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Serendipity - ??? AF
-I can access any of three regions in that staticky void place: Serendipity, the Coliseum, and the Void Beyond.
-New datalog on paradox and memory. It confirms that something is messing with Noel’s memory around Yeul, Caius, and Cocoon’s fall.
“The problem is not with Noel – interference in history has destabilized the past, giving rise to another type of paradox effect.” What type?
-Noel’s not currently in my party. Serah alone.
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The Void Beyond - ???
-On zoning in, we see Noel getting his ass kicked by Caius.
AND CAIUS JUST FLAT-OUT KILLS HIM
-They then both fade. No way that’s real. Even in terms of pure mechanics, Serah’s not soloing the rest.
-New chapter screen: “Episode 5: Time Marches On.”
-Serah bounces in. She didn’t see Noel’s death.
-Even Mog is (sorta) out of commission. She sees him in bow form, and he fades.
-Phased out. He still follows. Can’t throw him but he’s nearby. This is eerie and disorienting.
-Yeul is up ahead, a Yeul from our past. “I am not truly here. I only watch events from a distant time.”
-This place is a shadow of Valhalla, in the depths of the Unseen Realm.
-In Valhalla, time stands still. It’s a world post-destruction. So how do we escape?
“If you do not escape, the dream will go on forever.” She fades. Whose dream?
-New fragment, Etro’s Sorrow: “Etro gives power and strength through the Unseen World, but she’s growing weaker.”
She sleeps within the Heart of Chaos. If she ceases to exist, then the power she gave humanity – “the power to make their universe whole” – ends too.
What’s threatening her? Caius wouldn’t do that and Proto Adam is gone.
-I pursue another Yeul up ahead.
“I call your present age my home. You and I are the same. We are blessed by Etro.”
I KNEW IT. Serah somehow has that seeress future sight, or something like it.
-Interesting. Apparently, Etro doesn’t command. She allows those who can change the future to either warp time or repair it as they will. Makes sense for a chaos goddess I guess.
-All these Yeuls we see are from different times, peeking in here. This next one is from the future.
-The human soul is a gift of the goddess. “In all our hearts flickers a small piece of the chaos of Valhalla.”
I’ve kept wondering through this playthrough if Etro was a good or bad goddess. I’m now firmly on the side of neutral-good.
It’s the word “chaos” that throws me off. It often has negative connotations. Hell, the first FF big bad was named Chaos. But it can also mean uncertainty, the uncertainty tied to free will.
-I love this datalog: “The Eyes of Etro is not a unique gift, reserved for the special. Every human who claims a soul can gaze into the future.” There’s something hopeful there, no?
-Chocolina is here! She’s a bit freaked out too.
“First, buy something from my shop. Then let’s find an exit!” lolol not too freaked to sell.
-The next Yeul tells the story of “six and one l’Cie.” The six were Lightning, Snow, and the others. And the one was… Serah?
-The goddess saw the six and one, “and the child” (DAJH!) and blessed them. That released them from their prison of crystal. Etro herself intervened.
-“But in doing so, she warped time.” And she didn’t have the power to restore it, but we might.
-The names of these fragments are very interesting: “Etro’s Sorrow” “Pulse’s Resolution” “Lindzei’s Desire” “Mwynn’s Tenderness” “Bhunivelze’s Sleep”
I think all of them are names of gods, children of the Maker. Take the last one:
“The eternal dream of the crystal lies within the Unseen World. Even the gods long to find their way to that place. IN all crystal, the heart that shines most brightly is called Bhunivelze.”
I think Bhunivelze is a god that found his way to the Unseen World. Valhalla is home of the gods, after all.
-That’s all the fragments. I find one more Yeul.
“I am the one who lives in all the ages. I am the one who dies in all the ages.”
”I am the one who suffers countless partings. Again and again.”
This one must be the essence of the Seeress. Jesus, what agony.
-In this place, all Serah’s dreams can come true. This is where all time flows, all dreams come here. “A world without beginning or end, a world closed in on itself.” Valhalla is so close.
-Then Yeul turns… not hostile, but sort of. She approaches belligerently. Why does Serah persist? Why stand “in his way?” She must mean Caius.
“As you change the timeline you come closer to death. But now, your journey is over.”
-Now Caius appears. And attacks.
SERAH: “I don’t understand!” Glad it’s not just me lol.
CAIUS: “You don’t need to. *charges*”
I’m not TOTALLY lost. I think Caius is trying to protect one version of the timeline, and Serah’s trying to alter it to make it true again.
-Beat phase one of Caius. Then he stands up and says, “Face your worst fear.” I doubt the fight’s over.
-He keeps teleporting around. “Noel gave up much quicker than this. He is living in a time and place where he knows only joy. He acknowledged his defeat, and now he is at peace.” So maybe the kill we saw at the start was metaphorical after all.
-Serah’s not buying that Noel would give up.
CAIUS: “Each time you fulfill a wish of your heart, someone else’s dream is shattered.”
Is our quest to save Lightning and restore the true timeline somehow opposed to Caius? Is he just doing all he can to alter the timeline and restore Yeul? That seems unlikely.
He’s shown over and over that he cares about preserving the timeline, not screwing with it – even considering his love for Yeul.
SERAH: “But why, Caius? Why do you fight us?”
CAIUS: “To save her.” oh lol, not that unlikely after all.
What surprises me is that Yeul would go along with this.
-AHA! When Etro saved us at the end of XIII, that alteration doomed Yeul. So the “Lightning lives” timeline was itself an alteration. Caius is fighting for both the “true” timeline AND for Yeul.
-Montage of Yeul dying, over and over and over. Caius is kind of in the right here? Yeul’s stuck in a hell I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
-Though Caius’ plan is to slay the goddess, and return everything to Valhalla. To a place of stasis. Not great for the world.
“Yeul will be free for eternity.”
-HOLY SHE HE STRAIGHT UP AXES HER IN THE BACK
CAIUS: “Surrender now to your heart’s desire.” Maybe this is just a metaphorical death. Hm.
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New Bodhum - ???
-NORA crowds around Serah, lying on the ground. They’re acting like she’s dreaming. This is surreal.
-We’re in some version of New Bodhum. Everything is dark, sepia-toned.
This has gotta be an illusion to trap her. Her heart’s desire. Five bucks says Snow is waiting back in town to cement that fantasy. (Or Noel, if the game ships it like I do.)
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Next time: Exploring this “New Bodhum.”
