The Astonishing (Story and Concept analysis)

[V_R11]

So according to the story notes, Daryus never kidnapped Xander? So how did he get leverage to make Arhys, son of Marhys, betray his brother? Just a promise of wealth?

He also threatened to kill Xander if Arhys doesn't give him Gabriel in return

Well, if Arhys (supported by the Ravenskill militia) is already hiding Gabriel, they could hide Xander as well.

Well I don't know It's JP's story. All I know is Arhys did decide not to betray anyone and look how well that turned out

[Jinx]

Yeah Ahrys comes to his senses when he hears Gabriels voice "As you're facing the path that divides I will always be here by your side" which is the line from When Your Time Has Come (the next line from that is "Find your strength in the sound of my voice and you'll know which choice is right."

There's so much going on in this album!

[ariich]

So according to the story notes, Daryus never kidnapped Xander? So how did he get leverage to make Arhys, son of Marhys, betray his brother? Just a promise of wealth?

He also threatened to kill Xander if Arhys doesn't give him Gabriel in return

Well, if Arhys (supported by the Ravenskill militia) is already hiding Gabriel, they could hide Xander as well.

Of course they could try, but there's a world of difference between "oh well, no eternal wealth for X" and "no eternal wealth for X and also I am going to hunt him down and kill him".

[Ben_Jamin]

Three Days reminds me so much of DSO....

[(nothing)]

Sorry if some find this too AOR, had to post it though 'cause it's too damn funny. I'll just let it to your imagination  ...

(...)

She carried it with her wherever she went, always being careful to conceal it from those around her, especially her father. Relishing any private opportunity she could get to escape the realities of her cold and shielded imperial life. Still, as a young woman, there is not a day that goes by without her stealing a moment to listen to use her prized secret device, the magical vessel that carries her spirit throughout the endless adventures of her imagination. Hearing Gabriel play the guitar and sing with an almost indescribable air of grace and beauty that day is the first time she ever feels such an overwhelming sense of safety and belonging outside of her private rendezvous with her .

No wonder why this is my least favorite song on the album so far. 

[lovethedrake]

I absolutely LOVE the album and I like the story but I feel like I wish it was more R rated.

Lord Nafaryus ended up being a huge wuss.... 

Although they tell us about the oppression, they never really show it.  So you don't really feel the pain of the people of Ravenskill and then Lord Nafaryus just caves to giving up as a dictator because of a fight between him and his daughter. 

I think the story could have used some scenes where Nafaryus actually did burn villages down or do something brutal. 

I expected a giant battle between Ravenskill Militia and GNEA and the only battle we got was between Faythe and her dad over a boy haha.

Anyways, the story is fine its just more of a romeo and juliet type thing than a Game of Thrones type thing.  Even disney movies usually set up their villains to be more brutal.   This is more of a romance which is why I feel like Act 2 seems a tad anti climactic. 

So in summation, I enjoy the story but expected Nafaryus to be more of a Dick and not give in so easily based on all the emails and the hype about his efforts to prevent any kind of resistance.   

Wow I feel like a dork after right that whole thing haha.

[Darkstarshades]

Maybe Daryus did kidnap Xander, and he had him with him.
But also, maybe at some point Xander escaped. Daryus knew he had no leverage anymore, but also knew that Ahrys was unaware of that, so he went on with his plan anyway, with Gabriel dead, why would it matter?

[Progmetty]

I think it's so fitting that the "Majesty" symbol is Emperor Nafaryus' emblem.

[Bacong]

someone explain something to me

in the synopsis for when your time has come, this excerpt: "In an instant, the words strike a very deep chord within Faythe and, as if awoken from a spell, the Princess’ eyes lock with Gabriel’s. Like a lightning bolt from the heavens and without hesitation, they immediately know that they are meant to be together and that this encounter was no accident. "

okay cool whatever

but

in the synopsis for act of faythe, another excerpt: "A vision of delightfulness with a look both enchantingly provocative and innocently demure at the same time, he has never before laid eyes upon anyone quite like her and her inescapable beauty pierces his soul. Gabriel however has not quite
captured the princess’ attention yet, as she is distracted by the scope of her surroundings and completely in awe of the number of people peacefully gathered in the square that afternoon."

seems like a completely amateur mistake, unless act of faythe is from her perspective and happens before they meet eyes? idgi

[pcs90]

I think Act of Faythe starts before they connect and is just told from her perspective, which is why later in the song it gets to the stuff about her music player etc.
The only thing that wouldn't line up then, would be Faythe's lines at the end of When Your Time Has Come...

[Bacong]

"The scream shatters the prince’s eardrums causing irreversible nerve damage and rendering him hearing-less."

there is a word for "hearing-less", it's "deaf"

lmao

[Darkstarshades]

Just a more poethic way of saying it.

[Bacong]

Just a more poethic way of saying it.

[erwinrafael]

Listening to the lyrics again, it is now very clear that Daryus did not kidnap X. He just made a promise of a much much better life, which Arhys can never provide X in this dystopian world. Which is why the title of the song is A TEMPTING OFFER. It was really temptation, not a threat. This made Arhys' betrayal more complex and morally ambiguous.

[thosava]

This makes Arhys one of the most "flawed", and most intersting characters in the story. He was willing to sacrifice the whole rebellion, and let Nafaryus continue with his reign of terror, just to give his own son a better life.

[Progmetty]

The Emperor very smugly addresses Arhys and the townspeople saying that they can hide and protect Gabriel all they want but that he will not stoop to their level and take part of some sort of foolish cat and mouse game in order to find their ‘Savior’. He ensures them that ‘Gabriel The Astonishing’ will come to him willingly and surrender himself in person to his highness or suffer dire consequences. Nafaryus then declares that Gabriel has three days to give himself up and guarantee the disbanding and surrender of the Rebel Militia and cease all talk of revolution. Staring maliciously at X who is attempting to cower behind his father’s back, he continues to state that if ‘The Savior’ refuses to comply within that time, he will return with his forces, and he will hunt Gabriel down destroying every home one by one and killing every inhabitant until he is captured.

I don't get that part of the story, so Nafaryus and his imperial guards are in the square in Ravenskill and so is Gaberial the very man he wants CAPTURED and Arhys THE LEADER of the rebellion and commander of it's militia.. why weren't they arrested and killed right there and then? I'd understand if the emperor was trying to be merciful and just gave them the warning to give up their quest of revolution so he's let them be, but the case here is that he still wants to capture them and doesn't wanna play cat and mouse, well they were right there! Am I missing something?!

[Darkstarshades]

That's a common way of inducing fear. He "needs" the people in his realm, so it's not that he's going to destroy everything just to find one guy who might not even be there or might get away.

Ahrys quickly takes Gabriel away into hiding, but Nafaryus decides it's best to have them surrender on their own, to end the revolution idea. I doubt Nafaryus was ever a murderer, he was just an unfair leader, harming people, without directly hurting them.

[Progmetty]

If they were right there in his presence and even exchanged words with him then wouldn't it have made of a bloodless arrest? To avoid destruction and murder in Ravenskill? If the problem was that Ahrys and Gabriel evaded THE IMPERIAL GUARD and managed to disappear from the square then I'd imagine no military forces or policing in the empire would competent enough find them, the Ravenskill militia has a training camp for god's sake , how difficult could it be to find these guys? Faythe managed to find them pretty easily without burning homes or destroying the town..
Also aren't the NOMAC's also surveillance machines? I dunno where I read that but I thought they were a pivotal tool in the oppression.

[ariich]

If you read (and copy/paste) the whole explanation of the song, it clearly explains it.

When the song is finished, the crowd erupts in glorious applause and even Nafaryus, notably moved by Gabriel’s song, is momentarily caught up in the contagious atmosphere of elation surrounding him. He is quickly brought back to reality, however, when he notices how Gabriel and the Princess are gazing at each other and immediately shouts out, “Enough!” Empress Arabelle also catches the two locked in an infatuating stare, and a quick glance from Faythe to her mother ensures that she knows the Empress is aware. Sensing that things are quickly about to go very wrong, Arhys has Gabriel obscured from view by his soldiers and swiftly whisked away and out of Nafaryus’ sight.

Lord Nafaryus will not tolerate the adoration and allegiance of his people to anyone other than himself and his jealousy of Gabriel’s power over them as well as his insecurities about the future of The Empire makes him feel the need to demonstrate his superiority. He immediately sees Gabriel as a threat to The Realm. The Emperor very smugly addresses Arhys and the townspeople...

[Progmetty]

That's part of it ariich, that's what it takes to evade the imperial guards? Also "his soldiers"? as in the Ravenskill militia? wouldn't these guys be arrested as well?! Are we to assume they're plain clothed soldiers who aren't openingly carrying weapons?
I don't mean to be nitpicking here, I just thought I'm missing a detail.

[fischermasamune]

I prefer to think the militia didn't really want to overthrow the entire empire, but simply having Raveskill be more independent, and the people able to appreciate the music Gabriel brought. Maybe we can see it like US-England (I'm not American though, hope I'm not too wrong). So there was no direct war between the militia Arhys formed. And Nafaryus thought that the best way of quashing it would be a moral one rather than by pure combat which could create more powerful and determined enemies (as it happens so often in stories). Remember the peasants already have a hard time surviving, so the crown possibly doesn't rely mainly on the use of force.

[ariich]

That's part of it ariich, that's what it takes to evade the imperial guards? Also "his soldiers"? as in the Ravenskill militia? wouldn't these guys be arrested as well?! Are we to assume they're plain clothed soldiers who aren't openingly carrying weapons?
I don't mean to be nitpicking here, I just thought I'm missing a detail.

That's exactly the point. Nafaryus CAN just kill all the militia (although I very mich doubt they're all in military gear) to get to Gabriel, that's exactly what he is threatening, that's what the song is all about (they have three days to turn him over before Nafaryus does that). Just because he can just kill them all doesn't mean he wants to.

[fischermasamune]

That's part of it ariich, that's what it takes to evade the imperial guards? Also "his soldiers"? as in the Ravenskill militia? wouldn't these guys be arrested as well?! Are we to assume they're plain clothed soldiers who aren't openingly carrying weapons?
I don't mean to be nitpicking here, I just thought I'm missing a detail.

He visited Ravenskill to hear Gabriel, not to start a battle. He only had the imperial guard with him, and they are more reactive than proactive. So neither could the militia members try anything agaisnt Nafaryus (even if they could do something, they would be considered a bad faction, and would not have the masses of the empire on their side), nor could Nafaryus do anything (because he would need to kill a lot of people and cause a lot of harm, and even if it was possible with his guards, he prefers to give them a chance to surrender Gabriel, who is one of the "mascots" of the militia).

[Progmetty]

Fair enough on the square incident, you guys sold me on it.

I prefer to think the militia didn't really want to overthrow the entire empire

That's another thing, at the conclusion of the album the only thing that changed is the power down of the NOMAC's and the permission of human music to return, the emperor was not overthrown and his heir continues to me the guy who killed the leader of the resistance and threatened to murder a child twice, "corruption, lust and greed" are not going anywhere. Basically the revolution has failed unless it's only purpose was to stop the NOMAC's, which didn't seem like the case.

[thosava]

I like to imagine that Daryus lost his right to the kingdom, leaving Faythe as the new heir. This is probably wrong though 

[pcs90]

I like to imagine that Daryus lost his right to the kingdom, leaving Faythe as the new heir. This is probably wrong though 

Or maybe that passed on to Gabriel?

[thosava]

I like to imagine that Daryus lost his right to the kingdom, leaving Faythe as the new heir. This is probably wrong though 

Or maybe that passed on to Gabriel?

Yeah, to Faythe and Gabriel as a family.

[ariich]

Fair enough on the square incident, you guys sold me on it.

I prefer to think the militia didn't really want to overthrow the entire empire

That's another thing, at the conclusion of the album the only thing that changed is the power down of the NOMAC's and the permission of human music to return, the emperor was not overthrown and his heir continues to me the guy who killed the leader of the resistance and threatened to murder a child twice, "corruption, lust and greed" are not going anywhere. Basically the revolution has failed unless it's only purpose was to stop the NOMAC's, which didn't seem like the case.

Pretty sure it's more than that. Nafaryus seems completely repentent - powering down the NOMACs is a symbol but clearly he will be ruling in a very different way from now on.

[pcs90]

That's another thing, at the conclusion of the album the only thing that changed is the power down of the NOMAC's and the permission of human music to return, the emperor was not overthrown and his heir continues to me the guy who killed the leader of the resistance and threatened to murder a child twice, "corruption, lust and greed" are not going anywhere. Basically the revolution has failed unless it's only purpose was to stop the NOMAC's, which didn't seem like the case.

A lot of these things were from Daryus though, not Nafaryus.

Anyway, we have to remember that despite the type of ruler that he was, Nafaryus did care very much for Faythe. When he realizes that his own actions nearly lost her forever, and it really sinks in, I think he would change his ruling style.

[erwinrafael]

That's part of it ariich, that's what it takes to evade the imperial guards? Also "his soldiers"? as in the Ravenskill militia? wouldn't these guys be arrested as well?! Are we to assume they're plain clothed soldiers who aren't openingly carrying weapons?
I don't mean to be nitpicking here, I just thought I'm missing a detail.

He visited Ravenskill to hear Gabriel, not to start a battle. He only had the imperial guard with him, and they are more reactive than proactive. So neither could the militia members try anything agaisnt Nafaryus (even if they could do something, they would be considered a bad faction, and would not have the masses of the empire on their side), nor could Nafaryus do anything (because he would need to kill a lot of people and cause a lot of harm, and even if it was possible with his guards, he prefers to give them a chance to surrender Gabriel, who is one of the "mascots" of the militia).

Another important thing to note is that Nafaryus was actually moved by When Your Time Has Come. He just had a problem when Gabriel looked lovingly at Faythe.

[chego_voice]

I expected a giant battle between Ravenskill Militia and GNEA and the only battle we got was between Faythe and her dad over a boy haha.

Anyways, the story is fine its just more of a romeo and juliet type thing than a Game of Thrones type thing.  Even disney movies usually set up their villains to be more brutal.   This is more of a romance which is why I feel like Act 2 seems a tad anti climactic. 

Love is the Dance of Eternity...

[rumborak]

The story borrows heavily from Romeo and Juliet for sure, maybe a bit of Jesus story too ("chosen one", reviving the dead etc)
What irked me the most is actually the resolution of the story. Nefaryus going from evil emperor to happy ruler almost on a whim kinda undermines the character I feel.

[erwinrafael]

The story borrows heavily from Romeo and Juliet for sure, maybe a bit of Jesus story too ("chosen one", reviving the dead etc)
What irked me the most is actually the resolution of the story. Nefaryus going from evil emperor to happy ruler almost on a whim kinda undermines the character I feel.

Nafaryus did not change on a whim. His change of heart has been hinted at back in Lord Nafaryus (his affection for his famiy, especially Faythe), A Life Left Behind, Chosen ("I've seen a sign that he can change..." "In the absence of song He's forgotten right from wrong Our voices will release him He's refused to listen for too long), A New Beginning ("Not long ago there was a time and place You too possess the same desires as Faythe You knew how it felt to feel invisible Music calmed your soul, just like a drug"), and Heaven's Cove ("Music will rise like a phoenix from the ashes on this night")

[lovethedrake]

I think its more the fact that we got all of these Royal Decrees where he talks about holding steadfast in their commitment to mindless labor and then in the actual album we kind of a got a big wuss of a leader. 

Daryus is really the bad guy here.

[ariich]

The story borrows heavily from Romeo and Juliet for sure, maybe a bit of Jesus story too ("chosen one", reviving the dead etc)
What irked me the most is actually the resolution of the story. Nefaryus going from evil emperor to happy ruler almost on a whim kinda undermines the character I feel.

Nafaryus did not change on a whim. His change of heart has been hinted at back in Lord Nafaryus (his affection for his famiy, especially Faythe), A Life Left Behind, Chosen ("I've seen a sign that he can change..." "In the absence of song He's forgotten right from wrong Our voices will release him He's refused to listen for too long), A New Beginning ("Not long ago there was a time and place You too possess the same desires as Faythe You knew how it felt to feel invisible Music calmed your soul, just like a drug"), and Heaven's Cove ("Music will rise like a phoenix from the ashes on this night")

Indeed. And it's triggered by very nearly losing his daughter.

Makes him a much more interesting character IMO rather than just an evil oppressive emperor.