King's Quest Omnipedia
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Seasons are a theme that appears in King's Quest reboot universe, but they appear to more themes and possibly symoblic to the stories than discussed in 'natural' terms. Thus the order of seasons will be discussed in the order they appear in the game...

Background[]

Noteably the season is never directly mentioned during the first 2-3 stories, though there is some references to 'next spring' in Chapter 1.

Graham's tree in the town itself for example is in a state of 'spring' (reflecting new life, a new zeal to fix things), when everything around him is in autumn or rainy season. The tree loses its buds after Graham loses his son, and the kingdom goes into a 'state of winter' reflecting the story being told. Chapter 3 story goes through the two stages of autumn (dying), and greyness of denial of his kingship, to finally accepting and moving on and turning the kingdom around.

The boxart for all five chapters shows very green vines (but ivy and many vines remain green all year long), and each story changes the vines to reflect the story he is telling (but they always remain green and fresh like summer).

Autumn/Fall[]

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In Chapter 1 (in the main story and prologue, the kingdom appears to be in Autumn (however it could be 'summer' see Chapter 5). This appears to show the downfall of Edward's kingdom. Fruit/berry trees are still bearing fruit, yet its autumn. Most fruits grow during spring and harvested early or late summer when the trees are full of green leaves.

There is a 'See you next fall" season pun in Chapter 1 which is given during a falling death. This is similar to a classic pun in King's Quest 1 SCI in that game it was intended to tie into the season the game took place in. It's not clearly indicated if it has anything to do with the season Chapter 1 or its present is set.

There is also a song called Fall in Daventry related to falling down the mountain, but could also relate to the season the chapter is set in.

Strangely the tree, that respresents Graham's aging however is budding like its spring.

In chapter 3 the game still has Graham going through Fall both as a young knight. By the time he is fully mature the kingdom is in its "Spring".

Similarly in chapter 3 there is another death joke that seems to uphold double meaning of 3rd chapter being in spring, but previous materials being set in 'fall'. "It was spring in Kolyma, but I still wasn't over fall."

Chapter 1 boxart only shows green vines (more to represent the present when the story is being told), but the image in the mirror reflects the Autumn. However, Ivy tends to remain 'green' all year long, so this is no indication of any specific season.

In the present (chapter 2 and later) is a letter that mentions "Autumn" which may suggest the game's present actually is set during autumn.

Another clue exists in the story in which Whisper mentions not wearing ugly after Labor Day, which would suggest that it takes place after early May or after first Monday of September (depending on US or UK dates for the holiday). One would place it clearly spring/summer or by US standards in the fall. If it takes place in September the month is both end of Summer and beginning of Fall which would cover both seasons.

Amaya mentions 'spring' as coming up, by offering to make Graham her apprentice. Which may suggest winter is coming soon, in between. A sign also suggests that 'spring' is coming, that something will be constructed in Daventry by spring. These indicate that spring has already passed (leaving the season to have to be summer or fall)

Rainy Season[]

Chapter 1 ending artwork foreshadows the rainy season.

This is sort of an extension to the 'autumn' (as Daventry still looks like the trees are still golden, and leaves falling) but adds to this with the greyness of a new king who doesn't understand what he is doing.

In Chapter 3 as he is a young king it is still in the rainy season, and he 'trying to heal and repair his kingdom". Only for the next period to turn into spring after he's turned the kingdom around.

The chapter 2 boxart adds raindrops to the vines, to reflect the changes in weather in the story.

The tree that represents Graham continues to bud, now with a few more buds.

While rain can reflect grey uncertainty it can also lead to new growth and life, as is reflected in the third chapter's seasons.

The present reflects the story in that it is raining outside Castle Daventry throughout the entire chapter as Graham tells his story.

Spring[]

The ending of Chapter 2's artwork forshadows spring.

In Chapter 3 after the prologue its full on spring, Graham is in the prime of his life. The tree representing him is filled with big buds as well. Spring folllows the story as he journies to find his wife, and is reflected in every land he visits.

The only change to this is the effect of the frost tonic at the end of the story which causes winter around Hagatha's tower (more about this in winter).

In Chapter 4, it is still spring when Graham's child alexander is kidnapped. Suggesting from a literary standpoint that the kingdom was still young and happy, everything was good. At least until Alexander was kidnapped and they failed to find him.

The box for chapter 3 shows the vines with blossoms, which puretly represents spring.

Winter[]

Chapter 3 ends with winter around the Ice Tower, and the preview picture shows a wintery scene.

18 Years later, when Alexander returns to a Daventry with his family still longing for his return the kingdom is suffering an extremely cold winter. They travel to southern lands on vacation to get away from it to discover the unnatural winter still exists in those lands as well. There is even a 'coldness' between Graham and Alexander as they do not understand each other very well... Alexander loves magic, Graham no longer trust magic, as it was how Alexander was kidnapped.

The boxart now shows the vines all frozen and covered with ice cycles, but stlll alive and green.

The tree has lost its buds representing life and legacy, much like Graham losing his son.

A couple of lines from Chapter 4 might suggest while the story takes place in winter, Graham may have been trying to travel to the 'southern hemisphere' where it was 'summer': "Oh! Are my summer shorts ready?", "There must be some mistake. I... I booked the summer sizzling savings package for four, I believe?"" Only to find that the place was also suffering from unusual winter.

Summer[]

The final chapter's season is not mentioned...

However, according to a cut line it was said to be during 'summer', but everything looks dry and dying like it is 'autumn' (like back in Chapter 1). Perhaps Chapter 1 actually was in the 'summer', there is no way to know for sure. But like Edward, Graham is worried that his own legacy is going to fizzle, and burn up.

The cover is back to having plain green leaves, like Chapter 1's box (but this doesn't clearly indicate any season as its green all year long).

The tree is fully filled with green leaves, but burns up representing the end of its life, and Graham nearing the end of his.

The present hasn't changed seasons either (its been only a week or two since Chapter 1), and it also has red leaved trees (in the various chapters) (outside Gwen's room, the courtyard, etc). So could be summer as stated in GameInformer or autumn as suggested in the card.

Behind the scenes[]

Summer[]

According to information from GameInformer, Gwendolyn was visiting Daventry over summer vacation (however this is only mentioned in article, and not mentioned in the game itself).

Gwendolyn visits Daventry every summer, and spends much of the time in her grandfather’s bedchamber listening to – and learning from – his stories.[1]

However, in the game in the 'present' outside the courtyard has red leaved trees, and also outside Gwendonlyn's room you can see tree with red leaves (which seems to resemble autumn). There are also a number of puns related to soundtrack and ingame (between Chapter 1 and Chapter 3) that may suggest a double meaning that the game is set during the 'Fall'/'Autumn'.

Autumn/Fall[]

Begins around mid-late September at the summer Equinox, just after American Labor Day.

Other Notes[]

  • Chapter 4 begins in "Winter", however the vacation down to south either Tanalore or Avalon appears to be south of the 'equator' and its pointed out that the vacation is a "summer sizzling package", and mentions of 'summer shorts'. IF those regions are in the same 'hemisphere' they should be same season technically. For it to be summer it would have to be southern hemisphere, or magically 'summer'... But the latter is unlikely. The context is more that those regions were placed under unnatural 'winter'. Technically Tanalore is 'tropical'/'desert' region, but Avalon is not.
  • Kolyma is a bit different in the new series, in that its not really shown off or described as a tropical place, and shows more temperate style locations which contrasts with Tanalore.

See also[]

References[]

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