retconing Rajaion's death
Jan. 30th, 2021 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kradeelavjust finished my '2020 PoR run' today on a lazy saturday ... such a satisfying end to the game.
(for those new here, i have a long tradition of replaying Path of Radiance specifically after every big life change ... used to do it on a much more regular basis but i'm pretty sure I'm up to 70+ playthroughs, heh. that kind of a comfort game. didn't get around to commentary of it this year but i might as I move into Radiant Dawn because there's a lot more satisfying spaces-between-things to meta on?)
anyway - one of the big question marks to PoR was wtf was up with Rajaion's death.
A lot of folks (including me) on the first several playthroughs / before RD were convinced Rajaion was gravely wounded, but still alive after the herons brought him back from his warped laguz self. A few of the lines immediately after seemed to suggest that all was "fine", ie he didn't freakin' pass away right in front of everyone, and Ena's last lines to him were vague enough it seemed he just went back to unconsciousness, not... dead.
Ena
...Sniff... Rajaion! Rajaion! Oh, Rajaion...
Rajaion
...Ena... Let's return to Goldoa. The two of us...together.
Ena
I will go anywhere, my love, as long as it is with you.
Rajaion
Ena...from this day forward...Forever......
Ena
...Sniff......sniff...Ah, Rajaion...
Ike
He was one of the dragon tribe?
Reyson
Yes.
Leanne
(Poor thing....)
Mist
Hmm...
(The "he was one of the dragon tribe" might be the strongest clue he died, but it could also easily be a suggestion of 'pre-ashnard-personal-wyvern' times.) For such a normally *incredibly* tight story-as-gameplay game (characters always reacted to changes even as sprites, satisfying cutscene changes at the right emotional beats, etc) this miss was extraordinarily odd.
Therefore, my suggestion: he is still alive as the dragons/laguz move everyone away from that battlefield; he has mortal injuries/a terminal illness that mean he'll succumb within a few days (ie say the poison ravaged his system for too long, even with Reyson/Leanne partially healing it.) But he was able to live his last three-ish days in a slightly better sense of dignity bedridden in Goldoa, remarkably without pain, and with Ena by his side. At peace.
That, to me - is the perfect 'have your cake and eat it' situation. The vagueness of 'yeah he's not well, and going to die soon, but he didn't keel over right there.' The herons feel powerful enough they can at least extend a few days of life (see also: Bertram/Renning) Ena gets to have a marginally less traumatizing reunion, and it also feels more ... realistic in some senses given that some chronic illnesses aren't as clean cut as 'alive' or 'keels over within seconds'.
(Now I kinda want to illustrate those moments, ngl)
(for those new here, i have a long tradition of replaying Path of Radiance specifically after every big life change ... used to do it on a much more regular basis but i'm pretty sure I'm up to 70+ playthroughs, heh. that kind of a comfort game. didn't get around to commentary of it this year but i might as I move into Radiant Dawn because there's a lot more satisfying spaces-between-things to meta on?)
anyway - one of the big question marks to PoR was wtf was up with Rajaion's death.
A lot of folks (including me) on the first several playthroughs / before RD were convinced Rajaion was gravely wounded, but still alive after the herons brought him back from his warped laguz self. A few of the lines immediately after seemed to suggest that all was "fine", ie he didn't freakin' pass away right in front of everyone, and Ena's last lines to him were vague enough it seemed he just went back to unconsciousness, not... dead.
Ena
...Sniff... Rajaion! Rajaion! Oh, Rajaion...
Rajaion
...Ena... Let's return to Goldoa. The two of us...together.
Ena
I will go anywhere, my love, as long as it is with you.
Rajaion
Ena...from this day forward...Forever......
Ena
...Sniff......sniff...Ah, Rajaion...
Ike
He was one of the dragon tribe?
Reyson
Yes.
Leanne
(Poor thing....)
Mist
Hmm...
(The "he was one of the dragon tribe" might be the strongest clue he died, but it could also easily be a suggestion of 'pre-ashnard-personal-wyvern' times.) For such a normally *incredibly* tight story-as-gameplay game (characters always reacted to changes even as sprites, satisfying cutscene changes at the right emotional beats, etc) this miss was extraordinarily odd.
Therefore, my suggestion: he is still alive as the dragons/laguz move everyone away from that battlefield; he has mortal injuries/a terminal illness that mean he'll succumb within a few days (ie say the poison ravaged his system for too long, even with Reyson/Leanne partially healing it.) But he was able to live his last three-ish days in a slightly better sense of dignity bedridden in Goldoa, remarkably without pain, and with Ena by his side. At peace.
That, to me - is the perfect 'have your cake and eat it' situation. The vagueness of 'yeah he's not well, and going to die soon, but he didn't keel over right there.' The herons feel powerful enough they can at least extend a few days of life (see also: Bertram/Renning) Ena gets to have a marginally less traumatizing reunion, and it also feels more ... realistic in some senses given that some chronic illnesses aren't as clean cut as 'alive' or 'keels over within seconds'.
(Now I kinda want to illustrate those moments, ngl)
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-01 10:15 am (UTC)