Wait, when was Sakura cloned? I thought it was clone!Sakura who grew up with Cloney, with Clow Reed as her dad. So she IS in love with Cloney. She didn't act the same when she was with "Syaoran" after Acid Tokyo, because she loved Cloney. Unless she's the soul of original!Sakura, and that is why Yuuko has original!Sakura's body...? There's a problem with that guess, too, as CLAMP is playing Musical Bodies with the various souls of various Sakura. A 3D flowchart is needed to sort out when which soul was in which body.
Romance aside, I'm going to try to find some kind of logic, LOL
Perhaps FWR *had* to be roundabout in killing Sakura because she is technically more powerful than him? Perhaps ClowCountry!Sakura was the most vulnerable version of Sakura, Clow's designated heiress who is supposed to be even stronger than Clow? Because if Clow's power was enough to pause time for Yuuko, then maybe FWR thinks Sakura's power would be enough to actually fulfill the full extent of his wish?
If Clow Reed left behind some of his life and power... Are they trying to say that Eriol, rather than being a reincarnation of Clow Reed, actually IS Clow Reed, whose power and life/age were diminished? This implies a couple possibilities, which may or may not be all-inclusive or mutually exclusive: 1. CCS!Fujitaka was created based on a template of TRC!Fujitaka, specifically to be matched with the pre-existing version of CCS!Nadeshiko, in order to ensure the birth of CCS!Sakura. Clow Reed would have to have known to set up the Clow Cards and Guardians for CCS!Sakura before leaving for Clow Country; however, that can be handwaved as his precognitive abilities at work. Also, since CCS!Fujitaka started out with "life" but not "magic," it could imply that making CCS!Fujitaka (further?) de-aged Clow into "Eriol." 2. The timelines of the various worlds/dimensions are not concurrent-- the original events in Clow Country would otherwise take place long before the birth of CCS!Sakura. This could further imply that "Syaoran's" wish that fucked up time was necessary/hitsuzen, in order to create the possibility of CCS actually happening. Which would also probably imply that "Syaoran" is not the son of CCS!S&S, and reinforces the looping nature in which Yuuko says time has become stuck. 3. Randomly, the Sakura and Syaoran who are currently speaking with Yuuko may *become* CCS!S&S.
SOAPBOX TIME! I don't know why I keep trying to make sense of this plot, though it is an interesting exercise in seeing how a fantasy plot involving multiple versions/incarnations of characters needs to be handled decisively and delicately. That's important to me, because I've been helping my best friend create a universe in which to write, and trying to define a set manner in which that universe functions and thus make the plot stick with the goddamn rules. We've been planning it on and off for more than seven years, and we've only just gotten the skeleton of the mechanics of universe figured out. Now we're working on integrating those laws with worldbuilding. Again. Because there is no way in hell we want to end up like CLAMP and write ourselves into a messy corner that requires shattering our own pre-stated rules in order to resolve the plot. We recognized the need for such attention to background/mechanical detail back when we were 20-- two years into flailing around with story bits-- and have been hammering this out through at least six iterations because we noticed that the story ended up crashing near the climax without underlying laws that would logically lead to the desired conclusion. We know we'll be laughed at if we make something so sloppy that we trip over our own implied rules. CLAMP gives the impression that they didn't sit down and plan out the logic behind the ending of the story from the beginning. The middle is important! That's shoddy storytelling, and cheats the reader. It's sad that CLAMP has become the leader in demonstrating how horribly your work can be received if it has good stories in minor arcs, but lacks overall cohesiveness. It's a valuable lesson: If I break a reader's brain, I want it to be deliberate and in a good way. Not because I've proved myself to have FAILED LOGIC FOREVER.
Chatting at length here because my FL doesn't give a damn.
Romance aside, I'm going to try to find some kind of logic, LOL
Perhaps FWR *had* to be roundabout in killing Sakura because she is technically more powerful than him? Perhaps ClowCountry!Sakura was the most vulnerable version of Sakura, Clow's designated heiress who is supposed to be even stronger than Clow? Because if Clow's power was enough to pause time for Yuuko, then maybe FWR thinks Sakura's power would be enough to actually fulfill the full extent of his wish?
If Clow Reed left behind some of his life and power... Are they trying to say that Eriol, rather than being a reincarnation of Clow Reed, actually IS Clow Reed, whose power and life/age were diminished? This implies a couple possibilities, which may or may not be all-inclusive or mutually exclusive:
1. CCS!Fujitaka was created based on a template of TRC!Fujitaka, specifically to be matched with the pre-existing version of CCS!Nadeshiko, in order to ensure the birth of CCS!Sakura. Clow Reed would have to have known to set up the Clow Cards and Guardians for CCS!Sakura before leaving for Clow Country; however, that can be handwaved as his precognitive abilities at work. Also, since CCS!Fujitaka started out with "life" but not "magic," it could imply that making CCS!Fujitaka (further?) de-aged Clow into "Eriol."
2. The timelines of the various worlds/dimensions are not concurrent-- the original events in Clow Country would otherwise take place long before the birth of CCS!Sakura. This could further imply that "Syaoran's" wish that fucked up time was necessary/hitsuzen, in order to create the possibility of CCS actually happening. Which would also probably imply that "Syaoran" is not the son of CCS!S&S, and reinforces the looping nature in which Yuuko says time has become stuck.
3. Randomly, the Sakura and Syaoran who are currently speaking with Yuuko may *become* CCS!S&S.
SOAPBOX TIME!
I don't know why I keep trying to make sense of this plot, though it is an interesting exercise in seeing how a fantasy plot involving multiple versions/incarnations of characters needs to be handled decisively and delicately. That's important to me, because I've been helping my best friend create a universe in which to write, and trying to define a set manner in which that universe functions and thus make the plot stick with the goddamn rules. We've been planning it on and off for more than seven years, and we've only just gotten the skeleton of the mechanics of universe figured out. Now we're working on integrating those laws with worldbuilding. Again. Because there is no way in hell we want to end up like CLAMP and write ourselves into a messy corner that requires shattering our own pre-stated rules in order to resolve the plot. We recognized the need for such attention to background/mechanical detail back when we were 20-- two years into flailing around with story bits-- and have been hammering this out through at least six iterations because we noticed that the story ended up crashing near the climax without underlying laws that would logically lead to the desired conclusion. We know we'll be laughed at if we make something so sloppy that we trip over our own implied rules. CLAMP gives the impression that they didn't sit down and plan out the logic behind the ending of the story from the beginning. The middle is important! That's shoddy storytelling, and cheats the reader. It's sad that CLAMP has become the leader in demonstrating how horribly your work can be received if it has good stories in minor arcs, but lacks overall cohesiveness. It's a valuable lesson: If I break a reader's brain, I want it to be deliberate and in a good way. Not because I've proved myself to have FAILED LOGIC FOREVER.