Let's talk about Ignatius, Flora, and what I think is really canon. We're beyond fanfic territory now.
5)
Ignatius: Remember when I wryly posted on these very forums forever ago that there was nothing that said the Dragonmaster had to be the/a good guy? Well I got what I wanted and it was terrible! I'm sorry, it was all my fault for even mentioning it YEARS before Dragon Song was even an idea. But it wasn't Iggy being the villain that sucked it was that Iggy sucked that...uh... sucked. So, keep the evil Dragonmaster but make them not garbage.
How?
- How about giving Iggy an actual consistent goal! What did Iggy even want? Does anyone even remember? (I sure as hell don't!) What were his goals and purposes for being evil? To me it seemed like he was just being evil for laughs and to paraphrase Kizyr, "Rare is the person who is evil and knows they are being evil. The best villains think they're doing what's right and that they're justified in their outrageous actions. Crazy dude blowing up the world because muahaha so evil and also so goddamn crazy is not a compelling villain." (Then he goes on to talk about how people who worship the evil Gods in D&D (Gods that identify as evil and everyone knows are evil) make no sense. Then I tell him that Vecna is actually the good guy with a straight face. OUR RELATIONSHIP IS HEALTHY.)
Anyway, we have this Race War embroiling now and Ignatius is like, "Oh dear, that won't do. Somebody has got to do something about this." So he becomes the Dragonmaster and uses his new authority to start being that white guy on the internet who tells Black Lives Matter activists that it's actually black people who are the source of their problems and that if they would just do something about their brutish thug culture and glorification of the gangster lifestyle they would solve everything. (Yeah, thanks for the advice buddy!) He sides with the Humans and starts criticizing revolts and protests:
He thinks the Beastmen and their movement is a real threat to Lunar. He learns that Althena is currently touring Lunar in a human incarnation and starts looking for her to see if she'll weigh in. Ultimately finding Althena
hanging out with being held hostage by Beastmen. So he
kidnaps rescues her!
Now we talk about story.
Elin spends the next several hours of gameplay telling Ignatius that Beastmen are people while he runs around mansplaining and making a mess of everything. And when
Humans start marching with Beastmen Iggy gets really confused and upset. With Jian acting as their Katniss Everdean (having been victorious in the arena and still -Dragon Diamond- on by the king) the Beastman and Human coalition overthrows the Human Empire and usurps the king while Jian is out hunting for the Dragons so he can become the Dragonmaster and save his girlfriend. Ignatius rolls up with an army of racists to put an end to this -Dragon Diamond-. But even with "Althena" herself backing him up the Equality Movement isn't really sold on giving up Identity Politics. So the army of racists defeats the Equality Movement and enslaves all of them. Then Iggy starts moving to enslave every Beastman under his new empire.
All that stuff is really important and it's a shame we're following Jian as he goes to where Vane is being made and talks to an Ausa. They tell him that, while Iggy might have the Dragonmaster's equipment and be acting as Dragonmaster, that stuff is largely ceremonial and the real Dragonmaster is the person with the Dragon's support and blessing. They tell him where the Red and White Dragons are. And you know what, I just realized Dragon Song doesn't really have a mage character and maybe we should do something about that. You're a wizard, Gabriel.
Anyway, Iggy starts sending agents to stop Jian and the team so they wade through just a deluge of combat and obstacles as Jian seeks out the Red and White Dragons, explains things, and gets their blessing. They send him off to the Frontier to talk to the Black Dragon and caution him to be careful. Moving as refugees in a world now torn apart by civil war Jian and the team barely make it into the Frontier alive. And throughout this whole journey, from Vane to the Frontier, Rufus and Gabe have been warming up to each other, flirting, falling in love, and start dating.
Nobody comments on this with anything but approval because it's no big deal. Anyway, they happen to stumble across Flora and
now we have to talk about Flora.
6)
Flora: I can't take credit for this idea either, another person on Something Awful pointed it out and I'm taking the ball and running with it. Ignatius is wrong about who Althena is. Elin isn't Althena, Flora is. And Flora knows she's Althena (unlike Luna.) Flora is out on the Frontier helping people and soothing the Black Dragon because TSS is canon and SSSC is dumb as -Fatal Hopper-. See, Althena got real pissed at Humanity a long time ago and she drove all the people she was mad at into the Frontier and then turned her light away from them in a huff. But, there were innocent people already present on the Frontier and, generations later, the bulk of the Original Sinners are dead and gone and everyone who's left suffering out in the Frontier largely doesn't deserve it. So Flora wants to fix that. Problem is, she can't. She tried just high beaming her light over there but it didn't take. So she's trying to figure out what's blocking her so she can return her light to the Frontier before the Black Dragon goes insane. Well, she and the Black Dragon figure it out and guess what, it's people. Because, funnily enough, when you lash out in emotional retaliation and -Fatal Hopper- over a bunch of innocent people and then exile everyone you're mad at to the hell you created they don't like or believe in you anymore! Their lack of belief in Althena and rejection of her is keeping her from turning her light back on them. NICE GOING ALTHENA, I HOPE WE ALL LEARNED SOMETHING FROM THIS. So she needs to evangelize and return faith and belief to the people while doing what good she can in the meantime with the Black Dragon's help. (By the way, resident Lunar Expert Kizyr says that the full extent of her power just doesn't reach the Frontier for Reasons
but this is my canon now, -Borgan-!)
Flora stumbles across the crew in bad shape trying to find the Black Dragon and become the Dragonmaster so that Jian can rescue his girlfriend and stop Ignatius! She decides to help because goddamn that dude is a -Dragon Diamond- Dragonmaster. She leads the team to the Black Dragon and she (the Black Dragon is female, I just made that canon too) gives you her blessing and tells you she's losing her goddamn mind out here because of the limited reach of Althena so help. Rufus asks her why she doesn't just -Fatal Hopper- leave and the Black Dragon tells him that without her helping the earth be fertile and easing the people's grief they would all be killing themselves and dying and she just can't sacrifice them for her own sake. She has a duty to the people of Lunar. Rufus understands and both apologizes and praises her. Flora promises to come back soon and help.
So that's Flora. Why does the Black Dragon still go insane in TSS if Flora fixes things in this game? Because she doesn't. See, once Jian goes to the Blue Dragon and gets his blessing (also, nice martial arts you've got there Jian. I'm gonna keep that in mind because that should be a thing.) He heads back to stop Ignatius (who is now in full #makelunargreatagain overload) and finds a dystopian racist empire waiting for him. He rallies a massive Beastman and Human army under his banner and beseiges the empire. They somehow manage to win (maybe by using technology so Jian can be the dude who started that tech revolt that is mentioned in the timeline, I don't care.) And the team confronts Ignatius who is all, "Guh, you guys, c'mon! If you would just get back under the yolk where you belong I'll make sure humanity takes care of you and gives you a good life."
And Gabe says, "Slavery is not a good life. It doesn't matter how kindly you treat us or how "good" you make our lives. It will never be a quality existence until we are free and equal."
Rufus helpfully adds, "Iggy your -Fatal Hopper- racist ass empire is burning to the ground as we speak and you've already lost. You should really just give up."
Iggy gestures wildly towards Elin and exclaims, "Hello?! Goddess! I win!"
To which Flora replies, "Actually no and please stop. That chick ain't Althena, I am, and I gave ya'll free will with the hopes that you would find the right path for yourselves but my intent was always for you guys to do it
together as equals. So, I mean, you're free to do what you want but it's pretty damn obvious the Beastmen want their freedom and equality. Your stupid antics tore this beautiful world apart in civil war and if you had just -Fatal Hopper- accepted the Beastmen's peaceful request for civil rights this whole mess could have been avoided. Humanity has everything to gain and nothing to lose from the inclusion of Beastmen."
Iggy gapes while Elin frees herself with Jian’s help.
Rufus shouts, "Listen to her, Ignatius! The Goddess herself wanted Beastmen to be equals! Stop this madness!"
Ignatius rages and tweets #notmypresident then kills Flora rather than admit he's wrong. (Video games are art.)
So that's why the Black Dragon goes insane in TSS. Because Iggy murders Flora before she can complete her mission. And every other mortal incarnation of Althena afterwards (until Luna) suffers the same kind of memory loss and lack of awareness of what they need to be doing that Luna does so they never get around to it. Or something. Look, Kei Shigima didn't have to explain it so I don't either!
But I digress, Jian, Elin and Gabe rush to Flora. Gabe and Jian are in tears because they really liked her. Elin is just gaping in horror. Rufus, of course, gets angry.
"What the -Dragon Diamond-?! Aren't you sworn to protect her?! Isn't that like your
job?! You just killed the Goddess, you crazy -Fatal Hopper-!" He yells
"Yes, and I'll kill her again! My children, and my children's children and all my progeny for forevermore will hunt Althena down in every mortal incarnation and kill her on sight! I will never permit some filthy animals to live alongside us as people!" Replies Ignatius.
Rufus rages and attacks him and deals a grevious injury but Iggy strikes back and while Rufus tries to evade his magical blast he is horribly injured. Jian slowly rises from Flora's corpse with a grim expression as Gabe and Elin hurry to Rufus' side. And while Elin mends him Gabe angrily declares that if he kills Iggy now he won't have any children and this madness will stop. This initiates a boss fight where the beleaguered Rufus fights along with you. At the end of the battle Gabe is ready to kill Iggy but Rufus stops him and tells him to not become the monster Iggy thinks he is. Mother -Fatal Hopper- character development holy -Dragon Diamond-.
So the game ends with Ignatius telling Jian to just -Fatal Hopper- kill him already to which Jian is like, "Nope." Cries of celebration ringing out as Beastmen and Humans enter the boss room and announce the surrender of Ignatius' army. Elin tells Ignatius that he will be tried and punished for his crimes but that there would be a place for him in Lunar's new future should he want it. She takes Jian’s hand in hers as she speaks. Ignatius looks at the victorious Beastmen and Humans, looks at the interracial couple before him, looks disgusted, and leaps to his death. In the wake of the civil war, the old king's daughter and heir declares full Beastman rights now and Humans and Beastmen set upon repairing and rebuilding after the damage, together. Jian and Elin strip the Dragonmaster's equipment (miraculously undamaged from the fall) from Iggy's corpse and, with Gabe and Rufus in tow, take Flora's body back to the Frontier and show it to the Black Dragon with their sincere apologies. Rufus begs the Black Dragon to leave the Frontier and save herself but she refuses. She tells Rufus that the Frontier needs her and that the only way to save her is to bring belief in Althena back to the Frontier. Rufus swears he will do his best and he and Gabe make what ultimately becomes the village of Marke. ("Marke was founded by Beastmen." an NPC in the town says in TSS. Check out that -Fatal Hopper- lore loyalty. *Gives herself a high five*) Jian and Elin return to the green side of Lunar and act as good will ambassadors to the regions of Lunar that have not yet embraced the idea of Beastman rights. They adopt some war orphans but never have any children of their own.
And that's the end. Wow, that was huge and SJW as hell. Thanks for reading my LONG ASS FANFIC. This series of posts took me about 2 and 1/4 days to really iron out. It took whoever actually made this game
months to make the garbage that was Dragon Song and we both got it from the same place, our asses.
So um, game theory! Like, comment, and subscribe! Support me on Patreon! I don't -Fatal Hopper- know. Look at all that! It's really good and it will never matter!
I wasted my life. I should be ashamed of myself. I'm going to bed now.