Topic: I'm confused with SotN's plot ( spoliers?)

[darkwzrd4]

On top of that, he seems to remember most, if not everything, in the Judgment dialogues.
He remember EVERYONE there.

In SotN it's more like "Lisa, forgive me.... (but I cannot/will not stop this).... farewell, my son!".  At least, that's how I see it implied.

I agree with Jorge.  I think that it has to do with the Chaos.  While it is partially explained in AoS, there is a stream of Chaos flowing through the castle making it a creature of chaos.  The castle is also a product of Dracula's powers meaning that his powers are linked with the Chaos somehow.  Considering that the Chaos comes from the evil in people's hearts and the fact that it starts flowing into Soma when he defeats Graham, it would seem that the master of the castle, which is Dracula in SotN, is at least partially possessed by the Chaos enough to keep him evil.  That being said, it seems that Dracula can have moments of true clarity after being defeated by someone he has a emotional connection too (for example his son, Alucard).

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Indeed.

As darkwzrd4 says, there is a stream of evil about.  Here's how I see it.

-Mathias curses God, takes Ebony & Crimson stone, defies god.  Ebony Stone makes him a Vampire.   Crimson Stone makes Death his loyal confidant, Death cannot touch him (I forget if I have my stones mixed up).
-FAN ADDENDUM: It is my belief that the stone that makes him a vampire makes him have a pact with an ancient demon, Chaos, who resides in another dimension.  Either that, or in the events of Castlevania III, when Mathias, now renamed Dracula, declares his war on humans, makes this pact (before, during, or after his defeat as he dies).
-Since then, the power of Chaos rules over Dracula's more violent side.  When the 100-years milestones happen and the power of the evil in humans' hearts is at worst, Dracula has a more powerful but more chaotic disposition when he's resurrected.  He may not remember anything aside from "destroy all humans" or "humans are to be your prey".  Whatever humans he kills or feasts on power both him and Chaos.
-When Dracula is resurrected prematurely, Chaos's power, since it's powered by the evil in people's hearts, is not as strong within Dracula.  As such, he's able to remember some memories and/or glimpses of his previous escapades.

Let us examine the times Dracula remembers the Belmonts (and any others) properly:

-Dracula is able to remember Trevor, to a degree, in Curse of Darkness (as Isaac, no?  It seems he does).
-Dracula is able to remember Christopher to a degree, in Belmonts' Revenge, otherwise he would not have taken his son.  There is no dialogue in the game to confirm this, though it is implied as why would someone who has no new memories bother to mess with the Belmonts specifically?
-Dracula is able to remember Simon in Simon's Quest, because it seems that Dracula put the curse on Simon AND had the foresight to both know that a Belmont would come to him and that he would get another shot at defeating him.
-Dracula is able to remember the Belmonts in particular, in Harmony of Dissonance, though he doesn't know Juste personally.
-Dracula is able to remember the Belmonts in Rondo of Blood, specifically coming after Richter's Girlfriend Annette, as well as Maria Renard.  He is more destructive in this reincarnation.
-Dracula is definitely able to remember his own son Alucard, as well as know who Richter is, in Symphony of the Night.  Dracula is ridiculously prematurely resurrected in this one, so he seems to be at his most 'human' upon his defeat.
-Dracula is able to remember the Morris clan upon his premature Moon-Ritual resurrection in Circle of the Moon; a premature resurrection done shortly after another premature resurrection, with no game of its own.  In THIS reincarnation he even notices the character's aging.
-Dracula remember no one in Castlevania64/LoD, as the bad guys are doing a ritual similar to the Ritual of the Eclipse (more on that later), which separates Dracula's Soul and puts it on Earth.  This Blank-Slate Dracula (as Malus) remembers no one right know, but knows he's the lord of the Castle.
-Dracula remembers every Belmont, as well as side characters like Shanoa, Maria, and others, in Judgment.  I believe THIS Dracula is the least Chaos-corrupted, but the most human-arrogant one.  "You seek Chaos?  Look no further!"

It seems the Ritual of the Eclipse separated the power of Chaos from Dracula's soul.  Thus, Soma, Dracula's reincarnation and another chance at redemption, is the least corrupted version of him.  Chaos's power is not completely gone though, as it seems to beckon to him, to come forth to the Shinto Shrine in 2035 in the events of Aria of Sorrow.

The Power of Chaos is able to immediately corrupt Soma by tapping into remnants of Dracula's old memories.  Specifically, the death of Elisabetha and Lisa, and use them to turn Soma into Dracula and completely lose his will to be Human.  In AoS, he was able to control the Chaos.  In DoS, depending on whether you get the pendant in the Garden, you can see this manifest itself in its entirety.

[uzo]

I dunno if there's anything to this memories thing to be honest. It's really vague in the classic games to begin with and arguably the concept was never really through through or cared about until later on. Even then, SotN is the only chance Dracula got to even converse with anyone he didn't hate to begin with. This is of course excluding LoI, but that was before all of this Chaos stuff anyway.

It's an interesting theory, but I can't imagine the writers for the series ever payed it any mind or thought about it at all.

If it was true though, it makes Dracula an incredibly weak and puppet like character. I don't like that idea one bit.

[Claimh Solais]

To be honest, I didn't either. I believe it was official, and it kinda sucked. But if it's not (which I'm assuming now, since it's not on any other site), then I'm all happy inside.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

I think it makes him more tragic, if he's no longer in control.
He's already tragic.  He's completely bound by the very humans he hates, and does not even return unless they will it to happen.

With this, he'd not only be bound by humans, but bound by Chaos as well.  Kinda a personal Hell, if you ask me.

Not sure if I like any of these, but it's how I thought of it.  It makes sense even if it's not a particularly nice thing to do to the character.

[Claimh Solais]

Well, I don't particularly like the whole Dracula being controlled by Chaos or whatever thing that the Sorrow chronicles have going on. I liked believing that Dracula is indeed a bad dude.

Put a spoiler here since it isn't necessarily on-topic with the thread. Ignore it otherwise.

(click to show/hide)

But here's how I look at it: Chaos, like in the original story, is a manifestation of Dracula's power. The power is meant for evil, not for good, and that's why Soma couldn't exactly control it without feeling like he was being consumed. It's not taking over Dracula, rather just Soma himself. Since you know, Soma is only technically Dracula.

[darkwzrd4]

Let me clear up a few things:
-Dracula wasn't really in Harmony of Dissonance.  That was just a evil spirit born in Maxim from his jealously of Juste and possessing Dracula's remains.  This spirit used the remains to create a vessel after he realized that he couldn't gain permenent control of Maxim.
-Soma could never control the Chaos in AoS.  After he defeats Graham, the Chaos starts to flow into him.  He resists it and goes off to confront it directly and beats it.  The only reason it doesn't full possess him immediately is because of Arikado's presence in the Throne Room.  I think that Soma defeating the Chaos severs it from him.  However, as we see in DoS, if he gets angry enough, the Chaos is appears and tries to possess him. 

[K.G. Morder]

Just gonna clear up the stones bit.

The EBONY Stone creates supernatural nighttime. It is what Walter used in order to make the forest eternally shrouded in night, giving it it's name of "Forest of Eternal Night" Since it creates supernatural darkness, his powers are amplified, presumably being the reason why the Whip of Alchemy could not harm him, whereas Dracula can be harmed by just about any weapon, no necessarily Just Vampire killer.

Leon destroyed this stone with Vampire Killer upon encountering him in the keep, thus destroying a big trump card of his.

the CRIMSON STONE allows one to capture the soul of a vampire and make it their own, absorbing it's power, at the cost of becoming a vampire oneself. Death, for whatever reason, swears allegiance to whomever has this stone.

Walter was unable to obtain the Crimson Stone, but had the Ebony Stone, which Leon destroyed. Mathias, with his Family's extensive knowledge of Alchemy, created a Crimson Stone, and used it to absorb Walter's soul when Leon defeated him, making him a Vampire and giving him Walter's abilities. (The teleport and fireball stuff, along with- possibly the ability to turn into a large monster)

Now, it is a mystery to me whatever happened to the stone upon his defeat by Trevor. Maybe it was lost, maybe Dracula sort of absorbed it's properties, who knows. The issue is Death still follows him.

[kompwars]

On top of that, he seems to remember most, if not everything, in the Judgment dialogues.
He remember EVERYONE there.

In SotN it's more like "Lisa, forgive me.... (but I cannot/will not stop this).... farewell, my son!".  At least, that's how I see it implied.

hmm.. so your saying that he feels bad for what he's done but he still hates humans and he won't stop bringing evil to them right? But in the japanese version of SotN he says " Lisa...perhaps I was wrong the whole time..." and dies. So im not sure about that

[Nagumo]

Perhaps Dracula became a good guy post-SotN but couldn't make himself clear because he kept getting killed before he could say anything.     

[thernz]

He was gentlemanly enough to ask Shanoa for a dance. Or maybe he felt violated when Barlowe kept poking around at his remains.

[kompwars]

Didn't Lament of innocence kinda messed up part of the storyline?  Mathais(?)  is dracula right? In the DXC manuel it said that Lisa was the only woman Dracula ever loved. Then y in the hell did it say that Elizabetha was Mathais's wife in LoI?
...
or maybe im just ignorant

[Claimh Solais]

Didn't Lament of innocence kinda messed up part of the storyline?  Mathais(?)  is dracula right? In the DXC manuel it said that Lisa was the only woman Dracula ever loved. Then y in the hell did it say that Elizabetha was Mathais's wife in LoI?
...
or maybe im just ignorant

We can go into technicalities. He wasn't Dracula when he loved Elisabetha.
 But then also, DXC came out after LoI also.

[Inccubus]

I'd chalk that up to a simple mistake.
Also, I generally ignore localizations in favor of the original version.
Localization teams seem to favor things sounding good in English over accuracy.

[K.G. Morder]

Mega Man 1, 7 and X2 are probably the most serious offenders there...