History Analysis / BlazeUnion

In comparison, Gulcasa cares deeply for the quality of life of the people, and has spent the entire game going out of his way to smite corruption, rescue and [[TheParagon inspire]] the poor and middle class, and does not consider his life to be all that important in the grand scheme--to the point where he has to be forced into killing a {{mook}} to save himself. He loves his comrades deeply, and is loved by them in return; even the romantic aspirations of his [[ObliviousToLove unnoticed]] UnwantedHarem provide a sharp contrast of fertility and possibility to Soltier's own barrenness. When Gulcasa is finally crowned at the end of the game, his new subjects start out ambivalent, putting up with him simply because he's better than the alternative--until they actually see him and hear him speak. Their opinion of him does a drastic reversal as they hear of his ideals and realize how much he actually cares for them as individuals, instead of treating them as worthless the way the old regime did. Gulcasa wipes out the corrupt system by shifting the form of government from monarchy to dictatorship, which is gratefully received by the people; by the time of ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'' he has achieved a well-earned HundredPercentAdorationRating from his teammates and his populace. Gulcasa knows a love for the people that is blind to gender, race, and class; this strongly parallels the values of the Confucian tradition.

And interestingly enough, ''VideoGame/YggdraUnison'' has it that [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Gulcasa has already lost his virginity]]. Make of ''that'' what you will.

Although he must now withstand Brongaa's instinctual bloodlust, Gulcasa stands in 6a-4 with his "humanity" intact: He knows what he is fighting for, and he is using his heritage as a demonic dragon as a tool to achieve those ends and not as the reason he fights (as in Medoute's discussion of self-realization in 6c-7). He loves his friends more than anything, and to replace Velleman and Siskier, Nessiah and Emilia are the people who are now most important to him. Despite the drawbacks of his power--the occasional illnesses (seen in Battlefield 32 of ''YggdraUnion'' and route C) and the need to either kill something using Genocide or die--he can endure with his will intact. [[FailureKnight However, Gulcasa is fully aware that he has failed to protect the people most important to him before, and he is desperate to keep that from happening ever again.]] Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder combines with this fear to make him act more harshly than he did as the (comparatively) WideEyedIdealist Garlot, which in turn arouses Medoute's suspicion. And everything just gets worse from there.

From the end of the A route to the end of chapter 8 of ''YggdraUnion'', a series of tragedies occur that all involve the deaths and betrayals of his loved ones, causing Gulcasa to experience extreme levels of stress:

* While trying to keep Yggdra from being crowned, Gulcasa pushes himself to the point of collapse and winds up bedridden until chapter 8 of ''YggdraUnion'', rendering himself unable to protect anyone.

* Emilia dies trying to save the remaining militiamen. (It is after this point that Gulcasa begins to noticeably feel the strain; though heralded as "the man whose tears have long since dried" when victorious in ''YggdraUnison'', he breaks down and cries at the news of her death.)

* '''Route A:''' Emilia reveals her true name in 6a-4. She experiences stress towards the beginning of the chapter (losing Siskier and her home), but after revealing her name, she does not join the active forces or go berserk. In ''YggdraUnion,'' she is treated as one of the most powerful people in the army, but even when she is injured and facing unfavorable odds, she does not go berserk or display Brongaa's power; thus, the seal still seems to be in place.

Thus, Emilia's triggering stressor is "being considered TheLoad". Knowing that she has Brongaa's power and wishing to assert her self-worth the way that most preteens and teenagers do, Emilia expects the same from herself as she sees from the rest of Gram Blaze--and wants them to acknowledge her as one of them. The critical difference between the A route and B route is how Emilia is treated by the people around her. In ''YggdraUnion'', everyone in the Imperial Army sees Emilia as an adult; Russell and the Royal Army are notably the only people who attempt to treat her as a child, and even then she is more than capable of proving a match for them in battle. The B route has Emilia repeatedly dismissed because of her age, and then treated as though her only worth is in combat. Once the seal has been broken, the threat of losing the only value Emilia assumes she has in Gram Blaze's eyes is simply too much for her mind to take.

As the game's writers have quite competently handled Nessiah throughout the rest of the game, it is unlikely that this is solely CharacterDerailment. In addition, it would be odd for the "mental/emotional breakdown" theme to be absent in this route when it is so important in the other two final chapters of the game. Throughout ''YggdraUnion'' and ''YggdraUnison'', it is implied that Nessiah's mental state is somewhat delicate after having lived so long and gone through so much trauma. Thus, Nessiah's odd behavior and relative incompetence in route C could be explained a result of his being put under more mental strain than he can endure.

This is driven home at last in 6c-7, the final battle. In ''YggdraUnion'', ''YggdraUnison'', and the other two paths of ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion'', even after being repeatedly foiled, Nessiah always dons his best {{troll}}face and walks into the worst of situations laughing at and mocking his opponents, refusing to show any pressure he's feeling; in this final battlefield, he cannot muster that facade. Nessiah walks into the confrontation dead serious, desperate, clinging to his angelic blood as the only real advantage he has left over the humans, and [[ThisCannotBe trying to protect his splintering mind by rejecting any evidence that he might not be able to stop Gram Blaze now]]. The gap between the charismatic MagnificentBastard Nessiah is in the rest of the series and the way he is presented in the C route--with the only significant difference remaining between him and the run-of-the-mill bit villain being his point-blank refusal to go into a MotiveRant--is all that's needed to impress to players that something is very, very wrong with this picture.

And interestingly enough, ''YggdraUnison'' has it that [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Gulcasa has already lost his virginity]]. Make of ''that'' what you will.

In comparison, Gulcasa cares deeply for the quality of life of the people, and has spent the entire game going out of his way to smite corruption, rescue and [[TheParagon inspire]] the poor and middle class, and does not consider his life to be all that important in the grand scheme--to the point where he has to be forced into killing a {{mook}} to save himself. He loves his comrades deeply, and is loved by them in return; even the romantic aspirations of his [[ObliviousToLove unnoticed]] UnwantedHarem provide a sharp contrast of fertility and possibility to Soltier's own barrenness. When Gulcasa is finally crowned at the end of the game, his new subjects start out ambivalent, putting up with him simply because he's better than the alternative--until they actually see him and hear him speak. Their opinion of him does a drastic reversal as they hear of his ideals and realize how much he actually cares for them as individuals, instead of treating them as worthless the way the old regime did. Gulcasa wipes out the corrupt system by shifting the form of government from monarchy to dictatorship, which is gratefully received by the people; by the time of ''YggdraUnion'' he has achieved a well-earned HundredPercentAdorationRating from his teammates and his populace. Gulcasa knows a love for the people that is blind to gender, race, and class; this strongly parallels the values of the Confucian tradition.

Out of the remaining characters, Pamela can be placed in the third group (runaways) due to her travels outside of Yumira, Byff joins the third group in route B (where he chooses to remain with the party rather than keep pursuing the Revelation), and Mizer discusses how close he has previously come to joining the second group (orphans) due to poverty. Baretreenu would fit in the "runaway" group as well.

Focusing back in on the scene in question, here we have Gulcasa taking another step forward into [[GrowingUpSucks the grim and jaded realm of adulthood]], choosing to accept the willing sacrifice of a subordinate in order to preserve his own life and the ensure the survival of Gram Blaze's ideals, which Garlot probably couldn't have accomplished. Adding the suggestive dialogue and the SexIsViolence motif back in makes the scene a direct metaphor for SexAsARiteOfPassage, and Gulcasa's final transition into becoming an adult. Meanwhile Medoute spies on them from the shadows, and thus their secret is "outed".

This is driven home at last in 6c-7, the final battle. In ''YggdraUnion'', ''YggdraUnison'', and the other two paths of ''BlazeUnion'', even after being repeatedly foiled, Nessiah always dons his best {{troll}}face and walks into the worst of situations laughing at and mocking his opponents, refusing to show any pressure he's feeling; in this final battlefield, he cannot muster that facade. Nessiah walks into the confrontation dead serious, desperate, clinging to his angelic blood as the only real advantage he has left over the humans, and [[ThisCannotBe trying to protect his splintering mind by rejecting any evidence that he might not be able to stop Gram Blaze now]]. The gap between the charismatic MagnificentBastard Nessiah is in the rest of the series and the way he is presented in the C route--with the only significant difference remaining between him and the run-of-the-mill bit villain being his point-blank refusal to go into a MotiveRant--is all that's needed to impress to players that something is very, very wrong with this picture.

Although this archetype is modernized in ''BlazeUnion'' and certainly isn't the only thing going on in this part of the story, the imprint of Confucianism can clearly be seen on the A route. The old Bronquian monarchy is falling apart: Ike was easily manipulated by the corrupt court and killed by the corrupt military; Soltier does not have the political skill to hold his own between said court and military, and decides to govern using fear in order to exert what influence he can. Obviously, this does not work, and the corruption spreads throughout the nobility, with bandits riddling the country like a cancer. Soltier's own childlessness despite the ready presence of Lapis as his love interest, along with the illnesses revealed in the C route, vaguely suggest infertility and help to depict the old regime as being barren.

The final battle thus becomes an analogue to the much simpler ComingOutStory, with the added bonus of making Medoute's apparent lack of caring re: Nessiah egging Gulcasa on make a lot more sense. Rather than attacking Gulcasa's chosen partner, she comes up to him and tells him what she saw directly, her FantasticRacism taking on distinctive tones of FantasticHomophobia at last. He is, she says, betraying his bond with Siskier and using his grief as an "excuse" for why he clings to Nessiah and lets his blood run wild; and no amount of Gulcasa's protests that his feelings are genuine, he hasn't forgotten what Siskier meant to him, will never forget what she meant, and is still himself fall upon deaf ears. Medoute and Jenon take up the roles of the rejecting parties, refusing all of Gulcasa's attempts at reconciliation, and walk out of his life completely after their confrontation. The Imperial Army remains supportive, and sees nothing wrong with the adult he has become.

After this point, Emilia becomes an active member of the force; she takes great pleasure in fighting and pesters Garlot and the others into allowing her to take point in important tasks. Medoute speculates that this attitude comes from the encroachment of Brongaa's blood, but it is equally possible that Emilia is just [[TheBumblebee eager to prove that she is of use]] now that she is a full member of Gram Blaze. If the player continues to deploy Emilia, it means to her that she has become useful and is now the equal of the rest of the party, if only in battle.

With this, we may define Garlot's triggering stressor to be "the death or betrayal of members of the {{Nakama}}". Tiera was his home, but the most important thing to Garlot is the surrogate family of his friends, who accept and love him; this is an important base of support for any victim of abuse. For Garlot, his desire for greater strength is both the desire to not have to rely on anyone and in turn to become reliable; he must protect himself and everyone dear to him. For his loved ones to die or to turn on him means that he has failed in doing this.

* '''Route B:''' Because of Luciana's death, Gram Blaze runs straight into a confrontation with Fantasinia, specifically with Ordene and Alanjame. No matter what happens as a result--whether they are accepted or Aegina takes the throne in a coup d'etat--Nessiah will be in a place of great influence over the wielder of the Gran Centurio, be that the LawfulStupid already-proven UnwittingPawn Ordene, the young and impressionable Yggdra, or Aegina herself, who would see no reason to doubt a fellow member of the {{Nakama}}. If Fantasinia is toppled and Aegina has no interest in the Gran Centurio, Nessiah will even be able to take the sword himself. Whatever the case, he will be able to have direct control over its growth. (And the route ends with Aegina in possession of the Gran Centurio, which is still favorable to Nessiah.)

Also consider the way that Luciana and Aegina talk in public compared to the selves that they show around Gram Blaze. In the "Compensation for Patronage" series of missions, Luciana introduces herself as "Luciana Art Albelt" and speaks of Marquis Albelt as her father, but when conversing with the {{Nakama}}, neither of the twins call Albelt anything other than their foster father, and even address him by name, which should be unthinkable to any child who loves their parents. The two of them cannot let go of their past, and thus see their fake surname only as a convenient mask to show to the public, not who they really are.

Additionally, the layout of Tiera recalls the plight of the untouchable underclass of Japanese society, the burakumin. Tiera is divided by a river. The right side is near bountiful plains and trade roads, and is home to the wealthy; the run-down ghetto of Nether is close to a small desert area, and the very poor are confined to it. There is a single bridge over the river that connects the two halves of the town, representative of the tenuous connection that exists over the huge gulf of the class divide. Historically, towns that had a significant burakumin population were constructed similarly, right down to the river and low number of bridges (a feature so iconic that it was used for the title of the classic Japanese novel ''Hashi no Nai Kawa''). The fact that Gulcasa, a member of the extreme poor, was born with Brongaa's power regardless of his social status and rose to the position of Emperor can be seen as criticism for the burakumin system, whose social stigma has finally begun to disappear in Japan over the past few decades (a time lag comparable to the gap between the end of racial segregation in America and the dissolution of racial discrimination, which is still in its dying throes at the beginning of the twenty-first century).

!Confucianism and the A Route

And interestingly enough, ''YggdraUnison'' has it that [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Gulcasa has already lost his virginity]]. Make of ''that'' what you will.

And since after all Nessiah didn't help to raise Gulcasa, there are no parental undertones in their friendship, only romantic ones.

The fourth battlefield of Chapter 6a involves a great deal of Jenon and Medoute talking back and forth about the ways that Garlot the child and Gulcasa the adult are different, attributing the changes in his demeanor to [[FantasticRacism his demon blood]] rather than [[TraumaCongaLine the rather brutal series of emotional upheavals he's just suffered through]]. While Gulcasa himself is not behaving all that much differently (other than getting annoyed when Jenon insists on calling him "Garlot"), the player is invited to sympathize with Jenon and Medoute by the soundtrack, the tense BGM that plays as a backdrop to the majority of the scenes focusing on Gulcasa implying that [[UnfortunateImplications there's something unsettling at work here]].

The first three battlefields of the chapter are based around the central motif that NothingIsTheSameAnymore. Chapter 5's outro announces that the quiet attempts at social reform will become a full-fledged revolution, with Garlot promoted to leadership of a formal army. The very first scene of Chapter 6a establishes that Garlot is bewildered at and uncertain about the sudden change; it also marks Siskier finally gaining the courage to try to confess her feelings for him, a marked change from the [[CannotSpitItOut inability to bring them up]] until now. Things start happening very quickly then with Baldus' attack meaning that [[DoomedHometown the base must be sacrificed to allow them the chance to escape]], and the battlefield following this kills off Siskier (who Garlot has always perceived as a motherly figure) and Velleman (who he wanted to use as a father surrogate, and who was ill-equipped to deal with Garlot's sudden autonomy).

!Route A as Gulcasa's ComingOfAgeStory

And lastly, there is Cerica, who only has one identity and celebrates it. She occasionally does speak in the first person when upset or serious, showing that her status as the local ThirdPersonPerson is her own choice, not a demonstration of low intelligence. David named her and raised her, and seeing him as her family, Cerica throws herself into his teachings wholeheartedly, calling herself by the name he gave her to show the whole world how she feels.

*'''Route B:''' Because of Luciana's death, Gram Blaze runs straight into a confrontation with Fantasinia, specifically with Ordene and Alanjame. No matter what happens as a result--whether they are accepted or Aegina takes the throne in a coup d'etat--Nessiah will be in a place of great influence over the wielder of the Gran Centurio, be that the LawfulStupid already-proven XanatosSucker Ordene, the young and impressionable Yggdra, or Aegina herself, who would see no reason to doubt a fellow member of the {{Nakama}}. If Fantasinia is toppled and Aegina has no interest in the Gran Centurio, Nessiah will even be able to take the sword himself. Whatever the case, he will be able to have direct control over its growth. (And the route ends with Aegina in possession of the Gran Centurio, which is still favorable to Nessiah.)