Dalton of Zeal - Who Was He?

[V_Translanka]

Okay, just one thing: I don't want this to be a "Where did Dalton go?" thread unless it somehow extremely is relevent.

My questions:

1. Who was Dalton really?

2. Who was he to the Zeal government?

Obviously, he was a sort of scientist (he made the Blackbird, right? and he also gave the Epoch wings...and lasers...and a Blackbird Self-Destruct button for some reason...), he was a skilled (questionable) summoner (at least he did a couple good Golem summons), and he seemed like a kind of soldier of Q. Zeal. He also seemed to have aspirations of, well, total control. He also had some magic behind him: his "BLUUUUUUP" or "BUUUUUUUURP" spell just for one and his whacky little fireball stuffs he uses after Zeal falls in the Earthbound Island.

So what do we think? Perhaps he was a lacky to Belthasar? He does mention how Belthasar was making a device like the Epoch, perhaps it's because he saw it firsthand as a protoge of some sort? Although, I suppose other people mentioned that as well...

Oh, and I guess those two questions are basically the same...

[Chrono'99]

About his magic skills, I think he has none. His "burp" may be like Crono's Slash, and I thought his fire stuff were guns or maybe grenades...

[Symmetry]

I would assume that since he was a citizen of Zeal, he must possess some sort of magical power. (Whether he was an "innate" might be a more debatable question?) As you mentioned, he demonstrates this in the Ocean Palace with his summoning of the Golem Twins and with his fireballs at the Earthbound Commons.

I forget why, but his attempt to summon a Golem after the destruction of Zeal fails. Maybe that's because he needed the power of the Mammon Machine to successfully summon? I'm not sure. He was able to use those fireballs, which "could" be grenades, but it makes more sense to me to suggest that was indeed magic since I can't remember anyone else in Zeal using such a weapon.

We're not really told much about the government of Zeal. I would assume that Dalton was some sort of bodyguard to the Queen or maybe a military advisor of sorts - he does appear to be wearing some sort of uniform as opposed to the robes everyone else wears, if I remember correctly.

I think Belthasar created the Blackbird - I'm wanting to say that a citizen of Kajar says this. Dalton does seem to have taken command of it in the Guru's absence, however.

[Leebot]

He feels to me like the head of Zeal's military or some equivalent post. The whole picture feels like the typical video game military chief: power-hungry, evil, and not too bright (I've told you my evil plan, and now for the slowly-moving-and-easily-escapable trap monitored by one inept guard). On the other hand, he is one of the few captors in video game history to confiscate his captives' equipment (Crono even got to keep his sword when he was arrested).

[V_Translanka]

Dalton's summoning of the Golem Boss on the Epoch is interfered because of the disturbance on the Blackbird that caused it to be summoned earlier, and presumably, you defeat it before Dalton ever summons it. Thusly he gets sucked into his weird summon to who-knows-where.

Did Belthasar make the Blackbird? I thought that when you first meet Dalton at the dock of the Blackbird he says something about it being his greatest achievement or creation or something...Maybe I'm remembering wrong. Either way, he shows he knows the principle dinamics of flight by giving the Wings of Time...wings (odd premonition on Belthasar's part)...

Yes, I suppose they could be grenades...But they're already fiery explosions before they reach the party, aren't they? I figured magic...Either way, I thought at least his summoning capabilities would put him above a kind of "General" status...But maybe not considering the kingdom he works for...

[Leebot]

It's worth noting that Lucca has an attack which uses grenades (Mega Bomb) and looks nothing like what Dalton does).

[Radical_Dreamer]

Did Belthasar make the Blackbird? I thought that when you first meet Dalton at the dock of the Blackbird he says something about it being his greatest achievement or creation or something...Maybe I'm remembering wrong. Either way, he shows he knows the principle dinamics of flight by giving the Wings of Time...wings (odd premonition on Belthasar's part)...

Yes, I suppose they could be grenades...But they're already fiery explosions before they reach the party, aren't they? I figured magic...Either way, I thought at least his summoning capabilities would put him above a kind of "General" status...But maybe not considering the kingdom he works for...

Belthasar built the Blackbird. He mentions it if you visit him when you first get to 2300 A.D. And Dalton didn't add wings to the Epoch, he ordered wings (and lasers) added to the Epoch. He then stood around, ordered that they build them faster, and ordered a change in the music.

Those blasts of his are magic. He was a high ranking member in a society based on magic. No reason for them to even come up with grenades.

[V_Translanka]

While I can agree that he did order them to work faster and that he also ordered the change in music, I don't recall there ever being anything stating that he just ordered the designs for the wings, the lasers, & the other gadgets on the Epoch. For all we know, he designed all of that himself.

[doulifee]

i always see him as a commander for the zeal army.
so he surely can manage magic.
summon his magic after all

and his best ability is.. changing bgm  

[Sentenal]

I forget why, but his attempt to summon a Golem after the destruction of Zeal fails. Maybe that's because he needed the power of the Mammon Machine to successfully summon? I'm not sure. He was able to use those fireballs, which "could" be grenades, but it makes more sense to me to suggest that was indeed magic since I can't remember anyone else in Zeal using such a weapon.

You fought the Golem boss right before Dalton.  I always assumed you killed the Golem boss, so it couldn't be summoned after its death.  And Zeal is a magic based society, and Dalton is not an Earthbound, so he most definately had magical powers.

As far as his position, I'd say he would be the head of the Military.  The military would definately have an R&D division, so the construction of the Blackbird would have fallen under his juristiction, regardless of who built it.

[ZeaLitY]

It is assumed Dalton commissioned the wings and lasers simply because he referred to it as his air-throne, and the party notes that they are in his debt for the Epoch's new abilities. Anyway, I'll agree that Dalton is seemingly the head of the military. The guards are entirely at his disposal, and when he was in charge of the Ocean Palace, he forced the Earthbound to do slave labor.

[Akuma]

Sorry to be a little off subject but is it possible that Dalton when he had access to the Epoch traveled through time? And returned to 12,000 B.C. where he was defeated and put into his Golem portal. I think that there are only a few Golems and he gets them from some island or they're stored somewhere and he simply teleports them.

[Sentenal]

what?  are you asking where he got the golems from, or if he time travelled, or what?

as for time traveling, probably not...  we see him take off, then he attacks you on the blackbird...  as for Golems, who cares where they come from.

[ZeaLitY]

Well, Zealians seem to control spatial teleportation, evident in the access to the Ocean Palace. I don't think he had to time travel, since he appeared immediately after taking off.

If only he would have. Then he could have made Dalton Trigger a reality.

[Zaperking]

Lol Dalton Trigger. Nice concept. I think there was a cheat somewhere to have Crono look like him. BTW ZeaLitY, 4 more posts till your post count is 1337 lol.


I've always thought of Dalton as Queen Zeals servant or right hand man. Who really wants to take over. Remember him saying that he doesn't care what he does to Schala in Argetty? He also hurt Janus. If Zeal was out of the picture, he'd probably murder them and take over Zeal, like he tried after the Palace disaster.