How Old Are Sebastian and Maru? || Stardew Valley 1.6 Lore and Theory

First comment is mines :4evil

a doctor in his mid 30s? Guess Harvey is a hot item after all – and didn't catch that Shane would be that old,I just thought his..erm .. "lifestyle" had taken its toll

i lean more to theory B— solely because i don't think Robin could move on that fast after her first marriage, i always thought of Sebastian's dad passed away on certain circumstances and that left Robin in the shadows for a few years before she decides to move on and try to get Sebastian a better life as well (although in the end it turns out not really well, Seb hates his stepdad he don't like Maru yadda yadda)

plus the large age gap may contribute to him thinking that Maru doesn't like him either (judging by his married dialogue which goes like "i'm sure Maru's happy that i'm gone" or something)

i'm speaking from irl experiences btw lol my older brother and me has a large age gap as well and i always felt left behind seeing how much he could accomplish when i'm just being another average-grade student even in college

If you believe Theory A; it is also possible that Robin knew Demetre before the loss of her first husband. However, I don't think this supports the distance Sebastion feels between himself and his sister. It isn't impossible, but i still feel they would be closer even if Demetre wasn't a good stepfather.
Theory B is personally the one I agree more with. Sebastion went to college, came back, and Maru is expected to still go. If we assume most colleges are at least four years, this alone will put Maru in the 21-25, or younger, age range is we agree that Sebastion is at least 29 years old. Though even if we knock Sebastion down to 26, Maru can still easily be 19-21.
It might help understand Ape's culture; are people allowed to drink alcohol earlier or later in life? America is 21 and older; while some countries are 18 and older, or younger if with a parent or guardian; also, there are some countries that you have to be much older to drink.
I personally don't recall a scene in which Maru goes into the Tavern with her folks. She lets that be their thing. Robin and Demetre dance and it always looks like Robin is smiling, like this was something she couldn't do with her pervious partner. Sebastion is old enough to be in there on his own, and I believe Gus wouldn't serve to anyone underage. Gus does have a wide range of items for sale, and with the town being so small, he knows everyone's parents/guardians.

Overall, I believe the age theory video was wonderfully done with a lot of thought put into it! Keep up the good work :3

Theory B. I think Seb's dad (most likely IMO) dying unexpectedly or separating from Robin when Seb was a little older makes more sense. Compared to a two-year-old, an older kid will have a harder time accepting a new parental figure and may even think their former parent is being cruelly replaced (don't you love them anymore?). This would explain a lot of that resentment. There are ways to do it right, but when Robin met Demetrius, she fell in love hard and fast and tied the knot before Seb was completely on board. They then had a child soon after getting married and since Seb still had memories of his previous family it suddenly seemed like he was being replaced too. He was suddenly an outsider, a smear on their image of a perfectly happy family, because he still dearly missed his dad.

With theory A there would have to be some other reason Seb didn't accept Demetrius as his father. Maybe there was a one-time event that shattered the relationship, Demetrius actually showed a lot of favoritism, or….?

❤❤❤

I think Seb and Maru have a large-ish age gap. From my own experience, bonding with an older sibling (my fully biological brother and I are 13 apart in age) is difficult, especially if there are only two siblings (on the other hand, my best friend has two siblings, each 5 years apart and she's the eldest, well, except for an older half brother whom she doesn't really talk to)
Regarding age gaps in friendships, I'm twenty and have two friends whom I've met online through Genshin Impact. They're 16 and 14. They're my ride-or-dies. Considering Seb, Sam and Aby are in a band together, I think they bonded over their interest in music quite a while ago (Aby goes close to Seb's house to play the flute if I'm not wrong and Seb could have heard her play and they strated talking.) As for Maru and Penny, it's possible that they were schooled together. Both of them are pretty smart and it's possible there was someone who filled the teacher role when Penny wasn't old enough to teach. And considering Pelican town is very small, there wouldn't be a reason to teach each grade individually as there would only be 2 children max in each grade.
There's probably mistakes in this, but this is how I feel about it^^

Imo Sebastian is 25 and Sam is 22, with Maru being 20. I have a similar age gap with one of my sisters, five years may not seem like much but growing up it felt like she was completely at a different stage than me, I can understand how that can set up resentment. I also believe Robin and Demetrius may have had Maru before getting married, with Maru perhaps living with Demetrius throughout early childhood. Combining for an even more rocky start.

As for Sam, him being 22 allows leeway for his ‘teenage’ behavior yet still allows him to have had gone to highschool with Seb since they both tend to reminisce about the ‘good old days’.

It's possible that Robins and Demetrius mariage start as a deal not becouse of love. They both realy practical persons, Demetrius even to the point of being realy weird in his practicality. Maybe they was friends before and after Robins first husband left her pregnant/with realy smal child alone, Demetrius sugest deal. He give her financial stability and place to live while she take care of all house chores so he can focus on his sciense reserch. But over time they start acting more like a copule and less as a roommates.
This don't answer the question about Sebastians and Marus age gap but might explain other problems in this family. Also, I think age gap is something around 3-5 years.

Are there any theories about Penny’s father? I know there’s dialogue about him leaving because he felt trapped, but it might be fun to explore some thoughts on who he might be and what he might be like

My thinking…
Abigail and Sam are probably around 19-20. Considered adult but have yet to truly mature.
Shane is obviously over 21 (considering the law in the US) but I would believe probably more around 23, possibly a bit older, 24-25 top. He's allowed to drink and had some time to get into trouble and rack up even more trouble which got him to go and live with his aunt in order to try to turn his life around (at least that's his family wishes).
Harvey is probably in his late 30s. He's a doctor which would take him several years to get to a point where he can have his own independent practice (Early 30s) so I would assume he did his studies, worked maybe a bit in the city and decided to open his practice. With all that, the time it could take I assume late 30s.
Elliot is probably in his 40s. He lives alone on a beach in a backwater town and seems jobless. My guess is midlife crisis.
Sebastian is probably around the age of Abigail since he is friend with her and Sam. He's still showing sign of lack of maturity and teen habits some I think that would be a fair assessment.
Since Maru is younger as confirmed by ConcernedApe that would put her around 18-19 if Sebastian is 19-20. The fact that she work in the clinic doesn't mean she's has any medical training, don't let the nurse outfit fool you. She's probably a medical assistant at best on that regard.
Penny I believe would be between mid and late 20s. She matured and is trusted to teach and not turn Skywalker on the younglings.
Emily is obviously above 21 (again assuming US law) since she work behind the counter at a bar. By guess would be mid 20s since she is trusted to care for the house while her parents are touring the world.
Haley is probably the younger sister being early 20s. She hasn't matured yet and clearly not responsible enough yet to care for the house properly with her sister.

All that… IMO of course 🙂

Personally I always felt like Sebastian was in his mid to late twenties. Thinking him being at least 28 years old.

If we look at it at a realistic stand point (to me personally for Maru’s sake.)

Maru would have been in nursing school in order to work with Harvey, doing science on the side. With that Maru could be a student nurse, working in a hospital. However I say Maru is either 26 or 25 due to her completing the nursing program and able to work with Harvey as a practicing nurse.

In the stands as your theory, I kind of see as Robin probably did divorce Sebastians’s dad with in the first year of Sebastian’s life. Probably having a co-parenting relationship with her exhusband. On the days Sebastian is with his actual dad. Robin actually go out meet Demetrius and probably fell in love with him after a few dates. Gotten married. Then living with his stepfather. While his actual dad probably ended the co-parenting thing. At the age of two shortly before Maru was born. I was thinking of it like that.

I read them as being fairly close in age, and that the distance between Sebastian and Maru is something that grew once they were in their teens and Demetrius’ favoritism of Maru became more recognizable. I read Maru as being about 23 and Sebastian as around 25-26. I get the impression that Seb didn’t go to college and was never encouraged to, whereas Maru always was and Demetrius resents that she followed her brother’s path of success without a degree, and blames Sebastian for that. How Demetrius and Robin ended up together….i have no idea how they even met. But I can definitely see Demetrius seeing baby Sebastian and thinking they raising him would be as easy as following the parenting books and nothing more.
I also don’t read Harvey as old as 35+. I think he’s only about 32. Old enough to feel “old” but not old enough to realize he’s still fairly young. And he’s so awkward that his crush on Maru comes across (to me) as more proximity based than anything else.