One of the deepest questions in biology remains unresolved. Life depends on a translation system that converts nucleotide sequences into proteins through the genetic code. Yet the origin of that code remains uncertain. Why does life rely on two molecular languages rather than one? Why this particular mapping between codons and amino acids? Why the ribosome? For decades, the dominant explanation has been the RNA World hypothesis, which proposes that RNA preceded proteins and initially carried both informational and catalytic functions. It is an elegant framework, but mounting evidence suggests the story may be more complicated.