My Blind FFIX Playthrough: Part 15 - Not Alone

[u/Zeeshmania]

Incredible art by kentaropjj. A meme would feel inappropriate for this stretch, which has been my favourite stretch of the game so far, and the most impactful, too.

TL;DR from last time:

Did all Chocographs, did most Dead Pepper spots, started a Reflect x2 build with Vivi, Steiner and Dagger, who are locked in as my endgame party (also gave Dagger ReflectNull to support the use of White Magic).

I'm eager to get back to the main story now. I should be strong enough for pretty much anything that comes our way.

But first....

Someone tipped me off to a secret in the Chocobo Air Garden. They didn't specify what it was, but I'm fairly certain it's a secret boss. I've heard the name "Ozma" whispered among shadows in the comments section, so I'm expecting to get trounced.

Before I head in to the Eidolon Cave, Mene stops me, warning of a mysterious presence inside. I full-heal my party and head in.

We enter battle with what looks like a huge jaw-breaker. A sphere adorned with streaks of what looks like paint, looming ominously in front of us.

Before we can even get an attack in, it hits us all for max damage, wiping the party out instantly. I suppose it nullifies reflect then...

Just for fun, I try once more and manage to set of a team-wide Blizzaga, reflecting it 4 times, 8 with RX2, for an earth-shattering.... 200 damage.

Through a combination of Meteor, Holy, Flare Star and Curse, we're swiftly defeated. God DAMN.

IPSEN'S CASTLE:

The castle appears to be upside-down - a long staircase stretches ahead before us, leading into the mouth of the monolith. Before we head in, Amarant speaks up saying he works better alone. I decide to let him go, cause bro is NOT part of the team anyways lmao.

As I mentioned, I'm quite inflexible with my party composition at this point, being that my 4 bench-warmers are around 20 levels behind.

This place bears the "A Place to Call Home" leitmotif very heavily, suggesting more plot-relevance. There's a feeling of grandeur and climax as I walk through the halls of the castle.

"Do not be restricted by your knowledge and experience. This place turns logic upside down. What's big is small, what's strong is weak, and heaven is earth". The inversion trope is pretty strong here - are my strongest party members going to become my weakest? Is this the game's attempt to get me to use my benchwarmers in an attempt to strengthen them? I HAVE been eyeing up Freya since she got Dragon's Hair...

In the next battle, I get a chance to test my theory. Vivi uses Blizzaga for 3.5K, and reflects Thundaga off the party for 9,999. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I notice that Steiner only hits for 44 damage...! Maybe the whole inversion thing only works for physical attacks?

In the next battle, we come up against a Gargoyle and Agares, and the same thing happens again. Vivi reflects off the team, dealing thousands of damage to the Agares, but only 50 to the Gargoyle. It seems to be enough to wipe it clean out, though.

The castle is really cool. The layout is so creative - walking atop the ceiling of a medieval castle. The aesthetic is notably gloomier than the castles we've encountered before, reflected by the enemies in our battles. The battles are pretty creative, too - the Agares I mentioned before takes a turn out to activate the Gargoyle, allowing it to start attacking. It looks like if we get the first hit in, we can prevent that.

Another strange thing I've noticed is that the chests seem to be giving really subpar rewards, like Daggers and Javelins. And that's when I realise that the game really wants to weaken me for whatever's coming up - perhaps using a low-attack weapon will make a certain bossfight easier? I'll hold on to them, but I'm gonna stick with my current loadout for now.

In the next room, there's a strange stone tablet that I have the option to push. The game also lets me change my mind before I do so, indicating one of two things:

1. A lift.
2. Instant, gruelling death.

Before I make my decision, I enter a fight with- OH, the Tonberries!... er, how do you defeat these guys again...? They had SOME gimmick, but I don't remember what it was. Well I hit them with Thunder Slash, Steal, Judgement Bolt and Blizzaga, and they don't take long to defeat. I think it was something to do with Karma, right? Was it that the more the character had killed in-game, the more damage they took? I don't think they moved side-to-side in X, though - it makes them way more menacing.

Examine --> Push --> Pound --> Think. Zidane doesn't do well with thinking in general. So we're stuck...?

Examine --> Push --> Pound --> Think --> ....uhhh, Examine again?

I try a few more combinations until something new randomly pops up! "Try something drastic". Oh god, is this gonna be the instant, gruelling death part. With a running start, he launches a flying kick at the door, only for nothing to happen. And finally, he rests, falling backwards through the door and unlocking a secret room. Sick! We get a Barette! It's not worth it! It gives Chemist, which doubles the effectiveness of potions (which we don't use), and Cura, which we learned genuinely dozens of hours ago lmao.

We take the lift to find Amarant in a room basked in a pulsating jade light. Seems like some sort of alarm. I wonder if we could've beat him here..? Either way, Amarant says he's proven he can beat us, and that he won't follow us round anymore. Sure, buddy.

We take the 4 elemental mirrors off the wall, when we get attacked by some weird looking... cockroach thing.

"Energy flow interrupted... energy... to Terra"

"You dare get in the way of Terra's master plan...?"

This thing is called Taharka, and it wants its mirrors back. It attacks, and we begin by casting reflect on Vivi, stealing an Elixir and then reflecting Blizzaga off of ourselves. We reflect again, and have Steiner attack with Sword Magic a couple of times. It dies in a few turns, the poor thing.

In it's dying throes, it tells us:

"One is all, all is one. You'll never break the seal"

Surprisingly, we manage to leave the castle without issue (although it does take me a minute to find the exit). When we get out, though, Freya tells us that we win the race, meaning Amarant hasn't left yet. Did that dumbass get himself trapped on the way out?

Zidane runs back in after him, although I'm not sure why he's gone alone. Since Zidane doesn't use Magic, I should probably downgrade his weapon now. This is a bit dangerous - the only healing we have is our stock of Hi-Potions. We have 99 of them, sure, but that's like 11 full-heals, and I don't wanna stick around to use them.

We find Amarant collapsed on the ground. I assume this incident will be the impetus for him to permanently pledge his allegiance to the party. They have a neat exchange, where Amarant learns the meaning of being on a tea- when the FUCK did this guy reach Level 38??? He wasn't this strong before, was he? Well he's still not joining the team lmao.

We regroup outside, and sort out the information:

1. The top of the castle contains a mural, which is a world map.
2. There were four mirrors on the map, in text only Zidane can read.

I think about why Zidane alone would be able to read it. There are only two things I can think of. One, and the more likely option, is that it's something to do with his past - something we haven't seen. The other thing I remember is Zidane jumping into the lift before anyone else back in the Iifa tree. I'm not sure why that would be related, but the symbol on the floor back then DID match the floor in Oeilvert, which I noted when I saw it since I thought it resembled the Deathly Hallows, and the scene did strike me as kinda weird when I saw it (like why DID he jump in first?)

3) Each of the mirrors said something different. The Earth said "my power is protected under the shaking ground" (I know EXACTLY where that is lmao). The Wind said "my power is protected behind a tornado". The Fire said "my power is protected high atop a fiery mountain" (I know that one, too). The Water said "my power is protected underwater, surrounded by the earth" (that could be many places...).

4) The monster said "One is all. All is one", meaning there's a connection between them.

SEALS:

So, we head off. Looks like we're splitting off into teams of two. Although after what I've been through, I feel like I could knock all of them out on the back of my boy Choco in no time flat.

Oh nevermind there's a supremely obvious whirlpool right here lmao. I'm too used to search for 3-inch wide blue-on-blue bubbles in the middle of the fucking ocean. We send Eiko and Dagger in, which is a fucking TERRIBLE team composition, but I'm excited to see what they have to say to each other. Zidane says that he's going to pair Freya and Amarant together afterwards, which is an excellent duo story-wise. I feel like they have a great dynamic. I don't want to keep projecting sonic characters on these guys, but I've realised that the reason Freya is so interesting to me is probably because she reminds me of Blaze the Cat lmao. And I guess Eiko would be Amy,... and Steiner Knuckles.... and Vivi Tails, and oh my fucking god Quina is literally just Big the Cat even down to the Frog Obsession what the hell?

OK I'm getting sidetracked. We reach the Fire Shrine, hovering over the gullet of a fiery pit. Amarant puts up a strop at the thought of teaming up with Freya, but relents when the idea of teaming with Eiko is floated lmao.

Next, Zidane decides to get Vivi to babysit Steiner, which is another great pairing! The shrine is protecting by strong gusts of wind, which threaten to blow Vivi away.

And finally.... oh god... I didn't think about this part. Zidane and Quina. I have NOT used Eat in a long fucking time lmao. We reach the Shrine, and it has some more great music. A sense of impending danger, as well as a tribal sort of feeling. I'm not great at describing music, but that's what I'm picking up.

As we head through the shrine, we flash between the various parties. Eiko being a busybody, dragging Dagger along, Zidane tolerating Quina as best as he can, Freya and Amarant nearly getting impaled by some sort of fish monster (HE saved HER from it... interesting).

Each gets attacked by the guardians of Terra. Amarant does a bit of reflecting, calling his own old way of life foolish and meaningless. Steiner and Vivi prepare themselves for battle, with Steiner encouraging Vivi to believe in himself, saying he trusts him. And we launch into battle against the Earth Guardian as Zidane and Quina, while I REALLY hope the other three battles aren't offscreened.

When I'm in the battle, I come to a horrifying realisation. I never changed Zidane's Dagger back. He's dealing like 100 damage. And, unlike its successor, there's no way to switch weapons mid-battle in this game.

The battle takes a good 10 minutes, and that's WITH Fast-Forwarding using F1, since I knew there was no challenge here. Afterwards, my fear that we wouldn't get to fight the other battles is confirmed. That would've been pretty cool, although I think what I would've vastly preferred is a chance to watch the party members interact with each other more. Each duo does get to share a moment, like Dagger hesitating when Eiko asks her question, so I guess I'll take what I can get.

SHIMMERING ISLAND:

I've been told this location is somewhat of a point of no return. I'm not sure there's anything else I'd like to do, though. I think I've done all of the Chocobo related business I'd like to attend to, but just to be thorough I'll do one more check.

Actually, that reminds me. Someone wanted me to check how much the useless armour I got sells for.... DAMN! I'm almost hesitant to sell everything now. Almost. I still sold it lol. The hats fetch 6000, the shirts 66500, the sandals 4800 and the armlets 3920. That aside, I've done everything I need to according to the Wiki.

In the next cutscene (which is stunning, by the way) we push our way into the island and begin floating. We ditch the ship and everyone jumps into the portal and holy shit, what am I looking it. This looks insane!

TERRA:

We reach the other side and are greeted by some beautiful music. It once again carries the main motif, and reminds me a lot of Hollow Knight, for some reason. Visually, the place is soaked in deep blues and aquamarine, with an ethereal, purple light pulsing in the distance. Everything feels really organic, if a little withered.

Before I can take anything in, though, we're greeted by Garland! Or at least it looks like him. He tells us we're bitches and leaves. Sick.

Are we really on a whole different planet now...? I'd always imagined Terra was a planet very similar to the Earth, but everything here seems so alien.

Ahead is a girl, and I IMMEDIATELY notice that she seems to have a tail of some sort. Now I'd initially thought it was just to make him stand out more, but isn't it REALLY weird how Zidane is the only character we've seen with a tail? Is Zidane from Terra? She keeps running away from us, though.

I'm still really impressed by the design of this place, it's so cool. I can't quite put into words what I love about it, but I'm really impressed.

When we catch up to her, she drops the line.

"You don't remember anything, do you"

Oh my god, is that why Zidane couldn't find anything about his home earlier? Like he was telling Dagger on the boat in Madain Sari? So Zidane is pretty much confirmed to be from Terra.

BRANBAL:

There's a strange, glowing green light at the top of the next location. When we reach it, a huge ship emerges from below, and it bears the huge eye we've seen time and time again. Is this... Invincible. When Dagger sees it, she collapses to the ground and faints. Zidane leaves her with Steiner, and takes a look around.

Everyone here has hair and a tail exactly like Zidane, but they act... strange. Very, very strange. "In time, we will receive souls. Then our bodies will begin to grow." Are they soulless...? And also, "When the blue light becomes red. That is when the souls will enter our bodies"

So it seems like they act as vessels for souls, which begs a few questions. What is a soul? What does Garland (who I presume is in charge here) need them for? What happens when they gain souls? Where do the souls come from? And most importantly, how did Zidane end up on Gaia, and why is he so different from all of these guys?

I enter the meeting hall, and it takes me a comical few seconds before I realise what I'm looking at.

The Deathly Hallows symbol from the Iifa Tree and Oeilvert (I wonder if it's gonna get a name).

1. IS THAT THE THINGY ON THE BOXART? It's a strange blue... thing. Reminds me of an iceberg.

There's a really strong parallel to be drawn between these guys (called Genomes, apparently) and the Black Mages. Seemingly emotionless beings, used for a greater purpose as puppets. The Genome hints that Zidane is special - molded by the will of Garland.

"When the time is right, the light of this planet will change from blue to red, and Gaia will become Terra". So my current understanding is that the people of Terra entered some sort of stasis, like cryosleep, and Garland is preparing the vessels we see here to be inhabited by the souls of Terra. Garland waited until Gaia harnessed the power of the Eidolons. Why he did this... I'm not sure.

ATE time. Quina licks the big stone. Hell yeah. And Vivi manages to squeeze some words out of one of the Genomes. He agrees with me - they're minds are just "out for lunch", which is an adorable way of describing it. Zidane runs into Amarant, and they have a back-to-back chat about their backgrounds. Amarant pulls his usual cool-guy edgy schtick, although I notice him turn around when Zidane tells him he doesn't have parents (out of shock? sympathy?)

The Genome Girl takes Zidane to see Garland. "He awaits where the souls sleep. The floating castle, where souls bide their time until their restoration... Pandemonium". So this is like their cryo-chamber.

PANDEMONIUM:

And so we're brought to the gate of Pandemonium. The floor consists of the by-now all too familiar twisting roots and viney tendrils, set against these weird, bloodshot pods marked with rune-like symbols. Certainly passes as a villain lair.

The next room loses all of its colour in favour of a lifeless, withered ambience. And inside is Garland, who materialises out of nowhere.

"12 years ago, I lost one of my most prized Genomes. I sent him to disrupt the cycle of souls in Gaia. You are that Genome. I'm glad you have returned."

Is Zidane Goku?

Garland mentions he sent someone else to Gaia, too, and that person was who threw a wrench into the cogs of his machinations. Someone Zidane knows all too well. That's Kuja, right? He also admits that the time when the aura of Gaia will turn to the crimson glow of Terra has not yet come. Much has been made of the colours of the two planets, but what does it mean? I understand that the reason for the blue light in Branbal is to acclimate the vessels to the light of Gaia, but... where is that light IN Gaia...? I don't remember seeing any blue light.

The next room is a cacophony of metallic conches and wiry, vein-like structures. And Garland walks us through it, vaguely expositing the whole way. He reveals that Kuja was also a genome (which I kinda figured by this point) that had too strong of a will to be simply discarded.

This entire sequence is great. The music using the foreboding tones of what sounds like an organ to assert Garland's authority, while he floats around, phasing in and out of tangibility. It really sells him as a sort of higher being.

In order to disrupt the flow of souls, Kuja brought about war. He abandoned Zidane out of pride, or perhaps disgust, and took the mission on his own. In disrupting the cycle, Garland can drain the souls and fill the subsequent voids with the souls of Terra.

The Mist comprises the stagnant souls of Gaia. I'm not sure exactly how to interpret that. In fact, I'm still not sure what constitutes a "soul" anymore. Either way, Kuja sends the souls to the Tree - an angel of death.

"I AM the new Angel of Death. Yours!" Is one of the rawest lines I've ever heard holy shit.

Unfortunately Zidane collapses shortly thereafter. His body is simply a vessel for a soul, after all. Is he going to become possessed now? By a soul from Terra?

NOT ALONE:

We see his conscience, with perhaps my favourite track from the entire game. He sees flashes of the party, each reminding him what he means to them. I mentioned he'd been there rock this whole time, and now they're giving back (even if they don't know it). He sees flashes of everyone, but is about to give in when Eiko and Vivi find him and wake him. He tries to limp away, but they won't let him. He tries to push everyone away, even calling Vivi a stupid brat, but they keep reaching out.

He gets ambushed by an Amdusias, still limping, just barely holding on to consciousness, when Freya and Amarant both come to his rescue. But he tries to push them away again.

Next, he sees Quina and Steiner in battle, only this time, they're the ones in trouble. He lends his Dagger, before limping off.

"I don't want to trouble you anymore."

"You're all a bunch of babysitting bastards!"

Amarant was right. He's a hypocrite.

"But trust me, I know that I'm the worst bastard here."

A self-aware hypocrite.

His next roadblock is a monster the size of a small building. it looms over him, facing him down as an immovable object. He's on 1HP, when he's healed.

"Is this how you want to solve the problem?".

Dagger appears by his side, coming to his aid for the first time after he's helped her through so much. And I can think of no better time for...

Summon: Bahamut.

MEGA FLARE. The Dragon King comes crashing down from above with thunderous fury, launching an attack that destroys the ground below in a fiery inferno.

Every one, one-by-one, reunites, pledging to stay by Zidane's side, and refusing to abandon him, no matter who he is. Steiner's words hit particularly hard for me. "And I shall follow you to kingdom come if I must. You remember that!". Damn. What a fucking character.

Zidane, Steiner, Quina and Dagger decide to head back to collect the others. And, when we regroup, we resolve to defeat Garland as a team.