Theory on the Rune, Cray and the tree *spoilers*

[EsotericMusician]

I was talking with a friend about various possibilities in the Suikoden universe, and a number of things in Suikoden IV puzzled me - and still do. However, a thought occurred to me regarding the Rune of Punishment, Leknaat's words, Graham Cray and the tree at the end.

What we know for a fact:

-Graham Cray possessed the rune, but cut his own arm off. After that, it went to his son, and eventually came to the Hero.

-True Runes that are taken away may still, in rare cases, be commanded by the former and rightful owner. (Ted, Sierra)

-Graham Cray desperately seeks to possess the Rune of Punishment once more.

-True Runes have minds and agendas of their own.

-Every final boss in Suikoden has been either a wielder of, or an incarnation of a true rune.

What we can speculate about:

-After a great 'trial,' the Rune of Punishment changes function and becomes a rune of atonement, perhaps losing its curse. (from Leknaat's speech)

-For some reason, the Hero should have rightfully died when using the rune in the ending, but did not.

-Graham Cray states the Rune of Punishment rejected him, despite there being seemingly nothing that had to do with the rune in the final battle.


My theory, then, is such that the rune never left Graham Cray's ownership, although it passed from host to host. Since his grip on reality was weak and the time he had the rune was short, his link to the rune was both weak and not in the rune's best interest. The hero, upon confronting Graham Cray, possesses the rune - but he is not the rightful owner. Graham Cray attempts to regain control of the rune, much in the same way Ted and Sierra were able to command it. The rune, however, rejects him as the host, and is unleashed in a way similar to the Beast Rune and True Wind Rune.

Once the rune incarnation is subdued by the party, Graham Cray notes that the rune rejected him. Furthermore, the defeat of the rune is the trial Leknaat spoke of; the use of the rune that should have killed the Hero and left him a shadowy figure instead reunites him with his mother - the atonement and forgiveness begins now. This could also explain the cryptic ending: he was put out to sea in a comatose/dead state so that the rune would not transfer, but upon waking, he realized he had control over the rune and it was no longer cursed, therefore he could return to civilization.

Any thoughts/comments/nitpicking?

[Crowley's_Apprentice]

wow... a lot of thought went into that...I gotta say... nice job...

[Jowy Atreides]

Ted and Sierra had their runes for hundred of years and had a deep level of mastery over their runes. Also, their circumstances are totally different from Graham's. He abandoned the rune by cutting his arm off. A True Rune wouldn't really keep itself under the control of a man that abandoned
the True Rune in the first place. You're confusing mastery with simply owning a True Rune. It takes hundreds of years to gain mastery over a True Rune. Graham didn't even have the rune for a decade, let alone an entire century.

Secondly, the Hero didn't die because the Rune of Punishment was in its Forgiveness Phase. The curse of the Rune is no longer in effect, so he did not die. If you were to beat the game without all 108 SoDs he dies because the Rune was still in its Atonement/Cursed Phase and he abused its power.

[demon eye]

Also, the Tree Monster was not a incarnation of the Rune of Punishment or a rune incarnation at all, that much we can be sure of. I would strongly believe that it was just an ancient magical weapon used sealed away by Kooluk.

[jeane is the coolest char]

hmmm .the tree could also have been an experement in replicating a true runes power..... a twisted version of Crowleys ideal...and it was never stated clearly why Cray wanted the ROP back...maybe he wanted to perfect the tree into an ultimute weapon by studying the rune

i think cray said he wanted to play with the memories inside of the RoP if i remember correctly

[Vash_HS]

Actually if you aquire all the SOD, the ROP no longer causes any damage to the Hero in the fortress.

[Soro]

My thoughts on Cray are a bit more radical and probably incorrect.

one possibility is that Cray is the first operson to have the rune he used it to kill the Scarlet moon nobles and was banished then severed his arm on obel to free himslef from the curse, (note the skeletel arm near the tree in the ruins> this seals the rune in a nearby tree.

It is possible that cray took cuttings of this tree to make the magical tree in Koulook. Cray may have exerted his will <like sierra> to awaken the tree once it was in proximity to the rune itself again.

[ReikenGaryu]

I just think Konami forgot to ship the second CD along with the game.

No seriously... As much as I'd like to believe there's more to it, I'm afraid the final boss is just a strange quick boss to give a cool ending to the game... Which obviously failed.

[xXSqualleoNXx]

one possibility is that Cray is the first operson to have the rune he used it to kill the Scarlet moon nobles and was banished then severed his arm on obel to free himslef from the curse, (note the skeletel arm near the tree in the ruins> this seals the rune in a nearby tree.

I actually though his son used the power to kill "the bad people". I believe his son said something like that to him before dying. Obviously he went mad afterwards. I share the thought that he was the person who left the rune in the Obel Ruins. It certainly explains why the legend never mentions the last survivor using the RUne right before dying (Like all RoP user do).

[Stallion]

Can we then assume that the child you fight in the memories of the RoP is Cray's child? He seemed to pick that memory out above the others and when speaking with the kid in that scene his father possessed the rune then spoke about how it shouldn't have gone to his son. Since Cray removed it by cutting off his hand this produces a feasible reasoning that the child is actually his son.

Why he took pleasure in that memory I don't know, perhaps his madness was in some part based on the the rune taking his son from him.

[Jowy Atreides]

The child is Graham Cray's son.

[Luc's Soul]

I just think Konami forgot to ship the second CD along with the game.

No seriously... As much as I'd like to believe there's more to it, I'm afraid the final boss is just a strange quick boss to give a cool ending to the game... Which obviously failed.

\


Like Necron in Final Fantasy 9. The best word to describe that is WTF!(yep, wtf is offically a word now)

[Roronoa_Z]

Actually if you aquire all the SOD, the ROP no longer causes any damage to the Hero in the fortress.

I think that will explain that, why the hero in S4 doesn't die. What i think is a true rune bearer when they gather 108 stars of destiny will make the rune stronger or loose it's curse. Likes Bright shield rune (which is stronger) and RoP (maybe). That's what i thought.

[Angelis_Taleria]

Actually if you aquire all the SOD, the ROP no longer causes any damage to the Hero in the fortress.

I think that will explain that, why the hero in S4 doesn't die. What i think is a true rune bearer when they gather 108 stars of destiny will make the rune stronger or loose it's curse. Likes Bright shield rune (which is stronger) and RoP (maybe). That's what i thought.

I think this only applies to certain situations as not all runes are cursed, such as elemental runes, and not every TRB has been a Tenkai Star or a SOD a that.