(spoilers for the final boss talk below)
So, for today's rambling - let's talk about the Mana Goddess!
Before I get into deep-diving, I do have to say, I love how LoM presents the Mana Goddess with her explicitly talking to you in the intro, but never actually being seen (well, in a way, since she is also the Mana Tree, which is shown on the screen). And you never do actually see her until the final boss fight, and her form is this rather feral, but still botanical looking creature you have to fight under a gloaming moon, all with an ominous song in the background that feels so foreboding and wrong.
Legend of Mana always gets it right with the atmosphere of presentation.
So, let's start with the beginning - as described in the History tome.
The way that the first entry described the Mana Goddess's awakening is very mythical-sounding, isn't it? Although, I do find it interesting that the "twinkling consciousness" seems to be separate from the Mana Goddess - in fact, she only gained sentience after looking into that light...as if she's part of the darkness.
I also find it interesting that the star that awakened the Mana Goddess is also described as a blazing sun - and one of the songs used repeatedly across the series is called "Rising Sun". I love it when themes tie together.
The next entry describes the creation of the world - in the History Tome, the Mana Goddess didn't create the world herself, but the Moon Gods did. After giving the Moon Gods their names, the Mana Goddess went back to sleep, turning into the Mana Tree in the process.
I'll talk about the Moon Gods in another post, their story makes up the first arc of the History Tome and there's much to be talked about there.
Now, jumping to the very end of the game - a big jump, but it's where the story of the beginning is retold, again, this time by Pokiehl.
Some of the things Pokiehl says does seem to contradict the History tome - say, he describes the Mana Goddess as the light herself, and that she "gave birth to this universe and all within it," rather than the Moon Gods creating the living creatures and landscapes of Fa'Diel.
If we take Pokiehl's title in the Characters' tome as "Messenger of the Cosmic Truth" as literal, it could be his version of the story is more truthful, while the History tome is just how the inhabitants of Fa'Diel recorded their origin story. Or it could be both are interpretations of the story. Still, both the History tome and Pokiehl's version does point to the Mana Goddess being associated with the light, but also with something else, shadow.
Now, as for how the Mana Goddess talks about herself - she mostly speaks of herself in terms of love, as can be seen in the intro:
Which she repeats before her final boss fight:
How to put this into words...well, what the Mana Goddess here says seems very self-aware, isn't it? She is love, light and creation - but she is also darkness and destruction. It ties back to what Pokiehl said - her desire to know herself cast a shadow, and it separated her, and us, from her original radiance.
She elaborates on this too and even talks about how those "who draw their swords in the name of righteousness" end up burying the truth.
Which seems like acknowledgement of the main antagonists' actions in both the Jumi Arc and the Star-Crossed Lovers Arc. Both Sandra and Irwin had loved ones whom the world hurt, and in trying to enact justice upon the world, they ended up causing even more violence and cruelty. Drakonis is just a prick who wants to take over the world lol, so in the Dragon Arc, it's Larc who acts on love but ends up hurting others to fulfill his goal.
The final thing the Mana Goddess says is this - the wording here is...kind of desperate sounding, isn't it?
"You must defeat me," and then saying "You will become a hero," as if reassuring Shiloh/Serafina doing this is a righteous cause.
It sounds almost self-destructive in a way, but my interpretation of this, tying up with the general themes of the main arc where you resolve the hurts other people have endured - Legend of Mana is the end of Fa'Diel's cycle of constant war, and defeating the dark side of the Mana Goddess is the last step to sending off that age.
So we have the Mana Goddess showing up! I wish the art book gave design notes on her, but sadly there aren't any. It's a shame, because I love the look of her form - in her base form, she really looks rather beastly with her lower half, and the way she moves is both graceful but kind of unnerving. She takes on other forms for other attacks, one being a cloaked figure, and there was another I didn't get to screenshot in this playthrough, which wields a big sword (this was default difficult, so I just dunked on her lol.) Her final form, which is basically Terra's Esper form from FF6 lol, only appears when the moon is fully eclipsed and she unleashes a powerful laser attack.
After she's defeated, the Mana Goddess doesn't say anything more - so it does seem to confirm we killed a part of her off.
Some people have said the game was confusing for ending with the Sproutlings coming en masse to the Mana Tree to heal it, but I think I can explain it -
The Sproutlings explain that the protagonist's imagination fills them with love, and that is what plants need most - so them coming back to the Mana Tree to take along the love they've received is them healing the Mana Tree, and by extension the Mana Goddess.
So it's either the Sproutlings are a manifestation of the Mana Goddess's light, or vessels to heal her.
It does seem kinda gloomy we kill the Mana Goddess's dark side, but I don't think the takeaway here is "self-awareness is bad" - Pokiehl actually says this, too.
So my understanding of this is, the act of defeating the Mana Goddess isn't because we hate her, but because we see how she also suffered and we help her sever that part of her which continues to hurt her.
I guess it does come across a bit muddled, trying to type this out, but if anyone else is interested in thinking about the Mana Goddess in LoM, at least here are screenshots to help along with the analysis! My interpretation is far from being perfect and no one has t agree with me, but I just think the Mana Goddess being the concept of love with all its grand beauty and horrible tragedies is all very interesting.
