The Blackjack
-Almost to Vector, but Terra senses something weird.
TERRA: “I can feel them…” Um. Who? The espers?
-The espers keep flying our way.
It’s kind of funny, since the static combat sprites just kind of hurtle across the screen.
-We lose control of the ship. Crash landing time.
-Some very cinematic crashing-ship-POV.
-Landed near Maranda.
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Vector
-Nothing new in Maranda, so I head straight to Vector.
-This is surprising. I was expecting to meet up with the Returners north of the city and begin a siege on Vector, but not so much.
-The city is burning and in ruins. Narshe guards and Returners wander the streets freely. Did… did we win?
-This is like watching an episode of “Supernatural” where they salt and burn the bones at the 15 minute mark. You know that whoever they thought was the monster is not.
Actually, I’ll stick to my guess. That Gestahl will still do some super-power-suck on the espers, but maybe he’ll just do it as an individual rather than as the head of an all-powerful empire.
-Or wait! The espers really destroyed this place. Will they win and go wild with power, making them the big bads of FFVI? I really hope not.
-Can’t get inside the factory. Let’s try the Imperial Palace.
-Seeing Vector like this is just so surreal. I’m so used to seeing the evil Empire as some nigh-indestructible force. The FF this game’s story reminds me most of is EASILY FFII, and that empire basically built a Death Star and used the literal forces of Hell for soldiers.
This one seems much more human. That includes human evil, human power, human weakness. The Gestahlian Empire drained espers for magic power, but it’s still a weak copy of that magic. I also get the sense that the Empire is just a hyper-militarized Vector. When we saw the flashback to Gestahl in the esper world, he was saying that he wanted to build an empire, so it’s not a long-standing force.
And here we see its limits.
-Arvis and Banon are here.
Banon underestimates the espers’ anger.
They confirm that Vector was torched before the Returners arrived.
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Imperial Palace
GUARD: “The emperor is expecting you.” I WAS NOT EXPECTING HIM
-We’re talking to Imperial guards on our way to meet the Emperor. Not as hostages, but as almost a conquering (and even commiserating?) force.
This is SO WILD.
-KEFKA’S IN JAIL?!?!?
Don’t feel bad. Even Gilgamesh got banished to the Rift. Prison for the next FOREVER years is probably kinder.
WHICH THING DID THE EMPEROR NOT KNOW ABOUT?? HOW INDEPENDENTLY WAS KEFKA OPERATING?? We saw from Terra’s/Maduin’s flashback that Gestahl was bad news, but we’ve never seen him actually interacting with Kefka.
Did he know about the murder of Imperial soldiers? The plan to open the door? Kefka has often talked about becoming a god and power gain and all that stuff in very personal way, and we also know that he resented Gestahl from when we saw Kefka get the shit detail of going to Figaro Castle.
It wouldn’t absolve Gestahl of all his evil awfulness, but I do have to admit the possibility that Kefka was behind at least some of the worst things – the esper genocide, for instance. Though even there, I can't imagine Kefka doing that without Gestahl's knowledge at some level.
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Throne Room
-GESTAHL: “I’ve lost my will to fight.” …Honestly, I may believe him. Not because he saw that it wsa morally wrong, but maybe getting his ass so thoroughly kicked helped him realize he was a bit out of his depth.
-Hi Cid!! Wow. He really did try and possibly succeed at convincing the Emperor to dial shit back.
-The espers came to save their friends, and rampaged on finding them all dead.
-Now Gestahl’s all about getting the espers to chill out before they destroy the world.
-HE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IT OVER DINNER. I’M GOING TO HAVE DINNER WITH EMPEROR GESTAHL, AND NOT AS HIS HOSTAGE OR CAPTIVE. THIS IS LIKE #3 ON THE TOP 100 THINGS I THOUGHT WOULD NOT HAPPEN IN FFVI.
-We now have a four minute timer to convince as many soldiers as possible to buy into the idea of peace.
-Ok, I’m revising my FFVI theory. If Kefka’s exposed and in jail, maybe Leo and a more peaceful side of the Empire will emerge, and we’ll get into some Dragon Age: Origins style quest where we have to rally the towns of the world to fight as one against the (justifiably-enraged) espers.
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Next time: we eat dinner with Gestahl. Really.
