Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with PD

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Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with PD

Postby Cherok » Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:59 am

Hey all, I had a thought that I haven't seen posted here before. Tell me if I'm repeating something that has already been volunteered.

I'm playing through PSIV again, and the coincidence between Alis and Alys has always been something that I found interesting. In addition to having (at least in the translated edition) the same sounding name to the heroine of Yore, Alys, Rune and perhaps Grandfather Dorin seem to have the makings of a Dark Force fighting posse, one that the Lutz of the time was likely assembling for around the 1000 year mark.

I'm thinking that up until the unexpected death of Alys at the hands of Zio, Rune could have believed that she would be the heroine to defeat this iteration of Dark Force. There was no knowledge of the Profound Darkness' existence until far later in the game, and it could explain Rune's switch from discrediting to supporting Chaz following Alys' death. When you can't have your first choice, you support your second :P

Thoughts? Please poke holes.
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Re: Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with

Postby etony33 » Thu Jan 10, 2019 2:39 pm

I'm not sure that Rune 100% knew what he was going to do about Dark Force at that point. If he did intend to have Alys help him in that fashion, he almost certainly would have mentioned it at some point.

Also, he said he saw potential in Chaz from the very beginning. He just kind of has an abrasive personality. In addition, Alys can't even equip a dagger, never mind Elsydeon. All that being said, she *did* have a major role: acting as a mentor to Chaz and toughening him up while helping him to mature.

You *do* have a major connection to the first game in your four main party members: the sword wielding main protagonist; the cat-like character who uses claws and tusks and buffs/debuffs; the gun user with high HP, high defense, and no TP; and Lutz.
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Re: Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with

Postby etony33 » Thu Jan 10, 2019 4:06 pm

Sorry, just following your instructions ;)

Really though, while I don't think he was opposed to the idea of Alys helping him to defeat Dark Force, I don't think he was actively courting her to do so, either. Remember, he told Chaz, not Alys, not to fight Zio alone, because "at this stage of the game, (Chaz is) no match for him".

Maybe he thought Alys had more common sense? I feel like he would have said "come with me to the Ladea Tower so we can get the Psycho Wand in order to penetrate Zio's magical barrier" if he was certain that he wanted them to help him.
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Re: Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with

Postby Doctor Hooves » Thu Jan 10, 2019 6:59 pm

I’m not sure if Alys would’ve been Rune’s choice to defeat PD if she didn’t get killed. It actually is an interesting thought, and I’m surprised that this is the first time I’ve seen this.

Alys likely would’ve stayed around until PD, but I don’t think Rune saw any extreme power in her, as she has no extreme outstanding ability or weapon. Of course, that doesn’t mean she’s weak, as other than a lack of slasher upgrade for a bit, Alys can wear equipment after you lose her, and she can still be quite a good force to have if you hack her back in.
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Re: Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with

Postby etony33 » Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:19 pm

Doctor Hooves wrote:Alys can wear equipment after you lose her, and she can still be quite a good force to have if you hack her back in.


That's more than likely just a programming quirk. It would have probably been more time consuming to make it so she could equip some slashers/crowns/heavy armor and not others. It's not unlike how Lyle and Lena can equip everything that Ryan and Sari respectively can, despite the fact that it would be impossible for the first generation characters to have access to some of it without hacking.
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Re: Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with

Postby toei » Thu Jan 10, 2019 10:50 pm

The question occurred to me during my recent playthrough. Was Alys supposed to fight Dark Force if it came back? I don't think Alys' lacking more advanced skills has anything to do with it; the developers weren't going to give her any skills that most players would never get to see, knowing she dies relatively early in the game. Doesn't mean the writers didn't mean to suggest this possibility. There's no evidence either way.
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Re: Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with

Postby etony33 » Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:45 am

Alys doesn't really lack advanced skills, though. She learns Nafoi and Nazan, both of which most players would never see without serious powerleveling. She's fast, hits relatively hard, and can equip heavy armor. So, the lack of skills is kind of a tradeoff in that sense.
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Re: Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with

Postby Cherok » Sat Jan 12, 2019 6:13 am

The inability to equip a dagger would certainly disqualify her for Elsydeon, but with Rune being as seemingly 'in the know' about the ultimate intentions of the Profoud Darkness as the rest of the party (until the saga with Seth, I believe), I'm not entirely sure that Rune knew what his plan was for tackling the inevitable Dark Force arrival.

I don't get the sense that he was clairvoyant in any way (it was Lutz memory and not a crystal ball after all), I still wonder if Dorin and Alys was the best that he could muster in tough times.

I get that in EOTM that NeiSword was the ultimate weapon that was used to deal the final blow to Dark Force, but could it be possible that Nei Slasher could have done the same amount of damage? The weapons from PS II didn't exactly make an appearance in EOTM, but (correct me if I'm wrong) but all of the Nei weapons were used in II as methods for attacking Dark Force.

It's a lot of reading between the lines, but this angle certainly humanizes Rune's plight. Mother Brain has been gone for 1000 years, Mota's fighting force of hunters seem pretty rag tag in IV when compared to the expertise in II (you have 3 come to your door!), and without even a government to build a fighting force, I'm inclined to believe that pickins for worthy fighters in Algol were slim.

It amazes me that there were enough clever plot points in a series of 4 games released over a span of 5 or 6 years to keep a community of people talking about it 25 years into the future. Part of me wishes that Sega and the original team would bring players back to Algo, but given the onset of the internet in the late 90's and the relative age of the PS community of the time, I don't imagine that you'd see the same ground-swell of fan service.
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Re: Until Zio killed her, Rune expected Alys to contend with

Postby etony33 » Sat Jan 12, 2019 11:41 am

If anything, he probably would have looked toward Kyra or another esper. Kyra actually has a more powerful version of Tandle and Hewn than Rune does.
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