Alex
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| Official artwork of Alex | |
| Alex | |
| Species | Human |
| Hair color | Blue |
| Eye color | Turquoise |
| Relatives | Mia (cousin) Amiti (son) Nowell, Rief (first cousins, once removed) |
| Debut | Golden Sun |
Alex is the enigmatic Mercury Adapt who manipulates the events of Golden Sun and its sequels for his own ends. He is the closest thing the series has to an overall antagonist, despite the ambiguity present in his motives and morality as well as the fact that he is never fought at any point in the three games.
Background[edit]
Alex was part of the Mercury Clan who lived in Imil, whose duty was to protect the nearby Mercury Lighthouse. He originally acted as the apprentice of Mia (in the English version) or Mia's father (in the Japanese version). He mysteriously disappeared one day. It is unknown exactly what happened to him, but he wound up allying himself with the Proxians Saturos and Menardi in their quest to restore Alchemy to the world. Saturos and Menardi were motivated by a desire to save their homeland of Prox from being destroyed by its shifting climate. Alex, however, remained coy about his reasons for helping them. At some point he learned that when all the lighthouses were lit, not only would Alchemy be released, but all of the released light would converge atop Mount Aleph to form the Golden Sun, Alchemy in its purest form which was said to give shape to the Stone of Sages. Alex's goal was to be there when it happened and seize the Golden Sun's power, which would make him omnipotent and immortal. It is unknown how Alex learned all of this and how he mastered other mysterious powers that were beyond what he had learned at Imil.
Golden Sun[edit]
He arrived late to Saturos and Menardi's second raid on Sol Sanctum, at the point when they were holding Jenna and Kraden captive in order to force Isaac and Garet to hand over the three stars that they had just collected. Alex arrived just in time to collect said Stars from them and then waited for them to grab the last one, the Mars Star. Isaac and Garet grabbed the Mars Star, but doing so caused the chamber to begin collapsing, and it caused the godlike Wise One to appear. Saturos's group was intimidated by this turn of events and the mountain's impending eruption, and Alex agreed that they were no match for the Wise One. They decided to retreat and it was Alex who suggested taking Jenna and Kraden with them; he considered Kraden to be necessary for completing their quest due to his knowledge, and he thought Jenna could make a good bargaining chip in case Isaac and Garet somehow managed to escape with their lives and the Mars Star. Their other companion Felix objected due to having been promised that Jenna would not got involved in this, but Alex sternly told him that conditions had changed. Alex was the last to leave the chamber, regretting that they were leaving the Mars Star behind but hopeful that he would see it soon.
Alex then performed his main function for the group by helping them to break into Mercury Lighthouse. With his help, they were able to easily reach the top of the lighthouse and ignite its beacon. Alex then lurked behind the aerie while Saturos battled Isaac's group, and Menardi escaped with the hostages. Alex only stepped out after Saturos was defeated and spoke as vaguely as he could to Isaac's group, which had grown to include a betrayed Mia. He was impressed by the power that the lighthouse had released, which had empowered Mia during the battle, and he began to explain it to her. It turned out Alex was only salling them until Saturos regained his strength, at which point he teleported him to safety and escaped. Before he left, he confirmed that Isaac still had the Mars Star, but he did not take it from them as he knew that they would be pursuing Saturos's group regardless.
The Lost Age[edit]
During the lighting of Venus Lighthouse, Saturos and Menardi proceeded to the aerie with Sheba to light its beacon while Felix was supposed to evacuate the hostages to Idejima. Alex found Jenna and Kraden leaving the lighthouse, and he was annoyed to find that Felix had ignored orders to confront Saturos and Menardi about Sheba. They wound up talking about the lighthouses, and Alex merely claimed that he wanted to see the world of Alchemy fully restored. Outside the lighthouse, Alex elected to stay behind and fight off Tolbi soldiers while Jenna and Kraden went on ahead to Idejima on their own.
The three met up again at Idejima, where even Alex found it curious that Venus Lighthouse's beacon had not yet been lit. They then witnessed the lighting, however, and they then experienced earthquakes that accompanied this lighthouse's activation. It wound up splitting Idejima off from the rest of Gondowan, and it began to drift out to sea. Alex wandered off and found Felix and Sheba washed up ashore, which he quickly alerted Jenna and Kraden of. When the two regained consciousness, they retold their story to Alex, Kraden and Jenna. It turned out that Isaac's group had defeated Saturos and Menardi, which Alex had trouble believing. He was shocked that Isaac and his friends could have become so strong in such a short amount of time. They were soon distracted by seeing that Idejima was about to collide with Indra, and that a giant tidal wave was also coming towards them. After everyone regained consiousness, they noticed that Alex had disappeared. He apparently woke up first and wandered off on his own, working independently from that point forward.
Alex then traveled to Daila in search of a ship. The mayor there had none and pointed him towards Madra. At this point, he briefly met up with Felix's group and then set off towards Madra, assuring them that he preferred to work alone. He had no luck at first and decided to stay at an inn in Alhafra until he found another opportunity. Alex saw another Mercury Adept, Piers, imprisoned at Madra and mulled over "borrowing" his ship. Just as he planned to do so, Felix's group wound up using the ship instead after liberating Piers and inducting him into their party. By a stroke of luck, however, Alex met the Proxians Agatio and Karst, whom had set out in their own ship to search for Saturos and Menardi. He joined with them and began manipulating them. He next crossed paths with Felix's group at Champa. He resented having been replaced by Piers so easily despite Jenna curtly reminding him that he had abandoned them first, and Alex then introduced them to Agatio and Karst. He openly admitted to considering all of the Proxians he worked with to be little more than dumb brutes, and that he saw Felix's group had the potential to light the remaining lighthouses after hearing of their subtle work in retrieving Piers's orb at Kibombo. Alex also confessed that he had decided to work with Agatio and Karst because he felt that they applied the certain pressure that Felix's group needed to complete their task.
Before he left, Alex informed Kraden of Babi's death, as Kraden had initially decided to help them because their quest matched with his orders from Babi. Alex swore that he did not cause Babi's death, but that the people of Tolbi were left with the impression that his presence had led to Babi's death. It is uncertain why he taunted Kraden with this knowledge, although they hypothesized after the encounter that he was trying to discourage Kraden from the quest by pointing out the invalidity of his original reasons for it. They did not meet again until all three groups (Felix's, Alex's and Isaac's) scaled the Jupiter Lighthouse at the same time. Agatio and Karst set a trap for Isaac's group and proceeded to overpower them when they had set it off. However, Alex disappeared into the lighthouse during this confrontation, waiting for Felix's group to show up. He knew that Felix had witnessed that scene and that he would want to save Isaac because he was unlike Alex. Alex openly encouraged Felix to save him and healed his entire party so that they could take on Agatio and Karst. By reading his mind, Alex apparently was hoping to help Mia but was too weak to take any real action and decided it was time to cut his ties to Agatio and Karst.
Alex showed up again atop the lighthouse after the beacon had been lit, and Agatio and Karst had been defeated. He prevented Felix's group from killing them, opting instead to restore their health. Alex also refused to help Agatio and Karst fight Felix's group, and they instead retreated using the lighthouse's elevator. If Felix's group had lost against Agatio and Karst, Alex instead convinced them to retreat instead of finishing Felix off. Alex did indeed split ways with Agatio and Karst after this point and sneaked over to Mount Aleph. He was climbing the mountain at the same time that Isaac and Felix were defying The Wise One to light the Mars Lighthouse. Alex reached the peak just as the Golden Sun was being formed and bathed in its power. However, he was then confused when he could not even conjur a simple storm. The Wise One appeared to tell him that his power had limits. Alex, confused and enraged, attempted to attack the Wise One. However, The Wise One was unaffected and used his powers against Alex, slamming him hard into the ground. He let Alex know the truth: he had sealed part of the forming Golden Sun within the Mars Star back when Isaac first claimed it, which prevented Alex from reaching the Golden Sun's full power. Instead, according to the Wise One, Alex had only "nearly endless life" and "somewhat stronger" Psynergy.
The Wise One then urged Alex to free as the entire world was shifting and changing as a result of Alchemy's release. Alex was incapable of movement as a result of the Wise One's attack. The Wise One warned Alex that he might not survive being swallowed by the earth, but if he did survive, they would most likely meet again one day. The Wise One then left Alex to die, pinned helplessly atop the mountain as it sank into the earth.
Dark Dawn[edit]
Alex survived through unknown means and began acting in secrecy for the next thirty years. About a decade after the Golden Sun event, Alex apparently came to Ayuthay and helped the people there to proper by finding the Luna Mask and using it to power their local Alchemy Machine, the Alchemy Well. They spoke to him of a prophecy of an Adept that would help to unite the lands into one whole golden civilization, but Alex claimed those Adepts from prophecy would not come for decades. While there, he had a romance with a local woman, Veriti, whom had fallen deeply in love with him. Despite this, Alex's stay in Ayuthay was brief and he soon moved on to other parts. Only Veriti had learned his identity and found herself pregnant with his child soon afterwards. It is unknown if Alex ever knew of her pregnancy. She gave birth to a son, Amiti, and died. The activation of the Alchemy Well seemed to play into the plan that he helped set into motion years later.
During the time of Dark Dawn, Alex began wearing a half-mask to conceal his identity and allied himself with two Tuaparang agents, Blados and Chalis, while he himself worked under the alias of Arcanus. Their initial plan involved raising the Luna Tower, also known as the Eclipse Tower, in Belinsk to trigger the Grave Eclipse event. The children of the Warriors of Vale - Matthew, Tyrell and Karis - had set off at that point on an unrelated journey, and they considered using them as pawns in their plan. Alex and Blaods first acted in the Konpa Ruins, where Kraden was waiting to meet with Matthew's group along with his two apprentices, Rief and Nowell, who were Mia's children. They then revealed themselves to Matthew and Kraden after kidnapping Rief, impressed with how strong Matthew's group was already becoming. Alex also taunted Kraden and made it evident that he knew him, although Kraden could only find Alex's voice vaguely familiar. Alex and Blados declared that they would place Rief at one of two exits, but they did not say which in order to split the group up. Kraden and Nowell decided to check the northern exit while Matthew's group checked the southern exit, at which point Blados had that exit demolished to prevent Matthew from turning back. This apparently figured into Alex's plan, as the only way that Matthew's group could progress over the mountains was by learning how to operate Alchemy Machines and then to activate Passaj's Alchemy Forge, the second of the two Alchemy Machines.
The manipulations extended further as Blados and Chalis ensured that Matthew's group wound up killing the mountain roc and claiming the Magma Orb inside it, as the Magma Orb was the key to activating the Alchemy Dynamo that was hidden within the Belinsk Ruins. Their actions also ensured that two bystanders, Ryu Kou and Hou Zan, were involved as well, as they actually held the Magma Orb. Alex, Blados and Chalis confronted them when they actually reached the Dynamo. Matthew's group defeated Blados and Chalis in battle, but during the battle Alex manipulated Ryu Kou into using the Magma Orb by persuading him that it was the only way to save his sister, Hou Ju. Tyrell tried to stop them when he noticed, but Alex was able to blast him back with ease. As the Luna Tower rose from the Alchemy Dynamo's activation, Alex avoided another attempted attack by Hou Zan and let them know his current name of Arcanus. All he let them know about Luna Tower was that it and the elemental lighthouses were really all machines, with the main difference being that Luna Tower was a prison that the ancients did not want opened. He then pulled back with Blados and Chalis while Luna Tower rose. He also spoke with Volechek, whom had acted as their ally, and told him to release their prisoners, Eoleo and Hou Ju, in order to keep his promise to Ryu.
The next stage of their plan involved activating the Apollo Lens, a powerful weapon which could repel the Eclipse. However, Alex knew that Blados and Chalis had their own plans for it. They once more were going to use Matthew's group to activate the Lens for them. At one point, he went to Tonfon and spoke with Emperor Unan, telling him to help Matthew's group in reaching the Apollo Sanctum and giving him a red orb to pass onto them, which was one of the three orbs they would need to reach the sanctum. Matthew's group met Alex again when they had powered the Apollo Lens. Kraden openly called Alex out, having deduced his true identity through the playing card association in Blados and Chalis's names. Blados and Chalis then joined them, with Blados enraged that Alex was talking to Matthew's group instead of killing them, but Chalis remembered their orders to ensure that Matthew activated the Apollo Lens. Alex revealed he was onto Blados and Chalis's true motives, that they would try using the Apollo Lens to destroy either Sol Sanctum or Tuaparang. Alex then apparently betrayed Blados and Chalis, battling them offscreen so that Matthew and his group could activate the Apollo Lens. The results of the battle are never shown, although Blados and Chalis eventually return and in good condition to battle Matthew's group again. Alex's fate is unknown, although his voice later reached out to Matthew when he tried ascending to the Apollo Lens at the end, telling him that it was pointless that he should give up.
Abilities[edit]
Alex is a Mercury Adept, so he specializes in water-based Psynergies. However, he is never seen in battle aside from occasional quick attacks so his full range of abilities is unknown. He is most commonly seen using a type of teleportation that he learned through unknown means. Alex can also tell when his mind is being read. It is possible that he gained powers from the other types of Psynergies by experiencing the Golden Sun, but he has shown no signs of this if so.
Trivia[edit]
- The first two games were ambiguous about how he and Mia were related, as there were no indications that they even had to be blood relatives to be considered part of the Mercury Clan. Dark Dawn finally clarified this by establishing them as cousins.