#lysander

- corbeau refused to eat until lupine his venipede was given food first

- I hc that lysander found him as an orphan, supporting him until he grew old enough to land on his feet, and then gave him the funds to kick start his next “venture”

- corbeau has the mindset that the ends justify the means; you may take as long as you give back in equal measure and then some

Idea 1: Overcoming your past

Not all, but a lot of the characters have some connection to this theme, but extremely so the main characters.

Canari and DYN4MO are probably the weakest connection, where the only kind of connection I can think of is that your status in DYN4MO is dependent on how long youve known Canari for and how deep your knowledge of her past is. Though it seems like Tarragon seems to care a lot more about it than Canari herself.

Ivor and Gwynn are only loosely connected to it as well, with their story being moreso about Ivor having to change as Gwynn got fed up with his antics.

It gets more clear with Jacinthe and Lebanne of the SBC with the latter talking about how she misses her past. Yet because of the mistake she made, which was challenging Jacinthe she is now completely at the whim of a woman who has never not gotten what she wanted and seemingly can't physically take no for an answer. She wants to overcome her past mistakes, but is unable to, because of Jacinthe.

Corbeau of the Rust Syndicate is a really interesting case, because by all means, it seems that he has completely managed to overcome his past and is now living in the brighter future he desires. He overcame his upbringing with the help of Lysander and appears to already be in the epilogue of his character arc during the story of ZA. However, he clings on to his past, seemingly unwilling to accept that he is already happy. He seems adamant about the idea that he is a bad guy, despite his clearly pure actions.

Similarly, Philippe has also moved on from his days as the big boss, seeing how Corbeau is more fit for the job. He says that this is because Corbeau is just stronger than him, but I believe that there must be a more personal reason, like Philippe just seeing how Corbeau is simply a more inspiring and honourable leader. Or maybe he is just stronger, which would be even more impressive considering the type matchup.

ON THE TOPIC OF TYPE MATCHUPS:

I have to believe that its intentional, how all of these have a first in command, whose signature type is literally unable to attack the signature type of the second in command, aside from Lebanne, who cannot attack the signature type of Jacinthe with her own. My interpretation of this is that this signifies how all the other leaders have full trust in their second-in-command, whereas Jacinthe's relationship with Lebanne is a lot more oppressive.

Back on topic, most outspoken about their past are Grisham and Griselle Team Flare Noveau, who lament the fact that they cannot outrun who they used to be. But I think it's noteworthy to mention that, despite hating how people consider them outcasts because of their past, they still refuse to let go of it. They are open about still believing the same ideals they did during Team Flare's reign, they still use the Team Flare logo, or a variation of it, and they named themselves after their association with Team Flare. This puts them in a weird position, where they both want to desperately outrun their past, as well as holding onto it with all that they are.

Notably, Mable is in a similar position, if a much healthier version of it. She took a plea deal and can now lead a somewhat free life. She might be under constant supervision, and be overwhelmed by her work load, but in a polar-opposite way to Team Flare Noveau, she is not embarrassed by her past in Team Flare, and will speak openly about it when asked, but makes it clear that she has moved on and does not want to associate with their beliefs anymore. They did let her keep her racing chair with the logo and her visor though.

However, both the other npc team MZ members also have some deeper backstory revolving around a family member, with Naveen running away from his grandma to follow his passion and Lida being inspired to pursue her passion by her brother (presumably Tierno). So maybe this has less to do with themes, and moreso the fact that the word "backstory" contains the word "back". If anything, team MZ could moreso just be the group that leads Lumiose itself into its future.

I will now touch on Urbain/Taunie and Team MZ. I have not finished the postgame yet, so I don't know who they're looking for, or if they're going to find them (or if Taunie even has that same arc, as Urbain is my rival). But it's clear, that they too, are trying to trace their past and hope that finding that person will help them overcome something. More significantly to me at the moment is, how emphasis is put on their jacket having belonged to their mother(s?).

The two people that represent the theme of overcoming your past are obviously AZ and Lysander, who both live an even more specific theme of atoning for the sins of the past, with both of them having committed genocide, which left them both abandoned by the people closest to them, as well as having to live with their sins immortally.

I could make a whole analysis of Lysander and why he was an amazing villain and I probably will at some point, but important right now is that the only remnant of his sin that he's left with, is the way people talk about him. He is aware that he has done something horrible, but does not have any memory of his actions, or the disillusionment that led to him developing his extreme views to begin with. I can just assume that all he was left with was the good intentions he originally had, far far longer than five years ago. At least that's the thing I assume, Zygarde thought, since clearly it considered Lysander to be fit to fill his role in the story. I guess it remains to be seen if this was enough to redeem him, but I personally doubt it.

AZ is the other side of the coin of immortal, white-haired genocide committers. Unlike Lysander he never lost his memory and had to live, knowing the unforgivable acts he committed. Unlike Lysander he didn't seem to have become a societal outcast because of it, though he did lose the pokemon closest to him, that being his beloved Floette.

Being 3000 years old, he is obviously the living example of overcoming your past, simply because he has so much of it. Though the most important parts are his creation and usage of the Ultimate Weapon, and his creation of Ange. These were his sins and only after rectifying them, was he able to finally be put to rest. It definitely feels like his past mistakes still not being fixed were the reasons why he was unable to die.

Also, Zack misses when Taxis were the shit.

Idea 2: Beauty (again (kinda))

(This section contains a full analysis of X/Y's themes. You may skip it if you're not interested)

The definition of beauty was the main theme of X/Y. It focuses around what the definition of beauty is, which is to say: What is the perfect future that we should strive for? To condense the entire analysis: Lysander believed that beauty is a single, attainable truth. To attain beauty would thus require uniformity. This is made the clearest in his introduction, in which he asks Diantha if she wouldn't want to be forever young? In his mind, she attained beauty, and should want to conserve it, as once she changes, this true beauty is lost. She responds that she doesn't want to play the same roles forever. Change is beautiful and there are many kinds of "true" beauty.

This misguided definition is what ultimately led Lysander to try to commit his atrocious actions. "If there is only one of something it can't be shared and will be fought over", he says. He has seen war and believed the way to solve all of the world's problems is to only let those who attained beauty live, as anything else would both cause conflict, and make the ultimate goal of a beautiful world unattainable.

This is obviously a massively fascist world view and the games make that obvious. On many occasions do NPCs talk about how beauty is in flux, everyone can be beautiful in their own way. As such, the way to attain "true" beauty is to go out into the world and talk to as many different people as possible. To see and interact with all these different world views you broaden your horizon. You learn about all the wildly different forms of beauty that all the wildly different people in this world aspire to reach.

Idea 2: The best for Lumiose

End of tangent

And the reason why I went on that tangent to begin with is, because the core idea can be found here. Everybody aspires to the same goal in Legends ZA: Everybody wants Lumiose to thrive.

The most obvious discussion the game shows the player is the question of the wild zones. Quasartico Inc. is at the forefront of this plan, but there is a lot of pushback by people wanting to get rid of them, at one point even forming an angry mob.

Opinions are split in Lumiose city, but everybody is adamant in that they do what they do, because they want the best for Lumiose. Quasartico cites it as their reason for the wild areas. The mob and the Fist Of Justice cite it as their reasoning to try to abolish them. Tarragon gives it as their reason to build whacky obstacle courses, and Corbeau gives it as his reason for the various activities he sponsors throughout Lumiose. Jacinthe rationalizes that her tourneys are hosted to the benefit of Lumiose City. Even Team Flare Noveau, while still clinging onto their ideals, explains that they just want the city to thrive. For Lysander this goal of saving Lumiose is quite literally the only thing on his mind, which is why he latches on to Zygarde in the way that he does.

There isnt as deep of an analysis of this theme, since it mostly boils down to everybody justifying their ideals in the same way, but this one culminates very naturally in the finale of the game, when all these people, who claim to all want the same thing, actually come together to risk their life in pursuit of the same goal when the biggest obstacle, proving that their words weren't hollow.

Closing statements

Overall I have to say that I enjoy the presence of themes more in X/Y and Black/White. This is by no means criticism of the game as a whole. I have enjoyed ZA a lot so far and still have the post game to fully tackle (even though I am disappointed by the lack of presence that Xerneas and Yveltal have in the story. I mean, come on, I know this is the Zygarde game, but Palkia and Dialga were a constant presence in Legends Arceus too).

Maybe I'll make a follow-up post, or a response to this one once I 100%ed the game, but for now these are the interpretations I came up with. Please feel free to add your own thoughts.