An Exegesis of Eternal Sonata (in 4 parts)
- Yann Wong
- Apr 29, 2022
- 17 min read
[I wrote this series of 4 articles from Oct to Dec 2012. They were originally published in redeemedgamer.wordpress.com ]
[In the “exegesis” series of articles, I hope to look more in depth into one particular video game in an attempt to decipher the game’s worldview and the messages which the game sells to its audience. These are not intended to be game reviews. The first game which I would be looking at is the PS3 version of Eternal Sonata.]
Due to the significant confusion regarding the ending of Eternal Sonata, this first article serves only to explain the game’s main story.
Part 1 - Plot Summary
Part 2 - Metaphysics
Part 3 - Man and Society
Part 4 - Sacrifice and Redemption=
Part 1 - Plot Summary
Needless to say, WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERZ AHEAD!!! Do not read on if you have not played Eternal Sonata but intend to. [Single playthrough takes around 30-40 hours. Two playthroughs are necessary to fully unlock all features of the game.]
[Much of this article is based on the work of Kenimaru and wonderKNIGHT, who transcribed and translated Bandai Namco’s Official Guide unto the gamefaq forums. Click here for link to primary source. For a more chronological telling of the story, check out the Wikia site for Eternal Sonata.]
It is Paris in the evening of 16 Oct 1849, and Frederic Chopin lies asleep but dying of tuberculosis. Frederic dreams and enters his own dream, fully aware that he is dying and that he is in his own dream (think inception). The official guide seems to suggest that Frederic has been having this same dream thousands of times before, but this is the only time in which he enters his own dream as a character within the dream.
Frederic is introduced to the protagonists of his dream, and they embark on a good versus evil quest against Count Waltz, the main antagonist of the dream. Polka, the main protagonist, is a 14 year-old girl, and she is a manifestation of Frederic’s memories of his sister Emilia, who died at age 14. Similarly, Polka is destined to die before she turns 15. It is also suggested that all the major characters are different manifestations of Chopin or his memories.
Initially, Frederic was intrigued by this motley crew but remains fully aware that this is his own dream. However as their adventure progressed, Frederic finds himself caring more and more about these characters within this dream, and soon he questions whether he is able to tell apart dream from reality.
At the end of the game, after Count Waltz has been defeated, Frederic gives an ultimatum to his companions – they are to fight him in battle. If they are unable to defeat him, this proves that this world was indeed but a dream, Frederic wakes up in real life, and the world of Eternal Sonata disappears forever (this is one possible ending). However, should his companions be able to defeat him in battle, Frederic dies in real life Paris.
However, even after Frederic’s defeat, the world was still scorched and dead. Polka, understanding the role she has to play, throws herself off a cliff. This is when the game reveals that the world of Eternal Sonata is on a never-ending 10 year loop. At the end of each loop, Polka, who is some kind of divinely appointed sacrificial saviour, throws herself off a cliff and this act restores the world by resetting it back to what it was 10 years ago. Polka, now a 4 year-old child, falls from the sky into the arms of Solfege, her “mother”. According to the guide, Solfege is aware of Polka’s fate due to divine prophecies which had been revealed to her.
However, this time round, due to the presence of Frederic, this loop was broken. The explanation for this discontinuation is complex. Apparently, the reason Polka had to die was because Frederic’s memory of Emilia (whom Polka was ‘based upon”) only existed up to when she was 14 years old. It was not possible for Polka to live beyond 14, as the reality of the dreamworld was determined by Frederic’s experienced reality (i.e. his memory of Emilia in real life). However, after Frederic had walked through his dream as a character within his dream, Frederic’s “experienced reality” is no longer confined to just the “real world”, but also includes his dreamworld. Interestingly, the guide writes that Frederic does not reject the “real world” but considers them both to be equally true realities. As a result (quoting from the official guide), “life doesn’t have only one form” and Emilia can “continue to live on in Frederic”. Polka’s condition that she has to die at 14 has been lifted, and the cycle has been broken.
The 4 year old Polka floats up into the sky, and emerges 14 year-old again to the companions whom she had just departed from. Upon touching the ground, the earth restores its color and flourishes with life again. The in-dream Frederic appears to have lived on despite dying in real life as he is clearly seen amongst the companions receiving Polka’s return. In Paris, a “spirit” Frederic rise from his body plays the piano, while Delfina Potocka sings to the music. The ending credits also depict Frederic playing the same piece on the piano “in-dream”.
There are at least 2 possibilities to the fate of “in-dream” Frederic: he could have continued living as a character within this dream, or he could have become some God-like entity (he appears to be the one responsible for restoring the 4-year old Polka to 14 years old and delivering her back to her companions.) Whatever the case, it appears that Frederic (and the dreamworld) continues to exist despite his death in “real life”. The metaphysical implications here are significant, and would be explored further in Part 2.
Eternal Sonata is a game set on a unique premise, and attempts an extremely ambitious resolution to its story. Many gamers believe that the game designers overboard and crafted a totally incoherent story. I wouldn’t go that far, but I must admit that without the Official Guide, the ending is totally confusing and indecipherable Perhaps that too was intentional – after all, the central theme of Eternal Sonata is that “reality is what you believe it to be”.
Part 2 - Metaphysics
For ease of understanding, let us adopt the use of the following terminology for this article only:
‘World-ES’ refers to the world which Polka and co. lived in. World-ES originally begins as a dream of Frederic Chopin, but its metaphysical status changes at the end of the game.
‘World-R’ refers to the “real world” where Chopin is a famous pianist and composer, and where places like Poland and Paris exists.
‘Metaphysical Status’ refers to how “real” that world is. A world with high metaphysical status is considered to be more “real” than a world with low metaphysical status.
***
Origin of World-ES
Though not explicitly explored by the game, we can assume that Frederic has had the same dream of World-ES for perhaps several hundred nights. It is possible that Frederic had been having the dream since the death of his Emilia sister when he was age 17, but the dream more likely started later in his life, after the Polish rebellion (themes of rebellion and war were quite prominent in World-ES) and maybe even as late as after his relationship with George Sand has ended (i.e. the last 2 years of his life), as Falsetto was likely to be a manifestation of George Sand.
Metaphysical Status of World-ES
As explained in Part 1, at the ending of Eternal Sonata, Frederic decided to consider World-ES to be of equal metaphysical status as World-R. Both were equally real to him. It is worth noting that this is in contrast to something like The Matrix, which clearly considered “real life” to be of higher metaphysical status than “life within the matrix”.
What is particularly bewildering is not just the fact that both worlds have the same metaphysical status, but rather, high metaphysical status was only conferred to World-ES only after Frederic decided to consider it as “real”. (This conferring of metaphysical status is also what allowed for Polka to live beyond 14 years old, apparently the main reason why the world had to repeat itself, and thus breaking the never-ending 10 year loop.) Prior to this conscious decision by Frederic, World-ES remains a dream with low metaphysical status. In other words, the metaphysical status of the world is directly determined by Frederic’s perception of that world. This is “reality is what you make of it” taken absolutely literally.
This may seem preposterous, but there are at least two schools of thought which say similar things. Idealist philosophers claim that reality is fundamentally made up of ideas, and not made up of material stuff which exists outside of us. This may sound nutty, but their key observation is quite true: we cannot perceive of the material world directly, but can only perceive them through our senses, which is hard to separate from our minds.
Also, one also detects elements of postmodernist thinking here, although it may be too difficult for me to attempt to construct a postmodern metaphysical model. (Read this if you are keen to explore these difficult ideas further). “Life is what you make of it” is a common postmodern mantra after all.
Metaphysical Status of World-R
This is not directly explored in the game, but could be implied by the game’s philosophy of metaphysics. There was also a very interesting scene at the ending credits where Frederic’s “spirit” rose up from his body and started to play the piano, with Delfina Potocka (in real life Paris) singing along to his music. We can assume that this is not really Frederic’s ghost (if so, Potocka should really be screaming instead of singing), but some kind of “extended reality”, probably created in Potocka’s mind, just like World-ES was created in Frederic’s mind.
What does Eternal Sonata comment about the metaphysics of World-R, our real world then? If it is to be considered “equally real” as World-ES, and since World-ES is a dream, perhaps this implies that all of life is a dream (again, possible postmodern influences here). Recall the famous lullaby “Row, row, row your boat” which ended in “life is but a dream”. What did that last line of the lullaby mean? Paul Schumann understands it to have somewhat idealist connotations: i.e. we make up reality as we continue to experience it, no different from how we experience a dream.
Death and Immortality
Frederic’s monologue at the end of the first credits sequence gives us a hint about how Frederic breaks the never-ending 10 year loop:
Death is a reality which is far too real. But I’ve walked this dream-like journey within a dream, so that once-and-for-all, I could accept it. And now the time has come. Everything shall come to its finale!
Frederic’s “far too real” acceptance of his impending death was what prevented him for accepting World-ES as “real”. In the ‘finale’, he could somehow accept World-ES as real, and perhaps it could be deduced that he thus denies the reality of his death (in Paris). For Frederic’s case, if indeed reality is what you think it to be, then if you don’t think you are really dying, then you really are not dying. It is as though the reason why we die is because we think we would die. If we would stop thinking so, we would live forever.
Themes of immortality are also prevalent throughout the whole game. Polka jumps off a cliff but never really dies. Waltz has a preoccupation with leaving an immortal legacy even if he cannot physically live forever. And even in World-R, we are reminded about the immortal legacy of Frederic Chopin in the form of his piano works, some of the enduring pieces of music in the world. Finally, the never-ending loop itself, and the hint provided in the title, that this sonata was meant to be eternal.
A Christian Response
As Christians, it is obvious that we have to dismiss Eternal Sonata‘s ridiculous metaphysical claims as hogwash. The Christian understanding of reality is neither idealist nor postmodern; we believe that there really is a physical material world, and it was created by God (Gen 1-2, Job 38:1-7). When Jesus comes again, there will be a new Earth as well as a new heaven, indicating that even in future glory, there will be a physical material world, albeit a glorified version (Rev 21). Similarly, Christians have to dismiss the audacious claims about death and the cause of death. The bible is clear that the origin of death is sin, not the failure of our imagination (Rom 6:23).
That said, I believe that there are at least 2 small truths hidden in Eternal Sonata’s complex metaphysical philosophy which point us towards the Christian God. First is the concept of creatio ex nihilo, i.e. the creator creates a complete universe out of nothing (Rom 4:17). Frederic is somewhat a God-figure (though a rather confused one), being able to not just create a new universe out of nothing, but also having the ability to bestow metaphysical status of the said universe. As Christians we believe such immense power does exist and was exercised when God created the world, with nothing but the power of His word.
Second is Eternal Sonata’s preoccupation with immortality. This is perhaps best explained by this verse:
… he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end (Ecclesiastes 3:11b ESV)
God has “put eternity into man’s heart”. Which is why humans have an intuitive sense that something is deeply disturbing and wrong about the concept of death. This is also why practically all cultures in the world have myths and stories of life after death. Even today, an expression of this are the many works of fiction (including Eternal Sonata) which explore different ways and means to obtain immortality. But God’s real intention is to point us towards what ought to be, both before the Fall, and also what will be restored by Christ. We were meant to live eternal lives. Eternal Sonata has got this completely right.
Part 3 - Man and Society
Acknowledgements
I would like to give credit to ProfessorTofty, who transcribed the entire Eternal Sonata game into text, without whom I would have much greater difficulty writing this series of articles. Original source here.
In my research, I came across a 2009 article written by Johansen Quijano-Cruz in the academic journal Eludamos. Quijano-Cruz’s thesis was that computer games can be a valid form of social commentary, and Eternal Sonata was used as an exemplar. Much of the ideas expounded below were influenced by Quijano-Cruz’s article.
***
There are many things in this world that can charm people’s hearts, just like the moon charms the sea. Things like wealth, vanity, status, image, and power. People who are drawn to these things create waves and the fear in their hearts makes the waves grow bigger, and stronger.
There is a huge amount of dialogue in Eternal Sonata commenting on the human heart and the state of society. Most of it was not flattering. We’ll explore a few key themes below:
Selfishness and Mistrust
Right from the start of the game, Eternal Sonata gives rather heavy handed commentary that people are inherently selfish, and tend towards being fearful, suspicious and distrustful, even when there is no reason to be so. This is most evidently seen by how the townsfolk treat Polka (suspecting her from having a contagious disease for being a magic user), and further reinforced with the symbol of the Heaven’s Mirror, a flower which blooms only at night. Despite the flower’s beauty, townsfolk prefer to call the flower ‘Death Lights’ as they view the flower with suspicion, believing them to be a bad omen. This symbolism is evoked prominently at the end of the game, when Frederic chooses to call Polka a ‘Heaven’s Mirror’, instead of a ‘Death Light’.
A cruel and striving society
When selfish and distrustful men gather, a cruel society is formed where there is much struggle to even live. This is both commented on directly through dialogue, but also displayed through the town Ritardando, where the most vulnerable in society (orphans) are not taken care of, and need to resort to stealing bread to survive.
Ambition and the Desire to be Remembered
Unlike most games, much attention is given to the antagonist’s motives for his villainous acts, which Count Waltz justifies by his desire to be remembered by history:
“When you die you disappear, and eventually, you’re forgotten. Nothing of you remains. Humans are so unfeeling that way. That’s why I must have power. Enough absolute power to carve my existence into the very fabric of this world. As long as I have that…”
Waltz’ exposition reveals that underpinning his militaristic ambition to gain power is his insecurity of his own mortality. This is also a hint as to why the townspeople were so similarly distrustful and suspicious – they too were insecure about their own mortality. Why would they fear Polka if they had come to terms with what it means to eventually perish?
The Inevitability of War
At one point in the story, Prince Crescendo, the leader of Baroque, withdrew his support for the rebel group Andantino and their mission to assassinate Waltz. His reasoning was that history would repeat itself and another tyrant would rise in Waltz’s place. There would be no end to conflict and tension between the two nations, if peace was gained through blood. The idea that history repeats itself and nations continue to go to war is further reinforced by the subsequent dungeon Lament (only in PS3 version), which explains the thoughts of the Baroque and Forte leaders 2 generations prior, whom also went to war.
It is worth noting that despite Crescendo’s noble intentions to find “true peace” between nations, he never succeeded in doing so. This is perhaps the bleakest message for us: such is the nature of international politics. Every nation seeks their benefit only, and conflict, perhaps even wars, are inevitable.
The Tragedy of Innocence Lost
This isn’t explicitly expounded, but is implied through the too-innocent remarks made by Beat and Salsa, the youngest two characters in the group. Beat assumes the best of people even when there is contrary evidence otherwise (e.g. he assumes Count Waltz had altruistic reasons for introducing mineral powder into Ritardando), and his trusting nature is a direct contrast to how the game portrays the townsfolk. Beat’s childish squabbles with Salsa, while endearing, is almost jarring when juxtaposed with the dire situation the rest of the party is in.
This effect can also be seen across the whole party of characters. The youngest characters (Beat, Salsa) are naive and innocent, the older characters (Polka, Allegretto) are more disillusioned but still maintain some idealism, while the oldest (Crescendo, Jazz, Frederic, Falsetto) are those with the grimmest lines of dialogue. It is also significant to note that Polka succeeds in gradually making Frederic more positive as time goes on, reversing this process of losing hope.
The Astra and the inherent goodness in man
While Eternal Sonata’s social commentary is largely negative, there is a hint that there is some inherent goodness in man, as shown in the concept of the ‘astra’ (or ‘trusty’ in Japanese version). Every person has an astra, although not all shine as brightly (and Polka’s shine the brightest). This implies that every man was born with inherent goodness, or at least the potential to do good, but that was somehow “corrupted”. It is also significant to note that the game’s characters needed significant amount of convincing that the astra is a real thing, and not just some fairy tale. It speaks to perhaps how society has become so caught up with self-serving concerns, that it no longer recognizes its own ability to do good.
A Christian Response
Much of Eternal Sonata’s social commentary is similar to what I previously discussed about in my article on Tokyo Jungle – left to their own devices, mankind tends towards selfishness and cruelty, motivated the pursuit of idols (wealth, vanity, status, image, and power) in their hearts. Quijano-Cruz, despite writing for an academic journal, could not help but describe Eternal Sonata’s society as “fallen”.
The term “fallen” is telling, because it speaks of an inner realization that we have fallen from somewhere. When we come across instances of cruelty, exploitation of the disenfranchised, or selfish ambition, we intuitively know in our hearts that this isn’t meant to be. There is supposed to be a better way, a better life, to live. While for some this may be a permanent sad reality, as Christians we have the hope that we will be restored back to the place where we had fallen from (or an even a better place).
This brings us to the astra, or the inherent goodness in man. As Christians, we also believe that there is some inherent goodness in all men, as all men are Imago Dei, made in the image of God and have the potential to reflect God’s good character (Gen 1:26-27, 1 Cor 11:7, James 3:9). This explains why non-Christians are capable of doing great good despite not knowing the Savior. However, without the saving knowledge of the gospel, all men are slaves to sin, and persist as corrupted images of God, presenting a distorted reflection of God (Rom 6:16). Even as Christians, on this side of heaven, while no longer slaves to sin, we still struggle with sin in the flesh, and still fail to present a perfect reflection of God. (Rom 7:14-20)
Only one man ever existed which was free from sin (2 Cor 5:21). In a similar way, only one character in Eternal Sonata had a “perfect” astra. And what was demanded from both these individuals were the same – they were to sacrifice their own lives such that the rest of the world might be saved (1 John 2:2). We’ll explore these ideas further in Part 4.
Part 4 - Sacrifice and Redemption
As explored in Part 3, we’ve seen that Eternal Sonata portrays a society which is fallen, where men are overcome by their greed, vanity and lust for power. Yet against this grim backdrop, stories of hope emerge, providing a glimpse that all is not lost. That despite how fallen mankind has become, there is a hope that there is a source of goodness which is greater than the evil and failings of man, a hope that there will be a better ending.
These stories emerge through the tales of redemption of the various playable characters of Eternal Sonata. The personal stories of characters like Jazz, Claves, Falsetto, Crescendo and Serenade all contain elements of loss, salvation and redemption. However, the main thrust of Eternal Sonata’s narrative was always about the two main protagonists: Polka and Frederic.
Polka
The game starts with this narration from Frederic:
“Why? Why did it happen? Why was she destined to die? What crime could a girl like that have possibly committed to deserve such a grim fate?”
And thus we were introduced to Polka, the innocent girl who was destined to die. Later in the game we were told that Polka was different from others in that she was the only person with a perfect Astra; this was like saying Polka was the only “flawless” person in the universe of Eternal Sonata. At the end of the game, we would be told that Polka was the destined one, who’s role was to sacrifice herself (by jumping off a cliff) and this sacrifice would restore the scorched and damage land back to its original lush glory. But her sacrifice accomplishes more than just this, the universe is “restored” in the most literal of senses – everything is reversed, including time, and Polka is “reborn” as she falls from the sky in this newly restored world.
The parallels to the redemptive work of Christ are striking; like Jesus, Polka was destined from the beginning to be saviour. Like Jesus, Polka was blameless and “flawless”. Like Jesus, Polka’s death was a willing submission for the greater good of others. Like Jesus, Polka’s dealth brings restoration of the land, and of people. Like Jesus, Polka is eventually “resurrected”, although “born again” might be a better description for Polka. These parallels are so striking that one wonders whether the Japanese creators of Eternal Sonata are Christian (unlikely), or that the tale of redemption is so pervasive, so universal and so true, that it just keeps cropping up in works of narrative fiction across all media.
But there are differences between the sacrifice of Polka and the sacrifice of Christ. Just by turning back time so that history can play itself out again could be considered “restoration”, but that was hardly salvation. It could even be considered a cruel joke, a curse. There was no real hope. No many how many iterations we go through, there cannot really be hope if there was no better end in sight, This is where Frederic comes in.
Frederic
Frederic François Chopin was a dying man. What was hinted by his biography (and the narration of the story), was that he was not a happy man lying in his deathbed. He was dying young, barely into his prime as a world-renown pianist and a composer. He was dying lonely, with several failed relationships with women, never been married and with no children. He was dying homesick, never been able to return to his native Poland due to the political strife of that era. He was dying without hope.
Yet the irony of the story was that the one who was without hope would be the only one who could offer hope. It was Frederic who broke the never-ending cycle by affirming Polka as a “Heaven’s Mirror”. It was Frederic who realized that despite his hopelessness (in real life), there was a rich beautiful world with people he loved on “the other side”, and this realization not only brought himself hope, but it created hope and life for everyone else as well. It was Frederic who broke the rules – Polka, as well as the World can be saved, not just either/or.
When Christ was denied three times by one of his dearest disciples and laid hanging on the cross, the most shameful instrument of death in the Roman era, it appeared all but hopeless. Could this truly be the messiah whose was prophesied to save Israel from its bondage? Yet, the irony of the story was that the One who appeared hopeless was actually the true hope provider. That only through His death on the cross, could there be hope for Israel and for the rest of humanity. It was Christ who broke the rules – God’s justice as well as God’s love was displayed, not just either/or.
Conclusion
Polka was the destined sacrifice, the blameless lamb to be slain. Frederic was the true hope-provider and the true life-giver. As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ was both. For those of us who are Christians, let us not regard too lightly this coming Christmas the true significance of Jesus the Messiah being born into this world, and the great joy and privilege we have to live for His glory alone.
From heaven you came helpless babe Entered our world, your glory veiled Not to be served, but to serve And give your life, that we might live There in the garden of tears My heavy load, He chose to bear His heart with sorrow was torn Yet not my will but Yours He said This is our God, the Servant King He calls us now to follow him To bring our lives as a daily offering Of worship to the Servant King
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