Part 39: In Which Will and Kara Remake the World
After an unexpected delay we’re back, and it’s time to put Illusion of Gaia to bed.
“Now you must go to the comet!!”
After that we’re flying through space, on our way to the final battle. We get a new ability for this, and it’s pretty much the lynchpin of the entire fight.
Clash of Light and Shadow
Dark Gaia Boss Battle
The final battle of Illusion of Gaia is a two stage affair, beginning with this creepy face on a weird flattened planetoid.
Every so often the face will open up and shoot a bolt of energy up into the heavens that will then rain down in the form of energy bolts. You can dodge them using the melt ability, but it’s also pretty easy to just move back and forth. They’re very obvious. The face is invulnerable until the mouth opens, however, so timing is kind of important. You can get in one attack at a time, so this can take a minute.
Once you chew through the first form of Dark Gaia you get to the second form, which looks pretty awesome but isn’t actually that dangerous once you realize what it’s doing. Two thirds of its attacks are actually visible on screen here.
The blue orbs are free agents that zip around the screen and can damage you, but a single shot of our new ability “Firebird” (pictured here in all its glory) is enough to destroy those. The glowing yellow plasma balls on the sides are a nuisance, but Shadow’s telekinesis acts as an all around block and deflects them if you get it off in time.
His third ability is a beam of light coming down from the mouth, which represents the only point at which Dark Gaia is vulnerable. When you see the mouth open that’s your opportunity to slam a few firebirds into it and then dodge to the left or right to dodge the incoming beam. It’s not terribly dangerous, and sadly the entire fight actually ends up being kind of anticlimactic compared to the previous boss rush.
Ending and Credits Video
To The New World
“That glowing green planet?” “The comet’s power has disappeared. The evil star has flown off to the other side of the universe… do you know what planet that is, glowing therein the darkness?”
“You act like there’s a lot of choices here.”
“That’s right. Our Earth. Doesn’t it look like a desert oasis?” “It’s never seemed so beautiful. But it looks lonely shining in the dark…”
“Wait, mom?”
“The Earth. A mother with millions of children. I’m sure you think about us sometimes, and and Kara often thinks about her parents. The Earth is the same way. She gets lonely if her children forget about her.” “Okay, that’s one HELL of a guilt trip. Thanks, mom. Not like I just saved the world or anything.”
“Looking at the world you live in from the outside? “It’s as if we’d become spirits…” “I want to show all of our group…No, I want to show everyone in the world…”
“Then they will see this green Earth with their own eyes. See how lonely the Earth looks, just like the two of you. Look carefully at your map of the world.” “Ah! The map has started to change!” “I know I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure they’re not supposed to do that.”
“That’s the new world.” “New world?” “The path of evolution, changed by the comet, has continued until now. The Earth, too, has a life. It, too, has evolved and changed its shape.” “Not so much changed its shape as grown by two or three times.”
“it’s returned to its original condition.” “Our entire world was some kind of comet induced aberration?”
“When I lost my body, I started seeing everything. The past. The future. Humanity’s progress. Maybe people would call this kind of body a spirit.” “Sounds more like you’ve been on some pretty hard drugs, but…”
“Don’t be afraid.” “When we return to Earth, will we be separated?” “Yes…humanity and history have started down a new path. You two thought nothing of it when you met each other in South Cape.”
“you met again unexpectedly. Let’s look at the world before the power of the comet is extinguished.” “We hope you two have a bright future…” “So… this is goodbye?”
“I want to burn you into my memory. Your voice. The warmth of your hand…” “Don’t worry. I will search you out. No matter how long it takes.”
“So take care… close your eyes…” “Will…”
And we became a bird. The end.
“Buildings replaced the forests, river became roads, but the villages held only smiling faces. But the Earth was the only one that looked sad.”
“The Tower of Babel stands tall, as if it knows the whole future of the Earth…”
Staff Roll
And with that, we roll to credits. There’s a lot to take in with that ending, so it’s a good to have time to think. Somehow it was Earth all along, just weirdly twisted and with much, much less land mass.
The montage with the credits goes over some of the famous places we’ve visited, with the cast running steadily to the left and occasionally picking up or losing people.
At least some of the confusion probably comes down to these guys, but it seems pretty clear that the weird incongruities of where places were located come down to living in an illusionary world slapped together from spare parts, myth, and legend.
Kara is probably the most consistent figure we run into, which makes sense if she’s literally Will’s other half.
Still no camels, only Kruks. Does the reverted version of the world not have camels?
The Tower of Babel (presumably) appears to still be around in this version of Earth so it’s not precisely ours. Kruks are a possibility.
After running past the scenery we start passing people, including Kara’s parents, the vampires, and Ishtar painting. They don’t exactly have a place in a modern earth, so it’s an open question as to what will happen to them.
Hopefully Russian Glass guy gets a better shake this time around.
Even Hamlet’s back, his sacrifice presumably negated due to living in a different world. Although I’m sure he’d still be delicious. This is pretty unmistakably an ending, but there’s the equivalent of an after credits scene if you wait a few seconds.
And so, in a world like ours Will, Kara, and all of their friends ended up back together in the same school. The End.