Part 25: Leder’s Speech
In one of the rooms in the sewer apartments, you find Leder! He has many, many things to say, and understanding his speech is crucial to the story. As you read, listen to this song. It will automatically loop, so don’t worry about having to replay it.
“Yes. It’s me, Leder, the bell-ringer. It must be a real shock to hear me speaking for once. It wasn’t that I couldn’t talk all this time. I simply chose not to. As I rang that Cross Road bell, deep inside my heart I had decided I would speak to no one. But the secrets I’ve been guarding are now starting to leak out. Lucas. The time has come to tell you everything. What I’m about to tell you, you might not want to know. Even so, you absolutely must hear it. It will be a long story, but please listen to it all. Given who you are and how you’ve lived, what I have to say will tear at your hearts, and there is just so much to tell. So I’ve decided to have the stinkbug trembling behind me memorize everything I say. Ready, Mr. Stinkbug?
“Long ago, there existed a ‘world’. A world different from what the people on these islands think of. This ‘world’ was incredibly big. More people lived in this world than there are grains of sand on these Nowhere Islands. At some point, the world was destroyed. Naturally, it was humans who destroyed it. Everyone had an inkling that it would happen at some point. And then it really did happen. And so, the world is no more.
“Before the end of the world, a “White Ship” came to these islands. On it were the people of Tazmily. Aboard the White Ship were those few who had managed to escape the world. These people still went by their previous names. This White Ship plan had been set in place before the world was destroyed. And, although they’re part of the world, these Nowhere Islands are a special place. They were the one place that would remain, even if the world was lost. The one and only place where people could survive. And so the White Ship arrived at these islands.
“These islands are special because they harbor a dragon as big as the islands themselves. Long, long ago people lived together with the Dragon. But, at some point in time, they could no longer coexist. So, using the seven Needles, the Dragon was placed into a long, long sleep by the ancestors of the Magypsy people. Ever since, the Magypsies have guarded the Needles, to prevent the Dragon from waking until its power is truly needed. Thus, until the time of its awakening, the Dragon continued to sleep, as the power of the earth itself. So, because of the tremendous energy of the Dragon deep below, these islands were protected from the end of the world.
“Those aboard the White Ship feared another ‘End of the World’ more than anything else. They felt that the world’s destruction was a direct result of the way they had lived. The people of the White Ship discussed things at great length. They shared their wisdom and spoke with grave seriousness. And then they arrived at their conclusion. They decided to erase everyone’s memories of the previous ‘world’ and start their lives over with new rules and new roles. In short, everyone would play out the ideal ‘story’ that they had come up with. That is what happened. The people would restart their lives in a simple, peaceful village, in the kind of place they wished they had grown up in. They would erase memories of everything: the world, their belongings, their rules… and begin their new lives. Everyone’s old memories would be reset and replaced with the new story. And thus the village of Tazmily came to be. However, it was necessary to record the fact that the memory replacement had taken place. The Hummingbird Egg was the device used to store the memories of the White Ship people. Wess and his son Duster, both playing thieves, were to take action should a dangerous situation occur. Remember when they went to Osohe Castle? They went there to retrieve the secret of the ‘People of the White Ship’. There was one other thing: me. It was essential for someone to retain memory of the previous world and ‘keep watch’. I was the only one in Tazmily who wasn’t given a role in the new ‘story’. The sound of my bell served as a ‘suggestion’, to keep everyone’s fabricated memories from reverting. My name ‘Leder’ comes from ‘Leader’. No, that doesn’t mean I was anyone special. I was just taller than the others. I was selected because it would be easier for me to stand out. Being so tall, people would want to come see me. And so I was given the role of revealing these secrets when the time truly called for it. Now, about Osohe Castle. Apparently, a kingdom once existed on this island, centered around the King of Osohe. But, when we arrived, its people were gone. It seems they had left, fearing the Dragon’s eventual awakening. Before boarding the White Ship, Princess Kumatora was an infant who had lost her mother and father. Upon coming to these islands, she was given to the Magypsies to raise, and given the role of Princess of Osohe Castle. Wess and Duster being her retainers was another part of the fabricated story.
“We had no idea how Tazmily Village would turn out. But things actually went rather well. The White Ship people had fully taken to their new identities. They believed they had always lived together peacefully. It was when a person by the name of Porky stumbled upon these islands that everything started to go amok. It seems he used a ‘Time Distorter’ machine to travel through time and space at will. However, he was apparently shut out from all other times and spaces and tumbled into this era and these islands. Even worse, he used his Time Distorter to bring many people from other eras here. The Pigmasks, as well as everyone in New Pork City, were all brought here and brainwashed by Porky. Porky seems to view these islands as his ‘toy box’, with which he can do anything he wants. He took animals apart and recombined them to make creepy, new ‘Chimeras’. As a child-like dictator, he did as he pleased, including building Thunder Tower and forming his own army. Porky eventually learned the White Ship secret because of a traitor among the Magypsies.
“This traitor was Locria, the seventh Magypsy, and the only one you haven’t met yet. After Locria joined forces with Porky, Porky learned about the White Ship people and the sleeping Dragon. Porky decided to pull the Needles to wake the Dragon, so he could use the power for himself. The Dragon is the power of the earth. It’s said that whoever pulls the sealing Needles will be the Dragon’s master. Only a select few can pull the Needles. Neither the Magypsies nor Porky have that capability. Yet, the Needles are being pulled now. That means Porky is controlling someone who can control the Dragon’s power! We have to put a stop to Porky’s antics. If we don’t, it will spell the true end for everything this time. For Porky, that might be the ultimate pleasure, but we can’t allow it to happen. We, the last handful of people there are, absolutely can’t allow it to happen. Lucas. You’re a chosen one, with the ability to pull the Needles sealing the Dragon away. You MUST pull the Dark Dragon’s Needle with you own hands, and pass your heart on to the Dragon. Let this be my one and only order to you as your ‘leader’.
“I hear six of the Dragon’s Needles have already been pulled. Deep in the earth, the Dragon is likely beginning to stir from its sleep now. Supposedly, the last Needle is somewhere here in New Pork City. Porky has been gathering everyone that lives on these islands into New Pork City to prepare for the final Needle’s pulling. It’s possible that he’s planning to hold one final, twisted party. But now is our chance to change this looming crisis into a golden opportunity. All things may come to an end… or new and bountiful things may begin. Wouldn’t you like to help that happen? Lucas. You were once a weak, fragile boy, but now you’ve been given a tremendous role to fulfill. Now that you know everything, including everything I’m sure you’d rather not know, the time has come for you to save the future of all life as we know it… ‘God won’t make you bear more than you can carry.’ I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase before. Know that you aren’t fighting alone. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, will lend you their support.
“That was a long story, but that is the end of everything I have to tell you. Did you understand it all? Only the Magypsies really know the Needles’ locations, so I don’t know where to find them. But, from the way Porky and the others have been acting, I would say they’re now very close to reaching the seventh Needle. Please, Lucas. Be the one who pulls the final Needle. Porky issues his orders from the 100th floor of the Empire Porky Building. Start by jumping into the fray and storming the building. After that, you can start looking for clues. It’s been such a long time since I’ve spoken to anyone. And now I’m exhausted.”
Woah. Just about every mystery you have and haven’t asked about Mother 3 has just been answered by the most mysterious character of all. In short, the world has already ended, everyone has been living a lie, Porky has been using his stolen time machine from EarthBound to play God with Tazmily, and he’s about to end the world a second time.
The song that plays as Leder speaks is a recreation of Eric Satie’s Gymnopédie no. 1. If there should be any song in this soundtrack that is completely taken from someone else, it should play during this scene. Leder’s story is all about how the last remaining humans on Earth wiped out their own memories and history and fabricated new ones. For Leder’s Gymnopedie to completely reuse somebody else’s song, it reflects the past of seemingly other people’s lives being brought back to life. In the original song, it was meant to be played Lent et douloureux – slowly and painfully, which is exactly how Leder describes his own speech. The song is said by some to summarize the human experience: moody, yet mellow. Again, as Leder explained in his speech, humans were just acting by their nature by destroying the world. But haven’t you laughed at least once reading any of this analysis? It’s undoubtedly fun to be alive, but there are also some very grave situations we must also live with. The atmospheric nature this song brings also creates an inviting aura for you to reflect and think about what Leder says.
This scene ranks as one of my favorite moments in all of fiction; the ideas represented in this speech are profound. Though it may have seemed excessively long, I believe there was no other way to deliver this message. When you go into the sewers, there is nothing but sickly water, garbage, and forgotten living spaces. Among the abandoned trash, is Leder. He was one of the first things to go since Fassad infatuated the village with his ideology. Leder represents all of the secrets of the world. Throughout the game, nobody knew who he was, why he was, and eventually, where he was. People didn’t really ask many questions about him, either. He was just something you weren’t supposed to think about too hard, but was too large to ignore entirely. However, when Fassad’s lies reached the people of Tazmily, the lies of their former selves were completely forgotten and lost to time. In a sense, they had recovered their past lives with the destructive habits of Happiness. Humanity vowed to never repeat their old ways by eradicating everything that was evil. But within only the span of three years, they had entirely reverted to their old ways – their natural ways. An invader tore through time and space itself to enslave the world for his own desires. Absolutely nothing could have been done to stop Porky’s will; he simply had too much power over humanity. However, it’s not stopping Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and their supporters from trying to stop him anyways. Lucas lost his mother and brother at a young age, breaking his spirit for a very long time. Kumatora was an orphan, raised by creatures of another species. Duster has had no mention of a mother, and his father was verbally abusive to him every time they were seen together. However broken these people may be, they have all grown to tremendous strengths to resist Evil with all their might.
When you listen to this next song, you’ll have to pause Leder’s Gymnopedie first. Sorry for the inconvenience!
After Leder’s speech, a new song starts to play – one of victory. In this damp, smelly tunnel of waste, a new vigor has been born in the hearts of our heroes that they may save the last remnant of a broken chain of islands. As Leder sends them forth, will they triumph, or will they merely play as puppets of Porky?
This concludes part 25 of the analysis.