Moogle1
Scourge of the Seas
Halloween 2006 Creativity Winner
Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Seattle, WA
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 Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 1:46 pm Post subject: Heroism in Darkmoor Dungeon (Spoiler) |
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Crossposted from LiveJournal. Reading this post will reveal the secret ending of the game.
To really understand the theme of Darkmoor Dungeon, you have to play that final battle versus The Echo. You have to understand how much more powerful Mynorety is than any of your party members and you have to realize that he is the hero of the game. Then, you have to understand that he wouldn't be the hero of the game if you hadn't inspired him to be.
By the same token, you have to realize that the villain of the game is not The Echo, nor is it Ekoss. The villain is the woman referred to only as Red. Red convinces Mynorety that he is powerless and that it is better to stay alive in the confines of Darkmoor. How she does so is not explained; it can be assumed that the once-great Mynorety had already lost much of his will to live before he is imprisoned. (This gives greater context to Rhodus's speech and the Staff of Echoes.) Red gives him the nickname "Nat," presumably a shorthand for "Nathan," but more significantly a homophone for "gnat," a reference to his insignificance. After rising up once more to slay Echo, Mynorety shuns the title and reclaims his own great name.
Rhodus is Gizmog's character in Darkmoor Dungeon. At the outset of the contest, I asked him why he makes stupid games. I don't remember his answer verbatim and I'm wishing now that I'd logged it, but it was something along the lines of Rhodus's reasoning: that everyone else is making things that are even worse. Rhodus and Giz are talented and we have every reason to believe that they are, or could be, good men, but Rhodus lives in an age of despair. Mynorety, who has survived through the millenia to see the rise of Arsevus, knows nothing of its fall. Rhodus is a bit of a historian and knows of the earlier ages, but only through study; in his life he has known nothing but the decrepit Arsevus.
The Staff of Echoes does not really exist. I debated back and forth as to whether I would allow myself to allow Mynorety to atone for his mistakes. In the end, I decided to give him one more chance because I needed Darkmoor Dungeon to be a message of hope. Most of all, I needed to teach the despicable Red that life is worth dying for. She never fully admits this, of course: her statement of hope is qualified by a "maybe," but as I wrote Red, I could tell that she would never get beyond the "maybe." While Nat remembers his former self as Mynorety, Red never even gets a name. ("Red" is a common but unflattering nickname for a person, male or female, with red hair. Red hair is an inessential characteristic of the character, so her name only serves to attribute more insignificance to her character.)
Finally, it is important to note that when Mynorety says, "You gave me hope," he is referring to you, the player. You did all of the hard work, you fought all of the battles, but in the end, you were powerless to stop The Echo. On the other hand, Mynorety would still be Nat if not for you, and it would have been impossible for him to defeat The Echo singlehandedly. Who are you in this game? You are an average person, not exceptionally able, but possessed of above-average willpower and love for life. You are not the most powerful, but that doesn't matter. You are not the star of the show in the end, but that doesn't stop you from making the difference.
In the end, I think that's a powerful message: that you don't need to be Superman to save the day.
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