Secret ending for 100%? (Minor spoilers)

[Soup]

I finished the game with 70% and the ending I got kinda felt like it wasn't the true ending because 1) its somewhat anticlimatic in my opinion for how complicated the games plotline is and 2) maybe im just interpreting it wrong, but I saw several time paradoxes in the final cutsceen.

[Nazemec]

There's no other ending.

What paradoxes are you referring to by the way?

[Soup]

Originally posted by Nazemec:

There's no other ending.

What paradoxes are you referring to by the way?

well, based on my analysis of the ending, kuro is basically stuck in a time loop since he gets sent back to fina's house before everything happened. but the weapon was already removed from time with the magi key, which completely messes up the timeline in some ways, doesnt it?

[Nazemec]

From what I understand:

- The one ending in Fina's house (which means, found in the forest) is Giro (Giro = Kuro sent by the Magi era) after being knocked down/thrown in time by Ceres when she escaped the lab. We just see that the loop is... well, a loop. Back to the beginning of the game, nothing has changed, everything has been and will be done again (stabilized time loop, as the Magi planned - a few quirks on the way, but it works).

- The one who fought Ceres (the player) is eventually sent to Giro's lab to find back Fina. There, they'll have a child (the inventor) and will be later "disposed of" by Giro (freshly arrived from the Magi era). As far as I remember, we're not sure they're killed by Giro. Kuro was probably sent into the Anomaly at that point (maybe because of the "meet myself" paradox?) where he gets old (the old man in the anomaly during the cutscene). At some point, he manages to escape the Anomaly and decides to live in the wind valley (or whatever its English name is, South East of the capital), near the tomb of his son.

[Soup]

Originally posted by Nazemec:

From what I understand:

- The one ending in Fina's house (which means, found in the forest) is Giro (Giro = Kuro sent by the Magi era) after being knocked down/thrown in time by Ceres when she escaped the lab. We just see that the loop is... well, a loop. Back to the beginning of the game, nothing has changed, everything has been and will be done again (stabilized time loop, as the Magi planned - a few quirks on the way, but it works).

- The one who fought Ceres (the player) is eventually sent to Giro's lab to find back Fina. There, they'll have a child (the inventor) and will be later "disposed of" by Giro (freshly arrived from the Magi era). As far as I remember, we're not sure they're killed by Giro. Kuro was probably sent into the Anomaly at that point (maybe because of the "meet myself" paradox?) where he gets old (the old man in the anomaly during the cutscene). At some point, he manages to escape the Anomaly and decides to live in the wind valley (or whatever its English name is, South East of the capital), near the tomb of his son.

ok, that does clarify a lot, but i just thought of something else. one scene from the ending hints that ceres parents were Velvet and menos, but they only meet because of the events that transpire (which goes back to the loop paradox) and a lot of the events that occur only happen because of ceres. so when does it all start? because for the games events to take place, menos and velvet need to have met to have ceres but they only meet because of ceres in the game.

[Nazemec]

Originally posted by Soup:

one scene from the ending hints that ceres parents were Velvet and menos, but they only meet because of the events that transpire (which goes back to the loop paradox) and a lot of the events that occur only happen because of ceres. so when does it all start? because for the games events to take place, menos and velvet need to have met to have ceres but they only meet because of ceres in the game.

The thing is we're in a perfectly stable loop. So, searching for a starting point makes actually no sense. Things happened (or will) because they already happened (or will). Magi thought their plan to loop time is their idea, as they thought they created the guardians, but they didn't really have a choice since it actually already happened. THeir perception of time was just too small.
It's a bit of a brain twist, I know, their universe is actually a giant bootstrap paradox. In our perception of reality, time is a straigth line. In this game's universe, it's a circle: always was, always will be.

[Soup]

Originally posted by Nazemec:

Originally posted by Soup:

one scene from the ending hints that ceres parents were Velvet and menos, but they only meet because of the events that transpire (which goes back to the loop paradox) and a lot of the events that occur only happen because of ceres. so when does it all start? because for the games events to take place, menos and velvet need to have met to have ceres but they only meet because of ceres in the game.

The thing is we're in a perfectly stable loop. So, searching for a starting point makes actually no sense. Things happened (or will) because they already happened (or will). Magi thought their plan to loop time is their idea, as they thought they created the guardians, but they didn't really have a choice since it actually already happened. THeir perception of time was just too small.
It's a bit of a brain twist, I know, their universe is actually a giant bootstrap paradox. In our perception of reality, time is a straigth line. In this game's universe, it's a circle: always was, always will be.

the more i think about it, the more sense that makes

[PlueTheGreat]

I'm pretty sure the old man with the broom is Lu-Tze, one of the History Monks in the Discworld Novels by Terry Pratchett. They are protecting the flow of time. He carries a broom as a disguise, because nobody worries about a sweeper.

When you talk to him in 3D-Wind Valley, he mentions that a lot has changed since your last visit, propably because of your doing. But in the end it won't change anything at all.

[Yukeh]

Originally posted by Nazemec:

From what I understand:

- The one ending in Fina's house (which means, found in the forest) is Giro (Giro = Kuro sent by the Magi era) after being knocked down/thrown in time by Ceres when she escaped the lab. We just see that the loop is... well, a loop. Back to the beginning of the game, nothing has changed, everything has been and will be done again (stabilized time loop, as the Magi planned - a few quirks on the way, but it works).

- The one who fought Ceres (the player) is eventually sent to Giro's lab to find back Fina. There, they'll have a child (the inventor) and will be later "disposed of" by Giro (freshly arrived from the Magi era). As far as I remember, we're not sure they're killed by Giro. Kuro was probably sent into the Anomaly at that point (maybe because of the "meet myself" paradox?) where he gets old (the old man in the anomaly during the cutscene). At some point, he manages to escape the Anomaly and decides to live in the wind valley (or whatever its English name is, South East of the capital), near the tomb of his son.

I know this is a bump and you may not care anymore, but just to give you some peace of mind - my theory here, based on your information (and considering the other events and characters in the game): The man and the woman in the lab is Kuro and Fina. Giro says "I managed to do away with them -- him and the woman.". "Do away" with does not always mean death.

Let's step back for a second. In the magi culture, the anomaly is considered nothingness. Anything sent into it disappears for good, yes? Giro sent this man and woman into the anomaly. Through that, they managed to return to their own time. They settled in Fina's home village and had a daughter. You meet her in the future era if you visit the village.

But there's more. In the windy valley in the future era, you can meet old Kuro. Fina may have passed away already, or she's an old lady living somewhere else - but Kuro is here. Why is he here? It's simple.

The flying machine. The one you initially find in the anomaly, to help you fly out. In the ending cutscene you see the same old man sweeping dust inside the anomaly. This is old Kuro. He took the flying machine and brough it to the anomaly to ensure his both future and past self would find it there, and be able to escape using it. Thus he maintains the time loop, and ensures everything he remembers will happen again.

Giro never murdered anybody. He THOUGHT he did, because to the ancient magi, being sent into the anomaly is thought to be the same as being sent to oblivion. In reality, he sent them back to their own time this way.

[MyKey_]

@sleeping

Originally posted by sleeping yukeh:

I know this is a bump and you may not care anymore, but just to give you some peace of mind - my theory here, based on your information (and considering the other events and characters in the game): The man and the woman in the lab is Kuro and Fina. Giro says "I managed to do away with them -- him and the woman.". "Do away" with does not always mean death.

.......

Giro never murdered anybody. He THOUGHT he did, because to the ancient magi, being sent into the anomaly is thought to be the same as being sent to oblivion. In reality, he sent them back to their own time this way.

I think what you said, along with what others have added make a LOT of sense and really sets this up for a "stable loop" (maybe a feedback loop?). It all seems to make sense (big events) and it really FELT like a 'stable loop' without super analyzing anything.

[Davincho]

Originally posted by Nazemec:

From what I understand:

- The one ending in Fina's house (which means, found in the forest) is Giro (Giro = Kuro sent by the Magi era) after being knocked down/thrown in time by Ceres when she escaped the lab. We just see that the loop is... well, a loop. Back to the beginning of the game, nothing has changed, everything has been and will be done again (stabilized time loop, as the Magi planned - a few quirks on the way, but it works).

- The one who fought Ceres (the player) is eventually sent to Giro's lab to find back Fina. There, they'll have a child (the inventor) and will be later "disposed of" by Giro (freshly arrived from the Magi era). As far as I remember, we're not sure they're killed by Giro. Kuro was probably sent into the Anomaly at that point (maybe because of the "meet myself" paradox?) where he gets old (the old man in the anomaly during the cutscene). At some point, he manages to escape the Anomaly and decides to live in the wind valley (or whatever its English name is, South East of the capital), near the tomb of his son.

The only thing is that I thought that the woman with a little green hair in Future starting village is the daughter of Fina too