Tales of the Abyss ending
Wow, can I just say one intense last dungeon? I went from dreading to momentary relief to devastated--- only to be choked with the slightest sliver of hope at a very beautiful and moving ending scene which left me with somewhere in between heaven and hell and very unsatisfied. The three major interpretations: the one who shows up at the end is Luke, Asch, or a combination of both, of which each has valid arguments but also bring up a smattering of questions.
So I gave myself overnight and today to sit and stew about it. I was resigned to just accept that they were both dead/dying, and combining themselves to form a whole was the only answer to survive the fall and the cell disintegration. It's poetic, that they each accepted each other, that they both sacrificed and contributed something to keep their promises. But really, with all the themes of freedom of choice, freedom to live, identity and acceptance, I just cannot accept it. I just can't! Accepting each other means that they accept that they're one in the same but still different. There is no meaning to me unless they both survive, especially after they finally accepted themselves and each other for who they are. To say one survived and one didn't establishes that one was superior to the other--- that only one of them is "real" --- and that is not the case at all! And to say that they combined to form the "true" Luke also means denying Luke and Asch are two individuals, even if one is a replica of the other. Even if you say he's a "new" Luke, born from both Luke and Asch... I'm a bit more ok with it. He has the memory of a promise: Luke's promise to his friends and Asch's to Luke. We don't know just what else he knows. I'm just not a big fan of rebirth and second chances, because to me they can never be the same person, which wouldn't make it a real second chance. And I wouldn't want the reborn one to feel confined or even denied the chance to be themselves.
I want to believe that the story is as much about Asch as it is about Luke, despite the heavy tilt in Luke's favor and that Asch (or a second figure) doesn't appear in the closing scene. The opening theme song Karma beautifully and perfectly describes Asch's and Luke's painful and twisted relationship, which at the end of the song they both find closure by fulfilling their promises and accepting each other. They are one, yet they are not. They need each other in order for the both of them to recognize themselves and accept. As the lyrics say, they are mirrors and in looking in the other, they see their own karma, their own pettiness and filth. But they exist. Both of them. Right here. In themselves and each other. If they just reach out their hands and feel it out. I just can't be happy any other way if they both don't survive. But the ending is constructed in such a way that you can come up with your own interpretation and it wouldn't necessarily be right or wrong. Everyone can find their own closure, and I mine, I suppose.
So my own take? The power of Lorelei? The power of love? *cough* After three years, Luke makes good on his promise. And Asch, he no longer has any reason to cling the fragment of past (Natalia) that he used to keep himself going and has no need for the reunion with everyone else. The contamination effect? Jade hoped he would be proved wrong, and Lorelei is a big Factor X considering Lorelei, Asch, and Luke are one in the same.
Yeah, I'm an Asch and Luke fan if you couldn't tell, but I tried to keep my own love of the characters out of it and focus on the roles that they played in the game.
So I gave myself overnight and today to sit and stew about it. I was resigned to just accept that they were both dead/dying, and combining themselves to form a whole was the only answer to survive the fall and the cell disintegration. It's poetic, that they each accepted each other, that they both sacrificed and contributed something to keep their promises. But really, with all the themes of freedom of choice, freedom to live, identity and acceptance, I just cannot accept it. I just can't! Accepting each other means that they accept that they're one in the same but still different. There is no meaning to me unless they both survive, especially after they finally accepted themselves and each other for who they are. To say one survived and one didn't establishes that one was superior to the other--- that only one of them is "real" --- and that is not the case at all! And to say that they combined to form the "true" Luke also means denying Luke and Asch are two individuals, even if one is a replica of the other. Even if you say he's a "new" Luke, born from both Luke and Asch... I'm a bit more ok with it. He has the memory of a promise: Luke's promise to his friends and Asch's to Luke. We don't know just what else he knows. I'm just not a big fan of rebirth and second chances, because to me they can never be the same person, which wouldn't make it a real second chance. And I wouldn't want the reborn one to feel confined or even denied the chance to be themselves.
I want to believe that the story is as much about Asch as it is about Luke, despite the heavy tilt in Luke's favor and that Asch (or a second figure) doesn't appear in the closing scene. The opening theme song Karma beautifully and perfectly describes Asch's and Luke's painful and twisted relationship, which at the end of the song they both find closure by fulfilling their promises and accepting each other. They are one, yet they are not. They need each other in order for the both of them to recognize themselves and accept. As the lyrics say, they are mirrors and in looking in the other, they see their own karma, their own pettiness and filth. But they exist. Both of them. Right here. In themselves and each other. If they just reach out their hands and feel it out. I just can't be happy any other way if they both don't survive. But the ending is constructed in such a way that you can come up with your own interpretation and it wouldn't necessarily be right or wrong. Everyone can find their own closure, and I mine, I suppose.
So my own take? The power of Lorelei? The power of love? *cough* After three years, Luke makes good on his promise. And Asch, he no longer has any reason to cling the fragment of past (Natalia) that he used to keep himself going and has no need for the reunion with everyone else. The contamination effect? Jade hoped he would be proved wrong, and Lorelei is a big Factor X considering Lorelei, Asch, and Luke are one in the same.
Yeah, I'm an Asch and Luke fan if you couldn't tell, but I tried to keep my own love of the characters out of it and focus on the roles that they played in the game.