Line #1 WMG/Ultima


1	'''[[AC:VideoGame/{{Ultima}}]]'''
2
3	[[WMG: [[VideoGame/UltimaI The Lands of Dark Unknown and the Lands of the Feudal Lords]] were the settings of ''VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy'' and the first 4/5 of the ''{{Videogame/Wizardry}}'' games.]]
4	Which is why you can get an OldSaveBonus (Platform/AppleII only, sorry) of transferring characters between Ultima III, Wizardry I, and Bard's Tale. The dimensional shift hadn't ''quite'' sealed completely, and Moongates still occasionally sent people across.
5	* Skare Brae was split in two by the eventual separation, and both "halves" regrew into their own cities. [[spoiler: And both eventually got destroyed.]]
6
7	[[WMG: The rest of the series actually takes place ''before'' most of ''VideoGame/UltimaI''.]]
8	How far back in time did the Stranger travel to defeat Mondain anyway? If the rest of the series takes place between Mondain's defeat in the past and the rest of Ultima I, that neatly explains why there aren't any hovercars and spaceships and blasters in the later games - they haven't been invented yet.
9
10	[[WMG: The Gargoyles were weeks away from defeat when the Avatar created the truce.]]
11	They were running out of the two items that made them "Balrons." An Yelm potion, their "sleep breath" was LostTechnology to them; and what gave them such utter power and strength in battle; silver serpent venom; wasn't feasible anymore since it killed any who ingested it and they just did not have the numbers to justify WeHaveReserves. Hence the supposed previous invincibility of their attack; and their total lack of threat in gameplay. These two factors also are what lead them to creating a gate to summon the False Prophet to kill him. They were desperate.
12
13	[[WMG: Gargoyles were created/altered by Mondain to be the vessels for Daemons to become Balrons. TimeTravel freed most of them.]]
14	Supposedly ''Ultima 6'' explained that what we thought were the most evil of the random monsters in 1-4 were a "simply misunderstood" race whose sleep powers were due to a potion they carried around, and super strength from a drug that killed them after they succeeded in battle. If this is so, they've totally succumbed to MonsterThreatExpiration in U6. However, there is an alternate explaination. The original ''Ultima 1'' had the Stranger/Avatar going back in time 1000 years before Mondain becomes immortal to kill him. Mondain was terrorizing Brittania for a millenia in the original timeline. It's stated in the U1 instructions that before Mondain came, demons didn't exist. Mondain enslaved the Gargoyles, and gave them as host bodies to the Daemons who would become Balrons. Balrons could travel through dimensions, so were immune to the change when the Stranger/Avatar went back in time and killed Mondain. In the new timeline, without his influence, the Gargoyles relied on the Codex to purify themselves, and the "Time Orphan" Balrons were eliminated when the Codex's influence was brought to the surface world in U4.
15	* The later "Wingless" Daemons in ''VideoGame/UltimaVI'' are Daemons who possessed a human, and decided to stay in their body; modifying it for their own purposes. This is why they start leaving bodies; it's the modified body.
16
17	[[WMG: Minax's powers came from fusing Earth with Britannia.]]
18	This resulted in the three other continents being permanently sent to other dimensions, and why U2 takes place on Earth. Even after they were separated, the "damage" resulted in the Moongates; with the Moonstones solidifying eventually. Reality reshaped Britania's memories of the events to exclude Earth.
19
20	[[WMG: The Stranger/Avatar killed Minax before she invaded Earth because of TimeTravel.]]
21	The Time of Legends was before Pangaea, before Sosaria/Britannia. Minax took over from Mondain in Sosaria; then went back in time and then from the Time of Legends invaded all timelines of Earth. By killing Minax in the Time of Legends, the invasion never happened. To the Britannians; she rose in power; then vanished/was killed. To Earth, it never happened.
22	* Just like how Mondain never had his 1000 years reign; but did cause enough problems to be a historical villain; before making his Gem of Immortality
23
24
25	[[WMG: The WMG/TimeLord is ''not'' a Timelord.]]
26	He is simply a normal man that secretly siphons power from whichever Big Bad currently plagues Britannia. Guardian, being smarter than the others, noticed this and locked him up in the Shrine of Humility. Not wanting to admit his weakness to Avatar, he gives him the hourglass and tells him to get Nicodemus to repair it. Nicodemus does so - using a lot of magic in the process. In reality, the hourglass is nothing more than a container for magic. When Avatar returns the hourglass to him, he draws the magic from it, and eventually escapes.
27
28	[[WMG: In Ultima 6: The False Prophet, the war against the gargoyles is a big hoax.]]
29	The Avatar goes ALL OVER Britannia, including the gargoyle homeland, and doesn't find a single battlefield.
30	* Not to mention...nobody mistakes the Gargoyles for Daemons. ...nobody at all. Despite this being the BIG TWIST and {{Retcon}} that the Balrons you were killing back in ''VideoGame/UltimaIV'' were "just misunderstood."
31
32	[[WMG: Mondain is a Sith Lord.]]
33	Look at the way he fuses technology and "magic" (i.e., the Force). He has an apprentice. The protagonist of the first "Ultima," who goes up against him, has to become a "space ace" by shooting down enemies who are quite clearly TIE fighters.
34
35	[[WMG: The Lizardmen's language seen in ''Ultima Underworld'' is more complex than what is presented in the game.]]
36
37	If you work out the Lizardmen's language, it appears to be simple HulkSpeak. However, remember that the Avatar has only just started to learn the language, and until recently was unaware that the Lizardmen even had a language. Hence, when he listens to them, he isn't really going to pick up everything they say; rather, he just gets the key words in the sentence, and works out the meaning based on that. The dialogue presented it just what the Avatar hears, rather than what the Lizardman actually says. This is how most people understand second languages.
38
39	Thus, it's likely that the Lizardmen perceive the Avatar to speak their language poorly and haltingly, but appreciate the fact that he is at least trying.
40
41	[[WMG: Dungeon Keeper tells the story of the Guardian conquering Britannia.]]
42	Consider how the Guardian banishes the Avatar to Pagan at the end of Serpent Isle, and when you return to Britannia at the end of Pagan, it's a hellish wasteland. ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper'' tells the story of how the Guardians minions take over the world and turn it into a wasteland, and culminates with the Avatar returning from Pagan and making a valiant attempt at stopping the Guardians minions, but is defeated (but escapes and plots a way to overthrow the Guardian... until Ultima IX...)
43
44	[[WMG: The Stranger[=/=]Avatar was also summoned to VideoGame/{{Cythera}} by Alaric the Land King.]]
45
46	[[WMG: Between ''8'' and ''9'', the Avatar repressed his memories of being the Avatar out of crossing the DespairEventHorizon.]]
47	It's the only way to explain why he doesn't remember anything that he should from the previous games.
48
49	After returning to a post-apocalyptic Britannia at the end of ''Ultima 8'', the Avatar fell into a deep sense of depression, guilt, and impotence at the fact that he couldn't stop the Guardian in time. Unable to cope with the loss, he retreated into a fantasy world in which he was still a normal person living in his home on Earth, blocking out the memories of his adventures as the Avatar. Eventually, however, the Wyrmguard attacked, and he had to snap himself out of it, creating a backstory that he was summoned by the Time Lord in order to justify his presence. Although he could retrieve the memories that he was the Avatar, he lost many of the details of his past deeds, which is why he doesn't remember things like paladins or the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. Some of these superficial traces of memories were imprinted onto his experiences - for example, he saw a skull on display in the museum and decided it was the Skull of Mondain, not remembering that he destroyed it; he recognised the demon he summoned as Pyros, not remembering that he killed him; and he misremembered the Guardian's human minion as being Lord Blackthorne, unaware that he was banished to the Serpent Isle. He learns that Dupre sacrificed himself, but not the reason why, making him believe that it's possible to resurrect him, and eventually goes completely off the deep end by hallucinating Dupre is back when he has mastered the virtues, wanting to believe he's still with him. In the end, he's so burdened with both his past failures and his own insanity that he commits suicide by killing himself along with the Guardian in the Armageddon Spell.
50	[[WMG: Ultima 9 is actually a sequel to the 'bad' ending of Ultima 7, not Ultima 8.]]
51	Think about it. At the end of Ultima 8, the Avatar returns to Britannia to see it conquered by the Guardian, but at the beginning of Ultima 9, the Avatar is at home, seemingly oblivious to what has happened to Britannia. However, at the end of Ultima 7, you can choose to go home and let the Guardian come through the Black Gate. This also explains several other plot holes, like why Dupre's corpse still exists and his spirit isn't bound in some cosmic serpent, since he never went to Serpent Isle and instead died in the war with the Guardian, as well as why you can summon Pyros. The Avatar never went to Pagan, so he's still alive. It also explains why the Avatar is incredibly stupid and kind of an a-hole. What other kind of person would have let the Guardian win?
52
53	[[WMG: Ultima 9 is taking place in a False Britannia, and the Avatar isn't the True One.]]
54
55	The Guardian created a fake PlatonicCave Britannia in a separate dimension as a trap for the Avatar and allowed him to enter it, hoping to drive him mad with tiny inconsistencies in the form of SeriesContinuityErrors. Fortunately, the one he thought was the Avatar was just one random dude that looked like the Avatar, who was accidentally summoned instead, which is why he starts at level one, has no starting equipment and needs everything explained to him. The true Avatar is on the conquered true Britannia battling the true Guardian's servants.
56	* Seeing as Lord British confuses the companions for being The Avatar in "Runes of Virtue (Snes)" this doesn't seem to far off. Except The Guardian isn't a senile old idiot. But then again Runes of Virtue was just as offensive as IX if not more. So this WMG perhaps works for both games. And even possibly The Britannia in IX and Runes of Virtue are the same fake realm.
57
58	[[WMG: A Meta one: The Gazer excuse is one to avoid getting ScrewedByTheLawyers.]]
59
60	The AccidentalPun mentioned in Ultima V sounds way too deliberate and the excuse too hokey not to be good, but Wizards has been known to be litigious at times, and the Beholder is one of the few critters in TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons that is iconic to the series.
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62
63	[[WMG: The Avatar is a lonely trust fund orphan.]]
64
65	How is he able to afford a large plot of land in rural Texas? Why isn't his house routinely investigated by the police when he's listed as a missing person while he's off in Britannia? Even accounting for time in Britannia being faster than on Earth, he still likely spends the Earth equivalent to weeks or months missing, yet his house is only broken into once in the entire series.
66
67	The obvious answer is that the Avatar has no friends or family on Earth, and is financially secure enough to live on his own. He may even be a maladjusted survivalist hermit, growing whatever food he needs and hunting, fishing, and trapping for the rest. It explains how his house is never repossessed and why he isn't questioned by the police when he comes back. It'd also explain why he's so willing to run off to a world he barely knows to go on potentially lethal adventures: nobody back home would miss him should he die.
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69
70	[[WMG: Guardian was originally meant to be one of the Zealan Gods.]]
71	Richard Garriott, in his interview for ''Ultima: The Avatar Adventures'', conducted prior to the release of Ultima VII, stated that he imagined the Guardian originating from a race of deities or deity-like entities, and also suggested he wants to expand on this pantheon in next Ultima games. Come ''Ultima VIII: Pagan'', we have a pantheon of gods (Zealan Gods), quite fitting the description of what Richard Garriott told abut exploring the Guardian's race in further games. Ultima Underworld II also suggested Pagan is the Guardian's home world, and directly stated it is were Guardian's "throne" is located. The Guardian was also stated by Richard Garriott to not be the strongest of his race, maybe even being weak - so it's possible Guardian was a weaker Zealan God, but who became the most powerful by turning away worship from others of his kind, as well possibly by becoming the original Titan of Ether.
72
73	About what "emotion" he embodied, it's possible he embodied the feelings of superiority and inferiority, or feelings of being dominant (and possibly also submissive), but it's possible he evolved beyond his divine race's limitations (by becoming the Titan of Ether).

Context WMG / Ultima