Alright, this has honestly been bugging me for a very long time, and so I've decided to get it off my chest.

Now, as we all know, the Beoulve family consists (at the start of the game) of Dycedarg, the eldest, Zalbaag, son number 2, Ramza, our hero, and the baby of the family, Alma. Now, the very funny and odd thing among these 4 kids of Balbanes is this:

Dycedarg is 21 years older than Ramza, making him (God forbid) old enough to be even Ramza'a father. Following him is Zalbaag, and the age difference between him and the elder Beoulve is a very long 9 years. Ramza pops up 12 years AFTER Zalbaag, and Alma makes her appearance one year after Ramza.

Now, from the history of the game, we know that Balbanes was involved in some war. This may explain the scary age difference between the three sons. It's not like you can enjoy the company of your wife during a battle, can you? So, perhaps he first had Dycedarg, then he went to war, came back for a short break, had Zalbaag, then went off to war again. Nothing is ever stated about Dycedarg's and Zalbaag's mother, so it is assumed that she must have died somewhere in the 12 years between Zalbaag and Ramza.

Now, important note here. Seeing as his father was always in some battle or another, Zalbaag must have needed some looking after. Who else to do it by Dycedarg, as the oldest son!? Remember that there was a 9 years difference between them. At age 15, Dycedarg could've looked after a 6 year old Zalbaag. It was probably his responsibility and his obligation to care for his younger brother's wellfare while their father was chopping heads off.

So, this probably means that Dycedarg and Zalbaag were very VERY close, hence why Zalbaag refused to believe Ramza's words at first about Dycedarg's betrayel. It would be akin to finding out your father was planning to backstab you in the back.

Now, we fast forward a bit, to Ramza's birth. Barbaneth marries a peasnet woman of the house of Lugria. You have to remember that the aristocracy was very stringent about the lower classes in the social order. For Balbanes to marry a common woman would probably provoke a flamming like no other, and Dycedarg would probably object to no end about it, seeing how he tends to go on and on about the family name and etc. He probably thought of it as an insult to his mother's memory.

When Dycedarg was 21, Ramza was born. How would you feel if your father was making dove eyes at some woman after the death of your mother, and not even a woman of the noble class, but a PEASENT woman? Zalbaag may not have felt the repurcussions so badly, being only 12 years old at that time, but it is highly probable that Dycedarg felt the sting very badly at the age of 21.

To make matters worse, barely after a year of Ramza's birth, Alma pops out of the same woman!! This implies that Balbanes had a much more active sex life with his second wife than his first. Again, put yourself in Dycedarg's shoes. Don't you think he most probably would've hated Ramza and Alma, as well as the woman who gave birth to them?

(Note, I intend to continue this latter, but there is a freakin thunder storm at my place at the moment, and I don't want to risk my computer getting zapped. So, I'll finish this off later.

Mingchan OOOUUUUuuuttt!!!)