The Hard Ending

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The Hard Ending

Postby serpet » Sat Oct 15, 2011 2:25 pm

I played and finished this game only a few days ago, but after reading a fair amount of old posts on these forums, I find myself really unsettled by a lot of the conclusions made. Sage of the Wise, I think you're still active on this forum, and I've seen you say that Rhue dies (a literal game death) in the Reaches ending...how can he be speaking to Gaius and Traziun, much less alongside Slade, who is known to be dead and absorbed? There's alot more to say, I guess, but I'll wait for some response before I risk embarrassing myself on a dead board. TY for reading.


To explain why I decided to play this only now, I was playing a game called Terraria with a friend, which referenced a game called Shut up and Jam: Gaiden, the premise of which I found hilarious and was inspired to download. The beginning of the game, at least, had shockingly sophisticated dialogue, and I was actually moved at times by it (one those furries in the sewers was hysterical); I then looked to find the most exemplar of the RM saga, and was pointed in general to this game. Any other game suggestions welcome, btw.
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby Kcrazy » Sat Oct 15, 2011 10:06 pm

I don't remember the reaches ending very well, but it's an interesting point to bring up the continuity of the ending, with two of the four definitely being alive and one being dead. I'd like to see an explanation on this one as well, I've only ever focused on who each is talking about during the ending.
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby serpet » Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:32 am

I would discount the whole thing as a sort of highlight of the game's many relationship metaphors, since the female characters are shown trying to get engage rhue, and then you have the male characters explaining why they have rejected engagement, followed by rhue promising to carry on...but there's the bloodstain thing, which does seem to be exactly where Rhue was kneeling.


- Oh also it could be a trap by the PS, or just a mistake...even Sacrifa says so, not that his interests necessarily coincide with Rhue's.
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby Kcrazy » Sun Oct 16, 2011 8:48 pm

Their probably is a metaphor of sorts in each of their dialogues seem to be directed toward a single person from their past. Gaius' being the easiest to pick, has to be Kloe. Slade's can be interpreted in a few ways, though I've always felt it was Cetsa, other have argued his mother and possibly his sister. Trazium's is the most vague of the three, mainly since we don't know to much about his life, but it's revealed when you take Sorya to the dinner that she used to be a blood lyn, so it's possible her and Traz have a similar relationship as Gaius and Kloe.
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby serpet » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:10 pm

Well, when I say relationship metaphor, I meant like Slade being ashamed of feeling for "her", Gaius leaving "her" for "her" own good, and Traziun being too proud for "her", despite getting close; I think that the character relations are metaphors for things the author has experienced or wants to illustrate. Keep in mind that Rhue's quest is fundamentally romantic, and I think those relationships are practically the main subject of the game.

I do agree with you, though, about the identities that the male characters are referring to. Heh, but I think that Serena is the girl, too, and I don't think that view was popular on this message board.
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby serpet » Sat Oct 22, 2011 2:53 am

on another note, it was stated that "a great beast" was chained to the base of the tower. The tower obviously represents Rhue's shadow sword, and at the base of a sword, you usually find it's wielder....so maybe the Reaches ending is actually Rhue committing suicide, and having some kind of insightful last-moments freakout.
His final speech is a bit too uplifting and optimistic, though, and he seems to have some understanding of his situation...actually I think it's the most optimistic and determined that you ever see him, in the entire series.

BTW, is the true name of Rhue's sword (not just the creepy shadow avatar) Phantom's Edge or Phantom Slasher?
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby Sage Of The Wise » Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:30 am

Phantom Slasher if I remember correctly. There is some guy in EP4 or EP5 that mentioned a few shadow swords and it gets listed I think. Phantom's Edge as the name of the tower would actually make sense in your metaphor since the Tower would be the 'blade' or 'edge' of the metaphorical sword. The 'Phantom's Edge' if you will.

Back to the Phantom Slasher name, I was always surprised to learn it was a legit shadow sword name. It makes sense the world would give a name to this serial killing entity, and 'Phantom Slasher' seems simple enough to have jut spawned from the general populace into normal use. Remember even it's not until the end of EP3 that we even get the name Phantom Slasher (i think). But then it turns out to be the name of the shadow sword. I wonder how the populace managed to correctly name the killer?
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby X-Calibar » Sat Oct 22, 2011 2:46 pm

On Phantom Slasher... I think Phantom Slasher was just one of many names given by the populace. I don't remember the other names though...
And, somewhere later on, didn't we find out that Tetzel had Sacrifa or some people spread the word about the "Phantom Slasher"? If that's so, then it makes sense the correct name would slowly become common knowledge.
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby serpet » Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:01 pm

yeah, I'd forgotten that the name had come from Tetzel. I suppose that he has reliable info, being as powerful as he is, or moreso if he's directly related to the killings.

It sounded like Sacrifa was reading negatively into what Tetzel was doing, though...he might have really just meant to warn people of the dangers of the sword, not spread fear; no way of knowing which, i guess.
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby Kcrazy » Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:23 pm

That's interesting. I didn't know until I started posting here that Phantom Slasher was the actual name of the sword, never really dawned on me how odd it was that the sword and the killer where coincidentally had the same name. The fact that Tetzel is he one spreading the name is even more intriguing, since he accurately identified the Phantom Slasher's killing profile. It would seem Tetzel has some knowledge of shadow swords at the very least, and probably some deeper insight on Rhue's true identity. I wonder if his book plays a role in this.
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Re: The Hard Ending

Postby Sage Of The Wise » Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:59 pm

That's actually a good point about Tetzel likely being the one to spread the name. Makes sense.
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