yusaussieadventure · @yusaussieadven1
7th Aug 2020 from TwitLonger
Thoughts on the lore marie brings into p4g, spoilers #marie #p4g #persona4golden
I've spent a fair amount of time today the extra story lore that Marie's inclusion brings to p4g, and how the game shows you that she's not human at all, and there are plenty of hintsnd becoming Izanami-no-Mikoto once the game ends.
There's plenty of clues that state that Marie isn't at all human. At the start of the game, talking to Margaret about Marie makes it clear that Marie isn't human from the start by calling her 'one who is not of man'. And early in her social link Marie says "But humans can change their clothes right? You should try wearing other colours." while talking to Chie and Yukiko which shows that she doesn't see herself as human either.
Furthermore, it's the Rank 7 Social Link that has Daidara have a look at the comb Marie's carrying and says "I'd almost think it's something from another world" with Teddie of all people asking what world the comb comes from. That's an obvious suggestion that the comb originates from the tv world and points to the idea that the answers to Marie's search for her past lie within that world rather than the human world.
And the fact that Marie is a fragment of Izanami that seperated from her is hinted by the game on multiple occasions. Kanji's mother says that combs don't make good gifts and superstitions about them say that combs hold the power of separation, and there's a line from the Persona 3 professor during his talk about Izanami and Izanagi saying that throwing combs was considered a taboo act long ago.
Lastly, when you do rescue Marie from the Hollow Forest she says that thought she heard a voice when she gave her body up to the fog, and it was the same voice she heard when Ameno-Sagiri was defeated and that fog flowed into her. She even goes so far as to say that it felt like it was her own voice.
So there are plenty of clues and lead up to the big reveal of her being a part of Izanami. But the reasons I like this inclusion of her being part of Izanami are:
1.) You do get a better lead up to the Izanami fight and her presence in the end game, and Marie's inclusion makes the stakes personal since Izanami tried to use her in a way that would result in Marie dying once she's done what Izanami wanted her to do.
2.) It provides a legitimate reason for Izanami's failure to understand how humans think and feel. Because of the split they went through, Izanami threw away the part of herself that cared for and wanted to protect humanity and can't fully comprehend human emotions and thoughts. When you see Izanami speaking through Marie in the hollow forest she'll say 'there is no need for the truth. Ignorance is bliss' and 'there will be no pain if you never try to find out.' to show how she feels humans shouldn't bother about the truth. On the other hand, Marie doesn't understand how humans think and feel at first. But she gains personal experience during the game about the lengths that humans will go to save their friends because they care for each other and because of that experience Marie says humans don't wish for a world filled with fog.
3.) It shows that human desires can have such a strong effect on the world that it can even split gods in two. Ameno-Sagiri says that he was one who was awoken by human desires, and the Hollow Forest was the place that gave birth to those who answer the desires and 'wishes for lies' of humans. It's human desires that decides what people see on the midnight channel each rainy night. Twisted human desires are the reason why the true culprit threw Saki and Mayumi into the tv world which leads to their deaths. The desires of the Investigation Team for revenge after Nanako temporarily died almost lead them to murder Namatame because they felt he was the real culprit at the time.
And finally, it was boundless human desires that started the entire story because once Izanami and Marie did separate Izanami wasn't held back by a desire to protect mankind from their potentially harmful desires anymore and so she conducted her game using Yu, Namatame and Adachi as her pawns to ascertain what mankind wished for. And look at how much trouble that caused Inaba before everything was cleared up.
4.) I like that the Yu and Marie situation being parallel to Nakajima and Yumiko from the original Megami Tensei who were the reincarnations of Izanami and Izanagi. By throwing away that piece of herself that became Marie, Izanami unintentionally continued that cycle of reincarnation and can lead to a pseudo-reconciliation between Izanami and Izanagi should Yu/Souji and Marie's relationship become intimate.
5.) Last, it shows that gods/goddess aren't just beings who are hostile to humanity that look down on them from their own separate plane of existence. The end game of persona 4 goes from beating a goddess out of existence because humanity doesn't need gods anymore to helping a goddess become whole again after she was split in two. And because of that help, Izanami goes from thinking that wrapping humanity in lies so they can live in blissful ignorance would be peace for humans to encouraging people to actively put more into their day to get more out of the day. And for me that made the story of persona 4 golden a much more enjoyable experience.
And that's all for my collection of thoughts on the extra lore and backstory Marie brings to persona 4 golden.