The Music Maker & The Track Layer
One of my favorite things about Mother, compared to the following games, is that it is a fountain of secrets and questions. For one, the character of George has always fascinated me, and his history between being found in the field up to his death has always fascinated me.
The 8 melodies themselves, the ever-present search theme within the game, are interesting. Why find three very quickly and early on, then three in scattered locations, then two right before the ultimate encounter? In Earthbound, the placement is obviously connected to the highly magical and psychicly powerful sanctuaries. Compared to this, what is the significance of a canary, or a cactus? Why not give Ninten the tune early on, in the diary?
The answer to the latter question is easy; George knew it would take psychic power and the ability to straddle the real world and the world of the mind to go up against Giegue. He himself lacked these abilities, but knew that since Maria had them it was possible that one of his descendants would have them as well. The journey would have to be undertaken as early as possible though, and the descendant would first begin to manifest thier powers at the early onset of puberty, between 10-14. Knowing the dangers, George took it upon himself to “train” Ninten 80 years in the past.
The first three (Dolly, Canary, Monkey) were placed nearby around George’s hometown. These were the starter clues to whet Ninten’s appetite and start him off. We then see a long stretch without any of these melodies, followed by Rosemary Manor and Yucca Desert on opposite ends of Eagleland, notable for being some of the toughest areas at that point in the game.
This makes sense. George would have wanted to prepare Ninten for the battle at hand, and sent him to the two areas that best represented two of the dangers Ninten would face; the Natural and the Super-Natural. Duncan’s Factory probably hadn’t been built yet at the time of George’s planning phase, and he may not have anticipated Ninten traveling as far as Snowman.
The Dragon is a tricky part— how could George place a melody in Magicant? He didn’t of course; Maria is the absolute ruler of the realm and an extremely powerful psychic to boot, she knew of her husband’s plan and assisted him by placing a challenge in the realm George knew Ninten would have to visit. She wrote the song in the first place after all.
George knew Ninten would have to scale Mt.Itoi, and that the journey would be an insurmountable challenge for even a powerful psychic, so he built EVE to help along the way. He knew that even EVE would not last forever against Giegue’s security too, so he placed a melody within her to show Ninten that he was on his own from then on. The final stanza on the grave was the icing on the cake.
And so, decades in the past, George anticipated (almost) and guided every step Ninten would take.
One of my favorite things about Mother, compared to the following games, is that it is a fountain of secrets and questions. For one, the character of George has always fascinated me, and his history between being found in the field up to his death has always fascinated me.
The 8 melodies themselves, the ever-present search theme within the game, are interesting. Why find three very quickly and early on, then three in scattered locations, then two right before the ultimate encounter? In Earthbound, the placement is obviously connected to the highly magical and psychicly powerful sanctuaries. Compared to this, what is the significance of a canary, or a cactus? Why not give Ninten the tune early on, in the diary?
The answer to the latter question is easy; George knew it would take psychic power and the ability to straddle the real world and the world of the mind to go up against Giegue. He himself lacked these abilities, but knew that since Maria had them it was possible that one of his descendants would have them as well. The journey would have to be undertaken as early as possible though, and the descendant would first begin to manifest thier powers at the early onset of puberty, between 10-14. Knowing the dangers, George took it upon himself to “train” Ninten 80 years in the past.
The first three (Dolly, Canary, Monkey) were placed nearby around George’s hometown. These were the starter clues to whet Ninten’s appetite and start him off. We then see a long stretch without any of these melodies, followed by Rosemary Manor and Yucca Desert on opposite ends of Eagleland, notable for being some of the toughest areas at that point in the game.
This makes sense. George would have wanted to prepare Ninten for the battle at hand, and sent him to the two areas that best represented two of the dangers Ninten would face; the Natural and the Super-Natural. Duncan’s Factory probably hadn’t been built yet at the time of George’s planning phase, and he may not have anticipated Ninten traveling as far as Snowman.
The Dragon is a tricky part— how could George place a melody in Magicant? He didn’t of course; Maria is the absolute ruler of the realm and an extremely powerful psychic to boot, she knew of her husband’s plan and assisted him by placing a challenge in the realm George knew Ninten would have to visit. She wrote the song in the first place after all.
George knew Ninten would have to scale Mt.Itoi, and that the journey would be an insurmountable challenge for even a powerful psychic, so he built EVE to help along the way. He knew that even EVE would not last forever against Giegue’s security too, so he placed a melody within her to show Ninten that he was on his own from then on. The final stanza on the grave was the icing on the cake.
And so, decades in the past, George anticipated (almost) and guided every step Ninten would take.
