Calling this thread this, but I do have a specific passage in mind to start us off.
In the Catacombs scene (quoted below) when Magil talks about mental walls, is he referring solely to Kid/Schala, or could he also be talking from personal experience?
It's safe to assume he's talking about Schala when you consider that the Frozen Flame Schala Explanation (also quoted below) matches the situation he described almost exactly, but that would also mean he knew exactly what Schala went through prior to being de-aged. He uses Kid as a specific example, though, so he could just be speaking of her and not Schala.
I wonder if he could have a similiar view on what happened to himself in his childhood. I know he's meant to be mysterious and he keeps to himself at all times, but if he does relate to this on more than a "it happened to my sis" level, and actually kind of admits to it, it could tell us a lot about Magus's history and character on the whole. He seems a bit too emotionally effected by the whole thing for it to just be Kid, and since Serge himself mentions that Magil resembled Kid, it seems to suggest a bigger link...
I could go on and on just about this part, how it relates to the other games and the character of Kid as well, but I think it's best to just ask for some thoughts for now.
I peer around the corner into the cell. In this dim, damp space, an old man
sits in solitude, quietly mumbling to himself.
"Hey, Mister..."
"Everyone.. and it was all because of me. Every last one of the Dragoons...
Miss Riddel... even the General...! Forgive me... please..."
Ignoring us, the old man continues to mutter, staring at the floor as he
rocks back and forth.
"Hey, can ya hear me?" Kid says, shaking the bars a little.
"He will not hear a thing. He has constructed a wall around himself," Magil
says.
"What do you mean?" I ask Magil.
"A wall, used for shielding one's mind from reality. After being exposed to
horrific events, tremendous amounts of pain and guilt has this effect on a
person. He has made a safe world inside his own mind, where he retreats
into. From there, he refuses to acknowledge anything he does not want to
admit."
I notice that talking about this has given Magil a sort of sad, lost look in
his face. Noticing my glance, he quickly turns away from me.
Strange... Magil somehow reminded me of Kid just then.
When Magil turns back, his usual blank expression has returned.
"Does this make sense to you, Serge?" Magil asks.
*"Yeah, it does..."
**"Maybe if you gave me an easier explanation..."
*Magil continues, looking at Kid and me. "We rarely see the walls we're
trapped within. However, given time, some can come to understand and
possibly even break free of these shortcomings... I... ..."
I wait for Magil to finish, but he doesn't end up saying anything. I'd ask,
but... oh well.
The mind... Revealing itself to itself...
**"Very well," Magil says, taking me aside. "For example, there was probably a
time when Kid was very different than who she is now. She couldn't have been
a thief her whole life, correct?"
Hearing this, I look over to Kid. Somehow she looks different than I've ever
seen her...
"Kid convinced herself to be a thief. However, on the inside, she's not as
rough as you think."
"I see... so in other words, there's a normal man trapped somewhere inside
all that mumbling."
"Aw, come on, enough with all this jibber jabber!"
"But Kid, we were just saying..."
Thwap!
I stare at Kid, rubbing the red mark left on my cheek.
Long ago, in a far off kingdom, lived a girl. Because of her power, the kingdom
had come to an end, crumbling under its own weight. Many became engulfed in the
temporal vortex that was created, never to be heard from again...
...But not the girl. She lived on, enduring a much sadder fate... Running from
her past and fearing her future, she wanted nothing more than to be swallowed
up in the surging waves of the vortex of time...
Hating what she'd done, refusing what she'd said or heard, to simply continue
living was her curse. But the stone, It had other plans for her...Turning back
the hands of her clock, scattering her memories, she was granted another
chance. Since the precious stone was in her possession, she carried with her
all its will and power. And so, she was born into this era, returning to
reality as a mere infant...
