I noticed just yesterday that practically all of the events in Chrono Trigger are linked to either:
restoration/improvement/continuity/bringing to life (overall Entity theme)
destruction/impairment/disruption/taking of life (overall Lavos theme)
Examples of the former:
Bringing Marle back to life/Saving the Queen
Saving Crono from execution
Saving Fritz from execution
Vowing to save the future
Fixing Robo
Bringing food to the knights at Zenan Bridge
Repairing the Masamune
Saving Melchior at Mt. Woe
Crono's sacrifice
Schala's sacrifice
Choosing not to fight Magus
Epoch gets wings
Black Omen rising (Ocean Palace resurrection)
Resurrecting Crono
Restoring Fiona's Forest (very significant)*
Saving Lara from Taban's machine
Saving humans from Geno Dome execution plant
Restoring Atropos's old memories
Rebuilding the Northern Ruins/Hero's Grave
Bringing Cyrus's spirit to rest
Enabling the Masamune to reach its full potential
Turning the greedy mayor into a generous mayor
Restoring the Sun Stone's power
Creating a better Human-Mystic relationship
Exonerating King Guardia from false charges
Mammon Machine intact despite looking destroyed 5 seconds earlier
Restoring Queen Zeal's humanity
Saving the Planet from Lavos
Future Lavos binds with Schala to create Dream Devourer
Of these, Fiona's forest is the most interesting to me because it is the Lavos vs Entity crisis on a smaller scale: The forest represents the planet and the Retinite represents Lavos. The CT team defeats the Retinite and enjoys a nights sleep in the restored forest. This is when the Entity seems to really connect with the group and makes its presence known when it creates a gate so that Lucca can save her mother.
Examples of the Latter:
Marle vanishes/Queen is not saved
Destruction of Zenan Bridge
Not Guilty verdict is reversed to Guilty with execution (ouch!)
Future is bleak
Food storage refrigeration failed, husband is dead.
Lavos destroys the world in 1999
Magus kills Cyrus
Masamune is broken
Glenn turned into Frog
Tata steals Hero's Medal and lies to the kingdom
Reptites attempt to exterminate "the apes"
Kino steals the Gate Key
Lavos sends the party and Magus to different time periods
Reptites destroy Laruba Village
Lavos destroys Tyranno Lair
Poor condition of Earthbound Ones
Manipulation of Zeal
Lavos kills Crono
Lavos sends the Gurus to different times
Lavos destroys the Ocean Palace
Destruction of Zeal
Imprisonment inside the Blackbird
Cyrus's spirit becomes restless
Yakra XIII's attempt to overthrow Guardia
Mother Brain's human extermination plan
Continuing deforestation around Fiona's Villa
Hostile relationship between Humans and Mystics
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The game often mentions the word "dream" - but what does dreaming mean in Chrono Trigger? Here are some clues:
Green Dream - accessory that auto-resurrects once per battle
Black Dream (Omen) - Ocean Palace risen and restored
Dreamreaver - attack move by Lavos
Dream Devourer - Lavos from bleak future + Schala
It seems as though "dream" is related to "life" or "existence" in Chrono Trigger. We see this further in Zeal where dreams poured into objects made of Dreamstone actually bring life to "dream-beings" [Masa, Mune, Doreen]. Also the triple tech with Frog, Robo and Marle called "Grand Dream" shows the Masamune lighting up and three "Masamune boss-like" dream beings attack the enemies.
So, resurrection or the idea of the "second chance" seems to be one of the primary themes in the game. Marle, Crono, the Planet and even Lavos (as DD/TD) are all resurrected and we see this represented sometimes with regrets. For example: Lucca feels guilty about her mother's accident - she is given a second chance to do what she could not do as a child and save her mother. Glenn is not as fortunate, but Cyrus's spirit releases his guilt in the Northern Ruins anyway.
Just a few thoughts, has anyone noticed other thematic elements in the games?
