Apex Legends Season 13 Trailer Details Newcastle’s Backstory And Lots Of Family Drama

Apex Legends Season 13: Saviors launches May 10, and as always, Respawn Entertainment is kicking things off ahead of time with the newest episode in the Stories from the Outlands web series. This season, it’s a family affair.

Entitled “Hero,” the animated short gives players the scoop on what exactly Bangalore’s brother Jackson–known in the game as Newcastle–has been up to since he went missing and faked his own death. It turns out Jackson’s been living in a settlement named Harris Valley, which has evidently been sold to a gang known as the “Forgotten Families” by the real Newcastle–that’s right, Jackson is a fake who is standing in for someone else.

We see how this transpired in the trailer. Jackson is revealed to have a new family–a wife, teenage son, and young daughter. After his daughter loses her stuffed Newcastle toy, Jackson sets out to find it and stumbles upon Newcastle being attacked by a trio of members of the Forgotten Families.

It’s here where we learn the reason for why it took someone as apparently skilled as Jackson so many attempts to get into the Apex Games–the real Newcastle was the one who was trying out before, and he was not doing a particularly good job (as evidenced by the fact that he immediately blames his string of losses on “crappy teammates”). Those first failed qualifying matches were played by the real Newcastle, who has now come under attack by the Forgotten Families due to his inability to gain access to the Apex Games. It seems he owes the gang a large amount of cash, and had hoped to use his Apex winnings to pay it off and save Harris Valley.

Despite Jackson’s attempts to save the wannabe legend, Newcastle dies after being shot by the gang. As the gang threatens to burn Harris Valley to the ground unless Newcastle’s debt is repaid, Jackson volunteers to take the fallen fighter’s place–and his identity–in the next qualifying match, with the Forgotten Families gang member demanding Jackson pay back the debt “with interest.”While little is known about the Forgotten Families, it’s possible they have ties to the Big Sister gang that torched Rampart’s shop, or even Salvo’s Black Rattlers, the gang run by Mad Maggie’s rival warlord, Sandringham Kelly. Kelly betrayed Maggie when he sold the entire planet of Salvo to the Syndicate for the power and financial gain it would grant him. “Hero” makes it clear that the Forgotten Families gang is running the show in Harris Valley. Jackson easily could have killed the last of the three gang members, but instead took the debt onto his own shoulders. From the looks of the messages on his cell phone, Jackson’s not having much luck paying back the debt, even after joining the games.

Fans got a peek at the latest legend’s combat skills in this episode, but a more detailed look at his passive, tactical, and ultimate abilities was seen in the Apex Legends Season 13 launch trailer. More information about Newcastle’s kit and the many changes coming to Apex in the new season will be revealed when the Saviors gameplay trailer debuts on May 2.