Quick Links
- Memory Pendant
- Three Music Boxes
- Dr. Fumio And Music
- Time Misconception Disorder And Memory Excess
- Dream Sickness
- The End Of The Season
Shortly after beginning Season: A Letter to the Future, you will learn the importance of memory. During the pendant ritual with your mom, she will lose one memory for every item that you place inside the burner. This emphasis on memory remains throughout the entire game, until the very last second. By this simple ritual, you also learn that things, such as memory, can change permanently, and there is nothing to be done about it.
Many times while playing, you will learn about a sickness or disease that plagues the mind and your dreams. What exactly is this sickness though? Here, we are going to take a look at this sickness, and how exactly it affects those around you. First, let's go over the pendant that you receive after the Goodbye Ritual.
Memory Pendant
At the start of the game, you receive a pendant; this will protect you from the dream sickness that can happen to those outside of Caro Village. This village is high above the rest of the land, nestled in the mountains. With the help of Dr. Fumio, those living in Caro Village were rid of the "maladies of the mind," however, he was unable to find a cure for dream sickness.
So, your pendant is filled with memories that follow and protect you from this sickness. When you are in Tieng Valley, you will come across a giant field filled with purple flowers and a statue of a god. Before entering, your pendant will begin to glow, signaling that it's 'protecting you.'
Later, when you meet Easel, he will be amazed that you have a pendant. Although it was a simple ritual for you, it seems that those outside of Caro Village don't have access to pendants.
Three Music Boxes
While you are still traveling between Caro Village towards Tieng Valley, you will come across a small area where people lived for a short time. Here, you find three music boxes, as well as a note that says the following.
One voice, one tune, alone in the wilderness, can't last long.
Two voices, a melody and a harmony, is enough to survive a little while.
Three voices, a community, a song, can last a whole season.
The three music boxes seem to be an attempt to avoid the dream sickness, but unfortunately, we don't know what happened to these people that resided here. When you arrive, the area is empty, with only traces of what once was.
Dr. Fumio And Music
Above, we looked at a note mentioning three voices, which can help you survive an entire season; this seems to be based on Dr. Fumio's work.
Back in Caro Village, the plaza held several references to Dr. Fumio. Taking pictures of them would fill in "Who was Dr. Fumio?" in your journal, and in turn, teach you about this figure.
Near the edge of the plaza sits a 'healing instrument' that seems to play several voices, as mentioned in the note. With this healing music, as well as the community around you for support, the people of Caro Village avoided any malady. Although he couldn't cure dream sickness, he could prevent ailments from happening.
Time Misconception Disorder And Memory Excess
During a flashback, you get to conduct an interview with the Elder. In this conversation, she mentions that her mom had time misperception disorder. With this, an hour could feel like a few seconds, and all sense of time was disturbed. Due to this sickness, the Elder looked for a doctor to help her mom, which is what lead her to Dr. Fumio and Caro Village.
On the pathway right outside of Caro Village, you will come across letters and luggage that never made it to their destination. Upon picking up one of the letters, you will learn about memory excess. The person writing the letter seemed to have too many memories, and they were unable to forget anything. The letter requested help from Dr. Fumio, but it never made it to him.
Overall, it seems that mind sickness affects people in a variety of ways, from time distortion to the inability to forget.
Dream Sickness
Dream sickness is incurable, but prior to leaving Caro Village, you don't know anybody who suffers from it. This changes when you make your way to the parking lot in Tieng Valley. In this disheveled area, there are people lying on the ground, who are said to suffer from dream sickness. These are soldiers, who have been asleep since the war during the previous season.
While in the parking lot, none of these people wake up. During Kochi's bike tour, he will mention that he saw the monk taking care of them one day. So, while the dream sickness plagues these people, there are still taken care of in hopes that one day, they'll wake. The parking lot is eerie, with soldiers stuck in time. Unfortunately, as we know from learning about Dr. Fumio, there is no cure for these helpless soldiers.
The End Of The Season
Finally, the end of the season occurs at the very end of the game. At this moment, you will be on a boat with your new friend. Looking out over the water, a pattern will appear and waves start to form, but you begin to hear your mom's voice coming from the pendant. The pendant helped you maintain your memories, but others are not as lucky.
This is the exact moment that marks the end of the season. Once everything has settled, your new friend will lose his memory, which happens to all those who are unprotected during this change.
To him, you are a stranger on his boat. Thankfully, the two of you both have journals to show that you are indeed, a friend of his. What happened to those in Tieng Valley? We never find out, but we can only hope that they are doing fine, living in the big city.
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