Kirby fans have eaten very well over the last few years. After the 2018 Switch release Kirby Star Allies capped off one era for the franchise, it came back with an acclaimed new 3D offering in 2022's Kirby and the Forgotten Land - and the spin-off Kirby's Dream Buffet hit the Switch eShop later that year. Last month brought with it Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, a remake of the Wii classic that includes new content like an epilogue campaign for Magolor. If more remakes follow suit, one could easily imagine games like Triple Deluxe getting a similar treatment.
HAL Laboratory has long spotlighted its antagonists as playable characters through post-game modes like Meta Knightmare or DededeTour, and Magolor Epilogue: The Interdimensional Traveler is the next evolution of this concept. It stars Return to Dream Land's twist antagonist with a host of upgradeable RPG skills and abilities, exploring alternate dimensions following the main campaign. This style of Extra Mode could work perfectly for seeing more of 3DS-era antagonists Queen Sectonia and Taranza.
Sectonia Seems Like a Typical Kirby Boss
Kirby Triple Deluxe was the mainline title to follow 2011's Return to Dream Land, releasing in 2014 and starting a trend of titles using a similar style on Nintendo's last dedicated handheld console. Like many entries in the beginner-friendly platformer franchise, Triple Deluxe begins with a simple premise: Kirby's peaceful day is interrupted by the sudden growth of an immense "Dreamstalk" that connects Popstar to a kingdom in the sky. After King Dedede is kidnapped by a spider-like being named Taranza, the pink puffball goes on a Jack and the Beanstalk-inspired adventure.
Players learn the Dreamstalk was summoned by the residents of Floralia, meant to call upon the hero of Dream Land after the wasp-like Sectonia becomes its despotic queen. With her servant Taranza failing to stop this hero (believing it to be Dedede rather than Kirby), Queen Sectonia becomes the final boss and even fuses with the Dreamstalk to match the cosmic horrors typical of Kirby narratives. She's defeated when Taranza helps Kirby access the Hypernova ability that serves as Triple Deluxe's primary gimmick.
Soul of Sectonia gets another shot in Triple Deluxe's True Arena mode, and she also appears as one of the cloned bosses in the Meta Knightmare Returns mode from Triple Deluxe's 3DS follow-up Planet Robobot. Meanwhile, Taranza has become more of a recurring ally, added as one of the playable DLC characters in Kirby Star Allies. Both are referenced through cosmetics in games like Super Kirby Clash, Kirby Fighters 2, and Kirby's Dream Buffet.
Sectonia and Taranza Have a Deeper Connection to Explore
There is plenty more to Sectonia and Taranza than a villainess betrayed by her servant. The pause screen during battle with Queen Sectonia DX reveals she and Taranza were once friends before she turned vain and power-hungry; a result of the influence from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror's Dimension Mirror. This also existed in the skies above Dream Land, and is confirmed to have magnified "her obsession with her own beauty" in Super Kirby Clash's Sectonia Flash description. DededeTour ends with the mirror appearing in her castle to summon Shadow Dedede and Dark Meta Knight.
Fans can see Sectonia's original form in Kirby Star Allies, as one of the Stone ability transformations shows a similar spider-like form as Taranza. This same model is also briefly shown when defeating Queen Sectonia's clone in Planet Robobot. All of this lore hidden across the series reframes the otherwise basic character interaction at the end of Triple Deluxe into the story of a friend hoping to save someone who is too far-gone with her own twisted obsessions.
If Magolor can get an epilogue following the events of Return to Dream Land, so too could Taranza if Triple Deluxe is next in line for a remake. Given Taranza and Magolor were both playable in Kirby Star Allies, a dedicated post-game mode akin to Magolor Epilogue could similarly rehash Taranza's moveset in an RPG progression system. The plot is obvious too, with him looking to find some way to revive his old friend Sectonia - or at least repent for facilitating her descent into tyranny. There's too much pathos to be had for this duo to be ignored forever, but time will tell whether HAL Laboratory brings them back sooner rather than later.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe is available now for Nintendo Switch.
