Sword Art Online - Q & A

[Alucard24]

Originally Posted by Kamui04

Spoiler for Pointing out dialogues in Ep15 that might answer the question.:

you can guess that Argus was dissolved soon after the incident came to light and all this time the original SAO servers have been under Sugou's control way before the game was cleared and most were logged off.

Him being the slimeball shown he is, you can imagine the rest.

Also we don't know about SAO, but on other MMROPGs they do periodical backups of the data.

Spoiler for Answer:

Are you saying Sugou would make another game similar to SAO just to lock Asuna inside it ? He should just have used a backup (if there is one) instead of creating a whole new game.

And I don't understand how is it possible to transfer Asuna consciousness from SAO to the new game we see in the OP. I mean, she would have to "log off" at some point and then "log in" in the new ??

[LKK]

Does Asuna have any siblings? (I know it's a simple question & that I could hunt down the answer. But I don't want to uncover spoilers while searching. )

[RRW]

Originally Posted by LKK

Does Asuna have any siblings? (I know it's a simple question & that I could hunt down the answer. But I don't want to uncover spoilers while searching. )

Spoiler for answer from the novels:

yes, but we probably wont see him for while

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by LKK

Does Asuna have any siblings? (I know it's a simple question & that I could hunt down the answer. But I don't want to uncover spoilers while searching. )

Spoiler for From the novels:

She has an older brother. In fact the Nerve she wore was her brother's.

[enthalpy]

Spoiler for Question:

Is there any reason they dont talk about SAO outside of the game? It seems odd to not talk to your family about it or anything like that. I would think Kirito would want to talk about it a little bit. He is the black swordsman after all.

[Oroboro]

Originally Posted by enthalpy

Spoiler for Question:

Is there any reason they dont talk about SAO outside of the game? It seems odd to not talk to your family about it or anything like that. I would think Kirito would want to talk about it a little bit. He is the black swordsman after all.

Spoiler for Answer:

Try thinking of it in less terms of "Awesome gamer who beats a difficult game" and more "Soldier coming home from a war." He certainly had his moments of peace for awhile, but he's also been fighting for 2 years, and has seen a lot of people die. Furthermore, I feel like it'd be difficult for anyone from the outside to understand, since from their perspective, it was just a game, and all they saw was the coma, not the life and death struggles that went on each day.

Not to mention with Asuna still in a coma, you could say Kirito's good memories of Aincrad are still locked away as well.

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by Oroboro

Spoiler for Answer:

Try thinking of it in less terms of "Awesome gamer who beats a difficult game" and more "Soldier coming home from a war." He certainly had his moments of peace for awhile, but he's also been fighting for 2 years, and has seen a lot of people die. Furthermore, I feel like it'd be difficult for anyone from the outside to understand, since from their perspective, it was just a game, and all they saw was the coma, not the life and death struggles that went on each day.

Not to mention with Asuna still in a coma, you could say Kirito's good memories of Aincrad are still locked away as well.

Spoiler for elaboration on answer:

Plus, you know, there's the part where he killed a man. In self-defense, sure, but it's not exactly the kind of thing you would feel comfortable talking about.

"So how did you get together with Asuna?"
"Oh, she had this stalker guy who poisoned me, killed an innocent bystander, and then almost killed me before Asuna came and rescued me so I had to kill him with my bare hands. Then we slept together and I proposed marriage."
"..."

Not to mention all the parts where he lets people die. There's a lot of guilt in his story. Even taking only the good bits, it's hard to mention them without feeling like you're intentionally omitting the other parts.

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Spoiler for questions regarding this:

Wait, am I understanding this right? If it's up to interpretation so there wasn't an underlying mechanism for why some people were able to overcome the system by sheer force of will alone? It just happened? Not even a canon in-universe explanation of something like "The One" or some retcon monologue or narration or anything? Author managed to give an awesome exposition in world building but failed to address this? Really?

If it's really up to interpretation then nobody can really fault anyone for thinking these things being a DEM or just some conveniently placed plot material.

May I ask then, if all these things were all actually possible and can be (and supposed to be) explained with all previously appearing phenomenon, what does Kayaba mean with Kirito transcending the rules?

ask and you shall receive

Spoiler for answer:

the concept of over/extra system skill/abilities, where a player can overwrite limitation set by the game system, does get expanded on in the later arcs, especially in Alicization, though other examples also exists, such as Kirito's ability to execute multiple sword skills in tandem in Calibur (Kawahara needs to come up with a better explanation for that one though IMO ), the end of the ALO arc etc, with the end product being somewhat similar to the Incarnate System in Accel World by Alicization, where Kirito can literally alter things in the VR world through thoughts alone.

Now Underworld is a different entity from Kayaba's SAO, but Underworld is based partially on Kayaba's work, and IIRC is based off of the Seed as well, so it's not really much of a stretch to say that there's something in the Cardinal system in SAO which allows for people to break the system/rule so to speak, esp. since the entire point of Underworld is to try to find ways for the fluctlights to break the rule. This remains a speculation however, as the inner workings of these systems remains ambiguous.

Now about Asuna and Kirito's survival at the end of SAO, that actually have nothing to do with overwriting the system or any sheer willpower. As Kayaba said to them during their post-fight meeting when they asked about the players that died, he confirmed that he specifically brought those two there because he wanted to talk to them one last time. (Though he did not tell them they weren't going to die, one last lol-troll by him I guess ).

[erneiz_hyde]

Originally Posted by kyp275

ask and you shall receive

Spoiler for answer:

the concept of over/extra system skill/abilities, where a player can overwrite limitation set by the game system, does get expanded on in the later arcs, especially in Alicization, though other examples also exists, such as Kirito's ability to execute multiple sword skills in tandem in Calibur (Kawahara needs to come up with a better explanation for that one though IMO ), the end of the ALO arc etc, with the end product being somewhat similar to the Incarnate System in Accel World by Alicization, where Kirito can literally alter things in the VR world through thoughts alone.

Now Underworld is a different entity from Kayaba's SAO, but Underworld is based partially on Kayaba's work, and IIRC is based off of the Seed as well, so it's not really much of a stretch to say that there's something in the Cardinal system in SAO which allows for people to break the system so to speak. This remains a speculation however, as the inner workings of these systems remains ambiguous.

Now about Asuna and Kirito's survival at the end of SAO, that actually have nothing to do with overwriting the system or any sheer willpower. As Kayaba said to them during their post-fight meeting when they asked about the players that died, he confirmed that he specifically brought those two there because he wanted to talk to them one last time. (Though he did not tell them they weren't going to die, one last lol-troll by him I guess ).

Was this what happened when Asuna broke her paralysis on her own as well?
edit:

Originally Posted by kyp275

Spoiler:

This remains a speculation however, as the inner workings of these systems remains ambiguous.

Oh. OK...

editedit:

Originally Posted by kyp275

Spoiler:

the concept of over/extra system skill/abilities, where a player can overwrite limitation set by the game system, does get expanded on in the later arcs, especially in Alicization, though other examples also exists, such as Kirito's ability to execute multiple sword skills in tandem in Calibur (Kawahara needs to come up with a better explanation for that one though IMO ), the end of the ALO arc etc, with the end product being somewhat similar to the Incarnate System in Accel World by Alicization, where Kirito can literally alter things in the VR world through thoughts alone.

Spoiler for more questions:

Can I expect further explanation on why Kirito has/allowed to have this extra system skill, aside from the fact that he's the MC? I can guess the Dual Wield in SAO was probably Heathcliff giving the skill to him, but what about this? How many other people can do this and how often?

[kyp275]

yup, same thing, and afaik is the only case where Asuna managed to do so, barring any repeat performances in the web novel

[n120cky]

Spoiler for ALO Timeline:

If SAO take whole 2 years to be free from it, how long will Kirito beat ALO and rescue Asuna?

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by n120cky

Spoiler for ALO Timeline:

If SAO take whole 2 years to be free from it, how long will Kirito beat ALO and rescue Asuna?

Spoiler for ALO Timeline Spoiler:

Only a few days.

[AC-Phoenix]

Did a SAO death really mean death now?
I could swear I saw someone who clearly died in SAO in the ALO intro oO

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix

Did a SAO death really mean death now?
I could swear I saw someone who clearly died in SAO in the ALO intro oO

It meant real death.

There is no one in the ALO intro who died in the SAO arc.

[Rising Dragon]

I'd've thought Asuna and Kirito would count...

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

Spoiler for SAO Arc Ending Spoiler:

I'd've thought Asuna and Kirito would count...

Spoiler for SAO Arc Ending Spoiler:

They never died, it only looked as if they died. The command to fry their brain never reached their Nerve Gear.

[Rising Dragon]

I suppose so, but as far as the in-game mechanics went they DID both die. I'm not counting the Nerve Gear killing as part of that.

[Krono]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Perhaps so. Though, remind me, was Asuna really that important to be the business successor? I guess she is an only child then?

Spoiler for LN comparision for information left unadapted by episode 10:

Actually she does have an older brother that's out of college. It was his NerveGear and copy of SAO she was using when he was called out of town on business at launch. She mentioned this when she and Kirito were talking in bed after she woke up from dreaming of the real world.

[erneiz_hyde]

Originally Posted by Krono

Spoiler for LN comparision for information left unadapted by episode 10:

Actually she does have an older brother that's out of college. It was his NerveGear and copy of SAO she was using when he was called out of town on business at launch. She mentioned this when she and Kirito were talking in bed after she woke up from dreaming of the real world.

Spoiler for reply to LN comparison:

By out of college, did you mean dropped out instead of graduated? If her brother wasn't to inherit the family business what business was he in then?

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Spoiler for reply to LN comparison:

By out of college, did you mean dropped out instead of graduated? If her brother wasn't to inherit the family business what business was he in then?

Spoiler for reply:

He didn't mean "dropped out". He's graduated from college and is a businessman of some sort. He's only mentioned in passing before the whole family business issue is brought up, so it's unclear how he fits in. The point about him being out of college ("out of college" colloquially means "graduated from college"; there really wasn't any ambiguity at all there) was simply that he's much older than Asuna and probably not very close to her.