Let's Play DotNW - Part 13
Part twelve
In which Yuan fights Richter like a badass, Decus discovers who he really is and we meet the Guardian of the new World Tree. ... Oh yeah, it's all comin' together. Except not really, because there are still a few major plotholes.
Part Thirteen
So Alice, Decus and Presea head down with the elevator to find Richter and the rest of the party, only to find... Well, Richter and the rest of the party. But Yuan is the only one still standing to oppose Richter. And even he seems to be having trouble.
Power of the demonic realm, hm? Interesting.
Decus launches another Ain Soph Aur at him-
But Richter once again blocks with Eternal Recurrence. Now he's certain- Decus is Ratatosk!
... Hold on, wasn't he Aster? Oh, no. there's a flashback from Ratatosk's point of view, in which Richter and Aster visit him and ask him to do something about the mana problems. Then Ratatosk kills Aster, and Richter flips out at him.
Decus remembers now. He really is Ratatosk.
Alice isn't about to stand by and let Richter kill her Knight, though.
Neither will Yuan, who rushes forward to engage in epic combat with Richter. Yuan's so badass, he doesn't even need a weapon. It's all fist-fu.
And some kicking.
And mysterious lightflashes. ... Lightning magic?
Alice is dumbstruck by how badass that is.
Just as Richter's about to lose, Marta appears with her weird flying monsters to help him escape. Yuan can only watch in dismay. ... You understand these things are ridiculously slow and there's a ceiling, right Yuan?
Meanwhile, Decus collapses in Alice's arms. ... He totally did that on purpose. He's not really unconscious.
Final chapter! ... Jeesh, what is that colorscheme? I can barely read it!
Another Ratatosk memory, where Richter is killing him! ... Well, that explains the dreams.
After being 'killed', Ratatosk reverted to his core form. Richter was about to destroy it when Tenebrae appeared and took the core with him. ... so how come Aqua and Tenebrae were the only Centurions who were awake? When did they awaken? I mean, even if Richter and Aster were the ones who awoke Aqua when they found her, where did Tenebrae come from? Sounds like another convenient plothole to me.
When Decus wakes up in his royal suite, Tenebrae explains that the Ratatosk core in Alice's head was just a fake. Ratatosk himself planted it there as a decoy. ... Wow, what a jerk move.
And Brute tells them something they already figured out way back in chapter 2.
Time to go to the Sky Terrace on Lezareno's building, where Yuan and the rest of the cast is waiting! It is time for explanations.
Richter went to the Otherworldly Gate. It is a gate to the Ginnungagap- Ratatosk's domain. It contains the door to Niflheim, which Ratatosk is supposed to protect. As long as Ratatosk is alive, the door can't open. Richter likely made a pact with the demons to kill Ratatosk and open the door, in exchange for their power.
So, what now? And why was Yuan gathering Centurion cores? He can't tell us, but he can take us to someone who can. Time to visit the World Tree, y'all!
... Wow this place looks completely different from the ending of the first game. Where are the Tower of Salvation ruins? Where did this forest come from? And where did this serene stream come from?
Oh look it's Lloyd! Lloyd's the Guardian! This makes sense, considering he was the one who named the tree and made a pact with it. And said he'd protect it.
Okay, time for explaining! Lloyd asks Decus what he believes he is- Human or Summon Spirit.
Decus wants to be human. I'll bet it's for reasons related to Alice.
OH LOOK HOW IC. SEE. LLOYD WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE IN DECUS.
Decus, you moron. This was confirmed at the end of the previous chapter already.
Ahah. So this was why Yuan was gathering Centurion cores. To stop Ratatosk from awakening and then seal him, along with the cores of his precious Centurions, away inside the Ginnungagap. How ruthless. I like it. But I still think he could've just stabbed Decus and then sealed his core away. Would've saved a lot of time.
THE QUESTION THAT WAS ON EVERYONE'S MIND.
Time for a shitty explanation. Everyone knew the name of the World Tree, so if they got in touch with a Centurion's core, they could accidentally speak it and then Ratatosk would take over the tree. .............. I-isn't that just more reason to talk to the old gang and tell them to get the hell away from Ratatosk? I mean, if that was their concern, why the hell would you let them accompany Ratatosk on his quest to gather Centurion cores?
"Don't you remember? I'm Ratatosk"- Decus will you pay attention?! That's the reason we're having this conversation in the first place!
But it's a good point. If they were worried about Ratatosk taking over the tree, why would they lead Ratatosk to the tree to explain stuff? Why couldn't Yuan just explain all this on top of Lezareno Company? What was the point of bringing Lloyd into this? MY MIND IS BOGGLED.
Anyway, apparently there's an alternative. See, after observing Decus for a while, they believe that he is another aspect of Ratatosk- his conscience.
Martel told them to go see Verius. As the Summon Spirit of Heart, it could combine the two personalities and make Ratatosk a more docile, helpful spirit.
Sadly, this could also cause Decus' personality to disappear entirely. So it's up to him to make that decision.
Let's do it. Let's work together, man!
Because... in case you had forgotten... Decus is Ratatosk, the Summon Spirit. FYI. Just so you know.
WHOAH. WHAT'S THIS NOW? Yuan's... joining the party. Yuan... in my party. I am. ... Wow. This is epic. Seeing as Lloyd has to guard the tree, Yuan's the only one who has enough time on his hands to help us out with this Verius thing. ... I guess.
Oh yeah, also there is a side-event in which they hint at Norn. Norn, the spirit of Derris-Kharlan's Tree, which isn't seen or mentioned in the first Symphonia game at all. But it ties in with Phantasia, so it's cool!
In which Yuan fights Richter like a badass, Decus discovers who he really is and we meet the Guardian of the new World Tree. ... Oh yeah, it's all comin' together. Except not really, because there are still a few major plotholes.
Part Thirteen
So Alice, Decus and Presea head down with the elevator to find Richter and the rest of the party, only to find... Well, Richter and the rest of the party. But Yuan is the only one still standing to oppose Richter. And even he seems to be having trouble.
Power of the demonic realm, hm? Interesting.
Decus launches another Ain Soph Aur at him-
But Richter once again blocks with Eternal Recurrence. Now he's certain- Decus is Ratatosk!
... Hold on, wasn't he Aster? Oh, no. there's a flashback from Ratatosk's point of view, in which Richter and Aster visit him and ask him to do something about the mana problems. Then Ratatosk kills Aster, and Richter flips out at him.
Decus remembers now. He really is Ratatosk.
Alice isn't about to stand by and let Richter kill her Knight, though.
Neither will Yuan, who rushes forward to engage in epic combat with Richter. Yuan's so badass, he doesn't even need a weapon. It's all fist-fu.
And some kicking.
And mysterious lightflashes. ... Lightning magic?
Alice is dumbstruck by how badass that is.
Just as Richter's about to lose, Marta appears with her weird flying monsters to help him escape. Yuan can only watch in dismay. ... You understand these things are ridiculously slow and there's a ceiling, right Yuan?
Meanwhile, Decus collapses in Alice's arms. ... He totally did that on purpose. He's not really unconscious.
Final chapter! ... Jeesh, what is that colorscheme? I can barely read it!
Another Ratatosk memory, where Richter is killing him! ... Well, that explains the dreams.
After being 'killed', Ratatosk reverted to his core form. Richter was about to destroy it when Tenebrae appeared and took the core with him. ... so how come Aqua and Tenebrae were the only Centurions who were awake? When did they awaken? I mean, even if Richter and Aster were the ones who awoke Aqua when they found her, where did Tenebrae come from? Sounds like another convenient plothole to me.
When Decus wakes up in his royal suite, Tenebrae explains that the Ratatosk core in Alice's head was just a fake. Ratatosk himself planted it there as a decoy. ... Wow, what a jerk move.
And Brute tells them something they already figured out way back in chapter 2.
Time to go to the Sky Terrace on Lezareno's building, where Yuan and the rest of the cast is waiting! It is time for explanations.
Richter went to the Otherworldly Gate. It is a gate to the Ginnungagap- Ratatosk's domain. It contains the door to Niflheim, which Ratatosk is supposed to protect. As long as Ratatosk is alive, the door can't open. Richter likely made a pact with the demons to kill Ratatosk and open the door, in exchange for their power.
So, what now? And why was Yuan gathering Centurion cores? He can't tell us, but he can take us to someone who can. Time to visit the World Tree, y'all!
... Wow this place looks completely different from the ending of the first game. Where are the Tower of Salvation ruins? Where did this forest come from? And where did this serene stream come from?
Oh look it's Lloyd! Lloyd's the Guardian! This makes sense, considering he was the one who named the tree and made a pact with it. And said he'd protect it.
Okay, time for explaining! Lloyd asks Decus what he believes he is- Human or Summon Spirit.
Decus wants to be human. I'll bet it's for reasons related to Alice.
OH LOOK HOW IC. SEE. LLOYD WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE IN DECUS.
Decus, you moron. This was confirmed at the end of the previous chapter already.
Ahah. So this was why Yuan was gathering Centurion cores. To stop Ratatosk from awakening and then seal him, along with the cores of his precious Centurions, away inside the Ginnungagap. How ruthless. I like it. But I still think he could've just stabbed Decus and then sealed his core away. Would've saved a lot of time.
THE QUESTION THAT WAS ON EVERYONE'S MIND.
Time for a shitty explanation. Everyone knew the name of the World Tree, so if they got in touch with a Centurion's core, they could accidentally speak it and then Ratatosk would take over the tree. .............. I-isn't that just more reason to talk to the old gang and tell them to get the hell away from Ratatosk? I mean, if that was their concern, why the hell would you let them accompany Ratatosk on his quest to gather Centurion cores?
"Don't you remember? I'm Ratatosk"- Decus will you pay attention?! That's the reason we're having this conversation in the first place!
But it's a good point. If they were worried about Ratatosk taking over the tree, why would they lead Ratatosk to the tree to explain stuff? Why couldn't Yuan just explain all this on top of Lezareno Company? What was the point of bringing Lloyd into this? MY MIND IS BOGGLED.
Anyway, apparently there's an alternative. See, after observing Decus for a while, they believe that he is another aspect of Ratatosk- his conscience.
Martel told them to go see Verius. As the Summon Spirit of Heart, it could combine the two personalities and make Ratatosk a more docile, helpful spirit.
Sadly, this could also cause Decus' personality to disappear entirely. So it's up to him to make that decision.
Let's do it. Let's work together, man!
Because... in case you had forgotten... Decus is Ratatosk, the Summon Spirit. FYI. Just so you know.
WHOAH. WHAT'S THIS NOW? Yuan's... joining the party. Yuan... in my party. I am. ... Wow. This is epic. Seeing as Lloyd has to guard the tree, Yuan's the only one who has enough time on his hands to help us out with this Verius thing. ... I guess.
Oh yeah, also there is a side-event in which they hint at Norn. Norn, the spirit of Derris-Kharlan's Tree, which isn't seen or mentioned in the first Symphonia game at all. But it ties in with Phantasia, so it's cool!