Recap / Final Fantasy VI

A Recap of Final Fantasy VI.

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Act One: the World of Balance

"Long ago, the War of the Magi reduced the world to a scorched wasteland, and magic simply ceased to exist. 1000 years have passed... Iron, gunpowder, and steam engines have been rediscovered, and high technology reigns... But there are some who would enslave the world by reviving the dread destructive force known as "magic." Can it be that those in power are on the verge of repeating a senseless and deadly mistake?"

We open on Narshe, a frozen little mining town on the northern continent. Two men, Vicks and Wedge, have been assigned to gain possession of a recently-discovered "Esper" — the first since the War of the Magi. They are accompanied by a Mysterious Waif, ?????, who is apparently a One-Man Army. To compel her obedience, she is wearing a Mind-Control Device called a "Slave Crown" which supposedly "robs her of all conscious thought." All three are driving "Magitek" Powered Armor, and make quick work of the town's defenders.

????? has been brought along because she can cast magic — which makes her supremely unique: the Empire only has two other people who can do this. The game doesn't yet explain why the Esper is important, but the Narshe citizens are dedicated to keeping their hands on it — providing the opposition, and eventually the boss, of the game's Noob Cave. Between the Purposefully Overpowered Magitek Armor and ?????'s Cure spell, the trio win through... but when they reach the Esper, "Tritoch," (later translation: Valigarmanda) it begins to communicate with ?????. The hapless Vicks and Wedge are vaporized, and ????? blown clear of her Magitek Armor.

????? awakens in a bed in Narshe. The old man who recovered her from the mines reveals that he removed the Slave Crown from her head. Now that she's free, she struck with Easy Amnesia. This makes her a great Audience Surrogate, as she hasn't the faintest clue what's going on and how she fits into the plot of the game.

Every time one of the (fourteen) playable characters are introduced, there's a quick one-sentence blurb about them before you get to rename them, and we are going to quote (the original SNES translations of) them all. Here's the first one:

"A mysterious young woman, controlled by the Empire, and born with the gift of magic..."
Terra Branford

Almost immediately, Imperial soldiers show up and demand Terra's return. The old man hustles her out the back door and into the mines (though she can raid his grandfather clock for an Elixir, the first instance of a Running Gag that continues throughout the game), where she is trapped and falls into a pit during a cave-in. Once unconscious, she's treated to a Flashback of a Monster Clown named Kefka putting the Slave Crown on her, and then honing her into a Person of Mass Destruction. She also witnesses The Emperor, Gestahl, declaring that the Empire will soon succeed at bringing magic back into the world. After this, she passes out.

Up in the home of the old man who rescued her, a new character appears. He is a Gentleman Thief — pardon, a "treasure hunter." (He does come with the Video Game Stealing skill.) The old man called for him (the new character) to come help Terra escape, knowing he (the new character) has Chronic Hero Syndrome.

"Treasure hunter and trail-worn traveler, searching the world over for relics of the past..."
Locke Cole

The old man's motivations are not just because Amnesiacs are Innocent: he wants Narshe to ally with La Résistance, a group called the "Returners," and he believes Terra will be willing to follow suit. Thus, he sends Locke into the mines after her, there to rendezvous with her, and then take her to Figaro and speak to the king there. After a short minigame in which you control three parties at once, consisting of Locke and 11 random Moogles, the two (humans) make it out of the mines.

The party travels to Figaro Castle, which is in the middle of the desert. Locke takes Terra to meet the King:

The young king of Figaro Castle, ally to the Empire, and a master designer of machinery...
Edgar Roni Figaro

Edgar is a Gadgeteer Genius whose innate skill is "Tools," which grant him various abilities but require one-time purchases from various shops. Relatedly: All characters in FF6 have set classes, and each has a unique skill in addition to the "Fight" and "Item" commands. Locke's as covered already, is a Thief and has "Steal." Terra has no unique skill, but can cast magic. Weirdly, "(Skill)" and "Magic" are on different lines in each character's command panel, suggesting they might one day co-exist. Foreshadowing?...

Edgar allows Terra free roam of the castle, as Figaro is an ally of the Empire. Locke, in private, explains that this is a sham; in truth, Edgar is one of the highest-ranking members of the Returners. Whilst wandering the castle, Terra can also learn that Edgar has a twin brother, and enter a flashback where we learn that he and said twin flipped a coin to see who would be crowned king:

Edgar's twin brother, who traded the throne for his own freedom...
Sabin Rene Figaro

The player takes control of Edgar as he learns that an envoy from the Empire is arriving. It's Kefka, the Large Ham. ("Ahem...there's SAND on my boots!") Kefka has heard that a girl of no importance, who escaped the Empire, has taken refuge at Figaro; he won't confirm whether it's the "witch" (IE magic-user) everyone's been talking about. Edgar disavows the presence of any such girl... and so Kefka sets the castle on fire. Fortunately, Edgar has a solution: Figaro Castle is equipped to submerge under the desert. Meanwhile, he, Locke and Terra escape on chocobos, fighting their way past some Magitek Armor to make their escape. (If you have Terra use magic during this fight, there's a cute optional Cut Scene where Locke has a bit of a Freak Out about it, but he and Edgar decide it's no big deal.) Afterwards, Terra admits that she has no idea why she can use magic, and Edgar determines that they should consult with Banon, the leader of the Returners. Pursuant to this, they head to the town of South Figaro, where they can encounter a new character:

He owes allegiance to no one, and will do anything for money. He comes and goes like the wind...
Shadow

This character can be hired periodically, though he's expensive and will check out again at pre-determined plot flags. His unique skill is "Throw," which lets him convert unused Equipment (and some specialized items) into damage. He actually cannot be hired at this time, but this is your first opportunity to encounter him, so here's the introduction.

The party travel through Mt. Koltz, which will take them to the Returners' base. On the way, they encounter Vargas, a martial artist and son of the famed master Duncan... who was snubbed in favor of a different disciple. That disciple, Sabin, joins the group after helping out in the boss fight. Sabin's unique skill is "Blitz," the first instance of a now-common Final Fantasy skill that requires Fighting Game-style inputs but results in astonishing damage.

Banon asks Terra to help the Returners. (Say no at least once if you want them to bribe you with valuable loot.) Plans are interrupted by the arrival of a Figaro soldier, who claims the town has been taken by the Empire and that they are coming here next. Locke is detailed back to South Figaro to slow them down, while Sabin, Edgar and Terra, with Banon as a Guest-Star Party Member, flee down the Lete River on a raft, with the ultimate intent of ending up in Narshe. (This is an effective Peninsula of Power Leveling, because the river includes an infinite loop of random encounters and Banon has an ability that casts Cure2 on everyone for free.) A purple octopus named Ultros shows up to provide a Boss Fight, and Sabin is tossed overboard in the ensuing chaos.

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It's time for another three-party segment! However, in this one you don't get to switch in between them; you just pick one and pursue it to the end.

Edgar and Terra race toward Narshe while protecting Banon... ...but what about Sabin, who was swallowed by the raging waters...? And... ...how is Locke faring, after having penetrated the Empire's defenses in South Figaro... Is all going according to plan...?

There is no canon order to this Three Lines, Some Waiting situation, so we'll just go from shortest to longest:

Terra

Terra, Edgar and Banon sneak back into the Narshe mines using the secret exit Locke used to get Terra out again, and end up in the house of the Old Man who rescued Terra. That old man finally gets a name, "Arvis." He reports that Narshe remains neutral, despite his (Arvis's) efforts to get them to ally with the Returners. The party settles down to wait for the other plotlines to resolve.

Locke

Locke has had some offscreen heroics and is now trying to get out of South Figaro. His main strategy is to steal clothes from merchants and disguise himself. Whilst creeping about the town, he discovers that one of the Empire's highest-ranking generals has been imprisoned for being honest about the fact that Kefka plans to commit war crimes by poisoning the entire kingdom of Doma.

Product of genetic engineering, battle-hardened Magitek Knight, with a spirit as pure as snow...
Celes Chere

Locke, who has a pattern, frees her. Apparently, she reminds him of someone. The two set out for Narshe, augmented by Celes' powers: not only is she the second of three human beings who can use magic (the third is Kefka), but she has the "Runic" power which allows her to counterspell one enemy ability. The two of them quickly dispatch a TunnelArmr either by using Runic to absorb magic while Locke attacks or using a Thunder Rod, which casts a defense-ignoring Bolt 2.

Sabin

Sabin washes up at the Imperial camp outside Doma Castle. Nearby is a house where Shadow is hanging out; he will join your party if you pay him. In the Empire's camp, soldiers are grumping about how Kefka has arrived to try to take command: the rank and file would much rather follow Hero Antagonist General Leo, since he actually has honor and principles. The attack begins, and player control switches to a loyal Domani who is leading the defense:

Faithful retainer to his family's liege, with the courage and strength of a hundred men...
Cyan Garamonde

Cyan attempts to lead a Decapitation Strike against the invading Imperials, giving him a chance to showcase his character class (Samurai), his skill (SwdTch" in the original SNES translation due to character limits; "Bushido" in other translations), which requires the player to sit there charging a meter on pre-Pixel Remaster versions; and his speech patterns, which are meant to be Flowery Elizabethan English to befit his character class but ended up being Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe on SNES, complete with an insistence on the word "thou."

Back in the camp, Sabin gets a look at General Leo, who actively dissuades his forces from wasting their lives Storming the Castle. (Sabin reflects, "He could be my friend, if he weren't my enemy.") Unfortunately, he's recalled to the capitol, Vector, immediately. This leaves Kefka in charge, and he immediately goes forward with his plan to kill everyone by poisoning the castle's water supply. It works, and Cyan is forced to discover the corpses of his king, wife and son. He comes out for a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, and Sabin joins up with him so that the three can fight their way out.

Still, they need to travel quickly. This leads them to a nearby forest, where the Phantom Train has a station. Of course, as implied by its name, the Phantom Train is a bit unusual: in fact, it ferries the souls of the dead to the afterlife. This leads to a Boss Fight against the steam engine itself, during which Sabin may suplex the train. (You may also use the Revive Kills Zombie trick on it, though this is substantially less entertaining.) The train lets the party go, and then takes the spirits of the people of Doma to the afterlife, with Cyan mournfully watching. The group then take a trip through the Baren Falls, fighting a bunch of monsters on the way down.

The party arrives at the Veldt, a huge plain that, for whatever reason, gives no Experience Points. If Shadow has not already left the party by this time (which he may have done, as you pay for a certain amount of battles — he'll remain with you through the entire Phantom Train and Baren Falls arc solely because it's not like he can leave), he will do so now. At the town of Mobliz, Sabin can buy some Dried Meat, which is good, because there's a party member out there to recruit:

Draped in monster hides, eyes shining with intelligence. A youth surviving against all odds...''
Gau

Gau's Verbal Tic is to howl "Uwaoo!!" He also likes to make fun of Cyan's archaic speech patterns, immediately dubbing him "Mr. Thou." His unique skill is "Rage," which comes in two components. Whilst on the Veldt — a special region of the world that is populated by every monster you've ever fought — Gau's command panel gets a new command, "Leap," which causes him to join the monster in question and temporarily leave your party. Wander around a bit and, after your next fight, he'll return, having learned the "Rage" of the monster in question. The "Rage" command itself puts Gau in an uncontrollable state where he uses the abilities of the monster in question. This level of Magikarp Power rewards a lot of research and development — not just looking up which Rages to learn and which to avoid, but then going through the trouble of actually running into that mob and learning them. This can make him kind of a pain for casual players — especially since he lacks the "Fight" command, meaning that his only offensive power comes from Rages.

Gau takes Sabin and Cyan to a cave in the corner of the Veldt, where they discover a diving helmet. This allows them to use the Serpent Trench to travel to the town of Nikeah, and from there to Narshe, finally ending their story branch.

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In Narshe, the city council is arguing about what to do. The citizens are not precisely excited to ally with the Returners after they learn what happened to Doma (because Sabin's group burst in), but realize they have no choice when they learn Kefka is marching on the town already (because Locke's group burst in). This leads them to array a defense of both Banon and the Esper, reproducing the control-three-parties-at-once minigame from that time Locke rescued Terra. Unfortunately, this time you don't have a bunch of Moogle Red Shirts: this time it's just Terra, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, Cyan and Gau. Fortunately, this allows you to split into three Sword and Sorcerer pairs (Gau has some strong magic if you learned the right Rages), with Locke in supplement for whichever party you want to use to go deal with Kefka himself.

The day won, the party goes to visit with Tritoch. Once again, it communes with Terra, who finds herself turning into a pink Gorgeous Gorgon and flying away to the town of Zozo.

To retrieve her, the party — at this point you are allowed to choose any four of the six characters you currently control — set out for Figaro Castle, which will be used to travel between deserts on different continents and get you closer to where you need to be. At the town of Kohlingen, which has the world's Coliseum, you can encounter Shadow, but you can't hire him if you have a full party, and he leaves when you reach the Opera House, so he might not be worth it. The party also have a chance to visit Jidoor, another important town because it has the world's Opera House, before reaching Zozo.

There, they find Terra in the custody of an old man named Ramuh. He claims to be an Esper, and explains the state of the world: the War of the Magi was fought between Espers and humans — humans who were infused with the essence of Esper and thus could use magic. The Espers said "Screw This, I'm Outta Here" and fashioned their own dimension to live in. Alas, about 20 years ago Emperor Gestahl found that dimension, and has been waging war on it ever since, in the hopes of getting more Esper Essence. Today, quite a few Espers are trapped in the Empire's Magitek Research Facility; Ramuh knows this because he managed to escape it. He is able to reassure the party that Terra herself is not an Esper, though he's not entirely sure what she actually is — the whole Pink Flying Gorgeous Gorgon thing isn't helping.

Ramuh introduces players to the final major game mechanic: Magicite. Magicite is the mortal remains of an Esper, and can be equipped by player characters to teach them magic. Each Esper teaches up to 5 spells, and can also be invoked once per battle as Summon Magic. Finally, they also infuse a permanent statistical bonus to the character if the character levels up whilst the Esper is equipped, which encourages the player to Low-Level Run for Min-Maxing purposes.

To aid the party, Ramuh offers up four pieces of Magicite: Kirin (teaches healing magic), Siren (teaches Status Effects magic and Fire 1), Stray (teaches Status Effects), and himself (teaches Shock and Awe magic).

As Terra has returned to her human form and the other two party members magically showed up at Zozo, the player can now choose a new party. However, Locke and Celes are now Required Party Members, the latter because she needs to reconcile herself to the idea that she's one of the aforementioned infused-with-Esper-Essence types, the former because of his personality. It's also a fun time to start level-grinding and teaching everyone magic. Terra and Celes can learn magic traditionally — IE, they gain new spells every few levels, with Celes An Ice Person and Terra focusing on Kill It with Fire — but this progression can be both supplemented and supplanted by Esper usage. Meanwhile, Terra gets the Pink Gorgeous Gorgon form as her new command: "Morph," a Super Mode which transforms her, doubles her Physical Attack, Magic Attack and Magic Defense, and doubles her healing output. Morph is powered by a meter; once it runs out, you can't use the command for a second.

Sound a bit like a Limit Break? Well, let's mention those as well. This game... doesn't have them. However, it does have the precursor to Limit Breaks, "Desperation Attacks". If a character is in Critical HP, there is a 1-in-16 chance that their normal "Fight" command will be replaced by a Desperation Attack, which does a ton of damage and will (hopefully) be enough to turn the fight in your favor.

The current plan is to get to the Empire's capitol, Vector, but to do this the team needs a Global Airship. Currently, there's only one, owned by a notorious gambler:

A blackjack-playing, world-traveling, casino-dwelling free spirit..
Setzer Gabbiani

Well, it just so happens that Setzer has announced his plans to abduct his lady love, the opera singer Maria... and it just so happens that Celes looks exactly like her... and it just so happens that Celes is, as mentioned recently, a Required Party Member right now. This results in the famed Opera Sequence, where the player puts down their controller for several minutes and watches Celes perform at the Opera House. (Apparently Imperial military training includes singing.) Now, because it's a video game, there has to be some sort of interaction, and thus Ultros — remember, the purple octopus? — decides to crash the party, and Locke et al must defeat him, on stage, while the orchestra plays. Setzer then drops in and abducts "Maria," just in time for the Act 1 curtain to fall. Once aboard the Blackjack, Celes bargains with Setzer: they'll decide with a coin flip. If she wins, she'll marry him; if not, he joins their party. So Celes flips... with a Two-Headed Coin. (Optional content: If Sabin is in the party, he'll recognize the coin as the very one he flipped to "win" his freedom, revealing Hidden Depths about Edgar: he knew Sabin would never be happy under The Chains of Commanding, and rigged the flip so that his brother could leave with a clear conscience.)

Setzer flies the party to Vector, and Locke and Celes break into the Magitek Research Facility. There they find Kefka, happily draining Espers. The Espers show their disapproval by instead consigning their mortal remains to Celes; the team walks out with eight more shards of Magicite: Shiva, Ifrit, Unicorn, Maduin (teaches all the level-2 spells; summons for non-elemental damage), Shoat (renamed "Catoblepas" in later releases), Phantom, Carbunkl and Bismark. Alas, they are happened upon: first by Cid, the head researcher and one of Celes' mentors; and then by Kefka himself. Celes performs a Heroic Sacrifice by surrendering to the Empire, allowing Locke, Cid and the remaining party members to escape.

While Cid stays behind to argue on behalf of the Espers / against Kefka, Setzer ferries the team back to Zozo, where Terra has another moment of communion with the Maduin Magicite. This leads to a flashback demonstrating that once, about two decades ago, a human woman named Madonna managed to make her way into the Esper World. There, she met Maduin, and the two fell in love. What resulted was Half-Human Hybrid: Terra herself. Alas, shortly thereafter Emperor Gestahl staged his invasion of the Esper World. Maduin and many others were captured, unwillingly lending their power to Kefka and Celes; Madonna herself was mortally wounded, and Terra "adopted" by the Empire.

Setzer officially joins the party, granting control of the Blackjack. (Setzer's skill is "Slot," which works basically as you'd expect.) With your new Global Airship, you can also do some sidequests, which can include picking up yet another optional party member, one who aided you waaay back at the beginning of the game:

Human-loving, fast-talking, street-smart, SLAM-dancing...Moogle......
Mog

Yes, you can get a Moogle party member. His skill, "Dance," is a bit similar to Gau's Rages in the sense that it makes Mog non-controllable. That said, he has much fewer Dances, and each one needs to be learned by fighting a few battles in a specific location.

The team decides to open the Sealed Gate that divides the Esper World from the human world, to try and create a Rebel Alliance against the Empire. Unfortunately, it turns out the Empire was waiting for this to happen: when Terra opens the Sealed Gate, they show up. Unfortunately for them, the Espers are ready: they charge into the human world en masse and begin laying waste to the Empire's territory. Terra et al fall back on Vector to regroup.

Emperor Gestahl is in complete defeat. His military was up to the task of capturing Espers by surprise, but not for repelling an entire invasion. He wants to sue for peace, and he wants Terra — the only person who can serve as a bridge between humans and Espers — to represent him. Accompanying her team during this Enemy Mine situation is General Leo, who travels with the Returners to Crescent Island, where the Espers have regrouped. Both Celes and Shadow have joined him.

Terra, Locke and Shadow make their way to the town of Thamasa, where they encounter an old man:

An elderly gentleman, pure of heart, and learned in the ways of monsters...
Strago Magus

Strago is the game's Blue Mage, who learns special attacks by getting hit with them. He claims to have no idea what Espers are or that they're around. He also has an adopted granddaughter:

In her pictures she captures everything: forests, water, light...the very essence of life...
Relm Arrowny

Relm is a Bratty Half-Pint whose ability, "Sketch," is appropriately glitchy: it can crash the game, fill the inventory with rare items, warp the party to a later dungeon and — on occasion — even do what it's supposed to do, which is to paint a magical copy of an enemy and then use one of its attacks. Both she and Strago are descended from people who used Magicite during the War of the Magi, which is why they have such powerful latent magic. Curiously, Shadow's dog, Interceptor, likes Relm — which is not true of anyone else in the game.

The team are awakened at night by the news that a fire has broken out and Relm is trapped in a burning building. Strago and his compatriots use Blue Magic to douse the fire once Terra, Locke and Shadow have finished the rescue mission. Strago then agrees to help them find the Espers, though Shadow also decides to leave.

In the cave to the north, Strago finds something astonishing: The Statues. The Espers made these figures — Poltrgeist, Doom and Goddess — in honor of the source of all magic, and currently the Statues keep the world in balance. Ultros shows up to menace them, but the day is saved by — of all people — Tagalong Kid Relm, who insisted on following gramps around. They also encounter an Esper, Yura, who is apologetic over the Espers' conduct: apparently it's actually rather normal for Espers to lose control over their powers when they enter the human world (Terra has certainly had this problem), and the damage on the civilian population was not intentional. Yura leads the Espers back to Thamasa to discuss the matter with General Leo.

Alas, there's more to: the entire thing was a False Flag Operation to lure the Espers out in the open. Kefka and Gestahl arrive to start striking them down. For Leo, this is the last straw, and he is Promoted to Playable in a short — and unsuccessful — attempt to stop Kefka. Undaunted, Kefka and Gestahl use the power of the Statues to reshape the earth, raising an entire landmass into the sky.

The Returners — Terra, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Cyan, Gau, Setzer, Strago, Relm and possibly Mog — attack this "Floating Continent." If the power of the Warring Triad is abused, the result could be a World Sundering. On the Continent, they find Shadow, who was dismissed from the Empire's service and follows the party, wounded, as they fight their way through. Eventually they reach the Warring Triad, but Gestahl has one more weapon on his side: Celes. He gives her a sword and allows that We Can Rule Together, if she only takes care of those pesky Returners. Instead, Celes stabs Kefka. This is the last straw for the Monster Clown, who declares his intention to start rearranging the Statues. Gestahl, who absolutely wants to rule the world but doesn't want to destroy it, tries to stop him... and, for his troubles, gets revealed for the Disc-One Final Boss he is. Kefka deranges the statues, causing a World-Wrecking Wave.

Terra, Celes and the others flee the Floating Continent, desperately trying to reach safety. It's a Timed Mission with the clock going down. Of course, Violation of Common Sense is still in effect: if you leave, you abandon Shadow to his fate, and he's Killed Off for Real. Stay until the clock ticks down.

As the world collapses, the Blackjack is torn asunder and the party scattered.

On that day, the world was changed forever...'

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Act Two: the World of Ruin

It's After the End. Celes awakens on a tiny island. Cid, her caretaker, announces that she's been out for a year, and that the world is dying, plants and animals withering away; so far as he is aware, they may be the last two humans alive. Meanwhile, Kefka has erected himself a Very Definitely Final Dungeon, "Kefka's Tower," and is using a Wave-Motion Gun, the "Light of Judgment," from atop it to terrorize the world. Cid himself is in poor shape, having developed an Incurable Cough of Death lately. Celes, determined not to lose her adopted grandfather, runs out to participate in a Fishing minigame. Cid may or may not survive, depending on which fish you catch and how quickly you catch them. Either way, however, Celes learns of the project that has kept him alive this entire time: a raft, which will allow her to sail back to the mainland.

Celes learns that Cid was wrong: humanity does survive. As she travels past Mobliz, Celes finds Terra, who founded an orphanage after Kefka obliterated the place with with The Light of Judgment. She apparently lost the will to fight, as evidenced by a Hopeless Boss Fight. In Nikeah she runs into a guy who looks just like Edgar, though he claims his name is Gerad, leading a bunch of thieves to try to break into Figaro Castle — so that he can get the submersion machinery working again, because of course it's actually Edgar, and now you can use the castle to travel, plus you get a second party member. Finally, the two track down Setzer, who is in Kohlingen and is able to furnish the team with a new Global Airship: the Falcon, which was owned by his Lost Lenore Daryl.

While the World of Balance is relatively linear, stopping you from pursuing Side Quests for much of its runtime, the World of Ruin is one of gaming's first Wide-Open Sandbox experiences. From this point on, you have basically free roam of the world map to facilitate Putting the Band Back Together: you can recruit as many former party members as you like — or as few; in point of fact, you could fly to Kefka's Tower right now and (attempt to) defeat the Final Boss with just Celes, Edgar and Setzer. Therefore, there isn't really a canon order for any of the following:

• If you return to Terra's orphanage, you find one of her charges, the teenage Duane, a-fluster. Terra and Katarin, a girl he has affections for, have disappeared. It transpires that the two have simply retired to talk in privacy: Katarin is now the venue of a Teen Pregnancy. (This was a big deal on the family-friendly Super Nintendo in 1994.) The discussion is interrupted by the return of the Phunbaba Hopeless Boss Fight. Since, last time, Terra wasn't able to do anything, Celes et al join the fray. But it turns out that Phunbaba is always a Hopeless Boss Fight for its first phase, and Terra must embrace her Morph ability to defeat it. Fortunately, the kids still see her as "Mama" even in her Pink Gorgeous Gorgon form. Deciding Actual Pacifism isn't enough, she joins the party.
• Locke is back to his treasure-hunting ways. He's heard that there's a "Phoenix" Magicite that can restore the dead. He's just finished retrieving it from a cave when you pick him up. You must then take him back to Kohlingen, where he uses it to revive his lost love, Rachel, whose death he blames himself for. Rachel forgives him, and you gain both Locke and the Phoenix Magicite.
• (We covered Edgar.)
• Sabin is found in Tzen, the second town Celes visits. Kefka just hit the place with the Light of Judgment, and Sabin is laboring to keep a collapsing house stable while kids evacuate inside. You have five minutes to participate in the rescue. He will join you if you help him. ...Or you could leave him there, even though he's meant to be the first person you recruit in the World of Ruin.
• If he is alive, Shadow is found in a cave on the Veldt, Interceptor guarding him. (If he's dead, you find Relm instead.) He's been after a particular sword, and was chasing it when he got wounded. After you nurse him back to health, he super-window-jumps away when you're not looking. You have to lure him out of hiding by going to the Coliseum and betting that particular sword. Defeat Means Friendship, and he'll join your party — pernanently.
• (We covered Celes.)
• The first sign of Cyan is in the town of Maranda, where a woman reports receiving letters from her soldier boyfriend in Mobliz. This is confusing to the party, since they know said boyfriend is empirically dead. The letter, when inspected, turns out to be in Cyan's handwriting. They follow Lola's reply to Mt. Zozo, where Cyan has been writing the letters and enclosing hand-made silk flowers. Though somewhat embarrassed about his decorating choices, Cyan decides to rejoin the group, and writes one last letter — both to himself and to Lola — encouraging the reader to stop living in the past.
• Gau is just hanging out on the Veldt and is happy to see his friends again.
• (We covered Setzer.)
• Relm is actually doing well for herself: Owzer, a wealthy patron in Jidoor, has asked her to paint a picture of the Starlet Magicite (renamed "Lakshmi" in later translations). Unfortunately, a demon has taken possession in the painting. After you fight it off, you get Relm and the Magicite, though she promises to return later to complete her comission.
• Strago joined the Cult of Kefka after the Breaking, believing Relm dead. You can find him marching around whacking his face with a board, but he won't respond to your party... until you've got Relm in it, at which point he jumps for joy and becomes a playable character again.
• Mog, like Gau, returned to his old stomping grounds: the Moogle Caverns in the Narshe mines. Alas, he seems to be the Last of His Kind.

It's convenient that Mog is the last party member to be recruitable in the World of Balance, because he also segues into the two party members who can only be recruited in the World of Ruin:

• Whilst being recruited, Mog mentions that there's a Yeti around here somewhere. The party goes to the cliff where we last saw Tritoch and obtains it, which reveals the Yeti's Cave dungeon. In this cave they find yet another Magicite, Terrato (later translation: "Midgardsormr"), and are then attacked by the Yeti in question. Defeat Means Friendship, and the yeti, Umaro, joins. Umaro is a Berserker who cannot be directly controlled in combat, instead either striking with his Bone Club or doing a bodyslam move. If you equip him with special Relics, you can add a new move: the Blizzard Orb allows him to use Snowstorm, and the Berserker Ring allows him to Fastball Special a random (and unprepared) party member.
• While exploring Triangle Island, the party can be swallowed by a large worm called a Zone Eater. They awake in the Zone Eater's Belly, a large underground cave system. In the back of the cave is Gogo, who offers to join them. Gogo is a Mime; their ability, "Mimic," allows them to copy the last skill used. Gogo can also equip the Commands of any other party member via the Status menu. Gogo has Ambiguous Gender and is implied to be a Shout-Out to the character of the same name in Final Fantasy V.

And once you're done with this, there's a bunch of Side Quests to undertake!

• Sabin's teacher, Duncan, is alive and well. If you track him down, he'll teach Sabin his most powerful attack, the "Bum Rush." This quest practically takes longer to read about than it does to complete, especially now that we've added this sentence.
• Cyan hears tell that Doma Castle is haunted. The party, Tempting Fate, decide to bunk down there overnight. The result is a Journey to the Center of the Mind as Cyan battles his Survivor's Guilt over his family's fate.
• Strago learns that a monster he fought in his youth has survived. It has the "GrandTrain" Blue Magic and is valuable for that reason.
• You can find Gau's father, who abandoned him on the Veldt. He's not happy to see his kid.
• You can spend some time with Shadow, investigating his past as "Clyde," a man who fathered a kid in Thamasa. The kid was a daughter. Hey, is there some reason Interceptor really likes Relm?...
• There are eight Legendary Dragons running around the world. If you defeat them, you encounter a monster named "Doom Gaze." Defeat it to get the Bahamut Magicite.

Finally, it's time to take on Kefka's Tower. You can only approach it by landing the Falcon on top of it. The dungeon contains the final example of the game's "control three separate parties" theme, forcing you to split your group three ways. In addition to five other bosses, each team must eventually confront one of the three Warring Triad statues, destroying it.

Kefka sits at the top of the tower, a Physical God lording over his hapless subjects. He is, in short, a nihilist, having embraced the idea that life is meaningless; after the party go through their heartwarming list of reasons for why they are fighting him, he responds, "This is sickening! You sound like chapters from a self-help booklet!" It should be pointed out that, in some ways, the game agrees with him: You don't fix the world, you don't undo the World Sundering. You don't restore the World of Balance; you're only here to avenge it. But avenge it you will.

Kefka is fought in four phases: the first representing Hell, the second Purgatory, and the third Heaven. Each battle is underscored by one of the movements of Nobuo Uematsu's Dancing Mad, a concerto for organ and orchestra which weaves many of the game's Recurring Riffs into one astonishing whole, complete with Book Ends references to, literally, the game's opening music. The final phase is against the original One-Winged Angel himself.

Kefka: Life... dreams... hope... Where'd they come from? And where are they headed? These things... I am going to destroy!

Like any good Final Boss, Kefka has crafted himself a Collapsing Lair that the Returners must escape. Even more than that, Kefka had already absorbed the essence of the Statues within himself. With his defeat, The Magic Goes Away. One by one, the shards of Magicite owned by the party begin to evaporate. The same thing happens to Terra herself, who will drop in even if not recruited. The credits are dynamic, featuring a segment for each character you've recruited:

• Walking Techbane Cyan conquers a switch, allowing his friends to pass through.
• Setzer uses his gambler's intuition to choose the right path.
• Mog almost falls into a pit and must be rescued by Edgar, who uses a nearby Claw Machine to save him.
• Umaro, The Brute, forces open a door.
• Sabin, the other brute, saves Edgar from falling debris.
• Gogo uses their Mimic skills to help Celes with two separate buttons that must be pushed at exactly the same time.
• Gau's instincts allow him to do the same thing Setzer did.
• Celes stops to pick up a memento she dropped, and Locke risks his life to save hers.
• Relm helps her aging grandfather as he falls behind.
• Shadow chooses to remain in the collapsing tower, deciding he's going to stop running. He details Interceptor to look after Relm.
• Strago keeps up despite his age.
• Terra says goodbye to Maduin one last time, who tells her she might be able to stay as a human.

Terra leads the Falcon in her Esper form, flying ahead to guide the ship out. But as all magic fades for good and all, she loses her powers and begins to fall from the sky. But Setzer gets the ship below her and catches her, Katarin gives birth to her child and the Returners fly off into the sunset and a well-deserved ending screen. As they do so, Terra takes off her ribbon and lets her hair fly in the wind, feeling free.