Grand Evolution and the Consequences of Deceit: The Legend of Dragoon
The Legend of Dragoon is a top-notch game, even around 25 years later. I am still impressed with the addition system and the music and story still holds up really well. Traversal is a little dated as well as how experience is gained but I was overall very pleased with my replay of the full game I completed recently.
Writers Note: This post will contain full spoilers for the Legend of Dragoon!
While there are many interesting story threads, the theme of evolution and the Moon Child as well as the specific number order of species is unique. This plays heavily into the Dragon Campaign and what it means to give new life to the world. These are general themes and this piece will contain heavy spoilers for the plot of The Legend of Dragoon.
Screenshot taken from my PS5, all screenshots are from my PS5
The Mythos of Endiness
Endiness is the name of the expansive world of The Legend of Dragoon. All life in The Legend of Dragoon stems from a Divine Tree which has seeds. These seeds fall off The Divine Tree and become fruit. When these fruits open, they develop into new species. Evolutions of life are similar to evolution in the real world: increases in intelligence, mobility, sense function, etc. 108 species are planned by the Divine Tree, Humans are the 106th species and Winglies are the 107th. You encounter a few other races which came first in terms of evolution: Gigantos, Minitos, Dragons, and Virages. Over the world there is a Moon called “The Moon that Never Sets”. This moon looms over Endiness and is the final destination for the “Moon Child”. In the Legend, it is said that the Moon Child, when gathering the three Moon Objects, will go the Moon that Never Sets and spawn the birth of the 108th species which will give life to the world.
Writer’s Note: For someone who went to school to study theology, mythos stories are fascinating to me and the Mythos story in the Legend of Dragoon is one of the more concise yet well articulated stories. I particularly like how these threads weave into the main story.
Given this backdrop, the theme of evolution and the drama of The Legend of Dragoon is ready to unfold.
It is always fun to see the FMV’s in The Legend of Dragoon.
The Dragon Campaign
In Endiness, 11,000 years ago. Humans are seeking independence from Wingly oppression. In the evolutionary cycle, Winglies were granted great magical power so they held control over humans from floating cities. Winglies had extremely long life-spans and aged slower than humans. The control of the Winglies included slavery, an intense code of laws, and manipulation of human souls after death. Humans were tired of the oppression so they sought independence. They found a way to control dragons through the power of the 7 Dragoon Spirits. Winglies as a response, developed the ability to control Virages which are manipulations of spirits which come to life when encountering dragoon spirits. Seven humans led the charge and were able to overcome the Winglies. As a result of the Winglies’ defeat, they agree to seal some of their magic in three moon objects which were given to each of the human nations: Serdio, Tiberoa, and Mille Seseau. Winglies choose to seclude themselves in a magical forest hidden by a magical barrier.
The Final Plan
Rose is the best woman in the Legend of Dragoon, plain and simple. If they did a remake of The Legend of Dragoon from Rose’s perspective, I would instantly buy that game. The picture above is the first scene in the Legend of Dragoon seeing the Green-Tusked Dragon Feyrbrand. It is a picturesque opening because it sets the stage for the threat dragons can play to humans and Rose as the main pivot character in this game. In short, Rose is the lynchpin for the narrative because of her experiences and purpose. Rose being one of the Dragoons in the first Dragon Campaign was a huge reveal when I first played this game as a teenager and they revealed it really well.
The antagonists in the Legend of Dragoon utilize political instability to secure the three moon objects over the course of the game. Rose is the one who figures out the ultimate plan of the antagonists: “kidnap the moon child and gather the three moon objects to give birth to the 108th species, the God of Ultimate Destruction.” The mythos is correct expect for what happens on the birth of the last species. Every 108 years a Moon Child is born drawn to journey to the Moon that Never Sets. Rose has killed all of the Moon Children since the end of the Dragon Campaign to prevent this final evolution from happening. However, Rose made a mistake when killing the last Moon Child and killed the wrong twin born under the light of the Moon that Never Sets. At the end of Disc 3, Shana is kidnapped and the final plan is set in motion.
It’s frightening when someone completes their master evil plan and a god has to be stopped in order for life to exist.
Melbu Frahma and Wingly Supremacy
There are some winglies who are mad that humans won the Dragon Campaign and they are “living in exile”. These Winglies make this plan which will reset evolution because they see it as the will of the Creator. They attempt to harm one of the Sacred Sisters of Mille Seseau but Lloyd intervenes. The Wingly logic is thus: since Winglies are not dominating the world, the world is not in line with the plan of the creator and it must be reset. Melbu Frahma is the leader of this faction of Winglies. In order for his plan to succeed, Melbu Frahma needs to possess the soul of a human to get greater access to the Moon Child. Melbu Frahma decides to possess the soul of Zieg, a human he petrified in the Dragon Campaign to execute his plan.
The beginning of the final boss fight highlights the last twist in Melbu Frahma’s plan. Instead of the Moon Child giving birth to the God of Destruction, Melbu Frahma wants to use the Moon Child to activate the process and then become the God of Destruction himself. The final boss fight begins with him spitting out Shana, the Moon Child, and preparing to fight the party. The longing for ultimate power and revenge for 11,000 years of exile is a heavy burden for the world to carry. The only thing which stops Melbu Frahma is the 7 Dragoons who finish Melbu Frahma and prevent the final evolution from being born.
A full party shocked at finding Winglies who still exist in the world and their homeland.
Conclusion
This story is a deeply sad story for so many characters in this game. Shana being unable to finish the journey, Rose for her millennia of a lonely mission to keep the world alive and being the Black Monster, Kongol for being the last Gigantos, etc. What scares me as someone who studies ethics, is the many calls I see calling for a great reset of our own world. People want great resets of our economy, resets of our technological progress to restore the world’s balance, etc. Rebuilding the world in one’s own image is always a temptation, especially as prevailing ideologies of the past start to fade. We face an uncertain future as a world. We are at our lynchpin point. If behaviors in our world do not dramatically change, we will destroy all social trust and lose our ability to make the advances needed to truly have an integrated relationship with our world. The Legend of Dragoon teaches us to be aware of those who gleefully want a great reset. If people want a great reset, they often see the reset as advantageous to them. The only way to prevent a great reset is to be involved with the world, learn about the factors people want to reset, and interrupt the reset after the elite think they have won. This is why I’m in crypto, why I’m working with AI, and interested in advances in the quantum realm. I can be the lonely leader like Rose who interrupts the Great Reset long enough to find others to join. Phenomena Gaming wants to train leaders to learn, support, and grow a community, will you join us?
