What I meant to say, is that... Ron's MI3 would probably be another outstanding game, but CMI was such an amazing game that now that I've played it a hundred or so times, I don't want change.:cool:
Sorry if this post is hard to decipher.
I understood completely from your first post and entirely agree. CMI was my favorite for ages until TMI came out, and now I'm not sure which one is anymore. But anyway, I don't want change either. Personally, I thought the Carnival at the end of MI2 was completely stupid, and I'm glad CMI took the opportunity to explain it since for a long time I was mad that MI2 ended that way. Since it did end that way, I'm not so sure that Ron's MI3 would be nearly as good as CMI is, although maybe I wouldn't have hated the end of MI2 so much if there wasn't a 6 year gap between games.
Not gonna lie, when I saw the first bit, I thought it was gonna be a parody. But that was actually really interesting. I've heard that theory before - that the entire series of MI is just a kid's makebelieve. I don't want to believe it, because now the series has become it's own little universe, expansive and awesome, and I... really don't want it to pull a St. Elsewhere on us. =/ But assuming that was the Secret of Monkey Island, it would explain a lot of things. The anachronisms, any kind of plot hole, and hey, maybe it would have worked... if the series had ended at MI2.
But, it didn't. And LeChuck/Chuckie's evil grin reveal at the verrry end of MI2 is deliberate speculation bait. I've personally always gone with the idea that LeChuck was deliberately keeping Guybrush in an illusion of some kind, to distract him. His evil face was like winking as us, the player, cluing us in to the joke, as it were.
I forgot about Elaine's final lines about Guybrush being horribly cursed (or something) until I read it again here, but that actually just adds a little more proof to contradict the "Guybrush as child imagining things" theory.
But you know, some good can come out of it all. Say it with me now: Abandoned, run-down, Carnival of the Damned. I'm holding out for it.
Edit: also, just thought of something that I haven't before. Notice how Guybrush just turns up out of nowhere, while we know nothing about his past or how he got there? Also, maybe the whole brother thing is more important than it seemed? And not to mention, notice how his clothing makes him look like a cabin boy? Also, take note that Ron Gilbert, when asked in an interview wether LeChuck was his brother or not, said "they're brothers but not really brothers".
Now, what would a cabin boy be? A part of a ship's crew. And the crew could also be considered brothers (in arms?). So, maybe Guybrush was actually part of LeChuck's crew at some point. Not to mention, maybe even Guybrush's parents were part of LeChuck's crew, before he killed them, but Guybrush didn't know that, so he believed his parents abandoned him. Also, imo, the original game made me believe that Guybrush was maybe 5 or even 10 years younger than Elaine (hence her maturity and sense of responsibility and ability to take care of herself, not to mention her close-up. That would mean that Guybrush would be just a boy when LeChuck found Monkey Island, or abandoned Guybrush, the cabin boy, somehow. And Guybrush somehow forgot (intentionally or not) the incident all those years ago.
Maybe the Voodoo Lady also knew who you were, 'cause she knew the full story and maybe even recognized you. Because, while the Voodoo Lady guessed your name right, it did look like it was an act, and guessed wrong the first time on purpose.
Just some thoughts. Ron was also asked in an interview (maybe the same one?) that if it was possible to figure out the secret for yourself in the games. He said something like "maybe if you look closely". So he basically confirmed that it was possible to figure it out. Also, he's already denied the whole "all in a child's fantasy" theory directly. He was asked if any of the theories comes close, he said "some are less wrong than others, but none of them's right". Or something like that.
Believe what you will, my friend :-)
But there is clearly more to "the secret" than just the themepark thing. There's this whole other thread of who is related to who that nobody has satisfactorily explained. That's just my humble opinion, mind you.
There's also one MAJOR clue that nobody ever seems to comment on: we know that Guybrush's parents are DEAD - their skeletons are sitting in the Lost and Found. So how come they're suddenly alive again in the themepark?
It would be so easy to say he was mistaken. But I know what you're saying. It suggests the ending is a hallucination initiated by LeChuck's Voodoo.
...Okay, so I've been giving this a lot of thought and the more I think about it, the more I feel enraged by the mere thought that the world of Monkey Island is all just a 'dream.' Sure, it might have been okay if it was just a trilogy that was all written back in the day, but now it's a... a.... well, I can't find the right word, but it's kind of become a part of me now. I mean, I grin broadly irl at random recollections of jokes and things from the MI games, and my nostalgia tells me that if all of this isn't real even to Guybrush himself, well that would be no less than a kick to the face.
And sure, it's been discussed over and again that Elaine's comments at the end of MI2 would suggest that the end sequence really was just a voodoo curse. But then I remember Rise of the Pirate God from Tales, and how the boat that crosses the River Styx makes clicking-clattering noises akin to that of an amusement park ride on a track, and I wonder if Ron Gilbert told them to make it sound like that. So, then the amusement park thing is carried even to the last episode of Tales. =\
Someone please tell me that it's all just for effect and that it doesn't really mean anything. I don't want it to not be real. That world has become a part of me.
@Stareye: Whoa. That's actually quite a plausible theory that I've never heard anywhere else before. I still think that most people take the "brothers" part too literally.
As for me, I don't really think that the Secret of Money Island is that it's All a Dream. Actually, maybe it is. I just hope it isn't. It just hits home in a really painful and familiar way. Other than that, it would just be really depressing to see that everything was just unreal.
Comments
I understood completely from your first post and entirely agree. CMI was my favorite for ages until TMI came out, and now I'm not sure which one is anymore. But anyway, I don't want change either. Personally, I thought the Carnival at the end of MI2 was completely stupid, and I'm glad CMI took the opportunity to explain it since for a long time I was mad that MI2 ended that way. Since it did end that way, I'm not so sure that Ron's MI3 would be nearly as good as CMI is, although maybe I wouldn't have hated the end of MI2 so much if there wasn't a 6 year gap between games.
But, it didn't. And LeChuck/Chuckie's evil grin reveal at the verrry end of MI2 is deliberate speculation bait. I've personally always gone with the idea that LeChuck was deliberately keeping Guybrush in an illusion of some kind, to distract him. His evil face was like winking as us, the player, cluing us in to the joke, as it were.
I forgot about Elaine's final lines about Guybrush being horribly cursed (or something) until I read it again here, but that actually just adds a little more proof to contradict the "Guybrush as child imagining things" theory.
But you know, some good can come out of it all. Say it with me now: Abandoned, run-down, Carnival of the Damned. I'm holding out for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-CTx-S9f-8
Edit: also, just thought of something that I haven't before. Notice how Guybrush just turns up out of nowhere, while we know nothing about his past or how he got there? Also, maybe the whole brother thing is more important than it seemed? And not to mention, notice how his clothing makes him look like a cabin boy? Also, take note that Ron Gilbert, when asked in an interview wether LeChuck was his brother or not, said "they're brothers but not really brothers".
Now, what would a cabin boy be? A part of a ship's crew. And the crew could also be considered brothers (in arms?). So, maybe Guybrush was actually part of LeChuck's crew at some point. Not to mention, maybe even Guybrush's parents were part of LeChuck's crew, before he killed them, but Guybrush didn't know that, so he believed his parents abandoned him. Also, imo, the original game made me believe that Guybrush was maybe 5 or even 10 years younger than Elaine (hence her maturity and sense of responsibility and ability to take care of herself, not to mention her close-up. That would mean that Guybrush would be just a boy when LeChuck found Monkey Island, or abandoned Guybrush, the cabin boy, somehow. And Guybrush somehow forgot (intentionally or not) the incident all those years ago.
Maybe the Voodoo Lady also knew who you were, 'cause she knew the full story and maybe even recognized you. Because, while the Voodoo Lady guessed your name right, it did look like it was an act, and guessed wrong the first time on purpose.
Just some thoughts. Ron was also asked in an interview (maybe the same one?) that if it was possible to figure out the secret for yourself in the games. He said something like "maybe if you look closely". So he basically confirmed that it was possible to figure it out. Also, he's already denied the whole "all in a child's fantasy" theory directly. He was asked if any of the theories comes close, he said "some are less wrong than others, but none of them's right". Or something like that.
Lol, now that's a good ending :-)
http://www.mixnmojo.com/features/read.php?article=monkeyisland2lechucksrevenge&page=4
Believe what you will, my friend :-)
But there is clearly more to "the secret" than just the themepark thing. There's this whole other thread of who is related to who that nobody has satisfactorily explained. That's just my humble opinion, mind you.
It would be so easy to say he was mistaken. But I know what you're saying. It suggests the ending is a hallucination initiated by LeChuck's Voodoo.
And sure, it's been discussed over and again that Elaine's comments at the end of MI2 would suggest that the end sequence really was just a voodoo curse. But then I remember Rise of the Pirate God from Tales, and how the boat that crosses the River Styx makes clicking-clattering noises akin to that of an amusement park ride on a track, and I wonder if Ron Gilbert told them to make it sound like that. So, then the amusement park thing is carried even to the last episode of Tales. =\
Someone please tell me that it's all just for effect and that it doesn't really mean anything. I don't want it to not be real. That world has become a part of me.
As for me, I don't really think that the Secret of Money Island is that it's All a Dream. Actually, maybe it is. I just hope it isn't. It just hits home in a really painful and familiar way. Other than that, it would just be really depressing to see that everything was just unreal.
This one attempts to do justice to all of the counter evidence, and should also hopefully be a little more satisfying!