With the release of Apex Legends’ launch trailer for Season 13: Saviors on Tuesday, the next Legend to join the games was finally revealed: Newcastle, AKA Jackson Williams, Bangalore’s brother. With the release of today’s episode of Stories from the Outlands, fans finally got a closer look at his kit – and the wild story behind it.
Many fans were surprised to hear Mirage mention in the launch trailer that it had taken Jackson “like, forty tries” to get into the Apex Games. But it didn’t make much sense, especially after seeing Bangalore’s episode in the series, “Gridiron”, which made it very clear that both of the Williams siblings are equally adept in both ranged and hand-to-hand combat. Jackson and Anita both fought in the Titan Wars, and Gridiron showed us that on several occasions, Jackson has saved his sister’s life. The idea of Jackson struggling in an Apex qualifying match just doesn’t sound right. But the puzzle pieces fall into place once you’ve seen “Hero”.
The trailer begins with the revelation that Jackson has a family – a wife, a teenaged son, and a young daughter. He’s a resident of a settlement called Harris Valley, and Harris Valley is absolutely nuts for Newcastle.
“He’s fighting for us!” says one of the hundreds of Harris Valley residents who are cheering as if he didn’t just lose his 39th match.
What “fighting for us” means becomes clear near the end of the trailer when, after going out in search of his daughter’s lost Newcastle plush toy, he stumbles upon a man being jumped by three very unfriendly-looking fellows. The man getting beat up? He’s Newcastle. The original one, anyway. It seems Jackson is actually the man who repairs and maintains Newcastle’s gear after each match.
Newcastle is shot by the trio of men after his most recent failure to win a place in the Games, prompting Jackson to jump into action. Using those sweet Williams family combat skills to his advantage, he quickly dispatches two of the thugs before demanding answers from the third. The man and his two freshly-deceased associates are members of the “Forgotten Families”, a gang that quite literally owns Harris Valley.
“Your hero sold it to us,” the gang member claims. “And it wasn’t nearly enough.”
It’s clear that the people of Harris Valley owe the Forgotten Families a great deal of money, though the reasons for this are not explicitly stated. It turns out that Newcastle was trying to get into the Apex Games so he could use his winnings to pay off Harris Valley’s debt. The specifics of the Harris Valley sale and remaining debt isn’t immediately clear.
In the end, Jackson agrees to step into the role of Newcastle, likely in part because it strengthens his alibi regarding his faked death, though it’s clear his main motivation is defending Harris Valley and the people that live there – including his young family. Unfortunately, it’s too late for the real Newcastle, despite Jackson’s attempts to save his life. Even worse, the man from the Forgotten Families demands that Jackson pay the debt “with interest” or Harris Valley will “burn”. They shake hands, and Jackson walks away for his first match after being reminded that he only gets one shot.
No pressure, right?
Obviously, Jackson made it to the Games, and while the details are scant now, players will surely learn more about Harris County – and get to try out that crazy-looking shield – when Apex Legends: Season 12 – Saviors launches on May 10th, 2022. For a closer look at what Season 13 has to offer, tune into the gameplay trailer when it drops on May 2nd.
Apex Legends is free to play on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, and Switch.
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