Laya - sister or child?

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Laya - sister or child?

Postby Thoul » Thu Oct 11, '07, 9:29 am

In PSIII, we eventually meet Laya, who is said to be the sister of the Laya that lead one side in the ancient war on the worldship. It's kind of odd for two sisters to share the same name. There was a question-and-answer page on Toyo Ozaki's site that proposed the idea that they weren't actually sisters. It suggested that younger Laya was the daughter of Orakio and Laya. It's debatable as to how serious this was - the whole page had a humorous tone to it, so it might have been a joke.

What do you think, was she really a sister or actually a secret daughter? It would add a whole new level of complexity to the Laya-Orakio War if the leaders of each side had been spouses that broke up over their differences or Dark Force's manipulations.
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Postby Tsunami » Thu Oct 11, '07, 7:11 pm

I've read that, too. I think Toyo's answer to that question was done with humor behind it, but that's not saying that it's entirely false.

Personally, I do believe that Laya who joins you in PSIII is the daughter of Laya from the war; why would parents name both their daughters 'Laya'? Gwyn's Japanese name is also Laia, (Japanese spelling's different for Laya) so we can assume that she's carrying on the family name.
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Postby Thoul » Fri Oct 12, '07, 1:31 am

I never liked the idea that two sisters would have the same name. Some parents do choose really weird names, but that just seems out of place for PSIII.

I didn't know that about Gwyn. That really lends support to the idea. "Laya" might be something like "Lutz," a title of the line of leaders among the people.

The biggest problem I see with calling the two Laya mother and daughter is that everything in the game calls them sisters. Even elder Laya does this; when the Laya Pendant plays her message, she calls the younger "Sister."
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Postby The $ Avenger » Fri Oct 12, '07, 2:26 am

Thoul wrote:I never liked the idea that two sisters would have the same name. Some parents do choose really weird names, but that just seems out of place for PSIII.
Yeah, I never believed they'd have the same name, though maybe George Foreman was her dad. :D I'd prefer to think of Laya as a daughter rather than a sister too.

It would really open up the story if Laya was a pre-war or post-war daughter of Laya and Orakio. Something else I'd like to see expanded in PSIII!

I didn't know that about Gwyn. That really lends support to the idea. "Laya" might be something like "Lutz," a title of the line of leaders among the people.
Nor did I! That's a nice bit of evidence that it is passed down to the daughters.

The biggest problem I see with calling the two Laya mother and daughter is that everything in the game calls them sisters. Even elder Laya does this; when the Laya Pendant plays her message, she calls the younger "Sister."
Yeah, there is that, for sure. It could be chalked up to a translation error. There's plenty of those.
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Postby Tsunami » Fri Oct 12, '07, 12:28 pm

Thoul wrote:The biggest problem I see with calling the two Laya mother and daughter is that everything in the game calls them sisters. Even elder Laya does this; when the Laya Pendant plays her message, she calls the younger "Sister."

Perhaps Laya wanted to protect the younger Laya, by saying that she was her sister rather than her daughter. By openly saying that she had a daughter would receive different reactions from allies and enemies alike, so maybe the safer method would've been to keep the truth from everyone, including her little "sister"?

I also doubt that Orakio would've been the father. Since, if that were the case...would the war have been over little Laya? :D For all we know, it could've been Lune or something. He WAS her right-hand man after all... ;)
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Postby Thoul » Fri Oct 12, '07, 8:43 pm

Protection makes sense. A young daughter would certainly be a target during a war like that one. That also raises the question, what sort of age difference did they have? Laya the younger seems to be in her late teens at least, so Laya the older must have been pretty old to be her mother, at least comparatively to others in PSIII.

I doubt Lune would be the father. Given how close he and Laya would have to be, I can't imagine him not being aware that Laya II is his daughter. Even Lune refers to her as "Laya's little sister" when meeting her during Nial's story. After waking up from a 1,000 year sleep and finding the world he knew so drastically changed, I think he would be so overjoyed at finding his daughter also alive that he would mention something. I have to admit that Orakio is not much more likely.

On the other hand, Ozaki's FAQ was formed as Orakio and Rulakir answering the questions. When this subject came up, Orakio silently grinned in such a way that Rulakir took it as confirmation that Orakio and Laya did have a relationship.

Yeah, there is that, for sure. It could be chalked up to a translation error. There's plenty of those.


Maybe... I'm not sure I would call the sister stuff a translation error. I mean, even Ozaki's site acknowledged the Layas as being called sisters, so it seems like something that would be in the Japanese as well.
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Postby The $ Avenger » Sat Oct 13, '07, 1:24 am

If Orakio was the father, I'd think it would be after the Devastation War. But that would mean there was a gap of time for Laya to have a baby between the end of the War and the fighting DF since they all reportedly died in that fight. Well, maybe she survived the DF fight. I don't know, but it's an interesting theory.
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Postby Snorb » Sat Oct 13, '07, 3:28 am

Lune might have been Young Laya's father- she's a full Layan. Though it would be interesting to see a half-Orakian Laya who could use swords...

Could Orakio be Laya's father? Maybe- that bonus comic raised an interesting point (as well as puts Rhys and Maia's relationship in a new light). Could the two Layas be sisters? Probably- they're called sisters in-game in the English version.

Wonder what the Japanese version has to say about this.
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Postby Tsunami » Sat Oct 13, '07, 3:04 pm

Thoul wrote:Protection makes sense. A young daughter would certainly be a target during a war like that one. That also raises the question, what sort of age difference did they have? Laya the younger seems to be in her late teens at least, so Laya the older must have been pretty old to be her mother, at least comparatively to others in PSIII.

I've read somewhere that she was an infant when she entered the cold sleep. Every 7 years she'd awaken for a month before returning to sleep.

I doubt Lune would be the father. Given how close he and Laya would have to be, I can't imagine him not being aware that Laya II is his daughter. Even Lune refers to her as "Laya's little sister" when meeting her during Nial's story. After waking up from a 1,000 year sleep and finding the world he knew so drastically changed, I think he would be so overjoyed at finding his daughter also alive that he would mention something. I have to admit that Orakio is not much more likely.

I'm thinking of two possible scenarios, here.

First case: Lune simply not knowing!
Both Lune and Alair were stuck on Dahlia, so it could be possible that Laya never said anything to him, nor had the chance?

Second case: Lune does know, but says nothing.
You have a point with everyone referring to her as "Laya's little sister", even Lune himself. Laya may have told him to keep Laya II's identity secret. This reason, I find more believable.

Also, if you look at warrior Kara and Laya's portraits, they look a lot alike. Their eyes, lips, the shape of their faces, their noses, too. I see a strong resemblance there. And, if Lune is indeed the father...this would make them half sisters! :mrgreen:

On the other hand, Ozaki's FAQ was formed as Orakio and Rulakir answering the questions. When this subject came up, Orakio silently grinned in such a way that Rulakir took it as confirmation that Orakio and Laya did have a relationship.

It makes no sense for them to have a relationship during the war, as they're enemies. If they did have a relationship, it must've happened after their final confrontation when they realised the truth, then went off together to fight Dark Force.
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Postby Thoul » Sat Oct 13, '07, 8:14 pm

The relationship could have happened before the war just as easily as after. They could have been close, then one of them was manipulated by Dark Force (IIRC, the Compendium says Laya was), and they reunited toward the end of the war. I think a before the war scenario is more likely than after given Laya's comments through her pendant. It sounded like the went after DF immediately after ending the war.

I've read somewhere that she was an infant when she entered the cold sleep. Every 7 years she'd awaken for a month before returning to sleep.


Hm, interesting. I've never read that before, but it does make seen that she'd awaken regularly. She'd almost have to age sometime, and this accounts for it.

When she wakes up in the game, she mentions her sister leaving with Orakio (she doesn't know it was Orakio, but mentions his sword). I wonder if that was a memory or something she had been told.

The first scenario for Lune could work, but I can't see the second one. After finding out it had been 1,000 years and everyone he knew, except his sister, is long dead, he daughter suddenly appears and he says nothing? I just can't buy that one.
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