EarthBound Endings

So, one of the things that happened during the course of the pandemic is that I sat down and seriously played all three games in Shigesato Itoi's MOTHER series: EarthBound Beginnings (aka EarthBound Zero), EarthBound, and the fan translation of Mother 3. And holy heck, are they good.

Because I'm autistic (no literally, I got diagnosed), I can't help but think about what could have happened between EarthBound and Mother 3 for the world to get the way it is. I mean, the latter game gives an overview eventually, but what exactly led to the events that the White Ship was fleeing?

Then a conversation with my old boss brought up an interesting detail: he thinks that the Dr. Andonuts that shows up in Mother 3 is not the same one in EarthBound, but a grown-up Jeff who just happens to look a lot like his father. (Makes sense; people tell me I have my mom's eyes.)

So, my hyperfixation on certain details of the game world led to the following ideas. I might actually use this as the basis for a short campaign, probably run using a relatively low-powered modern ruleset. Obviously, spoilers are ahead for all three games in the series, but I'll try to keep them minimal. My advice: play them in order, and take it especially easy on EBB's shortcomings - it's old!

PSI Stone: In EarthBound Beginnings, these rocks are occasionally found in gift boxes, or as random drops. The in-game description calls them "PSI Power in solid form." Squeezing them replenishes a small amount of PP, but they can often be used multiple times before reverting to an ordinary stone.

It's established that George's secret studies of PSI aren't the only source for psychic power on Earth. After all, the Garrickson baby grew up far away from Podunk, and virtually all of the PSI-capable characters added later to the party - Ana in EBB, Paula and Poo in EB, Kumatora in Mother 3 - have no apparent connection to Ninten's family or to Giygas. What if the PSI Stone is a naturally occurring mineral, whose properties are only known to those already PSI-capable?

Artwork from Encyclopedia Mother.

 

If it is a naturally occurring mineral, what kind? The illustration in Encyclopedia Mother resembles  marble, but one beautiful, blue stone that often occurs in marble is lapis lazuli. Put a pin in that.

Jeff's Research: When Jeff first meets his father Dr. Andonuts in-game, their relationship is distant but polite; in conversation, Jeff refers to his father by his name and title, rather than in a familiar fashion. But at the end of the game, Jeff announces that he will be studying with his father - who at this point, has also established working relationships (colleagueships?) with both the Apple Kid, and the residents of Saturn Valley. Perhaps as an adult, Jeff might be engaged in research to help prevent another alien invasion from taking Earth unawares - hoping to avoid another War Against Giygas?

And why not? His father has the Phase Distorter, which could theoretically be used to travel through space beyond Earth's gravitational pull - kind of like the TARDIS, except not beholden to any Time Lords (as far as we know). Space exploration would be especially tempting with the knowledge that at least a few alien species apart from Giygas' are out there, namely the Mooks and Starmen (not to mention the Mr. Saturn, who I can't help but imagine rolling around inside the cabin of a spaceship).

The Way They Had Lived: So, now for the Nowhere Islands... Leder's speech mentions that the cataclysm the White Ship was fleeing was thought to be a direct result of a particular lifestyle. Considering the way things are done in Tazmily Village, and the way the Pigmask Army do things, it's easy to infer that industrialization and pollution had a hand in this destruction.

But... why would military-industrial capitalism be exactly like it is on Earth? Especially with the prominent role played by PSI in the War Against Giygas, the military would jump on psychic research to an even greater extent than they did in this world (go read The Men Who Stare At Goats if you want a good overview of that chapter of American history).

Assuming that enough psychics could be recruited, the better-off armies could have their own squads of psionic shock troops. And because, in the military, nothing succeeds like excess, the brass wouldn't be content to let their soldiers gradually regain their Psychic Points during a good night's sleep. There would be demand for a faster solution... which is where PSI Stone comes in.

Remember how I said it resembles lapis lazuli? Well, lapis contains a number of minerals in a typical sample: mostly lazurite, but also pyrite. The trouble is, pyrite can have toxic effects when exposed to water, often causing environmental damage - the Gold King Mine spill is a good example. (For this reason, it's not advisable to use lapis lazuli for any items that might go on - or in - your body for an extended period of time. It's generally fine for sculptures and such, though.)

See where I'm headed with this? PSI is apparently a "clean" technology, as little kids in red baseball caps can Teleport to anywhere in the world with just a running start. Even if users of PSI were in short supply, and even if they could only bring two or three people with them at a time, there would be no reason for anyone to ever use (for example) a private jet. But if we assume PSI Stone has a chemical structure even remotely like lapis lazuli, large-scale mining on behalf of a psionic military would cause massive environmental damage on its own.

Fits in pretty well with the anti-capitalist themes of Mother 3, doesn't it? Plus, this idea kept sprouting new sub-concepts in my head as I drove home tonight. Maybe the Magic Butterflies, which restore a little bit of PP on touch, got that way by growing up in a PSI Stone-rich environment?

I don't really have a climactic way to end this post, so I'll just call for my reader to leave their elaborations on this idea in the comments below. DAKOTA!