Anime The Epitaph of Twilight

[AzureWolf]

Well, finally I've had to time sit down and write-up this sucker. Yeah, some of you are wondering, "What's the Epitaph of Twilight?" Well, you don't need to worry, as all Epitaph stuff will be handled here. :D The Epitaph of Twilight is a huge part of the mystery of .hack (all of it: SIGN, the games, and LIMINALITY). We don't know what exactly the Epitaph is, but it tells a story, and, according to one character, a story of creation.

Basically, I'm going to present and analyze what pieces of the Epitaph we have thus far. Since this thread is more story-driven than game, this IS the right forum for it. Anyway, the way the spoiler tags will be used: they will cover anything pertaining to MUTATION and its LIMINALITY DVD. Anything pertaining to INFECTION and its LIMINALITY DVD will be left untagged. Its that simple. I've set things so that you can read the non-spoiler parts seemlessly, so don't worry. Here goes... [quote][I]Piece from Emma Wieland (beginning of infection):[/I]
Yet to return, the shadowed one who quests for the Twilight Dragon.
Rumbles the Dark Hearth, And Helba, Queen of the Dark, has raised finally her army.
Aperiron, the King of Light, beckons...
At the base of the rainbow they meet.
Against the abominable "Wave," together they fight.
Alba's lake boils Light's great tree doth fall.
Power-all now to droplets turned in the temple of Arche Koeln.
Returns to nothing, this world of Shadowless ones.
Never to return, the shadowed one who quests for the Twilight Dragon.[/quote] Alright, I have no clue as to who shadowed one is. What is the Twilight Dragon? I think these two questions are still unanswerable.

Now, we all know who Helba is, and now we also know she's referred to as the Queen of Dark. [spoiler]Why would a legendary hacker be present or spoken of in something that may speak of the creation of "The World?"[/spoiler] And she's raised an army. Is that Kite and friends? Possibly. [spoiler]However, "army" hints at numerically large force, and therefore, I believe that Helba's NPCs and hacked character refugees at Net Slum may be a more acceptable comparison to "army."[/spoiler]

Now we've got Aperiron, the King of Light. Haha, if you payed attention, Aperiron is the guy who gives you that Book of Law (well, one of the books. You know, the one Mistral wanted). There's something special about that Heavy Axeman? Well, he did seem to have interesting items... [spoiler]Yeah, obviously, that's the system administrator Lios. Lios, the system administrator, and Helba, the one who hacks the system, work together against something bigger than both of them, at least that's what this piece of the Epitaph says.[/spoiler]

So, light and dark meet, with all powers in between (that's what I think the rainbow reference is about), to face something that's greater than both of them. Pretty poetic, but this Wave is intimidating, don't ya think? And when you read the rest of the poem, keeping in mind that Alba means white in Latin, it sounds like Alperiron, our friendly Axeman, falls. [spoiler]I would be happy if Lios fails, but man, does that mean "The World" fails, since he's the system administrator, and his "tree" and "lake" could be "The World?"[/spoiler]

So, after "Light" falls, it seems that "The Wave" succeeds. We still don't know what Arche Koeln's temple is... However, the next line seems to refer to the fall of the Dark side, or Helba's side. The trick here is to remember that "shadowless" ones refers to people who don't cast shadows. The only way not to cast a shadow is if there's no light and only dark. [spoiler]At the end of MUTATION, Net Slum is crumbling. I wonder if it was destroyed...[/spoiler] Whatever this shadowed was, it won't do it again. But is this in the past with Pluto's kiss, or a fortune-telling?

More epitaph pieces and analyses to come. Comments, questions, and anything are welcomed.

Oh, and one more thing. If you want to present and analyze a piece of the Epitaph yourself, feel free to do so on this thread. :) Also, if you challenge anything I said or guessed, I welcome discussion!

[Solid]

one quastion, how do youi get all these info, from the games, or from the Hack//dusk and the Oav's? i mean, all those things are never explained in the series wich is quiet a shame, so where can i find some summary or something about the games, since i havnt got any ps2... )-:....
thnx.

[Braidless Baka]

I'll just also add that it was spoken in German at the beginning of the game. If anyone has any theories as to why that could be significant, I'd love to know. True, it could just be the language the player who wrote it was a native speaker of. But call me curious... ;)

And, I also think that the "key of the twilight" post on the BBS mentioned in the series (bareing in mind I haven't seen the whole series so it may have already been explained in a later episode) could be this one. They aren't sure what the post contains in the series, and I think Crim or BT mentions it's written in German.

And, the Twilight Dragon, in my view, has to be something deep in the centre of "The World" I believe "the shadowed one" refers to Kite, or possibly The boy out of the manga (his name evades me) one of the main characters, who will have to go in search of the Twilight Dragon. And They'll need "The Key of the Twilight" to get to the Dragon, and the "Epitaph of the Twilight" will tell how he is to be defeated... So... like... a legendary monster I suppose... O_o The word "Twilight" suggests either the beginning or the end of "The World" - so this event, whatever it is, will be pretty important...

[i]Just so you all know, that was a [b]guess[/b] and my best one at that -- I have no way of knowing if I guessed right![/i] O_o

There's my two cents -- very good topic by the way AzureWolf ^_^ I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

[kiteS23]

Granted that I think that Azure's explaination of the phrase "Alba's lake doth boil" could be right, I also have another way of interpreting that. In the keywords where the chapel is (chosen forbidden holy ground) there is lake. Somewhere in the series I heard Bear say that the area didn't use to be an island. So I think that the foremention battle took place/will take place in the area. On a note in that same area, it is also different in .hack//sign and infection. In infection there is a lake and in sign it's all dried up. Very interesting.

[7gR]

About Aura's statue,Why when you defeat a phase one of the 8 chains don't come off?

[7gR]

SPOILERS and thoughts not great with blackout things so try not to read if you don't want to.


[Shunning the field broken by wave, the shadowed girl whispers," surely I will return".Alas the truth unbeknownst awaiting her at journey's end: Eternal mourning for her land.]

Epitaph 00

[When the finger points to the yonder moon.The fool will not look at the fingertip.]

Epitaph 01

[And so,I shall name her Aura, the shining girl Aura.Without you,she would not exist.We will entrust her with our will.Our future is in her hands.She is our...]

Harald's Note 1

Could the shadowed one be Aura?If she is shining she must cast a shadow. It would also fit the role of her. Oh yes it also seems Aura is the key to the twilight...Maybe not though,the phases seem to have the same powers as her and more.The bracelet brings Salvation or Destruction.[As he destroys the phases strange stuff starts to happen.All failed character data is released once you defeat Innis and once Magus dies so does everything else get glitched.]

[Guest Furik]

The Epitaph of Twilight is just a story written by Emma herself. She was good friends with Herald. The story itself is just telling the story of .hack. It's just something The World is based on.

[7gR]

So what you're saying is that Helba and Apieron are AI and have been there since
the World was Created?Yes and thank you for bringing up the fact that Emma and Harald were good friends.Is that scene at the beginning of Mai Minase a flashback? With Harald at Emma Wielant's grave usually flashbacks in any .hack series is followed by fuzzy stuff in the memory.

Also at the beginning of Infection you see that big thing
I believe that to be the world\.All the symbols are there and others I remember from E-mails it flies into the triangle one which is where Kite and Orca are at the time.

[AzureWolf]

Haha, 7gR, two things: first, double posting is not allowed. Second, remember to [I]analyze[/I] when you present. :) Anyway, [quote][I]Epitaph Note 00 (Obtained in INFECTION):[/I]
Shunning the field broken by Wave,
The shadowed girl whispers,
"Surely, I will return."
Alas, the truth unbeknownst,
Awaiting her at journey's end;
Eternal mourning for her land.
[/quote] This piece is very vague, but it sounds like it would belong near the end of the Epitaph.

My Summary: The Wave has completed its task, and the "shadowed girl" steers clear of the Wave's victim (the field). Eventually, she will return, only to find the place she came from permanently gone...

The reason I believe the field will be gone is the fact that the field has already been broken by the Wave. What could be worse than a completely mangled homeland? Well, the loss of a homeland. Besides, eternal mourning is a little too much if the place was just ravaged. Hey, it could be restored.

The questions this piece brings up: Who is the shadowed girl? Aura? That seems to be the most probable. I think the song "Aura" has a lot of significance to these questions, though.

What's so special about where the shadowed girl came from? Could that place be the legendary Twilight? What would be so great about a place that this awesome Wave would need to destroy it? [quote][I]Epitaph Note 01 (Obtained in INFECTION)[/I]:
When the finger points to yonder moon,
The fool will not look at the fingertip.[/quote] Haha, I have no friggin' clue. My best guess is [spoiler]Innis' description. Innis is the mirage of deceit, and when all things point clearly to one, he will disguise the truth and keep you astray. But Innis is dead, so it doesn't work, unless he's already lead you astray... Haha, I think he did, but I'll save that for later.[/spoiler]

Up next, the piece everyone's been waiting for. No, it's not the illegible piece (I'm not going to bother with that). [spoiler]You guessed it! I'll be analyzing the entire piece from Wiseman![/spoiler] [quote]one quastion, how do youi get all these info, from the games, or from the Hack//dusk and the Oav's? i mean, all those things are never explained in the series wich is quiet a shame, so where can i find some summary or something about the games, since i havnt got any ps2... )-:.... [/quote] Yeah, sorry. This stuff is really only in the games and LIMINALITY. However, I don't see why you are so disappointed. Just rent the games, as they are short and continue the .hack//SIGN story (the games start 6 months after the events of SIGN). .hack//DUSK? I have no idea. I haven't seen that anime, but as soon as they release it, I'll be all over it! DUSK happens after the games, so it's good that they haven't released it yet (although the manga is coming this september!). I'll say it again, though: the games are at the center of Project .hack's story (according to the creators). [quote]I'll just also add that it was spoken in German at the beginning of the game. If anyone has any theories as to why that could be significant, I'd love to know. True, it could just be the language the player who wrote it was a native speaker of. But call me curious...[/quote] Good point, should have mentioned that. Thanks. The importance of the Epitaph being written in German is the fact that the creator, Harald Hyuek, is a German programmer (Emma Wieland is also German). This fact tells us that the Epitaph is very significant to either the creation or destruction of "The World," and possibly all computer systems. [quote]And, I also think that the "key of the twilight" post on the BBS mentioned in the series (bareing in mind I haven't seen the whole series so it may have already been explained in a later episode) could be this one. They aren't sure what the post contains in the series, and I think Crim or BT mentions it's written in German.[/quote] Haha, I think it is! Another good point. I completely forgot about that. They mention a lot of things in .hack//SIGN that you only see later in the games (like Orca and Balmung). [quote]About Aura's statue,Why when you defeat a phase one of the 8 chains don't come off?[/quote] It's a statue. Why would a statue change? [spoiler]Besides, it is probably because you aren't doing the right thing...[/spoiler] [quote]So what you're saying is that Helba and Apieron are AI and have been there since
the World was Created?Yes and thank you for bringing up the fact that Emma and Harald were good friends.Is that scene at the beginning of Mai Minase a flashback? With Harald at Emma Wielant's grave usually flashbacks in any .hack series is followed by fuzzy stuff in the memory.[/quote] Well, I'm not saying that. The Epitaph of Twilight was written by Emma Wieland, so she knew of Helba and Aperiron when she was writing it. Did she need their help to create the world, or is this writing a foreshadowing of the major players in "The World"'s fate?

[7gR]

Why on the floor of the church is there no reflection of Aura and the chains.Somebody said it's laziness o the programmer's but wouldn't there be a reason?The pedestal still there only the statue and the chains aren't.

[kiteS23]

I said about the lazy thing, but I don't think that's it. It seems very strange that there is no reflection. Maybe it was added for an effect if you noticed it.

[OtakuSennen]

:-( All these spoilers and plotlines remind me of how I don't have a PS2... I so desperately need one..!

[AzureWolf]

[quote][I]Piece from Wiseman (reward in MUTATION):[/I]
Unknown where the Cursed Wave was
born?

After the stars doth cross the
heavens,

The sky in the East doth darken and
air doth fill with mourning,

From the chosen land beyond the
forest, a sign of the Wave comes.

Riding the wave is Skeith,
the Shadow of Death,
to drown all that stands.

Mirage of deceit, Innis,
betray all with the flawed image,
and did aid the Wave.

By the power of Magus, a drop from
the Wave doth reach the heavens,
and creates a new Wave.

With the Wave, Fidchell, the power
to tell the dark future:
hope darkens, sadness and
despair rules.

Gorre schemes when swallowed by the
Cursed Wave.

Macha seduces with the sweet trap.

Wave reaches the pinnacle,
and escape none can.

Tarvos still remains with more
cruelty to punish and destroy.

And with the turbulent destruction,
After the wave, only a void remains
And from the deep within the void
arrives Corbenik.

Perhaps then the Wave is just a
beginning as well.[/quote] Well, this piece seems to contain everything but the kitchen sink. From start to finish, it seems to tell a story of destruction, and possibly a new beginning. Anyway, let's get nit-picky.

Hmm... Emma doesn't know the origins of the Wave, which [I]could[/I] mean that Harald had nothing to do with its creation. It also means that no one knows how the Wave came to be. However, a [B]sign[/B] of the Wave's arrival came from various events. Maybe, like that e-mail from Helba in .hack//[B]SIGN[/B], the descriptions hint at a location in "The World" (thought I'd bolden those words for you ;) ). East, chosen land, forest: these sound like they could be keywords or directions.

Now, we come to the structured part of the epitaph, which is so straightforward that I really don't need to bother with it: Wave part, title, and function. They do this for each part of the Wave until the end. Skeith is the killer, who is basically the first "splash," of the Wave, so to speak. So far, he's been successful in doing his part (server crash after beating Skeith, the Wave begins it's attack). Now, we get to Innis, the one that I'm still wondering what the hell he does. My best guess is that he continue to leads you astray and believe that destroying parts of the Wave is the right thing.

Magus' purpose, when you beat MUTATION, is a dead giveaway, not to mention the fact that it says "The propagation" before you fight him. Magus spreads the Wave's deadly effects by multiplying, and we see this dangerous part of the Wave in both the game and in LIMINALITY. Yes, that huge chaotic shutdown/haywire of all computer systems in Yuki's story was because of Kite and friends' defeat of Magus. Also keep in mind that these three "phases," as they are called, are only the beginning of the Wave.

Fidchell is like Innis, in that he seems pretty useless. However, I can only imagine if telling a dark future would make everyone lose hope. Yet, a dark future does not necessarily mean the only future. We'll have to see what exactly Fidchell does when Kite faces him, and if there are any effects in the real world. The same goes with Gorre, since I have no guesses on this one.

And with the advent of Macha, the Wave reaches it's height. According to a good friend who takes Japanese, Macha in Japanese could also be translated into Maha! Shocker, yes, very much so. What's a greater shocker is what I'm about to guess next: [spoiler]It may be that our friendly Maha in SIGN isn't the true Maha, but only one half of a whole. Maybe Maha of the Wave has two parts, Mia being the second one. I doubt that Mia's voice malfunction was just a simple problem: it was caused after "the incident," which refers to the large server crash after Skeith's defeat. Mia's malfunctioning into true Maha? Maha in SIGN couldn't speak to anyone except Tsukasa, afterall...[/spoiler] Trapping is Maha's cup o' tea, but even that, I'm left with no clues...

****************************
Yeah, well, this concludes my analyses of the Epitaph of Twilight pieces. I'm not doing any more on this piece because I've only concerned myself with the immediate future, and Macha is too far already. My apologies to those who find this thread less than post-worthy. I thought I had more clues to go on, but in the end, some of my theories contradicted on another. After sorting things out, I came up with less than I had originally.

Another thing: keep in mind that [I]ALL[/I] of these things are my guesses, nothing more (well, my friend's guesses too), so don't think your guess is wrong. Both my friend and I have only experienced what has been released in the US, so we are working with limited stuff. I could be completely wrong about everything, or even completely right. We'll see when the time comes.

[kiteS23]

Azurewolf, I have a question for you. I've read through that epitaph piece before and it gives you the names of all eight phases. I'm just curious as to who Cubia is then. He seems to be very relevent, as we see him at the end of infection and fight him in mutation(by the way, why doesn't he die?). Was he simply meant as a test for kite?

[7gR]

SPOILERS
Cubia doesn't die. He has creatures called Gomera's. He was born out of Skeith's defeat.Whenever he opens his mouth weird glitch thing happens. Aura knows of him. Helba was not surprised by his arrival.
This is all the info we have on this guy. Oh yes Meggido seems to also be a wand. Like it matters.

[kiteS23]

well then, is he like a reborn skeith or something. It's just confusing to me.

[Guest B-chan77]

I have to say AzureWolf's first post was boggious. Dude you put toooooo much thought into it! :rolleyes: Anyone who wants to get it should watch the .hack//SIGN episode "Twilight eye"! The [B]rainbow[/B] appears over the red [B]moon[/B] (twilight eye) which BT who's a [B]WAVE[/B] master opens. She casts a spell at Delta Hidden Forbidden Holyground. I think that's the name? :p Anyways Sora hids and Crim and BT discuss that the original "The World" used 3 letters instead of words. It was called "Fragment"! And some Information was Forgotten or Deleted when the game was updated. This information can cause glitches in the system. Do you follow me? Any ways there's a cool site that has summaries of all the episodes called Defragmented it's address is [URL=http://home.mchsi.com/~landale77/hack/]http://home.mchsi.com/~landale77/hack/[/URL]
Just Check It Out :cross: :sleep: [URL=http://b-chan.cjb.net]B-chan's Domain[/URL] Is my Site

[Braidless Baka]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by B-chan77 [/i]
[B]I have to say AzureWolf's first post was boggious. Dude you put toooooo much thought into it! :rolleyes: Anyone who wants to get it should watch the .hack//SIGN episode "Twilight eye"![/B][/QUOTE]

Well, after that wonderful advertising campaign, that I certainly didn't need, the topic of the discussion was "The [b]Epitaph[/b] of the Twilight"

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by AzureWolf [/i]
[B]Yeah, some of you are wondering, "What's the Epitaph of Twilight?" Well, you don't need to worry, as all Epitaph stuff will be handled here.[/B][/QUOTE]

See?

Anyway, I came up with a theory as to perhaps why the Epitaph is written in German, which I commented on right at the beginning of the thread. And since it's already been bumped up (from 4 months ago - yikes O_o), I may as well add my opinion now. Well, two really. Germany, alongside Japan, is currently one of the more advanced countries in relation to industry and technology. Germany is certainly to most dominant country in Europe at any rate. This applies for computer games as well as industry as a whole. Either that or it could be a weak link back to WW2, where Germany was the main party, what with the Epitaph talking about the destruction of "The World", and also the very essence of the word "Epitaph". (The message on a person's gravestone after they've died - yup, I had to go look it up too ~_~)

Well, there we go. ^_^;;

[Guest B-chan77]

Well Bradless Baka. I saw one episode where the game creator is looking at supposedly Aura's Grave and it says when the screen goes there ???, Germany. That might confirm what you say. I love .hack// It reaks of Conspiracy.:therock: :devil: :drunk: :demon:

[Hacker Kite]

I would like to help you with your site if you don't mind Azure Wolf! I will be doing it from my myotaku site!!! Click the link to the left for those you want my help or opinion on the matter!
Hacker Kite

[AzureWolf]

[quote]Azurewolf, I have a question for you. I've read through that epitaph piece before and it gives you the names of all eight phases. I'm just curious as to who Cubia is then. He seems to be very relevent, as we see him at the end of infection and fight him in mutation(by the way, why doesn't he die?). Was he simply meant as a test for kite?[/quote] I don't know what role Cubia plays yet. I'm sorry I never responded, but, as far as I've gotten in OUTBREAK (just got Balmung), he seems to be [spoiler]a strong variable that hasn't been factored into the original game's outline (i.e., he was not created by Harald, and is not based on the epitaph)[/spoiler]. [quote] I would like to help you with your site if you don't mind Azure Wolf! I will be doing it from my myotaku site!!! Click the link to the left for those you want my help or opinion on the matter!
Hacker Kite[/quote] :sweat: Are you actually talking about [url]http://revan.us/[/url] ? Heh, that site's not really going to be about .hack, since it's a joint project with one of my friends (and he doesn't like .hack). Still, thanks for the offer.

Also, I just started playing OUTBREAK (blame college), so I would really like to learn everything I can before making any more conclusions (I mean, I was wrong quite a few times with this stuff, if I remember). I was thinking of updating this thread after I beat the game, which shouldn't be too long.

[Hacker Kite]

Not what ever site that is your myotaku site????!!!!!!!!
Hk

[Neko]

If anyone's interested, I know the entire Epitaph of twilight.
I could post it here, but the whole thing will be about two pages long, and entirely "black masked" out.(^_^) It would also take some time...
But I won't if no one wants me to.