plot point I don't get (spoilers but doubtful)

[Shrimpaholic]

Okay if the Mystics (not gonna call them fiends, bleh) can change their form to look like humans (the ones in the cathedral did, and Flea can) why didn't they just disguise themselves as Guardia guards and infiltrate the castle, kill the king, and take over? It'd have been so easy! Instead they have this roundabout plan of Yakra taking the queen and smashing the bridge (which to me still makes no sense, because then how can they get across themselves to attack the castle?). Plus, if they come out of the Magic Cave why did they leave Dorino and Porre alone? Those towns were completely defenseless yet they weren't ransacked at all.

I don't know, can someone explain the Mystic's line of thinking, because from a tactical standpoint they really blew it.

[KebreI]

Well a vast majority of them don't seem to smart first off, plus I think we came up with the theory somewhere that only certain Fiends(you say it at some point) can transform not all of them.

[Shrimpaholic]

Well whether it was some or all, it would really only take Flea (the most power I presume) to kill the king, change into a bat, and fly out the window.
I mean I know we wouldn't have as great a game then, but ignoring the game part and just looking at the story it would have made more sense.

[Eske]

Okay if the Mystics (not gonna call them fiends, bleh) can change their form to look like humans (the ones in the cathedral did, and Flea can) why didn't they just disguise themselves as Guardia guards and infiltrate the castle, kill the king, and take over? It'd have been so easy! Instead they have this roundabout plan of Yakra taking the queen and smashing the bridge (which to me still makes no sense, because then how can they get across themselves to attack the castle?). Plus, if they come out of the Magic Cave why did they leave Dorino and Porre alone? Those towns were completely defenseless yet they weren't ransacked at all.

I don't know, can someone explain the Mystic's line of thinking, because from a tactical standpoint they really blew it.

I don't know about the transformations but...  as for the bridge incident, it think is was supposed to cut off the north from the south so that Magus's troops could ravage the south easily.  No support from the elite knights of the square table 

[Dark Serge]

My guess is they need real human bodies to disguise themselves with, instead of magically materializing one

[Shadow D. Darkman]

Huh, that's a reasonable explanation for the Mystics and their human disguises.

Reminds me of Nagini as Bathilda Bagshot in Harry Potter 7.

[Prince Janus]

 That doesn't explain Yakra though, unless the chancellor has an expendable twin.

[Shadow D. Darkman]

Ah, good point.

[Dark Serge]

Hmm perhaps they just need a host of flesh and bones, and can modify the look to their own will. Simply put, they need a human body to insert themselves in, but while they're in it they can modify the look however they want. When they leave the host the human body is probably destroyed.

It's just a theory to attempt to make it right though. In reality I had never though about this before.

[Xenterex]

Okay if the Mystics (not gonna call them fiends, bleh) can change their form to look like humans (the ones in the cathedral did, and Flea can) why didn't they just disguise themselves as Guardia guards and infiltrate the castle, kill the king, and take over? 

That was their plan.  Remember in the cathedral in the room just prior to Magus' Shrine there are mystics disguised as the king, queen, and a guard.   And then once you're in Magus' castle, he (or one of his three) are able to replicate illusions/disguises from each character's inner most thoughts. (Chrono's mom, queen leene, and King guardia or Lucca) I think the magic they use, simply requires a reliable mental image from someone. 

Plus, Leene had only just recently been kidnapped, so I think in this particular case  Frog/Crono simply arrive too quickly for the mystics to be ready to execute their plan.  As for not simply slaughtering the people for victory, I think I have some insight to their way of thinking.  Again from the cathedral, one of the sources of food for these mystics are humans.  If you subtilely defeat your enemy and capture them without them being aware, that makes it easier to control them for indirect slavery/food supply.  Furthermore, they all listened to and worshipped Magus, and Magus didn't actually care about the war, as it was just a means to his ends, so he probably issued various delay tactics and simple excuses to keep the mystics occupied.   

[Shadow D. Darkman]

Hmm perhaps they just need a host of flesh and bones, and can modify the look to their own will. Simply put, they need a human body to insert themselves in, but while they're in it they can modify the look however they want. When they leave the host the human body is probably destroyed.

It's just a theory to attempt to make it right though. In reality I had never though about this before.

Neither did I. Intriguing.

[Shrimpaholic]

The part about Magus delaying attacks or stalling for times makes sense, but it just gets me because towns people say they've been at war for "years", yet in the game Guardia is still intact and the mystics haven't really done ANYTHING (only recently kidnapped the queen). It's like how long can this guy stall for time before Ozzie and crew realize he's not got his heart into it and take matters into their own hands?

[Eske]

The part about Magus delaying attacks or stalling for times makes sense, but it just gets me because towns people say they've been at war for "years", yet in the game Guardia is still intact and the mystics haven't really done ANYTHING (only recently kidnapped the queen). It's like how long can this guy stall for time before Ozzie and crew realize he's not got his heart into it and take matters into their own hands?

They think he is summoning Lavos to wipe out Guardia.  Its like saying "spare our troops, we'll just nuke 'em".  Since the mystics don't have humanitarian concerns (for humans), they shouldn't suspect a thing.

[Xenterex]

It's like how long can this guy stall for time before Ozzie and crew realize he's not got his heart into it and take matters into their own hands?

I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what Yakra was doing, or why he was told to do it.  The Yakra line does attempt to overthrow the kingdom with its kidnap + impersonation plot more than once.

[Shadow D. Darkman]

Ah, that's right. Yakra XIII's plan was more complicated, though. Wait, would it be "complicated" or "detailed"? IDK.