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BHUNIVELZE: “It cannot be! The light, so brilliant – greater than gods!” Lightning in a nutshell.
-She plunges her giant ass sword into his heart.
-CREEPY. Alabaster tears flow into his hands. He’s enraged.
BHUNIVELZE: “Goddess of death, I cast you out! Into the Chaos! Into the shadows of death!”
LIGHTNING: “Yes. That’s what I plan to do.”
-She’s going to take Etro’s place, just as Bhunivelze wanted… but in a world that belongs to humanity, with all its history and memory. And she’ll drag Bhunivelze down with her.
-He’s not just God anymore. There’s a human inside him, one who will destroy him from the inside.
“It’s the final act in the death of a god.” IS HOPE GOING TO ALIEN CHEST BURST OUT OF GOD???
“I bring you salvation! Hope, I’ll set you free!” She reaches RIGHT INTO GOD’S BRAIN FOR HOPE’S SOUL
-We see hope sitting inside, as a knife floats down to him. Lightning’s birthday knife.
-Hope walks into the new world. He sees… is that his parents?
-Lightning has to stay behind, to control the Chaos. Noooo… but I get it.
-We then see Serah on a throne. But she morphs into Lightning on a throne?
-This seems to be the fake Serah, the one Bhunivelze constructed.
-Huh. She says Bhunivelze didn’t cut her out. Lightning herself did. She cut out everything that made her weak, cut it out from mattering in her life. Did she?
SERAH: “Do you remember? You tried to kill me.”
-Lumina walks in front of her… OH SHIIIIT, LUMINA ISN’T YUONG SERAH, SHE’S YOUNG LIGHTNING!
“I’m Claire Farron. Her selfishness, her loneliness, her fear. That little bit of the soul you couldn’t accept.”
-This is brutal. Personal, raw, hits waaaay too close to home. Tearing up at this. Jesus.
“You make it sound rational, to cut away parts of yourself. You deserve to be alone.”
-Lightning tried moving from her throne, but she’s bound.
-Lightning’s voice is heavy with emotion. “Don’t leave me alone!”
Again, that sentiment didn’t come from Lumina. It came from Lightning.
LIGHTNING: ”I need you… help me…”
THEN LUMINA DIVES INTO THE CHAOS AND EMBRACES LIGHTNING, MAKES HER WHOLE
THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART OF CELESTE BEING SHOWN FOR ONE OF MY FAVORITE FF CHARACTERS
-Then Hope dives down, gives her a hand.
-Serah was a fake, but Lumina could imagine what Serah would say.
“SERAH”: “I love you. I always have.”
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The Space Between Worlds
We see a cosmic setting. Bhunivelze tearing through space, blasting light at … something. [Later edit: I get the gist of what happens in this ending part, but it’s tough to follow the mechanics at times. It’s dreamlike and surreal.]
Lightning charges against him. “In the new world, we won’t need God.” This game is metal AFFFFF.
She even calls Odin to her side to help push Bhunivelze back. Odin is in his giant eidolon form, not his chocobo form. Worst game ever, 0/10.
-Then Snow and the rest of the gang join Lightning’s side, all with their eidolons. They push God back.
-This ending is a bit over the top on the “power of friendship” stuff for my taste, but screw it. It’s the end of an awesome trilogy, I can forgive it.
-They blast God into a fiery nothing. His corpse is crystallized.
LIGHTNING: “We don’t need god anymore.”
CAIUS: “The living don’t need god, but the dead do.”
-Yeul and Caius will become the new Etro, freeing Lightning to live. They’ll manage the cycle of rebirth.
-Noel fights back. After all this time, he’s STILL losing Yeul and he’s pissed.
-Caius grabs Noel by the throat… and gives him his wish. Flings Yeul out of death, into the new world.
-And he freed her from that nightmare seeress’ fate. Good Guy Caius. I guess he’ll solo the Etro role. [Later edit: It’s possible that the rest of the dead in the Chaos are helping out too. Not quite clear on that.]
-I’m happy for Noel, even if I ship tf out of him and Serah. Maybe I can headcanon Yeul falling for Snow to free Noel to be with Serah.
-We’re in some new starscape. A crystal with the souls bursts open. They’re free.
-The Eidolons leap into the new world. Good. Where would humankind be without the Shivacycle?
-Goodbye from Serah and Mog for now. Lightning and Odin.
A great FF bond.
-A montage of XIII characters and moments flashes through Lightning’s mind, and tears stream down her face. This hits her in an instant.
-It’s time to go to this new world. Lightning takes Serah’s hand, and they float off.
-Holy lord, that image of a new world with life streaming towards it. A very FFVII image, reminiscent of the lifestream.
-Credits roll. The end.
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Post-Credits
-Or is it? There’s a cutscene. And holy lord, this looks like it’s live action. That’s how good the quality is.
[Question for y’all: what fancasting would you do for live action XIII? Kristen Stewart jumps out at me as a great Lightning. Maybe Winston Duke as Snow.]
-Lightning rides a train through a beautiful countryside.
-It’s SO WEIRD to see her in casual clothes, and wonderful to see her at peace.
“I wonder when the next will begin. That soon, we’ll be together.” No clue what this means. Just saying she’s on the way to see Serah? Hinting at more sequels? I feel like I missed something.
-But that’s it, the end of my time in this universe for now. (Not playing Type-0 just yet.)
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Next time: Final thoughts on Lightning Returns. Then after a short break, starting the final lap on this long project with Final Fantasy XV.
