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Magus spends his whole adult life wanting to get revenge on Lavos. He tries to summon it in the Middle Ages, but the party interferes. Once he gets back to 12,000 B.C. in Zeal, he finally confronts Lavos and attacks it.

MAGUS: I won't... be beaten!
I survived the darkness to defeat you, Lavos!
Take this, Lavos!
Aaaugh!

I've always thought Magus had to have a strategy for defeating Lavos, something of a trump card that he could use against such a powerful being. The technique we see him use seems be physical, as he slashes Lavos' head with his scythe. A blue light then appears behind the head and whole shell flashes red, but it seems to have no effect.

MAGUS: Wh, what..?
It doesn't work?!
Aaughhh!!

What was Magus trying to do? Why did it fail?

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    It's been many years since I played this game. Reading your question brought back memories...lots of them. I can't give a concrete answer yet, but I kinda remember this: The scythe isn't any normal blacksmith's product. It has (probably strong) magic in it. That's why Magus thought it is adequate to kill Lavos. He grew up in a civilisation where humanity ruled the world with magic, the supreme power in all things he knew of. His isolation in the Middle Ages helped reinforce the superiority of magic.
    – thegreatjedi
    Commented Jan 18, 2016 at 18:28
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    But Lavos isn't a normal enemy. Many have tried to kill it. All of them have no idea what they are getting themselves into. They severely underestimate its power. Hell, they don't even know what Lavos is. In my opinion, the scythe must have been a weapon imbued with great magical power, at a strength and intensity that Magus felt would be enough to fell any foe. It's easy to believe that when you don't have an accurate awareness nor assessment of the facts. What you have here, then, isn't a way to kill Lavos, but just a weapon of pure brute magical force, which Magus thinks is enough.
    – thegreatjedi
    Commented Jan 18, 2016 at 18:32
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    @thegreatjedi I don't think I'll get a better answer to this than your comment. If you were to put it in an answer, I'd accept it.
    – isanae
    Commented Oct 3, 2016 at 18:37

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Magus's attack on Lavos does not use the character's usual attack animation. Here is a closeup of him walloping Lavos.

Magus attacking

Magus appears to be swinging a red weapon. This is in contrast to the white effects associated with his normal attack, as shown here:

(The video is cued up to show Magus landing a critical hit. His regular attack animation can also be seen—for example, at 2:03.)

It is also significant that this time around, Magus is fighting Lavos in Magus's own native time period—12,000 B.C., the age of Zeale—a time when dreamstone was, while not common, at least available. We do not know what the wizard's plan was to defeat Lavos in 600 A.D. (except that it was going to fail), but he would certainly adjust his plans to the changed setting when he arrived back in 12,000 B.C. Magus would take advantage of all the magic that was available in that time period, most likely including dreamstone.

So, based on the appearance of the special attack animation and the setting in which this battle takes place, I think the most likely explanation is that Magus has made or otherwise obtained a dreamstone weapon (most likely a scythe) and is using that weapon to try to kill Lavos.

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  • Hm. Magus had first-hand knowledge of at least one other Dreamstone weapon: the Masamune. He was well aware of its power, having been on the receiving, pointy end of it at least twice, against Cyrus and Frog. In the cutscene, Magus destroys the Masamune before killing Cyrus. He must have been severely underestimating Lavos' power indeed if he thought another Dreamstone weapon could have killed it.
    – isanae
    Commented Feb 20, 2019 at 4:38

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