Lost in Time
-White screen. lol everyone’s running around unsure of what to do in this void
-except Rinoa. She knows what to do
and no I swear im not crying your crying
-Squall on a black screen.
And kid!Squall!
-Matron Edea!
---
Edea’s House - Past
-And we’re back at edea’s house. The tinkling music starts up again.
-It’s the past, with Matron here. …NO NO NO NO NO IF THIS IS ANOTHER PHASE I WILL THROW THINGS
EDEA: “Don’t worry. There’s no need to fight anymore.”
-Phew. The game anticipates my terror. Ultimecia is in rough shape, slouching towards us.
OHOHHHHHHHH
THE DYING SORCERESS WHOSE POWER EDEA ABSORBED
IT WAS FUCKING ULTIMECIA AHHAALK
YOU BRILLIANT AND GLORIOUS GAME IT’S ULTIMECIA
I CAN’T REMOTELY BEGIN TO EVEN – this is how Ultimecia gets initially possessed, though I imagine that Ultimecia must’ve lain dormant for a while. [Later edit: though I’m still not certain who Ultimecia was in the first place. Just some random sorceress from the future who got trapped in this loop of dying to the SeeDs and possessing Edea for rebirth? Or am I supposed to read her as someone we’ve met who got corrupted in the future? 90% sure it’s the former, but I wonder.]
And so her power passed into Edea.
An act of mercy by Edea, though Ultimecia wasn’t all too happy about it. She has a bit of a Voldemort-esque obsession with not dying.
HJAKLFHAKL THE CIRCLE CLOSES AS SQUALL EXPLAINS THAT HE’S A SEED WHICH SHE HADN’T HEARD BEFORE THIS AND IT PLANTS THE SEED (SORRY ADRENALINE-LACED PUNS) IN HER HEAD TO CREATE THE SEEDS
No. You can’t do this to me, game. Squall watching his younger self run up, looking for sis. Wondering if he’s alone.
“Can you go back? Will you be alright by yourself?”
“(I’ll be alright, Matron.)” He holds up the Griever ring he shares with Rinoa. At last, he’s not alone.
Lol which he says himself two seconds later as he fades out into a different time.
OH NO!! HE’S CALLING OUT FOR EVERYONE – Quistis, Zell, everyone – and finally Rinoa. Sees nobody. Stands alone in the black.
HE’S PANICKING! Alone in the dark.
---
Across Time – Squall and Rinoa
Cinematic. A desert.
-He starts walking.
-Walking slows to a crawl. Day to night. The smoky sky above.
-We pan out and now he’s on a small floating island.
Rinoa. Running in a similar desert hardpan amidst smoky dark skies. Alone.
Strike that. She’s on grass.
-Back to Squall. A feather floats away from Rinoa, from her angelic sorceress wings, and down to him. What the hell is it with final fantasy and feathers hitting me in the feels?
-THEY’RE TOGETHER IN A FIELD NOW
-Flashbacks to her initial fingergun at the B-Garden party when they met. Her face is blurry.
Flash again. Her face still blurry but differently blurry.
-time compression is scary shit
-oh god so fast, flashing through all these different memories and past moments
-Faster and faster, across times both good and dangerous and bad. Happiness and combat, peace and strife. A nightmare dreamscape.
-Then – white. Squall passes out.
-A feather falls.
-Music begins, “Eyes on Me.” Julia’s (that’s her name?) voice. It’s beautiful. Rinoa walking in the hardpan, finding Squall lying down.
-Just as she thinks he’s dead, she begins to weep and the SKY RIPS OPEN AND THE DESERT HARDPAN ERUPTS INTO BLOSSOMING FLOWERS AND GRASS
---
Present
-Scene swaps to Seifer fishing on a boat. I hope you catch a shark that pulls you in and eats you.
-HEE! Fujin and Raijin catch something and Seifer throws his fishing rod down in disgust. Good.
-HAHAHAH FUJIN KICKS THE DANCING RAIJIN INTO THE WATER. SHE STOICALLY KICKS HIM.
Seifer laughs.
Wanna know something weird? This scene makes me sympathize with Seifer more than I have in a long time. Been reflecting on the game, and Seifer has his own journey to make similar to Squall’s. Not quite the same; he already had a group of “friends” with Fujin and Raijin, but I get the sense that he had treated them more as followers than friends.
My most optimistic self thinks that Fujin’s speech got through to him, that this moment we’re seeing may be one step on his path. He doesn't have to feel trapped, like he has nowhere to go. Bless Fujin and Raijin.
That optimistic side is feeling particularly strong right now.
-B-Garden flies overhead.
-The Forrest Gump Feather takes us to Laguna in the present.
Looking at a ring. Which transitions to Laguna in the past with Raine, too shy to give her a ring before she sees it and they exchange. It’s kind of amazing.
-And Raine and Laguna echo the Squall and Rinoa embrace from the logo.
Oh. Good. Laguna’s visiting her grave. My feels weren’t punched remotely enough, so pile on why dontcha.
KIROS AND ELLONE AND WARD JOIN THEM HAHAJFKLAHFHAHHAHAH
-The Balamb Garden continues its flight overhead.
-Roll credits.
---
Credits
-That classic FF theme song. I don’t know the name offhand, but I clearly remember it as a glorious and overriding theme used at least in FFIV.
-Cinematic home video playing. Taken by Selphie (starting with, of course, a selfie) before she pans over to Irvine dancing goofily with Quistis lolol.
Goofy dancing Irvine > > > “Suave” Irvine
-Quistis moves over to Cid.
-CAMERA PANS TO EDEA MY QUEEEEEEN, in matron clothing with her knight.
-lol selphie goofing around
Hahaha camera over to Zell eating too much and choking on a hotdog (HE FINALLY GOT A HOT DOG!) before pretending to spit it up onto the frantic Quistis and
-ANGELOOOO
-Final shot: Rinoa on a balcony. Looking at someone off camera.
Giving that finger gun.
End.
---
Post-Credits
-or not? I waited until the end, having learned my lesson, and now we’re on the Balamb Garden flying at night.
-IT’S THE MOMENT FROM BEFORE
-The conclusion. We see her fingergun pointing up at the beautiful starry sky. Squall next to her. Closes in for a kiss.
-Camera pans out, the Balamb Garden square under the massive moon.
THE END
---
Next time: At some point in the next few days will write up final thoughts on FFVIII. Then will try out Chocobo World and proceed onto FFIX.
