The Thea Theories
"When Princess Thea of Shusoran was fifteen years old, her kingdom, as well as the nearby land of Cille, was attacked by an army of Orakian cyborgs. The leader of these cyborgs was Siren, an ancient creature who had fought beside Orakio himself and vehemently despised all Layans. Most of the people of Cille and Shusoran were slaughtered; only a handful of them escaped. Thea, however, was taken captive and locked away in the castle dungeon of Lensol, an Orakian kingdom whose obedience Siren had won. Thea was later rescued by her distant cousin Ayn, son of the king of Cille."
This is part of the story of Ayn's adventure, one of the second generation quests of Phantasy Star III. During the summer of 1997 I played with the idea of writing a novel based on the journeys of Ayn and his friends, and I began compiling quotes and scene outlines from those journeys. As I was doing so, I began to consider the details of Thea's abduction and fate, and I startled myself by thinking of a question I had never considered before: If Rhys had not married Ayn's mother, and Ayn had never been born, then what would have happened to Thea after her abduction? Would she have died in Lensol's prison, or would someone else have rescued her?
The question and all of the possibilities it presented enthralled me. I began delving deep into every nook and cranny of Phantasy Star III, a game of many questions and few answers, trying to learn if there was any satisfactory answer to my question. After nearly a year of on-again off-again studying and searching, I have found an answer that I believe is not only interesting but highly probable. This answer is comprised of a series of bits and pieces of evidence I like to call "The Thea Theories."
I now proudly present to the ever-growing Phantasy Star Internet fandom my Thea Theories, collected, organized, and comprehensively explained for the first time ever. I ask you, dear readers, to please keep your minds open to new possibilities as you read, as some of the ideas suggested here may conflict some notions you have about the Alisa III and its inhabitants. I assure you that when you have finished reading these theories you will see the validity of my argument, even though you may not agree with it.
