The Meaning/Theory Behind the āReversed Endingsā
DISCLAIMER: The Arcana Chapter 20 spoilers; I am far from an expert at Tarot reading but did a small bit of research for this online; I have only played Asraās upright route and have been using what has been shared online about the other routes (I apologize if I get some story facts wrong and I am okay with being corrected to the actual story facts)
After seeing a lot of discourse over the most recent route, I get it how there are some things to be upset about in the newer chapter; however, I think that is just the design of the game. The Arcana is an Romance app at heart, but it works differently. Unlike most otomes/romance apps where there is a bad, normal, and best ending, the Arcana follows a different formula. The Tarot deck is heavily used and referenced in this game so it also applies to the endings: You have an upright/true ending, then you have a reversed/opposite ending.Ā
The Devs made a comment long ago that there is no technicalĀ ābad end,ā more like a tragic love story or just a different type of ending depending on your flavor of choices. They kept to their word, none of the LIs have rejected our love because we didn't hit a love meter mark but our choices in the game heavily dictates how the LIs will react and make decisions later on. (Side Note: Shakespeareās play Romeo and Juliet is a genre of Tragedy, the ending was not a happy one, but a bittersweet/ironic one that drove the story to a close)(Also, this commentĀ from the devs was made over a year ago, sometimes plans and story changes with time and development).
I have seen comments on how the reversed ends donāt fit the character that well or how brutal the story was: I have a theory that this is how it is supposed to be. Each character fits into a Main Arcana role, each card has a upright and reversed meaning. Most reversed cards have bad readings, warnings, and omens that warns the person that something bad is coming or they need to change something. I use this theory to break down chapter 20:
Asraā s Route-The Magician:Ā
āUpright: willpower, desire, creation, manifestationā
Asra no longer runs away from the problem, because of the apprentice he has gained strength and uses a creative solution to break the ritual.
āReversed: trickery, illusions, out of touchā
Asra looses sight of the goal, they run away forgetting that they are going to eventually be drawn back to preform the ritual. At the end of the chapter, the Devil offers a bargain to whisk them away from the ritual (I personally believe that to be the trick)
Nadiaās Route- The High Priestess:
āUpright: intuitive, unconscious, inner voiceā
Nadia finds her inner strength, she is capable of thinking for her own, being bold in her decisions, and doing so by trusting her own intuition.
āReversed: lack of center, lost inner voice, repressed feelingsā
Nadia looses control, she makes large and risky acts of dominance that have no good reason behind it, she isn't herself anymore and takes on persona different from hers to mask her emotions.
Julian's Route- The Hanged Man:
āUpright: sacrifice, release, martyrdomāĀ
This one is actually tricky and might have to revisit it later, but Julian has shown in past books his will to go to whatever lengths to get a job done, even sacrificing himself to get answers, sacrificing his mark to return to the living world, etc. This book wraps it all up depending on how you treat his sacrifice. From the sacrifice, there is solution and resolve as loose ends tie up.
āReversed: stalling, needless sacrifice, fear of sacrificeāĀ
Julian still feels the need to sacrifice himself, but this time is just overkill. The way to defeat the Devil in this book was to come together as a group and not to sacrifice oneself away (hence the needless sacrifice in this case). By doing so, Julian is delaying the inevitable ritual that is seen at the end of the chapter.
(EXTRA: You can see the reversed/upright characteristics in theĀ courtiers! They are represented by the Major Arcana as well but act more in the way of the reversed descriptions)
Each chapter up to this point is detailed and characterized to your LI, but also revolves around the main character: the apprentice and is considered to be the Fool in the major Arcana. The Fool has a reading as well:Ā
The Apprentice- The Fool:Ā
āUpright: innocence, new beginnings, free spiritāĀ
āReversed: recklessness, taken advantage of, inconsiderationā
Your choices, calculated or hasty, effects how your story goes and how your LI interacts/makes their decisions. That is the beauty of the game, relationships are built off of one another and the Arcana takes that into mind. Many otome games have character development for their characters, but itās usually a A to B transition with good, better, best decisions. Arcana has weight to their choices that reflects the apprentice and how it effects the LI in their choices later on.Ā
It is my theory that Upright and Reversed chapters takes the readings from the Fool card with the choice of LI arcana card reading. The writing and story have been better and more easily understandable if this this was the case (and just in general). There were some details that could have been overkill wile some explanation could be needed to give a better idea of how/why a certain choice/event happened.
ALSO: the story is not over! Chapter 20 was just a beginning to an end, we have not met our resolution yet and there could still be some closure and ends tied up more neatly than this chapter could by itself.Ā
However, just because one does not get their dream/fantasy ending result does not mean you should bash it mercilessly. Your vision and the creators vision can go on entirely different paths. You have a right to be upset about it, but this was not your creation in the first place. I am not going to dismiss though that there can be improvement and constructive critique, but keep in mind that there is a difference in critique and negative criticism.Ā You can hate or love the game in the end, I am not trying to change your mind. We all have different opinions, stances, and viewpoints that gives us our reasoning. I just wanted to share my stance and hopefully give a different point of view on how this ending went.Ā
āWhat a character wants to hear isn't always what they need to hearā
