Chrono Trigger: An Existentialist Reading (Part VI)

[ideas]

In this final entry, we'll look at the miscellaneous quests that players can take on in the final hours of Chrono Trigger, as well as the final battle against Lavos and a few of the game's dozen-of-so endings. Because this part of the game is non-linear, I've decided to format this entry differently from the others. Instead of a single synopsis,

Comments

[anonymous]

In my opinion, this is as close to a definitive interpretation of Chrono Trigger as has been offered for public consumption -- even if that's not at all what you intended it to be. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

[ideas]

Thank you for reading it! You raise an interesting question: CAN a game like Chrono Trigger have a definitive interpretation?

Kevin's Comment

[anonymous]

Well done. I especially liked your conclusion.

...and I don't care if the Masamune is filled with strength and vinegar!

Re: Kevin's Comment

[ideas]

But surely you are moved by the passionate odor of Zeal.

[carissakrumnow]

I said, 'Look God, you know I can hardly read, you know I'm dyslexic but I want to do you a deal. I want to finish reading your book by the turn of the year.

[elanor_pam]

This is an amazing essay. I was kind of expecting to see your concluding thoughts on Marle's identity in light of her character's last developping scene (when she makes peace with her father). That certainly seemed to me to be the moment when she found in herself someone who wasn't defined by being a princess or a rebellious tomboy.

Also, Magus' last words in his ending and its interpretation kind of brought tears to my eyes. Not tears of sadness or pity, but simply tears of pure awesome. XD

[ideas]

I'll probably add something on Marle. Still deciding whether I want to just edit her in here, or do one more article cleaning up some other loose ends.

Incidentally, my fragrance, "Tears of Pure Awesome," will be available at your local cosmetics counter this fall.

*claps*

[anonymous]

First, let me apologize in advance for my english. It's not my first language, though I don't have problems reading it

Re: *claps*

[anonymous]

Also, I forgot to mention about Chrono's Resurrection part, actually you can have a similar reunion scene with Lucca if you don't have Marle in your party, I recently tried playing that scene with different teams :P not related with the article, but just as a curiosity.

Re: *claps*

[ideas]

Thanks for the comments. I'm always pleased (and a little surprised) to discover that someone other than me is interested in this strange combination of subjects.

Taking Chrono Trigger, Radical Dreams and Chrono Cross together, it's difficult for me to believe that the Frozen Flame is not Dreamstone. Thematically, both objects are connected to the power of Lavos and the power of dreams; both are red shards; and both are supposed to have triggered fundamental changes in the evolution of the human species. If they aren't the same thing, they damn well should be. Granted, the Dreamstone is on Earth before Lavos lands, but we don't know when it appeared exactly, and the Frozen Flame is described as falling from the heavens in prehistory. Couldn't the shard of Lavos' shell have landed before Lavos himself?

Alienation

[anonymous]

I'm not sure that I remember the game correctly - it's been a while - but isn't Crono's clone quite like Crono himself (i.e. mute, kind of apathetic in a sense)? I think, at least, I remember thinking that replacing the clone with the "original" Crono kind of hinted at the question: "does it really matter which one we keep?" This question, however, also has a reverse: The player, up until now engaged in Crono, is suddenly alienated _in death_ and forced to _look upon_ himself, with a reduced possibility of control(action).

You probably remember this better than me, so I'm just asking.

Re: Alienation

[ideas]

Your point about alienation is well-taken. Losing Crono's subjective experience and having to view him as an object (in both senses of the word) gives the player a sense of being separated from a proxy "self". It's akin to what Hitchcock did in Psycho, obviously, and more subtly related to the end of Rear Window, where the voyeuristic viewpoint character is asleep.

Interestingly, the problem of alienation in Chrono Trigger is ultimately solved by an integration of man-as-subject and man-as-object. It is only Crono's importance to his friends and his relevance to the timeline that permits him to return from the dead. Thus his resurrection is not a dismissal of Crono-as-object, but an acknowledgment of the validity and importance of Crono's "outside" and well as his "inside." This is in keeping with Chrono Trigger's general communal viewpoint about existence. The person you are to the world is equally as important and authentic as the person you are to yourself.