As my "Phantasy Star Online's Date" theory establishes, Phantasy Star Online clearly takes place sometime post-Phantasy Star IV, probably about 800 years post-Phantasy Star IV. The Algoian connection is made clear thanks to the presence of meseta in PSO, as well as the presence of pre-established Phantasy Star monsters and techniques -- not to mention the presence of the Nuara Cake Shop and the Tinkerbell family and their dog Rocky. And while some have argued that Phantasy Star Online most probably takes place between Phantasy Star II and Phantasy Star IV, the post-Phantasy Star IV time frame is firmly established by the presence of Numans as a full-fledged race aboard Pioneer 2. Phanatsy Star IV presents us with Rika, who is not only the culmination of 1000 years' worth of work on a prototype (Nei), but is also clearly one-of-a-kind; if Phantasy Star Online is to take place between Phantasy Star II and Phantasy Star IV, one must explain how Numans go from non-existent to a full-fledged Algoian sub-race to extinct, all in the span between the two games. No, the fact that Numans are so common in Phantasy Star Online seals the deal; PSO definitely takes place post-Phantasy Star IV.
Yet PSO Episode II reveals to us a small detail that has caused some phans to doubt the Pioneers' Algoian heritage. Namely, PSO Episode II reveals that the Pioneers' homeworld is a planet called Coral.
Some phanatics have heard this and have immediately ignored the vast body of evidence from PSO Episode I that establishes the Pioneers' Algoian heritage and have gone straight to, "Well, they must not be from Algo after all." But this knee-jerk reaction is clearly an overreaction; there's nothing about the name "Coral" that in any way invalidates the facts present in PSO Episode I that conclusively point to the Pioneers' Algoian heritage, and to dismiss all such evidence as coincidence just because the Pioneers come from a planet not named Palma, Motavia, or Dezoris is ridiculous.
But if the Pioneers are from a planet called Coral -- and we now know they are -- then how can we explain their Algoian heritage?
Before answering that question, I'm going to propose a different one. In "The Grave's Butler," Matha Blant finds messages from her family's butler, Blant, who brought her to Ragol on Pioneer 2 over the objections of her parents, scientists aboard Pioneer 1. One of Blant's messages says, "When Mr. Grave was chosen as a crew member for Pioneer 1, he told me, 'We won't be bringing Matha with us. Don't let her go on Pioneer 2.'" But despite the fact that Mr. Grave specifically forbids his daughter from following he and his wife to Ragol, we know that the Pioneers' homeworld, Coral, was ripping itself apart and was becomming uninhabitable. ("Our planet was tearing itself apart, we couldn't stop it," says one of the scientists in Principal Tyrell's office.) So my different question is: what exactly did Mr. Grave want to happen to his daughter Matha? He didn't want her to follow him and her mother to Ragol on Pioneer 2, we know that, but nor would he want her to die on Coral as the planet tore itself apart.
Logic dictates, therefore, that the Coralians must have had a second, non-Pioneer Project option for fleeing from Ragol. While some -- if not most -- residents of Coral fled to Ragol via the Pioneer Project, others may have simply gone back home... to Algo.
Until new evidence proves otherwise, I am convinced Coral is an Algoian colony founded sometime after Phantasy Star IV, as Algoians regained their space travel capabilities and resumed exploring amongst the stars. If Coral is an Algoian colony established post-PSIV, it explains the presence of meseta, techniques, and most especially Numans aboard Pioneer 2. It also explains where Mr. Grave wished Blant to take Matha; he wanted the butler to put Matha on one of the ships heading back to Algo.
The immediate question this theory raises is: why didn't everyone on Ragol simply return to Algo? Why have a "Pioneer Project" at all? It's a good question, but one I feel has numerous possible answers. Perhaps Coral was initially founded over a dispute in Algo and some people simply did not want to return there. Perhaps Coralians are simply pioneers at heart and they didn't want to go back home but rather wanted to move forward and tame a new planet in the galaxy (and considering the name "Pioneer Project," I lean towards this latter option).
But the fact that the Pioneer People are from "Coral" in no way invalidates their clear Algoian heritage, and certainly should in no way establish that Phantasy Star Online does not take place in the same world the earlier Phantasy Star games took place in, not when "Coral" is so easily explained. The Pioneers are Algoian, by way of the Algoian colony world Coral.
Other Theory Pages
The Two Phantasy Stars |
Separate But Equal
Phantasy Star II's Date |
Noah and Lutz
Character Birthdays |
Phantasy Star II's Ending |
Noah's Gender
Fate of the Worldships |
Phantasy Star Online Numans |
Phantasy Star Online's Date
Ragol is Not Earth |
Why the Earthmen Truly Are Evil |
The Whole New World
Essays
On the Characters and Story of Phantasy Star I |
Phantasy Star and the Raglan Scale
The True Message of Phantasy Star II
