Timecrest Theories and Discoveries

[Sashimioishi]

Very interesting. Although the user had the option to turn back time perhaps Chronos is the one setting the moments. I am going to do some thinking on that concept as you could very well be on to something.

[JEkis]

I've been thinking about the composition of team 13.

Spoiler:  

So if I remember correctly, this team was supposedly made up of mages who couldn't find teammates. It ends up being comprised entirely of people connected to the most important figures in the world. You've got relatives of the king of Windsorhowl, the head guildmastor of the Timecrest guild, and the most powerful and celebrated mage ever.

Then for no discernible reason, someone connected to the merchant union leader chooses to get involved in a trial she had no right to be in. Of all the possible teams, she chooses to join this specific one. All of the members were trying to hide their connections ,but Elise still knew who Roger and A.C. really were. She even suspected there was something about Ash, who didn't even know about the connection to Chronos yet.

Way to many coincidences here. So who made sure team 13 would all be working together? Does someone want to make sure they have what it takes to succeed? Alternatively, does someone want them all out of the way?

Thoughts?

[Ben]

Hey everyone! I know it has been a while since I posted a theory, but I wanted to put up a really good one for a while now! It may be a while before I get another chance, so without further ado, here is my Ezra theory. If you haven't played through the entire storyline, please avoid reading this. The story is awesome and you should enjoy it without spoilers Why did Ezra disappear? Why does he prefer to be alone and separate himself from others? Why has he ceased any "loyalty" to Alyncia, as he stated in his conversation with Ash in the Illusion Valdor Palace? I believe that he was used by mages in Alyncia for his unique ability to put people into trances. In the descriptions of Levitas Magnus: Force Pulse and Gravitas Magnus: Gravity Well, it is mentioned that "Years of study are required to achieve [these spells] and success is not guaranteed... [however] there are a few mages powerful enough to put others under high level trances which allows a shortcut for mages to obtain high level spells without the hard work. First Mage Ezra is one of the few known mages who can do this and, needless to say, many sought him for this ability."

From this description, we can assume that many mages sought out Ezra to avoid doing work to obtain spells, and, whether you like Ezra or not, you can certainly agree that he is a man with strong ideals and is willing to defend them at any cost. Personally, I believe that when Ezra brought magic to Alyncia, he wished to help and mentor people to take the journey to achieving magical abilities, bringing knowledge and peace into Alyncia. Never would he wish to cheat others to the top. After countless mages pursued him for his ability he got sick of the world's abuse and defilement of his wisdom and decided that if people only chose to use him for an easy way to high powered spells that there is no use in having faith in them. That is when he chose to disappear and to live in solitude.

My next theory about Ezra is regarding his vendetta against Chronos. As we all know, Chronos destroyed Valdor, likely out of the pure rage that came when Janus murder of his parents. Though we do not know where his loyalty to his kingdom lied, the murder of every single Alyncian in Valdor and the destruction of the kingdom that he built must have given him the drive to kill Chronos. When Ash encounters Ezra in Chapter 9, Ezra tells Ash "I am not a monster. I am something much worse. I am a man who lost everything he cared about." After Chronos's genocide of the entire Valdorian empire, it is really hard to blame Ezra for his drive to do justice by everyone who has fallen, and to avenge the loss of the kingdom he built and loved, despite the faults it may have.

I really hope you enjoyed my theory, and I am looking forward to seeing your responses to it. Also don't forget to give your theories regarding the weekly questions! There is a 300 Time Crystal reward for the best theory, and I would love to see your responses! Thanks everyone!

[danubus]

I thimk Riley or Ezra may be helping. I think it may be Ezra.

[Nyctofrost]

SPOILERS!!! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Through all the theories, how old are the characters? That might make a big difference. Especially Elise. Back in tremble caves during the trials, Ash says that Elise might be younger than him/her. In Elise's memory oracles, Elise was alive back even before Valdor was destroyed, before Riley's mother got killed. So how old really is she?

EDIT: The ages have been found on twitter. Riley is 24, Roger is 16, A.C. is 19, Elise is 24 and Ash is 16. Chronos is 29. If Elise is 24, why does she look so young though?

[ChristineMoon]

If Alyncia is anything like earth, sun causes faster aging.

And thanks for posting their ages. I was just thinking tonight that I'm amazed how powerful Chronos was as a teenager. See if everyone's ages really brings more to the story.

[JohnnyValdezi]

Wait, the sun makes aging faster? That doesn't sound right. I'm confused.

[ChristineMoon]

JohnnyValdezi There are plenty of articles online about ultraviolet and skin aging. Here's just one text I found.

"Sun exposure is responsible for most of the visible aging of your skin—far more than all other factors combined. Yes, UV rays from the sun are the primary cause of wrinkles, pigmentation, sun spots, reduced skin elasticity, the degradation of skin texture, and many other signs of skin aging."

Makes sense for Elise hiding away for ages.

[timecresttheorist925]

Hi one we're is Elise at in chapter 8 so I can bring her with me for the quest and how is she 24 yet she has memories from before valdor was destroyed because I remember that Ash had said that valdor was destroyed decades ago witch is usually said when the event took place more then two decades witch would mean she was for or younger or even not alive?

[ChristineMoon]

In chapter 3, Ash looks up, sees stars, and says something to the effect of "I've seen them in tomes, but the meteors were summoned before I turned 2".

So they've only been up around 14 years.

[ChristineMoon]

I started a new play through, and I'm mad that I can't look back on old texts now.

Regarding the characters in Old photo in chapter 10 I believe that Helena is Sol's/ Scarlet's mother, making them half-siblings to Chronos and Ash. Maybe Sol resents having human siblings because of the bad blood between Alycians and humans. But my best guess is that you must make a strong sacrifice for resurrection magic, and what stronger sacrifice than your own sibling's life (Ash) in exchange for another sibling (Scarlet)?

As far as surviving Valdorians, I'm not sure the hooded man is always Fulgur. King Janus had a right-hand man with a scar over his eye. That man would be powerful, and would certainly have a vendetta against Ash for killing the Alycians. .

I feel bad for Ash having so many enemies while being so naive and innocent.

[cowbunny]

I started a new play through, and I'm mad that I can't look back on old texts now.

Oops, so sorry to hear you're mad about it. One of the features we always wanted to be able to do was show the history text of a previous run of the game. But we haven't gotten around to it yet. We're just 2 developers and we're currently focused on writing and making Timecrest 3. But hopefully we can get this done someday in the future! We appreciate your patience.

I feel bad for Ash having so many enemies while being so naive and innocent.

It's true, it's a tough, grim world out there. But it'll make Ash's potential victories in the future all the sweeter, no?

And Ash may be one of the few people in Alyncia with true, pure, hope for the future. If anything, I feel bad for those who aren't Ash in that world!

[Nyctofrost]

Hi one we're is Elise at in chapter 8 so I can bring her with me for the quest and how is she 24 yet she has memories from before valdor was destroyed because I remember that Ash had said that valdor was destroyed decades ago witch is usually said when the event took place more then two decades witch would mean she was for or younger or even not alive?

I believe the ages are strange too, however, this was posted by the official timecrest twitter account. I kind of believe that the ages are hiding a big secret, even more suspicious now after I realized Riley and Elise are the same age.

[ChristineMoon]

Oops, so sorry to hear you're mad about it. One of the features we always wanted to be able to do was show the history text of a previous run of the game. But we haven't gotten around to it yet. We're just 2 developers and we're currently focused on writing and making Timecrest 3. But hopefully we can get this done someday in the future! We appreciate your patience.

I'm certainly not mad at you! I'm mad at myself for a poor memory and the impatience to start a new game instead of using the old while reading through the spoilers. I know as I play through again And have a better understanding, I will see the scenes differently.

And as much as I'd like a previous game history, I'd worry about the size/ performance issues and that it would influence my choices a bit too much.

[cowbunny]

I'm certainly not mad at you! I'm mad at myself for a poor memory and the impatience to start a new game instead of using the old while reading through the spoilers. I know as I play through again And have a better understanding, I will see the scenes differently.

And as much as I'd like a previous game history, I'd worry about the size/ performance issues and that it would influence my choices a bit too much.

Thanks. It's still a feature we'd like to see. It shouldn't negatively impact performance of the game. It's mostly that it takes time to make. We really appreciate your thoughts.

[JohnnyValdezi]

Honestly, I tried making a way to record every path in Timecrest, so it would be easier to find details we might've overlooked or even to figure out paths I hadn't seen yet.

Sadly, my biggest issue is trying to figure out how I'd do this. Every way I try sounds too confusing.

[ChristineMoon]

Gives us an appreciation for the writers. I make notes of big decisions so that I don't repeat them in the next play through. I know the notes tell you the big decisions, but I'm looking at smaller choices that lead to them.

[JohnnyValdezi]

Indeed, I have enough issues making a normal sized story so my respect was already there, but somehow keeping track of all these options in documents is harder.

[Anne Ami]

I think I just had an epiphany about the handwritten red text messages in the game.
spoiler
The Good Man is either Ezra or Ignis. I can' explain more until I learn how to hide spoilers. I'm using an iPhone 7 version 10.2.1 with voiceover because I'm totally blind.

[cowbunny]

Someone could just put the word SPOILERS in the subject of a new thread to make the whole thread spoiler safe.

[Ben]

You mean like an enter-at-your-own-risk zone? I think that might be a little dangerous because, though the ones who would use it are through the game, we might be at different parts in the Memory Oracle, and because the stories are so great, I don't think we should risk it. However if others disagree, then I will start it

[JohnnyValdezi]

I agree with Ben. I feel like I'm pretty far into the Memory Oracle and I feel bad spoiling those to people who haven't seen them yet.

[Unclechawie]

So I've played through Timecrest 1 and 2 three times and am onto my 4th. I've noticed something interesting:

Most of the Timecrest characters of importance all seem to be human descendent or human sympathizers.
Ash - Human Descendent
Luthor - Human Descendent
Olliver - Human Sympathizer (from Memory Remanant)
AC - Brother of a Human Sypathizer (yet to understand his own relationship with his brother's sparring partner)
Riley - Human Sympathizer
Petora - Human Sympathizer (seemingly smitten with Luthor)
Ignis - Human Descendent? (somehow related to Ash and Luthor's mother)
Scarlet - Human Descendent? (somehow related to Ash and Luthors mother)

Is it possible the Timecrest Guild was established to help discover/protect human descendents and possibly train them in the ways of magic through Ignis and Scarlet a la Marek, thus potentially building his own army to combat whatever he thinks Ezra may be planning? With the pervasive culture throughout Alyncia of humans being outcasts, Chronos establishes the Timecrest Guild for mages but uses Alyncian laws against consorting with humans so Alyncian Mages will notify the guildmasters (Human Sympathizers) of their presence.

Thoughts?

[ChristineMoon]

Very interesting theory! But one tiny correction- Ash's father was human, I don't believe his mother was.

[ChristineMoon]

More of a spoiler question than a theory... What is the relationship between Portia and Petora? In chapter 9, Elise has a conversation with Petora saying that "she still misses you", "you made your choice when you said your heart was dedicated to him", and other references through the story. I truly believe the "she" refers to Portia. Obviously Elise knows her well. I won't consider them being in a relationship- they both have (had) male relationships. So there's a small chance Petora was adopted, but I have a strong feeling they're sisters.

I'm also curious how Chronos feels towards Petora, and what, if any, relationship Riley and Petora have, since they are both close to Chronos.

[Nyctofrost]

Elise was born before Valdor was destroyed and Portia was already running her orphanage. Petora may be close to the age of Elise. I doubt Portia and Petora were sisters, Portia seems much older than Petora. Elise and Petora couldn't be sisters, Elise was a single child.

[ChristineMoon]

I was referring to Portia/ Petora as sisters. I originally believed Portia is much older, old enough to be a mother (mother figure) to Elise. But then I started re-reading the history tab, and realized she is likely the same age or younger than Chronos.

In Chapter 2 (Aion/ dispel ring): Ash sees a basket and has a flashback to an orphan girl selling flowers. He asked if the girl was Petora.
Chapter 3, Old Valdor- Ash sees a young red-headed orphan selling flowers from the same basket. Portia is a redhead. In chapter 5, we see that even as a child, Petora's hair is multi-colored. So clearly, Petora is keeping Portia's basket for sentimental reasons.

Elise, Part 7- big spoiler Portia admits to using illusion magic on page 83. And as we know from every other family (Ash/ Chronos- time, Crane- lighting, Mendenhall- Water, etc), similar skill sets are found within families.

It is very possible that sisters are 10-15 years apart. So they are not outside of normal ranges. While Portia was old enough to have children, she could've been a young/ teen mother.

While Elise's age (assuming she's aging naturally) makes Portia seem older, it is very possible that Petora and Portia are sisters.