Board Thread:Lords of Shadow 2/@comment-24.150.98.227-20140407212227/@comment-151.193.220.29-20150522153432

Victor was, at the time, “Commander of the Brotherhood of Light” and “Protector of Humanity”, so this implies there were most likely other members of the order, some that could in theory survive the Satanic scenario of hell on earth that is Castlevania LOS 2 (literally and figuratively speaking, of course  J )   So, perhaps Victor had a wife, under the protection of the Order, with whom he had just conceived a son only weeks before his untimely demise. How would   “Dracul” / Gabriel and Alucard (son of Dracul spelled backwards) be made aware of this? One plausible theme could be a gathering at some secret location after a great battle, a place known only to members of the brotherhood of light… As Gabriel and Alucard part ways at the end of LOS 2, perhaps could both emerge around dusk still, weary from battle and following a diurnal slumber, and then, in an ironic twist, both check to see if a ceremony of the Brotherhood still persisted years later, a customary gathering held after a major holy battle. It is then that the members would learn of Victor’s demise, and then that we learn of Victor’s pregnant wife…   It is then that things could get really interesting. Should Gabriel and Alucard attend as hooded members or otherwise “incognito”? Or, perhaps only Alucard should attend the gathering (under cover, of course), and then learn that yet another Belmont had been conceived? After all, both vampires had once been decorated members of the brotherhood centuries ago as humans.

So, with some tweaking, I expect this kind of dynamic might work and honestly, I don’t see this event as the largest thematic loophole to overcome – this would only be the TIP of the iceberg IMHO … A FAR more intricate problem to overcome would be   how to address the fact that Gabriel was supposedly asleep for almost a Millennium – yet, in LOS 2, he seemed to know quite enough about planes, trains and automobiles (okay, not airplanes, but he might as well have) – and with no explanation either!!! In Francis Ford Coppola’s film BRAHAM STOKER’S DRACULA, Dracula leaves his Castle in Transylvania, goes to London, and is impressed with the modern marvel of the “Cinematograph” in the Victorian era (I don’t believe that part was in the original novel). Are we to believe Gabriel enters into a near-death sleep sometime between 1047 and 1200 A.D., only to wake up in the 21st century, and with knowledge about “manufactured diseases” that Zobek did not possess   (Zobek who, by the way, would appear to have been dwelling in the “company of the living” all those years – oh, and then there’s Alucard, who had been awake and alive for as long as Zobek all those years, which I won’t even get into!). Now,   I don’t have a problem with a crafty, scientific-minded Drac in the 21st century per se – Abraham Stoker’s original character was ever the crafty predator. The problem I have concerns the constant and wanton “stonewalling” in Lords of Shadow (especially in the sequel) – for example, are we in London or Transylvania? Braham Stoker’s Dracula takes place in both locations (note that Dracula makes his hideout in a church in both cases)… However, in the “Castlevania World” that is Lord of Shadows, I just don’t see how this works! I think it should be made clear both LOS 1 and Mirror of Fate took place in Transylvania, and LOS2, modern-day London/Gotham (or wherever the city is supposed to be). Since the city was actually built over the remains of the original Castle though, I guess we’d have to suss out how to move the Dracula’s Castle about 800 miles north (and over the English Channel, if the city is actually London) – one way this could occur would be to have it appear up-side-down from the sky (i.e. like in Symphony of the Night), perhaps 100, 200 or 300 years before, and then have it destroyed in true Castlevania fashion in the very place that would one day give rise to the city. The problem with this, however, is that this would most certainly imply rousing Gabriel from his sleep in order for there to be the evil lord of the castle customary to have a Castlevania game. On the other hand, something like that could also bridge the gaps and account for the knowledge Gabriel had in the 21st century. Who knows, maybe Alucard feared his father truly dead and foolishly dislodged the Sword driven through his heart, causing Dracul to resurrect once or twice – or, maybe the hiding place of Gabriel’s body was unwittingly uncovered by Gypsy explorers (or something like that) while Alucard was away attending to business – perhaps the Crissaegrim (Alucard’s sword) could have been stolen by the thieves, paving the way for a prequel to Castlevania LOS 2 (or in any case an historic event that could be woven into a future Lord of Shadows)… Perhaps laster in the theoretical LOS 3, more of Gabriel’s memories would return, and he would then remember having been resurrected, only to face Richter Belmont, or something like that. I don’t know, but either way, for the LOS storyline to ever function, the stonewalling would have to stop, and some critical continuity problems would have to be resolved!