4 Important Things Rex's Age Has To Do With - XenoSpectives Episode 3

Welcome back to another episode of XenoSpectives where we take a look at different perspectives from the Xeno series! In this episode, we take a look at four cutscenes (one of which is very short and has no dialogue) from Xenoblade 2 that give us insight into why Rex’s age is so prevalent in the first chapter of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Thanks for tuning in!
Side Note: Many conclusions made in this video are deduced through a form of literary analysis that is HEAVILY based on my PERSONAL interpretation of Xenoblade 2
The point of this series is to explore different perspectives for fun.
Outro Music:
“Carrying the Weight of Life” - Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Remixed By Dan)
Follow me on Instagram! @derajjparallax
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#nintendo #xenobladechronicles2
Music Used:
“Argentum (Night)” - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
“Wanted Nia” - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
“A Place in the Sun” - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
“Where We Used to Be” - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
“Carrying the Weight of Life” - Xenoblade Chronicles 3
“Gramps” - Night (Fonsett Village Night) - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
“Friendship” - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Music Disclaimer: All Xenoblade music used during the video belongs to the publishers and copyright holders from which they originated and they fall under Fair Use in this video.
Disclaimer: This video was made for the purpose of sharing my thoughts on the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and I am not affiliated with Nintendo, Monolithsoft, or any company mentioned in this video or any of the companies that made the games mentioned or shown in this video. I also do not own any part of anything mentioned or shown in this video. Nintendo is the official copyright holder of the Nintendo Switch and all of it's content.

[@Axecon1]

I really love how early the game establishes the chemistry between Rex and Nia. You can see that she's really looking for a friend, even if unintentionally. As the game progresses, you learn & realize she's kinda the black sheep of the Torna crew and only really got along with Jin and maybe Mikhail, which is why she takes to Rex & his crew so naturally.

[@DerajjParallax]

I also like that she’s not on board with Rex all at once. It takes time for her to accept that she wasn’t hanging with the right crew which is realistic character development

[@Magic0YT]

Love Nia so much she fits into Rex story as much as pyra and mythra do. After she lost her family, pretty much makes one with adult rex and the girls too. Jokes aside XC2 is the best family with auntie Morag and uncle Zeke Von Genbu.

[@MaxAutoAttack]

I really like that Shulk points out how Glimmer gets her Mythra-like attitude _from_ Rex

[@lapotato9140]

the signifigance of character age hit me hard in xenoblade 3, my thoughts on the matter crystalizing during Lanz's side story, specifically when the guy juggling is so alien to him. (light spoilers for 3, but not really that much i'd say) i'll assume the soldiers of aionios come out of the birthing pods at age ten with a bit of pre-experiential independent personalities, ie noah lanz eunie and joran acting like they did in the opening cutscene. so that means the active lives of these soldiers consist of ages 11 to 20, young adult hood. their childhood is taken from them, their futures don't exist, and they are forced to repeat these teenage years on loop forever. and yet, the whole time they are expected to act as if proper adults. they are not permitted the time to chase silly passions, there is no time to carve wooden dolls, to paint, to write your own music, you cannot even form an off seeing band that gets 51 fans worldwide after 3 albums which you look back on fondly. the spark of the flame clock demands that these soldiers only pursue things that make immediate short term value: fighting. do not gamble the little embers you have left on alternative ways to live, don't even bother studying agriculture. fight to live, and live to fight. to put it simply, not only are their childhood and adulthoods stolen from them, they do not even get to live real teenage years. this premise is obvious, its not like i'm breaking new ground explaining it, but i think it gets pretty overlooked just how ghastly this is. these guys are teenagers. the ouroboros crew are teenagers, it's hard even for us as the audience not to see them from time to time as strapping grown ups arriving to battle the world. they are kids! they are kids who never GOT to grow up! but even then, when the flame clock is dismantled, and the soldiers have a bit more time to pursue things in life beyond the ethos of "create value or die", it's not very much time still. not nearly enough to get a chance to grow up, still. these teenagers are still expected to fight, only now fight different people. it's still awful, but those who are young are also strong, so it is what it is to a degree. but to put in in noah himself's words: "it just breaks my heart that that was the only smile they could choose, and it really shouldn't have been." think of even characters like ethel and cammuravi. they are no different to the rest, THEY. ARE. KIDS. even without the flame clock, the shackles are no less broken. enter: the city. a place where people do actually get to be born and grow up, the way it ought to be. sure, as lanz points out, to a degree there's still a big push to become soldiers and fight, but here at least there is a choice. at least there is a choice that you get to make because you got to grow up. people in the city are allowed the freedom to do something with their lives that ISNT just fighting, even if it means there'd be one less man on the frontlines fighting for a cause everyone knows is just. because that is what's right. because that freedom to do something artistic such as writing fiction or juggling IS the reason anyone is fighting at all. so, to see lanz meet the juggler guy, and be so bewildered and unable to wrap his head around it that his take is "you shouldn't be wasting your time like this. don't you have training?", to see that even our ouroboros team is so out of their depths that they can't understand the arts due to the sheer programing put into them... fuck man, it just hurt.

[@DerajjParallax]

Yeah I don’t even want to imagine a world where I’m forced to focus on just fighting to live with there being no purpose beyond that. It makes the struggle Noah and his crew go through that much more believable and real. They’re fighting to be freed from that cycle and to free others from it.

[@lemmyxpro]

Amazing comment!! So true... 😓😢

[@cross9687]

Great video again ! Rexes age indeed is important throught the game and its interesting looking at different scenes with that in mind, like all the times where people tell him to run or do something and he just doesnt. Or even the infamous 'rex wants to quit' scene after pyra gets kidnapped

[@DerajjParallax]

It makes him super relatable

[@pokemon18ish]

Great video. I'm really looking forward to the scene where Mythra confronts Rex about not running away. More importantly her reaction to his words "I wanted to keep you safe". Cause it changes everything she's ever known. Which left a deeper impact than Rex realizes. For the Glimmer segment. Rex treating her like a child really feels like it's half the reason he's so harsh with her. In his eyes it's like he's watching her go through what Pyra and Mythra felt back in XC2 It's like reopening an old wound that never healed. A pain that still haunts him. Like Linka asked " is it because it feels to close to home?"

[@DerajjParallax]

Oooo that scene hit so hard after really grasping the weight it has. I’d also have to agree with what you said about Glimmer. I really want to know what happened to them and if that also had an impact on his attitude.

[@pokemon18ish]

@@DerajjParallax I love that scene for Mythra because it's the first time she's seen as a person and told someone cares about her well-being, but it's just that she doesn't know how to respond to something so positive. I do wonder if one of Glimmer's friends was Mythra's child and maybe the both of them were going to make it to homecoming, but then that friend was killed leaving Glimmer to feel lost. Maybe Pyra and Mythra weren't able to take on a physical form at least not how A/Alpha was.

[@Snowstorm...]

"What's my age got to do with anything?" *Looks at Pyra, looks at Mythra, looks back at Rex* "Well..."

[@CheloWiiU]

I'm loving this series so far. Please, keep it up!!! I'm sharing it with my Xeno friends 😊

[@DerajjParallax]

I’m happy to hear your liking the series! Thanks so much for sharing it too!

[@twohooks3533]

Thank you for another video!

[@Queentism-cv3vi]

Genuinely look forward to the rest of this series

[@togsana]

also lets not forget rex is 15 in this XC2, and Pyra/Mythra are 500, if you dont understand it you are too young

[@JohnCena-qe1rz]

This is a really well put together and edited video, there’s some really good analysis here. I’m surprised that you’re not bigger than you are.

[@DerajjParallax]

Thank you! That means a lot!

[@JustJulyo]

Can't believe he really loved all those guys

[@mirrorimage7077]

Wait actually this is so great. Why haven't I seen your videos before? Honing in on that line of his, "What's my age got to do with anything?" really caught me off guard, because I didn't remember the writing being that deliberate in the earlier chapters. Besides establishing Rex as a pacifist, anyway.

[@DerajjParallax]

Thank you!

[@Alban_Blade_Memer]

Something I saw pretty soon when I was joking about Nomura (kingdom heart) designing the antagonist and I understood that the antagonist are all adults thinking they are legitimate because they are adults. The only one who are "good guy" change their mind and follow Rex. Moràg, Zeke, Jin before dying etc...

[@DerajjParallax]

Interesting detail to point out

[@MineNAdventurer]

One thing I always kinda wondered is how long has nia actually lived, she sometimes acts like she's lived life more and seen the world for how it is but other times she's just as immature and as unknowledgeable of the world's innerworkings as Rex like she explored many parts of the world but for short periods of time unlike rex who explored some parts of the world but for most of his life. This would make sense since as a Blade and later a Flesh Eater she would also get a head start in actually living like a Teenager unlike Rex who would have to live as a child before starting to mature. She did explore and see more of the world than Rex but didn't see the whole picture. I always took it as Nia being in reality close to Rex's age chronologically but more experienced due to her existance being a Blade then a Driver letting her live through life longer than Rex despite still being just as immature, as they would have technically seen as much of life as the other but experience different facets of it

[@Epsilon246]

There's dialogue in the game, from a random npc somewhere in Gormott, that alude to Nia having been around for quite some time. I don't remember exactly of hand but I think decades are implied.

[@mysteriouscolours1532]

Is saying later as a goodbye not a normal thing? I know it is where Iive

[@DerajjParallax]

It’s normal, I just like that he says it twice within a couple cutscenes lol

[@ffxiikd1426]

i want to watch it :(

[@DerajjParallax]

I’m assuming you’re concerned about spoilers. If so, I’m sorry you weren’t able to watch this one 😕 I try to only include spoilers for games that I need to make my point but sometimes it’s tough

[@ffxiikd1426]

@@DerajjParallax I can understand no problem at all, i was considering playing 3 but there was something happened and i stopped, I will add this video to my "must watch later" list 😌. Xeno series one of my favorite jrpg after all.👍

[@DerajjParallax]

@@ffxiikd1426 I get that for sure! I’m glad I didn’t spoil anything for you. I hope you enjoy the video whenever you get around to watching it! In the meantime, have fun playing 3 and the DLC and take your time!

[@sincere9222]

Crap I'm late 😅

[@DerajjParallax]

No worries! I’m just glad you’re here!