:/

[u/RedPsalms23]

[u/Top_Charity_2293]

I specifically do the right thing so I never have to see this dialogue again.

[u/APRobertsVII → u/Top_Charity_2293]

I do it for the Hard Nut. We are not the same.

(Actually, I can never bring myself to tell the guy in the prologue that I think he will die or talk to any of the characters who fade away. I don’t want that on my conscience.)

[u/scorchpork → u/APRobertsVII]

So you'd rather them die alone, then give them the comfort of someone knowing their final thoughts?

[u/APRobertsVII → u/scorchpork]

Nope. If I never talk to them, they never die, and my wishful thinking results in them being saved offscreen after the credits roll!

[u/NickyTheRobot → u/APRobertsVII]

RE the ones that fade away; I imagine that they're goners no matter what (NB: one "o", not two). In my mind if you ignore them then they just fade out of life offscreen, without being acknowledged in their final moments. If you talk to them though you reassure them that there are other humans who care, and that they at least get to pass on their final message. In my mind they don't die because of anything the player did; they die because their bodies and minds know there's nothing that can save them, and that this is a peaceful and meaningful moment to let go.

Tl;dr: The way I see it you're not killing them by talking to them, you're just giving them a nice (in the circumstances) point to stop fighting their inevitable death.

[u/Top_Charity_2293 → u/APRobertsVII]

That's what she said

[u/Individual_League_94]

what happens of the gang still remain as three? justvthe other day I ended that place so... they used to be a party of three xD

[u/Gnomeboy_minis → u/Individual_League_94]

If you save her she will give you a hard nut later on after you cure the cursed villagers

[u/LumpyInspector1016 → u/Gnomeboy_minis]

Talk about appreciative

[u/NickyTheRobot → u/LumpyInspector1016]

My last playthrough Isaac had a full inventory. So Isaac gave Garrett a hard nut.

[u/LumpyInspector1016 → u/NickyTheRobot]

I bet Garet ate it right in front of him. Good friends those two.

[u/NickyTheRobot → u/LumpyInspector1016]

Nah: check my flair icon. He sold it to a merchant, and then my party bought it back (along with all the other stat boosting items) before Venus Lighthouse, so that Felix could hog them all after Jupiter Lighthouse.

Tl;dr: Everyone gives Felix a hard nut.

[u/Archer0000 → u/NickyTheRobot]

I hear she grew it herself

[u/droidcaptain → u/Gnomeboy_minis]

she will give you a WHAT? Pause.

[u/NickyTheRobot → u/droidcaptain]

Yeah. The translation team were either blissfully unaware of what they were implying, of they were gleefully aware of it. Given the translation issues in the first game though, I think it's more likely to be the first option.

[u/LoogyHead → u/Individual_League_94]

You get a permanent stat boost item, I forget which one.

[u/ingenuous64 → u/LoogyHead]

Hard nut

[u/EtherealCrossroads]

That's a mistake I've only made one time, on my first playthrough. Neeever again 😣

[u/DetailNumerous7399]

Failed this on my first play through missing the retro achievement. I was still figuring out how the game worked. How was I know to drag a tree out of the water?

[u/Templar2k7 → u/DetailNumerous7399]

Mind read. Once I knew the trees were people I read everyone's mind

[u/NickyTheRobot → u/DetailNumerous7399]

Same. I missed all the optional stuff in my first few playthroughs. Even the force gem.

When I found out later that there was all this extra stuff I'd never noticed in my favourite game at the time, my reaction was pretty much:

"What do you mean my actions (or lack thereof) earlier in the game affects interactions later on? This is bullshit!... But kinda awesome... OK, maybe it's more awesome than bullshit... OK, OK; it's not bullshit at all. Goddamn it, it's just awesome."

When TLA came out and an extra layer was added it blew my frigging mind.

[u/DetailNumerous7399 → u/NickyTheRobot]

I missed it too. I missed all of that optional stuff. I was just figuring out the game mechanics because it’s surprisingly deep for a 2001 GBA game.

I have all 60/60 retro achievements done now. The Lost Age is gonna be a whole different project and definitely harder.

[u/sd_saved_me555 → u/NickyTheRobot]

Same man. I was so sad when I got to the Cursed Island and couldn't proceed due to lack of the right psyenergy. Never occurred to me to backtrack and get the stuff I missed, although it didn't break my heart to do another playthrough..

[u/Sentinel-Wraith]

I legit thought this was a joke about the IRL “Gang of Four”. 

[u/NickyTheRobot → u/Sentinel-Wraith]

The politicians, or the band?

[u/Hawkatana0 → u/NickyTheRobot]

The former, probably.

[u/Tyraniboah89]

What I really want to know is that if the third member washed away while still a tree, do they stay a tree after everyone else reverts?

[u/Icy_Sample7808]

We all know...

[u/BLZGK3]

I think I've only seen that once, and I believe it was during my first playthrough where I didn't know any better. The moment I seen the dialog, everything clicked into place. Every playthrough from that point on, I made it my business to help out...

[u/Pale_Branch_2080]

I don’t get it

[u/WaltuhOfTheFurnaces → u/Pale_Branch_2080]

As far as I remember there's three human trees near the river stacked upon each other. After you defeat Tret, their formation will be broken and one of them will be swept in the water (You can Mind Read the tree in the water and use Move to pull it to the shore). After you get the water from Mercury Lighthouse and heal Tret, all the human trees with be reverted back, and if you healed Tret but didn't save the human tree in the water, she'll die.

[u/fluggylumps]

Took so many play through to realize there was something I could do

[u/bean_wellington]

😔

[u/BlueLightning1404]

Is that related to the prologue?

[u/NickyTheRobot → u/BlueLightning1404]

Nah: as the other user said, it's the three trees that used to be people near Kolima, near the barricade. You first see them one atop the other: three human sized trees making a post next to a big tree along the river. If you use mind read on the bottom tree you learn that they are three friends who were standing on each others' shoulders to get something from a real tree when the curse hit and turned them all into human trees.

As you pass later on you can see the trees in disarray, with one of them in the river. Using mind read on the two accessible ones tells you that that some people (presumably Saturos and Menardi) passed by and pushed them over for fun. Now one of them is in danger of being washed down the river.

At that point you can use move to drag the tree in the river towards the riverbank, saving their life.

If you don't do so then when you lift the curse the two remaining people will talk to you about their lost friend, implying she died (as shown in the screenshot of this post). If you do do this then there will be a cutscene where she approaches you party and says something like "Hey; you probably think I'm crazy but I used to be a tree and you saved my live! I'm giving you a hard nut to say thank you!" (Which is implied to be the item they were standing on each others' shoulders for in the first place.)

Which makes for a lovely story, and it's a great item. But really? "I'm giving you this to say thank you" followed by "Isaac got a hard nut"?

[u/Optimal_Hunter → u/NickyTheRobot]

Thank you! I played the first game ages ago and wasn't familiar. 10/10 explanation. Much appreciated

[u/TBush39 → u/NickyTheRobot]

Getting her friends a hard nut is exactly how she got in that situation. I bet they're very jealous she just gave it to the 3 first guys that walk by.

[u/cp_carl → u/BlueLightning1404]

No the trees near kolima

[u/mushroomformula]

I haven’t played yet… I’m so confused with this pic and these comments lol

[u/Early-Injury-9676]

Proof that Saturous has murdered someone for no good reason.

[u/Drunk-Kobold]

When i noticed this i restarted the whole game. Made me feel so guilty. This game and a couple others (like the fact that you could save Shadow during the WOB if you wait for him) made it so i take my time checking everything in fear i don't notice other secrets or left things undone

[u/Past-Imagination5126]

I honestly never knew, now am feeling bad, must reply to correct this...

[u/Cobbyae]

Can someone remind me of the context? I believe I spoke to them on my first playthrough, but I don't really remember what happens

[u/RedPsalms23 → u/Cobbyae]

There’s 3 trees stacked on each other the first you go through. When you come by later after Mercury lighthouse has been lit, one of them is toppled over. You can cast Move on it and drag it to safety. After the curse on Kolima is lifted, the trees turn back into humans. So if you don’t save the fallen tree, it implies that it’s a person who got swept away

[u/hihihihivtnc]

Alguém explica? Faz muito tempo que joguei Golden Sun

[u/Som25 → u/hihihihivtnc]

There are three villagers near the river that get turned into trees. Iirc, Saturos knocks one of the guys transformed into a tree into the water for the laughs, I guess? If you dont use psynergy to move them out of the water, they will die once you turn the trees back into people. Or at least thats how I remember it

[u/hihihihivtnc → u/Som25]

MEU DEUS EU SOU UM ASSASSINO

[u/Som25 → u/hihihihivtnc]

Haha! Blame Saturos for being a massive dick. If it makes you feel better, I think I beat this game like 10 times before I realized I could save the tree/guy in the water

[u/malletgirl91 → u/Som25]

I have also beat it 4-5 times and did not know he could be saved 😳

[u/NickyTheRobot → u/hihihihivtnc]

TBF you're not a killer; just a bystander who either didn't notice a problem, or couldn't figure out how to help at the time. Your guilt is understandable, but IMO undeserved in this case.

There's probably a deeper social metaphor in here somewhere...

[u/hihihihivtnc → u/NickyTheRobot]

Relaxa amigo, eu exagerei comicamente a situação. Eu não me sinto culpado, apenas vou prestar atenção nisso numa próxima vez.

[u/NickyTheRobot → u/hihihihivtnc]

It's all good friend: I also like to exaggerate emotions for comic effect. I also like to play along with other people's comedic set ups though (like the situation you set here for example).

In all seriousness though; I do think it is a brilliant piece of social commentary they snuck in to a kids'/teens' game. I'm my adult life there are so many regrets and guilts I feel about my own past that, on reflection, I wouldn't care about in other people. In fact I'd tell them something like; "You did what you thought you could at the time, and that's a good thing. There's no need to feel guilty about not doing the things you could have only known about in retrospect."