DARRELL'S THEORY:

One thing that I've found alternatingly aggravating and funny while reading Phantasy Star theories over the years is the persistent argument that while yes, Rune is the latest incarnation of Lutz, that the esper Noah from PSI is NOT the same man who calls himself Lutz in PSII. Of course, everyone knows that in reality it's a translation screwup...that the SoA translators for PSI decided to change Lutz's name and the translators for PSII...probably not the same people...decided not to.

The fact remains, though, that in the *ENGLISH* Phantasy Star continuity, all throughout PSI, everybody's calling this guy Noah (um, when they're not calling him a her, but that's a different theory). As a firm believer in the theory of "The Two Phantasy Stars" I cannot write this off as a mere mistake...unless I want to start calling Chaz "Rudy" and Alys "Lyla" and Rika "Fal" and...well, you get the idea. Besides, Odin is a much nicer name than "Tyrone." So it's taken as definite; in PSI (English), the esper actually IS named Noah.

There have been a number of interesting theories about how Noah is not Lutz, and while they do tend to be highly entertaining, I'm not fond of them because they destroy one of the things that I find enjoyable about Phantasy Star...the pleasure of that one link stretching from Alis through Rolf and to Chaz, all over the course of two THOUSAND years of history. When in PSIV you get to kit Rune out in the Frade Mantle and Psycho-Wand, it brings back memories of those early days in PSI that just aren't the same as it is if you *inherited* the arms of a legendary hero.

That and the fact that Noah and Lutz look alike kind of hits me right in the face. ^_^

So, in order to reconcile the hard facts of the game text in PSI with my emotional beliefs, I've constructed the following theory:

One day, on the planet of Motavia, a master wizard named Tajima (I'll pick this one of HIS names for now) took on an apprentice, a blue-haired boy named Lutz.

In keeping with the tradition of esper wizards, a tradition that lived on in Motavia and even spread out into the general population over the next 1000 years (i.e. into PSII), when Lutz chose to follow the path laid down by Tajima, he gave his master the right to choose his new name. Tajima called him, "Noah."

Noah's course of study advanced, and in time his apprenticeship ended. Setting out to make what he could of himself, the course of his life eventually brought him to set up his research laboratory in the cave of Maharu, where he was eventually found by Alis Landale and joined her quest.

On the course of that quest, Noah returned to the cave of his master, where he challenged Tajima to prove himself worthy of bearing the Frade Mantle, the symbol of the master of the Espers.

(As a side note, this theory places the Espers as a Palman race whose main settlement was on Motavia. This is why the PSII instruction book refers to the Espers as an "extinct race"...because they are...on Mota, and the intructions are written from a decidedly Mota-centric point of view. This is also why there is no Esper Mansion on Dezoris in PSI--because they weren't there yet.)

Alis' journey took Noah later to the Air Castle, where the heroes battled against Lassic/Lashiec and his hordes of evil underlings. These fiends taunted Noah as he battled against them, constantly addressing him as "Lutz," especially when his attacks missed and his magics failed to stop them. This was, of course, a matter of psychology...remember that Noah was the powerful master wizard, while Lutz was merely a helpless boy.

(Admittedly, this dialogue is assumed to have taken place "off-camera"; in this theory's defense, however, I'd like to point out that never in the entire Phantasy Star series is there ANY conversation shown during the combat sequences, and there surely must have been some, if only the PCs calling to each other to coordinate tactics and the like. Nor can I imagine someone like Lashiec or Zio striking in deadly silence without taking the chance to soliloquize.)

Once Alis had won, Noah began to train apprentices and attempt to preserve the way of esper powers for the future, for Algo's need was great and the next millenium was all too near. Unfortunately, things did not go perfectly. Mother Brain arrived in the Algo system, bringing great prosperity to some but great pain to others. Her Palmaforming of Motavia turned the desert planet into a jewel of green beauty, but it was done with a brutal efficiency that scattered many in its wake. The settlement of "Mota" was led under a military government that scattered and destroyed the native villages and crushed those forces which threatened the rule of the Mother Brain.

(I might note here that in PSII, the ruler of Mota is a "Commander" while in PSI he is a "Governor." Commander is most obviously a military title (I can't think of it being used outside of a military connotation, in fact), and the explanation that springs to mind is that Mota is, in essence, a colony of Palm under martial law. Since Mother Brain is the ultimate executive of Algo and therefore the commander-in-chief of the military, her rule on Mota is absolute. On Palm, on the other hand, her rule was limited by the civilian government and the economic interests, so that the population of Palm was independent enough to be able to escape the destruction of the planet in worldships.)

Among those forces which Mother Brain objected to were the Espers. They were a symbol of knowledge that reached beyond the purely scientific and technological, knowledge that could not be comprehended by the AI, and so it was necessary to destroy this "magic" which might oppose Mother Brain's plan.

(It might also be pointed out that while Dark Force was imprisoned in his box during PSII, his corruptive effects could extend beyond the box--see his influence on Rulakir and Lashute in PSIII even while sealed by Orakio's sword--and might well have encouraged Mother Brain to eliminate any mention of those forces which could have some bearing on the true struggle between the Profound Darkness and the seal.)

The robots of Mother Brain were, while limited in their ability to confront Esper mysticism, many in number, and eventually they succeeded in driving the Espers from Mota. Mother Brain's influence on "Dezo" was much less extensive, centered around the Skure mines, due to the caution of the Dezolians. Noah and his Espers consulted with the Dezolian religious leaders, and formed an alliance allowing the Espers to create an enclave, their Esper Mansion.

(If I may quote from PSII..."When Mother Brain came, this man decided to hide in Dezo.")

It was at this time (somewhere around AW 900, hypothetically) that Noah decided to change his name back to Lutz. While Noah was a name of legend, it was also a name which was directly connected to a great evil...the spaceship where Mother Brain could be found. Not wishing to be linked to such a force, Noah returned to the use of his childhood name.

(The analogy here is that there are some things so evil or overwhelming that they attract the revulsion of people based merely on their sound. It's as if a Jewish leader in the 1940s happened to have the first name "Auschwitz"...certainly the combination of SOUNDS isn't evil, but the connotation is so overwhelming that one cannot help but make the connection every time the name is heard.)

(One might also argue that no one knew that Mother Brain was ON "Noah" at that time. I'd like to offer the point that ONLY Lutz in PSII actually is explicitly aware of Mother Brain's location. Furthermore, while in PSII the Library databanks contain no record of Mother Brain's location or origin, it isn't likely that back in the 800s an entire population would allow a supercomputer to take over their government without some verifiable idea of where it was and what it was doing. Of course, the Earthmen would have provided some kind of cover story to conceal the entirety of the facts, but some knowledge would have had to be available...at least until Mother Brain could sponge it from the people's minds and databanks over the generations.)

The Espers did not thrive, especially as their leader could not sustain himself magically for much longer and had to resort to cryogenic sleep to save his life and knowledge for the millenium, but neither did they die out. They obeyed Lutz's wishes, and from that day forward referred to him as Lutz. Indeed, it could be said that "Lutz" was the founder of the Esper Mansion, for "Noah" no longer existed after the exodus from Mota.

(Incidentally, I'd like to offer the "magical sustenance" theory as the reason there have only been five Lutzes...each one can live for around 300-400 years using magic. The original Lutz in PSII, while still LOOKING young and pretty, was a very, very old man physically. While his magic was of incredible powers, his body was barely capable of rising and walking for more than a few yards. This is why he did not accompany Rolf to Noah, because despite his amazing powers he would have been functionally useless in combat. One hit point doesn't go far...)

One point I'd like to make here, because Mike Ripplinger raised it in earlier discussions on the subject and I think it requires a reply, is why, if Lutz is Noah, didn't he tell Rolf? After all, Lutz says that it was ALIS who fought Dark Force, not "Alis and I and some others." My answer to this is that he was attempting to motivate Rolf. Remember that Rune, in PSIV, states to Chaz that every 1000 years there is a cycle of destruction in Algo, and that "up until now, every time it occured, a courageous person would defeat the evil to maintain peace." Note that he says A PERSON, not A BAND OF CHAMPIONS. Since Rune undeniably is Lutz, his actions should be binding on the earlier version, and he certainly knew about Rudo, Amy, Anna, Shir, Kain, and Hugh helping Rolf, but he still says "a person." In both cases, Lutz is faced with the task of convincing a single individual to take up the task of leading the fight against ultimate evil. Both have suffered recent tragedy and are confused and depressed by it (the deaths of Nei and Alys), and in such a situation are prone to lean on others. Telling Rolf, or, for that matter, Chaz, that Lutz helped to destroy Dark Force before would only weaken the effect of Lutz/Rune's challenge to take up and lead the quest. This is especially important in light of my above suggestion of why Lutz does not accompany Rolf to the Noah, when it would otherwise seem self-evident that he OUGHT to get off his butt and take on Dark Force himself. Lutz cannot afford to have Rolf pin his hopes on anyone other than himself and his friends, and as the leader Rolf must accept the challenge as a personal responsibility.