Some things I didn't understand.....

[HatakeCC]

Okay, I'm a bit of a newbie to the forums here, but I've gone to the site for awhile. I don't know if this topic belongs here, so excuse me if it's a bit off subject.

Anyway, I recently finished replaying Chrono Trigger for the first time in a long time, and I noticed a couple of things near the end of the game that I passed over in my younger years.

1. What in the world happened to Queen Zeal? It's never really explained, because all that Gaspar says is that she's out of Lavos's control, this could have quite a few implications, either she's dead, or she's just out of his influence. Because it never really shows that she died, but the Black Omen being slowly vaporised doesn't bode well for her.

2. What was with the state of the Mammon Machine? It was all rusted and decrepit looking, and then she tosses you into it, and you fight a newer better looking version?! What was with that?

3. Also, what was with the clones in the tubes in the Black Omen? They didn't really seem to serve a purpose.

If anyone would care to answer these questions, it would really clear a few nagging points up on what was otherwise a near-perfect game.

[the_Predator]

Hello,

Regarding the first question, I think that the biggest probability is that she was killed after you fought her at the top of the omen... I am not sure, it's been a time since I played... but I recall it that way...

The thing with the mammon machine is... well... I don't know.. maybe a mistake of the designers?

The clones in the room don't apear in any part of CC/CT/RD so It' most probably just for the ambient...

[Magus22]

The Black Omen somehow transcends time and is in all time periods except for prehistoric. It is interesting after the Ocean Palace incident and when the Black Omen rises, if you were to go to any other time period, Queen Zeal is right there, time hasn't had an affect on her. Wouldn't she be dead? Old age?

Nope. The Black Omen is weird like that, and that's why she's there. So it's kind of cool to finish the Ocean Palace stuff and then warp to 1000AD to see her again. I just think that's cool.

As for the clone room, that was interesting. I didn't see Magus . . .

[Chrono'99]

Nowadays, all the answers you need are either in the encyclopedia or are up to interpretations

1. http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Queen_Zeal
Queen Zeal is dead. There's really nothing to point toward the contrary.

2. http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Mammon_Machine_%28Pocket_Dimension%29
Basically, the commonly adopted theory is that the Mammon Machine, since it absorbs Lavos's energy, was able to create its own little pocket dimension. In that special field, the Machine somehow cloned itself, so that even though the "physical" Machine was destroyed by the Red Knife, the Machine still functions as the daughter-clone interface wasn't destroyed.

3. http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Black_Omen_%28Doppelgangers_of%29
This page proposes 3 theories. Personally, I like the first one, it holds that the doppelgangers are magic illusions, made to simply frighten Crono's party. The theory has credibility because we know for a fact that a similar tactic was used elsewhere in the game, in Magus's Castle.

[HatakeCC]

Thanks everyone! That really cleared a lot of things up.