Hey, all. I apologize in advance if the following thoughts are blatantly wrong - I know the people here have spent way more time theorizing about this stuff than I have. Just wanted to share a few ideas. I read the articles on here regarding when Kid is sent into the world, and when the dimension split occurs.
First, regarding exactly when Schala sent Kid into the world - the "Kid (Arrival of)" article. I agree with this site's conclusion - that by process of elimination, she must have been sent to the year 1004 AD, since she's a baby (not an infant) when Lucca finds her and she's 16 years old in 1020. I have a quick theory as to the game's implication that Schala sent her in 1006, when she makes contact with the world due to Serge's crying. Technically, on the beach at the end of the game, you are told about two events that don't
necessarily happen in the same year. One event is that Schala makes contact with this dimension, causing the raging magnetic storm. Another event is that Schala sends her clone into the dimension. It's understandable to just assume both took place in the same year, but the game doesn't explicitly say this here. Since Schala is outside the flow of time, can't she access any year in any order? My theory is that she first made contact with El Nido in 1006 AD, then
decided to send Kid to help Serge. But she actually
sent Kid, not to that year, but to a slightly earlier time - 1004 (maybe so that she would be closer in age to Serge). This theory seems to unify the game's text, since it technically doesn't explicitly say that she sent Kid to the same year that she first made contact with - she has access to any year from outside the flow of time, I think. What do you guys (the site creators) think? Might this rectify the seemingly contradictive in-game statements?
Second, regarding when exactly the dimension splits. My theory is that, again, the in-game text isn't necessarily contradictory. So the following suggestion is meant to give an explanation for the "Plot Inconsistency" part of the "Dimensional Split (Timing of)" article. This is what Belthasar says: "10 years ago.... This is when
your future was split in twain." Later, this is what Lucca says: "Schala... heard your crying.... That is when...
the world became divided into two." Based solely on the in-game text, I believe the actual
dimension split took place in 1006 AD, while
Serge's future was divided in 1010. I will explain how this could be.
The volatile nature of Schala making contact with the modern era divides time into two separate timelines. Chronopolis, which until now only had to monitor one dimension, recognizes that it now has to monitor two, and limits both to a small amount of variety so as to ensure the saved future's continuance in both. And part of FATE's plan was to use its vessel Lynx to kill Serge in 1010 to break the lock on the Flame - I guess in both dimensions now that they have split (assuming this theory isn't complete BS
). However, Kid is sent back in time to stop this from happening in one dimension (Belthasar's got it all figured out
). So in that dimension, Serge lives, and this somehow negates the saved future and transforms Chronopolis into the Dead Sea. (I know this contradicts the "Armageddon-Branch Theory" within the "Salt for the Dead Sea" article. I'm merely trying to harmonize the explicitly stated facts from the game itself. Besides, just how Serge's existence negates the saved future is not in itself a contraction, merely a mystery - we don't have a conclusive, in-game explanation. So I'm not attempting to explain that one...)
Okay, so Chronopolis - which has been able to control both worlds from 1006 to 1010 - now can only control one, as stated with these words: "Ever since the formation of the Dead Sea 10 years ago... FATE has been unable to intervene directly with World 01." My aforementioned explanation allows for this fact. And this would explain why other people's futures start to diverge so greatly from this point on - FATE is no longer able to keep them so limited in variation. Based on these things, I believe (for now...) that the Dead Sea was formed, not merely because one world split into two, but because a relatively big change was made in one of them - a human who originally is eliminated from both timelines is now reinserted into one. This could potentially change the world, so to speak...
So my two theories in a nutshell?
1) Schala made contact with Serge in 1006, but had the ability to send her clone to any year she wanted, and so chose the year 1004. Thus the game can say that Schala made contact with 1006, then sent Kid (who is 16 in the year 1020) into the world - not necessarily an in-game contradiction.
2) The original timeline was split into two due to Schala's unstable contact with it in 1006, but the two resulting futures remained largely unchanged thanks to FATE until a another new change was made (saving Serge in 1010) to one of the dimensions, this time by Belthasar and Kid. Thus the game can say that "the world became divided into two" in 1006, but "[Serge's] future was split in twain" in 1010.
If other in-game quotes disprove these possibilities, please be kind in shattering them.
Like I said, I don't claim to know as much as this site's creators. Just offering some ideas that seem to unify the initially contradictive nature of the game's quotes. If I'm wrong, I have no problem with that. What are your thoughts, site theorists?
For the record, even I know that the most likely case is that they actually are contradictions, and the game's creators either didn't notice them or couldn't see how to rectify them - they bit off more than they could chew in making a story so needlessly complex. That's probably the real answer to these quandaries - but it's still fun to try and bring them into harmony with each other, when you love the series so much.
