Theory about Sari

I came across a PSIII message board that stated the following regarding Sari, daughter of Lena (should you choose Ayn's path):

If Rhys married Maia, Sari will become the daughter of Lena. Sari is very upset
at Rhys for marrying Maia 15 years back, and thus doesn't like Ayn one bit.
The marriage of Rhys and Maia left Lena alone, and is believed to have died of
heartbreak, thus leaving Sari to become Queen of Landen and Satera.

This is interesting, isn't it? Why would Sari be "very" upset? Would she not exist if Rhys marries Lena? By the above statement, if Rhys marries Maia, Lena is left alone, and is so heartbroken she dies. This leads me to the following theory: What if Rhys is Sari's paternal father? As the audience, we have no idea who Sari's father is, or if Lena married someone else. From the looks of it alone, Sari is about Ayn's age. If Lena was so in love with Rhys (as she was), isn't it hard to believe that she'd jump into bed with some other man?

What's also fascinating is that Sari becomes queen of Landen. How is that possible? What, exactly, were Lena's ties to the royal family of Landen that would prompt her daughter to inherit the land? Again, it's the thought that she is the daughter of Rhys.

If this is true, though, this would make Ayn marrying Sari a total ick factor, but then again, royalty marrying a cousin or a relative of some form isn't unheard of.



Still, I'd like to hear some opinions on this theory.

Rune_Walsh wrote:

What's also fascinating is that Sari becomes queen of Landen. How is that possible? What, exactly, were Lena's ties to the royal family of Landen that would prompt her daughter to inherit the land? Again, it's the thought that she is the daughter of Rhys.

I think this is one of those "lost in translation" things. In the ending of Rhys' quest in the Japanese version the following is revealed:

Quote:

King (of Cille): You vanquished me... Perhaps you are a man of the stature Lyle says you are...even though you are an Orakian.
But, you have a choice to make! I understand through my nephew Lyle's reconnaissance that the girl you call "Lena" is actually the princess of Satera, the kingdom adjacent to your own...the very princess raised as your fiancée! Of course, should you choose Marlena's hand, that would be fine, too...

If Lena was the last remaining Orakian royal then she likely inherited the kingdom as there were already plans to unite them. Who she married, and who fathered Sari, would remain a mystery but apparently it's someone she didn't care for. Sari's bitterness is probably a combination of her mother's unhappiness and anger that an Orakian prince would abandon his kingdom .

Thanks for the reply, Hugues, I was wondering if anyone would!

Despite the mistranslation, it is still a supposition as to why Sari inherited Landen. More pressing, though, it isn't explained why Sari is so angry with Ayn, and why she is so upset about Rhys choosing Maia.

Perhaps her attitude is solely because Ayn is the son of the dude whose father broke her mother's heart, thereby killing her, but again, Sari wouldn't exist if Rhys chooses Lena.

While I think the proposed argument is wacky, I believe it is still a plausible one.

Nonetheless, I think I have a new fanfiction idea.

This is one of those things I wished the story had gone into more depth on. Lena's fate is just so uncertain. She didn't take the throne of Landen, though. This is what Sari (Lynn) says to Ayn in the Japanese version:

Quote:

I am Lena's daughter, Lynn! I ascended to the heirless throne of the kingdom of Riik!
YOU, you traitor to the Orakians, what business do you have here?! Do you think I'm going to hand over the Power Topaz, Satera's heirloom treasure, to YOU?!
This is the key to Orakio's ancient former fortress! Prepare yourself, you babbling traitor!

So, from that, Lena went back to Satera and there was no one to inherit the throne of Landen (Riik). Rhys must have been the only child of Landen's king. Once the king died, Sari (who by then must have been queen in Satera) took over control of Landen. Maybe she had an arrangement with the Landen king or perhaps she just stepped up as the only person of royal blood left in the dome.

At any rate, Sari's anger is not just directed at Rhys. She's angry at Ayn too, because he is Orakian - from Orakio's own bloodline, even - but has never accepted that heritage.

Thoul wrote:

This is one of those things I wished the story had gone into more depth on. Lena's fate is just so uncertain. She didn't take the throne of Landen, though. This is what Sari (Lynn) says to Ayn in the Japanese version:

Quote:

I am Lena's daughter, Lynn! I ascended to the heirless throne of the kingdom of Riik!
YOU, you traitor to the Orakians, what business do you have here?! Do you think I'm going to hand over the Power Topaz, Satera's heirloom treasure, to YOU?!
This is the key to Orakio's ancient former fortress! Prepare yourself, you babbling traitor!

So, from that, Lena went back to Satera and there was no one to inherit the throne of Landen (Riik). Rhys must have been the only child of Landen's king. Once the king died, Sari (who by then must have been queen in Satera) took over control of Landen. Maybe she had an arrangement with the Landen king or perhaps she just stepped up as the only person of royal blood left in the dome.

At any rate, Sari's anger is not just directed at Rhys. She's angry at Ayn too, because he is Orakian - from Orakio's own bloodline, even - but has never accepted that heritage.

Nice. Thanks for that info, Thoul! But I still can't help but think there's a soap opera of sorts going on... this is dramatic PSIII we're talking about, here.

I always liked PSIII for this reason, it's one big soap opera!

Anyways! The possibility of Ayn being Sari's half-brother is icky, but then he's also Thea's 2nd cousin... So incestual, isn't it? >_>

But my thoughts on this? I always looked at it as... while Lena had feelings for Rhys and was betrothed to him, she wasn't some weak woman who would roll over and die because she couldn't be with the man she loved. She may have been hurt, but she moved on and found someone else, had a child with them, and did this before Ayn was conceived (if you look at the ages listed for the Japanese, that is). In some Japanese translation thingy I've seen, Ayn was said to be 18 years old, Sari was 19, and Thea was 15 ... the American translation bothers me for this reason, they change it to make it acceptable because of Ayn and Thea's age difference, I guess. =\

Sari's bitterness probably comes from the fact that she felt that Rhys abandoned Landen and his people, not just her mother and Satera. The world of Landen as a whole was affected by Rhys' decision, and he was someone who would've been their leader, their king, had he married Lena. Because he didn't though, Landen suffers from his decision and his people are left without a ruler, someone to guide them. So when Rhys' old man passes on, there's no one there to take his place ('til Sari shows up, anyways).

Just my thoughts on it. ^^;;

Tsunami wrote:

In some Japanese translation thingy I've seen, Ayn was said to be 18 years old, Sari was 19

Indeed! Heh.

Awesome reply, Tsu, and your response is definitely the consensus. But while Lena is a tough gal by all means, the messagboard stated that Lena did die of heartbreak as a result of losing Rhys. In other words, she was still in love with Rhys through the remainder of her life. Even if she remarried or had a randomized hookup which produced Sari, it's fair to say she never loved the guy. Maybe it was an another arranged marriage, but to whom?

I don't know. While the theory IS totally icky -- I give it that -- I still think it's plausible. And as you mention, Thea is Ayn's second cousin, too, which is also icky, but granted, not as icky.

Maybe Sari didn't know her paternity. It's unknown to the audience at least, so the nutty theories are bound to arise!

Er, such as my fanfiction concept...

I think the story of PS III was only partially told. They left so much open that could have been expanded upon [like this for example]. The incest thing is a bit tough to deal with but considering that there's a relatively small population in the domes [as far as anyone else really knows] it doesn't surprise me that everyone will eventually be related to one another. This is close to how the dark ages were and I think the story writers were trying to add that bit of mysticism to the beautiful tapestry that is Phantasy Star. With that being said, I'm anxious to see this story you're concocting R_W and was curious if you'd might be interested in a joint venture.....

Rune_Walsh wrote:

Awesome reply, Tsu, and your response is definitely the consensus. But while Lena is a tough gal by all means, the messagboard stated that Lena did die of heartbreak as a result of losing Rhys. In other words, she was still in love with Rhys through the remainder of her life. Even if she remarried or had a randomized hookup which produced Sari, it's fair to say she never loved the guy.

I've still never heard that Lena dies of a broken heart, though (other than fanfics and fans talking about it). A message board's members can discuss things, but that doesn't make anything a person say true unless they are able to provide sources. =P Was it a Japanese message board for Phantasy Star?

I never heard of Lena dying of a broken heart either.