Does Gaspar Age?

[Truthordeal]

I thought for sure that someone would've asked this question by now, but going back through all 17 pages of this section of the forum, I found three threads relating to Gaspar in anyway, but none of them answered this question.

So, since Gaspar lives at the End of Time, and time can't possibly flow beyond that point, does he refrain from aging for all eternity?

Or, does his body still experience the flow of time? If so, then isn't the End of Time not really the End?

[V_Translanka]

Well, talk about whether or not time passes in the End of Time (which I'm sure has been discussed) wouldn't be in the Characters, Plot and Themes analysis forum is probably why...You might want to check out History, Locations and Artifacts or more than likely Time, Space and Dimensions.

The End of Time is still subject to the flow of time though from what I recall, so I would think that so are those within it.

[IAmSerge]

Simple answer to your quesion: No.

He is all, was all, and will be all.

[alfadorredux]

Meaning that Gaspar is really a Nu?  o_O;

[utunnels]

I think that is just because he's at the end of time, where time flow ends.
But after all he is just a fictional character, if time doesn't flow there, shouldn't everything be still?

[idioticidioms]

Actually, I have an answer, but it's going to take some thought to present correctly. It is anything short of simple, given the adverse nature of time travel in any given story line.

First of all, think of the End of Time not as an extension of the CT-World, but outside of it. It has it's own time-keeping mechanism there, which is not the same as in the CT-World, yet it is. I will explain in due course.

Now, in the Storyline wherein Lavos destroys the world in 1999 AD, Belthazar is shipped off to the distant future, 2300 AD, where he eventually dies of old age/sickness. This proves that the Guru's are Mortal and prone to the same limitations as all mortals. So how come Belthazar dies and Gaspar and Melchior do not? Let's say... situation and chance. The other two's situations are inherently different from the cold, bleak surroundings that Belthazar was put into, for one. And, to have this question about Gaspar, it must be about Melchior, too, even if they are in different places and times.

Only so much time passed between their exile from the Kingdom of Zeal and their interactions with Crono & Crew.

If you notice during the normal gameplay, no matter what you do in one time zone, time still progresses forward at the same rate in the other time zones. When you spend a day in 600 AD, a day is spent in 1000 AD, as well. You are thinking of the End of Time as being one lone stretch of existence from the beginning of the time to the end, but it isn't. It is a time zone as well. Just one that connects to all others at once. Now, given the rules stated previously, when Gaspar and the other Gurus were exiled from Zeal, they were all sent their separate ways along with Janus. Each person spent the same amount of time in each time zone. That is the key. Gaspar didnt spend any more time than the others just because he was at the End of Time.

Gaspar is still aging the same as the others, at the same pace.

Now, how the End of Time got created... that would make for interesting conversation. I'm guessing it was created when the three gurus and Janus were exiled. No more than 3 people can enter a time warp at once, but you bet Gaspar didn't learn that until after his exile. When the four of them traveled through space and time, the gate couldn't handle the stress and so a new place and time was created out of nothingness. Seeing as how all points of time came to being after the beginning of time, and since it encompassed all era's of time, it was probably best decided by Gaspar to be labeled as the End of Time.

[Truthordeal]

I understand that Melchior and Belthasar aged and that all three Gurus and Janus spent the exact same amount of time in their respective eras.

But the question is, does Gaspar age since time doesn't go forward any at the End of Time?

[Katie Skyye]

No more than 3 people can enter a time warp at once, but you bet Gaspar didn't learn that until after his exile. When the four of them traveled through space and time, the gate couldn't handle the stress and so a new place and time was created out of nothingness. Seeing as how all points of time came to being after the beginning of time, and since it encompassed all era's of time, it was probably best decided by Gaspar to be labeled as the End of Time.

It's four people from different ERAS, not just four people. Chrono, Marle, Lucca, and...say, Crono's mom could all go through a gate w/o being rerouted to the EoT.

Now, to the main question. It is my personal opinion that while time is not 'stopped' at the end of time, it does not pass for the zone or its inhabitants. To explain...

Say you've got a time freeze, like when the gang used the Chrono Trigger. Well, for those in the time freeze...they wouldn't even notice its occurrence. For those OUTSIDE the time freeze, they could literally count how many minutes the freeze lasted. But time would not have passed for those within. So, where am I going with this?

Say you could freeze time for 100 years. The people within the freeze are frozen for that long, but they won't age or anything, even though they're technically alive for such a longer time than usual. When the freeze ends, they keep doing what they had been, none the wiser, not even knowing that time had stopped.

The End of Time is different. Time hasn't stopped as in a Time Freeze--it has altogether ceased to flow. It sounds the same, but...until there's a better word, we'll differentiate with 'stop' as a time freeze and 'cease' as the EoT scenario.

So, in the EoT, you could technically measure its existence in years or hours or whatever, but it wouldn't have any impact on the place or those in it. They're technically the same age they were when they went in.

That's my opinion.

Also, Belthasar was dropped in the future much before 2300 AD...probably around 2280, I'm guessing. Melchior might have been dropped in anywhere prior to 995. But there's no way to determine where Gaspar was placed, since time has no meaning in the EoT. Technically, everything that will ever happen in the EoT has already happened. The Gaspar Chrono and Co. met will not necessarily be the same Gaspar as an alternate band of Time Travelers meet. The Gaspar they meet may know of Chrono and Co...and he may not. He may even have just arrived at the EoT and is just as confused as the Time Travelers.

I'm gonna go with 'he's ageless,' on this one.

[V_Translanka]

I understand that Melchior and Belthasar aged and that all three Gurus and Janus spent the exact same amount of time in their respective eras.

Where does it say that...? I don't think there's any evidence supporting this idea...>_>

[Truthordeal]

Where does it say that...? I don't think there's any evidence supporting this idea...>_>

Call it an assumption. The Gurus were all human, and they existed well within the flow of time. Belthasar himself died in the Lavos Timeline, so it's not absurd to say that they weren't immortal yet.

As for the "same time" thing, it's usually a common agreement that the Gates of that timeline move at the same rate and flow constantly. So if Janus was warped to about 580, Melchior  would've been warped to 980, Belthasar to 2280 and Gaspar to the End of Time.

Janus aged, of course. Melchior is assumed to have aged, and Belthasar died of his old age.

So if time doesn't flow at the End of Time like it does at 580 et. al, does Gaspar, himself, age?

[V_Translanka]

Regardless of when they popped in to their respective times, there's nothing to say that the new Gates were made to travel in sync with when they were transported there.

Oh, and here are the two topics you should check out...http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,3148.0.html and maybe http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,370.0.html

[Xenterex]

I'd say he experiences the flow of time, though I'm not certain to what degree.  For one, he has a change of outfit, and some of his physical features (I think) have changed a bit.  If nothing else, he had to recollect a few things (like when he reveals what he was called in Zeal) and he sleeps.  Now either his dreams are a form of maintaining the spatial characteristics of the End of Time (as there wasn't anything around when he arrived.) or its how he sustains himself within the End of time. 

If he was under the complete effects of time flow, he'd probably need to eat and drink and defecate in addition to sleeping.  Course, that could be why he has a bucket at the end of time. 

"That bucket leads to the Day of Lavos.  If you use the bucket to transport yourselves there, be sure to throw the contents at Lavos for me.  Thats my way of saying thanks for his stupid time anomaly dumping me here."

[Mr Bekkler]

The End of Time could also mean that nothing is supposed to come after it. As in no further civilization. No more people are born. No more planet.

It could be that simple. Maybe it's the last year of time. The first instance of Chrono&co showing up doesn't necessarily have to be the Final point on all timelines. Like the rest of the game, I think it's intentionally vague.

How would Gaspar know when he ended up? Maybe it just feels like the end.

[Truthordeal]

How would Gaspar know when he ended up? Maybe it just feels like the end.

Well, he was the Guru of Time in Zeal. He probably has a good bit of knowledge beforehand about its concept.

[Mr Bekkler]

Understood, but my suggestion is that time doesn't stop flowing.

There's simply nobody left to experience it, except Gaspar and Spekkio.