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Paradox - by SaturnStorm

Paradox

Paradox

"That can't have happened! If it did, it'd have created a paradox!"

I'm seeing this argument appear in theory topics pertaining to Mother 3. It came up a lot in the past anyway, but now it can be applied to theoretical events so it can be mentioned without as many headaches.

Only, it doesn't, really.

The problem is that this argument involves applying an ideal that so long as we're all alive and the Universe remains unimploded, remains unproven. Makes for great science fiction creativity, as you watch and wonder how the world will unravel at someone's time-travel related hijinx, or even greater closing-of-loopholes as creators put imagination into why it won't always work that way.

But EarthBound isn't tied to that rule. Paradox does not seem to exist in that universe.

The greatest proof of this is in Buzz Buzz. He should be a paradox, based on his very intention. He has come from 10 years in the future to prevent Giygas from taking over the World, which is what's happened in his time. Thus, Ness sets out and changes the future. That there is a paradox. By changing the past, Buzz Buzz didn't need to go back in time and so there was nobody to start Ness on his quest thus Giygas would have invaded and Buzz Buzz would need to go back in time. Any and all possible fixes to this loop have no in-game basis, and could get overly complex far too quickly.

Much like how evolution is applied to Zoras in Legend of Zelda, sometimes you just have to step back and look at things in a little less detail. If you feel intricate and detailed science or religious practices need to be applied to a theory, you're thinking too hard. If you see something in a game that can't work theoretically based on principles that should cause giant destructive loopholes, consider that the developers probably weren't putting in as much thought as fans do.

Consider what we know about time in these games. Giygas and his army could exist outside of it and rally themselves for invasions. Pokey got locked out of most of it when he ran from that final battle. Living things (or souls, depending on the translation), cannot travel through it. Pokey could pull things through time to his own, at little consequence to the World (from a 'the outside world ended but x just changed' perspective). Buzz Buzz was able to travel through it to change the course, and Giygas had no qualms with doing the same (starman junior).

I suspect time is a little more hardy than the theory behind paradoxes allows us to think, especially in the Mother Universe.


Other Submissions by SaturnStorm

Author Sort Ascending Sort Descending Title Sort Ascending Sort Descending Description Sort Ascending Sort Descending Date Sort Ascending Sort Descending Rank Sort Ascending Sort Descending
SaturnStorm A timeline musing
WARNING: This is a mind-spill that has less solid reasoning. Read at leisure.
3/12/12 0.00
SaturnStorm An inane interaction
Originally a part of a group project, this one-off sees Niccol asking a particularly heavy question of some seasoned adults on the scene.
12/3/11 0.00

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