u/Shockplox

It took me a while to fully get what the “A Life to Paint” ending represented and how it reflects upon “A Life to Love” but I think I finally understand. This ‘analysis’ may be really surface level, and someone has probably already pointed out this stuff before, but here goes.

Towards the end of the game, Maelle and Verso essentially end up continuing their parent’s conflict of painting life vs painting death. Even though a compromise was easily achievable, Maelle ends up becoming a paintress like her mother, choosing to live out a fantasy instead of accepting a cruel reality, and Verso gives in to his self-destructive tendencies and decides to end everything immediately instead of being confronted with more hard choices and uncertainties down the line, like Renoir.

In A Life to Paint, Maelle has repainted her brother again but as a normal man who ages naturally. It’s seems that she’s trying to get him to find some meaning in life by removing his immortality and allowing him to pursue his passion in music, but it’s clear he’s still not happy - probably because he’s shown being forced to perform for the citizens of Lumiere.
That detail, him being forced to perform on a stage, is representative of the situation the original Verso (Faded Boy) is in, where he has responsibility for the lives of thousands of people forced upon him by Maelle, and has to keep on ‘performing’ against his will. Maelle’s ending is essentially her forcing “life” upon Verso.

On the other hand, Verso’s ending is him forcing the reality of his death upon Maelle

We know for a fact that three of the four Old Hearts of Pharloom (Nyleth, Khann, and Karmelita) are older than Hornet, having lived in Pharloom since before Silk created Herrah and the other Weavers.

However, things don’t seem to be as certain with the Green Prince. From what we know, Verdania doesn’t seem to have a royal lineage like the one Karmelita presumably comes from, but rather new rulers are chosen at birth after the death of the old one, based on some unspecified special traits.

Based on that, what period of Pharloom’s history was Green Prince and his lover born during?

Based on the cruel nature of his lover’s punishment, I feel like it’s possible that Green Prince ruled Verdania after the Weavers had already fled, and The Citadel fell under the control of corrupt Choirbug elites.

There could be a statement somewhere that I’m just forgetting, where the Green Prince’s lover was taken by the Weavers, but to me it would make sense if Green Prince and Hornet are around the same age, instead of the former being much older than the latter.

In my opinion, it’s very surprising that Sanada Yukimura, dubbed the “Red Demon of War”, wasn’t one of the martial artists in the tournament, given that he was probably the most legendary general of the era. On par with Honda, at the least.

It could be because the Sanada clan is an elite family, with Yukimura being a noble instead of an average Joe-Schmoe like the rest of the martial artists, but he’s certainly more accomplished and well known that a lot of the other fighters in this series.

Who else do you guys think should’ve been in the tournament?

In your guys’ opinion, who was the single greatest commander/general of the 20th Century?

This is part of a series of posts I’m going to make on this sub asking you guys who you think the greatest generals of each century were!