Part 60: Baten Kaitos: Where Are They Now?

First, let's see what would have happened if we'd fought but spared Heughes, Nasca, and Valara.


Heughes' alternate scene





Sagi tried to open the door, but it refuses to budge, and a bunch of red robots come pouring on to the scene.


It won't open! The blasts must have jammed it. Dammit, now what?

Sagi – they're here! How much longer?


Sagi manages to get the door open and he and Milly run inside, but then Sagi turns around and sees all of the machina behind him (no, I don't know why they don't just run for it)


Back off!


...and suddenly Heughes falls from the ceiling and punches the ground so hard that all the robots explode!


Heughes!


More robots fill in to take their partner's places...


I told you I'd chase you to the ends of the Sky, Sagi...But this place'll have to do. Take Milliarde and go!

But what about -

What about nothing! Go!


Heughes slams on the button, blocking Sagi and Milliarde safely but locking himself in.


Now...let's just see how many punches I've got left in me! Rrrrrraaaaagh!





Nasca's alternate scene





In Nasca's alternate scene, there's a forcefield blocking the exit...


End of the line...The shutter's closed!

What do we do, Sagi? Isn't there another way out?!


Nasca sneaks in the room from behind them.


Don't worry. I'll open it now.

Nasca?!


Nasca walks over to the computer and starts fiddling with it.


I just need...a little time. It takes some finesse to work these locks. ...There.

It's open!

Come on, Nasca, you can escape with us!

...No, I can't. If I stop typing, the shutter will close again. Go on without me.

But...what will you do?!

I know Tarazed better than anyone. Right down to the exit routes. I can find another way out, once you're clear of the room. It's OK, you go ahead.

...All right. Just promise you'll get out.

I will.


Sagi and Milliarde continue onward...


Exit routes...Right. Well, it couldn't hurt to look.





Valara's alternate scene







The Sfida!

We're saved...?

Still in one piece, ghost boy?

Valara! What are you doing here!

She seized the ship and started giving me orders, Master Sagi! Said she'd throw me overboard if I didn't take her to rescue you!

I...I never used the word “rescue.” What do you think I am – nice? Work is work – and pulling your ass out of the fire made today's docket.

Valara...

Don't get any ideas. I just did my job.

Then you deserve a raise! Thanks, Valara. Let's go home, Milly. Everybody's waiting.

OK!




Eh...Heughes and Nasca's were kinda contrived (what kind of lock only activates when the place is being destroyed and needs someone to stay behind to operate it?) but it's still kinda heartwarming to see that they all could have come around if we didn't off them before. Thanks to metroidrage for sparing them and recording it so I could show this off.














Music: As the Moon Meanders on the Water


I figure most readers have already read the BKEWLO LP and/or played the game, but for those who haven't, let's have a look at what happens to the cast and crew of the games, shall we?





I'm not actually sure who these people are. I assume it's our friends Elle and Lance from the Coliseum sidequest, but I'm not entirely sure. If you don't do the sidequest, does this picture even happen? Hmm.










Wow, their outfits and masks look quite similar. I wonder if they just copy/pasted them between games?

Anyway, Kamroh went on to lead Gemma, while Krumly remained the leader of Algorab. Krumly became dissatisfied with life under the Taintclouds and betrayed Kamroh, offering up a sacred relic to the revived Malpercio, getting a faceful of lasers for his trouble. He eventually came to his senses and repented (a recurring theme in BKEWLO).

There's really not much to say about Karmoh besides that he remained a fairly cool dude who led Gemma Village during the birth and raising of its best citizen, The Great Mizuti.








Rodolfo went on to become a fat bastard and professional asskisser for the Empire. He also eventually came around to the good guys' team, but only after The Empire was clearly going to lose and some witches bullied him into it. Useless to the end, it seems.








Ladekahn grew up to become a total dreamboat of a king. After falling for an obvious trap and getting shot a lot by an imperial hitgirl, he allied with the main characters and proved to be a staunch ally once again. His friendship with Gibari seems to have gotten less strained since then, and the two remain close friends.












Gibari, Anna, and Reblys continue their odd friendship-or-maybe-love triangle with each other. Anna grew up to be nearly as headstrong as Gibari, while Gibari mellowed out a little and became a laid-back, happy fisherman guy. Gibari would go on to become a playable character after our heroes helped him save Diadem from disaster, and he would often act as a happy medium between Kalas' pragmatism and Xelha's idealism (but favoring idealism because BKEWLO is nothing if not idealistic). He may or may not have had a mild crush on Savyna, but if he did nothing ever really came of it.

Reblys continued to be an annoying little shit and I hate Reblys okay








Palolo II, Master of Mischief is unseen in BKEWLO. There is a chump calling himself Palolo III, but accounts vary as to whether he's Palolo II's biological son or if he's just some kid who thought Palolo II was cool and wanted to be him. Either way, I think it's safe to assume that Palolo II went on to have awesome adventures, make new friends, and generally be too cool for the School of Magic.












Giacomo went form being some nobody to being one of the Empire's top generals, despite his failures against Sagi. He ultimately inherited his father Georg's research, and became a supersoldier of sorts, infused with the power of Malpercio. Eventually Georg grew a conscience and fled the empire with Larikush (who later moved to the boonies of Sadal Suud to act as an expositor). Giacomo found and killed Georg, setting up Kalas' backstory and the events of BKEWLO, and ultimately died at Kalas' hands.








Savyna grew up to be a borderline sociopathic mercenary. However, she found herself engaging in missions where she killed parents in front of their children much like how her father was killed before her own eyes, and she began to doubt herself. This led to a quest for redemption which caused her to cross paths with our heroes, and she became one of the playable characters of BKEWLO. After the war, when there was no fighting to be done, she opted to become a chef. Good for her, I guess.










(wow Lolo looks like a fifty year old man in that credits picture)

Corellia would go on to be...pretty much the same, even in appearnace (explained in this game by her not being human). While somewhat less bitchy, she remained neutral and passive for as long as possible in the first game. However, once it became clear that the world was in a great deal of trouble that the heroes couldn't handle alone, Corellia stepped up and became the de facto leader of the Good Guys' Alliance with Ladekahn and Calbren, and even did a half-decent job at it.

Lolo was never seen again. Some say she hooked up with Palolo II and lives in Sadal Suud. Others say she died in an explosion after receiving a mysterious package from someone going by the name Edraillim.














This conspicuous black space is where a picture of Nasca, Heughes, and/or Valara would be, watching the Sfida as it flies past. Nasca and Heughes potential presence in the picture suggests that they don't die in Tarazed, despite how bad things looked for them.














Gena and the orphans are never heard of in BKEWLO, but I assume they lived out pleasant lives. Actually, Hassaleh seems to have vanished entirely in BKEWLO. I've heard rumors on the internets suggesting that Guillo and/or Meemai's power was holding it up, and that now that they aren't living there anymore the island fell, but I don't believe the games suggest anything about it either way.








Guillo died as it lived; being awesome. Also it may not have died. So that's pretty great.












Sagi and Milliarde settled down and lived a happy life in Mira. They are never seen nor heard of in BKEWLO, but there is a popular rumor that they had a beautiful daughter named Melodia. Still others claim that they had Kalas (?), and others say that Milly's machina uterus couldn't bear children.



However, MildShow has since put forward Trill as a candidate, and I find myself smitten with the idea, so I'm adding it here. I like the idea of Sagi and Milly living a quiet life running a coffee shop somewhere in Mira's capital and raising a (perfectly normal and never possessed by evil) daughter.


Lyuvann and Almarde














Almarde and Lyuvann eventually had a child, Lyude. Lyuvann would die in action shortly after, leaving Almarde to raise Lyude alone, under the guise of a nanny. While Lyude's half-siblings Skeed and Vallye grew into upstanding Imperial soldiers, Lyude questioned the morality of what the Empire was doing and was ultimately exiled to Diadem for being too good a person for the Empire. It was there that he would join the BKEWLO team.

Sadly, Lyude's return to the Empire would be a tragic one. When the party visited his old home, Skeed and Vallye turned on him, and Almarde died protecting him. However, her spirit would later save him from a hellish interdimensional beast that fed on angst or something, and Lyude would go on to help rebuild the Empire and possibly even become its leader. So what I'm getting at is Almarde's story is a sad one but she raised a pretty cool guy.




Malpercio











The fate of Seph and the others is unclear. While Malpercio (as a unified monster) is the big nasty of BKEWLO, it's not apparent how this Malpercio relates to Seph and his siblings is unclear, beyond that he is made of their twisted body parts or some such, but it's presumably under the control of the Dark Brethren. We do fight the “Sibling Gods” in Cor Hydrae, and they later seem to later save the islands form plummeting to the ground, so perhaps that was their will shining through.



And, uh...I think that's everyone! I had a great time with this, and I hope you all enjoyed it as well; it was fun discovering new things and completing quests I never thought I would try (re: Pac). If you ever get a chance to get a hold of a copy, I really can't recommend these games enough.