Mt. Itoi

Mt. Itoi, (Japanese: ホーリー•ローリー•マウンテン Holy Loly Mountain) also written as Mount Itoi, is one of the final areas in EarthBound Beginnings/. It is notorious for being an extremely difficult area, and when Shigesato Itoi was asked of this, he said that the game was so close to completion he rushed everything and didn't have time to test the difficulty. The seventh and eighth melodies are both located here. The Japanese Manuel states that it is considered a sacred place, and that few people ever travel up it.

Overview
The mountain consists of 3 different sections: the base, a large cave at its base, and a plateau at the end of the cave which contains a small rest house. Higher up on the mountain is a large lake with a central whirlpool. Eve is found in the central lake, in a lab located underneath the whirlpool. Lloyd is required to fix a boat on the eastern dock in order to navigate the lake. Higher up on the mountain, Eve dies at the hands of R7038XX, bearing the seventh melody. In the English release and Mother 1+2 versions of the game, the XX Stone at the mountain's peak bears the 8th melody, while in the original Japanese version, Queen Mary instead remembers the final melody on her own. Nearing the peak, Ninten's party is required to climb an increasing number of vines, as the mountain transitions from a mostly-flat section to a rocky outcropping.

Base
The base is accessed from heading out of Ellay from the north east, then heading south. The path is mostly linear and is bordered by two rivers. After going south a bridge can be found, and upon crossing it will lead to a forest with a small rest house where the player can either sleep for a full heal, or by Life Up Creams for free. The path continues east then turns north, and ends at a cave that leads to the cave of Mt. Itoi.

The forest path was altered during localization to being a linear path to the cave: in Mother the path was more of a maze with many misleading paths between the trees, whereas in EarthBound Beginnings the misleading paths were blocked by trees. Interestingly in Mother a group of trees form the shape of a question mark (?).

Mt. Itoi Caves
The cave is accessible from the base. The cave is a vast maze with many winding paths, and there are many powerful enemies in the cave. The player can find the most powerful weapons for each character (with the exeption of Lloyd) in here. At the end of the caves, the player will exit and be on the mountain itself.

Mt. Itoi
After leaving the caves, the player will find themselves on the mountain itself. The mountain consists of 3 sections: the plateau,the lake, and the peak of the mountain.

Plateau
The plateau is where the player exits the caves. The plateau appears to be somewhat dry and grassy. The player can climb ropes to advance to higher levels. The player willl come across a small rest house where they can heal for free. With Teddy in the party Ninten and Ana can enter the back room and then a cutscene begins. Afterward they will engage an unwinnable battle which sends them back to the base.

Lake
Past the rest house on the plateau is a large lake. Here, the only enemies to encounter are OhMooks. On the eastern side of the lake is a dock where a broken-down boat is parked, however if Lloyd is in the party, he will fix the boat and they all ride in it on the lake. There is a whirlpool in the middle where the player will get sucked in, and find themselves inside an underwater lab. After going through several empty rooms the player will find a robot named EVE, who was created by George with the purpose of protecting Ninten and his friends.

Peak
As the player advances higher, they'll reach the peak portion. The ground starts to appear more rocky, and new more powerful enemies fill the area. There are many more ropes that either take the player up higher, downward, or even to dead-ends. The Sea Pendant, which protects against all PSI attacks except PK Beam, can be found on a narrow cliff. Near the end is one final battle against the R7038, now upgraded to the even more powerful R7038XX. It attacks only EVE, who then saves the team by exploding. Examining the wrecked EVE will result in the 7th melody.

At the end is George's grave stone. In EarthBound Beginnings and Mother 1+2, checking it will cause a crystal to appear and give the player the 8th and final melody. There are rocks which block the cave leading to the summit, which will be destroyed after they sing the eight melodies to Queen Mary.

Summit
Before reaching the summit, the player must travel through a small cave system (that was added during localization). Along the way, they will find a room where the people are being held captive. Here they can speak to one person who recognizes Ana, telling her that her mother is located at the back of the room, and that the mother ship must be destroyed to free them (previously this cave was located on the peak, where EVE was able to access it).

The summit is where Giegue's mother ship is located, he then comes and fights the team. Giegue can only be defeated by singing the eight melodies.

History
Ninten, Ana, and Teddy first arrive here for Teddy avenge his parents who were killed by the creatures on the mountain. Along the way they reach a small rest house, and with Teddy in the party they can go into the room in the back. After a cutscene where Ninten and Ana dance, the two confess their feelings to each other. However, Teddy interrupts the moment because he hears strange noises outside. The noise was caused by the R7038, and then they engage in a battle. The fight could not be won and the entire party collapses, then Lloyd arrives in a tank and tryes to rescue them, but accidentally misses and shoots the party, though he also destroyed the R7038 as well (In the Japanese version, Lloyd didn't arrive in time and the R7038 escaped. When Lloyd arrives he says "Oh no! I'm too late!).

Lloyd takes them to the rest house at the base, but Teddy's injuries were more severe than the others', forcing him to stay behind, while Lloyd rejoins the team and the three travel through the caves once more and return to the mountain.

They come to a lake where Lloyd fixes a broken boat and they ride on the lake. The team get sucked into a whirlpool which leads into an underwater lab. Here, Ninten and his friends friends will find a robot named EVE, who was created by Ninten's great grandfather George. She explains how George was taken away from earth, but then returned, and that he created EVE to protect Ninten and his friends. Suddenly, the glass keeping the water out breaks, but EVE rescuse the team and takes them back outside.

After climbing higher they encounter the R7038XX. The fight is unwinnable, but EVE destroys it by exploding. Ninten examines the wrecked EVE and the 7th melody plays.

They return to Magicant and sing the Eight Melodies to Queen Mary. She then remembers that she raised Giegue when he was a child, and that she is George's wife Maria (in the original Mother the player will instead be warped to Magicant upon collecting the 7th melody, then they will sing the melodies to Queen Mary, who then remembers the final melody on her own). She then disappears and goes to heaven, and Magicant vanishes. The player is returned to George's grave and the rocks blocking the path are moved away, allowing them to enter the cave that leads to the summit.

On the summit Giegue arrives in his mother ship to fight. He expresses his gratitude to Ninten's family for raising him, but then explains that George stole the PSI information, and how Giegue now must retrieve it. He offers to save Ninten alone, but Ninten declines. Giegue can not be defeated by normal means. Instead, the player sings the Eight Melodies to him, which then causes him to feel remorseful and grieve over the loss of Maria, thus forcing him to retreat.

Base

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Cave

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Plateau

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Lake

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Peak

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Final Boss

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Gallery

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