Althena Questions? (Spoilers Intended...)
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 5:24 am
Hey all to everyone (or anyone) who may remember me. It's been a long time since I've posted here, but Lunar DS has stirred the Lunar bug inside of me.
Anyhow, I have a few problems with how Althena and the dragons are explained in this game, and I was wondering what you guys thought. I may very well have an explanation for my problem, but maybe it's something that those of you with the "canon" history would have an easier time answering?
Anyhow, what I primarily don't understand is how Althena can die, and rebirth herself? In Lunar EB, Althena, as an entity is dead because she died as Luna. Lunar DS suggests that Althena somewhat regularly becomes human, either to escape harm (such as the case is with Ignatius) or to simply be amongst the people of Lunar. In these instances, would not the human body of Althena die, and the goddess would return to the Cathedral? Titus, I believe, explains that beings made of almost entirely magic can never truly die--only their physical shells, so like the dragons, when Althena in a human body dies, can't she always return? Why is she completely gone after Luna dies? Wasn't Luna's wish for humans and beastmen and perhaps even members of the Vile Tribe (specfically like Phacia) the same as Lucia/Althena's?
I mean, in Lunar EB, Althena is a thing of the past--she exists kind of like a life force all throughout Lunar, but with the ending of Lunar DS, and the intentions of that particular incarnation of Althena why didn't this happen?
I feel like the story of this game kind of contradicts the logic of its predecessors. It makes Althena, who perhaps is only a personification of the positive/additive powers of life, too concrete an entity. It also leaves a sense of ambiguity about the reincarnation process. Ignatius wanted to remove Lucia's soul, like Ghaleon would later wish to do so with Luna's, so Althena could enter her pure "Goddess" state of being. So, is there a cycle of reincarnation in the Lunar world? Where do souls come from? These are questions we can't answer absolutely in real life, but they certainly can be answered in an alternate/fantasy realm.
Also if Althena wished for the Vile Tribe to exist peaceably with its fellow inhabitants of Lunar, why did she keep them in or maybe just keep the Frontier, a lifeless place. The bitterness we see from Xenobia suggests that Althena cast them away, and at the end of this game we see Althena opening her arms to one of her enemies.
Is there any possibility that the Lunar in DS is an AU Lunar that we has less of a connection with TSS and EB Lunars? Sort of like a Wild Arms/Filgaia move? I just don't see as many threads connecting this world to the world we later see. Even though I think somehow this is the same Lunar, I kind of wish it isn't.
While perhaps, this Lunar can connect very very well with the Lunar we see in SSS, landscape issues aside, the world we witness and the changes we must take into account in EB don't work with DS, in my opinion. I don't mean to bash DS's story though--fundamentally, it is really good. I just really despise its execution. Jian would work so much better with more frequent dialog, and I mean stuff beyond his meager explanations on dungeon puzzles. Whoever translated the scenario into dialogue failed.
Bleh, sorry for this really unfocused mess. I just have all these ideas and questions, and I can't really formulate anything neatly at the moment. (Not the mood to write an essay over my confusion, hah). If anyone's willing to bounce ideas, question my questions, that kind of thing, I think I will make more sense. Dur.
Anyhow, I have a few problems with how Althena and the dragons are explained in this game, and I was wondering what you guys thought. I may very well have an explanation for my problem, but maybe it's something that those of you with the "canon" history would have an easier time answering?
Anyhow, what I primarily don't understand is how Althena can die, and rebirth herself? In Lunar EB, Althena, as an entity is dead because she died as Luna. Lunar DS suggests that Althena somewhat regularly becomes human, either to escape harm (such as the case is with Ignatius) or to simply be amongst the people of Lunar. In these instances, would not the human body of Althena die, and the goddess would return to the Cathedral? Titus, I believe, explains that beings made of almost entirely magic can never truly die--only their physical shells, so like the dragons, when Althena in a human body dies, can't she always return? Why is she completely gone after Luna dies? Wasn't Luna's wish for humans and beastmen and perhaps even members of the Vile Tribe (specfically like Phacia) the same as Lucia/Althena's?
I mean, in Lunar EB, Althena is a thing of the past--she exists kind of like a life force all throughout Lunar, but with the ending of Lunar DS, and the intentions of that particular incarnation of Althena why didn't this happen?
I feel like the story of this game kind of contradicts the logic of its predecessors. It makes Althena, who perhaps is only a personification of the positive/additive powers of life, too concrete an entity. It also leaves a sense of ambiguity about the reincarnation process. Ignatius wanted to remove Lucia's soul, like Ghaleon would later wish to do so with Luna's, so Althena could enter her pure "Goddess" state of being. So, is there a cycle of reincarnation in the Lunar world? Where do souls come from? These are questions we can't answer absolutely in real life, but they certainly can be answered in an alternate/fantasy realm.
Also if Althena wished for the Vile Tribe to exist peaceably with its fellow inhabitants of Lunar, why did she keep them in or maybe just keep the Frontier, a lifeless place. The bitterness we see from Xenobia suggests that Althena cast them away, and at the end of this game we see Althena opening her arms to one of her enemies.
Is there any possibility that the Lunar in DS is an AU Lunar that we has less of a connection with TSS and EB Lunars? Sort of like a Wild Arms/Filgaia move? I just don't see as many threads connecting this world to the world we later see. Even though I think somehow this is the same Lunar, I kind of wish it isn't.
While perhaps, this Lunar can connect very very well with the Lunar we see in SSS, landscape issues aside, the world we witness and the changes we must take into account in EB don't work with DS, in my opinion. I don't mean to bash DS's story though--fundamentally, it is really good. I just really despise its execution. Jian would work so much better with more frequent dialog, and I mean stuff beyond his meager explanations on dungeon puzzles. Whoever translated the scenario into dialogue failed.
Bleh, sorry for this really unfocused mess. I just have all these ideas and questions, and I can't really formulate anything neatly at the moment. (Not the mood to write an essay over my confusion, hah). If anyone's willing to bounce ideas, question my questions, that kind of thing, I think I will make more sense. Dur.