Guesswork on Zed Blade story

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Skyknight
Posts: 504
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 7:27 pm
Location: Orleans, MA

Guesswork on Zed Blade story

Post by Skyknight »

NMK never did explain just WHAT happened to Yggdrasil (having no ending to speak of doesn’t help). But I have suspicions. Namely, that the actual villain isn’t Valkyrie—it’s probably just Yggdrasil’s defense AI. Rather, it’s the Cosmic Slime—the boss destroyed back in st. 3.

Well, that was the main body, anyway. I think those pulsing brown/purple orbs are specifically control systems INFECTED by the Slime. (Maybe the Lunar Walker is a case of getting to see the Slime take hold in real time, as the head doesn’t become vulnerable until a few seconds into the fight.) The drifting Slime at the end of the final battle, after breaking the casing of the physical Valkyrie computer, is perhaps the original Slime’s offspring?

But if that’s the case, then it’s an interesting (sort-of-)narrative choice. The ACTUAL cause of the crisis isn’t at the end, but partway through, and everything else is fixing the mess left behind. (And there’s the question of whether the Slime is even SENTIENT, let alone malicious, in the first place.)

Meanwhile, I’m a touch disappointed NMK didn’t use a consistent Norse theme for boss names. My rectification:

Roc Carrier -> Hraesvelgr (eagle-form jötunn who creates the winds) or Thjazi (jötunn who kidnapped Idunn in the form of an eagle)
Lunar Walker -> Hrungnir (mightiest of the jötnar)
Cosmic Slime -> Nidhoggr (the black dragon of Nastrond who feasts on Yggdrasil’s roots)
Constrictor -> Jörmungandr (serpent child of Loki who encircles the world)
Loki -> same (half-jötunn trickster god)
Big Bill -> Fenrir (shackled wolf child of Loki who devoured Tyr’s hand)
Insane Ship -> Vedrfolnir (hawk at the top of Yggdrasil) or Fjalar (Gálgvidr rooster who is one of the heralds of Ragnarök)
Valkyrie -> same (spirits who guide fallen warriors to Valhalla)
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Sturmvogel Prime
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Re: Guesswork on Zed Blade story

Post by Sturmvogel Prime »

Sounds like a good hypothesis, and the Cosmic Slime is a good explanation of the Yggdrasil gone-rogue premise.
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Truesdale220
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Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:29 am

Re: Guesswork on Zed Blade story

Post by Truesdale220 »

Proof? Where is the lore that relates to this? Or is this just made up in your mind?

McDVOICE
Last edited by Truesdale220 on Fri Jun 11, 2021 8:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Skyknight
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Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 7:27 pm
Location: Orleans, MA

Re: Guesswork on Zed Blade story

Post by Skyknight »

The latter (other than Yggdrasil going nuts). The word "guesswork" is there for a reason.
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