Here, at the end of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, we must eulogize the last good thing about Lunar: Magic Emperor Ghaleon is the best.
A lot of Ghaleon’s appeal has been crystalized into well-worn anime/RPG tropes. Yes, he is the dude with silver hair and giant shoulder pads that will eventually be revealed to be working against the party. Yes, his evil plan seems to exist entirely to capitalize on the fact that nobody else in this world is “bad” except for the literal monster people cursed by god(dess). Yes, there is that bit in the Grindery where it is revealed he has a soft side/magic fairy garden. Ghaleon is “RPG Villain 101”, complete with the fascist presentation of simultaneously being waifish and elfin while jacked and huge. That is not physically possible!
But Ghaleon does have a few extra ingredients to separate him from other standardized villains. First of all, when he says “Alex, you’re no Dragon Master Dyne,” you know he means it. Alex’s entire dream is to become a Dragon Master, and when he accomplishes that goal, Ghaleon is there to say, “I’ve seen better.” And he has! Dyne saved the goddamned world! With Ghaleon! And your friends’ parents! How are you supposed to live up to that? Especially when Ghaleon keeps calling you “dragon boy”? Words hurt, Ghaleon! Don’t be so mean.
But even beyond that, Ghaleon of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete does have one significant leg up on the competition: there is no competition.
The original Lunar story only had Ghaleon, and the Silver Star Story upgrade gave him a trio of malevolent underlings of dubious effectiveness. Other than that? Ghaleon is the only bad guy in town. There is no scheming vizier beneath him, or an evil space flea that stands over him. Ghaleon is Ghaleon. There are some rumblings of the creature that the original four heroes fought against to kick off this tale, but that threat is never mentioned again. From the moment Ghaleon is presented as a menace, he is the only thing standing between Alex and a happy ending. Luna is a literal goddess and the (arguably eponymous) heroine, but Ghaleon has her under his thumb. He wants to rule the world, but he always rules the plot.
(And we are not even going to get into the Oedipal notions of fighting the villain of the piece that has transformed your protagonist’s de facto girlfriend into his gothed up thrall.)
It may be old-school to have such a straightforward plot, but Ghaleon benefits from this single-minded adventure. He is the magic emperor of everything on this moon, even if he doesn’t quite achieve his goals.
And after eighteen or so hours of fighting the dude, the world ceases to exist without him. He was the plot. This moon has got nothing else going on!
So thanks for a good time, Lunar. See you in a thousand years when Zophar decides to bring Ghaleon back!
Let’s Play Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Night 8
July 29, 2025
Random Notes:
- Welcome to the final night of Lunar with BEAT, Cassandralyn, Morning Song, Jeanie, Chromes, Trynant, and fanboymaster. We are not going to leave the moon unscathed.
- We are actively making angels cry, but, in our defense, the angels do have cannons.
- Please enjoy watching me get tricked by a puzzle for babies.
- I last played through this portion of Lunar when Chromes “did not even exist as a concept.”
- At least there are gigantic demons that wear snakes like scarves.
- Time to defeat Xenobia! Ghaleon is not into her, and she is into that. It will not save her.
“All cats can breathe fire. They just choose not to.”- Caliscrub joins as the penultimate boss goes down.
- Ample Vigour is here! And it is time to fight the final Ghaleon. This is for all the marbles/potions!
- Why would you watch Gundam Endless Waltz during high school Spanish class? Let’s find out!
- Ghaleon is defeated! So we save Luna and discuss the Monty Hall Problem.
- After completing the ending of Lunar, we have some time remaining for the evening. So, in order to shame BEAT for playing the same portion of Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 twice, I will destroy the moon.
- We are using my (nearly) completed save file with just Zangetsu leading the charge. Please play through the rest of the game on your own to enjoy the other characters. And do not judge my skills.
- We are at the final boss! And Caithness says that mosquitos apparently can swarm! Hooray?
- And thus, having defeated the moon forever, we conclude our Lunar coverage. Thanks for watching!
What’s next on Even Worse Streams: Let’s clean up the place.
