Lavos (Envoy of)

Inquiry[edit]

In Chrono Trigger, Lavos seems to use Queen Zeal and her resources as an immense ally against the heroes of time. In Radical Dreamers, it is suggested that the Frozen Flame was interred in the Mammon Machine. Finally, in Chrono Cross, the role of the Arbiter is defined, and the lost storyline arc mentioned by Kato expands upon the danger of Serge's life. Taken from the Chrono Cross Condensed Plot Summary:

Signs point to another overarching storyline that involved Serge binding with the Time Devourer itself; in this scenario, Serge, if he did not defeat the Time Devourer with the Chrono Cross, would ultimately bind with it and cause the Devourer to mature, granting him the power to consume space-time. Chrono Cross Ultimania mainly supports this notion, claiming that the Arbiter of the Frozen Flame must mediate between his fellow lifeforms and Lavos, or else he will inevitably bind with the creature and spell destruction for other humans. Ultimania also postulates that Schala was an Arbiter of the Frozen Flame while it existed in Zeal, and that is how she came to bind with Lavos. Apparently, the Time Devourer needed enough power before it could reach maturity, and Serge would have been the final piece in the puzzle. Quotes in the game also seem to hint at this possibility; three come to mind specifically. A demi-human in Marbule states that "anyone who touches that Flame will become a different being." Lynx, at Viper Manor, warns Serge that "there shall be a deep enmity between you and the world" once destruction occurs. Lastly, Belthasar notes that the Arbiter will gain "extraodinary powers...by binding with the new seed of destruction, the Devourer of Time." However, this storyline is not directly stated or implied in Chrono Cross, and neither has series creator Masato Kato confirmed it himself. For the time being, it remains speculation made by the Ultimania authors. Considering that in the same book, they contradict other canon (such as stating the Prometheus Circuit is not Robo, when Masato Kato noted that the circuit is Robo), the veracity of Ultimania is arguable.

With this considered, it is normal for Lavos to select a terrestrial envoy as an ally, or seek to bind to become a higher life form in the case of the Time Devourer?

Answer[edit]

This depends on whether the creation of the Frozen Flame was accidental. In Chrono Trigger, Lavos erupts and spawns without allying with Queen Zeal the first time, suggesting having an outside ally is not part of the process. The use of Queen Zeal can be construed as a defense measure against the heroes of time, acknowledged by Lavos. It is only Schala's chance fall into the Darkness Beyond Time that Lavos begins merging. However, Lavos seems disturbed and unnatural at this point:

Filled with the hatred and
   sadness of Lavos, half of
   Schala's mind became set on
   destroying all of existence.

Lavos's basic directive is to spawn and perpetuate its existence among the stars; destroying the space-time continuum would betray this function. This suggests that, in light of the lost storyline, the Time Devourer was a unique, haphazard existence and that so too was the use of the Arbiter and the impulse for Lavos to bind with something. The use of Queen Zeal was, as mentioned above, probably just a useful defense measure against Crono.

From: Common Questions