-Final Fantasy IX Plot Analysis-
Author: Glenn Morrow/Squall of SeeD; Favorite Quote: "The only thing necessary
for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
Written: March 28, 2005; Last Updated: January 2, 2006
Version: 10.00
***UPDATE***: For personal reasons, I'm going to be retiring from Final
Fantasy theorizing and speculation, as well as pretty much anything related to
it. Take care everyone.
-Contents-
1) Statement of Purpose
2) Analysis
-Part 1: Necron
-Part 2: Garland's Plan To Make Gaia Into Terra
-Part 3: Who is Speaking During the Ending?
-Part 4: Does Vivi die?
-Part 5: Does Kuja die?
-Part 6: Where Did Vivi's Sons Come From?
-Part 7: Quina: Male or Female?
-Part 8: Did Kuja Shatter the Crystal?
-Part 9: How Long After Kuja's Death Does the Ending Take Place?
-Part 10: The Four Jewels and their Purpose
-Part 11: Why Did Kuja Want the Gulug Stone?
-Part 12: Why Was Mt. Gulug Sealed?
-Part 13: Why Was the Gulug Stone in Oeilvert?
-Part 14: What is the Gulug Stone?
-Part 15: What is the Significance of the Gulug Symbol?
-Part 16: What is Ozma?
-Part 17: Is There A Hidden Connection Between Eiko (or Dagger) and Amarant?
-Part 18: Holy's Components
-Part 19: The Nature of Ultima
-Part 20: Spirit Energy and Memories: The Magic of Final Fantasy
-Part 21: Elemental Properties of Magic
3) Other Fans' Theories
-Philosopher1701's Theories:
1. The Purpose of Final Fantasy IX's Crystal
2. All Planets Hold a Shard of the Original Crystal at their Center
-YamiBeowulf's Theories:
1. The Veil Energy Used to Power Airships is Derived in a Manner Similar to
the Process by which Mako Reactors in Final Fantasy VII convert Mako into
Usable Forms
2. Zidane, Kuja, and the Others' Presence May Have Inspired the Crystal to
Create the Universe
3. How the Black Mages of the Black Mage Village Reached the Outer Continent
-masamune1600's Theories:
1. Final Fantasy IX's Implicit References to Past Final Fantasies
4) Acknowledgements and Dedication
-Statement of Purpose-
The purpose of this document is to offer the world an explanation for the
most enduring mystery of Final Fantasy IX: The purpose and role of Necron
within the story. Often believed to either be a random boss thrown in without
any actual storyline basis for its presence, or a cosmic being who chose to
interfere in the natural order, I here attempt to dispell these
misconceptions and offer the truth behind this being's presence in the game
and explain why the being not only had a basis in the storyline, but an
important role at that.
In addition, I attempt to explain the often misunderstood plan which Garland
was carrying out to "...make Gaia into Terra," clarify some large questions
pertaining to the ending, and offer my views on the often discussed matter of
Quina's gender and the nature of Vivi's sons.
I will update this FAQ as more matters of speculation within the game are
debated and conclusions are drawn.
With all that said, enjoy.
-Analysis-
Part 1: Necron
I believe Necron, the final opponent fought in Final Fantasy IX, is the
central function of the Iifa Tree, the mechanism that interefered with the
Cycle of Souls. To put it another way, Necron is the true form of the Iifa
Tree, that aspect of it that lies beyond the material plane and intereferes
with the cycle of Gaia's souls on the spiritual plane.
For evidence of this, we must first look to Garland's observations and
conclusions concerning life:
(In Pandemonium on Terra.)
"But think for a moment... Isn't life death itself? It must kill other
life-forms to survive..."
"Sometimes it even kills those with whom is shares blood..."
"To live is to give life meaning, yet one must take others' lives to
survive..."
"A mature civilization becomes aware of this paradox..."
"Terra's souls will sleep until they forget such nonsense. They will begin a
new life in a new dimension."
"It's a world in which life and death become one..."
"That is the dimension in which we are meant to live, as beings that
transcend life and death!"
We find very similar conclusions stated by Necron:
(Above the Hill of Despair.)
"All life bears death from birth."
"Life fears death, but lives only to die."
"It starts with anxiety."
"Anxiety becomes fear."
"Fear leads to anger... anger leads to hate... hate leads to suffering..."
"The only cure for this fear is total destruction."
"...Now, the theory is undeniable."
"Kuja's action proves it. All things live to perish."
"At last, life has uncovered this truth. Now, it is time to end this world."
...
"I exist for one purpose..."
"To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no
crystal to give life."
"In a world of nothing, fear does not exist. This is the world that all life
desires."
With this in mind, recall that Garland created the Iifa Tree. That it would be
aware of Garland's (him being its maker and having assigned it its function)
beliefs and could have sought to analyze them as a result -- with the actions
of another of Garland's creations, Kuja, as the basis of the analyzation -- is
something to be considered.
Something else to consider is that Garland states that the Iifa Tree's true
form was not the Tree itself, that being only its material form:
Garland
"We must sort the souls."
"I want to disrupt Gaia's cycle and drain its souls, filling the void with
the souls of Terra."
"To speed the cycle of souls is to speed the work as a whole. Thus, war..."
"And in time... Gaia's souls are gone, and Gaia becomes Terra."
Garland
"You saw it with your own eyes. You saw the Iifa Tree and the Mist it emits."
"The role of the Iifa Tree is that of Soul Divider. The Mist you see
comprises the stagnant souls of Gaia..."
Zidane
"Oh yeah? But we stopped the Mist! So much for that!"
Garland
"ALL YOU SAW WAS THE BACK OF THE TREE..."
"Even now, the Iifa Tree blocks the flow of Gaia's souls, while it lets
those of Terra flow freely."
"Come and see for yourself. See the true form of this planet."
Zidane
"What is this?"
Garland
"Think of it as an observatory. A place to measure the radiance of Gaia and
Terra."
Zidane
"What are you talking about? And what is this weird light?"
Garland
"That is the center of the planet. The end and the beginning of the cycle of
souls."
"The light remains Gaia's, for now, but when the blue changes to crimson,
all will belong to Terra, and its restoration will be complete."
"THAT IS WHY I WRAPPED UP THE LIGHT IN THE IIFA TREE, TO PREVENT THE CYCLE
OF THE JUDGEMENT OF SOULS ON GAIA FROM INSIDE THE PLANET."
"SUCH IS THE IIFA TREE'S TRUE PURPOSE, ITS TRUE FORM. ALL YOU SAW WAS ITS
MATERIAL FORM."
"The flow of Gaia's souls cannot be changed simply by stopping the disposal
of Mist."
(Capitalized for emphasis.)
This would mean that the mechanism which interrupts the Cycle of Souls was
something not on the physical plane. With this in mind, recall that when
Kuja is defeated, he says that he if he is going to die, he isn't going
alone, meaning he intended to kill Zidane and the others with his final
attack. He then proceeds to blast them with an Ultima Spell, their bodies
being engulfed in flames and vanishing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Screwed.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation8.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation10.jpg
Now keep in mind further that after the screen fades out, when it fades back
in, we find Zidane and the others laying in an area that ISN'T the area where
Kuja was fought, and which is called the "Hill of Despair" according to the
Menu Screen:
(Where Kuja was fought.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/FinalBattle.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/FinalBattle2.jpg
(The Hill of Despair.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TheHillofDespair.jpg
("Hill of Despair" on the Menu Screen.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/HillofDespair.jpg
In addition to this, the moans of tormented souls can be heard in the
background.
In other words, the implication is that when Zidane and the others were hit
by Kuja's Spell, they were KILLED, and then came face-to-face with the Iifa
Tree's true form on the spirtual plane, it attempting to dismiss them from
Gaia as it had done to all the souls up to this point, as was the purpose
Garland said the Tree had been given.
Also consider that after the defeat of Necron, the gateway to Memoria explodes
and the Iifa Tree goes into a spasm, flailing its vines and roots about, then
dying soon after. We can be certain that the Tree died, as Mikoto can be seen
briefly during the ending walking across a vine of the Tree, it no longer
violent and thrashing. For that matter, had the Tree not been undone, we would
be left to wonder why Gaia's assimilation by Terra was never completed, seeing
as how Kuja said that the assimilation was nigh at hand before the final
battle with him.
Necron being the core mechanism of the Tree would account for the Tree's
demise, whereas Necron not being so would leave us to question why the Tree
died for seemingly no reason, first going into violent spasms immediately
after Necron was defeated, then being dead shortly thereafter.
Something else possibly worth consideration is what Garland says concerning
the radiance of Gaia and Terra:
Garland
"That is the center of the planet. The end and the beginning of the cycle of
souls."
"The light remains Gaia's, for now, but when the blue changes to crimson, all
will belong to Terra, and its restoration will be complete."
The radiance of Gaia is blue, whereas the radiance of Terra is red. Necron
is blue, yet when casting certain Spells, changes its color to red.
Yet another point of consideration is the similarity between the faces seen in
Oeilvert and Necron's face:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TerranFaces.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/NecronsFace.jpg
This suggests that Terran technology was employed in Necron's creation.
One final point of consideration is that the Iifa Tree theme and the Final
Battle theme -- consisting of the music heard on the Hill of Despair and
during the battle with Necron -- follow the same theme, with the two pieces
being variations of this theme. A similar example would be the reuse of the
Prelude theme throughout the Final Fantasy series, the same theme always being
used though in a new variation.
In summary, with Garland and Necron expressing similar views on life, and
Necron's own words showing that it was testing a theory involving that view of
life before concluding that the view was accurate (which would make sense for
it to do if Garland were its creator), we can possibly conclude the same point
of origin for this belief. Further, with Garland suggesting that the true form
of the Iifa Tree did not lie on the physical plane, and with Zidane and the
others being killed in battle by Kuja only to find themselves confronted by
a creature spouting views similar to Garland's and changing into the two
colors of the Planets that the Iifa Tree served as a gateway between (blue for
Gaia and red for Terra), as well as Necron sharing the same theme as the Iifa
Tree, we can assume a possible connection to the Iifa Tree on Necron's part.
The death of the Tree following Necron's defeat allows us to confirm this.
Points That Would Possibly Contest This Concept:
*Point: Necron says "I am eternal" when defeated. Would this not immediately
disprove Necron as being the central mechanism of the Iifa Tree, seeing as
how Garland created it?
*Response: Not necessarily. Necron says "I am eternal" upon being defeated,
yes, but that does not necessarily mean that Necron was saying "I have always
been and always will be." "Eternal" is ambiguous. It CAN mean "Always has
been and always will be," but it can also mean "Having no end." In other
words, Necron might have been saying "I will never perish." This certainly
isn't a foreign declaration to villains upon their demise. For that matter,
Zeromus, the final opponent of Final Fantasy IV, and the incarnation of
Zemus' hatred, made a similar declaration at the moment of his own death:
(Zeromus' final words.)
Zeromus: I will not...perish...so long as evil...dwells in the hearts...of
mankind. G...gh... GRRRAAGH!
(Necron's final words.)
"This is not the end."
"I am eternal..."
"...as long as there is life and death..."
However, there's little question as to whether or not Zeromus was simply
making a boast before his death, something which he did not anticipate.
Something else to keep in mind is that Final Fantasy IX was a game designed
to pay tribute to past Final Fantasy games. The ending boss battles of Final
Fantasy IV and IX are very similar in that in both the party is wiped out,
only to be brought back from defeat by other party members lending their
strength. Also in both cases, the defeated final foe declares their
self-proclaimed eternal nature, despite all indication and the context of
the situation suggesting it to not be the case.
For that matter, it should be noted that Soulcage, the Mist distributing
function of the Iifa Tree, also boasted that it would not be defeated by
Zidane and the others, despite it being destroyed when it actually fought
them:
"I have seen the end of my thousand-year life, and it is not now."
'You cannot stop me."
"It is futile even to try."
While one might argue that it's a different situation because Soulcage's boast
came before its battle with its killers, there's the obvious fact that such
statements as "I am immortal! This cannot BE!" come from defeated villains on
a regular basis, whether it be in stories outside of the Final Fantasy series
or within it. A good example of such lines being used within the Final Fantasy
series is Final Fantasy: Tactics, which uses such lines no less than four
times during the course of the game:
(Note: These are all the dying words of the characters in question.)
Queklain:"I'm immortal...how can I be losing....? It's impossible. I can't...
die...until he resurrects..."
Velius: "Whooooah!! They're just humans....!"
Elidibs: "This can't be happening... I'm not supposed to lose..."
Balk: "I'm...dying? I thought I'd risen over 'death'..."
*Point: If the party members died, then how were they suddenly back alive
after Kuja teleported them out of battle with Necron? For that matter, how did
their souls return to their bodies with their bodies healed? Certainly this
would suggest that the concept is false.
*Response: Again, not necessarily. The point could as easily be posed in
response "Why then do the bodies of Zidane and the others vanish after
they're blasted by Ultima, and why do they awaken in a different location
than the one where they had fought Kuja, with it being called the 'Hill of
Despair' and the sounds of anguished souls audible?". The notion that Zidane
and the others DIDN'T die requires more explanation than one that would
argue they did. While certainly odd that Kuja would be able to teleport souls
and then place them back into their [healed] bodies that had been killed
moments before, that can possibly be explained away by the fact that Kuja had
absorbed a multitude of souls from the Invincible:
Kuja
"Yes! This is the power I've longed for!!!"
"The mighty power of souls! They assault any threat that tries to destroy
them!"
Zidane
"Wh-What do you mean...?"
Kuja
"It's Trance! You know how it works."
"But a normal Trance won't be enough to defeat you... You're all as resilient
as oglops."
"Even tiny moogles possess the power of Trance... When I saw that in Gulug
Volcano, I came up with a plan."
"It was easy. I just needed to borrow the power from wretched souls that
can't die..."
"Where did I acquire it? It was the Invincible, or should I say, that large
eyeball in the sky?"
"The ship sucked up the souls of Madain Sari, the Iifa Tree, Alexandria to
feed upon them..."
"When it fought Bahamut at the Iifa Tree, the Invincible drew in a powerful
spirit... Can you guess to whom it belonged?"
Dagger
"!?"
Kuja
"Queen Brahne's soul! The soul of your mother!"
"The souls trapped inside the Invincible welcomed me with open arms."
"They were fed up with being your prisoners, Garland."
With that much power, perhaps the power to reach out and touch souls was not
beyond Kuja, him then teleporting the souls to the same location as Zidane
and the others' bodies, with the bodies healed. While that's conjecture and
Zidane and the others dying WOULD make a plothole of Kuja rescuing Zidane and
the others, them having not died and Necron not being the core mechanism of
the Iifa Tree would make a plothole of what Necron is, why the Iifa Tree died
after his defeat, why Zidane and the others' bodies disappeared after being
blasted by Ultima when Kuja attempted to kill them, why Necron and Garland
express a similar view of life, with there being no connection between the
two, and why some random cosmic being was so cosmically bored as to be
observing Kuja to make a determination about the nature of humanity and
deemed it appropriate to step-in to perform what it deemed to be a boon to
humanity. Logically, the explanation that left the smallest amount of
plotholes would be the best one, especially when it IS supported by in-game
dialogue and events.
*Point: Kuja's Ultima Spell back on Terra didn't kill Zidane and the others.
Why assume that it killed them in Crystal World?
*Response: Because Kuja was trying to kill them at that point, whereas he
wasn't back on Terra. Immediately after blasting them there, he's then
contemplating whether he should kill them quickly or slowly. In Crystal World,
he's not doing any such thing. He fully intended to kill them, stating that if
he was going to die, he wasn't going alone.
For that matter, consider the professional Wrestler known as "Triple H": Were
he to punch someone in their face without intending to kill them, they could
probably survive. If he were to punch them as hard as he could in the face, he
would likely rearrange their skull and they would be dead. In this case,
Triple H is Kuja and Triple H's fist is Ultima.
*Point: Garland says he wanted to place all creatures into a world in which
life was combined with death, while Necron spoke of returning all life into a
world without life. That wouldn't suggest similar goals.
*Response: Once again, not necessarily. This is what Garland says concerning
his ultimate goal for living beings:
"To live is to give life meaning, yet one must take others' lives to
survive..."
"A mature civilization becomes aware of this paradox..."
"Terra's souls will sleep until they forget such nonsense. They will begin a
new life in a new dimension."
"It's a world in which life and death become one..."
"That is the dimension in which we are meant to live, as beings that
transcend life and death!"
This is what Necron says concerning its intentions:
"I exist for one purpose..."
"To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no
crystal to give life."
"In a world of nothing, fear does not exist. This is the world that all life
desires."
Necron speaks of placing life in a dimension of no life, with no Crystal to
give life. Does that necessarily mean that all things are non-existant? Would
souls cease to exist simply because they weren't inhabiting living vessels?
Or would they be without life, and, thus, without death, as well? Would they
not have transcended life and death, as Garland sought to accomplish?
Granted, this is only speculation, but to transcend life and death would
mean to be beyond both, and from my own interpretation, for there to be no
life would also mean there would be no death. To exist without either, but
beyond their reach.
However, I believe that the true nature of this matter is this:
Recall that Final Fantasy IX is a game that pays tribute to past Final Fantasy
games and that its final boss battle is already paying heavy tribute to Final
Fantasy IV's final battle. It's also paying tribue to V's, however, in that
the concept of the Darkness of Eternity (also Necron's Japanese name) is akin
to the concept of the Void from Final Fantasy V's final battle with Neo
Ex-Death, and the manner in which they introduce themselves is also very
similar (as will be pointed out further in the next section).
Supposing that Necron essentially became the same as the Void of Final
Fantasy V -- keeping in mind that the Void itself was a manufactured entity
only 1,000 years old and not simply a being that always was -- Necron, aware
of Garland's view of life (that it exists hand-in-hand with death and that
life is death itself as life must cause death in order to endure) due to
Garland being his maker, chose to test the validity of Garland's hypothesis,
and so it chose to observe Kuja, another of Garland's creations, and the one
that Garland had intended to work in rapport with the Tree, Kuja inciting war
and death, rendering souls free of their bodies, with the Iifa Tree then
intercepting those souls and preventing them from being added back to Gaia's
collective.
After witnessing Kuja's self-destructive actions that took place on a cosmic
scale, Necron would have concluded that Garland's theory was correct
("...Now, the theory is undeniable." "Kuja's action proves it. All things
live to perish.") and then took the purpose for which Garland had created it
further than was ever intended, choosing to expand its range of negation
beyond just Gaia's souls and to the universe itself, deciding to -- like the
Void -- end all existance, quite possibly including its own, the same as the
Void had intended. If ever a being that existed for the purpose that the Iifa
Tree had been given were to expand its range of function further, this would
be the logical form of expansion: Extending its sights beyond Gaia and to the
universe at-large. This is even arguably the only logical evolution that
Necron could deterine for the purpose for which it had been created.
*Point: When you fight Kuja you've travelled millions and possibly billions of
years back in time, but Necron could only have existed for as long as Terra
had first attempted to merge with Gaia at the most.
*Response: Why would Necron have been unable to travel to the past the same
as Kuja, Zidane, and the others did were it the core function of the Iifa
Tree? As it wasn't bound to the material plane to begin with, there's no
reason it shouldn't have been able to follow memories of Gaia and Terra back
in time, as well. For that matter, Necron's dialogue DOES suggest that it has
been watching Kuja, so it's only logical that it would have followed him.
*Point: Why would Necron be able to follow Kuja back to the Crystal, however?
It's not implied that Necron has a soul, and it is the memories within one's
soul that they use to make their way back in time to the Crystal. Even if
Necron did have a soul, unless Garland granted him one in the same manner that
he did so with Zidane, Kuja, and Mikoto, Necron shouldn't be able to see the
Crystal, as it wouldn't have been present in the past and wouldn't have the
Crystal in its memory, just as Quina didn't have the destruction of Alexandria
Castle in its memory and, thus, couldn't see this event when it was replayed
in Memoria.
*Response: As the core mechanism of the Iifa Tree, Necron had been discarding
Gaia's souls for 1000 years. For it to have been sitting there all that time
pondering Garland's theory about life without ever examining the souls -- and,
more specifically, their memories -- that it was interfering with is hardly
logical. It has the ability to discard these souls and seemingly do whatever
it wants to with them. To conclude that it couldn't use the memories within
them to access Memoria for some reason hardly seems plausible.
It could very possibly have absorbed some of the souls that it was removing
from Gaia, thus having access to their memories, just as Aki Ross in
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within could view a Phantom's memories due to part
of that Phantom's Spirit Energy being contained within Aki's body, a concept
similar to Yuna experiencing some of Lenne's memories in Final Fantasy X-2
while wearing the Songstress Dressphere (Lenne's crystalized Spirit Energy).
There's not really any reason to assume that Necron COULDN'T absorb souls. It,
after all, obviously had overwhelmed the souls that it had been removing for
1,000 years, and both the Airship Invincible (possibly a creation of
Garland's, but, at the very least, a creation of Terra) and Kuja himself were
capable of absorbing and storing souls. So that's at least one non-living
creation of Terra that could do so, and one living creation that could also do
so. Further, Soulcage was able to distribute the Mist, which implies some kind
of power over souls.
For that matter, the Iifa Tree served as the bridge between the souls of Gaia
and Terra in the first place, and -- further still -- the gateway to Memoria
was directly above the Iifa Tree. To determine that the core mechanism of the
Tree would be unable to access this realm is really not plausible on any
level.
Further still, even if Necron's soul had only existed for 1,000 years and it
didn't absorb ANY souls, that's still not reason enough to discount it being
able to see the Crystal. Zidane could see Dagger's memories from her
childhood, despite him not being present for them. The story used that as a
plot device to lead up to Garland's revelation about all life and memory being
connected:
Zidane
"A storm..."
::Zidane runs across a bridge and comes to a stop::
"!?"
::He looks over the railing, seeing two people in a boat::
"Hey! What are you doing!?"
"You shouldn't go anywhere. There's a storm."
"Watch out! You're gonna get washed away!"
Zidane
"Dagger! I just saw a little girl on a ship, and-"
"Huh!?"
::The people he saw have vanished::
"...I guess it was my imagination."
"Yeah, it had to be. What I just saw definitely isn't one of my memories."
Dagger
(What's going on? That was my memory.)
(Why was Zidane able to see it?)
"Zidane."
Zidane
"Yeah, what's up?"
Dagger
"...You didn't imagine anything."
Zidane
"Wait, you saw it, too...!? That means that little girl was you."
"But...why was I able to see something from your memory?"
Dagger
"I don't know..."
Zidane
"Hey, Garland! What's going on!?"
"Garland, can you hear me!?"
[Later]
"...Zidane, can you hear me?"
"...Zidane. What you just saw was from your memory, and not Garnet's."
Zidane
"What!? I don't remember ever being in a storm at sea."
"You still don't understand... You will find out soon enough..."
Zidane
"What do you mean? Can other people's memories become a part of my own?"
"Garland!!!"
"Once you accept everything, the answer will appear before you."
[Later]
Zidane
"Garland, what exactly is our memory!?"
"......"
Zidane
"Why can I remember other people's experiences and events that happened
before my time?"
"........."
Zidane
"Garland, please! Tell me!"
"...Do not limit memory to just one individual's experiences from birth. That
is only the surface."
"Every life born into this world, whether natural or artificial, requires a
parent."
"And that parent also requires a parent."
"Life is connected, one to another..."
"If you trace the root of all life, there exists one source."
"The same can be said for memory."
"All life constitutes an intelligence that holds memory beyond experience."
"Memory is not isolated within individuals."
"It is an accumulation of generations of memories that continues to evolve."
"You can say that memory and evolution go hand in hand."
"But most life-forms do not understand the true nature of memories..."
"...which explains why most memories never cross paths."
Zidane
"...So, what am I gonna find by tracing back our roots?"
"...A presence that presides over all life and memories. The crystal
*Point: Necron is essentially the same entity as the Void of Final Fantasy V.
Whether it is called "the Darkness of Eternity," "the Eternal Darkness," or
"the Void," it is essentially the same concept, a manifestation of
non-existance itself, or the drive for non-existance. The game plays tribute
to both IV and V's final battles with Necron, paying homage first to Zeromus'
appearance -- and later his defeat with Necron's defeat and the similar
dialogue that both use upon being defeated -- and also to Neo Ex-Death, the
merged being that was Ex-Death and the Void.
To support this notion, Neo Ex-Death says similar things to what Necron says:
(Neo Ex-Death's lines.)
"I am Neo-Exdeath! I shall erase all memory, all existence, all
dimensions. Then I too, shall disappear for, eternity!"
(Some of Necron's lines.)
"You stand before the final dimension, and I am the darkness of eternity..."
...
"I exist for one purpose..."
"To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no
crystal to give life."
That Necron would simply be -- like the Void or Neo Ex-Death -- the
manifestation of the state of non-existance itself, or that drive to render it
as reality, is very much a possibility. For that matter, it's not at all
unlike Final Fantasy games to have a being be the incarnation of a concept
or a feeling, such as Zeromus being the incarnation of hate.
*Response: Necron's existance being akin to the Void's would only serve to
support the notion that Necron was the Iifa Tree's core function, as it would
suggest Necron to have been manufactured, as the Void itself was:
"...1000 years ago, there was a powerful evil called Enuo. Enuo was
able to control the power of the Void. The battle raged on for a long time.
Eventually, using the 12 Legendary Weapons, the people defeated Enuo. But
they were not able to get rid of the Void that Enuo had created. The people
were left with no choice but to. split the Crystals into two. When the
Crystals that supported the world were split, the world split into two as
well. The space between the two worlds, called the Cleft of Dimension, was
where the people chose to seal the Void."
While it's true that the Void itself existed before time, Enuo is credited
with harnessing its power and "creating" it. The Void was most certainly there
before time itself, but it was simply void in and of itself. For all we're
made aware, it did not yet have the consciousness it displays at the end of
the game (the Neo ExDeath battle) until Enuo's meddling. Whatever the
explanation, Enuo is credited with having created the Void on some level, and
it is, thus, valid to classify it as a manufactured entity.
As for Necron being the manifestation of non-existance the same as Zeromus
was the manifestation of hate, it should be kept in mind that Zeromus was the
manfiefstation of ZEMUS' hate, not hate itself:
(Stated by Zeromus upon its appearance.)
I am the incarnation of Zemus's enmity... Zeromus, the absolute
darkness, the epitome of hate.
While Zeromus does say that it is the epitome of hate, it has clearly
identified itself as the incarnation of Zemus' hate just before that. What
falls after is likely nothing more than ego-stroking or boasting.
In concluding this point, Final Fantasy V's Void had a connection to
pre-existing integral plot elements of V's story (Enuo and the Cleft of
Dimension), just as Zeromus had a connection to pre-existing integral plot
elements of Final Fantasy IV (Zemus and his hate). The concept behind Necron
being the same as the concept behind the Void does nothing toward suggesting
that Necron isn't the Iifa Tree's core mechanism, and really would only serve
to suggest he is.
*Point: The Iifa Tree may have died as a result of an attack by Zidane in
Trance, rather than as a result of Necron's defeat. During the ending, Zidane
tells Dagger that it was his desire to go back to her that kept him alive
when the Iifa Tree attacked him and appeared to have crushed him. As he put
it, he HAD TO survive so that he could see her again:
"I didn't have a choice"
"I had to live"
"I wanted to come home to you."
We know based on Kuja's powerful Trance after he absorbed the souls
impriosoned in the Invincible that a soul will react with Trance when it is
endangered:
"Yes! This is the power I've longed for!!!"
"The mighty power of souls! They assault any threat that tries to destroy
them!"
...
"It's Trance! You know how it works."
"But a normal Trance won't be enough to defeat you... You're all as resilient
as oglops."
"Even tiny moogles possess the power of Trance... When I saw that in Gulug
Volcano, I came up with a plan."
"It was easy. I just needed to borrow the power from wretched souls that
can't die..."
"Where did I acquire it? It was the Invincible, or should I say, that large
eyeball in the sky?"
Further, Garland states that Zidane would surpass Kuja in power very soon:
Zidane
"So...Kuja is just an angel of death who sends souls to the Tree of Iifa."
Garland
"Yes, my angel of death. But only until you came of age."
Zidane
"What do you mean!?"
Garland
"His soul is not eternal... I was going to create you next, after all."
Zidane
"You mean you won't need Kuja's soul once I grow stronger than him?"
Garland
"Precisely... Soon, that time will come."
Based on this and Zidane's statement that he had to survive so that he could
go back to Dagger, as well as the knowledge a Trance would be induced by one
being endangered, and, finally, by Zidane displaying far more agility and
speed while avoiding attacks from the Iifa Tree than he had displayed earlier
in the game when trying to outrun the vines in the Evil Forest -- suggesting
that his power had increased -- we can determine that Zidane may have gone
into Trance when crushed by the vines and roots of the Iifa Tree, and then
became powerful enough to deal a fatal wound to the Tree. It may have even
been already wounded substantially due to the explosion of the wormhole to
Memoria that occurred directly above the Tree.
Also consider that Zidane's dialogue upon leaving Memoria would suggest that
the Iifa Tree was still very much alive and well, and ready to carry out the
fusion of Gaia and Terra:
Zidane
"So what Kuja said was true... The Iifa Tree is beginning its violent
reaction."
For that matter, the Tree seemed very much alive while attacking Zidane. If
the Tree was going to be dead in moments, one has to wonder why it didn't
attempt to carry out the assimilation of Gaia and Terra. If Zidane didn't
put a stop to it, why did it stop?
*Response: While I agree that it's likely that Zidane survived the Iifa
Tree's assault through Trance, that hardly means that he necessarily killed
it, as well. Despite it being very much moving about once Necron was
defeated, that doesn't mean it was in the same condition immediately after
Necron's defeat as it had been beforehand. One can damage the mechanisms
within a machine (which the Tree essentially acted as) and it may not cease
functioning altogether straight away. For that matter, the same is true of
the human body. Even if a patient were "brain dead," nerve receptors would
still respond to stimuli and synapses would continue to flare. Even if one
was shot through the heart, certain electrical functions -- such as those
already mentioned -- within the body would continue to function for some time
before they gave out entirely. There's no reason to expect the Tree to
immediately keel over and die.
As far as the Tree not attempting to fulfill the assimilation of Gaia and
Terra, we don't know that it DIDN'T try, but if its main mechanism were gone
(this mechanism being what would route the souls of Gaia and Terra), the
assimilation COULDN'T take place anyway. (For clarification of why this is
so, refer to the next section in which I explain what the nature of this
assimilation is.)
Also, if one is going to state "If the Tree was going to be dead in moments,
one has to wonder why it didn't attempt to carry out the assimilation of
Gaia and Terra," it's then equally fair to ask why -- if the Tree were going
to live -- it even bothered with going to all the trouble to attempt to take
out Zidane when it could have just carried out the assimilation of Gaia and
Terra, not only fulfilling its function, but being victorious over Zidane in
the long run -- if not the short run -- anyway. The Tree being on the verge
of death and reacting violently in an attempt to take out its killer as a
response to its own death is a far more plausible explanation of events that
transpired there.
As for Zidane being more powerful than Kuja once he "come of age," we don't
know HOW MUCH more powerful than Kuja he would be. Further still, it has to
be kept in mind that Kuja had absorbed a multitude of souls and that much of
the power seen displayed by him on Discs 3 and 4 was coming from all of those
souls being Tranced, including his own, with his own power not likely being
anything on the scale displayed by him once he had absorbed those souls
trapped in the Invincible. If he only gained a small boost of power from all
of those souls, one would have to question why he even bothered to acquire
them. His own words suggest that he gained a massive amount of power from
having absorbed those souls and them then having gone into Trance along with
his own:
Kuja
"Yes! This is the power I've longed for!!!"
"The mighty power of souls! They assault any threat that tries to destroy
them!"
On the matter of the wormhole to Memoria collapsing and then exploding above
the Iifa Tree, we don't know the extent of any damage that the explosion may
have caused to the Tree, if it damaged it at all. If it were powerful enough
an explosion to significantly or fatally wound the Tree, the question would
have to be pondered of why damage that was going to wound the Tree so
significantly wasn't more prominent, at least mentioned in dialogue if not
shown visually, yet there's no indication in either manner that the Tree had
even suffered any damage. Supposing that it had, that the Tree would be
so severely wounded would be unlikely considering that the explosion took
place above its branches and not along its trunk or root system, with Trees
being fully capable of surviving having all their branches torn off, so long
as the Trunk and root system remain intact. Granted, we don't know the
physiology of this Tree, but if one is to argue that an explosion that --
while large -- didn't render any noticeable damage to it, yet significantly
contributed to its death by leaving it weak enough that an attack from Zidane
in Trance could kill it when we're not even aware of the extent of Zidane's
full power, then it's equally reasonable to assume that if the Tree were so
weakened, there would have been a visual or verbal indication that it had
at least sustained damage, and also equally reasonable to assume that damage
to the branches of the Tree aren't going to kill it anymore than damage to a
normal tree's branches would kill it.
*Point: Garland states that he created the Iifa Tree to subvert the Cycle of
Souls, whereas Necron claims that the only purpose for which it existed was to
return all things to the "Zero World." In other words, the purpose Garland
gave the Tree isn't the purpose that Necron had.
*Response: Not necessarily. Garland had a habit of granting sentience and free
will to his creations (Kuja, Soulcage, Zidane) even when they were created to
serve certain functions, and they had a habit of not doing exactly what
Garland wanted. While essentially machines from the standpoint of what they
were created to do, they were living, thinking beings with the capacity to
make choices, those choices often not at all coinciding with what Garland had
intended for them. The most obvious example of this would be Kuja, Garland's
"Angel of Death" of the Iifa Tree. Kuja fulfilled the warmonger aspect of what
Garland created him for superbly, but Kuja also learned resentment toward
Zidane and Garland and gained a lust for power and to rule, even overthrowing
Garland, something obviously not in Garland's original plan for his wayward
Genome.
With this in mind, that Necron could choose to test the validity of Garland's
view of life in regard to the function that it had been given and conclude
that a broader application of its function was called for (the negation of the
universe itself) isn't so far a stretch of the imagination, especially with
Necron's self-proclaimed observance of Kuja, something that would make sense
with Kuja having been another Garland's creations, and -- more specifically --
that creation which was intended to incite death on a massive scale, sending
forth souls to the Tree to be intercepted.
In conclusion, I feel that the most simple explanation for Necron's role and
the only one which is supported by the story itself is that Necron was the
core mechanism of the Iifa Tree. Any other explanation I've ever become
aware of -- such as Necron being the opposite of the Crystal, or ferryman of
Death, so to speak, Death itself, or being some random cosmic being that was
randomly observing Kuja -- are explanations that lie outside the support of
the story, nor do they really serve to clear anything up, as they merely
raise more questions than they answer. While that's not to say that they're
absolutely invalid, when basing one's examination of the matter solely on
the game itself and its tributaries, the most simple explanation is that
Necron was the Iifa Tree's core mechanism.
-Part 2: Garland's Plan To Make Gaia Into Terra
With this article, I wish to explain Garland's plan to make Gaia into Terra,
detailing exactly what his intentions were, and how he was going about it.
In Pandemonium, Garland tells Zidane that this was his plan for Gaia:
"I have no intention of destroying Gaia. I only wish to make Gaia into
Terra."
What does Garland mean by this? Was he going to cause the Planets to collide
and merge through accretion in a cataclysmic smashing together of celestial
bodies? Was he going to teleport Terra's matter into the space being occupied
by Gaia's, merging the two into a form that would be both of the previously
existing Planets, but neither at the same time?
Perhaps that would have been part of the process at some stage (the memory
of Terra and another Planet apparently physically fusing witnessed in Memoria
would lend some measure of support to such a theory), but one thing
can be certain: What Garland was speaking of was replacing Gaia's
Lifestream/Gaia/Spirit Energy with Terra's. For any who may be confused at
this point while recalling that Final Fantasy VII was the Final Fantasy in
which the Lifestream was present, I wish to clarify that, yes, the world of
Final Fantasy IX does, indeed, have a Lifestream, as well.
Recall what Mikoto says in Bran Bal concerning the nature of the Cycle of
Souls:
"Planets have a cycle of souls. Souls are born from the planet, and then
return to it."
Now recall what Bugenhagen says in Final Fantasy VII concerning the nature of
Spirit Energy:
"'Spirit Energy' is a word that you should never forget."
"A new life... children are blessed with Spirit energy and are
brought into the world."
"Then, the time comes when they die and once again return to the
Planet..."
In other words, both worlds have a Lifestream. To further explain what it is
that Garland was attempting to accomplish, I must make note of the Lifestream
of the Earth in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within film. The Planet of the
film had a Lifestream, as well, ironically enough called its "Gaia." It's
said in the film that new life is granted a spirit from the Earth's Gaia
(Lifestream), with this spirit then returning to the Gaia upon the death of
its host, carrying back with it the memories and experiences of its lifetime.
From this, we can establish that all three worlds have a Lifestream. With
this in mind, recall that the Gaia of the Phantom Homeworld was attempting to
take over the Gaia of the Earth, pooling down into it and changing the Earth's
blue Gaia into the Phantom Homeworld's red Gaia. In the event that this sounds
familiar, it certainly should, as this changing of blue to red is precisely
what Garland spoke of doing in regard to Gaia and Terra:
Garland
"We must sort the souls."
"I want to disrupt Gaia's cycle and drain its souls, filling the void with
the souls of Terra."
"To speed the cycle of souls is to speed the work as a whole. Thus, war..."
"And in time... Gaia's souls are gone, and Gaia becomes Terra."
Zidane
"But...how!?"
Garland
"You saw it with your own eyes. You saw the Iifa Tree and the Mist it emits."
"The role of the Iifa Tree is that of Soul Divider. The Mist you see
comprises the stagnant souls of Gaia..."
Zidane
"Oh yeah? But we stopped the Mist! So much for that!"
Garland
"All you saw was the back of the tree..."
"Come and see for yourself. See the true form of this planet."
Zidane
"What is this?"
Garland
"Think of it as an observatory. A place to measure the radiance of Gaia and
Terra."
Zidane
"What are you talking about? And what is this weird light?"
Garland
"That is the center of the planet. The end and the beginning of the cycle of
souls."
"The light remains Gaia's, for now, but when the blue changes to crimson,
all will belong to Terra, and its restoration will be complete."
Garland tells Zidane that he was going to show him the TRUE form of Terra,
and then proceeded to show him the light that was at the center of Gaia,
further stating that this light was the beginning and end of the Cycle of
Souls: In other words, Gaia's Lifestream. Keeping in mind that Garland said
he would show Zidane the TRUE form of Terra, that would mean that he didn't
regard the physical material that they could see and walked upon as the true
form of the Planet, rather regarding the Lifestream of the Planet itself as
its true form, all the physical material around it just being a shell of
sorts to contain it and upon which it could cultivate life.
Recalling once again that the Gaia of the Phantom Homeworld in The Spirits
Within was changing the Earth's Gaia from blue to red, this would mean, then,
that what Garland was trying to do was the same thing: Replace Gaia's
Lifestream with Terra's, converting the Lifestream already present and
housing Terra's Lifestream in the vessel of physical material upon which life
had been cultivated and reared by Gaia.
As to how he was going about this, we must first look back to what he said
about disrupting the Cycle of Souls, and then look forward to what his spirit
says in Memoria concerning his first attempt to change Gaia into Terra, an
attempt which failed:
(In Pandemonium.)
Garland
"We must sort the souls."
"I want to disrupt Gaia's cycle and drain its souls, filling the void with
the souls of Terra."
"To speed the cycle of souls is to speed the work as a whole. Thus, war..."
"And in time... Gaia's souls are gone, and Gaia becomes Terra."
(In Memoria.)
"Life on Terra was coming to an end... We had no choice but to proceed with
the fusion, which tragically destroyed Terra's native civilizations."
"Terra was too old to assimilate everything."
In other words, Terra's Lifestream wasn't strong enough to overcome Gaia's.
It was too old and weak to overcome the younger, stronger Planet. Thus,
Garland created the Iifa Tree, and with it, disrupted the Cycle of Souls on
Gaia, preventing the souls of the dead from rejoining with the Planet:
Garland
"That is the center of the planet. The end and the beginning of the cycle of
souls."
"The light remains Gaia's, for now, but when the blue changes to crimson,
all will belong to Terra, and its restoration will be complete."
"That is why I wrapped up the light in the Iifa Tree, to prevent the cycle
of the judgement of souls on Gaia from inside the planet."
"Such is the Iifa Tree's true purpose, its true form. All you saw was its
material form."
At this point, recall that in Final Fantasy VII, Mako Reactors pulling Spirit
Energy out of the Planet and converting it into other forms -- which wouldn't
convert back to Spirit Energy -- was weakening and killing that world,
leaving areas such as the land around Midgar (the central point of Mako
manufacture) barren and dead. Now recall that the vast majority of the world
in Final Fantasy IX was also barren and dead, quite nearly the entirety of
the Outer Continent and the Forgotten Continent being in such a state with
few exceptions (in the form of a Qu's Marsh and a few forests). For that
matter, the frozen Lost Continent to the north was covered in ice and bore a
forest, but no other plant life. Recall that in Final Fantasy VII, it was
said that the Northern Continent of that world became frozen due to the
Spirit Energy in the area being directed to the Northern Crater to heal the
wound. In other words, it was a lack of Spirit Energy that left the Northern
Continent of Final Fantasy VII's world desolate.
While that may not be the case with the Lost Continent of Final Fantasy IX's
world, bearing in mind that the vast majority of the rest of the world was
desolate landscape that was likely incapable of bearing life, what Garland's
intentions were, and what effects the lack of Spirit Energy had on locations
in Final Fantasy VII, it isn't an unfounded concept by any means.
One final thing to consider is that Garland states that the Iifa Tree served
as a gateway between Gaia and Terra for the souls of Terra:
Garland (To Zidane)
"Even now, the Iifa Tree blocks the flow of Gaia's souls, while it lets those
of Terra flow freely."
(Later)
Zidane (To Dagger, Freya, and the others in his group)
Zidane
"There was one thing Garland said..."
"Something about a tree that serves as a gateway of souls between Gaia and
Terra..."
Amarant
"That must be..."
Zidane
"Yeah... It's the Iifa Tree."
What I'm proposing is that Garland was attempting to weaken Gaia's Lifestream
enough that it could be easily assimilated by Terra's, and was doing this
by preventing the souls of the dead from returning to the Lifestream of Gaia.
With the Spirit Energy gifted to living beings being small pieces of the
Lifestream itself, over time, this would weaken the Lifestream more and more.
Garland then sought to accelerate this process by engineering war, using Kuja
as his "Angel of Death" to bring about chaos and destruction across Gaia,
emptying it of more and more souls, weakening the Planet's Lifestream ever
greater. Finally, once Gaia's Lifestream had grown weak enough, the Iifa Tree
would act as a conduit between Gaia and Terra and flood Gaia's Lifestream
with the souls of Terra, its very Lifestream, overcoming it and converting
it, its blue glow becoming the red glow of Terra, just as the blue glow of
Earth's Gaia was becoming the red glow of the Phantom Homeworld's Gaia in
The Spirits Within.
Based on looking at the topography of Final Fantasy IX's world, we can see
that the loss of Spirit Energy was vast, as has been pointed out. Indeed,
the Planet was very nearly ripe for assimilation, which Kuja states to be the
case before the final battle with him:
"Hmph. You honestly think you can beat me?"
"Even if you do, Gaia's already doomed. Its assimilation by Terra has begun,
and the Iifa Tree will incite a cataclysmic destruction of Gaia."
"It's all over for you and your friends."
"See. I win, either way."
As I hope I have shown, Garland's plot makes sense and is relatively simple
to understand once one is aware of the concepts behind what he was seeking to
accomplish. His plan was clever and very nearly succeeded. It was only
through Zidane and the other's bravely fought victories over Kuja and Necron
that Gaia's assimilation by Terra was averted.
-Part 3: Who is Speaking During the Ending?
An often-posed question is "Who is the speaker during the ending of the
game?" Sometimes believed to be Mikoto, other times believed to be Dagger,
and usually thought to be Vivi, I here explain just who the dialogue belongs
to.
The dialogue in question is as follows:
"Kuja... What you did was wrong..."
"But you gave us all one thing... Hope..."
"We were all created for the wrong reason, but you alone defied our fate."
"We do not want to forget this. We want your memory to live on forever..."
"...to remind us that we were not created for the wrong reason - that our
life has meaning."
...
"I always talked about you, Zidane. How you were a very special person to us,
because you taught us all how important life is."
"You taught me that life doesn't last forever. That's why we have to help
each other and live life to the fullest."
"Even if you say goodbye, you'll always be in our hearts. So, I know we're
not alone anymore."
"Why I was born... How I wanted to live... Thanks for giving me time to
think."
"To keep doing what you set your heart on... It's a very hard thing to do. We
were all so courageous..."
"What to do when I felt lonely... That was the only thing you couldn't teach
me. But we need to figure out the answer for ourselves..."
"I'm so happy I met everyone... I wish we could've gone on more adventures.
But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday."
"Everyone... Thank you. Farewell."
"My memories will be part of the sky..."
In actuality, there are two speakers during the ending: Mikoto and Vivi. The
first section of dialogue, in which the speaker is telling Kuja that he gave
them hope in that he defied their fate and the purpose for which they had been
created, belongs to Mikoto.
We can be certain that the speaker was either a Black Mage or a Genome in
that they speak of having been created for the wrong reason, something that
could be said of both the Genomes and the Black Mages. However, in this scene,
Mikoto is seen walking across the roots of the now dead Iifa Tree. This
dialogue belonging to Mikoto would fit with the scene, as well as with the
altogether different focus of the first section of dialogue and the second
section (the first section focusing on a tribute to Kuja, and the second
focusing on conveying to Zidane what the speaker had learned from him and
saying farewell to him and the others).
Something further to consider is that the first section of dialogue and the
second, as well as their respective scenes, are seperated by a caption that
reads "Some time later...." While a span of time isn't offered, again taking
into account the different focus that can be found in each section, as well
as the visual scene of the first, that the speakers could be different is
certainly a possibility to consider. The implication offered by this caption
falling between the two scenes of dialogue serves to suggest -- to me, at
least -- that the first bit of dialogue fell chronologically as seperated
from the second as the scenes shown in the first and second were seperated
from one another.
As for the identity of the speaker of the second section of dialogue, this is
none other than Vivi. The things they say establish them as someone that
learned from Zidane and that was a member of the group that went on the quest
to save Gaia. The two most likely candidates would be Dagger and Vivi. What
pinpoints Vivi as being the speaker is the final lines:
"I'm so happy I met everyone... I wish we could've gone on more adventures.
But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday."
"Everyone... Thank you. Farewell."
"My memories will be part of the sky..."
The speaker is speaking in a manner that would suggest that they believe
their death to be soon to come. That Vivi's lifespan was more limited than
that of most folks was a possibility suggested by the game due to the
short lives of the other Black Mages and something which he himself pondered.
Further, the original Vivi is the only member of the group that saved Gaia
not present during the ending. Vivi's sons are present, but that Vivi himself
was is not suggested by the game, and with a farewell from someone that
was possibly Vivi immediately preceding the scene in which he wasn't present,
the most simple conclusion -- and one which is certainly supported by the
game due to the nature of this scene and the game's previous suggestions that
Vivi may yet "stop moving" -- is that Vivi was the speaker of this second
section of dialogue and that he was saying farewell to the others before his
death, it having come to pass by the time of Zidane's return in Alexandria.
-Part 4: Does Vivi Die?
(Note: If you've already read the previous section, then you know my view on
this matter is that Vivi, indeed, died by the time of the game's ending.)
An often-debated question is whether or not Vivi died by the time of the
game's ending. I here seek to convey the truth of the matter as best as I have
been able to determine it.
Yes, Vivi dies by the time of the game's ending. Foreshadowing earlier in the
game hints toward his demise as it is revealed that the Black Mages have a far
shorter lifespan than the rest of Gaia's dominant races, usually dying around
a year after being created. In Vivi's case, of course, he has lived to be nine
years old, but we learn that he was the prototype of the Black Mages, and --
according to Kuja, the Black Mages' maker -- would live longer as a result.
However, the indication offered is that Vivi's lifespan is still more limited
than that of races such as Dagger's and Freya's:
Vivi
"......"
"I wanna ask you something."
Black Mage No. 288
"What is it?"
Vivi
"A-Am I gonna stop pretty soon, too?"
Zidane
"!"
Black Mage No. 288
"I don't know..."
"Kuja said the prototype built before us would last longer."
Vivi
"But...I am gonna stop eventually."
Black Mage No. 288
"......"
With this foreshadowing in mind, we must then consider the manner in which
Vivi speaks during the game's ending, and what it is that he is saying:
"I always talked about you, Zidane. How you were a very special person to us,
because you taught us all how important life is."
"You taught me that life doesn't last forever. That's why we have to help
each other and live life to the fullest."
"Even if you say goodbye, you'll always be in our hearts. So, I know we're
not alone anymore."
"Why I was born... How I wanted to live... Thanks for giving me time to
think."
"To keep doing what you set your heart on... It's a very hard thing to do. We
were all so courageous..."
"What to do when I felt lonely... That was the only thing you couldn't teach
me. But we need to figure out the answer for ourselves..."
"I'm so happy I met everyone... I wish we could've gone on more adventures.
But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday."
"Everyone... Thank you. Farewell."
"My memories will be part of the sky..."
Here, we have him not only saying farewell to everyone, but adding in "My
memories will be part of the sky...." This would certainly indicate that Vivi
believed his death was near.
With these things in mind, we must finally consider that Vivi does not appear
in the final aspect of the ending, and only the beings that bear his
appearance and are said to be his sons do. Were Vivi present during the ending
amongst all these other Black Mages that bear his appearance, it's safe to
assume that he would be pointed out. It's likewise safe to assume that he
would have been present in Alexandria were he alive, as everyone else in the
controllable party is -- and even some characters who weren't.
With the story written as it is, there's no evidence toward Vivi having
survived, and the very method of the storytelling leading up to and during the
ending infers his death.
-Part 5: Does Kuja die?
Yes, Kuja most certainly dies during the ending of Final Fantasy IX. While it
is not outright stated, it IS outright displayed through his head lulling to
the side immediately after he tells Zidane "I guess I was too late" regarding
what it means to live. Kuja, being the one who was dying, should obviously be
aware of whether or not he was, and had told Zidane farewell a few moments
before, as well as had told him to forget about him and leave him.
Also notable is that Garland had told Kuja that -- like the Black Mages --
Kuja had a limited lifespan. He stated that he gave Kuja this limited lifespan
as a result of him being too powerful and uncontrollable to be allowed to live
once the use for which he had been made was fulfilled:
"You could never build an eternal kingdom..."
Kuja
"That voice... Garland!?"
"Did you leave something behind?"
"Do you think a defect like you could last forever...?"
Kuja
"...What? What do you mean!?"
"I built you to last only until the worthy Genome, Zidane, grew."
"It was too dangerous to let you last any longer than that."
Kuja
"What are you saying...?"
"There's a limit on your life... You'll be dead soon..."
"Even as I die, you'll have died without ever leaving your mark on the
world..."
Kuja
"..."
"H-Ha ha ha... What an interesting lie. You're telling me that my life will
end soon?"
"Ha ha ha... Nice try, Garland, but I won't fall for your silly tricks...
Garland?"
"..."
"Garland!? Answer me!"
"You were created to destroy. You are a mortal..."
Further still, before the final battle against him, Kuja sensed that his end
was near and stated it as being so:
Kuja
"I can't believe you beat Deathguise..."
"Well... my time is almost up."
"Time to die, everyone!"
In light of the fact that Garland gave Kuja a limited lifespan, the fact that
Zidane was close to his "maturity" that Garland spoke of (as revealed by the
fact that Garland says "Soon, that time will come"), the fact that Kuja
could sense his end was near, and the very manner in which that final scene
unveils (Kuja saving Zidane and the others' lives, then stating that he
finally realized what it means to live but that he was too late, and then his
head lulling to the side with no more words or movement coming from him), it's
obvious that Kuja is very much dead.
-Part 6: Where Did Vivi's Sons Come From?
One of the most enduring questions of Final Fantasy IX is "Where did Vivi's
sons come from?" Speculation has run anywhere from "Vivi died and they formed
from his spiritual energy as it dispersed" to "Vivi used the machines in Dali
to create more Black Mages like himself [before his death]" to "They're Vivi
and Quina's children" to even "They're Vivi and Eiko's children." In all
honesty, it's not simple to make an easy determination simply because there's
so little explicit evidence offered by the game with which to make a
determination, however, that is exactly what I will do here, bringing forth
the most simple and likely explanation for their origin.
While some have cited Vivi and Quina's marriage in Conde Petie as evidence
toward the small Black Mages being their offspring, it is impossible to
corroborate such a claim for various reasons:
1) The marriage occurs in an optional scene that the player does not
necessarily have to activate.
2) The marriage will only take place for the purpose of granting Vivi and
Quina passage to the Conde Petie Mountain Path, not for any emotional bond
between Vivi and Quina.
3) Quina's gender is unknown (if he/she even has a set-gender).
4) It's unknown whether it is even possible for Black Mages to sexually
reproduce in the first place.
5) It's not known whether or not Qu reproduce through sexual interaction.
6) Supposing that it were possible for Black Mages to sexually reproduce and
that Vivi had reached sexual maturity, it is not known whether or not it would
even be possible for a Black Mage and a Qu to reproduce together.
For that matter, Vivi's sons do not arrive with Quina, nor do they sit with
Quina in the audience during the Play in Alexandria.
Quina having anything to do with the matter is entirely unfounded and not a
possibility that should be inquired into any further due to the extreme lack
of evidence, as well as the extreme lack of logic behind such a concept.
Likewise in regard to Eiko, as well as the likelihood that Eiko had not even
yet reached sexual maturity (she was six years old during the game after all;
based on everyone looking pretty much the same during the ending, it's safe to
assume that seven years had not passed).
For that matter, it's not known that the small Black Mages would have
necessarily been produced through sexual reproduction were they sired by Vivi.
Reproduction can also occur through fision (splitting) and budding (basically,
a new organism growing off of another's body). While that's not to say that
either of these were the processes by which Vivi's sons came to be, it IS
intended to say that sexual reproduction is not the [i]only[/i] possible means
by which they may have been sired.
Where, then, did they come from?
Due to the same being the case in regard to Vivi and all other Black Mages,
it's likely safe to assume that Vivi's sons were composed of Spirit Energy
that had gone stagnant and become Mist, but as to how that Mist coalesced into
the Black Mages we see during the game's ending is left rather open-ended.
That said, however, I have a theory as to their origin, and feel that it is
the most likely based on in-game information coupled with logical reasoning
and assumption:
It is known, of course, that when someone dies, their Spirit Energy returns to
the Planet to be used as the energy of life in other creatures that are born.
It is known also that the experiences of an individual in some way contributes
toward the growth of a Planet's swell of Spirit Energy that lies at its
centre, whether that swell be called "the Lifestream," "the Gaia," or simply
"the light" (as it is in Final Fantasy IX). We know this based on the Gaia
Theory of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within:
(Stated by Aki, quoting Dr. Sid's journal.)
"All life is born of Gaia and each life has a spirit. Each new spirit is
housed in a physical body. ...Through their experiences on Earth each spirit
matures and grows. When the physical body dies the mature spirit enriched by
its life on Earth returns to Gaia bringing with it the experiences, enabling
Gaia to live and grow."
However, the Mist covering the world was comprised of stagnant souls, unable
to return to the Planet. They were not going anywhere or doing anything. They
weren't being recycled and they weren't contributing to the growth of Gaia's
spirit, something it would desperately need at this point, seeing as how it
had been deprived of the Cycle of Souls for 1000 years. With that in mind,
Vivi may have decided to use the machines in Dali to expedite the Mist's
return to the Planet by giving it living vessels to inhabit once again, so
that once those living vessels died, the Spirit Energy would return to the
Planet as it naturally should.
Think of the matter as purifying water. If one has a contaminated lake, the
water can't be used. If, however, the water is taken into a machine, purified,
and then returned to the lake, the lake will be entirely cleansed and all the
water will be usable once again.
This, of course, brings up the questions of why it is that these sons of Vivi
have the same appearance as him, as well as how he would know to make them,
seeing as how he was a prototype of the Black Mages, obviously more complex
than those that were dying within one year's time. This, however, is easily
explained: As a prototype, Vivi was likely formed from compressing more Mist
than were the later Black Mages. In testing such a concept, it makes sense to
overdo it in order to determine -- over time -- how much Mist is needed to
produce the desired army of short-lived, reasonably powerful Black Mages. More
Mist would produce Black Mages like Vivi, and less Mist would produce Black
Mages like Black Mage No. 288. In trying to "purify" as much Mist as possible,
Vivi would, of course, use as much Mist as was possible in the creation of
each Black Mage. This would explain why the Mist has seemingly vanished from
the world during the ending, as well as why these Black Mages bear Vivi's
appearance.
One final thing to consider is the symbolism of Vivi's name, "Vivi" being
Latin for "Alive." That new life would emerge due to his actions would be very
fitting, I feel.
While it might be argued that Vivi abhorred the use of those Mist machines and
wouldn't have used them, it should be kept in mind that it was what the Black
Mages that were produced were being used FOR that Vivi abhorred. Them being
used as simply weapons of war and not treated as living beings with emotions
was what so enraged him.
With all this in mind, it is my personal belief that Vivi's sons were brought
into existance in the manner which I have suggested to be the case here, and
that it is the most likely possibility of their origin. It is the most likely
and most logical explanation that I know of, as well as the one which requires
the fewest assumptions.
(Note: Full credit for this concept goes to Tony Hilton (a.k.a. "Vir"); thanks
for opening my eyes. It was so simple and logical that it's brilliance at its
finest.)
-Part 7: Quina: Male or Female?
The gender of the Qu known as Quina is a frequently questioned aspect of Final
Fantasy IX. The implication often believed offered by the game is that there
may be Male Qu, as Master Quale and Quan are both referred to by Male
pronouns, and Vivi calls Quan "Grandfather." However, it should be noted that
in this same scene where Quale and Quan are referred to as Males -- the scene
in which Quina is introduced and joins the party -- Quina is also referred to
with Male pronouns, but is thereafter always referred to with ambiguous
pronouns ("s/he"):
Zidane
"What's up, Vivi?"
Vivi
"Um..."
"That man looks exactly like my grandpa."
Zidane
"Your grandfather? Who, that Quale guy?"
Vivi
"Yeah... Maybe he knows my grandpa."
"I'm gonna go talk to him, Zidane."
Quina
"What wrong? Something on my face?"
Vivi
"Um... Do you know a man named Quan?"
Quale
"?"
"...I not know that bigot!"
Vivi
"Grandpa Quan was a bit strange, but... How do you know him?"
Quale
"I-I no can answer."
Vivi
"Grandpa Quan looks exactly like you, Mr.Quale..."
Quale
"Of course. We from same tribe."
Vivi
"......"
Zidane
"You really don't know him?"
Quale
"No! I not know this Quan!"
Zidane
"Honestly...?"
"That's too bad... Let's go, Vivi."
With Quina thereafter always being referred to with ambiguous pronouns, the
validity of the pronouns attributed to Quale and Quan is also in question.
Furthermore, something to be kept in mind is that Japanese doesn't have
gender-specific pronouns as English does ("he," "she," "hers," "his," him,"
"her," etc.). In other words, the use of these pronouns in the English
versions of the game was strictly for the benefit of English-reading players,
added in during the localization process of translating the script.
Does that necessarily mean that the gender-specific pronouns were inaccurate?
No. However, the sudden change in the application of gender-specific pronouns
in regard to Quina certainly does nothing to reinforce the credibility of the
gender-specific pronouns previously applied to Quina, nor those applied to
Quale and Quan.
My own conclusion is that Qu do not have set-genders, and are amphibious
creatures that can change gender as it becomes necessary, just as some
species of frogs -- which Quina loves to consume -- can. Their androgonous
appearances, long tongues, and the areas in which they take up residence
(marshes or areas close to water, such as Quan's Dwelling, which overlooked
the sea and had a lake inside) suggest this to me. Granted, this is merely
conjecture with no definitive basis.
An often-raised, though fallacious point concerning Quina's gender is that
Vivi and Quina can be married in Conde Petie in order for the Dwarves to
allow them to pass to the Conde Petie Mountain Path, and that this must
indicate that Quina is a Female as Vivi is certainly a Male, and seeing as
how it's probably unlikely that a homosexual marriage would take place in the
game as that would likely stir controversy. However, certain things must be
kept in mind:
1) The marriage did not take place for any reason other than for Vivi and
Quina to gain permission to pass to the Conde Petie Mountain Path. There was
no romantic or sexual connotation attached to the situation.
2) Dagger and Zidane also get married, yet there was not even a romantic or
sexual connotation attached to this situation, either. This marriage also
took place solely so that permission to pass to the Conde Petie Mountain Path
could be acquired. When Zidane attempts to kiss Dagger after the marriage is
complete, she simply walks away.
3) Quina has no established gender up to that point, thus there's no reason
to believe the marriage was either homosexual or heterosexual in nature. For
that matter, once again, there was no sexual aspect to the situation in the
first place.
4) No note is ever made thereafter of the marriage having occurred (likely
because it's an optional scene), nor is any indication of Quina's gender made
thereafter.
A couple of points often-raised in regard to Quina's gender are the fact that
Zidane's "Protect Girls" ability (an ability that causes Zidane to take a hit
for a Female character; essentially it's a Female-only version of Cover or
Sentinel) will not work in regard to Quina, and that Quina equip Lamia's
Tiara, a Female-only Add On. The point made in regard to Zidane's Protect
Girls ability is that since he doesn't take hits for Quina, Quina must be a
Male. The point made in regard to Lamia's Tiara is that since Quina can equip
it, Quina must be a Female. Obviously, these two points contradict one another
and cancel one another out. While it's true that Marcus and Cinna of Tantalus
can also equip this item, the fact that they share data space in the game's
programming with Eiko and Quina is likely the reason for this. In any event,
being that this pertains only to game mechanics in the first place, it's not a
very reliable source in terms of storyline by which to make an analyzation.
This is because in Final Fantasy VIII, once Edea becomes a controllable
character, she has already lost the Sorceress Power, though neither she nor
the player knows it at the time. She continues to be able to use Ice Strike in
her Limit Break, an attack in which she forms an ice javelin without aid from
Para-Magic or GFs. By making Edea retain this ability at that point in the
game, the player will be unaware that Edea has already lost her powers until
the moment in the storyline where that is revealed arrives. In other words,
game mechanics are not reliable indications of storyline matters. The fact
that Cloud can be shot 80 times in a Random Encounter in Final Fantasy VII and
survive it just fine and dandy, whereas Vincent took one shot to the chest
when he was a Turk and died, and with Zack taking about 30 to 40 shots to his
head and dying should be sufficient to convey this fact without it being
pointed out like this, I would think.
For that matter, through Selphie's Slots Limit Break in Final Fantasy VIII,
she has access to the most powerful Magicks in the game from the very
beginning, able to use them without Para-Magic playing a role, and yet she's
not a Sorceress.
What can be certain is that the Japanese Version of Final Fantasy IX certainly
would have had no leaning in regard to the Qu's genders with gender-specific
pronouns during the scene in the English translations where gender-specific
pronouns are applied, and it's also certain that no effort was made to
establish a definite gender for Quina.
With that in mind, I personally would classify Quina as a creature with no
set gender. For that matter, as far as it is implied, Qu may well be
asexually-reproductive creatures, once again, something that certain species
of frogs are.
-Part 8: Did Kuja Shatter the Crystal?
Despite being often believed to be the case, Kuja's Ultima Spell defeating
Zidane and the others, then coming back on him and washing onto the Crystal,
destroying it, Kuja did not shatter the Crystal in actuality.
We can be certain of this for the simple fact that the Ultima Spell was
completely burnt out by the time the scene ended, with no residual energy
moving toward the Crystal. As the fast-moving beams of energy from Kuja's
Spell struck Zidane and the others, they gave way to swirling flames that
dissipated, sending up small orbs of slowly moving energy. What we see take
place is that the beams from Ultima hit Zidane and the others, defeating them,
followed by swirling flames encompassing their bodies, the flames then burning
out and the small orbs of energy rising as the Spell dissipates. By the time
we're shown Kuja, only one last flame remains, and by the time he has moved
offscreen, all that remains are a few small orbs of energy slowly rising and
already over halfway off the top of the screen, with no energy moving toward
the Crystal itself:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/UltimateUltima.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/DeathAwaits.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/DeathonSilverWings.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/DeadlyTendrils.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TheBigBang.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TheBigBang2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TheBigBang3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/ShardsofDeath.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Screwed.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation8.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Annihilation10.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/ItIsDone.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/ItIsDone2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/ItIsDone3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/ItIsDone4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/ItIsDone5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/KujaFalls4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/KujaFalls5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/KujaFalls6.jpg
While Zidane's line of "What happened to the Crystal?" following the battle
with Kuja has been cited as evidence of something having become of it, two
things must be kept in mind:
1) Zidane and the others were no longer in the area where they had fought
Kuja. After the screen has faded out at the closing of the battle with Kuja,
when it fades back in, we find Zidane and the others laying in an area that
ISN'T the area where Kuja was fought, and which is called the "Hill of
Despair" according to the Menu Screen:
(Where Kuja was fought.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/FinalBattle.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/FinalBattle2.jpg
(The Hill of Despair.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TheHillofDespair.jpg
("Hill of Despair" on the Menu Screen.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/HillofDespair.jpg
2) Garland had told Zidane to protect the Crystal, and Kuja suggested that
with the destruction of the Crystal, all existance would end. Zidane's concern
for the Crystal upon awakening is just that: Concern for it due to trying to
protect it and the universe.
Based on these observations, the only conclusion that can be safely drawn
based on the game is that the Crystal was not destroyed by Kuja.
-Part 9: How Long After Kuja's Death Does the Ending Take Place?
Sadly, this is not made evident during the game. One of the only means by
which one could attempt to make a determination is by the length of Dagger's
hair, which had grown a good foot and a half in the time since the departure
from the Iifa Tree. If Dagger's hair grows at the average rate of Homo Sapien
hair growth, it would have increased by roughtly half an inch per month,
meaning it would have been in the neighborhood of 3 years since the final
battle of the game occurred. However, Eiko doesn't appear to be three years
older, and she would certainly be the best character to use toward
determining if the passage of time suggested by the applied rate of hair
growth was possibly accurate. In this case, it would seem not to be the case,
and it must be that Dagger's hair grows at a faster rate than does that of
most Homo Sapiens.
As for how long it had been since the final battle and Kuja's death, without a
reliable means of measuring time, my best guess is that it had been nearly one
year and that the reunion was taking place on Dagger's birthday, this being
why Tantalus was going to perform "I Want To Be Your Canary." Dagger's
birthday was the day that the whole matter within the game began, and would be
reasonable cause for a reunion, and would also bear a fitting tribute through
a performance of "I Want To Be Your Canary."
At the very least, I would say it had been six months, as Dagger states that
it had been "so long" since she had seen the others. At the very most, I would
like to think Zidane didn't keep Dagger waiting more than two years. Anyway,
in light of Dagger's statement and the aforementioned matters, roughly one
year seems most likely to me.
-Part 10: The Four Jewels and their Purpose
A question often raised concerning the game is "What was the purpose of Eiko
and Garnet's four jewels?" The answer is that they were part of a larger
crystal that was used to summon Alexander. The people of Madain Sari feared
that Alexander was too powerful for anyone to call forth, and, thus, broke the
crystal into four shards.
Based on what the Eidolon Wall tells us, it would seem that the Summoners were
forced to leave their homeland (likely Alexandria) after someone called
Alexander forth:
"When the arrogant one summoned a
power that could not be controlled,
holy judgment was passed.
The jewel of this village must serve
as a reminder of the day we had to
leave our country."
Note that it's said that "holy judgement" was passed when the "arrogant one"
summoned forth a great power, undoubtedly Alexander, as "Holy Judgement" is
the named use for Alexander's attack. Whether the "arrogant one" had summoned
him in a bid for power so as to conquer and be the ruler of others, or simply
because they believed they were capable of harnessing Alexander's great power
is unknown. In any event, the crystal was broken so as to prevent it from
being so easily used to call Alexander forth once again, and the summoning of
Alexander did not occur again until many years later when Eiko and Dagger
called him forth to save Alexandria from Bahamut:
Eiko
"Dagger, this is the light of destiny."
Dagger
"The light of destiny?"
Eiko
"A summoner's light of destiny, brought on by the hidden powers of the 4
jewels."
"This light appears when a holy eidolon calls for its summoner."
"Come on, Dagger! As summoners, we have to fulfill our destiny!"
Dagger
"But... I don't know what to do."
Eiko
"It's okay. I'll show you."
"First, we have to put our hands together."
Dagger
"Like this?"
Eiko
"Uh-huh. Now, pray in your heart."
"O holy guardian, hear our prayers."
"Darkness overshadows us once again."
"O holy guardian, hear our prayers."
"Deliver us out of darkness into light."
It's likely that Alexandria was the homeland of the Summoners, as -- aside
from the obvious similarity in the names of Alexander and Alexandria, and the
similarity of Alexander being a large castle which appears over Alexandria
Castle -- there's also the matter of Eidolons being born of the legends and
memories of people, and taking various forms based on the people's conceptions
of them:
(Written on the Eidolon Wall in Madain Sari, and accessible after performing
the small sidequest necessary to reveal all of the writing on the wall.)
-The Legend of Eidolons-
"We discovered eidolons by researching legends documented from around the
world. The Thunder God, Ramuh, is one of those legends. Some theorize that the
eidolons were created from the legends, and not the other way around."
-The First Eidolon Discovered, Shiva-
"Shiva took the form of a young girl when she was first discovered. She now
appears as a grown woman. Eidolons adapt their forms to the time and culture
in which they appear. Shiva illustrates this theory. In certain areas, Shiva
is depicted as a snow fairy. This cannot be verified, since the only written
document that remains is in the summoner village. People associate Shiva with
the snow fairy. Why she changes forms remains a mystery."
Alexander could have easily been formed of the memories of Alexandria's people
due to factors already mentioned. Further still, Eiko spoke of calling him
forth being the Summoner's destiny, and both Dagger and Eiko were called to do
it, Dagger hearing music that led her to the roof of Alexandria Castle, and
Eiko falling from an Airship due to the call to summon Alexander, yet
levitating when she got close to Dagger and the other two pieces of
Alexander's crystal (Eiko having two of them herself). Further, the Castle
itself glowed in the moments leading up to Alexander's summoning. This would
suggest a connection between the Castle and Alexander, as well as a connection
between the Summoners and Alexandria, and may even suggest that Alexander
could not be summoned unless the summoning took place at Alexandria Castle.
Another point of interest concerning the jewels that summon Alexander is that
there are four of them, just as previous Final Fantasies had four Elemental
Crystals that maintained the stability of the world. Often these four
Elements are Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire. Interestingly enough, in Final
Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, we find inferences of the magic of Holy being
comprised of these four Elements being combined.
Finally -- and perhapst most noteworthy -- is that one of the Cleyrans claims
that it is a magical stone they have in their possession that generated the
sandstorm around Cleyra:
Forest Oracle Kildea
"The High Priest, who brings peace to our souls, resides in the cathedral."
"The king of Burmecia and Lady Freya are meeting inside this building."
"It also houses the harp whose magic stone powers the sandstorm."
The stone within the harp is what Queen Brahne sends Beatrix to take from the
Cleyrans, and is one of the four jewels used to summon Alexander. With this in
mind, it may very well be that the stone the Cleyrans had in their possession
was the Wind aspect of Alexander's Holy.
While the other four stones do not exhibit elemental properties, based on
these observations -- particularly those from Final Fantasy: Crystal
Chronicles and what the stone from Cleyra does -- we can safely infer that
each of the four jewels used to summon Alexander represented one of the four
Elements that comprise Holy.
-Part 11: Why Did Kuja Want the Gulug Stone?
An often-pondered question concerning Final Fantays IX is why Kuja wanted the
Gulug Stone. While Kuja obviously wanted the Gulug Stone for the purpose of
entering Mt. Gulug, the question is pondered because once he got there, he
merely had Zorn and Thorn attempt to use the extraction circle there to take
Eiko's Eidolons, whereas he had sent Zidane out to retrieve the Gulug Stone
before Zorn and Thorn even captured Eiko. Some have attempted to explain this
away by Kuja having intended to take Eiko to the Mountain all along to extract
her Eidolons due to sensing the power within her ("I sense power from within
her. Continue the extraction!"). However, this is a rather shaky belief in
that Kuja had put Eiko's life in danger shortly beforehand by leaving her in a
room that had a receding floor with lava beneath her.
I believe I have arrived at a much more simple -- and not to mention
well-supported conclusion -- concerning why Kuja wanted the Stone that would
allow him access to Mt. Gulug: It's most likely that he was seeking an Eidolon
there. The belief that he might have been able to find one there is not
farfetched in light of hints that the Mole People who lived there may well
have had Eidolons. As hinted by the Eidolon Wall, other tribes may have had
legends that gave birth to Eidolons (the Summoners of Madain Sari concluded
that legends of creatures are what give birth to Eidolons, rather than the
existance of such creatures giving birth to the legends of them), and an
Eidolon had, indeed, been reported as seen in the vicinity of Esto Gaza (the
structure that sits in front of Mt. Gulug):
"This information is yet to be confirmed,
but there was an eyewitness account
of a previously-undiscovered eidolon."
"It was witnessed in Esto Gaza."
"If there is an eidolon that can exist
outside of our legends, our theory
would no longer hold true."
"But maybe there are other tribes
that have legends of their own."
It's made quite obvious that Kuja was desperately seeking an Eidolon at that
point in the story by his own words:
Kuja
"You two just don't get it!"
"I need an eidolon more powerful than Alexander!"
"An eidolon with the power to bury Garland!"
"His powers are so incredible; I cannot even come close."
"I must destroy him before Terra's plan is activated, or my soul will no
longer be my own!"
"Who cares if she lives? I want that eidolon!"
In light of all this, the conclusion I would draw is that Kuja intended to go
to Mt. Gulug to seek one of the Mole Peoples' Eidolons, but once Zorn and
Thorn had captured Eiko and he sensed the power of Eidolons within her, he
took further advantage of the situation and attempted to utilize the
extraction circle within the Mountain to the effect of obtaining Eiko's
Eidolons.
In the event that the Mole People did, indeed, have Eidolons, as seems very
likely, it's not unreasonable for Kuja to assume that they would have an
extraction circle due to the people of Madain Sari having had one in
Alexandria beneath their castle (recall that the people of Madain Sari had
originated from there). As seen in the game, Mt. Gulug did, indeed, have an
extraction circle.
As for how Kuja may have known that the Mole People had Eidolons, I believe he
knew because Garland likely knew, and that it was Garland who sealed Mt.
Gulug in the first place (for more on this, refer to the section of this
document entitled "Why Was Mt. Gulug Sealed?").
-Part 12: Why Was Mt. Gulug Sealed?
In the story, we learn from the Bishop of Esto Gaza that Mt. Gulug had been
sealed many years before the main events of the game:
Bishop
"They barged in, hundreds of them! So, that was the dreaded black mage
army..."
"They headed straight for Mount Gulug without even looking at me."
Zidane
"Mount Gulug?"
Bishop
"An enormous volcano that went extinct in the days of old."
"Legend has it that a race of great moles lived within the caverns."
"But that was very long ago. No mortal has entered those depths ever since the
entrance was mysteriously sealed."
Why was the place sealed, and why is that the Gulug Stone was the key to
accessing the closed realm? I believe the answer lies with Garland's fear of
Gaia's Eidolons:
(Stated by Garland in Memoria)
"I feared Gaia's eidolons more than anything... However, I decided to deal
with them before they became a major problem."
It is known, of course, that Garland used the Airship Invincible to lay waste
to Madain Sari, killing off most of its people and leaving the survivors
without much of a means to repopulate the area. 10 years after the destruction
that Garland wreaked upon the village, only Eiko and Dagger remained alive.
It seems somewhat unlikely that Garland would have allowed the Eidolons'
presence on Gaia to have gone completely unhindered in the 1000 years that he
had been carrying out his plan to circumvent the Planet's Cycle of Souls. What
does this have to do with the Mole People of Mt. Gulug? Everything, I believe.
The Mole People most likely had Eidolons, as well. Recall that the people of
Madain Sari concluded that Eidolons were born of the legends of such
creatures, not that the legends were born of pre-existing entities:
(Inscribed upon the Eidolon Wall)
The Legend of Eidolons
"We discovered eidolons by researching
legends documented from around the world."
"The Thunder God, Ramuh, is one of those legends."
"Some theorize that the eidolons were
created from the legends, and not
the other way around."
This notion is supported by further information the wall that reveals that
Eidolons' forms change depending on the time and culture they appear in; in
other words, they change appearance due to the conceptions of the legendary
beings that are accepted during the time period in which they appear:
(Inscribed upon the Eidolon Wall)
The First Eidolon Discovered, Shiva
"Shiva took the form of a young girl when
she was first discovered. She now
appears as a grown woman."
"Eidolons adapt their forms to the
time and culture in which they appear.
Shiva illustrates this theory."
"In certain areas, Shiva is depicted
as a snow fairy. This cannot be verified,
since the only written document that
remains is in the summoner village."
"People associate Shiva with
the snow fairy."
"Why she changes forms remains a mystery."
All this information is relevant due to the fact that the Summoners of Madain
Sari reported that an Eidolon had been witnessed in the area of Esto Gaza,
which lay in front of Mt. Gulug, and that this Eidolon was not part of their
own legends, but possibly part of another tribe's:
(Also inscribed upon the Eidolon Wall)
"This information is yet to be confirmed,
but there was an eyewitness account
of a previously-undiscovered eidolon."
"It was witnessed in Esto Gaza."
"If there is an eidolon that can exist
outside of our legends, our theory
would no longer hold true."
"But maybe there are other tribes
that have legends of their own."
With this in mind, I would conclude that Garland used the powers of the Gulug
Stone (said to be a Magic-controlling device) to seal Mt. Gulug, either with
its people inside or after killing them.
-Part 13: Why Was the Gulug Stone in Oeilvert?
I believe that Garland placed the Stone in Oeilvert to keep it away from those
who may have either attempted to use its Magic-controlling powers against him,
or may have attempted to use it to access Mt. Gulug. As for why he may have
feared someone accessing the Mountain, I believe that to be because he feared
the possibility of them accessing the Eidolons that belonged to the Mole
People who lived there (for more on this matter, refer to the sections of this
document entitled "Why Did Kuja Want the Gulug Stone?" and "Why Was Mt. Gulug
Sealed?").
Using the Stone's Magic-controlling abilities, he could render the area of
Oeilvert a no-Magic zone, leaving the area more dangerous than would have
normally been the case.
-Part 14: What is the Gulug Stone?
The Gulug Stone is a Magic-controlling device that makes its appearance in the
story when Zidane is sent to Oeilvert to retrieve the ancient relic so that it
could be used to access Mt. Gulug (possibly because it had been used to seal
the Mountain shut in the first place; this may also be why the Stone was given
its name). It was most likely created on Terra, as the note accompanying it
describes the Stone's technology as something "out of this world," and with
other items examined under "Terra's Chronicles" (the Mirrors found in Ipsen's
Castle) obviously being examined from the viewpoint of a Gaian:
(The message accompanying the Gulug Stone, as seen when accessing the Key
Items section of the main menu)
"It was hidden in a land where
magic cannot be used.
It must be a magic-controlling
device, but the technology
is completely out of this world."
=Terra's Chronicles=
As for who its creator may have been, this is left unknown, lost to history.
-Part 15: What is the Significance of the Gulug Symbol?
An often-overlooked aspect of the story is the reoccurring appearance of the
symbol that the Gulug Stone is part of (that of an inverted triangle within an
erect triangle within another inverted triangle, once appearing as simply an
erect triangle within an inverted one), and which appears on the floor in the
extraction circle in Mt. Gulug. This symbol actually appears in no less than
10 locations throughout the game. They will be shown here in order of
appearance, as well as with additional screenshots from corresponding battle
maps where applicable.
-The Symbol's First Appearance-
The dungeon beneath Alexandria Castle where Zorn and Thorn extracted Dagger's
Eidolons:
(Environment map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSA.jpg
(Battle map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSAB.jpg
-The Symbol's Second Appearance-
A platform that leads down inside the Iifa Tree:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSIT.jpg
-The Symbol's Third Appearance-
The doors of Oeilvert:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSOD.jpg
-The Symbol's Fourth Appearance-
The floor in the first room of Oeilvert:
(Environment map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSOF.jpg
(Battle map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSOFB.jpg
-The Symbol's Fifth Appearance-
On the floor in Oeilvert within a hologram projection circle; this is in the
room before the platform that leads down to the Gulug Stone:
(Environment map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSOFH.jpg
(Battle map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSOFHB.jpg
-The Symbol's Sixth Appearance-
On the floor in front of the Gulug Stone:
(Environment map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSOBF.jpg
(Battle map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSOBFB.jpg
-The Symbol's Seventh Appearance-
The Gulug Stone itself and the surrounding containment device comprimse yet
another appearance of the symbol:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GStone.jpg
-The Symbol's Eighth Appearance-
The doors of Mt. Gulug:
(Environment map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSMD.jpg
(Battle map version)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSMDB.jpg
-The Symbol's Ninth Appearance-
Within the extraction circle in Mt. Gulug:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSMEC.jpg
-The Symbol's Tenth Appearance-
On a wall in the room in Bran Bal where a large crystal can be seen:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/The%20Gulug/GSBB.jpg
This begs the question: "What is the significance of this symbol?" Is it a
symbol representing Eidolons? After all, it's found in both Alexandria and
Mt. Gulug, places where Summoners have lived, and the Genomes may have been
aware that their creator, Garland, feared Eidolons. Is it a Magical seal? It's
seen on a platform of the Iifa Tree, a place where the Summoners of Madain
Sari once attempted to Summon Leviathan and failed, sealing entry to the area
afterward. Is it, perhaps, a symbol used as a focal point for Spells? These
are questions that have been posed by those aware of the reoccurring nature of
the symbol, and out of those presented here, the last is the closest to the
truth.
What the symbol is in actuality is a Transmutation symbol. Transmutation is
the Alchemic concept of changing one object into another, though it can also
apply to the transfer or transformation of energy. In ancient Alchemy, the
concept was strongly tied to the concept of harnessing and/or channeling life
energy, particularly when binding it to inanimate objects (such as the
creation of a Golem, a clay structure in the shape of a Homo Sapien given life
through mystical (Alchemic) means; the most famous legend of such a matter
is the legend of the Golem of Prague).
As such, when Zorn and Thorn perform extraction spells on Dagger and Eiko, they
say such things as "Eidolons of Eternal Life!" and "Let there be life!," and
why a successful extraction spell causes the spirits of the Eidolons drawn out
of a Summoner to become bound to physical objects. This symbol being a
Transmutation symbol would also account for its presence on the Iifa Tree,
known as "The Tree of Life," it being a machine that manipulates Spirit
Energy. With this, we can also explain why the symbol can be found in Bran
Bal, a place where its citizens (the Genomes) were awaiting the day that they
would serve as vessels for the souls of Terra.
Transmutation symbols always feature triangles, often erect or inverted,
within other triangles, criss-crossing with other triangles, or with their
points touching. For several examples, refer to this image by SerialCode of
DeviantArt:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TCs_by_SerialCode.jpg
( Here, by the way, is the URL to SerialCode's page on DeviantArt:
http://serialcode.deviantart.com/ )
(Note: It should be kept in mind that Transmutation Circles of this kind were
not actually used by Alchemists. Their use is most often portrayed in Japanese
works due to the Japanese way of thinking, it being that life energies flow in
a circular pattern (much akin to any of the cycle concepts of spiritual
thought, whether they be Karma or Samsara), and, thus, triangular patterns are
used to represent the intersecting of these lines of energy flow to the effect
of manipulating them in some manner.)
-Part 16: What is Ozma?
The enigmatic Ozma's origins are one of the more prevailing mysteries of Final
Fantasy IX. The best we're offered in-game is that Ozma was residing in or
around an "Eidolon cave" (a rock formation on the Chocobo's Air Garden),
implying that the creature is an Eidolon of sorts. Why then does the creature
not bear a more definite form, instead being a ball of swirling energy?:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Ozma.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/OzmaGIF.gif
The answer lies in the origin of Eidolons, and why they bear forms at all. We
learn both of these things from the Eidolon Wall in Madain Sari:
(Written on the Eidolon Wall in Madain Sari, and accessible after performing
the small sidequest necessary to reveal all of the writing on the wall.)
-The Legend of Eidolons-
"We discovered eidolons by researching legends documented from around the
world. The Thunder God, Ramuh, is one of those legends. Some theorize that the
eidolons were created from the legends, and not the other way around."
-The First Eidolon Discovered, Shiva-
"Shiva took the form of a young girl when she was first discovered. She now
appears as a grown woman. Eidolons adapt their forms to the time and culture
in which they appear. Shiva illustrates this theory. In certain areas, Shiva
is depicted as a snow fairy. This cannot be verified, since the only written
document that remains is in the summoner village. People associate Shiva with
the snow fairy. Why she changes forms remains a mystery."
Eidolons are born of legends and the collective memories of people, and the
conceptualizations these people hold for Eidolons give them their forms. From
this we can infer that Ozma no longer has a form because those whose memories
and conceptualizations of Ozma gave him life are gone and that all those who
remembered his original form are gone.
While it's true that some beings knew of Ozma, such as the Yan of the
Friendly Monsters (after completing the side quest involving them by giving
the Friendly Yan a Diamond, it will say "Reach the round guy..." if you
haven't already defeated Ozma, or "Reach the round guy... Huh?! You already
beat him?!" if you have) and Hades (if you've already defeated Ozma before
fighting him, he will say "What? You defeated Ozma? ...I've come too far to
retreat now!"), and Regent Cid I of Lindblum (one of the Chocograph Pieces
left behind by him says "There...danger in the sky. If you dar...to face it,
use this rec...to find your way," suggesting that he knew of a "danger in the
sky" and was leaving a trail to find one's way to it), whether they knew of
him before or after he became a ball of swirling energy is unknown, though I
would hazard to guess that it was after, as the Friendly Yan knows of him as a
round being, and if either the Friendly Monsters or Hades had known of Ozma
in its original form it's possible that it would still retain that form.
While it may be suggested that Ozma was always such a ball, personally, I find
it unlikely -- upon examining the forms taken by other Eidolons, being in some
cases very detailed and intricate -- that when first conceptualized, Ozma had
the form that it is seen as having when fighting it.
Something else worthy of consideration in regard to Ozma is that the Brady
Games official strategy guide for Final Fantasy IX refers to the rock
formation that has to be accessed in order to bring Ozma forth as the "Eidolon
grave":
"The most terrifying enemy in the game is not the final Boss, but the creature
hidden at the Eidolon grave in Chocobo's Air Garden."
(For proof of this, we need only refer to the official US online strategy
guide for the game: http://www.square-enix-usa.com/strategy/FF9/
Once at the site, go to "Sidequests/Secrets," then to "More," and then to
"Ozma."
For further proof, refer to these screenshots from the guide itself:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/EidolonGrave.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/EidolonGrave2.jpg)
With this in mind, it would suggest that Ozma is "dead." Why then is he alive
and can be fought? Once created, energy cannot be created or destroyed, only
converted into other forms. Ozma's original form is gone, forgotten along with
all those who would have known his original form. We know that Eidolons don't
die in the traditional sense, as Bahamut was destroyed by Alexander, yet can
still be summoned thereafter (just as Espers can die in Final Fantasy VI, but
then be summoned through their Magicite). Bahamut, however, was remembered,
and retained his form, whereas this was not the case with Ozma.
While this provides us with an explanation of Ozma's origin, it leaves the
question of why Ozma is so much more powerful than other Eidolons in the game
(with the possible exception of Alexander, the full extent of his power,
perhaps, not being fully displayed), which may be answered by the fact that
he was simply THAT powerful, just as Alexander's power completely dwarfed
Bahamut's.
It could perhaps be argued that Ozma was the collective energies of all
forgotten ("dead") Eidolons that had existed, but that's a more difficult
theory to draw in-game support for. The matter of memory affecting the forms
taken by Eidolons can be proven at least.
In summary, Ozma is a forgotten/"dead" Eidolon that was -- for whatever reason
-- residing within that rock formation on the Chocobo's Air Garden.
-Part 17: Is There A Hidden Connection Between Eiko (or Dagger) and
Amarant/Salamander?
It is sometimes believed that Eiko and Amarant have a connection of some kind
due to their similar surnames, the two being, indeed, very close anagrams of
one another: "Carol" (Eiko) and "Coral" (Amarant/Salamander). Some would
speculate that perhaps he is her father, as Shadow of Final Fantasy VI was
Relm's father, these two characters bearing similarities to those two
characters, and possibly being tributes to them to a certain extent, as Final
Fantasy IX features many tributes to past Final Fantasies.
However, this is simply not the case. First and foremost, the two do not have
the same surname, no matter how similar they may be, and without further
indication than this of some kind of connection in this regard, there simply
isn't one. Secondly, while Eiko and Amarant are certainly reminiscent of Relm
and Shadow, this story would need actual suggestion of a connection of some
kind within the story itself or stated officially outside of the story for
there to be one, both of which are not the case.
It has also been speculated that Amarant may have a connection to Dagger, it
being required that neither he nor she enter Madain Sari and approach Lani
when attempting to fulfill the side quest of accessing the rest of the Eidolon
Wall's information on Disc 4 of the game. However, the reason for this being
so is that speaking with Lani is what activates the rest of the side quest,
and Dagger can't be present for the obvious reason that the rest of the party
is intended to see this without her, and Amarant can't be present when
speaking with Lani because Amarant had previously challenged her at the
Eidolon Wall to fight him if she refused to leave, scaring her away, thus
leaving her nervous of him, as -- even during the game's ending -- she
stutters when speaking with Amarant:
(When Amarant challenges her at the Eidolon Wall.)
Zidane
"What have you done to Eiko!?"
Lani
"She was too rambunctious, so I put her to sleep with a sleeping weed."
Zidane
"Sleeping weed, eh? Then she's probably sleeping well."
Dagger
"If it's my pendant you're after, then leave the others out of it!"
Lani
"No can do. This is way too convenient to pass up!"
"Hand over your pendant, and I'll hand over the girl, capice?"
"What happened to the pendant that you always have on!?"
Zidane
"I have it."
Lani
"Oh, you really are a good knight. Now, cough it up already!"
Zidane
"First, tell me something. Was it you who stole the village stone?"
Lani
"Queen Brahne is after the royal pendant."
"I found another jewel just like it in this village!"
"I'm glad I came all this way looking for it!"
"Now, hand it over!"
Zidane
(If only Eiko was conscious...)
::Zidane takes a step forward::
Lani
"Hold on!"
"You're plotting something, aren't you? Stay right there!"
Zidane
"Grr!"
Lani
"You, black mage!"
Vivi
"Huh? M-Me?"
Lani
"Bring me the pendant!"
"Remember, do as I say if you value this brat's life!"
Vivi
"Zidane..."
Zidane
"Do it, Vivi."
Vivi
"O-Okay..."
::Vivi takes the pendant from Zidane and takes it to Lani::
Lani
"Hahaha..."
::The red-haired fellow (Amarant) who was hired to go with Lani drops down
from above, knocking her down. She drops Eiko, whom Zidane catches::
Lani
"Aaa!!!"
Zidane
"I dunno who you are, but thanks!"
Red-haired Man
"......"
Eiko
<Yawn.>
Zidane
"Yo! Can you stand?"
Eiko
"Huh? What's going on?"
"!!!"
::Eiko jumps out of Zidane's arms::
Eiko
"Where's that old hag?"
Lani
"Oh, that's it! Who are you calling a hag!?"
Eiko
"You!"
Zidane
"So, the tables turn! Now, hand over the jewel you stole!"
Lani
"What are you tryin' to do, Red!?"
"I thought you're supposed to be the number one bandit!"
Dagger
"I've seen him before...!"
"He's the one with wanted posters all over Treno!"
Red-headed Man
"I'm not here to help. I just want it to be fair."
Lani
"What are you talking about?"
Red-headed Man
"Leave the jewel and get out of here."
Lani
"What!? We're partners on this job!"
Red-headed Man
"I don't work with hostage-taking scumbags. Now, get lost."
"Or...would you rather fight me?"
Lani
"Mark my words! I'll collect the bounty on YOU someday!"
::Lani leaves the jewel and jumps to the top of a column, then to the top of
the Eidolon Wall, and then off-screen::
(During the ending.)
Amarant
"...Hey."
Lani
"Why are you going to Alexandria?"
Amarant
"You're not going?"
Lani
"I-I never said that!"
"H-Hey, wait!"
It has even been suggested that perhaps Amarant is also from Madain Sari, but
there is no indication in the game of this being so, nor does he have a horn.
While a horn could be removed (as was Dagger's), the matter of Amarant
displaying no Summoner abilities, or a connection to their village negates
such a suggestion. There's simply no connection between either Amarant and
Eiko or Amarant and Dagger that the game does not explain and that has to be
reasoned out, especially not based on a similar surname or an aspect of the
mechanics of a side quest already easily explained by the interaction between
Amarant and Lani.
-Part 18: Holy's Components
It is my belief that the Spell known as Holy is comprised of the Elements of
Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind. This belief comes from Final Fantasy: Crystal
Chronicles' inference that Holy is the combination of the four, indeed, being
the ruling Spell over these other four and offering protection against them.
Perhaps most noteworthy, however, is that one of the Cleyrans claims that it
is a magical stone they have in their possession that generated the sandstorm
around Cleyra:
Forest Oracle Kildea
"The High Priest, who brings peace to our souls, resides in the cathedral."
"The king of Burmecia and Lady Freya are meeting inside this building."
"It also houses the harp whose magic stone powers the sandstorm."
The stone within the harp is what Queen Brahne sends Beatrix to take from the
Cleyrans, and is one of the four jewels used to summon Alexander.
Interestingly enough, in previous Final Fantasies, it was often that four
crystals maintained the stability of the world, each bearing a certain
Elemental property. With this in mind, it may very well be that the stone the
Cleyrans had in their possession was the Wind aspect of Alexander's Holy.
While the other four stones do not exhibit elemental properties, based on
these observations, we can safely infer that each of the four jewels used to
summon Alexander represented one of the four Elements that comprise Holy, and
that Holy is itself comprised of the Elements of Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water,
whereas Ultima is comprised of all Elements combined (made apparent through it
offering defense and -- if a great enough quantity of Ultima Spells are
junctioned -- absorption resistance against all Elements in Final Fantasy
VIII).
-Part 19: The Nature of Ultima
The powerful Spell known as Ultima, the most potent of all Spells in Final
Fantasy tales, is 1) the combination of all elements, 2) Spirit Energy
harnessed in its raw form (Magicks are derived from Spirit Energy, and, thus,
the combination of all of its individual derivations would be Spirit Energy
itself), and 3) nuclear energy. The first of these matters we can infer based
on junctioning the Spell to a character's Elemental Defense allowing for
defense and -- if a great enough quantity of Ultima Spells are junctioned --
absorption resistance against all Elements in Final Fantasy VIII. For the
second of these matters, we must, however, look a little deeper.
To do this, we must first turn our attention to Final Fantasy VII, where we
find that using Ultima Materia seemingly calls forth a blast of energy that
bears the exact appearance of Mako and Spirit Energy before the blast connects
with its target, and bears the appearance of the gaseous by-product of Mako
conversion (as seen emitted from the Reactors in Midgar) afterward:
Ultima:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Ultima.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Ultima2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Ultima3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Ultima4.jpg
Spirit Energy:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/SpiritEnergy.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/SpiritEnergy2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/SpiritEnergy3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TheLifestream.jpg
The Gaseous By-Product of Mako Conversion:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/MakoGas.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/MakoGas2.jpg
There is not just a similarity between the flash of green light seen as Ultima
is set into action and Spirit Energy, or the gaseous after effect of Ultima's
blast and the gaseous by-product of Mako conversion: They are, in fact,
exactly the same in appearance.
With this in mind, now consider the third matter in the nature of Ultima, its
status as nuclear energy. "The Making of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within"
book states this in regard to the Zeus Cannon:
"A 100km radius from the Zeus is a restricted area where unshielded shuttles
and soldiers cannot enter, due to the risk of being exposed to radiation of
nuclear/spiritual energy from the reactive nuclear thrust and giant OVO tank.
The hatitat inside the space station is located within a magnetic field gauge.
It has no contact points with the station frame, thus it is protected from the
nuclear/spiritual energy emission shock."
Here follows screenshots from the book of the above quoted page, as well as
one of the book's title page:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TheZeusCannon.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TheZeusCannon2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TheZeusCannon3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/TSWBookTitlePage.jpg
In other words, Spirit Energy (Ultima) and nuclear energy are not
differentiated: They're the same thing.
-Part 20: Spirit Energy and Memories: The Magic of Final Fantasy
The purpse of this document is to present my thesis on Magic and memories in
Final Fantasy. Essentially, I seek to present that Spirit Energy and/or
memories are the source of Magicks in the Final Fantasies. Further, I seek to
express the possibility that all Final Fantasy worlds (or, at the least, the
worlds of Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X/X-2, Tactics, and The Spirits Within)
have a Lifestream.
-NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AHEAD FROM Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, IX,
X, X-2, Tactics, The Spirits Within, AND Unlimited-
In FFVII, there is a concept of the souls of those who die returning to the
Planet:
Bugenhagen:
"Well, let's get to the subject."
"Eventually... all humans die. What happens to them after they die?"
"The body decomposes, and returns to the Planet. That much everyone knows.
What about their consciousness, their hearts and their souls?"
"The soul too returns to the Planet."
"And not only those of humans, but everything on this Planet. In fact, all
living things in the universe, are the same."
"The spirits that return to the Planet, merge with one another and roam the
Planet."
"They roam, converge, and divide, becoming a swell, called the 'Lifestream'."
"Lifestream.... In other words, a path of energy of the souls roaming the
Planet."
"'Spirit Energy' is a word that you should never forget."
"A new life... children are blessed with Spirit energy and are brought into
the world."
"Then, the time comes when they die and once again return to the Planet..."
We're further made aware that the game's Materia (the spheres through which
people in this world access Magicks) are crystalized Spirit Energy, condensing
and crystalizing when it has gone to the Planet's surface, occurring through
both natural and artifically-induced means (Mako siphoning). Further still, it
would seem that when one has died and their Spirit Energy returns to the
Planet, it takes with it the knowledge (memories) of the individual that it
had provided the energy of life for, and it is through these memories that
the wielders of Materia connect to the Planet and call forth Magicks:
(Stated by Sephiroth on Mt. Nibel.)
"...the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia."
"Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the
Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up
magic..... or so they say."
The same concepts show up in The Spirits Within, in which it is said that the
spirits of those who die return to the "Gaia," (the spirit of the Earth)
taking with them the experiences (memories) of their lifetimes, these
experiences allowing the Gaia to grow, and with the implication offered that
the Spirit Energy will be recycled and put back onto the surface world to
supply another living being with Spirit Energy:
(Stated by Aki, quoting Dr. Sid's journal.)
"All life is born of Gaia and each life has a spirit. Each new spirit is
housed in a physical body. ...Through their experiences on Earth each spirit
matures and grows. When the physical body dies the mature spirit enriched by
its life on Earth returns to Gaia bringing with it the experiences, enabling
Gaia to live and grow."
FFIX has this concept, as well (referred to as the "cycle of souls" by
Garland), though the source of souls is only referred to as "the light [of
Gaia]" rather than "the Lifestream" or "the Gaia." It's further made apparent
that the Planet Terra also has a "light." To better explain this and the
connection of these "lights" to the Lifestream of Final Fantasy VII and the
Gaia of The Spirits Within, I will here explain the nature of Garland's plan
to have Terra assimilate Gaia:
In Pandemonium, Garland tells Zidane that this was his plan for Gaia:
"I have no intention of destroying Gaia. I only wish to make Gaia into
Terra."
What does Garland mean by this? Was he going to cause the Planets to collide
and merge through accretion in a cataclysmic smashing together of celestial
bodies? Was he going to teleport Terra's matter into the space being occupied
by Gaia's, merging the two into a form that would be both of the previously
existing Planets, but neither at the same time?
Perhaps that would have been part of the process at some stage (the memory
of Terra and another Planet apparently physically fusing witnessed in Memoria
would lend some measure of support to such a theory), but one thing
can be certain: What Garland was speaking of was replacing Gaia's
Lifestream/Gaia/Spirit Energy with Terra's. For any who may be confused at
this point while recalling that Final Fantasy VII was the Final Fantasy in
which the Lifestream was present, I wish to clarify that, yes, the world of
Final Fantasy IX does, indeed, have a Lifestream, as well.
Recall what Mikoto says in Bran Bal concerning the nature of the Cycle of
Souls:
"Planets have a cycle of souls. Souls are born from the planet, and then
return to it."
Now recall what Bugenhagen says in Final Fantasy VII concerning the nature of
Spirit Energy:
"'Spirit Energy' is a word that you should never forget."
"A new life... children are blessed with Spirit energy and are
brought into the world."
"Then, the time comes when they die and once again return to the
Planet..."
In other words, both worlds have a Lifestream. To further explain what it is
that Garland was attempting to accomplish, I must make note of the Lifestream
of the Earth in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within film. The Planet of the
film had a Lifestream, as well, ironically enough called its "Gaia." It's
said in the film that new life is granted a spirit from the Earth's Gaia
(Lifestream), with this spirit then returning to the Gaia upon the death of
its host, carrying back with it the memories and experiences of its lifetime.
In summary, from all this, we can establish that all three worlds have a
Lifestream. With this in mind, recall that the Gaia of the Phantom Homeworld
was attempting to take over the Gaia of the Earth, changing the Earth's blue
Gaia into the Phantom Homeworld's red Gaia. In the event that this sounds
familiar, it certainly should, as this changing of blue to red is precisely
what Garland spoke of doing in regard to Gaia and Terra:
Garland
"We must sort the souls."
"I want to disrupt Gaia's cycle and drain its souls, filling the void with
the souls of Terra."
"To speed the cycle of souls is to speed the work as a whole. Thus, war..."
"And in time... Gaia's souls are gone, and Gaia becomes Terra."
Zidane
"But...how!?"
Garland
"You saw it with your own eyes. You saw the Iifa Tree and the Mist it emits."
"The role of the Iifa Tree is that of Soul Divider. The Mist you see
comprises the stagnant souls of Gaia..."
Zidane
"Oh yeah? But we stopped the Mist! So much for that!"
Garland
"All you saw was the back of the tree..."
"Come and see for yourself. See the true form of this planet."
Zidane
"What is this?"
Garland
"Think of it as an observatory. A place to measure the radiance of Gaia and
Terra."
Zidane
"What are you talking about? And what is this weird light?"
Garland
"That is the center of the planet. The end and the beginning of the cycle of
souls."
"The light remains Gaia's, for now, but when the blue changes to crimson,
all will belong to Terra, and its restoration will be complete."
Garland tells Zidane that he was going to show him the TRUE form of Terra,
and then proceeded to show him the light that was at the center of Gaia,
further stating that this light was the beginning and end of the Cycle of
Souls: In other words, Gaia's Lifestream. Keeping in mind that Garland said
he would show Zidane the TRUE form of Terra, that would mean that he didn't
regard the physical material that they could see and walked upon as the true
form of the Planet, rather regarding the Lifestream of the Planet itself as
its true form, all the physical material around it just being a shell of
sorts to contain it and upon which it could cultivate life.
Recalling once again that the Gaia of the Phantom Homeworld in The Spirits
Within was changing the Earth's Gaia from blue to red, this would mean, then,
that what Garland was trying to do was the same thing: Replace Gaia's
Lifestream with Terra's, converting the Lifestream already present and
housing Terra's Lifestream in the vessel of physical material upon which life
had been cultivated and reared by Gaia.
In summary, the Gaia concept of The Spirits Within is exactly the same as the
Lifestream concept of Final Fantasy VII and the Cycle of Souls of Final
Fantasy IX. Earth's Gaia (The Spirits Within) is that Planet's Lifestream, the
same as Gaia's Lifestream (Final Fantasy VII) is that Planet's Gaia, with Gaia
and Terra of Final Fantasy IX having the same concept with these "lights" at
their cores.
To put it another way, Lifestream = Gaia = "Light."
Next, based on what we're told in Final Fantasy VII and The Spirits Within, we
know that the memories of the dead will be taken to the Planet's
Lifestream/Gaia/"Light"/Whatever, yet in Final Fantasy IX we see this process
interrupted by the Iifa Tree. As a result, Mist covers much of one continent
and later the whole world. Further, much of the world is desolate, as was the
area around Midgar in Final Fantasy VII, the heart of Mako siphoning (notable
because in both cases, the life force of the Planet was being drained).
Black Mages, beings with the inherent ability to use Magicks, are created from
this Mist that now covers Gaia. Garland says the Mist was formed of the
stagnant souls of the dead that were unable to return to the core of the
Planet. In other words, they were composed of Spirit Energy that could not
return to the core of the Planet:
Garland: "The role of the Iifa Tree is that of Soul Divider. The Mist you see
comprises the stagnant souls of Gaia..."
This presents us with the suggestion that Spirit Energy provides power, and
that is, indeed, the case. In Final Fantasy VII, the Shin-Ra corporation draws
Spirit Energy out of the Planet, it taking on a more compressed form called
"Mako." This Mako is then converted to allow Shin-Ra to provide electricity,
the Mako becoming electrical energy and then being converted into whatever
forms of energy that it may be used toward as electrical energy, such as light
energy, heat energy, and kinetic energy. Further notable is, again, that the
source of Magic in this game is Materia, condensed and crysalized Spirit
Energy from the Lifestream, it acting as a link between its wielder and the
Planet, as the knowledge (memories) within the Materia interacts between the
two, allowing the wielder to call Magicks forth. Further, JENOVA/Sephiroth's
plot in Final Fantasy VII was to deal a fatal would to the Planet, resulting
in a massive outpouring of Spirit Energy from within the Planet to that area
to heal the wound, only it/he/they would be at the wound and would absorb the
Spirit Energy as it came forth.
In Final Fantasy X and X-2, we see Spheres used as a frequent source of power,
them being, interestingly enough, in the shape that Final Fantasy VII's
Materia takes on. In Final Fantasy X, we learn that Spheres are made when
absorbing and recording people's memories:
(In Macalania Woods, at the lake where the Spherimorph was fought.)
Tidus
"This place..."
"It's just water, isn't it?"
Auron
"This is what spheres are made of."
"It absorbs and preserves people's memories."
Then, in X-2, we learn that Spheres are composed of Pyreflies:
(In Cloister Infinity/Cloister 100 of the Via Infinito.)
Rikku: "So what happened to everyone's Spheres?"
Trema: "Destroyed. Turned to Pyreflies and scattered."
[Note: Keep this matter of the Spheres being formed when absorbing memories
and then later being revealed to be composed of Pyreflies in mind.]
A further note of interest is that we frequently see the souls of the dead
composed of Pyreflies through Final Fantasy X and X-2's Unsent characters,
such as Auron, Seymour, Belgemine, Lady Ginnem, and Maester Mika. Further
still, the Farplane (the resting place of the world of Spira's dead) has a
massive amount of Pyreflies floating about within it. When people and Fiends
die, Pyreflies are given off from their forms, or, in the case of the Fiends,
their bodies disippitate into the Pyreflies of which they are composed. With
this in mind, the nature of Fiends as explained in Final Fantasy X should be
recalled:
(Stated by Lulu in Kilika.)
"The dead need guidance."
"Filled with grief over their own death, they refuse to face their fate."
"They yearn to live on, and resent those still alive."
"You see, they envy the living."
"And in time, that envy turns to anger, even hate."
"Should these souls remain in Spira, they become fiends that prey on the
living."
"Sad, isn't it?"
"The sending takes them to the Farplane, where they may rest in peace."
It should also be noted that Pyreflies are what are seen fading away when a
Sending occurs. Further still, when one has been sent to the Farplane, their
image will appear there amongst the Pyreflies that float about there in
response to one's memory of the sent deceased. From all of this we can infer
that the Pyreflies of an individual are their very soul, or -- as Final
Fantasy VII put it -- their "Spirit Energy."
Keeping in mind for a moment that Materia is crystalized Spirit Energy, in
regard to Final Fantasy X, it should be noted that all abilities learned in
that game are learned on the SPHERE Grid (capitalized for emphasis), and the
abilities seen in Final Fantasy X-2 are learned through the use of the
DresSPHERES (capitalized for emphasis). In other words, the magical abilities
that people learn in Spira come from Spheres, just as the magical abilities
people display in Final Fantasy VII come from the Spheres of that world:
Materia.
The Dresspheres of Final Fantasy X-2 are clearly shown to be the crystalized
Pyreflies/Spirit Energy of People of the past. Lenne's memories were the basis
for the Songtstress Dressphere, and her spirit is even seen emerging from the
Dressphere after the final confrontation with Shuyin. It is because of this
that Shuyin often confused Yuna for Lenne during the game:
Buddy: "Lenne, huh?"
Shinra: "Yeah, the girl from the Songstress dressphere."
Yuna: "That's Lenne?"
Shinra: "Sure. She wore that dress one thousand years ago."
Rikku: "Why didn't you tell us?"
Shinra: "No one asked. Besides, all I knew was her name. What's to tell?"
Yuna: (Narrating) "What Shinra said surprised me, but only a little. So there
really was a connection."
Rikku: "Okay, okay. So, the reason Shuyin keeps calling Yuna "Lenne" is --"
Paine: "Because of that dressphere?"
To summarize things thus far, we can conclude that Lifestream = Gaia =
"Light" and that Spirit Energy = Pyreflies. We can also conclude that Materia
= Spheres. Thus, it can be concluded that Lifestream = Gaia = "Light" =
Spirit Energy = Pyreflies = Materia = Spheres.
Taking all of this into account, let's now take things a step further and
consider what Shinra of Final Fantasy X-2 says concerning the Farplane, where
a vast amount of Pyreflies can be seen:
Shinra: "Aha..."
Yuna: "What are you looking at?"
Shinra: "Farplane data."
Shinra: "The more I study it, the more fascinating it gets. There's limitless
energy swirling around in there."
Yuna: "Limitless energy?"
Shinra: "The life force that flows through our planet...I think."
Shinra: "With a little work, we could probably extract the energy in a
useable form."
Brother: "Sweet!"
Shinra: "Of course, that'd take generations."
Brother: "That's no fun!"
Buddy: "Well, still, it is something worth shooting for."
Yuna: "Think how much Spira would change if we ever got it to work!"
Yuna: "Maybe one day we could build a city full of light, one that never
sleeps!"
Shinra: "No doubt about it."
Yuna: "Just imagine!"
Note that Shinra's words suggest the same concept as the use of Mako Reactors
seen in Final Fantasy VII.
As with Final Fantasy VII, in Final Fantasy X we also see Spirit Energy used
as a source of increasing one's power. When People and Fiends die, Pyreflies
are given off. After Seymour has murdered Maester Kinoc, he absorbs the
Pyreflies from Kinoc's body and those that three Guado and a soldier of
Bevelle give off, transforming into Seymour Natus. This is a strong indication
that the Pyreflies are the free-floating Spirit Energy of the dead, and can be
harnessed as a source of power the same as Spirit Energy is in Final Fantasy
VII. In fact, we have absolute confirmation of this through Sin. Yu Yevon
formed this armour of immense power by gathering Pyreflies around himself and
holding them together with Gravity Spells, then forming from them the
monstrosity that would ravage Spira for 1000 years.
Also, note that the Pyreflies reside within the Planet, and that the Pyreflies
constituting the souls of one that is Sent will be sent there, as one who has
not accepted death while still alive or has not died and then been Sent cannot
be seen on the Farplane.
Moving on, in The Spirits Within, we're told that the OVOpacks used to power
everything were derived from micro-organisms, their "bioetheric energy" (their
Spirit Energy) drawn out to be used as a power source and contained in these
packs. One of the Eight Spirits used to counter the Phantom Homeworld's Gaia
was one of these OVOpacks:
(In the battlefield wasteland of Tuscon, Arizona.)
Aki: "We're very close."
Gray: "I don't see anything."
Gray: "You're not gonna tell me it's him?"
Ryan: "That's impossible."
Aki: "It's not the [dead] soldier. It's his OVOpack."
Gray: "How do you explain that? Packs power the weapons, the barrier cities. I
mean it's just bioetheric energy."
Aki: "And to create that energy we use living tissue; single cell organisms."
Gray: "You're telling me his backpack is the seventh spirit."
Aki: "Yes."
Again, Spirit Energy was the source of power, in this case, used to power the
weapons employed against the Phantoms, the barrier that kept them out of the
new New York City and other barrier cities, and that was used to power the
Zeus Cannon.
On the subject of the Phantoms themselves, they were ghosts of a world
destroyed, carried to the Earth on a chunk of their own Planet that contained
their world's Gaia. When this chunk of their homeworld (the Phantom Meteor, or
Leonid Meteor) slammed into the Earth, the Spirit Energy of the dead beings
began to run amok on the Earth. Near the end of the film, their world's Gaia
essentially poisoned Earth's Gaia, pooling down into it, and began attempting
to convert it into itself. It seems that the Gaia of the Phantom homeworld was
attempting to take the Earth's physical material as a new vessel until it
itself was negated by the Spirit Wave of the Eight Spirits of Earth.
Next, with Final Fantasy VIII, we find a less obvious but no less striking
matter. Scattered across the world of Final Fantasy VIII are Draw Points,
areas on the surface of the Planet where tendrils of energy leak out and can
be "drawn" into one who is junctioned to a Guardian Force (Final Fantasy
VIII's version of Summon creatures), allowing one access to Magicks. Further,
energy can likewise be "drawn" from monsters and even other people, leaving
similar energy trails behind as it is transferred from one being to another as
it does when pulled out of the Planet and into an individual's body. The
striking thing about this is that the Draw Points that leak energy out of the
Planet bear a significant resemblance to the Mako Fountains of Final Fantasy
VII, areas in that world where Spirit Energy leaked out of the Planet,
condensed, and became Materia:
A Draw Point:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/ADrawPoint.jpg
A Mako Fountain:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/MakoFountain4.jpg
While they don't bear an EXACT resemblance, conceptually they're akin: Both
involve energy leaking up out of the Planet and through to the surface. In
other words, when drawing Magicks out of the Planet, one is drawing Spirit
Energy out of it, gaining access to a certain number of Spells associated with
the memories contained in the Spirit Energy that was drawn.
Similarily, when drawing energy from a monster or another person, one is
drawing on Spirit Energy out of that being, gaining access to Spells
associated with the memories contained in that Spirit Energy:
Drawing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/DrawingFFVIII.jpg
Finally, in regard to Final Fantasy: Unlimited, throughout this series
various types of sandy materials (more various in color than the different
types of Materia) known as "Soil" were the fuel for powering certain weaponry
and many machines. Not surprisingly, the revelation comes that Soil is the
Life Crystals of the dead. In other words, the crystalized Spirit Energy of
the dead.
Based on all this, we can establish that Spirit Energy and Lifestream-like
concepts are a staple of at least the worlds of Final Fantasy VII, IX, X/X-2,
Unlimited, and The Spirits Within, as well as possibly Final Fantasy VIII, and
that Spirit Energy is a source of power in all of them.
However, we can draw something else from all of this due to some specific
elements of the nature of Spirit Energy/Pyreflies seen in Final Fantasy VII
and Final Fantasy X/X-2, and specific elements regarding the nature of
Summons as seen in Final Fantasy VIII and IX: Spirit Energy itself would
only seem to be half of the equation in regard to the source of power. The
other half is memories. In fact, it may well be that it is the memories
THEMSELVES that allow Spirit Energy to provide power in the first place!
This conclusion can be drawn for several reasons:
As mentioned before, in Final Fantasy VII, when explaining the function of
Materia, Sephiroth says the following:
"...the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia."
"Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the
Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up
magic..... or so they say."
Materia contains the knowledge of the Ancients. To put it another way, their
memories. Now let's recall once more what The Spirits Within states to be
taken to the Gaia of the Earth upon the death of a creature:
"All life is born of Gaia and each life has a spirit. Each new spirit is
housed in a physical body. ...Through their experiences on Earth each spirit
matures and grows. When the physical body dies the mature spirit enriched by
its life on Earth returns to Gaia bringing with it the experiences, enabling
Gaia to live and grow."
The experiences of those who die are taken with their Spirit Energy back to
the Gaia. In other words once again, their memories. This time, however, we
learn that these memories actually serve to allow Gaias/Lifestreams to GROW.
Consider now the Aeons and Dream Zanarkand of FFX and X-2. Dream Zanarkand was
bound to existance by the dreaming of those pople who had lived in Zanarkand
before and during the war with Bevelle: The Fayth. When it became apparent
that the war with Bevelle was lost, Yu Yevon had them become the Fayth Cluster
on Mt. Gagazet, where they would generate their memories and he would tap into
them, and from them create Dream Zanarkand, so that the Zanarkand they knew
would live on. They generated memories of the Zanarkand they had known while
they were forced into a perpetual cycle of dreaming by Yu Yevon, him tapping
into the dreams they generated to create Dream Zanarkand and its living,
breathing, reproducing inhabtiants. Actual life was made from these memories.
The Aeons, also, were produced from tapping into the dreams of Fayth, possibly
-- if not likely -- based on their memories.
Something else worthy of note is that Pyreflies constantly react, displaying
the memories associated with them, as is shown to occur on the Farplane,
and in the ruins of Zanarkand. Further still, the Unsent -- being composed of
Pyreflies -- can even process their own memories through the Pyreflies of
which their forms are composed and allow others to see them, such as when
Auron shows Tidus the promise he made to Jecht to look after him:
Auron
"We must talk."
Tidus
"What?"
Auron
"There is something you should know."
Tidus
"I know...it's about you, right?"
Auron
"I am also an unsent."
"You are not surprised?"
Tidus
"I think I kinda knew. It was Yunalesca, wasn't it?"
Auron
"When Braska and Jecht died defeating Sin..."
"I just couldn't accept it."
"I came back here... tried to avenge them."
"But she struck me down."
"Somehow I made my way, crawling, down Mount Gagazet."
"But my strength left me just outside Bevelle. That's where Kimahri found me."
"I told him about Yuna... just before I died."
"I've been wandering ever since, never going to the Farplane."
Tidus
"Auron..."
Auron
"Don't make that face. Being dead has its advantages."
"I was able to ride Sin and go to your Zanarkand."
Tidus
"And you've been watching over me since then, haven't you?"
"Why?"
"What's the big idea? Why me?"
Auron
"It is one of those things that is difficult to explain."
"Very well, I will show you."
::Auron walks to the middle of the room::
Auron
"My memories."
::Auron kneels and several Pyreflies rise from his form. We're then shown
images of Braska and Jecht, as seen through Auron's eyes 10 years earlier::
Something else worthy of note comes from The Spirits Within and Final Fantasy
X-2. In The Spirits Within, Aki -- having a piece of a Phantom's spirit
contained within her body -- frequently experienced that Phantom's memories of
its final moments of life. Similarily, in X-2, Yuna frequently experienced
Lenne's memories of her final moments of life as well as occasionally felt her
feelings.
Taking a brief step back to the concept of Spirit Energy crystalizing, in
Final Fantasy: Tactics, upon the death of a character in a battle (once the
timer above their body reached "0"), a message reading "[Insert character's
name]'s spirit became a crystal" will often appear, accompanied by the fallen
unit's body being replaced on the battlefield by a crystal. If another
character moves to that space and takes the crystal, they can either use it to
replenish their HP and MP, or to learn a Spell or other ability that the
fallen character had known. In other words, they can absorb a memory of that
fallen character. Granted, this isn't a huge point and is the only possible
connection to the matter in Final Fantasy: Tactics, and there's no indication
that other Spells and abilities are learned in a manner that is associated
with either Spirit Energy or memories, but I felt that this was a point that
shouldn't be left out.
Similarily, in Final Fantasy VI, upon the death of an Esper, its spiritual
essence would crystalize into objects known as "Magicite." Despite the Esper
being dead, if someone was in possession of a Magicite, they could call the
being forth in battle. Further still, they could learn Spells from the
Magicite, these being Spells the Esper itself had known or is associated with,
such as the Fire Spells that can be learned from Ifrit's Magicite.
In a somewhat similar concept, in Final Fantasy VIII, without Guardian Forces,
people could do nothing more than battle with their own physical prowess and
skills of warfare. They would have no access to Magicks whatsoever without GFs
unless they were a Sorceress. When Junctioned to a GF, however, they have the
potential for a great arsenal of magical Spells to be at their disposal, yet
junctioning oneself to a GF causes memory loss over time, suggesting that the
GF draws on the memories of its Junction partner in order to supply them the
power it does (not just calling the GF forth, but drawing, stocking, and
junctioning Magicks), the one junctioned to a GF acting as a Fayth of sorts:
(After Squall and the other main characters -- minus Rinoa -- discover that
they grew up together, but that all of them but Irvine had forgotten.)
Squall
"...Why is it that we forgot?"
"We grew up together as kids...How's that possible...?"
Irvine
"How about this?"
"...The price we pay for using the GF."
"The GF provides us its power."
"But the GF makes its own place inside our brain..."
Quistis
"So you're saying that the area is where our memories are stored?"
"No...! That's just a rumor the GF critics are spreading."
Zell
"So if we keep relying on the GF, we won't be able to remember a lot of
things?"
Quistis
"There's no way Headmaster Cid would allow such a dangerous thing!"
Irvine
"Then how is it that I remember, while everyone else has forgotten?"
"Well...?"
"In my case, I hadn't junctioned a GF until recently."
"That's why I remember a lot more than you guys."
Quistis
"How about you, Selphie?"
"Your first experience with the GF was when you came to Balamb Garden, right?"
Selphie
"...Yeah."
...
Selphie
"I have a confession to make!"
Selphie
"When I was 12, I went on an outdoor training session."
"I found a GF inside one of the monsters I defeated..."
"I junctioned that GF for a while. So I have experience with GF, too."
"But...but, it's really weird! I can't remember the name of that GF!"
Quistis
"It must be the GF's fault...
The GFs take up residence within one's mind, drawing on their memories, and
possbily placing the memories associated with the Spells they "learn" there.
Spells can be lost if drawn from a party member, or if just plucked out of
their mind and cast away, as Ultimecia often does to party members during the
final battles of the game.
Like those that came before it, Final Fantasy IX also has a strong connection
to memories. The game emphasises all memory and life having began at a single
source, known as the Crystal. All life is connected, each having its beginning
with the crystal, no matter how far back in time it is that the Crystal
propagated life into existance. The game has a place known as "Memoria," which
literally means "Memory" in several languages, and in which the characters
trace their own Spirit Energy's memories back to the beginning of its
existance with the Crystal, all of them even able to recall that their world
was once entirely covered with water, despite this having been, perhaps,
millions or billions of years before their lifetimes. Zidane was even able to
recall things of Gaia's far past, despite being from Terra, this being because
all life has a single source when one traces it back far enough: The Crystal.
This, of course, still leaves us to question whether or not the Magicks of
Final Fantasy IX are connected to Spirit Energy or memories, as they are in no
obvious way derived from memories beyond the connection with the Black Mages
being composed of Mist, which is stagnant Spirit Energy, which would contain
memories. On this Gaia, Magicks are learned by equipping oneself with certain
equipment for a certain period of time, rather than by equpping oneself with
Materia, Spheres, or some other crystalline object. Granted, Kuja gained a
great deal of magical power when he absorbed the souls that were trapped
within the Invincible, but that still only leaves us to connect only the
Black Mages' and Kuja's Magicks to Spirit Energy and/or memories.
However, consider the writing on the Eidolon Wall of Madain Sari. It would
seem that some of the Summoners of Madain Sari determined that the legends of
Eidolons were the basis of their creation, and not the other way around,
essentially meaning that the memory of these beings amongst the citizens of a
village or tribe would manifest the Eidolon according to their customs and
conceptions of these what these beings were like, essentially meaning the
collective memory of these cultures would create the beings, even affecting
the forms they would take:
(Written on the Eidolon Wall in Madain Sari, and accessible after performing
the small sidequest necessary to reveal all of the writing on the wall.)
-The Legend of Eidolons-
"We discovered eidolons by researching legends documented from around the
world. The Thunder God, Ramuh, is one of those legends. Some theorize that the
eidolons were created from the legends, and not the other way around."
...
-The First Eidolon Discovered, Shiva-
"Shiva took the form of a young girl when she was first discovered. She now
appears as a grown woman. Eidolons adapt their forms to the time and culture
in which they appear. Shiva illustrates this theory. In certain areas, Shiva
is depicted as a snow fairy. This cannot be verified, since the only written
document that remains is in the summoner village. People associate Shiva with
the snow fairy. Why she changes forms remains a mystery."
With this in mind, recall that the memories of the Fayth were used to create
people in Dream Zanarkand who were alive in every way. Memories made life,
just as they make the Gaias/Lifestreams of their worlds grow. As it was in
that case, so is it in this one: Memories gave birth to life. Tidus, a Dream
of the Fayth, even begins pooling off Pyreflies/Spirig Energy as he began to
vanish from Spira during X's ending, displaying that he also had Spirit
Energy, and -- perhaps -- was Spirit Energy given form in the first place,
being created from memories (more on this toward the end of this document).
We also find memories coming to life in that Kuja recreates the Four Chaoses
and sends them against Zidane and the others in Memoria. To do this, he
accessed the memories of the Crystal, pulled them out, and gave them form:
"Nice of you to come."
"I'm surprised you beat the 4 Chaoses that I created from the crystal's
memory."
Moving on, it is through objects that one calls the Eidolons forth, a Garnet
used to bring Bahamut forth, for instance, or Pumice used to bring forth Ark.
These legendary creatures have somehow gained an association to these items.
No doubt the customs (collective memories) of those from whom the legends --
and, thus, the Eidolons -- arose established these assocations, thus
essentially allowing these items to act as a Summon Materia would. It's said
in Final Fantasy VII that the knoweldge (memories) within the Materia allows
one to call forth Magicks, and this would include Summons, as well. The game
shows us an example of this through the Eidolon known as Madeen, the Ribbon it
carried as Mog allowing it to be called forth by Eiko.
Likewise, then, it must be, that the items that allow one to learn Spells such
as Fire have had memories become associated with them, instilling these items
with the Spells out of the very concept of them being associated with such
Spells. Essentially, it's a massive case of "mind over matter."
To summarize all this, Memories/Spirit Energy/Pyreflies = Lifestream = Gaia =
"Light" = Materia = Spheres = Magic/Power.
In conclusion, I believe that every world in Final Fantasy may have a
Lifestream, and that access to Spirit Energy containing memories -- or raw
memories themselves -- play a large role in how Magicks CAN be accessed.
Granted, the Goddess Statues of Final Fantasy VI and the Sorceress Power of
Final Fantasy VIII may suggest to us that there is a "true" form of Magic for
their worlds, with Spirit Energy and/or memories -- accessed in different ways
depending on the world and/or situations -- allowing one to simulate the
concept. Perhaps Magicite usage -- drawing on the memories within the
crystalized Spirit Energy -- allow one to simulate the nature of some true
form of Magic in VI, or the use of Para-Magic through GFs in VIII allows one
to simulate the nature of some form of true Magic in that game (it was
developed to simulate the Sorceress Power in the first place). Or perhaps it
is that the Goddess Statues only had their power in the first place due to
the BELIEF that they had such power, and the subsequent belief that all
Magicks in the world were dependent on the endurance of the power instilled in
the Statues remaining bound to some vessel, whether it was the statues
themselves or Kefka's body.
In any event, what is certain is that Spirit Energy and memories CAN provide
power, and have done so in -- at the least -- Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, IX,
X/X-2, Tactics, Unlimited, and The Spirits Within, and that the worlds of at
least VII, IX, and The Spirits Within have a Lifestream, though there's
significant indication of such a possibility in regard to VIII and X/X-2's
worlds, as well.
All this shows us beyond all doubt that memories themselves are power. Perhaps
it is even the case that it is not Spirit Energy that provides power so much
as it is memories themselves, for we have seen memories provide power even
when seperate from Spirit Energy (in the summoning of Dream Zanarkand), and
even give life, that which Spirit Energy is said to do. Perhaps it is even so
that memories spawn Spirit Energy in the first place, as Tidus of Final
Fantasy X had Spirit Energy, despite having been a Dream of the Fayth, his
very existance maintained by a flow of memories.
While we possibly cannot answer all questions, we can hypothesize, and it is
my belief that it IS memories that give rise to Spirit Energy to begin with
based on all that we see them do, even without the presence of Spirit Energy,
and with it being said that it is memories that allows the swell of Spirit
Energy within Planets to grow. As for how this could happen, consider that
memories pertain to our senses of touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste, the
basic aspects by which we measure life. Arguably, they could also pertain to
a sixth sense of "touching with the mind." With these memories consisting of
those things by which life is measured, and with their status as energy, it
may well be that the energy takes form based on the memories within.
Thus, Memories = Spirit Energy = Pyreflies = Lifestream = Gaia = "Light" =
Materia = Spheres = Magic/Power.
Additional Support: From masamune1600 of EyesonFF's Forum comes this bit of
information on Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance, which serves as an addendum to
the information presented in my article, and was made in response to it:
"If the crystals were not necessary world-threads, if Ivalice remained after
all the crystals had been destroyed, what was their purpose? And if Ivalice
remained, why did the destruction of crystals trigger Mewt's memories? I would
propose that the crystals were the embodiment of the desires of the
inhabitants of Ivalice. These inhabitants were derivative of Mewt's mind;
therefore, each crystal shattered also shattered part of the illusion. The
vast charade of Ivalice lost collective desire as each crystal was destroyed,
and so Ivalice did unravel, but not completely. The crystals, in embodying
Ivalice's desires, can also be interpreted as memories. Mewt's memories gave
rise to the inhabitants; their desires were a function of Mewt's memories. In
wanting to forget, to push the memories of reality away, Mewt defined the
desire of Ivalice as a desire to exist. This existance would nullify reality,
sealing away the unpleasant memories of suffering. So, each crystal's
destruction forced memory back to Mewt.
Side note: The Totema, guardians of the crystals, are easily explained by
this theory. If each Totema is representative of a different race of Ivalice,
then the totality of the five Totema would defend the collective desires of
the citizens of Ivalice.
Now, the crystals themselves don't seem to lend to magic directly, but they
are partial foundations of that world. The false world of Ivalice can be
interpreted, in fact, to be constructed purely from memories and desires. If
this is the case, then the world is dependent on memory for its survival. In
FFVII, as you pointed out, the planet needs Spirit Energy. On the party's
first trip to Cosmo Canyon, the player sees what just might happen to the
planet should that Energy keep being condensed and refined into Mako. In both
these cases, then, we see the worlds, such as they are, dependent upon the
manifestation of memory for continuation."
The answers will hopefully continue to come forth, even as the memories of
these tales continue to grow.
-Part 21: Elemental Properties of Magic
The function of Magicks is all just simple Alchemy. Everything with the
Spells is a product of the various allocations of Kinetic Energy (energy in
motion). One could even argue that everything period is a product of it, as
the results of whatever "nudge" first set energy in motion are still being
felt, as energy -- once set into motion -- never dissipates. It can be
converted into other forms, stored, or even held back by an equal but opposite
force (such as a table preventing a coffee cup from being pulled downward by
the Earth's gravity), but the energy can never be unmade. If the
aforementioned table were to suddenly vanish, the energy acting on that
coffee cup it holds up would be immediately realized as the cup was pulled to
the floor.
Let's say that one has Fire. In order to get it to burn, they need oxygen to
combust and heat to cause the oxygen to combust. They also need a fuel of both
oxygen and a flammable substance to keep the process going.
Unless interrupted by covering it with a bucket and cutting a fire off from
oxygen, it will continue to supply its own friction to whatever object is
being burned, and, thus, its own heat, which will continue to cause combustion
in the oxygen it comes in contact with, until that object acting as the fuel
has burnt out its molecules that would have a reaction to the heat.
The properties of the Elements being applied -- or the properties that
composed certain objects -- would also play into things, including the results
that were achieved. The various applications of Kinetic Energy could even give
birth to one Element from another. Wind and Water added together could produce
Ice if the Wind blowing across the Water cooled it enough to freeze it. The
"child" could then make one of "parents," as Ice -- when applied to Fire --
could be made into Water once again.
Elements and their by-products can be broken down, rearranged, then broken
down and rearranged once again. No Element is solely that Element, with that
being the be all and end all of the matter. They all are one and yet
different, in that they're all just varying degrees of the allocation of the
same forces (Kinetic Energy) that play into the forms they take. Elements can
become another Element with simply the right application of Kinetic Energy.
Thus, when one combines certain Elements or applies them in specific ways,
they produce certain other Elements. If the base Elements are Fire, Earth,
Water, and Wind, one could produce another Element from just some of these:
Thunder: (Water + Fire) + Wind
The Water and Fire produce water vapor due to the breaking down of the Water's
former state. That will then rise upwards as pertaining to the properties of
heat (heat rises). Particles in the air will be absorbed into the water vapor
and will coagulate with one another. The water vapor will then freeze due to
the lessened heat in the sky, making Ice. These Ice particles will build up
until they become heavy enough to fall as precipitation, possibly heating up
enough on their way down to become rain or snow (forms of Water and Ice), or
perhaps remaining as Ice (thus, falling as hail). In any event, it is during
matters of moisture and ice crystal build-up in the lower atmosphere such as
this that thunderstorms are born, accompanied by the application of a rapid
upward movement and the focus of a cold front, this being where Wind would
come into play.
The interesting thing to note about Thunder Spells (which are Lightning) is
that lightning doesn't require a fuel to burn, as it's simply the [powerful]
exchange of electrons, yet it can produce Fire due to the intense amount of
heat it generates. One could look at this as the "grandchild" making more of
the "grandparent."
Thus, again, it's all the allocation of Kinetic Energy and its various
products and by-products. In this case, those would be Elements which can be
converted into other Elements and back to the Elements that were used to make
the new ones in the first place.
In summary, Magic is like mixing colors. A few base additive primary colors
are used to make a plethora of other colors along the light spectrum, such as
is used in televisions. From red, blue, and green, we get all other colors.
All these other colors are not so much "different colors" as they are varying
degrees of the applications of red, blue, and green. Depending on how those
degrees are varied thereafter (the combination or removal of other colors or
the levels at which they're concentrated), they can change form again or even
revert back to what they were before. This is also true of real life
elements and the mechanics of Magic in Final Fantasy.
-Other Fans' Theories-
The following theories are the property of their respective authors, and I
claim no ownership of them, nor are they necessarily -- and sometimes
aren't -- indicative of my own ideas or beliefs, as several of my above
articles will no doubt attest, due to them conflicting with some of the
thoughts presented here. For that matter, the theories may not necessarily be
indicative of the beliefs currently held by their authors.
While I claim no ownership of these articles, their works fall under the same
copyrights as my own, and their articles may not be reproduced or publicly
distributed without the proper citation of the respective authors.
That said, enjoy.
-Philosopher1701's Theories-
(Philosopher1701 of GameFAQs' Forums; Favorite Quote: "The point of philosophy
is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end
with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it. - Bertrand Russell)
1. The Purpose of Final Fantasy IX's Crystal:
This is something I have been wondering about for a while, now. At the end of
the game, right before the battle against Necron, Trance Kuja uses his Ultima
spell and it hits Zidane's party and even Kuja. Immediately after this
happens, Zidane thinks aloud, "What happened to the Crystal?" It seems that
the Crystal might have been destroyed because we never see the Crystal again
after this happens. This explains why Necron would appear and attempt to
annihilate the universe because the destruction of the Crystal somehow
summoned him. If this is true, what other effects would the destruction of the
Crystal have besides the summoning of Necron? I have thought about this, and I
have even come up with a strange theory that suggests that the destruction of
the Crystal could be the equivalent of the Big Bang. This would mean that in
Kuja's attempt at a complete annihilation of everything, he inadvertently
causes a complete creation of everything. I love this irony, and I have been
curious as to see what other people think about this. I know that it seems
impossible for Kuja to be responsible for the creation of the universe (given
the fact that Kuja is from the future, and the universe's creation would
depend on a being that would have not existed unless the Crystal was
destroyed, which would result in a timeloop) but we have to think about
Memoria. It was created from all of the memories of every living thing (I
think), and was a literal gateway to the past, even to the origin of the
universe.
It is known that the Crystal itself has its own memories (this may be evidence
that Memoria is some kind of distortion in space-time), and it could be
possible that Kuja's attempt to destroy the Crystal was a memory that the
Crystal had. If so, then could the Crystal have somehow "dreamed" up all of
creation, the universe, and time itself and just needed something to initiate
its vision? In some strange way, the Crystal might have been able to "call"
Kuja from across time (which didn't exist yet. Yeah, weird), and allowed Kuja
to destroy it and create the universe. The primary factor that brought the
Big Bang idea to my head was the fact that the Crystal World contained the
primary elements of matter: Earth, wind, fire, and water. The annihilation of
the Crystal might have blown the elements out into the Void and formed the
earliest forms of matter (like the Big Bang).
Note: I have always rejected the idea that Necron was the Crystal. Actually,
now that I think about it, I never really liked ANY explanations of the
Crystal and Necron, and I am open to new ideas.
Before I end this, I do want to point out something. When the Crystal was
destroyed (which would eventually cause life to form, according to this
theory), Necron appeared. It could be possible that when the introduction to
life was formed (the destroyed Crystal), the introduction to death was formed
(Necron). It could be some kind of supernatural balance.
All of this may be completely wrong, and I really want people to analyze this,
even disprove it, if necessary. I like the theory, but I don't have to accept
it if there are a considerable amount of flaws.
2. All Planets Hold a Shard of the Original Crystal at their Center:
I haven't thought about it that much, but a while back I had considered that
maybe after the Crystal was destroyed, there were many shards from it that
ended up somehow forming planets around them. This would explain how the Soul
Cycle could exist. There could be a Crystal Shard at the center of planets
with life on them. Terra and Gaia must have had one. The Crystal Shards would
act as the preservers of life on the planets. The Soul Cycle would include the
souls from the planet endlessly circling through the Shard and returning to
the surface. Basically, the Shard IS the core of the planet, and all life on
the planet would originate from it.
The way I understood the Iifa Tree, was that the roots from the tree would
wrap around Gaia's and Terra 's Shards at the center of the planet (I think
that maybe Terra might have been located within Gaia because of the previous
attempt at assimilating Gaia, so maybe Terra's Crystal Shard existed within
Gaia too), and would block Gaia's souls from continuing its cycle and draw
Terra's souls from its own Shard and connect them with Gaia's Shard and
Terra's souls would replace Gaia's souls. It is possible that the roots might
have joined Gaia's and Terra's Shards together, which would allow the transfer
of souls between the two worlds.
The reason I thought this up is because Garland explains to Zidane that when
the people of Terra developed a way to become "immortal", their planet began
to die. I concluded that their COULD be a Crystal Shard at the center, which
would require the Soul Cycle so the Shard could continue to exist. Since the
people of Terra stopped dying, the Shard began to decay because the Soul Cycle
was halted. This would result in the planet beginning to die. Garland decided
to try to somehow link Terra's souls with another Shard that wasn't old and
dying, so he created the Iifa Tree.
I know this Crystal Shard theory sounds very far fetched, and their is really
no way to prove it that I can think of. It was just something I thought up
when I was thinking of a way to explain the Crystal.
Note: I want to clear something up so nobody gets confused. I know that I said
that the pieces (I guess these are shards, too) of the Crystal that were blown
into the Void when the Crystal was destroyed might have formed the early forms
of matter, but there could have been different shards of different sizes. Some
shards could have formed the elements or even stars and planets. The shards
that formed the planets are different versions of the pieces of the Crystal.
This provides another way of understanding how the destruction of the Crystal
would form the universe. The remnants of the Crystal basically formed, in one
way or another, everything that exists. In this way, the Crystal itself really
isn't completely destroyed, it is just broken into smaller versions of itself
with each version having a different function. Some of those shards are what
gives the planets life, while other shards might power the stars or something.
You could say the Crystal still is the center and source of all life in the
universe, just not the way you originally thought.
I hope this isn't too confusing, but I do want to remind you that it is JUST A
THEORY. I'm not saying this is how it really is. I'm just providing another
way of interpreting the function of the Crystal.
-YamiBeowulf's Theories-
(YamiBeowulf of GameFAQs' Forums)
1. The Veil Energy Used to Power Airships is Derived in a Manner Similar to
the Process by which Mako Reactors in Final Fantasy VII convert Mako into
Usable Forms:
The airships in FFIX uses the mist to fly, except for the Hilda Garde's of
course. This type of engine's called a Myst Engine, yet if you read the specs
of the Prima Vista when you first start a game. You will see that it uses
something called "Veil Energy." Well since the Mist is Souls I believe that
the Myst Engines are similar to a Mako reactor in FF7. Because somewhere in
the game it mentions that Mist engines are extremely dangerous. Though it
could mean that it's because of the mist leaking out. But I believe it's due
to the conditions the engine puts the mist through. I believe what a mist
engine does is take the mist and refine it into the Veil Energy. From that
state there it converts it into power. So it would reason that in order for an
airship to fly it must:
1): Draw Mist in.
2): Refine the Mist into Veil Energy.
3): Convert Veil Energy into propulsion, etc.
This is my theory of course on the mysterious Veil Energy. I am incorporating
the info you can find on the Prima Vista:
Prima Vista Theater Ship Info
Class Luxury Liner with Theater
Tonnage 8235 Tonnes
Guest Capacity 288
Propulsion Veil Energy
Ship Wright Zebolt Shipyards
Port of Registry Linbdlum
2. Zidane, Kuja, and the Others' Presence May Have Inspired the Crystal to
Create the Universe:
We know Zidane's party and Kuja went backwards in time. They brought memories
from the future back with them. So when the were in contact with the Crystal
it would in essence see what it had done and have gained memories from it's
self through those that came back to it. So in a round a bout way, the Crystal
showed the Crystal what it had to do and gave it memories. Another theory is
that the Crystal naturally knows everything that is to come, like an
omnipotent god like figure. The crystal knows what choices are going to be
made and what is going to happen, all the way down to it's own possible
destruction. This would explain how Kuja was able to call forth the memories
of the Four Chaos's. Another theory of mine is that the Crystal at one point
just created everything because it saw it did create everything. I mean let's
say you saw your self by a lotto ticket and lets say you won. Would you not
go buy that ticket knowing that you would win? My this theory works with
either of my Crystal Memory theories, since Zidane's group could have
triggered it into creating everything right after Necron was defeated. Or the
Crystal it's self decided to create everything. Or possibly even both. Since
this crystal theoreticaly knows everything, it knew Zidane would come back in
time to trigger it into creating the Universe. This of course is a paradox.
That one that was created after the creator, created creation should come back
to trigger the creation of the creation that would create him.
But in the end we must realize that paradox's are a common thing in Final
Fantasy. Like in FF8 with the Time Compression.
The Crystal creating life is simply a mater of which came first, the chicken
or the egg?
3. How the Black Mages of the Black Mage Village Reached the Outer Continent:
Since it's obvious that airships wouldn't be able to reach that island since
the Mist was contained to the Myst contenent (Actually it wasn't, I used a
gameshark and got me a gold chocobo on the first disk. The whole world was
covered in Mist. But I attribute this to game programing and not fact, though
it might be an interesting theory right there...) But back to my new theory. I
believe that the Black Mages didn't use fossil roo. For all those humans in
there. The Black Mages when you meet them are terrified of humans, so they had
to find a way out there. I believe that they used their magic to create an ice
bridge. Similar to how humans migrated from russia into america, following
their food. The reason I say this, is because they never mention using a ship.
Another theory is that they slowly snuck on the Hilda Garde 1 and were getting
free rides off the Mist contenent. I mean, Kuja had obviosuly possesed the
Hilda Garde for a great deal of time, so I would only assume he would use it
occasionly to transport supplies and such to his desert palace.
It's still very sketchy but they never did say how they got out there...
-masamune1600's Theories-
(masamune1600 of GameFAQs' and EyesonFF's Forums)
1. Final Fantasy IX's Implicit References to Past Final Fantasies:
Final Fantasy IX is well known for it's many and varied references to previous
FF titles. Such references have been explicated before; they include the use
of Garland and Marilith (Kary)/Tiamat/Kraken/Lich (FFI), the story of Josef
(FFII), and so on. However, these are all examples of what I will refer to as
explicit references; the connection to past Final Fantasy titles is
immediately apparent, by name, form, or other blatant similarities.
However, in considering FFIX, I have noticed that there seems to be a number
of implicit FF references; these are not nearly so obvious, drawing on
understated similarities to characters and the like in the preceding games.
Rather than being stated outright, such references can be identified only
through inference.
-Part 1: Necron
Here's a theory, not about Necron's role in the game in terms of plot, but as
a thread to other games. I don't, of course, refer to a literal connection,
but rather to the myriad references to previous Final Fantasies that occur in
FFIX. While all the explicit references, in terms of name, story, and
facility, have likely been identified and/or explored, there may be certain
implicit references to previous FF's that are not so easily determined.
In my view (or at least for the speculative purposes of this article), I would
interpret Necron as homage to the ideas of Zeromus and Neo Ex-Death. In
previous contentions on behalf of Necron's role in FFIX, similarities to the
dialogue of Zeromus were pointed out:
(Zeromus' final words.)
Quote:
Zeromus: I will not...perish...so long as evil...dwells in the hearts...of
mankind. G...gh... GRRRAAGH!
(Necron's final words.)
Quote:
"This is not the end."
"I am eternal..."
"...as long as there is life and death..."
Such a similarity should not be ignored, particularly in light of the
multitude of clearly intentional references to previous Final Fantasies that
were placed in the game. In fact, Zeromus' words could be Necron's: if evil
exists in the hearts of men, then the possibility of one or more individuals
seeking some ultimate destruction or negation also exists. Thus, as long as
evil is perpetuated, so is the potential for Necron to see reason to perform
his nullifying work.
Furthermore, in saying "nullifying", I suggest that Necron's purpose was more
than to kill, to turn life to death. Rather, Necron sought something more
profound and more horrible: the negation, the very dissolution of existence as
we understand it.
(Necron): "I exist for one purpose..."
"To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no
crystal to give life."
"In a world of nothing, fear does not exist. This is the world that all life
desires."
Necron, according to the dialogue, desires to return "everything" to the
"zero world." Not only is this zero world a place with no life, it is also a
place with no crystal. If the crystal, which gives life, disappears, then
theoretically even the possibility of life also vanishes. Also, the crystal
deals heavily with the idea of memory:
Voice of Garland: You have entered a new realm. There are no more words. There
is no more space... Follow your memory, and march forth...
Zidane: Garland, what exactly is our memory!?
Voice of Garland: .........
Zidane: Why can I remember other people's experiences and events that
happened before my time?
Voice of Garland: .........
Zidane: Garland, please! Tell me!
Voice of Garland: ...Do not limit memory to just one individual's
experiences from birth. That is only the surface. Every life born into this
world, whether natural or artificial, requires a parent. And that parent also
requires a parent. Life is connected, one to another... If you trace the root
of all life, there exists one source. The same can be said for memory. All
life constitutes an intelligence that holds memory beyond experience. Memory
is not isolated within individuals. It is an accumulation of generations of
memories that continues to evolve. You can say that memory and evolution go
hand in hand. But most life-forms do not understand the true nature of
memories... ...which explains why most memories never cross paths.
Zidane: ...So, what am I gonna find by tracing back our roots?
Voice of Garland: ...A presence that presides over all life and memories.
The crystal...
Zidane: Crystal...
There is clearly a difference between dying and having never existed. But if
both life and memory are so intimately tied to the crystal, and memory is a
quality that transcends individuals (for the purpose of the game), then
eliminating the crystal obliterates all memory. Gven that the crystal gives
tangible form to life, this effectively voids everything that had ever
happened.
As noted in a previous post, it's possible that the zero world doesn't
necessarily imply total negation. However, it is a possibility. What's really
relevant, however, is this: the idea bears striking similarity to a previous
FF concept. Note that I managed to sneak in the word "voids." Clearly,
negation and nothingness are not new concepts to the series. Neo Ex-Death, the
final boss of FFV, is the very embodiment of the Void. Similarly, Necron can
be interpreted as the embodiment, or more accurately the will, of negation.
However, even if you find these ideas difficult to accept, the fact remains
that Necron bears a clear resemblance to Neo Ex-Death.
Furthermore, "Necron" was not the original name for this entity. The Japanese
version of the game calls it the "Darkness of Eternity", which still appears
in the dialogue:
Zidane: U-Ugh... What happened to the crystal...? ...Where is this?
Unknown Voice: You stand before the final dimension, and I am the
darkness of eternity...
Zidane: Wh-Who are you!?
Necron, the Darkness of Eternity, is just that. He is the force that would
remove the light, the crystal, from existence. And who's to say that, at least
in theory, the crystal is not responsible for time? If the crystal disappears,
taking with it time, then the darkness of eternity (you can, for fun, compare
this to Chrono Cross' Darkness of Time if you like) becomes a chilling
reality. Neo Ex-Death, should it prevail against Bartz and company, would seem
to signify the victory of the Void over that which currently exists. The Void
is a plot device, and can be interpreted in different ways, but I don't think
it's too great a stretch to compare the darkness of eternity idea.
Here, I've constructed a view of Necron as a force to essentially dissolve
existence. That can be argued from a number of postions, but such a theory was
not my main intent. Rather, I hoped to point out similarities between Necron
and Zeromus and Neo Ex-Death. Necron is a plot element, certainly, but it is
also more than that: Necron recalls FFIV and FFV, allowing veteran gamers to
once more recall their past experiences.
While I still see implicit reference to Zeromus, that seems to be a secondary
link. The reference to Neo Ex-Death already seemed stronger, and a couple new
points of information add further support to the implicit recollection of Neo
Ex-Death. The first is obvious: Grand Cross. This spell, first seen used by
Neo Ex-Death in FFV, is arguably Necron's most feared attack. In both cases,
Grand Cross can inflict a host of extremely debilitating status effects. This
is not a move that is very common in the series, and I believe that Necron had
a technique of this name primarily for the purpose of recalling Neo Ex-Death.
The second new link is much more subtle. We know that, preceding Neo Ex-Death
(as stated before, the embodiment of the Void), Bartz and company fought it
out with Ex-Death. After this fight is finished up, Ex-Death is absorbed into
the Void. We see somewhat of a similar situation in FFIX. Like Ex-Death, Kuja
seemed a lock to be the final boss, as he (again, like Ex-Death) was the
party's primary enemy heading to the final showdown. Also, like Ex-Death, Kuja
is essentially doomed following his final confrontation with the heroes.
Although Kuja blasts Zidane and company with Ultima following the fight. His
time, like Ex-Death's, is up. Nevertheless, the game is not over: a new
presence, alluded to if never actually stated, arises to confront the party.
At stake in this final battle is existence as we know it: Neo Ex-Death seeks
the perpetual nothingness of the Void, while Necron literally states a desire
to return everything to the "zero world."
This idea, then, serves two purposes: we see yet another link between Neo
Ex-Death and Necron, while also establishing an implicit reference to Ex-Death
in the person of Kuja.
-Part 2: Beatrix
Next, let’s turn out attention to Beatrix. Examining her, I saw possible
reference to Cecil (FFIV), General Leo (FFVI), Celes (FFVI), and Orlandu
(FFT).
Beatrix also closely resembles General Leo (FFVI), Celes (FFVI), and perhaps
Cidolfas Orlandu (FFT), as well as Cecil. This is likely another example of
implicit (as opposed to explicit) reference to past Final Fantasies.
While there are numerous differences between Beatrix and Leo, all that is
necessary is the effect of recalling the fallen general. To this effect,
certain similarities jump out at us. General Leo's special ability, in the
short time he was playable, was called Shock. The best ability of Beatrix, in
the short time she was playable, was also called Shock. General Leo was a man
of firm moral convictions; nevertheless, he long demonstrated loyalty to
Gestahl's Empire. Similarly, Beatrix has clear positive qualities, yet remains
loyal to Queen Brahne.
Beatrix also has ties to Celes, like Leo once a general of Gestahl. Beatrix's
White Magic also recalls Celes' Esper-empowered abilities. Celes' love story
is recreated in that of Beatrix and Steiner. Both worked on behalf of a
corrupt figure of power, but both ultimately fought for the forces of Good.
Finally, Beatrix is also tied to Orlandu, another overpowered general. He
maintained loyalty to Goltana out of a sense of duty.
The comparison to Cecil, of course, still holds.
Of course, there is the comment by Beatrix about the slaughter of a hundred
men. However, this does not defeat the Paladin metaphor. Rather, it simply
reaffirms the ties between Beatrix and Cecil. Cecil carried out repugnant acts
on behalf of his King, though he questioned them the whole time. In becoming a
Paladin, the former Dark Knight was able to essentially exorcise his demons by
putting the burden of guilt and self-doubt behind him. Similarly, Beatrix
might seem to be a Dark character when first you fight her. Nevertheless, as
she and Steiner battle beside one another, we see her as a Paladin.
Ultimately, then, Beatrix recalls Cecil, Leo, Celes, and Orlandu, while
maintaining her own character and adding to the rich world of FFIX.
-Part 3: Amarant
Next, let’s consider the character of Amarant. In him, I see perhaps the most
obscure example of implicit reference. Though this example may be somewhat
far-fetched, it seems to me that Amarant can recall the idea of Rubicant from
FFIV. Consider the following:
Amarant is often described as the Flaming Amarant. Further, the bounty hunter
Lani refers to Amarant as "Red":
Zidane: So, the tables turn! Now, hand over the jewel you stole!
Lani: What are you tryin' to do, Red!? I thought you're supposed to be the
number one bandit!
Red-headed Man: I'm not here to help. I just want it to be fair.
Lani: What are you talking about?
Red-headed Man: Leave the jewel and get out of here.
Lani: What!? We're partners on this job!
Red-headed Man: I don't work with hostage-taking scumbags. Now, get lost.
Or...would you rather fight me?
Lani: Mark my words! I'll collect the bounty on YOU someday!
and....
Zidane: What's your name?
Red-headed Man: Call me what you will.
Zidane: Hmm... Lani called you 'Red,' right?
Amarant: Some call me the Flaming Amarant.
The imagery of "Red" and "Flaming" obviously conjures up the idea of Fire, a
link to Rubicant. Also, Amarant's name, from the Japanese, should be
"Salamander." "Salamander" also implies fire (refer to summons in FFT and
Chrono Cross).
Moreover, Amarant notes that he wants things to be fair. He immediately seeks
to enter battle with Zidane; nonetheless he refused to resort to ambush or any
sort of deception:
Red-headed Man: I'm not here to help. I just want it to be fair.
Lani: What are you talking about?
Red-headed Man: Leave the jewel and get out of here.
Lani: What!? We're partners on this job!
Red-headed Man: I don't work with hostage-taking scumbags. Now, get lost.
Or...would you rather fight me?
Lani: Mark my words! I'll collect the bounty on YOU someday!
Red-headed Man: Now, fight me!
Zidane: Just a second here. What's going on?
Red-headed Man: I told you. I'm not here to help. I just want to level the
playing field.
Zidane: Fair enough. Let's do it.
When, in FFIV, the party confronted Rubicant, he demonstrated an unexpected
sense of honor, healing the party before beginning combat:
Rubicant: I shall restore you to full strength. Do not disappoint me.
After the party defeats Rubicant....
Rubicant: Though you are five, you have defeated me as one. I am most
impressed. Still, you will never stop Master Golbez. 'Til we meet again...
Rubicant understands the value of unity and teamwork. This is something
Amarant needs to learn, but eventually does. Interestingly, when the party
confronts Rubicant the final time, he is joined by Milon, Cagnazzo, and
Valvalis.
In any case, however, Rubicant fights the party first as an individual; later
with help. Amarant desires one-on-one combat with Zidane, yet, after joining
the party, eventually (after the incident at Ipsen's Castle) understands the
greater power in working together.
We see this when Amarant and Freya fight the (ironic reference, perhaps?) Fire
Guardian:
Fire Guard: Yes, we are the guardians of Terra. Filled with the power of Terra
itself...
Freya: What is Terra!?
Fire Guard: We did not become guardians to chat with mortals... We derive
pleasure from ending your worthless lives...
Amarant: Just to prove how powerful you are...
Fire Guard: So you understand. But will that knowledge help you?
Amarant: Foolish.
Fire Guard: What?
Amarant: Picking fights with strangers in a place like this... I used to know
someone like that. He was a loser... He refused to find beneficial ways to use
his power. Instead, he'd seek out people to fight...
Freya: Amarant...
Although they are obviously very different characters, I see, as noted through
the preceding examples, evidence of Amarant as an implicit reference to
Rubicant. Admittedly, Necron and Beatrix served similar roles to the
characters they recalled; Amarant and Rubicant do not share such a similarity.
Still, this may be a subtle attempt to again recall aspects of the older Final
Fantasies.
In any case, I have constructed a thesis such that, in addition to the
well-explicated explicit FF references in FFIX, there are a number of obscured
implicit references in the game as well. These serve to recall certain
characters or entities in previous games.
-Additional Comments by masamune1600:
There does not seem to be a great deal of analysis concerning FFV, perhaps
because the game was initially only released in Japan. However, yet another
striking similarity between FFV and FFIX exists: the idea of multiple worlds.
In FFV, Ex-Death is sealed; he is trapped by crystals in a world other than
his own. However, even sealed, Ex-Death is able to manipulate circumstances so
that the crystals are shattered and he is freed. This leads the characters to
journey to the second world, where Ex-Death returns. Similarly, the characters
in FFIX find it necessary to journey to a second world, Terra, where Kuja and
Garland have returned. We learn in FFIX that Garland seeks to assimilate Gaia
into Terra; this is strangely reminiscent of FFV, where the worlds eventually
do merge (creating a third map, that has transplanted locations from both).
Ultimately, however, both the third world of FFV and (depending on your
interpretation of FFIX) are threatened by the Void, or a Void-like concept.
Thus, while the Gaia/Terra plot intricacies of FFIX are fascinating in their
own right, they may also implicitly reference a similar (though, admittedly
nowhere near exact) story element in FFV.
-Acknowledgements and Dedication-
I wish to thank Eriatarka of Gaia Online's Forums in large part for this
document I have compiled. It is numerous arguments with this esteemed fellow
that eventually resulted in the Necron section of this document that lies
before you. It was he who set me on the road to finding the truth. For that,
Sir Eri, you have my thanks. The Necron section of this document is dedicated
to yourself.
Others to be thanked are Sir Owen Axel/Owain Axel/[Owen]/]Gwen[, also of Gaia
Online's Forums, as well as a fellow that goes by the name of Mimeblade for
his HUGE contributions to the Magic sections of this FAQ. I can't say enough
to thank this fellow and an extremely special thanks goes out to him. His
thoughts on the mechanics of memories and the nature of Magic have been
invaluable to my work, examples of his influence present in every article here
focusing on Magicks or Memories. He is also to be thanked for having made me
aware of Transmutation circles, granting me a realization of just what the
Gulug Symbol is. Mimeblade, your thoughts on Alchemy/Magic/Memories/Chakra
have been so instrumental to my accomplishments. Thanks for all the knowledge
and meditations you've imparted to me. The Spirit Energy and Memories section
of this document is dedicated to you.
Also to be thanked are masamune1600 of EyesonFF.com's Forum for some
interesting ideas in regard to the specifics of the Void/Necron connection
that started some wheels turning in my head, as well as for his response to my
analysis of Spirit Energy and memories that included more support for the
argument I presented. Thanks also to Monol, also of EyesonFF.com's Forum, as a
comment from him inspired me to try to look deeper into the theory that Vivi's
sons originated from Vivi's Spirit Energy dispersing at the time of his death.
Further worthy of thanks are Uncle Sporky and ForestOwl, again of
EyesonFF.com, for their contributions to the Quina section of this document
with the points concerning Protect Girls and Lamia's Tiara. Thanks guys.
Very special thanks go to YamiBeowulf and Philosopher1701 of GameFAQs' Forum
for their massive contributions. In Beowulf's case, the concept of Ozma being
a dead Eidolon or the collective energies of all dead Eidolons can be
attributed to him, the idea coming to him after examining my article on Spirit
Energy and Memories. I didn't even make the connection that he noticed until
he proposed the concept, despite the theory being based on my own analyzation.
I would also like to thank him for illustrating the nature of Holy and its
components. An extra thanks goes to him for having invited me to
Philosopher1701's Thread on GameFAQs where we discussed much of Final Fantasy
IX's plot.
In Philosopher 1701's case, he is to be thanked for his constant input and
analyzations, as well as being the one to bring those of us who extensively
analyzed Final Fantasy IX together with his "Theory about the Crystal" Thread
on GameFAQs' Final Fantasy IX Forum.
I would also like to extend a thanks to metalflare of GameFAQs' Forums for
having been present in Philosopher1701's Thread and commenting on ideas that
were brought forth, even while bringing forth some of his own, which no doubt
contributed to the meditations of the rest of us in some way.
A thanks also goes to DrSun of GameFAQs' Forums for pointing out that Terra's
Chronicles were likely written by a Gaian due to the writings on the Mirrors
found in Ipsen's Castle.
I most of all wish to thank my wife, Carys, for always being there for
me and giving me the strength to face every obstacle and come through it
looking ahead to every tomorrow with a smile on my face. I love you,
sweetheart. Thank you for everything.
Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final
Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Final Fantasy X, Final
Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy: Tactics, Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance, Final
Fantasy: Unlimited, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, and Final Fantasy IX
are all registered trademarks of Square-Enix. They own all rights to these
works, their featured characters, and the likenesses of said characters.
This article may be linked to on other sites. Further, it may be quoted on
other websites PROVIDED that the URL to this webpage is provided. However, it
may not be otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission
from me. Use of this document on any other web site or as a part of any public
display without my consent is strictly prohibited, and a violation of
copyright.
