On Allusions
Entry posted by Pahrak Model ZX
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References to G1 tend to bring with them surges of people advocating a connection theory, using said reference as proof of said connection. It seems that there's a misunderstanding of something that shows up a lot in reboots: allusion.
Any reboot will naturally allude to the previous iteration(s) of the concept. Allusions tend to enrich the enjoyment of a work for anyone who gets them, and when they’re specific to a certain franchise, the creator has a much higher chance of providing this enrichment for a large number of people. An allusion is not, however, proof that the work takes place in the same continuity as the thing it is alluding to.
For greatest relevance to this situation, let’s use for example an individual franchise that constantly reboots itself: Final Fantasy. There are an immense number of names and ideas that are endlessly recycled through every iteration of Final Fantasy, but it does not mean that all Final Fantasies take place in the same timeline. The Bahamut of Final Fantasy III is not the same Bahamut who appears in Final Fantasy XIII. Squall’s Lionheart Gunblade and Lightning’s Lionheart Gunblade are two very different weapons, not to mention the extremely different Lionheart Keyblade in the neighboring Kingdom Hearts series. And while I’m sure there are a myriad of things shared by VII and XI, Midgar is not on the map of Vana’diel because the two games are in different continuities.
(Heck, if we’re including Kingdom Hearts in this, most to all of the FF characters who show up there look directly transplanted, but they all have new backstories—none of those games are in the same continuity as Kingdom Hearts.)
Yes, Final Fantasy does include some continuity-hopping. But that’s the thing: the characters are moving between different continuities, because they do not inhabit the same one. Gilgamesh got lost in the space between worlds and shows up in a new one every now and then; Dissidia takes place in a world where powerful entities pull in characters and locations from multiple worlds, and ends with everyone vanishing as they return back to their homeworlds. These are localized crossovers between the different continuities, which are quite profitable when a series has been going on for decades. But the continuities still remain separate.
You can allude to something without it being in the same continuity. With a reboot, this is expected. Lego’s just telling us old fans they know we’re out here, not that G2 is a continuation of G1 (or any variants thereof).
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