Jowy's reasons (major spoiler)

[TMan]

So I've played Suikoden 2 at least a dozen times, if not two dozen. That character I have always identified the most with is Jowy, and I think he is the most complex of the entire series.

However, it was somewhere around my tenth go that an idea dawned on me. It could be that this is very very obvious to all of you, but here it is:

Jowy fell in love with Princess Jilia and switched sides. I mean to say, the main cause of his switch may have been him falling in love with her. I feel that the writers kind of wanted us to ask this question. They show Jowy and Riou trying to catch a glimpse of her when they are young. There is a kind of romantic intimacy to their conversation in the tent, and Jowy doesn't actually change minds about his role in the war until after he speaks with her. Not to mention he immediately gets himself into a position to marry her. The last thing he does before surrendering is make sure that Jilia is safe.

I'm not saying that Jowy wasn't driven by a desire to end the war and all its suffering, I'm just saying that had he not met and fallen in love with Jilia, he may never have switched sides back to Highland.

[sticky-runes]

It was the power of the Black Sword and Bright Shield runes that drove the two best friends to join different sides and end up fighting each other.

Jowy married Jillia so he could work his way up to the throne of Highland, not because he loved her. I'm sure he did feel bad about using her as a tool for political gain, but it was necessary to achieve his destiny. Any emotional connection Jowy had with Jillia, or any of his other friends, was secondary to his relationship with the Black Sword Rune. Claiming his feelings for Jillia are what caused him to betray his friends is kind of overrating Jillia and disregarding the power of true runes.

[TMan]

Saying that Jowy did it all because the power of the rune completely destroys the point of his character and his struggles. Jowy and Riou got those Runes because of the path their destiny was leading them towards, not the other way around. Jowy chose to fight for Highland because he saw they were the ones who were winning, and winning by a lot. He saw what happened to Pilika and it crushed him, so he decided to make the choice that would ultimately cause less suffering.

Interestingly, had Riou not joined Jowston, Jowy's plan would have worked and he would have been the hero.

However, I still think Jowy fell in love with Jillia and it played an important role in his decision-making.

[Raww Le Klueze]

Jowy switched sides because if he didn't assassinate Anabelle Luca would have had his family back in Highland killed.

[sticky-runes]

However, I still think Jowy fell in love with Jillia and it played an important role in his decision-making.

I agree that she had some influence on his decision to join Highland, I just don't think it was about love. His plan for ending the conflict was to get rid of Luca and become king of Highland, and Jillia was his passage into the royal family. Jillia even said as a woman, she is powerless to stop her brother (women don't seem to have a lot of power in Highland, except for marrying into rich families) So Jowy did make use of the only power she had to offer. I know she admits to loving him at the end, but his reasons for marrying her were ultimately to end the conflict between the state and Highland. There wasn't really any chance of them becoming a loving couple.

[TMan]

I know that that is the clearest explanation, I am just beginning to entertain the idea that there may have been other things at play. They may have become a loving couple had Jowy not lost the war.

[Hxc Flavor]

Jowy switched sides because if he didn't assassinate Anabelle Luca would have had his family back in Highland killed.

Wow I never knew that, do you have a link or anything to that info?

[Raww Le Klueze]

It's in Suikogaiden Vol.1

[Hxc Flavor]

Thanks, I'll have to read a translation I suppose.

[sticky-runes]

I know that that is the clearest explanation, I am just beginning to entertain the idea that there may have been other things at play. They may have become a loving couple had Jowy not lost the war.

Yeah, maybe. Would be interesting to see what an older King Jowy and Queen Jillia would be like.

Strange, though. Jowy gets to marry a princess, and what does Riou have? A knife throwing gypsy girl who stalks him around the castle.

[TMan]

ha poor Riou.

Also, and this has probably been discussed, but we are supposed to get the impression that Jowy is also on a mission to collect his own army of 108 Stars of Destiny right? It would make sense, since Jowy and Hero both technically have the same Rune. And I always imagined Culgan and Seed to basically be his Viktor and Flik...

[EstrangedIX]

I think that if Culgan and Seed were SoD's that they would be Chiki and Chimou stars. Not sure that there would be two gatherings for the same war. Good point though about them* essentially having the same Rune. But I don't think it would determine who gets a gathering since the Tenkai doesn't have to bear one.

*Edit: them = Riou and Jowy

[Raww Le Klueze]

No, there can't be more than one set of stars at the same time.

[sticky-runes]

Well aside from that, it would be kinda boring to play a suikoden game from the enemy's perspective, because the fun of suikoden comes from gathering allies and building strength. The enemy empires always start off at full strength, so it would just Jowy walking around having meetings with people.

[TMan]

Does it actually say somewhere that there can't be two SoD's at the same time? Or isn't it possible that there were two here but Fate had it that only one could be the true gathering?

And as for Jowy just walking around meeting people- He wouldn't just be doing that. He'd have to find ways to turn Luca's people against him and get more people who swear allegiance to him. It wouldn't work as a Suikoden styled game, but if it was all chat options and stuff you could have Game of Thrones meets Mass Effect