A riddle, PSIV style...

Phantasy Star IV intro wrote:

The long, long struggle of ancient times finally ended...
The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens.
Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit.
And the world continued for thousands of years...

This quote appears in the introduction sequence of Phantasy Star IV. What do you think it means? Especially the second and third lines... what do you believe they are referring to?

I think the line "The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens. either means that its talking about the great light defeating the profound darkness, or about the win against Lachiec,

and the line Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit. I have no doubt in my mind that this is talking about Alis and the group from Phantasy Star I. Four bells tolled, Alis and her group were destined to defeat dark force/falz and lashiec, just like its a bell's destiny to ring. And four torches were lit. this one is a tough one cuz i also believe this is about alis' group. I think the four torches were lit as to say they were born to fullfill this destiny, such as a fire in a torch is born by lighting it and it eventually dies into nothing is also like a person, we're born, we live, then we die.. so thats my imput on that...

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I think it is indeed to do with the GL's victory over the PD.

The torches and bells signifying the creation of the Algol Solar System.. four planets around a star. Maybe.

I really think Kaloes' theory is a little far-fetched..

And hey, Thoul, no input from you?

I was thinking the same as Kaloes, actually. Though, the way it's set up, it's as if they're roughly saying what happened throughout the years, from the very beginning up until PSIV.

So.. you think the long, long struggle of ancient times refers not to the PD and GL, but to Reipard?

Divine Dragon wrote:

So.. you think the long, long struggle of ancient times refers not to the PD and GL, but to Reipard?

... Heheh, silly me, getting all mixed up with the original question at hand.

Lemme clear that up. First line definitely refers to the PD and GL, while the 2nd refers to Lashiec...Lassic...whoever. 3rd, Alis and co., and the last is about Motavia. (fun) One of those cases where you look at one thing and get jumbled, no?

Phew... Okay, don't mind me, the heatwave's getting to my head. Sorry about that.

I like the idea of the four bells/torches referring to Alis and company. I've never heard that one before, but it really makes sense, especially with the fourth line.

The first two are all about the GL and PD, I think.

Divine Dragon wrote:

And hey, Thoul, no input from you?

I wanted to wait and see what some of you had to say before sharing my opinion.

I've always believed that the first part refers to the GL/PD battle. The four bells I believed to be the planets. The torches are, I think, a reference to the four intelligent races - Palman, Dezorian, Motavian, and Musk Cat.

I haven't seen the Alis idea before, either. It's a pretty good one, though; I could certainly see Alis and her friends being the bells/torches.

Tsunami wrote:

Divine Dragon wrote:

So.. you think the long, long struggle of ancient times refers not to the PD and GL, but to Reipard?

... Heheh, silly me, getting all mixed up with the original question at hand.

Lemme clear that up. First line definitely refers to the PD and GL, while the 2nd refers to Lashiec...Lassic...whoever. 3rd, Alis and co., and the last is about Motavia. (fun) One of those cases where you look at one thing and get jumbled, no?

Phew... Okay, don't mind me, the heatwave's getting to my head. Sorry about that.

Alright.

My reasoning, the first two lines we all agree on being the PD and GL, so why would it suddenly change to being about PSI? And only PSI at that, missing PSII and everything afterward.
My thinking as I've said is that the third line was about the creation of the seal, keeping the PD out of the way, as it is said that the GL made Algol itself..
Then the final line, it says thousands of years, and while the time between PSI and PSIV is pretty long, it doesn't quite make it to the thousands, I think it's probably off by about fifty eight years, buuut.. in that same reasoning.. the length of time between Algol being created and the storyline is.. well into the billions..

So yeah.. I think if the first two lines were involving the PD and GL, it just makes some sense for the rest to be around the same thing, not Alis and co. as seems to be... the more popular theory around here.. I still stand by what I think.

Divine Dragon wrote:

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I think it is indeed to do with the GL's victory over the PD.

The torches and bells signifying the creation of the Algol Solar System.. four planets around a star. Maybe.

That's mine. Yep. Beat me to it! The GL sacrificed(sealed) the PD to the heavens,(Algol). The four to me is the planets too, making the bells and torches symbolic. Or perhaps the people of Algo once knew there were four planets. That sounds like something the people of Dezo would do during an eclipse; light a torch, ring a bell, etc.