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Mysteries of the Series



• How did Marle acquire Schala's pendant?

Many suggest that Marle and Schala are distant relatives. If you suspect as such, please read the Misconceptions portion of this site. Since it is probable the two have no relation we can only speculate as to how the pendant made its way into the Guardia family's possession. One hypothesis is that if Schala survived the collapse of the Ocean Palace in the original timeline she could have passed the treasure on to others. Eventually it may have been given as a gift to the Guardia family when they rose to power. However, a definitive answer is not available at this time.



How did the Masamune get inside the cave in the Denadoro Mountains?

We know the story of the blade's formation: Melchior thrusts his dreamstone knife into the Mammon Machine in order to prevent Queen Zeal's summoning of Lavos. An influx of Lavos' energy into the knife transforms it into what we recognize as the Masamune. In the original timeline that existed before Crono's interference the Ocean Palace remained on the seafloor after its destruction. Therefore the Masamune must also have remained under the waves for over 12,000 years within the palace wreckage. How did the sword escape from the ocean's depths to be discovered by a human, let alone be hidden away atop a mountain? Some theorize that the Masamune was enveloped in a Gate which propelled it through time until it came to rest amidst the Denadoro Mountains. This is possible, but it seems to contradict Lucca's statement that the sword appears to have been setting around for ages when it is found in 600 AD. We also cannot say with certainty that the Masamune was kept in the mountains the whole time. Some say Cyrus found the sword and during a trek through the Denadoro Mountains came upon Magus by chance, whereupon the sword was broken during the battle. From that point forward it remained inside the cave, guarded by the sword's spirits. Others maintain that Cyrus, having recently defeated both Masa and Mune inside the cave, exited with his new sword when Magus appeared to ambush him. Details are dodgy since we are only given a brief look at this event during Glenn's flashback. To further perplex us it appears that the people of 600 AD know the Masamune is sacred and has the power to defeat Magus. How they know this, though, is beyond me.



Why exactly was Magus involved in a war?

Nearly half of Chrono Trigger focuses on the war with Magus, yet what is the motivation? Magus' goal was to destroy Lavos, but was it necessary to wage war against all of humanity? Granted he needed power in order to defeat Lavos, but it is known that he possessed immense power when he was still a child in Zeal. It seems unlikely the Mystics would have anything worthwhile to contribute to Magus' goal. Is it not possible Guardia was actually the instigator, provoking Magus to respond accordingly? A defining moment in history and we are left in the dark as to it's cause. Though it is rumored that in the Japanese version more information was given. Supposedly the Mystics once inhabited that area around Guardia Castle. Humans eventually drove them away until the Mystics were forced off the continent. Holding a grudge, they eventually fought back in order to regain their land. I cannot confirm this as I have not fully played the Japanese version. It is an interesting concept nonetheless, considering a similar scenario was re-played in Chrono Cross.



• How did Queen Zeal come to find out about Lavos, let alone use his energy to make Zeal float?

See the Essays section for my insight. However, an official explanation is not given. It is implied within Chrono Trigger than the entire Kingdom of Zeal was made to float in a matter of 10 years. We know the queen somehow utilized the energy of Lavos for this to happen, but how did she even come to find out about Lavos, let alone harness his power?



• How did Dalton keep his magic when everyone else in Zeal lost theirs?

This was a problem I didn't give much thought to until recently. We know the citizens of Zeal all possessed magical powers to a degree. The queen, undoubtedly, had access to a more powerful form of magic than her subjects. Dalton, her aide, was also skilled in the ways of sorcery. After the fall of Zeal the surviving citizens state their sudden lack of magical ability. The queen, as should be expected, still retains her powers since she still has access to the Mammon Machine and all of Lavos' energy. Dalton, on the other hand, has no such link yet he still has access to his magical spells. We know so little of how the citizens were given their magic. It is possible Dalton underwent a different procedure when he was granted his magic, yet we cannot be certain of this. Some speculate that since Crono possessed a weaker form of the same magic the Zealians had, that perhaps he too lost his powers after the defeat of Lavos. Further speculation is provided in my piece concerning magic in the Essays section.



• What happened to Queen Zeal?  And Dalton?

Sadly, it is unclear as to the fate of one of Crono's most feared and powerful enemies. Gaspar tells us that the queen has reverted to normal and can now rest after the Black Omen's destruction. Yet might this mean she can rest in the eternal embrace of death? Perhaps. It is a fact that we never see Queen Zeal anywhere in the Dark Ages after the fall of the Black Omen. She cannot be found anywhere else in the game either. Or is it possible she was pulled into a stray Gate when the Omen was engulfed in that ball of energy, causing it to disintegrate?  Dalton, on the other hand, did vanish into a type of gate. We last see him aboard the Epoch attempting to summon the Golem Boss. The portal which he forms ends up engulfing him instead. We have no way of knowing to where that grey gate leads, or even if it can be classified as a "time gate", but I would be hesitant to count him out completely. 



• Why are dinosaurs living in Giant's Claw 65 million years after their extinction?

This is quite perplexing in my opinion. Absolutely no explanation was given as to why this "Lost World" exists. Are we to assume the dinosaurs had survived inside the cave for millions of years, isolated from the outside world, remaining completely un-evolved since the Prehistoric Age? Ridiculous. An ecosystem could not function based solely on the small population present inside of the Giant's Claw. Food would be quite scarce, to say the least. A lack of sunlight would mean no vegetation could grow underground. A community of carnivores would quickly deplete their food source through consumption of their fellow animals, resulting in a fast extinction. Though assuming this was not an issue, the dinosaurs should have evolved new characterstics in order to help them survive in the subterranean realm. One cannot take surface dwelling creatures and immediately thrust them into an alien habitat and expect them to live, let alone prosper. Yet they look every bit the same as their prehistoric ancestors.

Some say the dinosaurs must have been transported through a Gate from the Prehistoric Age. Yet these same people are at a loss when questioned as to when this happened. What's more mysterious is that the citizens of Zeal knew of the Rainbow Shell during the Dark Ages. This shell, of course, is only found inside Giant's Claw. Had the area of the Tyrano Lair been pulled through time to 600 AD, where did the Rainbow Shell come from and how were its properties known in 12,000 BC?



• Where did Giant's Claw go to after 600 AD?

Quite odd. Study the map of the Middle Ages and you will see a large mountain on an island between Ozzie's Fort and Choras. This is Giant's Claw. Jump ahead to 1000 AD and the entire island will have mysteriously vanished. Keep in mind the surrounding continents will have changed only slightly. Some say the mountain sank beneath the waves. I refuse to believe this. Had it done so, ocean levels would have risen tremendously - just look at the massive change the Earth's surface underwent when the comparatively small landmasses of Zeal fell into the seas. Clearly the mountain could not have sunk, especially since there is simply no reason for it to have. It would have taken a tremendous force to cause such an event, one that would have likely reshaped the surrounding lands. Again, there is no evidence for this.



• Why is Cyrus' grave on the opposite side of the world from where he was killed?

Cyrus was murdered in the Denadoro Mountains, which are found on the Zenan continent. The Hero's Grave (formerly the Northern Ruins), where Cyrus' ghost inhabits, is found across the ocean on the continent where Choras exists. How did these people half a world away come to know of the knight and his actions, let alone build a grave for him? Or did they? A citizen notes that a beast was seen entering the ruins previously. Could Ozzie have somehow played a part in this ordeal? The tombstone clearly states that Cyrus was a fool for challenging Magus, which sounds like something a Mystic would say. Perhaps Ozzie brought Cyrus' remains across the sea and placed them in the ruins as a symbol of Magus' triumph over Guardia's strongest warrior. Though why drag him to Choras rather than the Mystic heartland? Surely this would make more sense if the goal is to rally demi-human support. Even so, the burial would seem to be too much of an honor to give one's enemy. Considering we are dealing with Ozzie, who detests humans, the fitting action would be to let Cyrus' corpse rot in the mountains rather than to put it in any sort of tomb. Another hypothesis is that it was Frog would transported the body to Choras. Ye this begs the question: why there? Why not return him to Guardia for a proper burial? One might say Frog was too ashamed to do so. In either case there are literally many different approaches one could take in answering this question. For now though we are left to use this strategy in formulating our own resolution to this mystery.



• Why does Lavos look like a robot inside his shell?

We are told throughout the entirety of Crono's adventure that Lavos is an alien descended from space. Lavos appears as a living organism. It has a shell decorated with spikes with which to drill through hard ground. A mouth at the front of the shell used for vocalizations. Yet once this is destroyed, Lavos continues to exist. Deep within the recesses of the shell it is discovered Lavos has taken the form of a large robotic being. Furthermore, the "true" Lavos seems to be a humanoid being hiding within the robot. We know Lavos used the DNA of the planet's organisms to achieve a superior evolved form (the humanoid), yet it almost seems that this is the real Lavos, whereas the shell is merely a vessel, or to be blunt, a space craft. Yet we know in Chrono Cross that Lavos (the shell at least) is an organic organism since it was fused with Schala and had feelings of its own. Quite perplexing.



• Which is the "true" ending to Chrono Trigger?

On one's first playthrough he is given the option of seeing one of two endings. One entails crashing the Epoch into Lavos' shell and later having Crono and Marle float away into the night using a cluster of balloons. The other ending involves having Crono fight Lavos' shell and using the Epoch to retrieve his mother after she is lost in a Gate while chasing after Crono's cat(s). The second is, undoubtedly, a very silly conclusion to the tale, yet it is more likely than not Crono did not sacrifice the Epoch. For one, there was no guarantee the impact would take out Lavos completely. Secondly, who is to say the team would have even survived the crash? I doubt they were so foolhardy as to risk this. Lastly, Lavos appeared as an opponent immediately after completion of the Black Omen. We can rest assured Crono did not leave the queen's Omen unharmed, so he must have faced Lavos head-on. On the other hand, crashing the Epoch is a very symbolic gesture and is a powerful scene. Likewise, the romance between Crono and Marle seems to come to a peak as we see them together in the night while fireworks flare in the background. The only relevance this question has is whether the Epoch was available after the close of the game. If it was, did Lucca ever dismantle it as she said? Did Crono's mother disappear into the depths of time? Regardless, the fate that befell Guardia in 1005 still occurred, but it would be interesting to know whether the team had access to time travel via Epoch during the event or if they were totally cut off from seeking help in other eras.



Why did Dark Serge seemingly rampage El Nido?

After Serge (in the form of Lynx) returns to Another World after eliminating the Dead Sea he finds chaos reigns as Dark Serge and his minions wreak havoc upon the people of the central island of El Nido. While we see no damage is actually done, the people of Arni cower in fear of Dark Serge. This sudden shift in personality is left unexplained, though many attribute the body swap as being the primary cause. Perhaps Lynx, finding himself in Serge's body, is overcome with emotion and the powers of the arbiter, causing him to slightly lose sight of his true goal. Whether this is the case, we can all agree Lynx undergoes a dramatic personality change after the incident atop Fort Dragonia.



How did Serge's existence threaten the future?

We can see in the Dead Sea the destruction caused in the far future. This scene is blamed entirely on Serge. As the arbiter of time he has the power to decide the fate of the world. Yet how exactly he could bring it to ruin is left ambiguous. Most people accept Serge inadvertently unleashing the Time Devourer to be the cause. Yet others suggest Serge will somehow prevent Crono from ever defeating Lavos in 1999 AD in the first place, thus reviving the ruined future. I prefer the former theory, yet a definite answer isn't yet known.


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