Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

Aura24 · Mar 01, 2017 8:51 PM

So I recently talked with Paul Reiche (co-founder of Toys For Bob) on a bit of Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders. He talked with Michael Graham, who also worked on Spyro: Shadow Legacy and The Legend of Spyro trilogy. I decided to share it and this what they said:

Screenshot version

Michael Graham wrote:

“We had a lot of discussion around the best way to treat both Spyro and Cynder throughout the early stages of development. First and foremost, it was important for us to establish a brand new universe that could introduce a plethora of new heroes, but we also wanted to honor the history of Spyro and Cynder. The end of the “Legend” series left both of them in a place that was open to interpretation. Were they in some sort of dragon heaven? Were they in Skylands? Were they back in their own world? It was purposely left mysterious to allow us the freedom to reintroduce these characters in a way that was very fitting for the world of Skylands – while also leaving it to longtime fans, such as yourself, to use your own imaginations to fill in the blanks. Spyro’s world has always been a world full of imagination – and ultimately we decided that IMAGINATION was the most important aspect to carry forward into Skylanders. For many fans, Skylanders represents a fresh start for both Spyro and Cynder. But there are enough nods to previous games to allow longtime fans the freedom to imagine their own connections with the past. So the real questions are…
How do you think Cynder has evolved and developed?
Which nods to previous Spyro games do you think were intentional?
And do you think any of these nods have deeper meaning?”

Paul Reiche wrote:

From my own perspective, Cynder was an opportunity to show an inverted image of Spyro – different gender, different original ‘alignment’ and very different approach to solving problems. Spyro is a natural hero upon whom fortune has smiled most of his life. Cynder comes from a more troubled origin and has had to earn every ounce of her heroism the hard way. This contrast not only gives greater breadth to the role of dragons in our universe, but it also makes the friendship between Spyro and Cynder more interesting.
In terms of ‘nods’ to older lore, we faced the eternal problems re-boots always face – how do you make the characters and world sufficiently new that you aren’t just repeating what’s already been done, but also maintain enough of the heart of Spyro to be ‘legit’ (and yes, people define that quite differently, I know!) I was once complaining to a friend about a particular version of Star Trek which felt ‘wrong’ to me (I love the original, BTW). She advised me to imagine that yes, somewhere there was the true, singular version of Star Trek, but that we would never be able to see it. Instead, we get to look into that distant world through a variety of different telescopes which each have different lenses and are pointing at slightly different places. Maybe Spyro is like that too.

EricChristianOlsenFanatic · Mar 02, 2017 2:27 AM

Hmm interesting I wonder who will voice Cynder in Skylanders.

Aura24 · Mar 02, 2017 2:36 AM

She's voiced by Tobie LaSalandra in Skylanders. And in the TV show, she's going to be voiced by Felicia Day.

EricChristianOlsenFanatic · Mar 03, 2017 2:52 AM

Ooo interesting

Aura24 · Mar 29, 2017 9:22 AM

So, Spyro and Cynder's fate at the end of DotD is intentionally left ambiguous.

Fan speculations arise!

EricChristianOlsenFanatic · Mar 30, 2017 1:46 AM

A lot of people think they go to dragon heaven.

Waffled · Mar 30, 2017 9:27 PM

It's good to see that they cared a lot about the lore when doing the skylands reboot smile

Personally, I never saw the end of DotD as that ambiguous

At the end of DotD it's pretty heavily implied they survived. The chronicler mention's Spyro an Cynder aren't in the book of the dragon dead, plus we see a cutscene of them flying through Avalar in the new world (which, being made up of floating islands, resembles skylands [and I think this was also where the concept of skylands actually came from]).

But it's still mysterious in the sense that we don't exactly know what happens next yikes

I do actually like that idea of heaven though, what with the dragons not actually dying and merging with nature thing (but it's still a bit saddening tongue )

EricChristianOlsenFanatic · Mar 31, 2017 2:08 AM

Yeah I know what you mean.

Spyrofriend · Apr 11, 2017 5:13 PM

it ws left ambigous, probably because another game was planned, probably one whee spyro ends up reuniting with Ignitus in his new job as the chronicler

#1 Mar 01, 2017 8:51 PM

Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

#2 Mar 02, 2017 2:27 AM

Re: Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

#3 Mar 02, 2017 2:36 AM

Re: Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

#4 Mar 03, 2017 2:52 AM

Re: Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

#5 Mar 29, 2017 9:22 AM

Re: Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

#6 Mar 30, 2017 1:46 AM

Re: Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

#7 Mar 30, 2017 9:27 PM

Re: Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

#8 Mar 31, 2017 2:08 AM

Re: Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

#9 Apr 11, 2017 5:13 PM

Re: Spyro and Cynder's addition in Skylanders

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