How is the island stay floating after the core's death?

The core DOES technically die. So, how does the island stay afloat instead of immediately just smashing into the ground? Also, how does this GIANT, MYTHOLOGICAL, BEING keep the island afloat, and basically cancel out Mr. Insane evil-wizard Ballos' powers?

(Also isn't the core evil too? It tries to kill you! So shouldn't the island being falling at 2x speed?!)

 

The Doctor does say "There's still time", meaning the Core was only brought close to destruction but was not fully destroyed.

The Core was made by Jenka with the express purpose of cancelling out Ballos's negative energy. Jenka is implied to be extremely powerful herself. (There's still the question of what was keeping the Island afloat before both Ballos's snapping and the Core's creation, but I don't remember if this was addressed in game and I don't feel like going through the Theories section right now.)

The Core isn't evil, it's just protecting itself from any possible intruders that may be trying to destroy it (like earlier). It has no idea you specifically don't mean it harm. Essentially a miscommunication, not unlike with Curly.

 

The core doesn't make the island float, it stops it from falling. You might think that is the same thing, but it isn't.

This is what Pixel said on the matter in this interview...

Japanese original:

コアとバロスの両方がいなくなったとき、島を浮かせているものは何ですか？

ボロスは下降に働いてコアは上昇に働いていて、それ以前にあった道の魔法の力が島を浮かせています。

English translation:

What keeps the island floating when both the Core and Ballos are gone?

Ballos is working down, the core is working up, and the magical power of the road that was there before it is what keeps the island afloat.

(Also isn't the core evil too? It tries to kill you! So shouldn't the island being falling at 2x speed?!)

If you recall the Core was attacked by robots in the past, so it probably saw Quote and Curly as a threat.

 

Wait... So if Ballos was killed does that mean the island would just go to space? Plus how does The Core know that Quote and Curly are robots it took a while for everyone else to notice. Also if the core didn't die, then why is it called the undead core when you fight it again?

 

The mysterious intrinsic magical power of the Island keeps it afloat at just the right spot , as it was for the millenia before Ballos came around. (I do wish there were more clues about this magic in particular - something to do with the Cthulhus?)

The Core doesn't know Quote and Curly are robots - it just detected the presence of something and thought 'better safe than sorry, something tried to destroy me earlier so let me fight these things'.

It's called the Undead Core because it's not dead and didn't die. Otherwise it would be called the Reborn Core or something.

 

So if Ballos was killed does that mean the island would just go to space?

Honestly, how far above the surface was the island at, anyway? Regardless of how fast you go in the Sacred Grounds, the island always stops at the right spot. And the Nikumaru Counter really doesn't do anyone favors either, since it can cap at 99 minutes, 59.9 seconds, and it'll still be falling. The island may as well have been in space, or the descent was so slow it's no wonder why everyone survives the fall during the second ending!

 

Wait... So if Ballos was killed does that mean the island would just go to space?

i think this would happen (spoilers for the end of laputa/castle in the sky)

 

i think this would happen (spoilers for the end of laputa/castle in the sky)

(Originally I was gonna put an ORG here but... I spent like an hour trying to embed it and it wouldn't work )

...But doesn't Ballos get killed anyway?

 

...But doesn't Ballos get killed anyway?

Yes, but that was after the Core is destroyed, so the island stabilises. The question is more what happens if Ballos was killed without destroying the Core first.

Flying into space is possible if the levitation power was unlimited, but Jenka would intervene before it got to that. Although it wouldn't surprise me if the levitation power used more power the further from the ground you got and would simply stabilise at a higher altitude.

 

(Originally I was gonna put an ORG here but... I spent like an hour trying to embed it and it wouldn't work )

are you implying someone has made an org of a track from laputa please tell me this is true

 

The question is more what happens if Ballos was killed without destroying the Core first.

if ballosAlive = 1 {

Levitation = 1;

}

else {

Levitation = 0;

}

I mean, who knows how magic users keep track of the magic they're using, they at least seem to have something akin to LifeAlert since Misery shows up immediately after Quote and Curly critically damaged the Core. It'd be hilarious if magic was treated like programming, tho, which would probably explain on how Quote and Curly could even square up to users like Misery or even Ballos.

 

are you implying someone has made an org of a track from laputa please tell me this is true

Sadly, I'm not good at making ORGS. So no, it's just some version of Breakdown I made.

Anyways, if Jenka has THAT kind of magic to make the island stabilize, why can't she just do that after you kill the undead core? There's no way Balrog just full on jumped her and broke 206 bones in her body, even then she's shown to later have been fine. So, why doesn't she just stop the island, instead of just letting it crash in the normal ending??

 

Sadly, I'm not good at making ORGS. So no, it's just some version of Breakdown I made.

crying, shaking, sobbing etc

So, why doesn't she just stop the island, instead of just letting it crash in the normal ending??

well... she's old, i would imagine that the core does most of the work keeping the island stable - maybe she's the one slowing it down as it falls, but i don't think she's capable of keeping it up all by herself

 

On that note, was it ever really explained why destroying the Core makes the red flower-affected Mimigas turn back to normal? What's the connection? My memory's a bit rusty on this.

 

Anyways, if Jenka has THAT kind of magic to make the island stabilize, why can't she just do that after you kill the undead core? There's no way Balrog just full on jumped her and broke 206 bones in her body, even then she's shown to later have been fine. So, why doesn't she just stop the island, instead of just letting it crash in the normal ending??

tl;dr All that magic materialized into the Core. With Jenka being so crippled to the point of even being unable to hover or even walk just to round up her dogs in Sand Zone, it's a wonder that Jenka still has the strength/energy left to keep on living. It is unknown if the Core will also die if she were to die herself, unless Misery does what she could to keep her mom alive too (except while she's in stasis), since Misery gets very concerned over the Core as well. With the Core gone, and/or with Ballos gone, it is highly doubtful that Jenka can even regenerate her own magic reserves.

On that note, was it ever really explained why destroying the Core makes the red flower-affected Mimigas turn back to normal? What's the connection? My memory's a bit rusty on this.

...Huh. I mean, it makes sense with the Undead Core, since the Doctor's soul manifested into physicality through the Red Crystal, and that in itself could've been how Mimigas turned back to normal (even though this never seemed to ever happen in the credits). But the Core in its original state... Unless Kazuma knows about the Undead Core?

For a more boring explanation, it's possible Kazuma was just grasping at straws at any possible ways on how to stop the red flowers' influence, for all we know, the Core has absolutely nothing to do about that, and killing Ballos could've been the solution after all, with the theory that the red flowers were a manifestation of Ballos' own agony. It's just really hard to tell since the only Mimigas we ever see in the credits for the second and third endings, are ones that did not touch a single red flower in their lives, so maybe nothing happened.

 

if ballosAlive = 1 {

Levitation = 1;

}

else {

Levitation = 0;

}

No. That's wrong on every level.

Think of it like this:

levitation = 1 + (coreAlive?1:0) - (ballosAlive?1:0);

Ballos being alive makes the island fall. The core being alive makes the island rise (to counter Ballos). If both or neither are alive then the island just floats in place.

 

No. That's wrong on every level.

Think of it like this:

levitation = 1 + (coreAlive?1:0) - (ballosAlive?1:0);

Ballos being alive makes the island fall. The core being alive makes the island rise (to counter Ballos). If both or neither are alive then the island just floats in place.

Gee, I wonder why Ballos is so negative he makes an entire island fall to the ground. That's super rude.

 

Gee, I wonder why Ballos is so negative he makes an entire island fall to the ground. That's super rude.

It's called depression, angst, regret, and suicidal thoughts. Unfortunately, even with how rude it can appear towards others surrounding Ballos, the only being he's ever really being rude to is himself.

 

Some people can be so depressed that they bring down the entire room, but Ballos brings down the entire room in the most literal of ways.

 

The island itself is very much a manifestation of Ballos's isolation, it's kept afloat by his delusions alone, and his delusions outlast him. His magic is the very thing that allowed him to destroy the society that wouldn't support him and I suppose in the good ending that magic, or delusions, whatever the hell you wanna call it, actually maintained stable grounding to allow a new community to form.