb to the highest point. You’ll see the controls ahead of you. Jump across.

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Use the controls to recall the shuttle. (Fire it off once and recall it again to mark it off on your ship’s log’s rumors.)

Hop over to the landing pad, and climb inside the shuttle. Translate the recording inside.

High Energy Lab Trailhead

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Getting to the High Energy Lab is all about timing. The trailhead is the lowest level of the Sunless City, so it gets covered by sand very early on — you’ll basically have to come straight here after waking up.

Before you head in, make sure you top off your oxygen tanks at the trees near the light switches. Then you can drop down, and open the door.

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Inside, follow the blue power cable through the caves. When you reach the falling sand with cactuses on the other side, stop. You have to wait here until the sand covers the cactuses blocking your way. If you try to jump, the falling sand will knock you back down. All you can do here is wait (that’s why you needed to top off your oxygen).

When the sand rises far enough to clear the cactuses, continue tracing the power cable. When you hit a dead end, take a right (you might have to jump over some more cactuses), and then a left, past the power cable, and then another right. You’ll S-curve your way around the dead end to find an elevator.

Take that up, and keep following the cable. You’ll pass a down elevator where the cable goes up to the roof. Just keep following the path.

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Follow the path the ruins create, and climb up through the room. At the top, jump up to the elevator beam through the ceiling.

Inside, head up the stairs. Read both scrolls. Climb the next set of stairs, and read two more scrolls. Climb the last set of stairs, and go outside. Read the script on the ground.

What have we learned? // What’s next?

Ember Twin gave us a ton of information. We’ve discovered the Quantum Moon Locator and the existence of the secret sixth location. Exploring the Sunless City, we learned about the Sun Station, and about the anglerfish on Dark Bramble (the one that eats you when you try to explore there). We also explored the High Energy Lab, and learned a little more about the Ash Twin Project. We also learned of the existence of a warp tower hub on Ash Twin.

Meanwhile, we learned that there’s something strange about that ice blue comet, the Interloper.

So our next goals should be to explore the Interloper (it’s tiny), and then head to Ash Twin.