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1* Why does everyone bother with the Sending for dead people? Auron and Seymour prove that dying is only a minor inconvenience and you literally come right back and for all intents and purposes, still alive. So why bother with sending at all? If anything, that would make Seymour's plan make no sense because then that would just make everyone Unsent like him.
2** With respect, were you paying attention to the dialogue? It’s stated quite clearly that nearly everyone who dies becomes a fiend. That’s why there are literally thousands of monsters roaming Spira and only about half a dozen genuine Unsent throughout he course of the game. Belgemine, Seymour, Auron, Lady Ginnem, Mika and Jyscal are the only ones I can think of at the top of my head. You need to either have Voldemort level magic and/or have an exceptionally powerful reason to bind you to the world of the living such as the promise Auron made to Braska and Jecht.
3** I think the OP's question is, why do the dead envy and grow to hate the living because they want to be alive, when all they have to do is want it badly enough and they can become Unsent and for all intents and purposes be alive? It's kinda like going to kill your neighbor because you envy the fact that he has a sandwich and you don't despite being more than capable of easily making a sandwich yourself.
4** Addressing a small part of the question, but making everyone Unsent ''was'' Seymour's plan. After he died and came back, he realized that all his doubts and worries in life were suddenly gone, and wanted to give that "gift" to everyone in Spira.
5*** Another point is that unsent are shown to suffer from mental degradation over time. For some it is very quick, as with Seymour. His death changed his entire outlook. Some took longer like Mika and Yunalesca. Both intended well but slowly became willing to destroy a group capable of killing Sin. Then you have more extreme examples over time like Shuyin, who became an omnicidal maniac like Seymour but over a much longer period of time. Finally, Maechen near the end of his existence revealed to Yuna that despite being a fountain of knowledge, his millennia+ of existence had begun to affect him and his memories to the point of losing control of them before he willingly departed. But some unsent seemingly managed well from start to finish, like Belgemine.
6*** Belgemine's sanity is still questionable. One of the reasons way solitary confinement is considered by many countries to be cruel and unusual punishment is because loneliness has a high probability of affecting your mental health to dangerous levels; and here we are talking about a woman who lives alone in the isolated and dangerous Calm Lands with apparently no entertainment on hand nor interaction with another human being except for when she fights the occasional summoner. Note also how eager she is to metaphorically commit suicide after Yuna defeats her Magus Sisters.
7** An Unsent is sustained by obsession, but also bound by it. Mika's obsession with unchanging continuity, Seymour's obsession with power, Auron's obsession with his past promises (luckily, that one's not evil). They are incapable of moving past those obsessions; unlike those who've yet to die, Unsent can never really change. Can you really call that "living"?
8*** Seymour's obsession isn't with power. His obsession is to stop suffering, power is a tool. He scowl Kinoc for being obsessed with power, stating it's useless. I believe fistly he just wanted to end his own suffering, but, well...
9
10I think the issue is the vast majority of people don't know about Unsent. If people as a whole knew that it was possible to be Unsent and what doing so entailed it's pretty likely most people would just... get up and continue on with their lives from where they left off rather than becoming Fiends. Either that or there are reasons people become Fiends that have nothing to do with the explanation Lulu gives. Which would fit considering how ignorant Spirans are about their own world and how little most of them seem to care to become informed since most of them blindly follow Yevon's teachings without questioning any of it while the few who do are branded heretics to be hunted down.
11* Why are they running head first into a killer whale/demon/planet destroyer/eater with an army of chocobo's?
12** No. They were running head first into the ''sinspawn'', not Sin himself. Those crusaders were tasked with holding off the dozens of monsters that come from Sin while the ones with the cannons try to take the big guy out.
13** It's a part of the point of the battle [[spoiler:at mushroom rock. It was planned by Yevon in order to prove of weak and hopeless humans and al bhed are.]] The combatants believed that Sin is just a monster, and while they are just small ants - many enough ants poking with sticks could kill a cat.
14** What's weird about Operation Mi'ihen is that the Crusaders and the Al Bhed bring in salvaged Machina... and little else. The same weapons that failed to stop Sin back when they were brand new. It would make sense of the Al Bhed had developed something new, but they're only using the same methods that failed before. Yet, everybody except Yevon and Auron treats it like the operation actually has a chance.
15* Why, in the opening sequence, is everyone except Tidus running towards the wall of water that you can see when the fayth stops time?
16** They are running from the Sin Spawn, Zanarkand is a city that relies heavily on water so presumably most of the populace can swim. Would you rather take your chances with water or an army of murderous bugs?
17
18* Why did the Al Bhed break into the temple holding Tidus? They don't explore for treasure or Big Prizes.
19** For the Al Bhed, I am quite certain they were down there investigating the sunken Farenheit; presumably they heard Tidus making a ruckus and decided to check it out.
20** It was the only part of the temple that wasn't underwater. Perhaps they were looking for a more accessible route to the ship. Or maybe possible clues on how to operate it. They heard sounds of a scuffle - fiends don't attack each other after all - and went to investigate. They may be outsiders but they're not about to abandon someone who's possibly in need of help.
21** Didn't the Al Bhed already hide the Fayth for Yojimbo? Maybe they were looking to seal away Anima's fayth next.
22** It was never stated or even implied that the thief of Yojimbo was an Al Bhed. The crew was there looking for the Fahrenheit, simple. Their ''timing'' is what really boggles this troper's mind.
23*** This is either FridgeBrilliance or WMG but here is the theory that I thought of when I played this game for the first time: Jecht deliberately deposited Tidus next to an Al Bhed search team that so just happened to feature Yuna's cousin, that just so happened to be within swimming distance of Besaid for a Blitzball player, that just so happened to have the daughter of High Summoner Braska a day away from starting her pilgrimage to kill Sin. It is all too perfect to be coincidence. Jecht wants Tidus to kill him remember; and what is the betting that not only Braska spoke about his late wife's family on several occasions to his Guardians (and may even have met them in the case of Auron), but secretly kept an eye on the progress of Yuna whilst Auron was keeping an eye on the progress of Tidus? Jecht may even have been the one that discovered the location of the airship and leaked it to the Al Bhed for all we know (again, isn't it ''remarkable'' that the Fahrenheit only takes three or four days to fix, paint, fuel and arm despite the fact that it had been underwater for the last thousand years? Almost as if it was not as damaged as it should have been...) The timing seems convenient because the whole scenario was manufactured.
24
25* Rikku helps you kill the monster and everyone leaves. Why did the various guys with guns not use them to shoot the monster?
26** You're forgetting that the fiend in question (assuming you're referring to the Klikk fought in Baaj Temple) was FAST (watch it running around the walls of the room in the cutscene before the fight, it moves so quickly it's practically a blur) and bullets are limited. The fact that you're able to damage it is GameplayAndStorySegregation, but keep in mind also that Tidus, as a professional blitzball player, is also very fast on his feet. It's possible that if that battle had been a cutscene, we would have seen Tidus and the fiend rapidly dodging and exchanging blows in a very fast-paced battle. In other words, they didn't shoot it because it would have been too hard to hit it, they would have risked shooting Tidus (and later Rikku when she joined the battle) and they didn't have ammo to waste. Another possibility is that, since Rikku stepped in to join the battle, they essentially interpreted that action as her saying "Stand back, I'll take care of this" and held their fire out of respect for her. She is their leader's daughter, after all, she most likely ranks fairly high in the group.
27** They didn't shoot the monster because bullets aren't effective past like 2 feet when fired into water.
28*** But... They weren't underwater, and YES, damnit, because these points Just Bug Me.
29*** Look at what the poster above you wrote: fired '''into''' water.
30*** ''Tidus and Rikku'' weren't underwater, at least for the klikk fight (which seems to be the fight in question, and not the geosgaeno fight).
31** What the original poster is presumably referring to is when Tidus is alone in the temple or dungeon or whatever, and the Al Bhed come storming in while he's fighting the fiend. On land. Rikku joins up and helps him, but the rest of the Al Bhed (Brother et al) just kind of stand there and watch.
32** Maybe because shrapnel from the grenades (it couldn't have been fire element grenades, or they wouldn't have worked) would be more effective than the guns that the other Al Bhed had, which could have been no stronger than gunpowder-powered slingshots?
33** Also, the other Al Bhed were thinking somehow that Tidus might be a fiend so maybe they decided to stay away, armed with their guns just in case.
34** Since guns were forbidden Machina, it may not be all that easy for the Al Bhed to find/produce ammo for them. Maybe they were confident Rikku could take on the beast and so decided to conserve a limited resource.
35* It looked to me like Rikku sauntered in with a "this is my fight, guys; back off" swagger. Once Cid's daughter was in the way, they weren't gonna risk shooting her in the butt. After all, she was darting in and out and pulling grenades (what?) out of the critter, so she was right on top of their target. Rikku's own motives seem pretty explicable as well: impressing the others, a daredevil streak, confidence that she COULD handle the fiend, and/or greed and wanting to Steal stuff. Also she may have been curious about Tidus, since he was making pretty good headway against the fiend when they burst in-- who was he, and could he be useful?
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37* Why did Rikku leave it to Tidus to activate the computer in the airship (while it's underwater) when he obviously knew jack shit about them, what with his whacking it? Why did it activate from Tidus whacking it?
38** Sure, Tidus didn't know how to activate the ship, but how do you know Rikku would have? She hadn't seen it before either.
39** Cid even mention in the game much later that because of Bevelle's taboo on machinas, they are in the dark when it comes to how they works. As for whacking, [[PercussiveMaintenance everyone does that when a device don't work!]]
40** RuleOfFunny?
41** Well, if you look at her in the background of that scene, she's [[FacePalm facepalming]], so it's likely he just got to it before she could. And like the other person said, RuleOfFunny.
42
43* Why did Yuna suddenly decide that dying to get rid of Sin (if only for ten years) wasn't worth it three quarters through the game when she's been saying that it IS worth it for the whole time beforehand?
44** As to the last point, I'm guessing it's that one of her guardians has to become a fayth, too.
45** Actually, players discover during the talk with Yunalesca that Yuna's real aim is to defeat Sin forever, and she hopes that her victory will be Sin's final appearance. After learning that her hope is impossible, she stays true to this real aim by rejecting the "die for ten years" thing and commits to finding a final answer.
46*** Specifically, although Yuna was willing to sacrifice herself for a chance that it would get rid of Sin for good, she was ''not'' willing to sacrifice both herself and one of her guardians for a temporary Calm after which Sin was ''guaranteed'' to come back. She rejected the Final Summoning in order to continue to pursue her goal of permanently defeating Sin.
47*** Wait, what? It was ''specifically'' stated by Yuna within the game that she didn't care if the Calm was temporary. She wanted to make people happy even if it was just for a while. The first person who made her question how futile this is was Tidus. It's really not that unbelievable to assume that Tidus planted a seed of doubt that finally sprouted when Yunalesca revealed the entire Pilgrimage to be bullshit.
48*** This is me just being anal here, but a Calm has never lasted for ten years. Yes, it was ten years since Sin was defeated the last time, but the Ultimania (and some [=NPCs=]) state that the Calm only really lasts for a few months.
49*** I was under the impression that the Calm lasted about four years. It's far from unknown for guides to be incorrect on the flavor info, but which [=NPCs=] stated that it was only a few months (I plan to watch for any "four years" or other specific time references next time I play, anyway)?
50*** It wasn't that the Calm lasted 10 years, it was that that's how long it's been since Braska defeated Sin. The Calm refers to the period of time where Sin isn't around ''at all''.
51*** There have been 5 High Summoners during 1000 years of Sin. Braska's Calm lasted 10 years; the others probably defeated Sin so soundly the Calm lasted much longer. Only High Summoners who beat Sin explicitly 'seal' him off for however long, there can't have been others unless the game mentioned otherwise.
52*** Actually, I think it's mentioned that Braska's Calm was a particularly ''long'' one. It's not that the earlier Summoners defeated Sin more soundly that it lasted longer; it's that Sin is so unbelievably powerful that it's very ''rare'' for a Summoner to defeat Sin at ''all''.
53*** Auron [[spoiler: Rode Sin to Dream Zanarkand. Judging by how young Tidus was in some of his flashbacks with Auron, it took a lot less than 10 years for Sin to come back]]
54*** Braska's Calm lasted a few months just like all previous Calms. Yuna is determined to kill Sin even if it lasts for a few months because she has hope in Yevon's teachings about Sin being the punishment for the sins of people. When she finds that no matter what she does Sin will keep coming and therefore the spiral of death will continue, because her religion was just a lie, she decides that there must be a true way to defeat Sin because he is just another monster, not a punishment from the gods.
55*** And because she learns that a guardian is sacrificed as part of the Final Summoning. She wasn't willing to do that to another person.
56*** More than this, if I recall correctly, Yunalesca points out that Yevon will just possess the Aeon tht just killed his last Sin. So I think the tipping point in this may have been, Yuna's willing to sacrifice herself, and let a friend die to give a period of peace for the greater good. However, she was not willing to let a dear friend suffer a FateWorseThanDeath to become the new Sin until someone becomes strong enough to kill then...however long that may be.
57*** It has never been stated explicitly how long a Calm lasts. Final Fantasy Wiki defines a Calm as "an unset amount of time of peace that follows when a summoner defeats Sin, dies and posthumously gains the title of High Summoner." The only amount of time defined in the game, 10 years, refers to how long it has been since High Summoner Braska's defeat of Sin. It most likely varies how long it takes for Sin to come back due to each Final Aeon being different and thus a different amount of time to be turned into Sin, and so the Calm's length also varies.
58** The answer is Tidus, plain and simple. She's spent the entire story listening to him ask questions like, "Why not quit your Pilgrimage?" or saying things like "Sacrificing yourself to slightly delay Sin's return doesn't really seem worth it," or "Hey, maybe Yevon's just a bunch of assholes." He's been a heretical voice in her ear all throughout the story, and she's been listening. When faced with Lady Yunalesca's confirmation that the cycle is endless and that Yevon's bullshit about atonement someday ending Sin, Yuna chose to listen to Tidus and the Al Bhed's hypothetical better way rather than give her life for what she finally accepted was a [[SenselessSacrifice pointless death]].
59** Like Braska says in the flashback, summoners always hope for the chance that Sin ''might not'' come back this time. They don't know that the way they defeat Sin is the way he comes back in the first place.
60** Yuna was fine with sacrificing ''herself'' for the good of Spira. But she found out one of her guardians would have to be sacrificed as well to become the Final Aeon. And they'll have to become the next Sin. Yuna sees her guardians as family; she wouldn't allow them to be sacrificed, especially with the knowledge that they're only continuing a vicious cycle.
61** As Braska says to Auron in the flashback "there's a chance it might not come back this time". Yuna however discovers that Sin will definitely come back, and that the whole Final Aeon deal is just "false hope". She's just learned of Seymour's crazy plan to destroy Spira to "save" everyone, and realises that the tradition that has been carried out for centuries is not too different. As part of her pilgrimage, Yuna begins questioning the world around her and rebelling against society - taking her cousin (a 'heathen') as her guardian, willingly going after a Maester who is supposed to be untouchable, fleeing the law several times. At the point Yunalesca offers her the chance to create the Final Aeon, Yuna realises she can neither do what she had planned nor go back to her peaceful life on Besaid. She wanted to stop Sin, and the Final Aeon won't do that. So to her it's either find another way to beat Sin, or else die trying.
62** It's worth noting that Yuna isn't even the only one Tidus causes to question their beliefs about Yevon. If Lulu rides with Tidus on the snowmobiles in Macalania, their conversation clearly shows that she realizes that Tidus isn't kidding her about being a complete outsider to Spira. She also realizes that she never truly questioned where Sin actually came from until Tidus asked her about it. Lulu, Wakka and probably Kimahri all have the same views as Yuna-any of them would have been willing to become the Final Aeon for her, but they aren't going to sacrifice themselves for a pointless cycle.
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64* How can people breathe underwater in FFX?
65** They can't, they can just hold their breath for a really long time through extensive training.
66** For all we know, Spirians can have gills.
67** Part of it can be handwaved by Blitzball: having a lung capacity that can hold air for at least 5 minutes is going to help off the Blitzball court as well as on it. Of course this only applies to Blitzball players...
68*** I guess Blitzball players get all the chicks. Then it's basic natural selection.
69*** Well, this is just Wild Mass Guessing but... they're all descended from [[VideoGame/MonkeyIsland GUYBRUSH THREEPWOOD]]!
70*** True, but only Blitzball players can breathe underwater by themselves. Rikku can breathe underwater because she's got that SCUBA suit we see in the initial mission with her. (Now, how she retains the ability after she's taken the suit off, I don't know -- too much trouble to program?) You'll note that, in the underwater section in Gagazet, you're forced to use Tidus, Wakka, and Rikku ... no one else could enter that section of the dungeon, because only Blitzball players and Al Bhed with their SCUBA can go underwater.
71*** On one hand, it's implied the other characters ''do'' enter that part of the dungeon, as Lulu points out that if anything happens underwater, they're relying on Tidus/Rikku/Wakka (because they're the only ones who can fight underwater.) But on the other hand, when you enter the water you can only see those three characters in the menu, implying the others ''do'' stay behind. So... it's up in the air.
72*** Simple answer to why Rikku retains this ability after dropping her SCUBA: she can play Blitzball. FFX-2 has your whole trio of main characters as being able to play. Rikku probably learned to for fun and played with other Al Bhed, Paine may have played it recreationally back when she still had other friends, and Yuna can probably manipulate the pyreflies as noted below.
73** Training. Just talk to the entire team (repeatedly) when you first wash up on Besaid and you'll find this out from one of them. He also says that the best Blitzball players can even ''sleep'' underwater.
74*** When Tidus floats up to Besaid Island for the first time, he is unconscious and face-down in the sea. He has presumably been unconscious for hours. So it seems Tidus can indeed sleep underwater.
75** Yep, they train. You can even see Yuna doing it in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkOHcImHBmw this video.]]
76** My theory is that Spira's water just doesn't work the same way as our water.
77** I say that they have some sort of device in their mouth. With that, it takes on the function of gills, and makes water breathable. Of course, cause you never see them actually PUT IT ON, its quite possible that its just drilled in their mouths.
78** Last I heard, {{Word of God}} said it was because Pyreflies.
79** The answer from the {{Word of God}} is indeed Pyreflies. Sure, it takes training to be able to do it effectively and longer than others, but in the world of FFX, breathing underwater is a form of Pyreflie manipulation.
80*** Wait a second! Don't the Pyreflies also summon fiends and the images of lost loved ones? What, are these things the {{MacGuffin}} of everything now?
81*** Yes. The impression I got was that if it weren't for the Farplane and Pyreflies, Spira's physics and metaphysics wouldn't be too different from RealLife.
82*** "Pyreflies" is basically saying "A wizard did it".
83*** But don't you have to be a summoner to manipulate Pyreflies?
84*** Being a summoner is itself the result of training, so I don't see why other people couldn't learn parts of it like manipulating pyreflies. Also, the people doing the breathing probably are not all that aware that pyreflies are involved. Because life in Spira relies heavily on pyreflies, it's just developing instinct for them the same as breathing techniques are for us in the real world.
85** I can accept numerous reasons for why blitzball players can breath underwater (or hold their breath for up to five minutes at a time), but what got me is how Wakka can apparently TALK underwater, when you dive off the Shoopuff to rescue Yuna when you're crossing the Moonflow.
86*** He can't, he makes signs to Tidus. You can't see him talking at all.
87*** Actually, he does talk, you hear him say "Yuna, we'll save you!" as he swims towards the Extractor.
88** If you transferred all Al Bhed dictionaries to a new save then you will see that the thing Brother wants to give Tidus before getting under water again is some kind of breathing device. That's probably what Rikku uses. And since Tidus had no idea what it was it is easy to assume that he just can hold his breath long enough himself.
89*** I haven't played the game in a while but the item Brother is holding resembles a pair of Al Bhed goggles to me. To a native Spiran that would be all the visual clue they need for ''You've been drafted into the Al Bhed pal.''
90*** I think it's more like "you will need this in order to see underwater". And why he doesn't need them when playing or in Via Purifico is because Baaj Temple and it's surroundings are a stormy zone where probably the sea makes people unable to see, as opposed to the former places.
91*** If you talk to one of the Aurochs when you first wash up on Besaid, they mention something about how the best Blitzball players can hold their breath underwater for ages. Tidus is trained to hold his breath underwater for the duration of his games. Perhaps that's the reason why only him and Rikku were sent to the ruins. Rikku was the only member of the team able to hold her breath that long. Wakka has been Blitzing for years so he's likely got the experience too. Plus as Blitzball players, he and Tidus can not only breathe underwater, they can move freely and easily.
92*** A real life example: there is a tribe living on water called the Badjao who go deep-sea fishing on just one breath. Their heartbeats greatly slow down. The tribe members also somehow withstand the pressure of being down that deep. It's probably not the wisest thing to do, as no matter how hard you train, your body and brain are still starving for oxygen. They probably have to work on their focus and force themselves to stay calm and fight the impulse to gasp for air. Some can stay underwater for over five minutes.
93*** They aren't playing a high-impact, high-speed underwater version of soccer whilst doing so though. I think that's where any suggestion that this isn't magical in nature falls flat. Human lungs just are not capable of doing what is being presented here.
94* Why did they even bother fighting Seymour after the first time? Why didn't Yuna just send him?
95** It would seem that Unsent have a tremendous amount of willpower to stay around. More than likely he would have fought against the Sending, to say nothing of attacking her directly, which is another concern. Which is why they didn't Send him until they beat him again: he wasn't strong enough to fight.
96*** Summoner Ginnem gives credence to this. When you encounter her in the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, Yuna immediately tries to send her, only for it to be (rather violently) rebuffed. It seems an unsent must either consent to being sent, or be subdued first.
97** Also, the first time they meet him as an Unsent, they have to run away shortly after beating him to avoid being captured, and the second time, he falls down Mount Gagazet.
98** They try sending him after killing him the first time, but Tromell interferes.
99*** True - but we are talking about a group of people that can summon monsters, cast ridiculously powerful black magic, has enough grenades to equip an army and in which has ''Sir Auron'' as a member. Tromell and his couple of weakling guards wouldn't have stood a chance in hell if Yuna had really wanted to send Seymour.
100*** They were already in enough trouble for murdering one important Guado, they didn't want to make it worse by killing ''two''.
101*** No, it's more like "a whole army of Guado". Even our group would have problems fighting them. When you try to escape from Macalania you are pursued by unlimited Guado, no matter how many you defeat they will keep coming unless you flee and fight your boss battle as you are supposed to. Also, they can send him anytime when he is undead, Yuna tries sending him when they're marrying, but when they find him transformed it would be a difficult task to send anyone while they're throwing spells at you (Reflect is GameBreaker the first time, but Flux is ThatOneBoss for something).
102*** Perhaps he needs to be weakened first. Auron is able to resist being sent.
103** Note that the second time you fight Seymour, he absorbs the pyreflies of Kinoc and his soldiers, buffing himself up considerably. When they defeat him, they realise that the Bevelle army is not long behind and have to flee. When they fight on Mt Gagazet, Seymour just falls down the mountainside before they can get to him.
104
105
106* If the Unsent characters are basically undead, why aren't they damaged by healing spells?
107** Because they don't have Zombie status.
108** It's because their extreme willingness to live makes them alive, not undead.
109** It would screw up TheReveal about Auron.
110*** Not to mention produce gameplay balance issues that would make Auron virtually unusable. Not being able to heal him, or damaging him while healing the party, is a significant issue.
111** The Unsent and the Undead are essentially two different types of species. The Undead are basically zombies - walking corpses that exist only to kill. Unsent are more like solid ghosts that survive solely on their will to live.
112** A bit of Wild Mass Guessing here but - since the zombies only appear in the Dome - maybe they're just guards created by Yunalesca? She's reanimated their bodies and 'programmed' them to attack intruders, to test the summoners and their guardians. So in that case, they're not really fiends. Alternately they're just reanimated by all the pyreflies in the area.
113
114* Why doesn't Auron get sent after Yuna sends Seymour or at least go away from the sending so he won't be sent?
115** He doesn't get sent because [[{{Determinator}} he resists the Sending]], but he doesn't leave because that would be too conspicuous.
116** It's possible that when sending an Unsent, one must "aim," focus on who or what they're sending, with a target or target zone. (In fact, the same could go for corpses, and Yuna had the focus area as the water the bodies were in.)
117*** There's actually a scene somewhere in the game where Yuna performs a Sending, and Auron, standing some ways away, is visibly pained enough for Tidus to notice. It's no stretch to assume that the Sending is pulling at him, but he can resist because Yuna's not focusing on him. When Yuna sends all of Sin at the end, Auron goes along because he's inside Sin along with them, and because he's willing to go.
118*** I'm fairly certain that Auron collapses (in Guadosalam) before Yuna actually begins the sending, which is strange, because I can't see why that would happen. You can check a script of the game and see this.
119*** It's possible that Auron only collapsed because Lord Gyscal was drawing energy from him in order to attempt to leave the Farplane and into the real world. Lord Gyscal had suffered 'An unclean death' so he might've had extraudinary willpower to warn the living about Seymour.
120*** It's possible he collapsed due to his proximity to the entrance [[spoiler: of the Farplane]] and [[spoiler: Maester Jyscal stepping into the world of the living again.]] which would theoretically cause other unsent people to be hurt, if only because of resonance. Not the best explanation, but still relatively reasonable.
121*** Proximity seems to be the answer. If you're next to someone performing a Sending you might be sent. Determinator does not truly apply because all Unsent are Determinators, if they hadn't a strong will they wouldn't be Unsent in the first place.
122*** The whole thing with Jyscal is a headscratcher. He died an unclean death and clung to the living world as a result, and kept his mind together long enough to record his post-mortem confession. But his words in that confession make it seem like he's at peace with his death (I recall he even outright says he accepts it), and should have moved on naturally the way Tidus's mother did. In which case why, or even how, did he wander out of the Farplane as a mindless fiend-to-be? The sphere confession seems to contradict what we see in Guadosalam, because for narrative reasons we ''had'' to see them in that order to keep us in the dark about how he died.
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124
125* What does Yojimbo do with the money?
126** Hookers, booze, and illegal substances in dream!Zanarkand. As the Bahamut kid shows, the Fayth ''can'' pop over there and make themselves visible, if they so choose.
127** Or dog food.
128** [[AncientTradition Tradition]]? He is a {{Samurai}}.
129** [[Manga/SamuraiDeeperKyo First he uses it to get laid. Then he gets laid some more.]] [[HilariousOuttakes Then he gets some crack and gets laid again. Because that's what Yojimbo's about. Gettin' fucked.]]
130** Remembering ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'', maybe he is a Ronin and works as a sword for hire.[[spoiler: or the person that was transformed into the final aeon was this ]]and carries on his former occupation even in... well, aeon-ness.
131** Pays royalties to GILGAMESH in return for being an expy.
132** [[Series/{{Leverage}} Yojimbo doesnt' like stuff. He likes money]].
133
134* Why is Blitzball still played the same way 1,000 years in the future? For that matter, why does everyone speak the same language? I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to communicate with someone from 1,000 years ago.
135** Because Tidus' Zanarkand isn't ancient, its a dream of the modern Fayth. Since the faith get frequent exposure to modern Spira via summoners, keeping up with lingual trends to ensure communication, it makes sense that their dream would change as their knowledge changes.
136** The implication in the game was that the Fayth made Dream Zanarkand similar to Spira specifically ''so'' Tidus and Jecht would be accepted there to some extent. Think about it, why pick two Blitzball players in the first place? Because it's the world wide sport everyone can recognize, and [[BunnyEarsLawyer people will accept a couple of silly guys who think they're from Zanarkand if they're that good at Blitzball]]. And the cheer/signal given by fans of Dream Blitzball is identical to the salute to Yevon, mostly so Jecht and Tidus would recognize it. Everything points to the Fayth doing it on purpose, not by coincidence. Think of when Tidus meets Wakka. Wakka's reaction is, basically, "Yeah, sure, you're from ''Zanarkand''...But holy ''crap'' can you play. Wanna join us?"
137** Um no remember Tidus was based off of a famous blitzball player, as was Jecht. The reason why Blitzball is still played is because according to Yuna it takes people's minds off of Sin even for a little while. Its viewed sort of like a comfort food.
138*** I meant the reason Blitzball is played in ''Dream Zanarkand'' is to have them be familiar to the real Spira. And it still points to the Fayth deliberately picking Blitzballers so they have that connection with the real world; they might seem a little crazy to the average person, but they'll accept the eccentricities if they're that good at the world wide sport.
139*** It's stretching things pretty far to say that the Fayth deliberately shaped Dream Zanarkand just so Tidus would blend in better. A more likely explanation is that, with Sin leaving Spira in a virtually non-stop AfterTheEnd state, people are too busy trying to stay alive to worry about building a better Blitzball game. Besides, changing the one thing in their dying world that makes life fun is bound to spark TheyChangedItNowItSucks on a lynch-mob level. Blitzball's probably the only thing in life that the people of Spira can be sure won't change.
140*** The whole game, though, was a BatmanGambit on the part of the Fayth to end their dream. They deliberately sent Tidus in so he could beat Jecht and find a way to end things; it's not like it happened by accident. Remember, it's a ''dream'' world, powered by magic. You don't think they'd be able to manipulate things in their own dream world? So they make sure the Blitzball they play in Dream Zanarkand is the same as in Spira, so Tidus and Jecht will be accepted in the world, rather than put in an institution for going on and on about how they're from Zanarkand. They might not have changed the whole world (otherwise, Zanarkand would've been a lot closer to Spira), but they did keep Blitzball the same and throw in some other references so Tidus would be familiar with it.
141*** Spira is a world stuck in complete stagnation in just about everything, including technology and religion, so it wouldn't be hard to think that sports would stagnate as well. There's just no time or money for people to sit around thinking up a new sport, creating technologies to play it, and getting people excited about it or wanting to play it, especially since they already have a well-loved sport.
142*** That's right. Also, Blitzball was a sport played everywhere before the war, Dream Zanarkand was the same as Zanarkand was (it's a plot point after all, the Faith say they're dreaming Zanarkand as it was in it's glory days) so Blitzball was still played there.
143*** The question was why is it still played 'the same way'. It's because there's no room for it to advance. If they tried to advance technology to make it better and different, Sin would rise up and destroy that technology(because that's one of two commands Sin was taught when created).
144*** A minor point, but was it ever established that Jecht was "chosen?" I always assumed his encounter with Sin was a (super lucky) coincidence that just so happened to go on to lay the groundwork for breaking the cycle. Everything after that was certainly by design, but I got the feeling that the fayth only got their heads into "let's end this!" mode because a golden opportunity had been presented to them. Jecht was the random factor that set off a change in what was otherwise, as Mika puts it, "eternal, unchanging continuity." Even the fayth probably had no hope of rest until then.
145** Given how long it's existed, it's stretching things significantly to suggest that ''the entire Dream Zanarkand'' exists as it does solely to train Tidus. It's also silly to assume that there has been ''no cultural evolution'' in over a thousand years in Spira. Even if civilization never rises above a certain point, cultural norms may change, language is guaranteed to change, rules to a popular sport like blitzball may be simplified or enhanced in various ways, new forms of the sport may be created or cease to be played, etc. The simplest explanation is that as Spira has evolved, Dream Zanarkand has evolved with it. As things like the Yevon prayar, the Hymn of the Fayth, language, etc. grows and develops, it becomes incorporated to the Dream as the Fayth become exposed to it. Zanarkand's culture is effectively rooted in Spira's cultural development, not as part of a Xanatos ploy, but simply as a result of the inherent nature of their world being a dream.
146** What? Nothing grew or developed in Spira because of Yevon's taboos. Given that Yevon's teachings to the people were the best reprieve or hope the people had from Sin, it's really NOT a stretch to ANY imagination that Sin could have easily stagnated any growth for over a thousand years. Cultural Norms DIDN'T change or develop aside from the Al Bhed being ostracized because they see no problem in using Machina. Seems silly to assume is not the case, because Sin was long since programmed to nuke ANY city that showed any technological growth or large civilization (though the existence of Bevelle shoots a hole in this).
147*** If memory serves, Bevelle was as far in mainland as you could really get in Spira so it has a natural layer of protection from Sin [[spoiler:until it starts flying]]. Yuna says Luca does get targeted by Sin, which is why a large portion of the Crusaders are on 24/7 duty to protect it. The Warrior Monks are probably working 'round the clock for Bevelle as well.
148*** That really falls apart after Operation Mi'ihen, though. What could the Crusaders possibly do to deter Sin from attacking Luca if it chose to? Unlike Bevelle (see below), I feel Luca's apparent immunity is a plothole, and the game's attempt to address it is a very flimsy handwave. Either that, or FridgeBrilliance - Yuna's explanation is nonsense and yet she's never questioned it ''because that's what Yevon encourages.''
149*** Bevelle is built into the ocean, so it should see regular attacks by Sin (not that places being inland seems to stop Sin, considering the Calm Lands or the encounter at Makalania Lake) but Bevelle has special protection. Before the fight against Evrae Lulu, depending on the localization calls it "Bevelle's most powerful protector", so it seems Bevelle has a bunch of (tamed or perhaps summoned) fiends that keep Sin at bay.
150*** Isn't Bevelle protected due to the, well, "conspiracy?" As I recall after the war, Yunalesca and Yu Yevon struck a deal with the rulership of Bevelle by setting up the Yevon religion, hence its name. Sin would suppress all technological advancement to ensure Dream Zanarkand is protected, and Bevelle would aid in that endeavour by spreading the final summoning tradition in exchange for immunity from Sin's attacks. The fact that Mika knows Yu Yevon's name (apparently the commonfolk don't) makes it clear he's privy to this truth.
151** Here's some Wild Mass Guessing. Maybe since Tidus's Zanarkand is a dream, the Fayth creating it instead dream the modern version of Blitzball - as Tidus was intended to be someone to stop Sin. So they continually update their dream to match the current method of Blitzball. That way when Tidus visits Spira, he has some way of relating to the people there.
152
153* So, what's the diff between an Unsent and a Summon? And before you say "They're giant monsters", Seymour in later appearances looked for all intents and purposes like a Summon of himself.
154** Well, first of all, Unsent wouldn't be summons, they'd be Fayth- the summons are constructs created by the Fayth. And second, the Fayth are unsent because they're trapped in the magical mountain, their souls tied to this life by hatred of Sin, not by a lack of Sending. A lack of sending results in similar symptoms- magic powers and the ability to reconstruct oneself as a monster- but they're not a Fayth per se. Its sorta a political difference. Fayth create Summons, Unsent create Fiends.
155** This troper saw it as the Fayth statues being the tie that the Fayth/aeons had to the world, and their job/their hatred of Sin kept them sane. Comparatively. The Aeons themselves being exactly the same as the Unsent, just with a purpose (to help Summoners) and their "core" being elsewhere (whereas [[spoiler: Jecht and Seymour]] as well as the other Unsent and Fiends kept their core self inside their physical self).
156** They're all made out of pyreflies, it's just a matter of what's controlling them. An Unsent is a person's dying will imprinted on the pyreflies into a human-like form. A Fiend is a person's dying emotions, with no strong will behind it, getting imprinted instead. And an Aeon is sort of like a remote-control Unsent or Fiend: the pyreflies react to the Fayth's power, which is being channeled from afar by the summoner (which is why they disperse again when the summoning stops).
157** The difference between Aeons and Unsent are the same as the difference between Tidus and Wakka or Jecht and Auron (during Braska's pilgrimage). Aeons, like Tidus and Jecht, are dreams of the Fayth. Unsent, like Wakka and pre-game Auron, are not dreams of anyone. The difference between Tidus/Jecht and an Aeon is that Aeons are also born of the emotions of the Fayth, giving them Fiendlike qualities (hence why they LOOK like Fiends), where Tidus and Jecht were torn out of the Fayth's dreams, were not created from their emotions as well and Aeons are summoned where Tidus and Jecht aren't. The difference between the living and an Unsent seems to be that pyreflies can't stay together when someone dies, so they gradually come apart (possibly due to wanting to go to the Farplane) and as they come apart, so does the Unsent's mental state. The difference between Fayth and Unsent is that Fayth don't suffer any sort of degradation like an Unsent does because they aren't technically dead- their souls were just moved to another place. They seem to be alive enough that their pyreflies don't disperse, but they can be Sent because their souls are no longer tied to their bodies, despite still being whole.
158** They're the complete opposite of each other. Unsent are people who died prematurely or badly - in such a way that it creates a ghost or phantom that survives only on obsession. Fayth meanwhile are people who willingly sacrificed themselves to be servants of summoners. As the Fayth become so willingly, that makes them different from Unsent.
159** Unsent aren't necessarily the product of premature death only. It's likely that Mika died of old age, but his will to maintain Yevon kept him going.
160
161* Sin seems to be some kind of marine thing or something, so couldn't they just avert the problem by not living near the water?
162** Sin prefers water just like the pyreflies, but he can still fly around just fine(though it does seem that places near water get attacked more often).
163** Dude, take a look at the map. Most of the planet's islands, so there isn't much choice unless you want to all cram onto Mt. Gagazet or onto the Calm Lands.
164** Even the Calm Lands aren't safe, judging by the rift's origin story. And who's to say that every incarnation of Sin was water-based? Jecht liked the water, he was a professional Blitzball player, so it's kind of useful that this Sin's abilities and environment were reminiscent of Blitzball. Why would you move to a monster-infested mountain or forest or ice plain if you were just going to have to move back in as little as five years?
165*** Sin is always the same monster, so it's always water-based. If Sin changed every time a summoner defeats him I think the whole thing about him being a creature that returns from death (that's what people believe in Spira) would make no sense.
166** Also keep in mind that throughout human history most people have lived near the coast or other large bodies of water. It's just more convenient in terms of getting food, water, and natural resources. The Calm Lands, by contrast, are basically wind-blasted wastes and grasslands on high plateaus, not terribly suitable for settlement.
167** Am I the only one who remembers that ugly whale ''flying'' at the end of the game? It looks like Sin prefers to stay in water, but can go anywhere he damn pleases.
168** I posted this before.
169** Sin most definitely can fly and has done so before (as in, before the game).
170** [[OverlyLongGag I think what everybody's forgetting here is that Sin can fly.]]
171*** [[ParrotExposition Sin can fly]][[CaptainOblivious ?]] [[VideoGame/MetalGear It can't be!]]
172
173* Wait, wait wait. Wait. ''What'' is Yojimbo's dog? Is it part of him, like Anima's other head presumably is, or is it an extra bit that got thrown in to make the summon better, like each of the Magus sisters?
174** I believe Yojimbo's fayth had a dog entombed with him (if nothing else, it appears when the fayth talks to Tidus). So apparently, Yojimbo's dog is the projection of the fayth dog.
175** Of course, if animals can be turned into Fayth, it opens up opportunities for all kinds of interesting Aeons.
176*** Considering Daigoro can't do anything or communicate without Yojimbo, I doubt an animal can just become a Fayth.
177** I think what it is is that Yojimbo's dog was so faithful and loyal to him that they both became Fayth at the same time, but Yojimbo allows for Daigoro to exist. Without him, Daigoro couldn't be a Fayth because he's a dog who can't communicate to humans what he wants. I think their souls are tied together, and Yojimbo decided to become a Fayth if his dog could join him so they could be together always. This is supposing that each Fayth represents a different virtue (with Yojimbo and Daigoro being Loyalty, which is not one of the seven but Yojimbo is also one of eight Fayth and the one who was stolen), with the other seven being Chastity (Shiva), Diligence (Ixion), Temperance (Ifrit), Patience (the Magus Sisters), Kindness (Valefor), Humility (Bahamut), and Charity (Anima).
178
179* When fighting that one fiend on the airship, Wakka throws a blitzball maybe a few hundred feet, nails it, and it still has the power to return to his hands. ''How the crap did the Aurochs lose for ten years!?'' I understand there's some difference between air and water, but... c'mon, man!
180** A: The enemy had better goalies in Nimrook and such. B: Remember, the further away from the goal you are, the weaker the SH stat becomes in the game.
181** One can only assume the fault lay in the rest of the Aurochs' general lack of talent and the team's overall lack of motivation.
182*** You sure? I kept the Aurochs (except throwing Tidus in) and as usual, Tidus was my only decent player. We dominated. I suppose if Wakka's one of those "make sure everyone else" gets a turn people, though...
183*** That's hardly a fair comparison; Wakka may be good, but Tidus is a GameBreaker at blitzball.
184*** The Aurochs are the Cubs and, just like the Luca Goers are the Spira equivalent of the Yankees. Or.. they just don't have the luxury of state of the art training facilities and practicing at the beach would run the risk of Sin swooping down or some other fiends attacking.
185*** Also, maybe the only really good player they had all this time WAS just Wakka? In relation, if you use the Blitzball Characters then the Original Auroch's Team, the only one who is any good is Wakka. And his Auroch's Spirit Shot "is" the most powerful Shot in the game, reaching 99 easily before anyone can come close to 70, and that's with a full power Sphere Shot. The rest of the Auroch's are mostly just average at best, though ironically it's the Luca Goers who end up garbage later on.
186*** Wakka's Auroch Spirit Shot depends on how many original Aurochs you have in your team, their SH is added to yours. Also, have you seen the Albhed Psyches monstruous goalkeeper? Albhed Psyches can easily own your original team unless you're lucky at first stages of the game.
187** That's easy. In a Blitzball match most shots are made by kicking the ball not throwing it. Sure Wakka can THROW a ball a few hundred feet, but maybe he's not so good at kicking?
188** It's obvious that Evrae is a good sport and hits it back to him.
189** Having ''one'' good thrower doesn't make your entire team the stuff of legends. Even if Wakka had the SH and accuracy to score consistently, maybe he's a horrible defender, or his teammates were easy to tackle, or there was no coordination among the Aurochs, or they panicked when they had possession and freaked during defense, or any number of things. It's really obvious, but in sports, having one teammate with one extraordinary attribute is not enough to win you games.
190** It's heavily implied that the whole reason the Besaid Aurochs had such a bad record was because of a severe lack of motivation. When every other team strove for "VICTORY!", the Aurochs' goal was simply "to do their best". They essentially didn't care if they won, hence they never really tried to win, and so they got utterly trashed by the teams who DID want to win, e.g. the Luca Goers. You can see from your encounters with the Goers in the game that they do have a strong motivation and enthusiasm to win, even if they are jerks about it. Once Tidus gives the Aurochs their new goal - "VICTORY!" - they get a pretty huge motivation boost and (if the player does well enough) go on to ''win'' the Blitzball tournament in Luca for the first time in the team's history. So long story short, it's not that Wakka was a bad Blitzball player, it was just that he was never really motivated enough to win before.
191** Wakka holds back during Blitzball games and only throws that hard when he wants to kill something. He could probably pitch the ball into the enemy goal from clear across the water sphere but doing that would mean throwing it hard enough rip the limbs off any defenders trying to stop it and caving in the opposing goalie's head/chest.
192** GameplayAndStorySegregation.
193*** Speaking of which, it's funny how Auron is portrayed as "the heavy hitter" when in reality Tidus and Wakka (and by extension all blitzball players) would have to be ''supernaturally'' strong to be able to play blitzball. If anything they should be by far the strongest and fastest characters in the party.
194
195* The Al Bhed language. Just changing one letter for each letter? Fryd dra vilg fana drao drehgehk?
196** [[RuleOfCool Nima Uv Luum]] un [[XtremeKoolLetterz Qdnasa Guum Maddanw]], E tuh'd ghuf.
197** Maybe they were thinking it would be easier to create, work with, and translate a cipher language than trying to make up an entirely new language from scratch?
198** The weird thing here is that Rin the Al Bhed trader that keeps cropping up, mentions the cipher language is part of the cultural barrier that fosters prejudice towards the Al Bhed, and laments few people like the protagonists are trying to learn it. In turn, very few Al Bhed know un-ciphered English, so it doesn't seem like they all got together and decided to do it just for pyreflies and giggles (at least, not the present generation, maybe it's all a big joke of their ancestors?)
199** I think we can chalk it up to GameplayAndStorySegregation. As far as Spira's concerned, the Al Bhed really do speak a different language. Having the language presented to the player as a simple cipher is just the developers' way of making sure we can solve the puzzles and enjoy the Al Bhed's BilingualBonus dialogue (and it saved them the trouble of having to actually invent a fictional language).
200*** What is strange is that if you only have partial knowledge of Al Bhed, you can see words partially deciphered, rather than a word being completely known or unknown to you. Then again, it is a step above most depictions of fictional languages (like Tho Fan in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', which, if you listen closely, has the same sets of phrases for various groups of people, like old men or young women, regardless of context), and a nice touch of detail.
201*** It can be assumed that you're still learning so you get some things but not them all because you still don't get the accent. Or something like that.
202** There's also the fact that it was used for secrecy from other Spirans. It's almost impossible to translate a cypher unless you have the key. If it is possible to translate, it takes a ridiculous amount of time to figure out, and even then one may be wrong.
203* How the hell Tidus even knows how to handle a sword? Because when Auron gives him one, right at the beginning, he seems pretty comfortable with it, and later Wakka even comments how good he is in battle with the fiends... He's a blitzball star, alright, but would blitzball training include sword-fighting :D ?
204** Keep in mind that Auron's been keeping an eye on him for years, and ostensibly had ''some'' idea that Tidus might be pulled into Spira at some point. He seems to know what's going on when Sin shows up. Therefore, it's entirely plausible that Auron taught him how to handle a blade over the years. Also, at one point Wakka asks if fiends are a problem in Zanarkand, and Tidus mentions they usually stay away, but when they do show up, they're a big problem. Therefore, it'd make sense for someone in that world to know how to take care of themselves, just in case.
205** On the other hand, the first time Auron gives him the sword he practically falls over because of its weight. As for "handling" it, Tidus's only move for the first part of the game is running up to a monster, slashing it, and running away. It's not like he goes in for complicated swordplay, nor does he have a shield or any other accoutrements.
206** Instructions for swordfighting: put the pointy part towards the enemy.
207** He DOESN'T know how to handle a sword. The game even says he's "inexperienced" with the sword, which is why he's not as strong physically as Auron, who does have experience. His stance is awkward and he holds the sword in a strange way. Wakka's comment about him being good in battle might not necessarily refer to his skill with a sword specifically - Wakka's actual line is "You handled yourself pretty well", which might mean that Tidus kept calm and didn't panic or something, rather than that he was a good fighter. Then again, he is fast, and it's reasonable to assume he has very good upper body strength (he can throw a ball through WATER at enough force to make it travel very far and very fast), so it's likely that despite his inexperience, he could still do some damage when he whacked the enemies with the sharp end of his blade.
208** It's pretty obvious early on that Tidus doesn't really know how to use a sword that well, as shown in the beginning when he almost dropped his from its weight. His skill really isn't in the sword, it's in his natural agility and ability to stay calm in a life-or-death situation (which is good because he tends not to when he isn't in one). Also compare his early Overdrives with his late ones. Spiral Sword is mainly just acrobatics, with the final hit just using the sword weight to fall down on the enemy. Slice N Dice is him just running around and slashing mainly at random. Energy Rain really has nothing to do with the sword at all. Only Blitz Ace (which is unlocked by using his Overdrives again and again, to show he's been training) shows his swordsmanship. So while he doesn't start as a good swordsman, he definitely has become one by the end.
209*** Even Blitz Ace doesn't look particularly fancy. It's just a series of diagonal slashes which most people reading this page could do - though probably not the backflip. As said, though, nothing Tidus goes up against with the sword really warrants actual skill. It's not like he fights other sword users duel-style, and most fiends seem to lack intelligence and the will to defend themselves.
210** The hook-shaped swords were a holdover from early development, where blitzballers would latch them onto the "ball" (originally a different shape) and sling them. That idea got scrapped in favor of blitzball being played bare-handed, but they decided to keep the sword designs and Tidus being their primary user.
211
212* What the heck is that gigantic water bridge/tentacle that hovers over Dream Zanarkand? At first I figured it was Sin's wake as it emerged from the ocean (for that matter, what's up with Sin's sphere of water in the opening scene? It does kinda make sense for a flying ocean creature, but Sin never uses it again), but it's also there during Tidus's experience with the Fayth, and it's there in the official artwork too, suggesting it's a permanent structure.
213** You mean that waterfall like structure? It's just a part of Zanarkands architecture, probably magical in nature. Given that the world of FFX is dominated by magic, its not really a shock or anything to the possibility, ESPECIALLY considering the origins.
214*** If you're going to resort to AWizardDidIt, don't act so self-righteous about. Also, Dream Zanarkand doesn't ''have'' magic, hence Tidus freaking out and the other characters giving him a JustifiedTutorial to explain it. So unless they're all being programmed to not notice the big water bridge (which would raise the question of why it's there at all), there must be some other reason for it in their minds. I can come up with an explanation myself, such as it's a technological sculpture using the same kind of energy field that created the blitzball water sphere, but I thought it'd make a fun discussion. You, on the other hand, seem to assume that anyone who asks questions is too stupid to think up their own answers.
215*** This troper thinks you're being oversensitive. No one is calling or implying that someone is stupid for not assuming that its magical. But however, given that the city's very nature is magical, its not something that's impossible to assume. I don't mean a magician is literally conjuring it up. But perhaps its just magical architecture of some kind. Besides, who said that Dream Zanarkand didn't have Magic? I don't remember Tidus freaking out when he saw it. Maybe a 'whoa that's cool' but not a 'whoa what is that I've never seen it before.' But, to be fair, the explanation you came up with, the energy field thing, that's a good theory.
216*** Tidus definitely freaks out about, saying he's never seen anything like that, and the others are likewise confused that he's never seen magic before. It's kinda odd, since it never comes up after the tutorial on how to use magic, but if I had to guess the answer, I'd say magic runs the risk of destabilizing Dream Zanarkand (just as Sin's presence seemed to be warping the buildings when it flew into the city), so its inhabitants are "programmed" not to know about it.
217** It's just a background decoration, probably meant to imply that Zanarkand is such an advanced civilization (look at their MagiTek blitzball stadium, far more hi-tech than Luca's) that they can afford to show off their control of the elements with such awe-striking monuments.
218** Given that the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2 sequel]] establishes that Zanarkand ''was'' the magic city it's likely that it's a remnant of original Zanarkand that remained because it was a huge landmark (possibly ''the'' aspect of the skyline the city was known for), even if over the next millenium magic was [[RetCon retconned]] out of the illusion.
219*** I personally thought it gave a nice effect. What is it and how does it work? It doesn't matter. Its presence serves to highlight the ''otherworldly'' nature of (Dream) Zanarkand.
220
221* What did people do in Spira before Sending was invented? How did life ever develop on Spira? Unless someone dies at peace (something so rare it's almost unheard of, if Yuna's reaction to seeing Tidus's mom in the Farplane is any indication) or they get sent, then they turn into a Fiend or an Unsent, and the huge majority of them turn into Fiends. So while people were still figuring out the whole Sending thing, what kept the world from being totally overrun with Fiends? Even during Final Fantasy X, there are schools of aquatic, voraciously predatory Fiends that would probably wreak havoc on the ocean's ecosystem, and every land environment has Fiends roaming all over the place. I'd ask why we don't see more native animals, but there seems to be a reasonable explanation... the Fiends are killing them all, just like the Chocobo Eater preys on chocobos! So what happened for those first few millions years while humanity was still banging on rocks and nobody knew what a Sending was? If Spira's overrun with fiends now, with summoners all over the place, what in the world was it like when nobody was getting sent and almost ''every single person who died turned into a Fiend''? How is Spira not a Fiend-ruled wasteland by the time the present day rolls around?
222** I can come up with one explanation while thinking about it: humans in Spira didn't develop civilization on their own, but were created by gods who gave them the knowledge to send the spirits of the dead right from the start. But that goes against the rest of the story, which seems bent on debunking its own mythology: the Aeons, at first explained as angels, turn out to come from humans, and Yu Yevon turns out to be a human ruler gone mad. There are fantasy elements in Spira, but they all come from humans (the Fiends, the Unsent, the Fayth, the Aeons, Sin, Yu Yevon...), not vice versa.
223** The only other explanation I can think of is that maybe the Fiends only arose as a result of using magic. Life developed normally in Spira until people began to use magic, and the pyreflies giving rise to Fiends and Unsents (heck, maybe the whole existence of the pyreflies themselves) was just a side effect, sort of a magical pollution that's built up in Spira. That way, by the time the Fiends started appearing, people already knew enough about magic to create the Sending.
224** The simplest explanation is that people only turn into fiends if they died in a manner that incited unacceptance, rage, or resentment, or in a manner that they cannot accept. Some old dude dying in his sleep wouldn't turn into a Fiend. When Sin came about, there were a lot of people dying horrible, violent deaths, therefore turning into fiends. Not everyone who dies turns into one, especially given that the game gives us a very good example; Tidus' mother. I have to wonder how some of my fellow tropers are thinking up these theories.
225*** Because your "fellow tropers" are aware that death, pretty much by ''definition'', incites "unacceptance, rage, or resentment", and that very few people are actually happy to die when their time comes. Yuna even made a big deal about that, which your fellow tropers were apparently paying attention to. What's more, even if we assume that you have to die a violent death to become a Fiend, that means every crime victim, everyone killed by a wild animal, everyone who suffers a fatal accident, everyone who dies in any way that's grueling and painful becomes a fiend (and then violently kills more people, creating [[TheVirus more fiends]]). So how about just giving your personal Wild Mass Guess without the snide little insults towards your "fellow tropers"?
226*** I think my fellow tropers are being oversensitive. While any theory is as good as the next in this discussion (besides the created by gods theory which the Ultimania seems to disprove), I suppose if I had to guess, it's just a stupid idea that the plot never really ties up. If I HAD to guess, I would say that Sending is tied to Sin's appearance and presence.
227*** That's not a bad answer: maybe Sin and the Sinspawn are responsible for most of the fiends we see in the game. Once Sin was defeated, the world might be gradually turning back to normal, where the fiends are as rare as Tidus described them being in Dream Zanarkand (which might be how rare they really were in the old days, before Sin threw the world into a never-ending apocalypse).
228** Who says Spira ''isn't'' a fiend-ruled wasteland? Aside from the chocobos, shoopufs and the occasional dog or cat, how often do you see any "normal" animals? Meanwhile, the endless fiends you fight are numerous and varied and often take on relatively unassuming forms like wolves or birds, or even bees (which play an absolutely vital environmental role through pollination). This troper's WMG is that after 1000 years of Sin, Spira has actually evolved quite a lush and thriving necrosystem.
229*** That sounds about right. Fiends seem to have grown into their own ecological niche in Spira, along with "non-Fiend" animals, and both this game and its sequel show that they can even be tamed and kept as guardians or pets. Additionally, a person (or another animal) getting killed by a Fiend is not much different from one getting killed by natural causes, a regular animal, or another person, so the origin, and presence of Fiends at all doesn't pose much of an issue for the growth of life as a whole (whether it poses issues for the ''afterlife'' is another matter. The Farplane is probably pretty vacant, all things considered.)
230*** Rikku mentions that the Al-Bhed perform their own sendings by dancing togther, and get the power to do so from eachother. Even in reality, many cultures perform dances and rituals(Even in ancient times) to send off their loved ones. It's not farfetched to say Sending has always existed, the method to do so just changed throughtout time and culture.
231*** When/where does she say that?
232** I think the answer is pretty simple. People developed bad ass warrior monks like Auron and black mages like Lulu. Fiends are strong but so are humans. Add to the fact that Tidus suggest fiends are rarer in the past and human civilization establishing itself isn't strange at all. The fiend problem isn't as big in the present as it was in the past. As Lulu says on Mt Gagazet, fiends kill people and create more fiends. The more there are the more the more people die and the more are made. Sin killing a crap tonne of people doesn't help too. But without those two factors the problem is pretty manageable. Less than one fiend for every dead person (I think there's a reference to multiple people making up a single fiend, and even if I'm miss remembering that not everybody makes a fiend) and you just need some warriors killing them every now and then.
233** The sequel confirms that Summoners were around before Sin was created. So Sending has presumably been a tradition for more than a thousand years. Perhaps the Fayth themselves teach the Summoner how to do it?
234** It's entirely possible that sending was only something that developed after Sin was created. After that, suddenly loads more people were dying sudden, violent deaths - so perhaps the practice was developed to prevent Spira from becoming even more overrun by fiends.
235* A small question, but what happens to the Fayth of the Final Aeon? Yunalesca uses a summoner's guardian to create the Final Aeon, which then turns into Sin after Yu Yevon possesses it. But does the process create a Fayth and, if so, what happens to it? If we assume Anima is an unused Final Aeon, then we saw that it had a Fayth, but it's not clear that Anima's a Final Aeon (if it is, then why is the Fayth in Baaj Temple instead of the Zanarkand Ruins?). Jecht, on the other hand, seemed to have actually become the Aeon. Perhaps the Final Aeon process is different and doesn't make a Fayth, or maybe the Fayth shatters once Yu Yevon takes over the Aeon. Still, it'd have been interesting if you could go around the world, tracking down the Fayths of the previous four Final Aeons to hear their firsthand accounts of what happened.
236** Anima can't be a Final Aeon, because Seymour never intended to complete his pilgrimage, choosing to be a member of the church instead. Presumably, a physical Fayth is not made, as the Final Aeon will only be used once, and therefore does not need to be anchored into reality for very long. Also, there have been far more than four final aeons.
237*** According to the Ultimania (and the game itself, considering that whether he intended to finish his pilgramage or not, Seymour and his mother did go through the 'Final Aeon' process), Anima is indeed his Final Aeon. Of course, since a Final Aeon's power is tied to the summoner it was meant for, Anima is just a regular Aeon to everyone but Seymour. Also, there were probably more than five Final Aeons, but Sin was only actually beaten five times, so take that as you will.
238*** This troper finds it quite reasonable that Anima be a Final Aeon, she's far and away the most powerful of the "conventional" summons in the game, the two unconventional summons, while potentially more powerful are hampered by their costs (paying Yojimbo a million-plus yen for him to ''maybe'' use Zanmato) and unpredictability (Get Mindy to unleash Passado on command. Go on, I'll wait). As for Seymour "never intending to complete his pilgrimage," I've always read the story of his pilgrimage as going like this: Seymour and his mother have already, it seems, spent the majority of his life in exile at Baaj because the majority of Spirans are xenophobic bastards who don't accept Seymour. From her line in the Zanarkand flashback the player sees, his mother may be in the final stages of a terminal illness ("I...don't have much time left"). His mother is desperate: The entire world is hostile to her child--who is, remember, about ''eight years old''--and he, despite being Jyscal's legitimate heir, doesn't seem to have much in the way of a future. On top of that, she's going to die soon and with her possibly the last person in the world who loves this little boy (the game is silent about Jyscal's thoughts about his son at this stage in his life, but clearly Seymour's mother didn't think he could or would help). Her final effort to ease her child's pain is to have him become a High Summoner, revered by Spirans as their savior. He'll die in the process and she'll perish soon after from her illness (remember, information on where the Final Aeon comes from is released by Yunalesca and the order of Maesters on a strictly need-to-know basis and they think very few people need to know), safe in the knowledge that Seymour can no longer be hurt and will live forever both in the memory of Spira and the Farplane. It's sad and wrong, yes, especially knowing what we as players know about the reality of Spira and Yevon, but check the news; a parent or parents in dire straits deciding that essentially death is the best/only option for them and/or their children is hardly rare. So she goes with her son on a pilgrimage. Seymour himself, this troper theorizes, was persuaded by his mother into thinking this was the best or only way, remember, he's a small child and thus both not exactly clear on the concept of death and very likely to believe his beloved mother wholeheartedly and even if he didn't, he's not in a position of enough power to effectively defy her. And so the pilgrimage goes on, until they reach Zanarkand and have the awful truth revealed to them. Seymour's mother offers herself as Seymour's Final Aeon, either because she is his only Guardian or because she is the most qualified, given that whole "bond of love" thing Yunalesca stresses as being so important. Yunalesca accepts her offer and turns her into the fayth, effectively killing her. Now, think of the situation Seymour is in right now. His dearly loved mother is suddenly gone, he is all alone in Zanarkand which is plenty terrifying and dangerous even for adults, the only person with him is the ''dead woman'' who just killed his mother and is insisting now that he go and summon ''his mother's soul'' in a pitched battle with a ''mountain-sized cosmic abomination'' so that the controller of said abomination can ''possess his mother's soul and turn it into another hideous monstrosity, killing him in the process''. And at the time all of this happens, he is somewhere around ''eight years old.'' In short, I believe that insofar as a small child can consent to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, at the beginning of his pilgrimage Seymour did intend to go through with it, but at the end, deprived of his caretaker and guardian, facing down the reality of death all alone, he could not go through with it and this troper finds herself unable to blame him for backing out.
239*** That's actually a really nice theory and this troper really likes it. Unfortunately, there's just two holes in it: Anima has both a Fayth and a Temple built around that Fayth, which has since collapsed (possibly destroyed by Seymour to keep it secret?), whereas the Final Aeon does not. It's also stated that the act of summoning the Final Aeon is what kills the summoner. If Anima was Seymour's Final Aeon, the moment he summoned her in Luca, the force of the summon would have killed him then and there, and that's assuming it's the first time he's used her. A simpler and, regrettably, less interesting explanation is just that Seymour's mother became the Fayth of Baaj Temple so that she could protect her son.
240*** Maybe Yunalesca had just about enough human left in her to let a kid go. She never had any, so maybe she felt sorry for Seymour then and left him alone.
241*** It's revealed at the end of FFX in the conversation with Yunalesca that the summoning isn't what kills the summoner, rather it's Yevon, whom after being defeated, possesses the new Final Aeon and kills the summoner with it. Therefore, anyone who has the Final Aeon can use it at will, like with the other summons, but will be killed if they are able to defeat sin. This brings about the question of how Seymour, who is about eight or nine at the time, was able to escape from Yunalesca and live to be his ripe age(Yunalesca has already shown that she doesn't like letting people go after they find out the secret), and it also brings about the question of why Yuna didn't just use Seymour's Final Aeon and have her guardians protect her. Yeah, some may argue that the Final Aeon is supposed to be extremely strong, but think about it. Not only does she have the most guardians in history(Which can be pieced together by Donna, Yunalesca, and the sphere memories), but they were also able to defeat Braska's Final Aeon, AND they defeated both Seymour's Final Aeon AND Seymour's final Aeon form, AND when Yevon begins possessing Yuna's summons, they were STILL able to beat him. Though not all of this information was available when they jumped into the belly of the beast, and Anima is an extra summon, so it wouldn't have worked if Tidus hadn't wanted revenge on that huge damned fish...
242*** What gives you the impression that Yunalesca forces summoners to face Sin immediately after obtaining the Final Aeon...? She fought Yuna's party because they rejected her revelation. We never get to see how she would have responded to someone who accepted her basic premise but we can guess that Seymour did, since he apparently entered the temple school soon after leaving Zanarkand, quickly gaining popularity and rising through the ranks. And an isolated kid whose mother just died in front of him? Yunalesca's argument that death is the only escape from Sin was probably ''far'' more convincing to that kid than it was to Yuna's party. It's probably where he got the whole idea to end all suffering in Spira by just '''ending Spira''' in the first place...
243*** The summoner isn't killed in the final summoning by being physically attacked by the final aeon. The act of possesion itself is what kills the summoner because it simultaneously severs the mental bond between summoner and final aeon that allowed the aeon to be created in the first place. Guardians can't protect against that no matter how many there are or how capable.
244*** On that note about Seymour's mother being his only guardian... how many summoners have had a single guardian, made it all the way to Zanarkand, converted that guardian to a final aeon ''thus leaving them defenceless'', and then died to a cheapshot on the way to fight Sin? Or are we meant to assume they call their final aeon and literally ride it out of there?
245** As to the original question regarding the Fayth of the Final Aeon, I always assumed that it was carried within Sin. That's why Jecht is there, standing in his recreation of Zanarkand. Because he IS the Fayth of the most recent Final Aeon; the Fayth of Sin.
246** The first final aeon had a fayth, you walk over the stone tablet/statue thingie's remains when approaching Yunalesca. Which brings another question to mind, do fayths get "used up" from being summoned or does the fayth just vanish to nothingness after some hundred years?
247*** It's possible that the Fayths of the successful Final Aeons are stored somewhere in Zanarkand (Yunalesca's personal trophy room perhaps?). Also it's possible that Yunalesca (working with Yevon) arranged to have Anima's Fayth taken out of Zanarkand and placed in Baaj. Also, and this is a personal theory of mine, what's to keep the other Aeons (Valefor, Ixion, Shiva etc) from also being Final Aeons, just of unsuccesful summoners. There are obvious many summoners in the world of Spira, some of them must be able to reach Zanarkand and make the deal but not finish off Sin. It'd definately explain how and from where all the Fayth come from.
248*** If the Fayths of the succesful Final Aeons are stored in Zanarkand, are they the ones chanting the Hymn of the Faith in Zanarkand's temple?
249*** Pretty much pure speculation, but here goes: I have seen speculation that Baaj Temple was, in fact, Yojimbo's Temple. It would explain the disarray it is in. With no Fayth, it would have fallen into decay, which as an additional fact, DEFINITELY doesn't match with being the home of a fairly new Fayth (one that is less than a few decades old.) Seymour is a Maester. A high ranking official of Yevon. Would it really be that big of a deal for him to go back, grab his mother's Fayth statue, and hide it, where he can be assured that he, and only he can call upon her power. Not to mention, the way to access her: to access "keys" in all the rest of the temples. Someone with an intimate knowledge of all the temples would be needed to do this. Furthermore, someone with that knowledge would know about Baaj's state of both availability and, by the looks of things, outright location. It all matches his motives, and it matches his rank.
250*** Looking at the pieces of information we have regarding this: Lord Zaon had a Fayth statue, but the Fayth itself was gone. This is explicitly stated. Additionally, Jecht's Fayth is not present in Zanarkand; it is within Sin itself. So it seems that the Fayth gets a monument within Zanarkand like any other Fayth created in a Temple, but once the Final Aeon is possessed by Yu Yevon, their spirit becomes imprisoned within Sin, separated from the statue. When Sin is destroyed, the Fayth's spirit does not return to the Temple, as evidenced by Lord Zaon's empty shell, suggesting that it either fades into the Farplane, or [[CessationOfExistence simply ends]], either way leaving a barren shell of a Fayth statue in Zanarkand Temple with no Fayth to inhabit it after Sin is destroyed.
251** Listen to the choir singing the Hymn in Yunalesca's hall. It's many Fayth, and they sing off-key. They probably are the Fayth of the Final Aeons, and their statues are probably hidden somewhere in this dungeon.
252** According to the Final Fantasy Wiki, Anima's fayth was indeed in Zanarkand. It wasn't until Seymour became a Maester that he arranged for it to be brought to Baaj.
253* Auron died 10 years prior to the beginning of the game, and his younger form is shown being killed by Yunalesca in a cutscene. Yet 10 years later, he's actually ''physically'' aged. Since he watched over Tidus after Jecht's disappearance, Tidus would have seen him aging. None of the other unsent are seen to be capable of doing this. Why is that?
254** Unsent are capable of controlling their 'aging' to appear normal. We don't see any other unsent doing this because Auron is the only one we really see over the course of a long time.
255** Plus, all the other unsent are ''already'' really old men by the time we meet them, except for Seymour, who doesn't last long enough to noticeably age.
256** Shuyin, Belgemine, one of Lulu's dead summoners... Most noticeable on Shuyin who has at least 1000 years on him. Really the only old looking unsent is the head of the church who's name I forget. With Auron, I can understand the aging thing, maybe, but then, if he can change his form enough to do that; why did he hang onto the scar?
257*** Ahem. Badass.
258*** Alternatively, the scar is a reminder of his failure and the promise he made to Yuna and Tidus' fathers.
259** I figured it was a result of hanging around Dream Zanarkand for ten years. Tidus clearly grew from a child to a teenager in that time, so people there do get older, despite being made of pyreflies like the Unsent. Auron was probably affected as well.
260*** A key point is more than one person had seen Auron after his encounter with Yunalesca. Kimahri dragged Auron to Rin's care, and Rin refers to Auron's injuries as a pretty horrific wound. Lacking a scar or some visible wound may have tipped Rin or anyone else who could have seen Auron off.
261* Tidus' mother shows up in the Farplane. Tidus' Zanarkand was never real to begin with. Only Tidus and Jecht become real by virtue of being granted that reality by the Fayth. Does this mean that the Al-Bhed are right about that place and it really is just made of memories?
262** This is left deliberately ambiguous (also consider that Seymour's father's spirit tries to ''escape'' the Farplane). Tidus' mother may be as 'real' as Tidus himself is; there's no indication that the Fayth actually ''changed'' Tidus when he went into Spira. More that he was just moved from one to the other.
263** It turns out that thanks to information from the Ultimanias, that Tidus' Zanarkand is actually a real, physical place somewhere far out in the ocean. There's even a spot for in in the world map in the Ultimania book. According to the book, Yu Yevon 'resets' the citizens that wander too far out (which is why that no one wonders 'whats out there' beyond the city), but Jecht and Tidus circumvent this by hitching a ride on Sin. Auron of course, is exempt from Yu Yevon's influence.
264** Just like the Aeons have a physical presence, a solid manifestation of the dreams of the Fayth (and presumably constructed out of pyreflies during the Summoning,) maybe the population of Dream Zanarkand is every bit as that of Spira, except that they need the Fayth atop Gagazet to dream about them constantly to even exist. Tidus eats just the same, Jecht can get drunk, everyone in Dream Zanarkand can grow up and grow old; it's not much of a stretch to think they have their own souls and minds, that they can have children, and that they can pass on when the Fayth's dream makes it so. Then again, this makes one wonder whether Jecht-as-Sin really killed the entire population of his hometown when he absorbed it at the beginning of the game. Also, even if the Al-Bhed are wrong about the Farplane, who's to say that the spirit of Tidus' mother continued to exist in there once the Fayth stopped dreaming?
265*** Or it might just be Shuyin's mom, if Dream Zanarkand is really supposed to be a recreation of the original. Tidus may be recalling the mother of the actual person he was modeled after.
266*** The fact that Jecht could become a fayth and create a Final Aeon indicates that the denizens of Dream Zanarkand are quite real, though they are more similar to unsents than to living humans.
267** This makes a lot more sense if you're familiar with Hellenic (ancient Greek) and [[UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} Gnostic]] philosophy, where the human soul and consciousness comes from fragments of primordial "stuff" that can be shaped and crafted like any another substance. Since the population of Dream Zanarkand is being summoned, that means they're Aeons (which is a Gnostic term). Both Aeons and the souls of Spirans are thus "conscious" or "alive", as they're made out of the same primordial soulstuff, named Pyreflies. The difference is that the Aeons are formed directly out of Pyreflies, and return to Pyreflies when the summoning is over. They're only given material substance by the force of will of the summoner, otherwise they exist only as the very essence of consciousness itself. When the freed essence ends up in the Farplane, it can thus be fashioned like an Aeon from the memories of the visitors, but since it's only the dead who have returned to the Farplane, living people won't show up because their fragments of Pyreflies aren't there. If this sounds like the Lifestream, FFVII also trucked heavily in Gnostic and Hellenic philosophy.
268** Food for thought - Rikku says she won't go to the Farplane because she doesn't think it's actually the person you're going to see. She says the pyreflies just form the image of someone who died based off the person's memories. So if that's the truth, Tidus's mother was only formed because she was dead and Tidus thought of her.
269*** The Al Bhed theory that the dead appearing on the Farplane are just memories is heard from Maechen, but he immediately points out something that disproves the idea. If the images on the Farplane were simply memories of the living people visiting it, then anything or at least anyone could appear, including the living. As Maechen mentions and is shown when Tidus tries to call up Jecht, people who aren't dead can't appear on the Farplane, which means the souls of people must actually reside there.
270
271* Bit meta because this is about the FFX entry itself: Auron being referred to as a {{CoolOldGuy}} (emphasis on ''old'') and a badass. The man's 35, and that's just chronologically. Biologically, he probably hasn't aged since ... well, you know. He's older than the rest of them because this is Final Fantasy and the average protagonist is about 17, but he's not even middle-aged! Anyone unfamiliar with the game would probably assume he was some wrinkled, doddering old dude.
272** The artists even designed Auron as looking like he's easily in his 50's, and Cid had the same problem in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' (he was also supposed to be in his 30's). It really seems sometimes like aging in the Squeenix games goes from kids to teenagers to... late middle-aged, with nothing in between at all. In-universe, I'd chalk Auron's appearance up to his feeling world-weary and tired, and his Unsent form reflecting it, and the other characters' treatment of him to his being a legendary guardian who seemingly vanished for 10 years; they don't necessarily think of him as "old", just as a legendary warrior (Tidus jokes about him being old, but Tidus was partly raised by Auron, so it could just be a running joke with him). But still, Square-Enix seems to have a far too narrow CompetenceZone in their post-SNES games: while ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' had player characters ranging everywhere from 10 to 80, the more recent games all seem to hover around 15-18 years old, with anyone much above that either an NPC or, as you said, treated like a badass.
273** For pretty much any Japanese popular media, any similarities between between stated (and especially [[AllThereInTheManual "stated"]]) ages and actual ages is purely coincidental.
274** Actually, if you look closely during Tidus' flashback to his childhood in Zanarkand just before his mother dies "the lovebirds give up living" scene, Auron looks EXACTLY the same then, around 10 years before the game as he does in the game proper. He looks old because his Unsent form just looks like that.
275** [[FridgeHorror Maybe 35 is old by Spira standards when you think about Sin.]]
276*** Actually, we ''know'' it is. When Tidus and Rikku talked about marriage, Rikku, despite being 15, suggests that's reasonable marrying age and that people get married early, because life in Spira is short.
277*** Its not just Sin. Spira would have escaped many of the health issues that we did on Earth thanks to potions and cure magic, but it is still a rough life thanks to the machina ban. There is no tractor to plough your field, no washing machine for your clothes, no hoover for your floors, no car to transport your goods. It is all done manually and on a (maybe) plentiful but certainly not varied diet. If Sin does not get you, the 18th century lifestyle will. As sad and borderline repulsive it may be to us, if the women of Spira did not have children as early as they reasonably could then it would be facing a dangerous population crisis.
278
279* There is a Fayth at the bottom of the Cloister in Zanarkand, right at the foot of the elevator and outside the antechamber to Yunalesca's court. What is this Fayth for? Has anyone seen what it looks like, or what its Aeon might be?
280** It's where the Fayth of the Final Aeon is supposed to go, I think. Since Braska was the last High Summoner, it's possible or even probable that that's where Jecht became the Fayth.
281** Really? [[{{Ingonyama}} This Troper]] thought (what I could see of) the statue looked like Zaon from the flashbacks of him and Yunalesca. I didn't see anything of Jecht in there at all.
282** The fayth statue at the bottom of the lift in Zanarkand used to be Zaon's fayth - it's stated outright in the game. Yuna mentions that it's just an empty statue, and one of the ghosts replies "That statue lost its power as a fayth long ago. It is Lord Zaon, the first fayth of the Final Summoning. What you see before you is all that remains of him. Lord Zaon is...his soul is gone."
283*** Oh, I see. Do you remember where this dialogue pops up? I probably missed it, and I want to find it in-game too in case I missed something else.
284*** Pretty sure it is the first time you get down there right after defeating that boss with the floating platforms.
285* How can the fayth say that Yevon is neither good nor evil when his main plan seems to keep everyone in Dream Zanarkand alive and continually exact revenge on the rest of the world for his city's destruction? I can imagine him going insane when he sees what's happening to his city, but aside from that he's still keeping his city enslaved (the fayth even say at one point that they're tired of dreaming), committing mass murder through Sin, and perpetrating a false religion to glorify himself and maintain his grip on Spira? How can that not be construed as evil?
286** I think what they mean is, by this point, Yu Yevon ''has'' no motivation. He just keeps doing what he's doing, without any conscious thought as to why. He just ''is''. The same way a hurricane can't be good or evil. Yu Yevon has lost whatever humanity he originally had; there is no "plan", he is simply doing what he's always been doing.
287** Yeah, Yu Yevon started with a plan that may or may not be evil (that answer really depends on what his long-term plan was once DZ was created and he was protected within Sin), but his mind was completely destroyed by the summoning. By the time of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' he's not so much a summoner as a kind of unthinking, magical computer program stuck in an endless loop...
288--->10 Summon Dream Zanarkand
289--->20 Attack mainland
290--->30 If Sin destroyed then recreate Sin
291--->40 Goto 10
292*** That might be why he lost his mind - code rot. That's what he gets for relying on ''goto'' statements instead of a pair of ''while'' loops.
293->while(sin==FALSE)
294-->{
295-->possessAeon();
296-->createSin();
297--->while(sin==TRUE)
298---->{
299---->summonDreamZanarkand();
300---->}
301-->}
302
303* One thing I find both annoying and hilarious, is that everyone in the game, instantly takes a disliking to Seymour, even when he hasn't done anything. They take every word he says as some kind of sadistic stab into their own souls. Even going in knowing he was a villain, I found myself sympathizing with the bugger. When you're treated like shit the way he was, no wonder he lost his mind. I admit I'm not very good at seeing things beyond face value, so can someone tell me what about Seymour is so loathsome, mother than his appearance, because most Guado share features with him?
304** For this troper personally, it's his voice. He positively ''drips'' SmugSnake with every word he speaks. That and he's a religious figure, which in video games [[CorruptChurch rarely works out well.]] The game makers were also deliberately attempting to give him an untrustworthy vibe with the camera work...most of the cutscene shots involving him were typical villain angles, tight zooms and dramatic upshots with subtly ominous sound effects, etc...which probably worked to help fuel the sense that This Is Not A Good Person.
305** Its the haircut. Only a mother could love whatever the heck is going on with Seymour's haircut.
306*** ...That's terribly insensitive. You realize what happened to Seymour's mother, right?
307*** He was just making a joke but you got to admit if you met someone with blue hair that really is impossible unless you used industrial bonding agent you would think he's a douche too.
308*** Even his mother wants him dead after a certain point. Hell, you can use her to KILL HIM in the fourth fight.
309** For this troper, and likely the party members, it's just the vibe that he gives off. Playing through FFX as we speak (with the controller literally in my lap), none of the party members really outright cast any extreme judgement on the guy, he just gives off a creepy first impression that he never really manages to shake off...and then he tries to kill everyone.
310** The only one who instantly disliked Seymour was Tidus and he only mentions this in his narration during second meeting. Probably he just didn't like his attitude. Until Seymour attacked them he was just another Yevon Maester in Rikku's eyes, Auron had nothing against wedding plan as long Seymour didn't want to stop Yuna's journey and Yuna, Lulu and Wakka were respecting him as a Maester.
311*** The guy wanted to marry Yuna. That's reason enough for Tidus not to like him.
312*** In Guadosalam, Kimahri states that he doesn't like Seymour if you talk to him, and Wakka says, albeit after the revelation that Seymour killed his father and tried to kill the party, that he never liked Seymour.
313** Speaking only for [[@/{{Earnest}} myself]], I kept getting mixed vibes from him. I was going he's so obviously evil! ... so he must be a RedHerring, he's not really done anything bad. He and his elfy bodyguards are even completely defensive in your first fight against him. Up to the whole [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty forced marriage]] bit I kept expecting him to turn out to be an okay guy.
314** [[@/MrDeath I]] must be the only one who thinks this, but his introduction, especially his "Well, pretend I didn't say it," line, to me looked like he was being set up as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure to make his villainy a twist. I mean, that line seems to separate him from other Yevonites, like Wakka, who are far more critical of the Al Bhed and Machina. Instead, he's set up as a guy who's willing to not be an Obstructive Clergyman if he thinks this might work.
315*** That line was probably ''why'' [[ReligiousBruiser Wakka]] disliked him. Watching a powerful figure in his religion openly breaking the tenets of said religion wouldn't sit well with him, methinks. Imagine a fundamentalist Christian's reaction to an Archbishop saying "well, the seven deadly sins aren't all that bad, really".
316*** That line was why *I* disliked him-- not because of his willingness not to be obstructive, but because of his unwilligness to own it and discuss it with Wakka. If he's a clergyman, he should be able to discuss this with Wakka and explain his thinking, and not just say "pretend you didn't see it". That's a copout, and it screams that he's evil, since he's not only not following the teachings but not willing to own that he's not following them.
317** I for one find him evil because he's the polar opposite of Auron: Bishonen, SmugSnake, magic user... Also that friggin' potbelly he has.
318** He didn't have a potbelly, his robe was just really really loose around his waist for some reason.
319** I think summoning a friggen ''demon'' out of nowhere from hell itself seems like an obvious hint.
320*** Sheesh, why throw Anima under the bus? Her surface half is no more demonic looking than, say, Ifrit and we don't see the Half From Hell until much later.
321*** Ifrit has a more classic "firey devil" look going on, but Anima is definitely much more creepy and just looks... ''wrong''. She comes out of what looks like an actual gateway to hell, she's all chained up as if that's the only thing preventing her from going apeshit and killing everything, and she has "Pain" as an attack. She just looks out of place among the aeons, the rest of whom almost universally have much more "heroic" builds and themes.
322
323* Does Tromell's shift from someone who helps cover up his master's patricide, order the party's deaths for killing Seymour, and prevent them from Sending him in X (which results in him killing many more people, including much of the Ronso tribe) to someone who wants desperately to atone for the Guado's sins in X-2 strike anyone else as somewhat jarring?
324** [[HoYay Hoooooo-yay~]] But seriously, no. He felt like a tool and tried to make up for it, even if he had to drag the entire Guado race kicking and screaming into forgiveness. Not jarring at all.
325*** And the entire Guado race suffered a collective case of [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone My God, What Have We Done?]] and exiled themselves to the Macalania Woods. If you go to Guadosalam after you get the airship in the first game and talk to the Guado, you can already start to see it when they realize what they've done and how they're probably going to be the most hated race in Spira, rather than the Al Bhed.
326
327* Yuna being neglected after her father's death. No, not the treatment from the [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer rest of Spira]], that's explainable by FantasticRacism, since Yuna is half-Al Bhed. ItMakesSenseInContext. What bugs me is where was her Uncle Cid all those years?
328** I don't think she was neglected - apart from Dona, everyone loves Yuna, and Dona only has a grudge against her ''because'' everyone else loves her. It seemed to me like she had an idyllic life in Besaid up until she went on her pilgrimage, and nobody seemed to be judging her for being half Al-Bhed. I'm not sure how well she knew Cid back then, but by the time the news reached him and he figured out where she'd been taken, she was probably adjusting quickly enough in Besaid (especially with Wakka, Lulu, Chappu and Kimahri all becoming her new TrueCompanions) that he didn't want to uproot her yet again.
329** ...She was neglected? Did "neglected" gain some other meaning like, "living an idyllic life on a tropical island with her close friends, being honored as the daughter of the world's hero, and being looked up to by the world at large for undertaking a dangerous pilgrimage" while I wasn't looking? If that's neglect, I wish ''I'd'' been neglected like that.
330** She was being treated as the Spiran equivalent of being fattened up like a pig for the next sacrifice. She's not neglected, but she isn't really living the ideal lifestyle.
331*** "Fattened up like a pig" ...What on earth are you talking about? It was ''Yuna's'' idea to be a summoner, and as I recall people tried to talk her out of it.
332** As for why Cid doesn't seem to be in her life, it's possible he had no idea where Yuna was. Braska may have left her in the care of the temple when he left Bevelle. But it was Kimahri who brought her to Besaid - and when she tells that story, she implies that she was alone when she met him. How else would Cid be able to find her? The Al Bhed can only travel by sea and when there's an EldritchAbomination in the sea...
333*** Spira is a small, small world and Cid definitely gets around, not to mention the other Al Bhed. If they're willing to hunt down the Fahrenheit at sea, it is hard to imagine why the niece their leader dotes on wouldn't have gotten the same privilege. But this is moot, anyway. Cid ''was'' in touch with Yuna somehow, or it would be extremely unlikely for her to remember him and know that Rikku is her cousin. Even Lulu knows who Rikku is when she joins the party at the Moonflow. The OP question still stands of why Cid did not take Yuna in at Home.
334** Talking to Rin on the airship at the end of the game gives some background on Braska's interactions with the Al Bhed, including Yuna's mother and Cid. Yuna likely met Cid and Rikku during her early childhood while traveling with her mother, before Sin killed Mom and Braska died with the Final Summoning. As to why Cid didn't take her in, Kimahri found Yuna in Bevelle almost immediately after Braska's death and started taking her to Besaid. How do you think Kimahri, not to mention just about every other nearby human, would react if the Al Bhed "heathens" suddenly showed up out of nowhere and tried to "kidnap" the High Summoner's daughter, particularly with the blasphemous "lie" that she's half Al Bhed? Everybody in Besaid, including Kimahri and Wakka, would have fought the Al Bhed tooth and nail if Cid had come to pick Yuna up. Given that Yuna was living happily in Besaid, Cid was probably waiting for a more opportune time to contact her once she'd grown up and struck out on her own. That way, he'd avoid causing any grief with the people of Besaid. However, once she became a summoner, Cid knew he had to act and added her to the list of summoners the Al Bhed had to try and stop.
335
336* Although I understand the party felt obligated to defeat Yu Yevon so that the fayth could finally rest, I'm not entirely convinced that his death was necessary to ensure the final destruction of Sin. The final aeon acts as the central core of Sin, so after Jecht was killed it must have been permanently incapacitated. If what I am saying is correct, isn't it safe to assume that the party could have left without taking out the tick himself? Yu Yevon no longer had the final summoning to rely on for a new host, nor did he have any aeons to possess until Yuna summoned her own in the final battle. He would have been left flying around chaotically within the corpse of Sin, unable to follow his "programming." It would have been an asshole move toward the fayth, but unless I'm missing something the party could have just walked away at that point with Tidus alive and well. Moreover, they could have easily had someone else destroy Yu Yevon after Tidus died of old age, giving the fayth the rest they so desperately wanted. I'd imagine he would still be flying around in the corpse of Sin looking for an aeon to possess.
337** Tidus was already set on killing Yu Yevon. And besides, it didn't look like there was any way out from where they were anyway. I mean, they were fighting on Jecht's giant sword.
338** So long as he's alive, there's still a chance that somehow Sin will be revived. Possessing a Final Summoning may not be the only way to create Sin--after all, it had to come from ''somewhere'' initially. Safer for the whole world to finish him off--at that point, it's simply selfish of them to do otherwise.
339** Its been a few years since I've played, but I seem to remember Yu Yevon being able to possess your aeons during the bossfight. If they had walked away, presumably he could do the same to any aeon that was summoned anywhere in the world.
340** Maechen, I believe, explains to that Sin is created from the souls of those who gave their life in Zanarkand -- remember the huge wall of fayth embedded in the ice on Mount Gagazet? That's where Sin came from originally. Even without a final aeon to possess, if they had left Yu Yevon after the final battle with Jecht and Yuna's summons, yes, Yu Yevon would have been significantly weakened, but there's a good chance he would have regrouped, drawing upon the power of the fayth embedded in the mountain to create Sin anew. So they kind of HAD to destroy Yu Yevon in order to finish the job.
341** Even if what you're saying is true and that they could have incapacitated Sin without sacrificing Tidus, ''why the hell would they do that?'' You readily admit that it's an asshole move towards all the fayth who'd been trapped in AndIMustScream status for a thousand years, and I doubt that Tidus would have wanted them all to suffer just so he could stick around. It would have been an incredibly selfish move on his part, forcing them all to continue suffering so he could have a little more time on Spira. Through his HeroicSacrifice, Tidus proves that he's a real '''hero'''. You would just have him act like a self-centred dick who betrayed his promises to the fayth. People would be extremely well-justified in calling him out as the treacherous asshole that he would be.
342** Worth pointing out, too...there's no guarantee that Yu Yevon wouldn't just regenerate Sin anyways. I mean, maybe we're talking GameplayAndStorySegregation, but your Aeons will most likely get the snot kicked out of them repeatedly and hard, and still they come back, eventually, fully renewed. The only way to kill Sin and ensure it's gone forever is to take out the source. Yu Yevon.
343** And Yu Yevon has been stuck inside Sin for a thousand years, no humanity left in him at all. It's a MercyKill for him as well.
344
345* HUGE failure of common sense in every single Cloister of Trials: You go to pick up a sphere while Tidus has a sphere in one hand. Game says you can only carry one sphere at a time. While I can understand needing to keep a hand free to do stuff, what force on Spira is stopping him from ''just doing a quick swap?'' Grab new sphere, replace with old sphere, toss new sphere from left hand to right, BAM, DONE. (Perhaps Tidus is just TooDumbToLive?)
346** Yeah, this bothered me too. My assumption is that one sphere alone carries so much power that if he were to touch two at once his body would explode from the overwhelming amount of energy it would absorb.
347*** That would make the Sphere Grid an impossibility or at least give it some horrifying implications.
348** Maybe the spheres are like magnets and repel each other. Or there's some kind of magically-enforced rule in the temple that says you can only carry one sphere at a time, in order to make potential summoners use their heads.
349** Even then, what's stopping him from ''putting one on the ground''?
350** I have this mental image of him putting a sphere on the ground and it just rolling away into a pit or something. Bam, one less sphere to solve the puzzle with.
351** Or rolling harmlessly into a corner. Or, hell, why not just have Wakka hold one? It's general ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' convention that the one player character you see on the map is a stand-in for the actual group. With that in mind, why does Tidus have to solve all the puzzles alone? This is understandable in Besaid and Kilika, as Tidus is alone for both of those Cloisters, but what about the others? Are the rest of the Guardians just really lazy?
352** GameplayAndStorySegregation. It's a puzzle. Establishing the one sphere rule is part of the test. Maybe even in-universe.
353*** To add to this, it's stated in one of the interviews in the FFX Strategy Guide that the Trials that the player experiences are not exactly what the characters would have to go through, but rather would be a "mirror" of what the character would actually experience. So it might not be meant to be taken at face value. Not sure if this is the same trope as you stated, but this is more than likely why.
354
355* The first 30 hours of the game are told in flashback, with Tidus sitting around a fire telling it to the party. Why is Tidus telling the story of the game to the people who were there and witnessed it first hand? I'd totally get it if he were in a camp and writing all this down in his journal, or maybe they're in a village and he's explaining all of this to a village elder, but seriously? To his own party memebers? Does he think they suffer from acute memory loss? If this was after Sin toxin'd the party to unconsiousness...it doesn't make sense. So everyone BUT Tidus suddenly got laser-guided amnesia and he's retelling the story for them?
356** He's not just telling them the ''events'', he's telling them his ''perspective'' on the events.
357*** So they all basically said, "Hey! Tidus! Why don't you tell us what you're thinking of the mission, from the very beginning!"
358*** Or they said "okay, now that we've been through a lot together and we're pretty confident that, despite your first claims, you're ''not'' a delirious Sin-toxin amnesiac, why don't you try explaining to us again exactly where you really came from and how you ended up here." Or, judging by Tidus's opening words, he might have stubbornly insisted on explaining it all regardless of whether they asked. It's not like he's really recounting it in the same detail we're seeing: they're just hearing his voiceovers.
359*** Tidus doesn't actually start telling the story until after he has left the party by the fire and walked up the hill. This troper always figured he was telling his story to the player.
360*** Maybe he was recording a sphere, telling his story, and embedding his memories into it, just as Yuna had recorded a sphere to say thank you to her guardians?
361*** Tidus is telling the story to us, the players. Later, he throws away Yuna's sphere. I don't think he would waste his time recording one... What Tidus did is a symbolical act to make Yuna understands that those things are useless and they must go on with their lives believing in the future.
362*** Tidus threw away Yuna's sphere because it was supposed to be viewed [[DeadManWriting after she died fighting Sin.]] Since that wasn't going to happen, there was no reason to keep it.
363** My assumption is that since they were reaching Zanarkand and Yuna would die soon Tidus wanted to cheer them up talking about his perception of the Pilgrimage. I can't remember well, but I think that when you reach that point in the game they keep on telling things like "and do you remember when Wakka did X" or something like that. They were sharing good memories and points of view so they didn't have to think about Yuna dying in a day or so.
364
365* Does anyone else feel that Auron and Paine were both acting like incredible douches in refusing to tell the other party members what they knew about Yevon and Shuyin, respectively? Auron ''knows'' that any attempt to summon the Final Aeon and defeat Sin will end in failure, and yet he lets Tidus and Yuna very nearly get themselves killed on multiple occasions until they find out for themselves. Paine is even worse, knowing full well from the beginning what's wrong with Nooj and the rest of her ex-teammates and why they're doing what they do, but when Yuna and Rikku try and get her to tell them she flat-out refuses, instead reverting to DeadpanSnarker status by telling Rikku she's lost four "respect points." Instead, Paine lets the rest of the Gullwings charge headlong into danger without knowing what exactly it is they're up against, which to my mind would have made them perfectly justified in throwing her off the damn team. Exactly what justifiable grounds do they have for not telling the rest of the party what's really going on?
366** In Auron's case, learning that the whole faith you believe in is a lie and everything you, your father, and previous generations fought for is all for naught isn't really the thing you can expect people to believe if you just tell them. Some things you really ''need'' to experience yourself in order to understand the full scope of what's happening. Think of a child; what's going to dissuade them more from playing with fire? The parent saying, "Don't do it, it'll hurt," or actually getting burned?
367*** But the party had already respected Auron greatly, and he had accompanied Braska on his Summoning as well. Auron's also not exactly the kind of guy to joke or lie, especially about something like that. I think that the party would have believed him with no issue. Though I also think that telling them wouldn't have solved anything; they'd still only have the choice of defeating Sin with Yuna dying and another party member becoming Sin, or not doing anything and continuing to let Sin massacre innocent people. By waiting until they were close to Sin to tell them, Auron had let them learn enough about the situation so that they could TakeAThirdOption and destroy Sin and Yu Yevon once and for all.
368*** Because it's [[ArcWords their story]] and it should be written by them alone. They'll eventually find out on their own and he probably wanted them to grow in experience and maturity once they reach that destination. After all, [[FridgeBrilliance what kind of story gives away the ending before the climax]]?
369*** Not only that, but Wakka is proof enough that unless the party and everybody saw the lies for themselves, he will not be believed as easily. Changing something that has been the only source of comfort for everybody IS highly tricky, and Yevon could have more than enough influence to turn Auron into a liar. Even if we were to dismiss Yevon threatening anything, him telling the truth of the incidents to a world that relies on Yevon for everything wouldn't hold much water. I have nothing for Paine though. I'd think that if she did, she would get Yuna into a far bigger mess than she had a right to be a part of. Remember, despite the changes she makes in X-2, that Yuna is ultimately a doormat.
370*** Auron actually mentions this himself when the party gets to Zanarkand. Tidus asks him if he knew about the whole "guardians sacrificing themselves" thing and why didn't he tell them, and he states "would it really have stopped you?" Auron knew that it's unlikely that the party would have believed him if he had told them the truth about everything until they got to Zanarkand, and that they would have gone there anyway even if they had. Only by going to Zanarkand and seeing the truth for themselves would it have actually accomplished anything, and I don't think he actually knew about Yu Yevon until Yunalesca told the party, at least he doesn't mention it. If that's the case then they would have had to go to Zanarkand anyway to find out how to actually stop Sin. The real scum are the Aeons, who knew all about everything, Sin, Jecht, the Pilgrimage, Yu Yevon, and everything else, yet apparently never told anyone for 1000 years, including the party themselves until they already knew about it.
371*** Paine had no idea what actually happened to herself and her friends in the Den of Woe. All she knows is that for some reason Nooj shot them all in the back after they got out of there. The experience was very traumatic for her. Perhaps she couldn't properly accept what had happened yet to herself. She couldn't admit that one of her best friends had shot her like that. She only admits it when she discovers that Shuyin had possessed Nooj - knowing that it wasn't Nooj's fault. Maybe she also didn't tell them about it because Nooj, Baralai and Gippal are all important figures now and she still felt some loyalty to them. She didn't want to ruin their good names and cause trouble for the Youth League, New Yevon and the Machine Faction.
372
373* This has been bothering me: [[spoiler: Tidus's death and subsequent resurrection. I understand that Tidus died because, with the destruction of the aeons, their dream of Zanarkand ended. Tidus's death implies that even outside of Zanarkand, he is still a part of the dream; he does not actually exist as a person even as much as a spirit, as the Unsent can linger in the world, but he can't. That's all well and good, and internally consistent with what's been established about Zanarkand. But then he randomly comes back to life, so Yuna can have her happy ending. That makes no sense. If Tidus couldn't exist in the world without the Fayth, then he shouldn't be able to pop back in once they're gone. And if he ''could'', then there is no reason why he would have died to begin with. Tidus's resurrection seems to throw out all sense of story consistency just for the sake of turning a solid, bittersweet HeroicSacrifice into a shiny, happy ending.]]
374
375** While this should probably go into the Headscratchers for the sequel, I'll bite. [[spoiler:To begin with, Tidus didn't actually "die," he faded away when the dream ended (summons like DZ people or Aeons CAN be killed.) But that's just a minor nitpick. Anyway, the Fayth still exist, and they can still interact with Spira even after Yu Yevon's death. Bahamut's Fayth, their primary spokesperson, shows up frequently to talk to Yuna. While we saw their statues in the temples go inert at the end of FFX, X-2 shows Fiends pouring out of the temples and the Aeons themselves return, empowered by Shuyin's malice, so it's possible that the Fayth, even in the midst of their eternal rest, still have the capacity to dream. Also, consider: the Fayth of Zanarkand were the ones who were forced to summon Sin and Dream Zanarkand under Yevon's control. They, and the other Spiran Fayth, were tired of a thousand-year existence devoted to death and phantoms, and they longed for release from it. When Tidus and Yuna brought said release, they were finally able to pass on and rest. But years later, when they were somehow able to interact with Yuna again, they realized her and Tidus' sacrifice and decided to repay them with this small kindness. Mind, during FFX they didn't even know this would be an option --they always thought that, once their dream ended, that would be it-- but the events of X-2 opened the possibility, and, in gratitude, decided to "dream up" Tidus again, just like a Summoner can call an Aeon again and again after it has been dismissed or killed. And it's very likely that they did this gladly and willingly, since his life would bring cheer and happiness instead of the death and misery of Sin and Dream Zanarkand. It wouldn't even have to be the Zanarkand Fayth, at that, it could just be the Aeon Fayth doing this for Yuna (and unlike Dream Zanarkand, to which they saw no end, they'd only need to "summon" him for the length of a lifespan, and then they'd get their well-deserved rest.)]]
376*** [[spoiler:And considering that they're only summoning one person, Bahamut could probably handle the task by himself. Bahamut+Valefor would make the task easy, as one could maintain the summoning while the other rests.]]
377** It's also possible that the Fayth already had the power to bring someone back but they were forbidden from doing so. Yuna's case was very unique since she saved the world twice in the space of three years. She also freed the Fayth from Shuyin's possession so they figured they owed her one.
378** Bahmut makes a few allusions to what happened- Tidus is, for one, no longer a mere dream. He was touched by Sin and he made memories with people outside the Dream Zanarkand and was able to ascend to the Farplane (he is shown going there at the end of the game, and he clearly whistles at Yuna in X-2). Bahamut also says something about gathering Tidus's pyreflies, but he isn't promising Yuna anything (they'll try, is I think what he says). Presumably (going off that), the difference between Unsent and the living is an Unsent is missing some of their pyreflies, where the living have every single one of theirs, and an Unsent is always losing pyreflies (due to missing some anyway when they died). Since Bahamut says the Fayth will gather his pyreflies, it's possible that reforming them in Spira and not Dream Zanarkand allows Tidus to be a real person- he and Jecht are special cases from the Dream Zanarkand because of Yu Yevon/Sin and Yunalesca. It's probably not forbidden so much as it is just really hard to do (since they need to find every single solitary pyrefly belonging to Tidus on the huge Farplane), but they wanted to give Yuna ''something'' to thank her for everything that she did for them and for Spira. I think the reverse would be true, too- gathering all of someone's Pyreflies, reforming the person and sending them to Dream Zanarkand would make them real there, too, since people there have pyreflies (but they can't hang around in Dream Zanarkand because of the way that place works, so Tidus has never seen one). I think wherever your pyreflies are reformed determines if you're a 'dream' or 'real'.
379
380* How would the waterfalls at Baaj Temple work? Water comes in from the top of the room, then lands in a puddle at one side of the room. If there's a hole at the top of the room, and a hole at the bottom of the room, the high-pressure water is just going to push the air out through the top, right? And if there's a hole at the top of the room, but no hole at the bottom of the room, the water should have been flooding the entire room instead of staying contained in its pool at the side, and eventually pushed the water level up to the top of the highest waterfall. Is there some way that the water could have come in through the top (well, upper side) of the room, and left through the floor, without letting all the air out? Perhaps some sort of complex series of u-bend chambers, or some obvious but [[RealityIsUnrealistic fantastic-seeming]] property of water flowing into pierced chambers that I'm not understanding? Was it probably just RuleOfCool? I thought that ''maybe'' there was some sort of one-way pump machine bringing the water into the temple from the outside, as decoration back when the temple was still in use, but 1: the water seemed to me to be coming in through damaged parts of the walls, though that may have been an aesthetic choice on the part of the builders and a misinterpretation on my part, and 2: it's a much more obvious hypocrisy than most of the church's use of machinery.
381* So am I the only one who thinks that going to watch Blitzball would be a complete rip off in real life? you pay all of that money for a ticket and travel literally hundreds of miles across fiend infested lands only to watch a game that lasts a sodding ''ten minutes'' of standard play? and that's after you have most likely already spent a substantial sum on things like the boat fare, a room at a Travel Agency and all the other weapons/supplies necessary to make your way across a dystopia like Spira. If I lived anywhere north of the Mi'Hen Highroad I sure as hell wouldn't waste my Gil on that until they at the very least increased the game time to an hour or put on a couple of games across the weekend.
382** Spira have spheres that function much like [=TVs=] do in the real world that they use to broadcast Blitzball games all over Spira for those that can't get to the actual stadium. As for those going out of their way to be in the actual stadium to see the game, it's like some people here being willing to spend hours driving or flying and hundreds of dollars to get wherever their favorite team is playing that week to see the game in person when they could have just watched it for free on TV anyway with no more effort than it would take to push a button and in far better quality than sitting in the stands. it's just something devoted fans do.
383** It's also the only source of reprieve from Cthulhu Moby Dick. It doesn't seem like much to us for 10 minutes, but if those 10 minutes can take Spira away from Sin, then any price to pay isn't really that bad. Besides, as it had been said before: Without Blitzball, the world would fall victim to darkness and apathy.
384** Maybe one ticket gets you into three matches, so you get to see each team play once.
385** If we count the sunsets between the start of Yuna's pilgrimage in Besaid and arriving at Zanarkand; a trip across the entire inhabited world on foot takes a week tops and that is with the significant amount of time they wasted with Operation Mi'Hen, going to war with Yevon and praying at temples so the actual journey time with a competent fighter along who can kill the fiends could easily be half that - and that assumes that there isn't a boat that travels from Bevelle to Luca which there really should be. A weekend Blitzball trip shouldn't really be that inconvenient. Fun fact: If that week long journey time by foot figure I mentioned is accurate; then despite that impressive looking world map Spira's inhabited landmass isn't actually that much larger than Ohio.
386** We see only two filled stadiums in-game: one in Dream Zanarkand and one during a ''tournament''. Regular games are probably only lightly attended and mostly viewed by spherecast. It would still be a pain for any team other than the Goers to travel to Luca for games but this doesn't even get the courtesy of a handwave, so there's really no telling how things operate outside of tournaments.
387*** There's in-game evidence for that. One of the amazing things Yuna mentions about the Zanarkand blitzball stadium that Jecht told her about is that the stands are always full. She wouldn't have felt the need to mention that along with the bright lights and giant stadium unless it wasn't something that happened in Spira.
388** It's quite possible that the game lasts longer and is played differently than what we control. Compare what Tidus is seen doing in the opening scene to what we can actually do in game, or even the fact that the clock in the game we play is actually moving ''faster'' than real time.
389* What are the point of Summoners Staffs? Dona, Luzzu and Belgemine all prove that you can summon perfectly fine without one and, despite what the scenes in Kilika and St Bevelle make out, Yuna tries to send Lady Ginnem and Jyscal without it proving that Staffs are unimportant for the Sending ritual too. There is also the fact that Seymour carries a red one which he seems to completely forget about after he dies so whatever status effects it may bestow upon him seem to be completely outweighed once he becomes an Unsent.
390** Probably they act as a focus for the magic--it's doable without them, but easier to focus and concentrate with them. Kind of like ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', where Harry ''can'' send out flameblasts without his blasting rod, but using it gives him better control to make sure he ''only'' hits what he aims at (and not, for example, the flammable building he and his target are standing in).
391** It could also be that staves are simply Yuna, Braska, and Seymour's preferred weapons, unrelated to their summoner status. Since all three are magic users, it would make sense for them to use staves even if they weren't summoners or if the staves weren't necessary for summoning. For all we know, there are other summoners who use swords, gauntlets, or blitzballs instead.
392** Lord Ohalland was a blitzball player, so he may have used a ball in battle too.
393** And Yuna might be using the staff in honour of her father's weapon of choice.
394* What exactly happens to fiends when they are killed? Are the sent if this happens, or do they reform later and start it all over again?
395** I honestly think the latter.
396** Inside Sin, there is a a brief sidequest triggered by three glyphs, which each read, "Ten fiends still seek eternal repose." If killing them grants them eternal rest, then they must be sent when they die.
397** Yeah look at Evrae, who respawns as a zombie to fight the party again in Via Purifico. Yuna is not with the party for either fight, so she can't send him when he dies.
398* Why does Kinoc's spirit join with Seymour's to make him stronger, thus forming Seymour Natus? The guards I get, they are basically brainwashed religious fanatics who do what the Maesters tell them, but I don't get Kinoc. Why would he help the guy who JUST KILLED HIM?
399** I always got the impression Seymour was kind of using a reverse Sending that instead of banishing the pyreflies to the Farplane allowed him instead to absorb them. Either way; I suspect Kinoc is not one of the lucky half dozen who get to be Unsent and instead was probably about five minutes away from becoming a Fiend otherwise he would have put up more of a fight.
400* Why did Yuna insist on running off with Tidus to see if they could find Auron, 30 seconds before he was about to participate in a blitzball game? Couldn't she have waited, or gone with Kimahri and Lulu?
401** Tidus wanted to go because he wanted answers from Auron. Yuna probably got excited at the thought of seeing her father's guardian again after 10 years and tagged along.
402* Why, after telling Tidus that someone had found Auron in a cafe in Luca, do the two of them proceed to go into the ''bar'' instead?
403** Maybe it was a café-bar. Alternatively, they only said that Auron had been seen in a café, that doesn't mean he was still there. Since Tidus knows Auron likes a stiff drink now and then (he does carry a flask of what is strongly implied to be alcohol, mainly because it's shown to be flammable, around with him) he figured the best place to catch Auron would be at the local bar. Even if Auron wasn't there, he could have asked the bartender or someone if they had seen a guy with a missing eye, a huge red cloak and a massive sword recently.
404** Tidus had just found out the only person that he knew and people in Spira knew as well was in close proximity. He may have somewhat adjusted to the change but he still wanted answers. For all he knew, Auron was the one that brought him there and he wanted to go home. And a Blitzball game is several minutes long. Tidus didn't want to risk Auron getting away and losing his only potential chance of getting home or at least finding out what was going on.
405** Maybe there is no difference between a bar and a café in Spira, just like in some regions in the real world. The terms café and bar could be used interchangeably, just like in Flanders.
406* Why would Botta assume that, with both Tidus and Wakka on the blitz pitch, he'd be relegated to the bench? Botta's a defensiveman, and Tidus and Wakka are both forwards! If anything, it'd be Datto, the forward, who would be benched in that circumstance. And it seems like Wakka benches himself just to make Botta feel better. This is not a good way to run a blitzball team. No wonder they only just ''now'' broke a 23-year losing streak or whatever it was.
407** Low self esteem. The Aurochs have spent their years feeling like the worst team in Spira. Their only motivation was to perform OK and "do our best". Botta just thinks he's the worst player or something. Wakka does indeed bench himself to spare his feelings.
408** Botta was probably thinking they'd keep Dotto in as a forward and switch Letty to defense. After all, Letty's ATK stats are quite good, while Dotto's SHT stat is much better than Letty's.
409** Wakka also just had the daylights beat out of him in the game against the Al Bhed. He may have been injured, and thus, preferred to bench himself.
410* Okay, so Sin destroys any village that gets too big for its britches. Why would anyone build a village up beyond a certain point? If it destroys any village it finds, why build at all? The answer would seem to be a nomadic existence. It might kill people anyway, but at what's the use of a house that's going to be destroyed?
411** Sin doesn't work that way. It wanders randomly around and destroys what it comes across. That Sin destroys villages of a given size is propaganda, and Yevon keeps people in the dark. People don't do a nomadic existence because they want to hold onto hope for a normal life.
412** Well how big is too big? How can you gauge? Whether your home is too small to be destroyed by a giant monster isn't something you can do through trial and error.
413* Another quibble: why don't more people become summoners? Seems to be the only realistic way to even start to fight Sin, yet the Crusaders waste time and lives hacking at it with dinky little swords and such.
414** Limited number of aeons available for summoning, presumably.
415** No, one aeon can be used by multiple summoners.
416*** It is explicitly shown during the duels with Belgemine and Issaru that you ''can not'' use an an aeon that is currently in use by someone else. Even if you had a whole battalion of summoners they could only ever field eight aeons at any given time.
417*** That's one way to interpret that gameplay mechanic. Another way would be that you can't call an aeon to fight ''itself''. What would happen if two summoners happened to be fighting different enemies at the same time never comes up, though you'd think it would; each summoner is training to fight Sin, they must spend a fair amount of time in combat.
418** It actually seems to take a lot of dedication and natural talent to become a summoner; Wakka mentions that Yuna was a natural and that she had the 'gift'. Yuna's also fairly young for a summoner, the other summoners she meets during her pilgrimage all appear to be at ''least'' in their mid twenties or older. Many people might want to become summoners, but they simply don't have the talent, and the Fayth don't hear them calling. Also many summoners fail their pilgrimage, some quit, and some end up dying. It could be there are a lot more summoners that go unseen.
419** There have also only been about six(?) High Summoners in 1000 years. There presumably are more than the ones we meet. But not everyone is able to defeat Sin. The bond between summoner and guardian has to be especially strong for the Final Aeon to be able to defeat Sin. Additionally since becoming a summoner is a guaranteed death sentence, maybe some people just prefer to take their chances. They want to have families or something. There's a chance they could live a nice long life.
420** Well if we take Maechen's words from the sequel about Lenne being a summoner during the war between Zanarkand and Bevelle - there probably was a lot more back in the day. Certainly enough to be put onto the front lines in battle. But the difference is that nowadays, summoners train for the goal of defeating Sin - which is both a) incredibly hard and b) results in certain death. That would explain why there aren't as many. Some would be able to call Aeons sure, but not everyone would have the willpower and strength of mind necessary to defeat Sin.
421** On Mount Gagazet you pass by three gravesites, which Lulu explains are there to honor summoners and their guardians who failed. It's a safe bet that dozens or perhaps even hundreds of pilgrimages have been attempted, it's just that they have an extremely high failure rate.
422* How did Seymour and his mother, who were, respectively, a child and a terminally ill woman, both despised by the world, manage to make it to Zanarkand? The perils of Mt. Gagazet claimed far better prepared summoners and their guardians.
423** My guess is that Mrs Seymour was a god-damn badass. Even dying she was capable of transforming into the most dangerous aeon in history; she will even one shot Braska's Final Aeon if you put enough work into training her. Plus wasn't Seymour a summoner by this point too? the dialogue would suggest that she planned him to immediately go off and kill Sin so he must have had at least a basic understanding of the art. If true that would imply that Seymour's only failing as a kid was his lack of confidence and that in fact he was already pretty damn powerful for a child.
424** They could have had other people to help them who perished along the way.
425** If Baaj Temple was where they travelled from, presumably they'd need to take a boat to get to the mainland. Zanarkand is a coastal city so they could have docked there and gone straight to the dome. We know they didn't visit any other temples (or else Seymour would have more Aeons). So while it can't have been an easy trip, travelling there in one go by sea was undoubtedly more straightforward than the route the protagonists take.
426** On a similar note, how did Auron manage to crawl all the way out of Zanarkand and across Mount Gagazet on the brink of death? There's {{Determinator}}, but that puts ''actual'' terminators to shame...
427* So why does no one live in the Calm lands? if you stand on the north west tip of the area you can see that it stretches for miles. You could easily create a city that surpasses St Bevelle or Luca and yet there is absolutely nothing. At the very least I would expect a couple of Besaid-type villages dotted around here and there.
428** The Calm Lands are basically the designated Sin-fighting zone for final summons. Nobody wants to live at Ground Zero.
429* How did Seymour manage to get inside Sin?
430** It was hanging around the Zanarkand area at the same time as the party. Presumably he had an encounter with it and it scooped him up just like Tidus at the start of the game and the party at Macalania. If it didn't get into a fight with the airship not long afterwards it probably would have just spit him out in some other part of Spira.
431** Presumably Sin "absorbed" him (which Tidus confidently asserts) the same way Auron was able to hitch a ride. Whether Seymour willingly did so is, of course, up for debate.
432* How exactly did Auron become so wise? All of the spheres/memories showing his Guardian days portray him as a young, naive and (as Jecht called him) stiff man stuck in his Yevon beliefs. Flash forward after 10 years of babysitting Tidus and we see Auron being 10 mental steps ahead of Maester Mika, a man so wise that dedicated Yevonites willingly overlooked their own laws to allow Mika to continue his run as Grand Maester after death. Mika wished to speak with Yuna and Auron said it was because he finally realized Yuna was Spira's only chance of beating Sin, which Mika admits to. Then Auron mocked Mika's fear by accusing him of running away, which is exactly what Mika did a moment later by sending his own soul to the Farplane. I wouldn't say Auron was ever dull-witted but when or how did that transition from inexperienced Guardian to wise man happen?
433** Over the course of ten years since then. People grow and change over the course of a decade.
434** Well witnessing one friend die and the other become a massive cosmic abomination - and then being fatally wounded yourself might do that. It seemed like Auron got a massive dose of BreakTheHaughty at the end of Braska's pilgrimage.
435** He's also taken Jecht's words about breaking the cycle to heart. Especially since he claims to have been ''communicating'' with Jecht about this whole thing, hence why he knew to bring Tidus to Spira. 10 years of planning to bring down the establishment you once blindly followed will sober a person.
436* Why does Jecht not seem to be anywhere near as famous as Auron and Braska? People make a great deal about Auron, a Legendary Guardian. They make a great deal about Braska, a High Summoner. But no mention of Auron's fellow guardian in the history? The reason I say this is, Lulu and Wakka make a big deal about Auron being legendary, and everyone in Spira knows who Braska was because of what he did. But when you get to the Macalania Woods and find the first Jecht sphere, Auron basically tells everyone in the party that Tidus is Jecht's son and you'd expect them to make a big deal about it since Jecht was one of Braska's guardians (except for Tidus, Auron, and Yuna who already knew), but they don't bring it up at all.
437** Jecht was also a bit of a dick in general, and a crazy guy who went on about being from Zanarkand. He probably didn't leave a lot of people behind him who were terribly happy to have met him, and a lot of people would have dismissed him as some nut. He also didn't have any history in Spira -- no parents to tell their relatives how brave their son was, no children to pass on his story, no brothers, nothing. Braska and Auron both had established lives in Spira, people who knew and cared about them their whole lives, who would remember them better than some nutjob who claims to live in a dead city and who cussed at them and stiffed them when it was his turn to pay for a round of drinks.
438*** Ok, so he had no history in Spira, no established life there. Also the being a dick thing kinda toned down a bit on the journey, character development and whatnot. Yuna remembers him at least, Kimahri also probably met him. Auron doesn't seem to have any family. Plus there's a huge reason why everyone would remember him, same as with Braksa and Auron. Remembering how the second Jecht sphere showed him meeting Braska, we learn that Braska and Auron's established lives aren't really all that great. Braska is a disgraced summoner, probably from marrying an Al Bhed, while Auron is a former warrior monk who lost favor when he turned down a marriage to a priest's daughter. Braska comments how the two of them, along with a crazy drunkard like Jecht actually defeating Sin would be incredibly noteworthy, etc.
439*** Most likely when Brasca and his Guardians actually succeeded in their suicide mission the Church of Yevon did its level best to sweep all of that under the rug. Brasca the Church Golden Boy is a better propaganda piece for them than Brasca the Guy Who Married the People We Keep Telling You to Hate. Same for pretending Auron the Disgrace Who We Blacklisted Because He Wasn't Corrupt Enough was actually Auron the Loyal Hero We Supported All the Way.
440*** Did Kimahri meet Jecht? I recall that Kimahri was basically the first person Auron found (near death) that he could give guardianship over Yuna. Prior to that he wasn't involved with Braska's pilgrimage at all. Which also brings me to another topic - Rin apparently found Auron and cared for him in one of his establishments (where he died overnight), but later Auron claims his strength left him just outside Bevelle. Why would Rin have been so close to Bevelle of all places?
441** Yevon probably downplayed his contribution to avoid such awkward observations as "I've never seen Jecht and Sin in the same room at the same time. Coincidence? I think not!".
442** Brasca's the High Summoner, while Auron is apparently one of the ''only'' Guardians in history to actually survive a successful Pilgrimage (even though, well, [[DeadAllAlong you know]]). Jecht is neither of those things. As far as anyone who isn't in your party or a Maester knows, Jecht was just the Guardian who didn't make it; a noble warrior who died ensuring that Spira could enjoy the Calm, sure, but not someone people are going to talk about the way they talk about Brasca and Auron.
443*** It's implied Auron's the very first Guardian to survive a pilgrimage, and Dona's dialogue at the beginning suggests that Summoners almost NEVER take more than one Guardian- Yuna's large party is evidently unheard of, and it's possible that every other group that's had more than one Guardian has given up on their Pilgrimage (due to being talked out of it or by having so many people they love with them). Two seems to be the most anyone takes (unless you think the Magus Sisters are Belgamine's sisters and were her Aeons, but since she failed to defeat Sin and thus her sisters didn't become Sin, her sisters's Fayth was given a home in Remiem. Possibly by Belgemine's Unsent spirit, killed by Sin when her sisters failed to become Sin themselves). I mean it's VERY possible that a lot of Summoners DID complete their Pilgrimage and the Final Summoning, but didn't defeat Sin with their Final Aeon. It's also possible that many of their Final Aeons were killed as well, since I don't think the other Aeons are Final Aeons, but people of devout faith who wanted to aid. So it's entirely possible that Auron is the ONLY person to ever survive an entire Pilgrimage and defeat of Sin, since other Guardians were possibly killed in the crossfire.
444*** How did Auron gain such a reputation for surviving a pilgrimage? Immediately after Braska's death he confronted Yunalesca, and we know what happened after that. Following that it seems he ceased contact with the world, and probably rode Sin to Dream Zanarkand not long after. Kinoc and Seymour both insinuate that he's been missing for 10 years. How did anyone know he even ''did'' survive if he basically became a ghost (both literally and figuratively)?
445** And more simply Jecht had no family or friends in Spira. He arrives there and is immediately taken as Braska's guardian. Anyone who met him did so as part of Braska's entourage on the pilgrimage - so they didn't know him for very long. Auron meanwhile was in a prominent position - enough to be offered the hand of the priest's daughter. So both of them had more people to remember them, while Jecht only had acquaintances. Yuna seems to be the only one who remembers him - and that's because he was one of her father's friends.
446* This is kinda meta, and pretty much a FridgeHorror if you think about it. Ok, Wakka uses a blitzball as a weapon, you'd figure it's just a strange quirk. But then you know all of his weapons are blitzballs. And you can buy different kinds, some of them with spikes, and his Celestial has blades all the way around it (then again, Oholland probably needed that kind of protection). And they are apparently popular enough that people can make a profit off of them. How many people are using these as weapons?! Why would they even think to? Yes, blitzball is a popular sport in Spira, but not everyone can chuck a ball hard enough to massive damage, so who is asking for basically the equivalent of soccer balls with nails sticking out of them, and what for?
447** I figured Ohalland figured that if he made a weapon sort of like a Blitzball, he could translate his previous talents to fighting Fiends, and that after he became High Summoner, this became a relatively popular tradition, especially because of how effective it is on aerial Fiends.
448* Why did Tidus end up near Baaj? The Fayth he seemed most in contact with was Bahamut's, so it'd make more sense for him to pop in around Bevelle, one would think.
449** Jecht and Auron were responsible for bringing Tidus to Spira, not Bahamut. He could have travelled for miles in Sin's gut before being deposited in the ruins of Baaj temple. And it probably wasn't a coincidence that he just so happened to land within spitting distance of Braska's daughter on the eve of her pilgrimage. Jecht wants Tidus to stop him, remember, he can't do that without a summoner.
450** Because Dream Zanarkand is not just an imaginary place. It had a physical presence in Spira, which happened to be above Baaj. Remember, the primary purpose of Sin is to protect Dream Zanarkand by suppressing population and technology, thus ensuring DZ's vulnerable material existence could not be found, let alone threatened.
451*** Where is it said it's above Baaj? If it was, it would be really obvious to the people of Baaj, which was only abandoned ''recently''. I thought it was its own island where nobody went somewhere near the actual Zanarkand.
452** Maybe Jecht's aim isn't perfect and he meant to drop Tidus in Besaid, but got him in Baaj instead (which is fairly close to Besaid on the world map). Maybe that's why he attacked the Al Bhed ship? So he could get Tidus closer to Besaid.
453*** Remember that Sin has destructive instincts that Jecht can't overrule, especially since his control is already waning. He caused serious damage to Dream Zanarkand even though he was only there to collect Tidus. Getting too close to Besaid would run the risk of destroying it (and Yuna).
454* After their romantic scene, why did Yuna tell Tidus to go back to the camp first?
455** She wanted to watch his toned blitzer butt walk away.
456** ^This is like the best comment I've ever read on TV Tropes, and I kind of want it to be the true answer. But the interpretation that I personally got was that she didn't want the two of them to go back together and give the impression to the others that they're now a couple. But then after thinking about if for a second realized she did want everyone to think of them as a couple.
457** And maybe she wanted a few moments alone to compose herself.
458** Japanese ValuesDissonance also plays its part here as they are far more socially reserved in general than most Westerners (or at least they were back in 2001 when the game was made, I haven't been back for a while so the place may have changed.) You may or may not be aware that Yuna's final line to Tidus in this game ''I love you'' was changed from the original Japanese ''thank you'' for this exact reason. Yuna, who is a rather prim and proper type of girl, probably disliked the idea of waltzing hand-in-hand back to camp to the stares of her friends. I also have an idea regarding the friendship points mechanic in this game for it is entirely possible to have Tidus outright declare to Rikku or Lulu that he loves them prior to the kiss with Yuna; maybe she suddenly decided to make it clear to the other girls that he was taken? We do know that from the second game that she gets very upset at the idea that Tidus (not Shuyin for she doesn't know who that is yet) is close to Lenne.
459*** As someone who doesn't speak Japanese, but am aware of the social reservations you describe, there were a few moments that struck me as odd. The way Wakka reacts when Yuna tells him she "just wants Tidus nearby [not as a guardian]" is how I'd expect him to react if she'd said she was '''pregnant''' or something. I assume the original line in Japanese has a great deal more meaning.
460** And she's seventeen. Maybe she doesn't want her surrogate siblings, cousin and older mentor figure to know for definite that she and Tidus did...something in the lake.
461** I always assumed that her romance with Tidus made her doubt her pilgramige a bit. Tidus is one more person to live for, one more thing she'll miss out on if she dies. So she takes some time alone to think it over a bit. In the next scene, IIRC, she tells the guardians that she's not going to quit the pilgramige. So the implication is that she was thinking about it in the previous scene.
462
463* For what purpose were Aeons for before Sin? I mean, seeing as Yu Yevon and Yunalesca were both accomplished Summoners before the time of Sin (and that Lenne was a Summoner, too), Aeons had to exist (seeing as Summoning is a dead art without them). They can't have been tools of war- Aeons are largely peaceful creatures, they seek to bring peace, not victory, and if they were usable in war, would Yu Yevon not have turned his people into Aeons rather than just Fayth to win the war he thought was so hopeless he turned his people into eternal dreamers? We already know they likely were impossible to use in war because unless someone summons a Dark Aeon, an Aeon can only be summoned once, and we know from the Sisters and Yojimbo that an Aeon doesn't have to obey if it doesn't want to, so even if they were Summoned in war, they may not listen on seeing they're only being used to gain an upper hand in a war.
464** It's possible that there ''weren't'' Aeons before Sin. Perhaps all the Summoners of Zanarkand summoned fiends to fight (on a smaller scale, since there were summoners who fought on the front lines of battle against Bevelle) just like the Guado guardians who pursue you after killing Seymour. This fell out of practice because of Yevon.
465** Whilst the Fayth may be creatures of peace, they are slaves to whoever has summoned them. Spiran Hitler could order Bahamut to Mega Flare a school and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. And the fact that Aeons can only be summoned once could actually be a very good reason why Zanarkand lost: They are the ultimate AwesomeButImpractical weapon. No matter how many mechs that Yojimbo cleaved in two, or how much infantry Valefor dive-bombed; there would always be many, many, more. It is also important to note that unlike a machine healing magic works on an Aeon so they would have been almost impossible for the enemy to kill, especially if any of the summoners knew Belgemine's trick of healing all of your Aeons at once.
466** From the sequel, we're told that summoners did exist before Sin. And during the Machina War against Bevelle, Zanarkand put summoners out on the front lines to fight. There have always been fiends, so summoning possibly developed as a way of fighting them. Or perhaps it was just an ancient tradition.
467** Aeons are peaceful?? I've never seen an aeon do anything except try to kill things. They get summoned in battle, they kill things, and then they leave. That's practically the only thing they ever do.
468* One of the biggest issues this troper has with the plot/characters revolves around the reveal that Yuna is destined to die even if her pilgrimage succeeds, Tidus doesn't know this and yet nobody sees fit to tell him until pretty much halfway through the game. From the way he talks to her, it's really obvious he has no clue that she's walking the path of the martyr and yet, at no point does anyone pull him aside and say "Seriously, dude, you know she's gonna die at the end of this, right?" Instead, there's just a handwave of "It seemed too hard to tell you", you know, as opposed to watching Tidus make a fool of himself for what may have been weeks along the road. If nothing else, Wakka, who clearly seems to understand that Tidus is kind of out of it, never does the decent thing and tell him like a friend should.
469** You're really, really overestimating how easy it is to tell someone something that you know will devastate them. People can, will, and do hesitate to say exactly this kind of thing to people all the time.
470** It's also possible that Yuna explicitly told everyone to keep him in the dark, because she didn't want to bring him down and he kept bringing smiles to her pilgrimage and talking about the future, which she liked. She implies as much when Tidus watches her sphere.
471** It's also implied that the rest of the group is partly charmed by Tidus's cheerful nature. Lulu is living proof of that - since she seems to develop an almost protective older sister attitude towards him, explaining the various rules and traditions of the area. And they might be reluctant to have to break the news. If you ride with Rikku to Macalania Temple, she realises that Tidus doesn't know the truth and can't bring herself to tell him.
472** The actual lines from when the reveal happens? (Wakka: "We weren't hiding it", Lulu: "It was just too hard to say") - which should explain it all. They weren't in a situation where the revelation would have to come up until Home.
473** So what's Auron's excuse here then? He tells Tidus that Sin is Jecht immediately upon meeting up in Luca with the reasonable justification that Tidus could become overly emotional if he found out later. But that's exactly what happens when he finds out that Yuna is going to die! In fact when you think about it, what was Auron doing for the ten years he spent as Tidus's mentor anyway? There really should have been a moment where this ruse ended and Auron started to train him in the ways of Spira. This is what happens to summoners, this is what Yevon is, this is what the Calm is etc. Was Tidus really that pig-headed that he wouldn't even accept a notebook from Auron?
474** The longer Tidus spends with Yuna (and developing romantic feelings for her), the stronger he'll feel when he learns the truth. That's why Auron didn't tell him. Auron wants the kids to be good and motivated to find a way out of the spiral of death. If Tidus knew the truth from the start, there's a risk he would buy into the "necessity" of the sacrifice--and that he would fail to make Yuna consider another way by asking uninformed yet {{Armor Piercing Quesion}}s.
475* How in the name of Yu Yevon did Tidus and Yuna not run out of oxygen during their little tryst at the really huge ass lake?
476** I always thought that the kiss was underwater, then they continued on the shore doing other things... That's how I see it anyways.
477* This might seem like a stupid question, but how are Jecht and Tidus even related if Tidus wasn't real? Was he adopted or something?
478** Jecht came from the same Dream Zanarkand as Tidus did. He's his biological father.
479** Alternatively, Jecht is based on the person who was the father of Shuyin, the person Tidus was based on.
480
481* There are always sentiment about this game being similar or even copy the story of Bahamut Lagoon floating around the internet (and on this very main page), while both games being part of my favorite games of all time I personally can't see even a little bit of resemblance between them outside some omnipresent JRPG tropes, so can someone who spreads this notion around tell me exactly how you figure they were made from the same mold?
482
483* What's the deal with Jecht and Tidus? Tidus turns out to be a dream of the fayth, and the young fayth who talks to him makes it clear that it's difficult for them to maintain him. With this in mind, Jecht is clearly an actual time traveler -- traveling forward 1000 years. If he were a dream, he could've been terminated by the fayth before (or maybe even after) transforming into Sin. Jecht clearly had a real son named Tidus and in spite of being a nearly omnipotent EldritchAbomination, he appears none the wiser that his "son" is fake. Seems like a simple PlotHole but am I reading this wrong somehow?
484** Jecht and Tidus both come from Dream Zanarkand. It's also heavily implied they become more than just dreams of the fayth when they leave and interact with the "real" world. As Tidus didn't just stop existing, he went to the Farplane at the end of the game.
485** As for why the fayth couldn't just delete Jecht before he becomes Sin, seeing as he's a dream too; That's because the fayth have no control over Dream Zanarkand beyond providing the basis for its summoning. Basically they think of it, and Yu Yevon summons their thoughts into reality. Yu Yevon is the only one with control over the existence of the dream itself or its inhabitants and he's not about to end it anytime soon. Also, there was no actual time travel in the game, that's just a RedHerring.
486
487* I get the general distrust of Al Bhed as a cultural evolution. Machines = Sin in the public mind, I get that. But... what does Wakka think the Blitzball sphere is made out of? It's clearly not 100% magic as I just watched the cinematic (Playing the remastered edition) when the Tournament starts and it's clearly like, water turbines that pull from the sea. Not to mention you can clearly hear cranks and gears when the thing is functioning. It's like they're all picking and choosing what machines are good and bad and that just seems like flawed logic to me.
488** Lulu and Wakka outright point this out on the back of the Shoopuf when Tidus asks pretty much the exact same question. Yevon decides what technology they may use and what they may not; and conveniently what they may not use is all of the technology best suited to overthrowing the Yevon Church and what they may use keeps the people as productive and entertained tax paying citizens. I'm going to point out (without going into unnecessary detail) that there have been several real life examples of such religious hypocrisy throughout the ages in varying forms, many of which you probably don't need me to mention.
489*** OP: Yea I literally just ran into that cutscene a few gameplay hours after posting this. I feel silly.
490
491* So here's a pretty big one that I'm very surprised hasn't been mentioned yet. But why on earth did Sin destroy Dream Zanarkand at the start of the game? It's whole reason for existing is to protect the place yet he goes and nukes it! The game is pretty confused itself about how real the place is but the interpretation (supported by Ultamania) that it is in fact a real physical place and acts much like an Aeon is the one that makes the most sense with all the facts. I doubt they can just dream everyone better (otherwise why would they need Sin to protect it at all). Jecht went and killed all his old friends and family just to get Tidus to Spira (and it doesn't even seem like it was necessary since Jecht managed to leave and Auron managed to get to it without any Godzilla sightings. Auron could have just brought Tidus out sailing). Maybe an acceptable measure to finally end the cycle but certainly something OOC for Yu Yevon and Sin. Seems like it was put in just to start the game off with an exciting action sequence and show off Sin.
492** Jecht is intentionally trying to get Tidus to go to Spira so he can help stop the Sin cycle forever. He and Auron planned this together. And for all we know, maybe Dream Zanarkand was destroyed in a similar way when Jecht himself rode Sin to Spira - but Yu Yevon just reset it and made everyone think he'd gone missing.
493** I was under the impression that Yu Yevon had gone insane and lost his humanity, which is why Sin spent the last thousand years just wandering around and killing everyone. Yu Yevon can't even tell the difference between Zanarkand and other cities at this point. It just murders everything in sight.
494
495* Supposedly the reason why Auron keeps his non-sword hand hanging limp inside his coat is because he is a ronin (a samurai without a master) due to the death of Braska. Which is fair enough. But the moment Yuna takes him on as a Guardian, doesn't he in fact now have a master? (or mistress - I don't know if the term is gender specific in this context). Shouldn't that arm go back into his sleeve again? The only thing I can figure is that this is a bit of subtext that he really does not trust or respect Yuna as anything more than Braska's daughter and does not consider her worthy of being his master/mistress. Which, given how badly she handled the whole Seymour situation, I really can't blame that perception.
496** The arm in sling thing is supposedly done when a ronin failed a former master. Serving Yuna doesn't negate Auron's feeling of failing Braska. That's why he keeps his arm in his sling. And that's a bit of a harsh projection. The only expectation Auron had of Yuna is that she continue the journey to Zanarkand, which she never stopped doing.
497
498* When the company meets Seymour on the Mushroom Rock Road, before the Operation Mi'ihen, Wakka asks Seymour why he supports it, even though he is a Maester. Then, in Tidus' narration, he says: "From the first time I laid eyes on him, I never did like Seymour... But you know, some of the things he said that day... They made a lot of sense to me." Ok, so what was it that Seymour said, that made sense to Tidus? And why?
499** I would personally describe Tidus as an atheist with a deep rebellious streak against anyone in authority and a passionate belief that you should always try to do the right thing no matter what. This is evidenced the most when he blatantly and knowingly disregards Yevon, the priests, Wakka and apparently the laws of the land by charging into the Besaid Cloister of Trials to rescue Yuna despite not having any real evidence that she was in danger. Given this, I think that Tidus is seeing himself mirrored in Seymour here: ''Yeah, you know what, I have this religion to uphold and these guys are blatantly going against it. But seeing as they are only doing so because they think that they can make a difference in the world, then to Hell with what anyone else thinks. Ride on, my friends.'' Its pretty clear that Auron see's this for what it is of course: a very convenient way to weaken both the Crusaders and the Al Bhed whilst strengthening Yevon's grip on the idea that only they can save you from Sin.
500** It was probably Seymour's pragmatism about using machina in Operation Mi'hen to permanently destroy Sin that appealed to Tidus. He doesn't know that Seymour and Kinoc's support for the mission is all bullshit, since Sin's victory is a ForegoneConclusion. He hasn't grown up hearing Yevon's teachings the way Lulu and Wakka did, so he doesn't already assume that the Final Summoning is the only way to defeat Sin.
501
502* If the Al Bhed are seen as heathens against Yevon, disliked by people who worship Yevon and in a general sense just hated in general... why are they allowed to just wander around all over the place? Set up shops randomly or even have their own official Blitzball team! For an entire people seen as heathens by the rest of the world, they don't seem to actually have many problems integrating into society.
503** Maybe not everyone is as super-religious as Wakka is. He has a personal vendetta against them because of Chappu's death, but none of the other characters seem to mind. He's the only character who complains about having to go into an Al Bhed inn.
504** Perhaps the Al Bhed are given certain lenience to avoid making them more aggressive against Yevon. The machina that's forbidden is forbidden because they don't want anything that might be able to overthrow the church. And the Al Bhed already have that, so if the church oppresses them too much they could potentially strike back. Yevon just brainwash the rest of Spira that the Al Bhed are wrong and let them do the rest.
505** It's also much smarter to not outwardly strike against them. If the Al Bhed were being openly persecuted, that might drum up unintentional sympathy for them. This kind of persecution is always done slowly and tactically; brainwash the general public into thinking they're evil or dangerous, thus keeping them from having too many allies outside their own people. This leads to the Al Bhed retreating to places like Bikanel Island as a safe haven...and then they're all in the one place for Yevon to destroy more of them in one go. Bigotry is more effective when it's disguised as concern; 'I'm concerned those Al Bhed are going to get us all killed by using this Machina that the teachings have forbidden, and they're stopping Sin from going away' (with a bit of ThinkOfTheChildren in there too).
506** Many of the random [=NPCs=] you can talk to make snide comments about the Al Bhed, and are reluctant to have to deal with them. One of the priests at the Macalania Temple refuses to let Rikku in when he learns she's an Al Bhed until Auron vouches for her as a guardian. Even then, he scoffs at it. A lot of the racism the Al Bhed face might be more subtle than the blatant, up-front restrictions that were imposed on real-life groups like Jews or Black Americans. Like the previous responder said, treating the Al Bhed with condescension, cold shoulders or discriminatory practices like redlining is probably more common. Discriminated people can still move around with relative freedom and open businesses in real life, but that doesn't mean they can't be hassled by their neighbors, get grief from police, etc.
507** It would also be interesting to know just how large the Warrior Monks are actually meant to be when GameplayAndStorySegregation is removed because there only seems to be a few hundred of them in total. They likely do not have enough men and firepower to truly keep down the Al Bhed which is why angering them with camps and persecutions wouldn't be the smartest idea they've ever had. That post-Home counter-attack probably would have been very nasty indeed what with their machine guns, attack robots, artillery cannons and their ability to generate anti-magic fields.
508* Why doesn't Blitzball have separate male and female teams? True Blitzball, as in the version we see in the opening and not the watered down turn-based in-game version, is rough and physical with power tackles and barges strong enough to launch you out of the sphere pool. This game is easily a match for American football or rugby in terms of contact. The average man will have a huge advantage over the average woman on both attack and defence to the point that I am wondering why any captain would actually pick a woman over a man when trying to build a winning team.
509** Well besides gender they also allow different species to compete against each other. Guado, Al Bhed and Ronso are bound to have different biology to that of a human. A Ronso in particular is bound to have a muscle mass advantage. And Spira doesn't seem to have any gender divides in any part of society - men and women can freely become summoners, fayth, priests etc. All the Maesters are men but that just seems to be coincidence. So there just doesn't seem to be any gender segregation in Spira.
510** And considering the physicality involved in Blitzball, the average woman who plays it is bound to be pretty hardy and athletic. If you want to get technical, the players won't be too big and bulky because they need to be able to swim through the water.
511
512* I know it's a strange question, but why the hell everybody on Spira fear the Sin so much? Yes, it's a giant monster running around killing people. But, I believe the only moment in-game when the Sin killed everybody (nearly everybody) in range would be his fight on Operation, when Al Bhed used friggin ancient beam cannon to attack him. Beyond that, I saw attack on Dream Zanarkand (and we don't know how was it ended, right?); I saw his attack on Al Bhed ship (looks like everybody survive), I saw his "fight" with S.S.Liki, which was ended as soon as Sin broke the ballista, and attack on Kilika (some destroyed houses and some dozens of killed, living started to rebuild immedeatly). As far as I recall there are people on Besaid who survived more then one Sin attack. Looks like some attacks of fiends, who are everywhere and everywhen, are more practically dangerous that Sin is. And, the last but not the least, Sin can be thwarted from (and even when) it attack, and you CAN protect large settlements like Luca or Bevelle from him. I can't feel how it's the reason for everybody fall into depression and grey-scale life if Final Summoning would stop.
513** Because Sin is something they live ''their entire lives with''. Literally every single person in the game has someone they know who was personally killed by Sin. It is literally a giant murder monster that attacks without warning wherever it likes, and can ''only'' be driven away ''temporarily'' at great cost in life and resources. The entire world aside from three cities is literally tiny villages because, every couple months, Sin shows up and murders half the population and destroys anything you've built. How is that '''not''' something to fear?
514*** Couple of powerful fiends would do the same. Yes, entire world aside from three cities is literally tiny villagies; but '''somehow''' this three cities still stands, so it IS possible to protect big cities; and even when Sin attack small village, small village still stands. Yes, that's something they live their entire life with. People tend to get to accustom to things they're living their entire lives with. Japanese are living their entire lives with earthquakes - so they accustomed, not paniked. I can get why individual would fear a flying killer whale going to his born city, sure, as I can get how a person would fear a building leveling on his head or fire burning his house. But how it's a problem people for thousand years wasn't used to? "People dies: from fires, fiends, earthquakes, Sin attacks, bandits, food poisonings..."
515*** There aren't that many fiends comparable to Sin in power, and these are generally found in remote places like the Omega Ruins, so they aren't likely to attack human settlements. In fact, the existence of fiends comparable to Sin (or even stronger) is probably just to provide more content for players. In-universe, Sin is likely the strongest entity around; the main characters only beat it with the help of an airship (and it's still possible for Sin to destroy the airship if the player isn't fast enough). As for why Sin is feared more than natural disasters, that may be because it's a living entity that (unlike everything else) can't be permanently killed. You can drive it off (but not without casualties) and a summoner can give their life to [[HopeSpot kill it temporarily]]... but it always comes back.
516*** Basically the ''real'' Sin and the Sin that can barely pull a wooden boat are GameplayAndStorySegregation. The ''real'' Sin is the one who ended a world war by flattening both the armies of Zanarkand and St Bevelle alike, who destroyed the previous large settlement that was on Besaid, who caused those ruins aling the Mi'ihen Highroad, who can cough in the direction of a beach and kill the combined armies of the Al Bhed and the Crusaders. Sin is a nuclear bomb that can swim and sprout wings. And as for fiends, you can deal with any common fiend by buying a sword or learning some basic or intermediate elemental magic. It is only if you venture into the Calm Lands and beyond that you will start to face fiends that one man cannot take out by himself; the Calm Lands BTW being the place that has a Grand Canyon like gorge formed by Sin. That is going to draw your eye quicker than anything else.
517*** It's also possible that maybe Sin has weaker days or times where Jecht inside has a stronger influence and is able to hold back some of the destruction he causes. Aeons in this game have HP and MP gauges and can suffer KO, so it's plausible a Final Aeon could as well (Anima is implied to be Seymour's intended Final Aeon and she can be damaged and KO'd just like the rest).
518
519* We know there to be five humanoid races in Spira: the humans, the Al Bhed, the Ronso, the Guado, and the Hypello. So what the hell exactly is the bird guy who plays the harp that explains the butterfly minigame in Macalania Woods? I'm pretty sure he's the only example of his unnamed race in the entire game. He plays in the band that's seen across the game along with two other creatures, one that's catlike and one that's sort of amphibian, but they aren't known to talk and you could argue they aren't quite "humanoid". Who, and what, is this guy?
520
521* All the Unsent you see clearly have personalities, but ...they’re Unsent. They’re just a bunch of pyreflies clumped together - so how do they react? Are the pyreflies just making guesses based on what the person would have done when they was alive? For that matter, one can assume Unsent don’t eat/sleep/et cetera, lacking either the need or organs to do so, but how do they speak? They don’t have lungs or vocal chords.
522** You're very much misunderstanding how being Unsent works or how the pyreflies work. The game clearly establishes that nearly everything is made up of pyreflies -- monsters dissolve into them, and that's what's coming out of the coffins when Yuna does her sending. An unsent isn't just a bunch of insubstantial pyreflies putting up an illusion and pretending to be the person. It ''is'' the person, and they very clearly, very obviously have a physical form.
523* Considering the composition of the Unsent, how would they interact with weapons? If they’re stabbed, would they take physical or clothing damage? For that matter, if they’re shot and then immediately sent, where would the bullet go? Would the bullet even go into them, for lack of better phrasing?
524** Being stabbed does not effect an Unsent in any way, at any rate. They probably aren't effected by other attacks, either. No idea about the bullet, though!
525
526* A minor one, there are probably at least some witnesses to previous Summoner V Sin battles, And judging from Jechts boss form, Final Aeons look alot like their human form, so how has nobody put together the "The Final Aeon is a Guardian-turned-fayth"? Jecht looks like a spikey version of himself, hell, he uses a huge version of his own sword.
527** The thing is though that the Calm was historically a lot longer than Braska's Calm. According to the Final Fantasy Wiki, 400 years ago was Gandof's Calm, 230 years ago was Ohalland's Calm, 100 years ago was Yocun's Calm, and 10 years ago was Braska's Calm. In a world where media is limited to books and those relatively rare spheres (we see no evidence of a newspaper, a television, a radio, or a telephone) we can safely say that any Calm before Yocun would have had its eyewitness accounts long since forgotten. And in regards to those books, I would question based on similar communities from our own history just how many people in Spira can actually read and write. This is a perpetually depressed world full of people who are barely surviving; teaching your children how to bring in the next harvest or darn a shirt is of much more importance than teaching them how to keep a diary.
528** It's heavily implied (if not outright stated, forgive me, I'm currently in the Calm Lands in my most recent playthrough) that before Yuna and her Guardians other Summoners fought Sin itself, not the Aeon or Yu Yevon inside of Sin. The Calm Lands were used as a sparring ground for that, so it's more likely that it was an external fight than an internal one. So no Summoners, whether they knew the person or not, would have gotten a chance to rognize the Final Aeon.
529** "Oh look, Braska is fighting Sin with his Final Aeon! Huh, Sir Jecht isn't there. And Braska's Final Aeon looks like him. Sir Jecht must have fallen during the final steps of the pilgrimage, and Braska must have chosen to base his Final Aeon's appearance on his fallen guardian as a tribute to him!"
530*** How many people do you think actually witness a final aeon's battle with Sin?
531
532* Strange one, but, is there an In-Universe reason (outside of being a MsFanservice) for Lulu's outfit? As far as we're aware, she was born and raised in Besaid alongside Wakka (both were orphans), most of Spira, barring the Thunder Plains, Macalania and Gagazet/Zanarkand, seems to be tropical, or at least very warm, she is the odd one out when it comes to her outfit for a Besaid Islander, Wakka wears his blitz uniform, Yuna wears a light Priestesses robe (with what looks to be a bikini top at least under it), she wears this heavy black dress with a skirt made of belts, on a tropical island.
533
534* IS Jecht actually an abusive father? Granted, Jecht was a self-absorbed drunk and I wouldn't call him a good dad but we never see him ever being hurtful or tearing Tidus down. The worst we see is from a dream in a situation that couldn't possibly have been from a memory, Tidus was too young for it to have come up. It's even pointed out several times that Tidus' anger at his father and acting like he hates him is just his way of holding on to his father's memory and isn't really how he feels. Even the Blitzball flashbacks aren't an attempt to tear Tidus down since he believes he's the only one capable of making the shot, not supportive or encouraging but not cruel either.
535** I was under the impression that Tidus's character arc was him realising just this. He was an immature mummy's boy who resented that Jecht was stealing her attention - the key scene here is on the Farplane where he realises through flashback that his mum would never look at him when he was around and yet it was ''Jecht'' and not his Nameless Mum who told her to attend to him when Tidus cried. Maybe the question here is ''was she in fact the abusive parent?'' Bear in mind here that she apparantly gave up the will to live after Jecht died, orphaning her young son was seemingly something she was happy with.
536** That's a bit of an oversimplification at best. Someone dying doesn't mean they're "happy with" abandoning their kid. She was ''heartbroken'' to the point she ''died'' -- people don't ''die of heartbreak'' by sitting down and thinking out, "Hm, I think I'll die and abandon my kid. Yes, that would make me happy." There's nothing whatsoever in the game that suggests she's abusive.
537** Abuse comes in many, many different forms, and not always out of deliberate malice. Jecht ''did'' care about his son, but wasn't good at showing it because emotions are typically thought of as weak among men. As such, he often came across as emotionally abusive, and to a degree he was. His own character development was him realizing over time was that he didn't do right by Tidus by acting this way. Arguably Tidus's ''mother'' is the worse abuser: she was heavily implied to be outright neglectful of Tidus, which is a form of abuse in and of itself. She clearly idolized Jecht and was probably one of his adoring fans before he married her, and to her Tidus was just an afterthought. After Jecht disappeared, the one thing she cared about was gone, and so she basically wasted away while completely ignoring Tidus in the process. Unlike Jecht, she never actually cared about him. Auron's probably the main reason Tidus turned out better emotionally than he could have under those circumstances.
538** Jecht was a self-absorbed drunk who never showed his son any affection. That by itself qualifies as emotional abuse and/or emotional neglect. It's implied that Jecht was like this ''all the time''; he was ''never'' kind or fatherly towards Tidus. It's only after he goes to Spira that he slowly realizes what he did wrong.
539
540* A minor one that I have always wondered due to the limited animation: during the Baaj Temple scene when Tidus encounters the Al Bhed and Rikku for the first time, do the Al Bhed smack Tidus around the head with a rifle butt or does Rikku sucker punch him in the stomach/groin? The sound effect indicates a rifle butt, but the way the scene is shot with her leaning in and saying sorry very much looks as if she was the one who hit him. Adding to this is the fact that it is ''Rikku'' and not an Al Bhed minion who holds him in an armlock in the following scene, implying that she is not at all afraid of getting rough and ready with him.
541** Tidus later says "you hit me" so we can assume yes Rikku is the one who knocked him out.
542** He was smacked with a rifle, it's probably fair to say. He doesn't say Rikku hit him, he said "You guys hit me". The way Rikku was standing suggests she could do little more than punch his gut, which is unlikely to knock him unconscious.
543
544* How do the Al Bhed even see anything? sure the "spirals instead of pupils" thing looks cool, in a JRPG sort of way, but, in general, it would make for absolutely horrific eyesight, the closeup you see of Rikku's eye shows it isn't a pattern on their iris with the pupil in the middle, just the spiral.
545** Since we never see from their POV, we have no idea. We can just assume their biology doesn't obey a normal human's, like the rest of the Spiran races. The Guado are implied to be half plant.
546** The spiral might not go all the way through the iris. It could be that what they have are irises with a deep spiral-shaped groove that ends at the pupil (the actual window to the retina) rather than a spiral-shaped fissure instead of a circular pupil. Although that might just raise further questions about the function of their iris muscle.
547
548* Just after Kimarhi defeats Biran and Yenke, they claim that they will build a statue to honour Yuna as Yevon no longer will. They then claim that it will have a ''grand horn on its head.'' OK... [[FridgeLogic female Ronso do not have horns.]] And whilst you can argue that the horn in Ronso culture symbolises bravery and thus is what they wanted to convey, it is also equally true that they consider it to be the ultimate symbol of masculinity and a penis analogue. I can't help but think that a Yuna statue with a horn would to many Ronso look somewhat like a Tidus statue would with a bosum.
549** Biran and Yenke don't appear to be the brightest bulbs. But the penis analogue is just head canon and there's no evidence for it in the game; it's just said to be a mark of status and bravery. So they mean it as a compliment to Yuna, and her delighted reaction indicates she takes it as a compliment (as she would know about Ronso culture from Kimahri).
550** Even if female Ronso don't have horns (and IIRC there aren't any female Ronso in the game), Ronso culture doesn't have to be identical to human culture. Perhaps it's normal for a ''statue'' of a female Ronso to have a horn, indicating that she was courageous or otherwise praiseworthy in life.
551** There are female ronso in the game, and there's no reason to project our own "spire-like objects = penis/power symbol" tradition onto them. Ronso clearly take their horns very seriously. When Kimahri refused to concede defeat, Biran snapped his horn off. ''That'' was what drove Kimahri to abandon them. It's probably akin to cutting off a samurai's top knot.
552** When Kimahri defeats Biran on Gagazet the latter declares at the top of his voice that he had been defeated, leaving both his sacred mountain and his peers in no doubt that he lost. That was Kimahri's mistake. In the eyes of his culture he had committed a highly dishonourable and cowardly act that needed to be punished severely. If it wasn't his horn then it might have been a five-on-one beating. Its also worth noting that for all we know the females are under the same rules. Like the ''spire-like objects meaning penis'' rule mentioned above, just because in human cultures such brutal rules governing bravery don't tend to apply to females doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't apply here.
553* Most of the overdrives of the characters make sense for that character, but why does Wakka get slots as his main mechanic? Granted, they're not random, and can be timed, but it seems weird that his main LB is some sort of roulette, considering he doesn't seem to interact with gambling whatsoever, nor is it particularly risk-taking, usually going along with the group because they're his friends, but grumbling all the while.
554** Speaking of his Overdrives, they are won through Blitzball leagues and tournaments. Nothing seems to indicate that there are other practictioners of his combat style (beaning enemies with a blitzball), so if a team besides the Aurochs won those prizes, what would they do with them?
555* If {{Revive Kills Zombie}}s, why does it work normally on Auron?
556** Given that by that logic you could kill all fiends by simply healing them, it appears safe to say that unsent and undead are two different things.
557** It seems rather stupid of the Maesters and the Bevelle gaurds to throw the three swimmers (and only those three) into the water dungeon while the other four are thrown into a standard dungeon.
558*** Not so much because it was trial by ordeal and they were giving them (officially) a chance. And besides, the swimmers had [[ThatOneBoss trouble enough]].
559*** If you look behind where Yuna starts her section, you'll notice there's a tunnel filled with water. Another one can be found in each spot where a party member can be picked up during Yuna's portion of the Trial. The implication here is that everyone was dumped into the Via Purifico, but the non-swimmers, being helpless in the water, found the nearest routes to dry land while the three swimmers just plunged ahead through the channel.
560** If Yu Yevon possesses Aeons... why does the game end normally if you skip the extras? Should he not seek them out as well...?
561*** They're only Fayth at that point, and Issaru and Donna had long abandoned any notion of completing their pilgrimage.
562* Yevon cast out the Crusaders due to Operation Mi'ihen, deeming them "heretics." So, what the hell are Kinoc and Seymour doing there? Kinoc could be explained as being the man in charge of the Yevon military, but Seymour? In fact, Wakka himself stated that with the two of them there, it was like the whole thing was Yevon sponsored anyway. So how in the hell did anyone else not notice this? Moreover, how come '''''Wakka''''' was the only one to notice this?
563** [[FantasticRacism That Guado half breed may be a Maester but he doesn't represent the true Yevon!]]
564** To reaffirm to the people that the Final Aeon was the only way to defeat Sin. It seemed like many young people weren't interested in joining the church and opted to join the Crusaders instead because they thought they could defeat Sin with the ever increasing power of Al Bhed machinery. Having the Maesters there was just a way to make it seem like Yevon was on their side, when they were really just using them to prove a point and maintain the status quo.
565*** This seems most likely. It strikes me that the point was to clear any doubts that Sin was unkillable. So the Yevonites, rather than fighting the Crusaders, threw in with them, giving (albeit more or less lip service) support, so they can claim they were there, they helped as best they could and hold it as proof that these means were useless, so the world would have to continue cultivating and sacrificing Summoners.
566** Also, in Seymour's case, he's perhaps just [[OmnicidalManiac more than happy to sit back and watch people die.]]
567** When you think about it, Operation Mi'ihen was doomed to fail before it ever began. What were they using to attempt to kill Sin? Machina. Where do they get their machina? They salvage it from ancient ruins. Why are these places ruins? Because Sin destroyed them. The machina they were using here had '''already''' failed to defeat Sin.
568* Whatever happened to the guardians of all the other high summoners that had more than one guardian? Did they all die when the other was turned into the Final Aeon?
569** Auron's backstory proves that they're left alive, though they apparently have to make their own way out. The reason Auron died was because he decided to go try to kill Yunalesca.
570*** Ok, but only Auron was bequeathed the title 'Legendary Guardian'. Who knows how far the Yevon Church or Yunalesca was willing to go to conceal the truth about Sin and Yu Yevon if the others were allowed to go free?
571*** Auron was bequeathed the title "Legendary Guardian" because he was one of Braska's ''two'' Guardians. He's the only, um, "living" person with that title because only one of Braska's Guardians is "alive" today. Bear in mind that Sin's only been defeated six times in history, and we don't know who all the Guardians for the High Summoners that defeated Sin were. The absence of proof is not, in and of itself, proof of anything. As pointed out above, Auron's backstory proves they're left to their own devices to find their way out.
572*** It's very possible that many of the guardians died on the road to Zanarkand, a summoner has to sacrifice at least 1 guardian to make the final aeon and it's implied that most summoners have at most 2 guardians.
573*** It's also stated by Donna that Yuna is something of an oddity for bringing so many guardians with her. It's probably just been one or two by tradition. Yunalesca's only guardian was her husband Lord Zaon. Lady Yocun appeared to have only one as well.
574* Wakka not knowing Yuna is part Al Bhed is a bit of FridgeLogic bordering on fridge squick. If she's got the eye spirals, that means he never ''once'' looked her in the eyes. If she doesn't, that means her mother's heritage was swept under the rug from the ''world'', likely by the church of Yevon. Remember, ''immediately before'' becoming High Summoner, Braska was a ''disgraced'' member of the church for marrying an Al Bhed. And he and others ''knew'' it, since he could get away with saying no one would believe in him anyway. That's why he got the "delusional" drunkard Jecht on his team and it didn't knock him down any further.
575** The thing is, she doesn't have the spirals. If you look carefully, she has heterocromia: a blue eye on her left, a green one on her right, but no spirals.
576** When Braska became High Summoner, Yevon likely pretended his wife wasn't Al Bhed. Wakka was about 12 when Braska defeated Sin and didn't meet Yuna until then. Besaid is a small island almost completely isolated from the rest of Spira. Gossip such as one member of Yevon being disgraced probably didn't reach that far. Plus Wakka's hatred of the Al Bhed mostly comes from his brother's death so if he had known about Braska's wife at all, he may have forgotten in his rage.
577*** But, while the Church of Yevon was more than happy to pretend the whole Al Bhed thing never happened, I find it very difficult to believe that they would be able to so effectively shut down the rumor mill that Wakka would not have heard about it. He didn't show any sign of hearing about it AT ALL. Nothing that said "I had heard, but I never suspected it was true" just...oblivious.
578** Also, Wakka clearly ''doesn't know what Al Bhed eyes look like'', as he has no idea that Rikku is Al Bhed until it's shoved in his face.
579*** FridgeBrilliance: The Al Bhed we see only wear their goggles when they're out in public, apart from Rin and Rikku. The Al Bhed Psyches were probably the only Al Bhed Wakka had ever met and they had their eyes covered.
580* Seymour wants to become Sin and kill everyone so that all suffering will end. Except he'll be Sin, and there'll be no Summoner left to kill him, so basically his endgame is [[AndIMustScream being a giant hell-whale in an empty ocean alone forever]]?
581** Mika proved that you can send yourself if you wish, presumably when whatever purpose is binding you to Spira becomes obsolete.
582* After 1000 years of Sin, and subsequently the culture of summoners going on pilgrimages, why was there never a society of summoners that are fully trained and have completed their pilgrimages chosing to settle/make a small city and live close to Zanarkand so that they have summoners ready to defeat Sin in reserve so they can quickly dispatch them, reducing the time Sin is active and out reigning terror? If summoners are disciplined and prepared to die in their pilgrimages anyway, would it be that much of a stretch for them to spend the rest of their lives living closer to Sin to be ready? Especially since multiple summoners make a pilgrimage at once, there isn't anything that says that one summoner can defeat Sin while a second, trailing behind them but still fully trained if they've reached Zanarkand, can just settle down nearby and finish the job again as soon as Sin is revived, minutemen-style. Yeah, civilization beyond Gagazet is very barren, but surely they could have built a small city closer to Zanarkand for summoners to live quietly amongst each other, keeping their abilities honed and living normal lives while they are reserved. Presumably, this is one of those loopholes that Yevon probably says is forbidden or "it doesn't work like that", but nothing in the game seems to address this at all.
583** Because Yevon doesn't want Sin to be defeated. Without the spiral of death there would be no control. Summoners going off nearly single file on an often fruitless journey works for them nicely.
584* So, you remember Sin's toxin? That incredibly dangerous and well-known side-effect of encountering Sin that everyone in Besaid seems terrified of? That thing that is so infamous that Tidus managed to hide the fact that he knew nothing about Spira for a considerable length of time solely by using this as an excuse? Apparently, the party can fight Sin half a dozen times in close quarters (which includes being at ground zero during Operation Mi'hen, being transported several miles inside its belly to Bikanel and blowing a hole in its side and casually walking around in the mists and fluids within) and be perfectly fine. In fact, everyone you meet actually seems to be perfectly fine. It barely even gets a mention in Kilika or by the Crusaders even though they of all people should be saturated with the stuff. Either this threat has been wildly exaggerated or it just isn't a real thing, and the people of Spira are attributing these effects to something else.
585** Judging from the depiction of it in game, Sin's Toxin is likely just the best definition Spira has for PTSD. Sin is just such a recurring traumatic even that it's likely the easiest explanation that people could come up with (such as how the term originated as Shell Shocked and thought only soldiers and veterans got it)

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