EurAsianGirl wrote:In the Sega CD version Ghaleon just wants to become a God because he feels that Althena failed the world and caused the demise of Dyne, however I felt that in the Complete versions he doesn't so much as want to be a God as he just wants to get revenge on Dyne and Althena because he was in love with Althena (Or Dyne, if you want to think that way) but his feelings were unrequited and it is quite obvious that Dyne and Althena loved each other and that's why Althena decided to become a human.
You can clearly see in that Anime cutscene when they explain Althena and Dyne's past (The one when Althena is being reborn as Luna) you can clearly see Ghaleon is jealous and sees the love between Althena and Dyne. His whole, "Dyne what can you see that I can't?!?!" line is him asking why Althena chose Dyne over him and why his best friend betrayed him.
It's not at all obvious that Dyne and Althena loved each other in any way that would be exclusionary of Ghaleon (e.g., a romantic love). Your conclusion of this actually illustrates the argument that Ghaleon's motivations were stronger in the SegaCD version very well -- it's clear in the SCD game that Ghaleon resented Althena for Dyne's death, or at the very least for Dyne's loss of power and his role as Dragonmaster. The SSS scenes muddied this strong relationship between Dyne and Ghaleon by tying Althena's rebirth as Luna to Dyne's loss of his Dragonmaster stature (there's no connection between Luna's existence and Dyne's "death" in the SCD game; it's just a routine reincarnation of Althena's), so that some players such as yourself
end up reading the relationship between Althena and Dyne as of comparable strength and relevance. But note that Althena is reborn as a baby, not a peer of Dyne's, and is parked with a family with a young son who is then foreseen to become the next dragonmaster. (Another little hole in the SSS continuity -- if Althena is stepping down permanently from the start, why would there even BE another dragonmaster, ever?)
In SSS, Dyne and Althena do have a bond that excludes Ghaleon, but it's the belief that humanity would be better off without a guiding deity. Ghaleon is a priest at that time -- it's not too obvious within the NA game itself, but it's indicated subtly by his clothing in the flashback scene and more bluntly in other (Japanese) Lunar materials -- and it's not surprising that with that background he'd have strong feelings about the necessity of a goddess for people to pray to; Althena's rebirth as a human is essentially heresy.
Note that Akari Funato, who said in an interview that she contributed ideas for this cutscene, is also the author/artist for the Vheen manga, which show strongly that Dyne is much younger than Ghaleon and sees him as a mentor even though his enthusiasm takes him elsewhere. Dyne taking sides with someone else and disagreeing with Ghaleon in so fundamental a matter as the necessity of Althena's existence as a goddess would seem like quite a betrayal of Ghaleon as the role of wise elder to Dyne, and the fact that it's Althena with whom Dyne is siding against her own priest in this would really tear him apart; Althena is probably about the only person Ghaleon would see as his superior. So he takes action to resolve this the only way he can, by reviving Althena in a way to require her to use her power as he sees fit (since her rejection of her goddess role showed that she wasn't fit by his standards), in, I think, the honest belief that that's the right thing to do for humanity -- even though his closest friendship is sacrificed. Seeing all that as just a love triangle is the surface, shallow reading!
That trust in humanity is what Dyne sees that Ghaleon does not. In no way does Dyne turn his back on Ghaleon as a person; it's Ghaleon who begs Dyne to stop and who turns away from Dyne after Althena is reborn. The look that Althena and Dyne exchange has more to do with the sacrifice that each is about to make of all of their power and status and also that Althena has to trust Dyne to take care of both her and the world, since she's not going to be in a position to do anything about it or even to know the nature of her own choice after she is reborn. I will grant the possibility that Ghaleon thought that this bond from shared purpose between Althena and Dyne surpassed Dyne's regard for Ghaleon, but I still don't think that was likely to be romantic.
The remakes, of course, indicate that Ghaleon was always aware that Dyne never died; the original does not state when Ghaleon learned that Dyne was alive or even if he ever thought that Dyne was dead. Actually, the text indicates that Ghaleon's anger was largely that Dyne lost all his magic doing Althena's work:
(Roof of Myght's lab)
Ghaleon: Alex...it's been a while. ...And Laike...
Soon I will have the goddess, and indeed the entire world,
in the palm of my hand.
Join me again, Laike! Using the Goddess' power,
the magic power you lost can even be restored!
Laike: Power gained by those means is worthless! Can't you understand that, Ghaleon?
Ghaleon: Ah, yes, but once the world is mine,
I will define what has meaning and what doesn't!
In Marke, NPC in SW house: Dragonmaster Dyne received orders from Althena to seal away the Black Dragon. / In order to complete this task, all of Dyne's magic power was depleted.
- Ghaleon was Master Dyne's friend, and helped him to seal away the Black Dragon. / But Ghaleon never forgave the Goddess for giving Dyne such an impossible task.
NPC in SW Marke: The only person Ghaleon ever respected was Master Dyne. / After he died, Ghaleon changed completely…
(Reza)
Laike: I lost all my magic power when I sealed off the Black Dragon.
I barely survived at all! And now…
All of my ability as dragonmaster has been lost.
But I love my new life as Laike: Easygoing guy.
I just can't stand to see Ghaleon ruin everything I love about this world! [button]
A dragonmaster is just a servant to Goddess Althena.
Ghaleon was never cut out to be a 'servant.' ….But this is too much.
You're mistaken that Ghaleon resents Althena for "failing the world" in that game, by the way. He only blames her for Dyne's fate:
ALEX, I WAS THINKING...
YOU KNOW, THE DRAGON TRIBE
AND THE GODDESS ALTHENA ARE
CENTRAL TO OUR WORLD.
SO, IF THEY ARE SO POWERFUL,
WHY DID MY FRIEND DYNE HAVE
TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF
TO PROTECT THEM?
SHOULDN'T THEY HAVE BEEN
ABLE TO SAVE THEMSELVES?
THAT IS, WITHOUT CALLING ON
A MAN...A DRAGONMASTER, TO
DO THEIR DIRTY WORK?
I THINK SO, AND THAT'S WHY
I'LL NEVER FORGIVE THEM.
THEY DON'T DESERVE TO RULE
OUR WORLD...I DO!
Unfortunately, I don't have so much comparable SSSC scene text to hand. But here's a little from early in the game, when Alex, Luna, and Ghaleon are returning to Caldor Isle:
Ghaleon: So, tell me...what drives you to become the Dragonmaster? What leads you to attempt what so many others before you have tried and failed to achieve?
Alex [startled] Well...
Luna: ... ... ...
Alex: I want to protect the people of our world...and the people I care about.
Ghaleon: How...very noble of you. But the Dragonmaster's power is meant for much more than mere protection... And the magnitude of his responsibility to wield that power well is immeasurable. ...May I ask another question of you?
Alex [startled]: Of...of course, sir. [Ghaleon, who had been approaching Alex, turns around.]
Ghaleon: If you had to choose between the survival of the one you cared about the most... Or the lives of everyone in our world... Which would it be? One, or many? Love, or duty? [he turns back to face Alex and steps back]
Alex [shocked] How...how could anyone make that choice?
Ghaleon: A Dragonmaster is forced to make such choices every day of his existence... [he walks away a bit] But we're getting considerably ahead of ourselves, aren't we? You're not a Dragonmaster yet. Not even close. Think about my question during your travels, boy. The closer you are to becoming a Dragonmaster, the more important it is to answer...
This bit from when he meets Quark is kind of interesting:
Quark: You have returned, Alex. And even stronger than when I last beheld you... [Ghaleon steps closer] Ghaleon... It has been many years since I last saw you.
Ghaleon: Fifteen, to be precise, Quark. Not since that dark day when dear Dragonmaster Dyne...
Quark: Ah yes, I remember all too well your disappointment... [Ghaleon approaches more closely, and Luna and Alex move to the side to allow him.]
Ghaleon: Quark...I have a question to ask of you. [sad] This girl...the one they call "Luna"...is she the child born that day?
Alex [shocked]: ... ... ...
Luna [normal]: ... ... ...
Quark: Truth is a dangerous thing to some, Ghaleon. If you knew the truth, perhaps it would...
Ghaleon: Our world is on the verge of chaos, dear Quark... And I must know if the cause is what I suspect it to be. Tell me, Quark. Tell me the truth. I deserve to know. [pause]
Quark: You were the Dragonmaster's best friend, Ghaleon. If he trusted you with his life, I can trust you with the truth... [pause] ...Yes. Luna is the one. [Music stops. Ghaleon looks at Luna, then turns away.]
Ghaleon: ... ... ... [he turns to Quark]
Quark: Surely you understand why Dyne kept this from you... Ghaleon?
Ghaleon (voice): [maniacal laughter] Oh, then the time has finally come. My coming-out party can finally begin. Send in the clowns... [his sprite transforms into the Magic Emperor]
Note that Quark refers to Ghaleon's disappointment, not his heartbreak. I wonder if the Japanese is so offhand.
Then there's also this bit when Laike talks to Alex at the monument:
Laike: Dragonmaster Dyne would be proud of your bravery, Alex. He would marvel at the strength that you have nurtured in your heart. [pause] Alex, do you know what killed Dyne?
Alex: No...
Laike: As with many, Dyne fell victim to love. He swore to her that he would do anything for the woman he fancied. When the time came to protect her heart, he used all the power he had. And the Dyne everyone knew as the greatest Dragonmaster ever...perished.
Alex: ... ... ....
Laike [slight change of expression, eyes crinkled a little]: Ho, ho, ho! Love is never an easy thing, Alex! [normal] but you say you want to help Luna...so you must become the Dragonmaster. Because to save her, you will fight a stronger opponent than Dyne ever faced...
Alex [cheerful]: I...I'll do it, Laike!
Laike: Ho, hah, hah...good answer. Here, Alex, I have something to cheer you up...
Nall [annoyed]: After that depressing story about Dyne, I hope so!
I'm not inclined to take the face value of this but rather to look deeper and note that Laike is framing Dyne's motivations in a way to parallel Alex's new quest to free Luna (which Alex has just avowed in the previous lines). Naturally he doesn't want to give away the exact nature of the "woman he fancied" nor the manner in which he served her. And it would seem a very logical part of becoming a Dragonmaster to swear to do all that the Goddess commanded for love of her, comparable to a ceremony of knighthood.