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Theories > Different Dragons Theory, Part 1
Rewritten By Lance Way, August 2004
  After playing through the first three Panzer Dragoon games, many gamers make a very understandable assumption about the series' storyline. It is commonly thought that the dragon in each game was meant to be the same dragon: the same physical creature from one game to the next.
This idea does make good sense on the surface; in each game the dragon fulfils another part of the same greater mission, acting in a very similar way to the dragon in the game before it, and these creatures even look very similar - or even the same - at some points from game to game.
When examining the intricacies of the sprawling and enigmatic Panzer Dragoon storyline though, it seems that this assumption is challenged by numerous pieces of evidence throughout the games. As much as this idea may at first seem to make sense, it may very well not be the only possibility, or even the most likely explanation. In this article I will be looking at the alternative: the idea that more than one dragon starred in the Sega Saturn games.
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A Recap: The Nature of the Dragon
When approaching these pieces of evidence, it is worth keeping in mind what is known about the nature of the "dragon" itself. Although the dragon and its purpose remained largely mysterious throughout the series, the truth was revealed to the player (to some extent) at the end of Panzer Dragoon Saga. Just before the final battle of that game, the player was shown several recordings of past events in the Panzer Dragoon world, presented in the form of five "flashback" FMV sequences. Some of these events had never been revealed before, and they shed much light on the true nature of the dragon.
 In the distant past, the Ancients created the vast monoliths of technology called Towers, and they linked these structures together with a data network known as Sestren. The Sestren network was designed to gather information for an artificial intelligence that dwelled inside it, and this AI was charged with operating the Towers. The Towers themselves were instruments of global oppression, built by the Ancients throughout the world so that their will could be imposed on all life.
Ten thousand years after the Ancient Age ended, the possibility that the Towers might at last be destroyed emerged in the Sestren network itself. The program-entity pictured below, a black-coloured, dragon-shaped program, went renegade and threatened the safety of the Towers and Sestren. Although it unfortunately has no official name, this entity is often referred to by fans as the Heresy Program. The Sestren AI ejected it from the network at once, but the Heresy Program lived on even in the outside world, in the form of spiralling energy that travelled the wastelands.
 
In order for the Heresy Program to fulfil its own mission of destroying the Towers though, it had to take on a physical form, and this is what we saw in Panzer Dragoon Zwei - the first part of the series' storyline. The Heresy Program entered into the body of a domestic riding animal called a Coolia, and it empowered this creature, enhancing its body and guiding its thoughts.
The Coolia's name was Lagi, and the Heresy Program set out to gradually transform his humble body into the body of a dragon, the ultimate kind of bio-engineered creature created by the Ancients. The people who dwelled in the village where Lagi was born feared such mutations though, especially the distinctive green light that pulsed within his throat: the light that signified his potential to summon forth the dragon's legendary "arrows of light". It was only because Lagi was hidden away by his owner, a young man named Lundi, that he was not put to death by the superstitious villagers.
 
A year or so after Lagi's birth, Lundi's village was destroyed by Shelcoof, the flying Tower of the Sky. The adult Lagi took Lundi as his rider, and they set out after Shelcoof. The Heresy Program continued to evolve Lagi's body step-by-step through different dragon forms during the course of their adventure, each one more powerful than the last. Eventually Lagi reached the Solo Wing form, which is apparently the ultimate form of the dragon, and he succeeded in destroying Shelcoof.
 
All of this is well established, but two major questions remain. Firstly, was the physical dragon in Panzer Dragoon - which was the second chapter in the storyline of the series - still Lagi? Furthermore, was the physical dragon in Panzer Dragoon Saga - the third part of the story - still the same dragon from Panzer Dragoon? Or was the Heresy Program forced to enter into, guide and empower different creatures during those later times?
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1) Lundi's Diaries and the Panzer Dragoon Zwei Ending Sequence
Vitally important to an understanding of Lagi's fate are the diaries of Lundi, his faithful rider from Panzer Dragoon Zwei. These diaries can be found as items in Panzer Dragoon Saga, and they elaborate greatly upon the events of Panzer Dragoon Zwei, especially the game's enigmatic and mysterious ending sequence.
 
After destroying the Guardian Dragon that was Shelcoof's protector, Lagi left Lundi behind; the dragon sealed its rider inside a protective sphere of energy and ascended into Shelcoof alone. Lundi lapsed into unconsciousness at this point, and the dragon caused many strange visions and truths to seep into his mind, as he himself wrote in his diary:
"When he destroyed the ship, he entrusted me with his secret. The secret of him, and of the world."
On his return to consciousness, Lundi came across the wreckage of Shelcoof; he ventured into the ruin, searching for his dragon friend. The fallen Tower was truly lifeless, for Lagi had been successful in completing his mission, as Lundi recounted:
"Inside, it was as quiet as it was dead. What remaining monsters were left had long since died."
 
The next thing that Lundi relates in this diary is perhaps the most vital piece of information there, as it clarifies something that was not actually witnessed in the Panzer Dragoon Zwei ending sequence itself. Lundi describes how he found the body of Lagi:
"In the centre of the airship, Lagi laid still, his power completely exhausted. Lagi's body was stone cold, but I knew he was still alive."
Lundi elaborated on this same event in another one of his memoirs, the book dubbed the "Old Diary":
"By destroying the Tower of the Sky, Shelcoof, our journey came to an end. Exhausting all his power, he discarded his body, and entered a deep sleep."
So it would seem that Lagi's body genuinely did pass away at the end of Panzer Dragoon Zwei; it was lifeless and cold, and Lagi's spirit or consciousness had left its exhausted flesh so as to enter into a state of slumber. This discovery of Lagi's body was not witnessed in the ending sequence itself though, so we are likely meant to assume that Lundi found the dead dragon only after the events we saw. The FMV ended with Lundi still in the heart of the ship, so it would certainly make sense for him to find Lagi's body soon afterwards.
 
What we did witness as the game's ending sequence drew to a close ties in with all this quite clearly, though. Lundi entered an enormous chamber at the heart of Shelcoof, and he gazed up at a massive carved image of a dragon mounted on the ancient wall. This engraved artefact would later come to be known as a "dragon crest", and as Lundi stared at it, a greenish light began to glow from beneath its surface: the same greenish light that had once resided within Lagi's throat now throbbed within the throat of the enormous carved dragon.
Lundi had glimpsed this same crest during the visions and revelations that Lagi had shown to him, and he apparently comprehended what it was. As Lundi gazed at the glowing image, he whispered the single word "Lagi". As we have been told that Lagi had "discarded his body" and "entered into a deep sleep", it seems fairly clear that the spirit of the dead dragon now resided in this crest.
 
Evidently Lagi both died and lived on at the end of Panzer Dragoon Zwei then, as while his body passed away his spirit was kept safe within the dragon crest. It is also quite clear that Lagi was not destined to slumber within that artefact forever, as Lundi himself confirmed in his diaries:
"One day, Lagi will regain his power and return to the sky."
So, is this truly evidence that Lagi did not go on to become the Panzer Dragoon dragon? Taken alone it certainly is not, as it would leave open the possibility that Lagi had regained his power and emerged from that crest before the events of Panzer Dragoon, and that Lagi was the dragon in that game also.
As with most truths in the Panzer Dragoon world though, the truth here is apparently not so straightforward. Other sources indicate that Lagi's spirit may still have been inside that dragon crest right up until the time of Panzer Dragoon Saga: forty-eight years after Panzer Dragoon Zwei, and a whole thirty years after the events of Panzer Dragoon took place...
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2) The Rebirth of Lagi in Panzer Dragoon Saga (?)
The second disc of Panzer Dragoon Saga takes Edge and his dragon to the inland sea called Georgius, over which Shelcoof was destroyed at the end of Panzer Dragoon Zwei, and where - on an island - the wreckage of Shelcoof came to rest. In the forty-eight years that have passed since Panzer Dragoon Zwei though, Shelcoof's broken bulk has been heavily restored by automated repair systems. The vessel - or at least, the front half of the vessel - is hovering over the waves once again.
Edge is able to destroy the repair mechanisms immediately, but it is not until the third disc of the game that he can gain full access to the interior of the flying wreck. When he does, he is greeted by a very strange and very striking apparition.
Edge finds himself at one end of a very long passage, and at the other end of it is the room where the great carved dragon crest lies, the artefact that Lagi's spirit disappeared into at the end of Panzer Dragoon Zwei. As Edge watches, slivers of bright energy emerge from that room, and they materialise into the shape of a dragon: a spectral dragon in the Solo Wing form, exactly the same form that Lagi's body was in when it passed away.
 
Needless to say, it would be odd if we were not meant to make the obvious connection here: to think of this ethereal dragon as Lagi's spirit. Lundi's diaries did state that Lagi died in this very place, and we can deduce that Lagi's spirit - or whatever essence remained of Lagi at the end of Panzer Dragoon Zwei - entered into the dragon crest in the room that this ghostly dragon just emerged from.
 
The spirit then turns and heads back towards the dragon crest room, clearly wanting Edge to follow it; he does so, and he finds the massive artefact that Lagi's essence disappeared into forty-eight years ago. What happens next is perhaps even more striking than the appearance of the spectral dragon, which has by this point vanished into thin air again: something emerges from the dragon crest.
 
It is a small creature, struggling to fly on tiny wings: it is a little grey-green Coolia pup, which has a bright green light glowing in its throat. After it emerges from the crest it follows Edge and his dragon wherever they go, flapping along through the air behind them and resting with them when they camp out in the wilderness. It is a cheerful, playful little living being, and it looks and acts exactly like Lagi did when he was a pup.
 
The implications seem to mount up around this small creature. We know that whatever essence remained of Lagi entered into that dragon crest at the end of Panzer Dragoon Zwei. We know that Lagi was always destined to return to the world. We know that Edge was greeted inside Shelcoof by a spectral dragon that looked exactly like Lagi used to, right before his body died. We know that this ghostly dragon led Edge back to the room with the crest, clearly wanting him to find it. We know that a little winged Coolia pup emerged from the crest, a pup with a green glow in its throat and tiny wings: a pup that looks and acts exactly like Lagi did when he was young.
Given all this, it seems surprisingly likely that Team Andromeda wanted us to think of this creature as Lagi reborn.
There is a small epilogue to all of this too, as the young Lagi pup is not doomed to follow Edge and his dragon around forever. There is an Ancient Age facility in the Forest of Zoah known as the Red Ruins, and when Edge activates it, some intangible function of its ancient technologies creates a blinding flash of light. When vision returns to Edge and the player, Edge's dragon and the reborn Lagi have become as one: what was once two minds and two bodies is now a single dragon, and it has taken on the Solo Wing form that Lagi knew of old.
 
These events, combined with Lundi's diaries, would seem to explain the ending sequence of Panzer Dragoon Zwei at last. They reveal to us the significance and the meaning of the glowing dragon crest, because they also reveal what emerged from that crest decades into the future. As was shown at the end of Panzer Dragoon Zwei, it was Lagi - or rather, whatever essence remained of Lagi - that entered into that dragon crest inside Shelcoof, and it would seem that Lagi emerged from that artefact in Panzer Dragoon Saga.
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3) The Identity of the Panzer Dragoon Dragon
Returning to the events of Panzer Dragoon Zwei for a moment, the "true" ending of that game saw Lagi in the Solo Wing form: this final transformation was directly linked to gameplay, as it occurred only if the player had taken the most difficult route in every one of the game's Episodes, and only if the player had shot down every one of the game's enemies in the process. Panzer Dragoon Saga confirms this as being the real version of storyline events, as opposed to Lagi finishing the game and destroying Shelcoof in one of his lesser forms, such as the Windrider. Needless to say, the dragon in Panzer Dragoon - the next part of the series' greater storyline - is also in the Solo Wing form.
 
Despite the rather hefty implication that Lagi did not emerge from the dragon crest inside Shelcoof until the time of Panzer Dragoon Saga, many fans have assumed that the physical similarity between Lagi and the Panzer Dragoon dragon shows that they must be the same creature. Although this is an understandable deduction, the above evidence seems to imply that it cannot be the case, and that there must be another explanation for the similarity between these two creatures.
Fortunately, it is not necessary to search far before an alternative arises: we have been shown that different dragons can indeed take on the same physical form. In Panzer Dragoon Saga, it is revealed that the "spiritual" sub-form of the Solo Wing is the physical form that the Dark Dragon had taken on in Panzer Dragoon. In Panzer Dragoon Saga though, Edge's dragon can take on this form - and needless to say, that does not mean that Edge's dragon must be the Dark Dragon. Looking at the previous evidence, we have reason to believe that Lagi and the Panzer Dragoon dragon are not the same creature either.
 
Remember that Lundi confirmed in his diaries that Lagi's previous body - his Solo Wing body - did die at the end of Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Lundi was quite clear that Lagi had "discarded his body" and that he would rise again only with a "new body". It would seem that the baby Coolia pup that emerged from the dragon crest in Shelcoof was this new body, as it literally appeared to be a fresh, healthy, reborn version of Lagi's previous body.
To assume that the Panzer Dragoon dragon was Lagi would be to assume that Lundi's testament - that Lagi's Solo Wing body died, and that Lagi would return with a different body - was quite wrong, yet we have no particular reason to believe that it would be. It would also be necessary to assume that Lagi had left the crest in Shelcoof before the events of Panzer Dragoon took place, even though it seems he was still in that crest decades later at the time of Panzer Dragoon Saga.
The alternative to all of this is that the Panzer Dragoon dragon was simply a different physical creature - a second dragon - and going by what we know, this would seem to make sense. If the Heresy Program existed as bodiless energy at first before it entered into Lagi, and if it eventually managed to transform his humble body into an Ancient Age dragon, there's no apparent reason why it couldn't ultimately repeat this process.
 
When Lagi's body died, his own spirit or essence was evidently preserved inside Shelcoof's dragon crest, but as Panzer Dragoon Saga apparently showed us, Lagi himself was only able to rise from that crest forty-eight years afterwards. The Panzer Dragoon dragon existed eighteen years after the events of Panzer Dragoon Zwei though, so it seems reasonable to assume that the Heresy Program had simply gone its own way and found a second host, after it stored Lagi's essence within that dragon crest.
Ultimately, the fact that the Panzer Dragoon dragon is a Solo Wing, exactly like Lagi's final form, makes sense even if these two dragons are not supposed to be the same physical creature. We know that the Heresy Program prefers its host to have the Solo Wing form above all others, as in all of the games it never evolves into a different form after reaching this one. We can gather that the Panzer Dragoon dragon was travelling with the mysterious Sky Rider for some time before Panzer Dragoon actually took place, and that the two must have undergone some considerable hardships together during that time: the anguished wail that this dragon shrieks out when the Sky Rider dies indicates that they had grown very close to one another.
 
The Sky Rider and this dragon came out of the Frontier, out of the vast unknown, uncharted, unobserved wastelands beyond human settlement. They were likely travelling through this wilderness, travelling towards their destination - the Tower off the Imperial coast - for months before Panzer Dragoon took place. That would certainly be time enough for the Heresy Program to evolve this second dragon from whatever it had been into the Solo Wing form, just as it had done with Lagi.
A look at what became of this second dragon, and whether or not it went on to play the role of the Panzer Dragoon Saga dragon, can be found in Part 2 of this article.
Back to Page 2 of the Theories Section | Part 2 >>
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Destroy the mutant stealing habits; it is the village's code. The Will of the Ancients is an unofficial fansite that is in no way supported or associated with SEGA or Smilebit. Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Panzer Dragoon Orta and all other official Panzer Dragoon content is © SEGA, 1995-2003. Everything else on this website was made or written by Solo Wing Dragon unless otherwise noted. Please ask me first before using any content on this website for fan or commercial purposes.
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