Asgard Human Ranch

Asgard Human Ranch is an area in the Asgard region, Sylvarant, in Tales of Symphonia. It is led by the Desian Grand Cardinal Kvar the Fury Tempest.

Truth of Exspheres
The first time the group visits the human ranch is when Luin has been attacked after breaking the Seal of Wind. When there, they decide to defeat some Desians in order to steal their uniforms. When done, Raine and, if she joined your party beforehand, Sheena will use the uniforms and act like they have found and seized Lloyd and the others. They manage to get into the ranch without troubles, but when they are deep enough, they meet up with Botta and his men, and Lloyd accuses them for being Desians, which they still laugh for. Although one of them says their meeting is a perfect chance, Botta refuses to fight them when Kratos interrupts, and they agree to not cause trouble inside the ranch. Lloyd asks if Kratos and Botta know each other, in which Kratos replies that they met at Martel Temple and Triet.

Just as the people have left, they meet up with other Desians. They are about to use their magic to attack Colette and Kratos, but Kratos uses Guardian to protect them both. Then, the leader of the Asgard Human Ranch shows up, and Kratos tells the group that his name is Kvar. He makes the Desians surrounds them, but Colette uses her ring so that they can get away.

As they are running around in the human ranch, they eventually come to a part of the place where they see humans go into some kind of machine, and come out as Exspheres. Kvar explains how the functions of the Exspheres work, making the group say it is terrible. Kvar surrounds them again, and tells Lloyd to give his Exsphere to him, as it was originally his creation. Lloyd, frustrated, asks what is so special about his Exsphere, whereas Kvar says that it was stolen by its hosts many years ago, by human body A012, whose human name was Anna, Lloyd’s mother. Lloyd asks in anger if Kvar was the one who killed her, but Kvar says that it was Lloyd’s father who did, which makes the boy scream that he is a liar. Kvar continues to explain that when the Exsphere was removed from Anna’s body, her mana went out of control, and she transformed into a monster. After that Lloyd’s father killed her. Kvar ends this by stating that they both got what they deserved, as they were both pathetic inferior beings. This makes Kratos angry, and tells Kvar not to speak ill of the death. Kvar laughs at this, continuing to insult the couple. Lloyd is about to attack him, but then Sheena uses the last of her guardians to get them away from there. When they are gone, one Desian asks Kvar what his orders are, but Kvar says that they can just track them down thanks to the Chosen’s mana signature.

Fight against Kvar
They eventually come back when they have gotten the Desian Orb from Pietro in Hima, and get inside the ranch once again. This tie, they have to split up in order to get to Kvar’s office. When they are split, Lloyd and his team go to stop the machines and get to the office. However, when they shut down the machines and are before the door, it will not open, so they have to wait until the other group has opened it.

The other group goes and frees the prisoners, also asking if one of them is from Palmacosta. One says yes, and is asked if he knows about a girl named Chocolat. He says that she was in this ranch to get some tests, before she was taken to Iselia Human Ranch. After this, they manage to open the office’s door, so that Lloyd and his team can enter.

When they get to Kvar’s office, he is seen talking to someone through a hologram. When they see the group, the woman comments that Lloyd “really does bear a resemblance”, confusing Lloyd. Although they interfere, Kvar is not surprised and continues to talk to the woman he identifies as Pronyma, who he accuses for stealing his experiments. She, however, says that she does not know of anything, but instead tells him that she knows of the secret plans he and Rodyle have for the Mana Cannon. Just then, she shuts of the hologram, and Kvar turns over to Lloyd, saying that as soon as he gives the Exsphere to Lord Yggdrasill, he will become the leader of the Five Grand Cardinals. Just then, a battle begins as the other group appears.

After the battle, the other group comes and tells Lloyd that Chocolat was taken to Iselia. Just then, Kvar raises up and is about to use his weapon on Lloyd. Colette, however, sees this and runs in between them, getting badly hurt. She falls into Lloyd’s arms, but tells him that she is fine. Furious, Lloyd puts her down the floor and stabs Kvar. Kratos follows, resulting in Kvar using his last breath to say “Kratos, you pathetic, inferior being!”, hinting that he knows Kratos. This does not stop the mercenary, however, and continues stabbing the Grand Cardinal three times as he says for each stab: “Feel the pain… of those inferior beings… as you burn in hell!”

When Kvar has fallen, Raine sets up the self-destruction system, and they get away as fast as possible. Just then, a new hologram appears, showing a mysterious man. He talks to Kvar shortly, although he knows he is dead. He informs the corps that he will take all the data that is collected in the human ranch before it is destroyed, then leaves.

Tales of Symphonia manga
In the manga, Sheena did not get hurt by defending Luin, but by trying to infiltrate the human ranch by herself. When the group returns, they do not steal any uniforms, but instead Kratos tells them that there must be an emergency exit they can use to get inside, which makes Raine suspicious. However, they get inside thanks to Corrine’s help, and Raine tries to use the computer to free the captives. However, she fails, and numerous of Desians appears to surround them. Just as they are about to fight back, Kvar appears, telling the Desians to not kill them, but use them as Exsphere experiments. When Kvar sees Lloyd’s Exsphere, he immediately recognizes it and asks if Lloyd is the son of the woman who took it from them. Kvar then tells how the woman with the number A012 escaped with the Exsphere, and paid it off with her life. When he finally reveals that the woman was Lloyd’s mother, he, like in the game, accuses Kvar for killing her. Kvar explains that it was Lloyd’s father, and that they were both worth lesser than insects, which makes Kratos tell him to stop dirtying their memory at once. To this, Kvar laughs, and then makes the Desian size them. However, Sheena uses her guardian of lightning to stop them, and tells the others that they have to leave. But Lloyd refuses, saying that he will kill the man who killed his mother. Kratos and Colette agree to stay with him, and the three others then run to free the captives.

The fight begins, and Lloyd tries to slice Kvar, but the latter uses a successful lightning spell on him, knocking him down on the ground. Kvar then steps on the boy, telling him that he will transform one of his friends to a monster so that he will have to fight them, just like his father had to kill Anna. Just then, Kratos attacks Kvar, and Lloyd manages to get up and help him. He manages to give Kvar a hit, but Kvar then uses his staff to try to kill him. Just then, Colette steps between, and gets badly injured. Kvar then tries to kill Lloyd again, but both him and Kratos uses their swords to stab him. Kvar falls down, and Lloyd hurries to ask if Colette is all right. The Chosen assures him that she is not too injured, despise the blood. Lloyd refuses to listen, and bears her on his back to find Raine so that she can heal her. Behind them, Kraots thanks Lloyd in whispers.

Another place, Rodyle is looking at Kvar’s corps, telling him that he helped him a lot while he was usable. Just then, he gets stabbed by Pronyma, who says that he was the traitor all along. He dies, and Pronyma says that she is going to report to Lord Yggdrasill.

Tales of Symphonia: The Animation
In the anime, Kvar is seen with an Exsphere that he crushes, saying that it is a troublesome thing. Just then, the alarms go off, and the group is shown surrounded by Desians outside. Genis says that it is Sheena’s fault, as she pressed a button she thought was going to help them. Because Raine calls her a clumsy assassin, she uses her guardian to kill some of the Desians, and Lloyd and Kratos run off to kill the rest while the others get inside. Kvar, through the screen sees how Lloyd uses the Exsphere, and immediately recognizes it.

When the group, excluding Sheena, is inside, Genis notices that one of the passages is closing, and informs Lloyd. The latter runs to it, and just manages to get inside, but is trapped. While he continues, the group goes to free the captives, but while they do that, Colette is worried about Lloyd, which makes Kratos tell her to leave him to him, and goes off to help him.

While Lloyd goes alone, he finally gets to the final door, and notices that his Exsphere is acting strange. When he gets inside, he sees a lot of human inside water tanks, and is horrified. Just then, Kvar shows up telling him that they are getting their Exspheres so that they can work for him, and Lloyd witnesses that an Exsphere is made on a man’s throat. Kvar then tells him that Lloyd’s Exsphere was made from his mother’s body, and that she stole it from them a long time ago. Lloyd, silence at first as the Exsphere prepares to use full power, screams that it was Kvar who killed her, and tries to strike him. Kvar, however, avoids him easily and, while summoning electric machines, says that he was not the one who killed Anna, but his father. Lloyd, getting electrocuted by the machines has to listen as Kvar continues to tell how Anna turned into a monster when the Exsphere was removed, and thus the man she loved killed her. Lloyd screams that it is a lie, and tries once again to attack Kvar. However, Kvar knocks Lloyd down, and is disappointed of the Exsphere’s weak power. Just as he is about to kill Lloyd, Kratos comes and uses a lightning spell to stop Kvar. He jumps away from Lloyd and uses the machines to finish him off, but Sheena then jumps forth and rescues Lloyd. From the smoke of the machines, Kratos appears and stabs Kvar through his left chest. Kvar calls Kratos an inferior being, and the mercenary tells Kvar to feel the pain of the inferior beings in the depths of hell. He then takes the sword back, and Kvar falls on the floor, dead.

Off-screen, Raine has made the ranch destroy itself, killing remaining Desians. From a cliff, a woman and a man are looking at the scenery, the woman commenting that not only were Forcystus and Magnius defeated, but also Kvar, although they always say that they are the superior beings. She then smiles, commenting that it is a pity.