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(I posted this on the-ethos.org bbs earlier today, I thought since I spent a while composing it I might as well post it here too).

Being a rather big fan of the URTV characters, after playing Episode II I had begun to try to piece together some of the more vague events, and try to figure out how they fit into their own timeline and the game's timeline as a whole (partly out of curiosity, partly because I'm working on a URTV site, and partly because I want to do a doujinshi that realistically fits into the timeline). I quickly realized just how vague many of the events' times and relations to each other were. Basically, the only concrete information I've been able to figure out is that the flashback events all take place roughly 14 years ago (give or take a year or two). Not only is the timeline vague but several important events aren't really followed up on (and it seems, at least to me, that the topic of the URTV will not be expanded on in any great length later in the series) -- like what happened to Nigredo after he shoots Yuriev, and the rest of the URTV in general (I'm sure it would have had a major impact on the URTV project)? And when exactly did it happen? Before or after the main Miltian Conflict events (the Miltian Conflict is still confusing me to no end)? There are several lingering questions along these lines that I've been pondering lately and I've just reached a dead end. So I figured I'd pose the question to everyone here, maybe some of you have more sources / theories that might fill in some blanks.

So, in an attempt to create some sort of timeline I came up with a list of the flashback events from both games that had some relevance to the URTV events. I'll list them in chronological order as they appear in the game since I can't seem to put them into a decent timeline (though the events in the encephalon sequence in ep2 appear to be in roughly chronological order, though they give very limited reference to the rest of the game's events as a whole).

Episode I (these all occur during the encephalon dive, there is one scene in Jr's dream that might be relevant, but as far as I can tell it's not exactly a flashback per-say):
1- The standard type URTV are seen shooting civilians; Nigredo takes out a few of the standard types, calling for Rubedo
2- An injured Nigredo limps across the hexagonal platform, Albedo attacks him
3- Albedo, in the same hexagonal room / platform, rants to himself (the "mirror, mirror..." line)

Episode II (these occur in various parts of the game, though most take place during the encephalon dive):
4- chaos and Cannan save Rubedo and Nigredo
5- The URTV are lined up around the edge of the hexagonal platform/room, preparing to battle U-DO; Rubedo breaks the spiritual link and several units (Albedo included) become infected
6- The variant trio meet Sakura for the first time
7- Rubedo tells Juli about his meeting with sakura
8- Rubedo watches Sakura and Juli play the piano through the window, Juli discusses Sakura's condition with him
9- In Sakura's dream world Rubedo and Sakura discuss their parents; Sakura makes Rubedo promise to take care of Juli and MOMO
10- Rubedo has apparently picked up playing the harmonica; Albedo confronts Rubedo about his slipping concentration.
11- The variant trio encounters Citrine for the first time
12- The URTV prepare to dive into Sakura's subconscious to eradicate her sensory impediment; Albedo comments on the standard type URTV; the standard types question Rubedo's role as the leader
13- In Sakura's subconscious domain the URTV encounter U-DO (?) and several of the standard types are infected
14- Albedo viciously beats an unconscious standard type for attacking Rubedo; Rubedo and Nigredo stop him
15- Albedo has discovered his regenerative abilities and blows his head off in front of Rubedo and Nigredo
16- Albedo is seen digging in front of a tree; Jr. comments to the rest of the party on Albedo's altered mental state after the event just prior (discovery of his regenerative abilities)
17- The URTV prepare to dive into Sakura's subconscious domain again
18- In Sakura's subconscious domain the variant trio and Sakura return to the point where they had encountered U-DO (?) on the previous trip; Rubedo's shadow takes on an unusual shape and Albedo begins to go nuts -- Albedo(present) interrupts the flashback, thus ending the main flashback sequence
19- Citrine tells Nigredo about Red Dragon Mode
20- Nigredo shoots Dr. Dimitri Yuriev

From what I can gather events 1-5 occur during roughly the same time period (probably on the same day. Events 6-14 occur in order with minimal time between each scene. Events 15-18 seem to occur at least a short while after event 14 and probably with greater stretches of time between each consecutive event. Events 19 and 20 seem to occur in close proximity to each other in the order presented (I get the impression that Citrine's comments caused Nigredo to shoot Yuriev, and thus that they probably occurred pretty close together).

The main issue in the timeline is where exactly do these four main event segments occur in relation to each other? I can't seem to place events 1-5 in relation to 6-18 and 19&20 just don't seem to fit in anywhere. The only clues I'm aware of are that Albedo was probably contaminated with U-DO at some point during events 15-18, which seems to indicate that events 1-5 must have occurred at some point before or during that event sequence (possibly between events 14 and 15?). But given how many units were destroyed during events 1-5 (assuming that they all deal with essentially the same day/major event) and the events that occurred just after (the sealing off of Old Miltia, etc -- my knowledge of the events during the Miltian Conflict is pretty fuzzy so I've been having particular trouble placing the related URTV sequences), it's not terribly probable that events 15-18 occurred afterward. Events 19&20 have caused me nothing but problems, Yuriev's death would have probably caused an abrupt halt to the URTV project (and given that he is seen in event 17 he has to still be alive at that point).

My only vaguely plausible theory at this point is that just prior to the Miltian Conflict events (events 1-5) Nigredo shoots Yuriev (events 19&20), and that this must all occur after the major flashback sequence (events 6-1 cool . The issue of Albedo's contamination with U-DO is the only major issue with this sequence of events -- presumably his contamination occurs during event 5, and event 18 seems to indicate (by the purple glow around him when he's going nutty) that he's already been contaminated.

And then there is the question of what happened after some key events that were not delved into, like the question I posed before (it would seem like an important thing to explain) about what occurs after Nigredo shoots Yuriev. And how exactly any of this fits into the main timeline of the Miltian Conflict (Does anyone have a more detailed explanation of the events during the Conflict (or have they just not been explained yet)? It's been a source of much frustration for me over the past couple months, so any clarification at all would be appreciated).

So, does anyone have any ideas/thoughts on the subject?

If I remember correctly, Mizrahi's suicide was immediately after the revolt of the Realians on Old Miltia, which yes, would mean it happened during the Miltian Conflict.

o_O Uh, Albedo did not freak because of jealousy regarding Sakura. That much I'm confident about. Even if it were the case, it would be a minor secondary factor. Albedo's insanity was brought about by the realization of his immortality--there was a quote Jin provided regarding the fact that without death, life becomes a prison. That would be the catalyst the eventually led to all of his other actions.

He did not "show off," however. It was simply a matter of confusion--prior to when he blew his own head off, he was under the impression that all of the U.R.T.V. could simply regenerate upon death, which was why he acted so harshly, physically, toward the mass produced model. When Rubedo and Nigredo were confused, Albedo obliged to show them what he was referring to. It wasn't so much arrogance at the time as it was ignorance and naivety.

Well, yes, jealousy in that sense would be the case. But jealousy wouldn't really be the best word to use. The most adequate term would be something along the lines of spite toward her. -shrug.- Either could work, but I was simply referring to the typical context of jealousy.

As for Albedo's contamination--that's fairly clear to be when they attempted to contain U-DO. The two events, I can probably safely say, were the same. Not necessarily from different perspectives but rather the first time we saw the event, we were simply seeing the flashback, as it happened, no strings attached and no interference. When we saw it during the space-time anomaly, what we were actually viewing was one where both Rubedo's and Albedo's conciousness were present and interacting, not in the past but in the present, which was why the two were percieved differently.

Last, the importance of where Dmitri Yuriev's death should be fairly negligable. It doesn't specify a time as it isn't important. I really don't see any way to pick and put it at any point relative to the others. If I had to guess, however, I would say that it happened prior to their trip to Old Miltia to tackle U-DO. At the end of the game, if you remember, when Albedo was talking to Rubedo, Albedo informed him to watch Nigredo's shadow, to consider why Nigredo is immune to U-DO's contamination. This basically suggests that Yuriev's invasion into Nigredo's conciousness as he did it somehow influences the fact that Nigredo was not infected when U-DO broke free on Old Miltia fourteen years prior.

On the other hand, like I said, it'd be hard to place the event. Yuriev is being portrayed as quite the planner--a schemer with everything he had in mind to happen set long before (which I believe qualifies him quite well as potentially being the pale horseman). I'd say it is just as likely that Yuriev, knowing that he would perhaps need to be closer to the U.R.T.V. to really have the most adequate grasp on the events to come, intentionally made Nigredo immune by whatever factors it would take to insure Nigredo's survival and stability following any failure on Old Miltia.

Man. o.o I didn't trash anyone's idea. As it's a discussion, I just added my viewpoint that did not fully agree and I did so fairly politely. If I don't agree with them I should not accept them but I was not rude about how I handled it.

Onto how that would be possible, I suspect it could have been done similarly to what happens in an encephalon dive, where their conciousness essentially enters the individual's subconcious. If, somehow, Yuriev were able to enter Gaignun's mind in an encephalon dive, somewhere or somehow, perhaps by just lingering in the encephalon, he could feasibly have gained access to Nigredo's mind.

No. He wouldn't be a shadow that can take people over. As the U.R.T.V. had a significant amount of training in the encephalon, he could have easily returned with Nigredo during one of the sessions, perhaps following his death (although to be completely sure is hard to do).

The encephalon is just a program, yes, but the encephalon is a program that basically rips your conciousness out of your body and places it into someone else's conciousness or possibly even a programmed location. So therefore, Dmitri could have easily had his conciousness completely separated from his body and present somewhere int he encephalon program awaiting an opportunity to enter Nigredo's subconciousness.

As much as I can provide. It does not necessarily make the person on the outside completely unconcious. But when they dove into Shion's subconcious, they were clearly going into her subconcious, there's no doubt about that. Obviously that's what the encephalon does. As they are there capable of making decisions, thinking, and essentially acting inside one another's head, their conciousness is present.

In the case of the first dive, there's good reason, as well, why she was laying down. Her conciousness and all the decisions made were made while active in KOS-MOS' system from the system suggesting that her body was fairly unresponsive on the outside.