Part 49: Update 49

Update 49



Video Record


I think this is the first plot fight in the game you can't bring monsters to, even counting the ones where you technically shouldn't have any monsters yet (see the start of the LP).


One thing about this fight is that Marta and Lloyd are fairly aggressive and like to combo you. Really it feels like it might actually be too aggressive, which is quite a change from the normal terrible AI.




Emil is getting served twofold here. It's like he's on Doublebutler Island.


: Ratatosk used his Mystic Arte. Lloyd took most of the brunt of it.


: The eruption at the end still hurt Marta though.


: She was knocked unconscious by it.


: Lloyd managed to pull off a win though.














: Oh hey took you long enough to figure it out.


I just cannot get over how messed-up her feet are.




: You're Emil, aren't you?
: Emil?! No, I am Ratatosk!
: No, I understand now. You really are Emil.
: What? Emil, is that true?!
: Emil intends to take responsibility for Lord Ratatosk's crime... in exchange for trapping Lord Ratatosk inside himself. He has already planned to be sealed away to atone for the murder of Aster.
: But that's crazy!
: No, it's true. I used Verius' power to drown out my other self the one inside me, and I did it by force. I'm so ashamed. It's the same thing as killing him! I have no right to live a life of peace after what I've done.


: You're such a stupid idiot! What are you thinking?! Is this what you meant when you said you'd figure something out?! I thought that you... I thought that you had already accepted Ratatosk as a part of yourself.
: But there's nothing to accept. Don't you understand Marta? Once Ratatosk is sealed away, his will will be gone as well.
: Then don't seal him away. Stand up to him and try to reach an understanding! Emil, don't you remember what you said? You and Ratatosk, both of you told me not to run away from Daddy!
: But once Ratatosk and I combine our personalities, I could forget everything and then set out to destroy mankind.
: Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality. I trust you, Emil. No, I trust both you and Ratatosk.
: Marta.
: You know Marta's right. What you were trying to do, have your own friends who trust you kill you, would only cause more pain to the people you care about the most. We believe in you, Emil. We trust you. We always have. So why is it you can't believe in yourself?










: I thought that you were going to have Verius seal me away... and then sacrifice yourself to close the Ginnungagap.
: So then I guess you know what I'm thinking.
: Now let's find out if there's enough room inside of me for you, for the both of us.
: All right then. Let's begin!





This fight isn't too hard unless you're low level, other Emil's HP isn't too much higher than your own and you can heal using items.






I was trying to build up to Mystic Arte all over him but he died right before I could do it.


At this point Emil says "Thank you for everything, I'm glad that you were me." which is sort of fourth-wall breaking. Also FUCK YOU, I didn't want to be a whiny bitch.





: This journey has changed both of us. I now realize that I need you. I need your strength.
: And now I realize for the first time that your kindness is not a weakness.
: Honestly Ratatosk learned this lesson in our time too, but it didn't take then.
: Did it take this time?
: ...
: All right. Fine. I will accept you as part of me, as a show of respect for that tiny bit of courage you have inside.
It's not actually necessary to win that fight, even though it's the absolute last fight. If you lose, Ratatosk has some different dialog up until the last line there but the actual story impact is zero. So just to make sure everyone is clear on this, of the last three battles in the game, it's ok to lose the last two of them.



Video Record








: Oh, we finally get to see Ratatosk's true form.


: Bah, he's just so disappointing.


: Emil? No, Ratatosk?
: Don't look so sad. I take back what I said about annihilating mankind. However, I can't fully guard the door by myself.
: But what do you mean?
: The ancient seal on the door is no longer working since another being forced it open.
: Urgh... That would be my fault. It looks like I'll need to go ahead with my original plan to seal the door with my own mana.
: If that's how you really feel, then I'd be willing to help you as well.
: What?
: Yes. I will rewrite the natural law of the world while you are guarding the door. I am willing to do this to help lesson your suffering as well.
: What exactly do you mean by "rewrite?"
: Well you see, mana didn't originally exist in this world. The arrival of the comet Derris-Kharlan and me, and finally the transfer of the Giant Kharlan Tree onto this world, resulted in mana creating life. So I will take mana from everything that comprises this world... and then use it as a seal for the Ginnungagap.
: WHOA WHOA WHOA WHAT THE FUCK?
: But, But you can't! If you do that, the land will die!
: No, it won't. Although it will take time I plan to write a new law so that won't ever happen. All life that flourishes on this land will no longer require mana to live. Humans, elves, the earth, everything.
: What the fuck? Did he...
: I'll answer all your questions after this is over. For now, simply watch silently. Or rather, as silently as you are able.
: Summon spirits, too?
: No. Summon spirits are kept alive by the presence of mana. After all, we summon spirits are not native to this world to begin with.
: Then what happens to the summon spirits when mana goes away?
: Mana itself will remain in the world. It'll just disappear from all living beings that comprise it. And as long as the new World Tree keeps continuing to produce more mana, it will surround the world and will eventually flow freely into the door's seal. And from there on I will control the flow of mana in this world from the Ginnungagap. It will be my duty as overseer and as the other summon spirit of the tree.
: So what changes will come about to our world?
: Once it's cut off from the protection of mana, the world will eventually decline and die.
: What do you mean by "decline?"
: Well, the world will die once it reaches the end of its lifespan. It may be billions even trillions of years from now. Nobody really knows for sure. The world will return back to its original form to the way it was before the Giant Kharlan Tree was moved here. Back to the way it was meant to be.
: Did Emil also returned to what he was meant to be?
: Yes Marta. I believe you're right. I will return to what I was meant to be. I am Emil, but I am Ratatosk as well. And this may very well be my true form.
: But you remember us, don't you?
: Of course. How could I ever forget you? The time we spent traveling together was not time spent in vain. I've learned that mankind isn't as bad as I thought.
: Ratatosk...
: Now, all of you need to go. I'm going to seal this space once and for all, so no one else ever approaches this door again.






















: Yes.
: Then I'm not saying goodbye, either, because no matter what my heart will always be with yours, Emil.
: Ungh...










: Yes it's complete. As of this moment none of us will be able to leave this room.
: An eternal hell. I suppose it's only fitting for a man who sold his soul to demons and who attempted to destroy the world. Well, it's time for me to make my sacrifice. I'm not sure how long my body will last without the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal--
: A thousand years. It will take one thousand years to draw out the mana from all living beings. After that, it will no longer be necessary to support the world with mana. Then I will use what's left to make a new seal for the door. And at that time, I will set you free from here as well.



Credits




FUCK YOU


I like Wendee Lee since she voiced Jacqli and, well, a female character in everything ever. However she really should have gotten some more consistent performances out of the people doing the voice cast here. Raine's voice was all over the map it felt like.




: OK, so what the fuck? It's been way more than thousand years, does that mean our whole thing was just a big pissing contest between us and Dhaos?
: No.
: Can Ratatosk really change natural laws?
: I think so. I did some work on the elements of mana.
: Wait, so you don't know? Does that mean he didn't do it?
: Yes. Because none of those events after he drew his sword to fight Marta and Lloyd happened.
: Than what the heck did I just watch?



Here's the alternate dialog for that scene if Red-Eyes-Emil beats Green-Eyes-Emil.
: Hey, come on! You can't lose to me that easily. You were gonna beat me and prove that there's kindness somewhere inside of me, right?
: Yes you're right. I... I'm sorry.
: Don't worry. It's all right. I guess this is just like you. Or I should say just like me?



OK, now I'm going to break character to discuss the mana bullshit bit in the ending.

As you can probably figure out, I'm a bit unhappy with it.

It seems like it really downgrades the struggles of the cast of Symphonia and also Phantasia. That mana tree you spent all that time on? Well, it's not as important anymore. Oh well, that's the way it's supposed to be even though this contradicts Phantasia directly.

I mean maybe you could argue that it's still important in the sense of sealing the demons in Phantasia's time, but that's clearly not the intent of things. I've only played about half of Phantasia due to my emulator being a bit buggy but I'd read up on it quite a lot on Aselia before doing the Tales of Symphonia LP. Furthermore the half of Phantasia that I did play through mentioned that the demons still broke in every now and then, so obviously the seal's not doing so hot if it's there in the first place. And this is even before people start doing stupid shit that... Well you'll see.

Also it seems to come at you out of nowhere, unless you wait around on a map for one skit in Chapter 4 to come up.

So tl;dr it seems to contradict Phantasia, comes out of nowhere, and is a bit of a downer I guess. So why did they write it at all? I have no way of known, but I'd guess it's either a way to make Ratatosk more important than Martel, or the writers misinterpreted something in Phantasia.

Psion told me that he guessed that something had happened with mana in the past, because humans can't use it in Phantasia. This is a bit of an oops as it's a plot point in Symphonia that humans can't, so there's no change there. It might also be that they forgot that  the world can cling to life without a mana tree for a little while, but Mithos was able to keep it from running out of mana for 40 times as long as it lasted in Phantasia. Also, that timeline seemed quite a bit less lively than the past, so I believe that it was intentionally portrayed as in a state of decay. 

So tl;dr again, there's no good reason for it to be there. I wonder if Animes with downer endings were popular that year or something?