Very plausible. It rounds out some doubts I've had while thinking about a post-ending for Lunar DS. Thanks!
I've gotta say though, if the developers were thinking something similar to this it's no wonder they ended the game where they did. That's a tragic ending. (This led me to think, prior to playing Lunar DS, that if the game DID deal with the rise of Vane, it would not call it's Vile Tribe threat the Magic Empire, and it would leave out the flood of tears, sparing casual players the apocaliptic scenario.)
I am certainly not opposed to tragic endings. But I'm a bigtime fan, (and I have rather refined sensibilities, if I might say so, ) and most of us here are likewise. And good business sense says that we are about the only people who would find a tragic ending palatable.
And then there's the fact that the Lunar games have been hopeful and upbeat, (Lunar DS less so, but hardly exempt) and a tragic ending would be out of keeping with those themes.
Something to add...a direct sequel (for once) with that timeframe and approximate storyline would surely involve the new dragons in some interesting way. A new variant on the traditional four dragon quest -- or, I suppose the same one as in EB, since grabbing the new dragons' powers would be a logical thing for the first Magic Emperor to do. But wouldn't it be neat if their actual "birth" were involved?
Wouldn't that be an interesting variation? The quest not just to restore stolen dragon auras, but to restore the dragons themselves by returning the rings...to brand-new, different caves, naturally, since the dragons seem to move around. The rings could even be considered dragon auras themselves, albeit more total than the ones Ruby and Nall lost (since those two and the others didn't cease to be). There's another parallel there with the idea of two dragonmasters, since Ghaleon is called one even though he doesn't want to be, but Hiro takes the trials...neither are actual dragonmasters, but the results are similar, with one taking power away and the other returning it and gaining personal power back. (Jian could become a REAL dragonmaster! Ignatius lost his status because of using his magic to recover from the fall, a la Dyne...though that doesn't really work all that well.)
It'd be a good setup to get a flying cat into your party, too. Although I like G1's idea from the FHS story of using a fairy for that role; we have one already, and the fairy thing really needs to be fleshed out, especially with that teaser. I won't even start on how they might relate, because there's not enough information about what they are.
The temporary lack of the four dragons might have to do with humans (but apparently not beastmen? I don't think we see any magical [as opposed to priests like Jess or fighters like presumably Mel] beastmen before Mauri and perhaps Leo, and the former at least was using dragon power as Borgan was, and was called a priest anyway...but then again, Leo had earth spells so could definitely do magic independently -- they mostly sucked, though) gaining the ability of using magic. If the dragons' remaining power all went into those rings of Jian's when they vanished, the release of power from those rings could be key in redistributing that power among people as well as dragons. It would also suggest why dragons start out as flying cats rather than full-grown even though one might expect the latter from the Blue Dragon's words. Furthermore, power going from them to the humans might be why the dragons were no longer strong enough to protect Althena in the future, because that power had been redistributed. Lastly, it'd give a reasonable premise for the protagonist in a direct sequel losing all his super cool powers from the first game (well, not that Jian's dragon spells were THAT cool) for once.
A long time ago, when I was playing with theories as to what Althena was, what the power structure on the Blue Star was before the migration, how all these bosses got to Lunar, etc., I had something about why humans have elemental magic while blue-haired Lucia has techno-sounding magic. I'd have to look up my old notes to see what I came up with then, but having humans' magic come from the very elemental dragons would be reasonable enough. (We never see what kind of magic Ignatius has, right? I don't recall anything specific about the shot he hits Jian with.) Of course, there are five elements in Lunar, and only four dragons...bite your tongue, Angelalex, I know what you're going to say to that.
I'm getting too far afield here, away from the plot reconciliation and into world mechanic fabrication (with a dash of game mechanic). Still...?
If you already know, then I see no need to tell you.
Anyway, the Dragons aren't THAT weak, even if magic is getting redistributed first from dragons to human before Goddess to human.
Even in EBC, the 4 Dragons still pack quite a punch. Just ask Pentagulia. Then again, the EBC dragons...Nall, etc. do seem stronger then the SSSC bunch, who ended up so much Grindery Gas. Maybe the Dragons started to recover a little.
Don't blame me, Lucia promised me lots of snuggles and cuddles if I would be her PR guy.
An intriguing idea, but I don't see it happening. If they were going to do something like that, you would have thought that the ending might have hinted a little more towards that rather than looking way off into the future. But, you never know. Maybe they'll extend it in the remake.
Re: Althena's power, I always thought it was intriguing that the entrance to the Goddess Tower (in SSSC) looks all... technological. Now that I think about it, in the Red Dragon Shield thread, there was some discussion about the symbol in the middle of the Shield... if that is some sort of symbol of Althena, does that imply a need for differentiation? Which almost certainly implies there are others like her out there? (We've already met Zophar, of course, but maybe there's more.)
Of course, Shigema said he didn't have an answer to the question, so I don't expect to ever learn the truth about Althena. And for whatever reason, that doesn't bother me.
EDIT:
Angelalex242 wrote:Even in EBC, the 4 Dragons still pack quite a punch. Just ask Pentagulia.
I think what they did there was rather different than anything we'd seen from them previously. Or maybe it was just pent-up anger
About the technological thing...Isn't there a book in Damon's Spire (either in SSSC or TSS) that talks about how the people of the Blue Star or Lunar (can't remember) becomes too dependant on technology? I thinnk G1 and I had a conversation about this...the reason why Lunar never seems to progress every thousand years...I can't remember the details of our discussion but I know it was about that statement you find in Damon's Spire.
Maybe that's why Althena's Fortress is so techological looking...and that Lucia's spells are technologically sounding....because just before Zophar came and crushed everything...all the humans and beastmen were dependant on techology.
Alun, that would be a very good epiloge for a remake of DS (Which I think they SHOULD do)
And about Ignatius looking his Dragonmaster status when he falls...doesn't it mention in TSS of a Magic Emperor BEFORE Ghaleon? I mean...like Alun was talking about Ignatius could take the status of a Magic Emeror after DS.
Lunar: Dragon Song sucked
Nicole Reannin Elgan-Moore
We will always remember...
Yes, the Alun theory...which I have latched onto...would make a great epilogue for a remake.
I don't want a remake. I want a new Lunar Game with less plot holes that we need to fill. Yeah, we're doing a pretty good job at it, but still.
Plus, the whole reason I bought a DS was because of Lunar (though with Children of Mana and Zelda and FFIII...I was going to buy it eventually, anyway). If they make a remake, I don't want to shell out another $30 for it. Though if it's done right, I probably will.
I would really like to see a remake on the Gamecube (PS won't allow 2-d sprite games anymore, if I remember correctly). A remake on the gamecube would allow for considerably more room to add anime cut-scenes, flesh the story out more, and add the Alun theory into an epilogue.
I thought that there was some reference to a previous Magic Emperor in one of the games, probably TSS. I mean, there isn't a Magic Empire at the time Ghaleon takes over; he's taking the title from the Magic Empire of old. This works with Shiva Indis's translated TSS backstory that the original Magic Empire was Vile Tribe, although I don't know if Ghaleon's membership in that race was part of that backstory.
Don't have time to go screenshot digging right now, but perhaps someone else can confirm (or deny). G1's working on a comprehensive catalog of in-game books, so maybe it'll show up in there.
) and most of us here are likewise. And good business sense says that we are about the only people who would find a tragic ending palatable.
