Line #7 Headscratchers/FinalFantasyII


1	!Per wiki policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.
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3	* On the [[WeaponofMassDestruction Cyclone]], where did the Fortress within come from? If the Emperor had the power of the sky fortress and nigh-invulnerable Cyclone all along, why even go through the trouble to enslave the people of Bafsk and build the Dreadnought which would eventually be destroyed by the [[AttackItsWeakPoint Sunfire]]?
4	** The Dreadnought was all he thought he needed, at the time? You just happen to be strong willed enough to continue the fight. The Emperor starts to look CrazyPrepared by having the Cyclone available-- he didn't need to use it on Bafsk, since they could be enslaved, but your party just wouldn't ''stay down''. (And remember, you start the game being revived after an attack by Dark Knights; if that (the revival) doesn't happen, the Emperor is more likely to win without someone strong opposing him.)
5	* ON THE SUBJECT OF THE GAME ITSELF, why did the party turn down the Emperor's offer in [=SoR=]? It seems to me like they just had a petty grudge against the DesignatedVillain, given that ''this was not the emperor that committed all those atrocities''. Or maybe the Light Emperor is an UnreliableNarrator.
6	** I'll go with "he was an UnreliableNarrator." Given that after the heroes turn down his offer, he immediately declares that "If you do not want eternal life, I will give you eternal suffering!" So, if you don't want to [[WeCanRuleTogether rule together]] with him, the only alternative is eternal suffering? Sounds like a [[SarcasmMode great guy]].
7	** There's also the fact that instead of ''asking'' you to forgive him, and understanding that his actions both as a human and as the Dark Emperor were so terrible that you just might not be able to, or not be able to right away without proof of his good intentions, he ''demands'' it of you-- telling you directly after his flamboyant speech that now you must forgive him. There are a lot of little things scattered in that point towards the fact that even his "good" side is just a different kind of evil-- like the entire existence of Mahanon. If you talk to all the people in it, their dialogue suggests that they're basically imprisoned in a kind of purgatory-- unable to move on to the true afterlife, stuck in a kind of permanent stasis, and pursued by monsters, and they're desperate to know who or what has put them here. All of that, to me, suggests that Mahanon was created by the Light Emperor, as were the monsters (or directed by him at least, it's suggested that the monsters in the reverse Jade Passage are transformed fallen angels-- still, he's not making any attempt to send them elsewhere, and lets them attack the town's residents at will).
8	*** If I learned something from ''Silent Hill 3'', it's that "forgiving" someone for a sin is to accept to carry the burden of said sin for him. In a way, forgiving the light half is making Minwu, Josef, Scott and Ricard to condone all the actions the Emperor did.
9	** And then there's the biggest issue of all: he glosses over the fact of how exactly he became the ruler of heaven, just stating that he "found himself there" after his soul was split. But the fact that there ''is'' a palace of the heavens, and a cave full of fallen angels, implying there was a hierarchy for them to fall from in the first place, all raises a very disturbing question: ''[[FridgeHorror who the hell did he kill/depose to become the ruler of heaven in the first place?]]''
10	** Anyway. Sorry for the rambling on, but all of this is... more proof to me, I guess, that FFII is the most WorldHalfEmpty of the entire FF series in many ways. Which doesn't make me dislike it, mind; Soul of Rebirth was the best sidequest I'd played in an RPG remake in quite some time.
11	** Supporting the theory that the Emperor is a liar, be aware that two of the Chest Monsters in the Soul Of Rebirth Quest are Lucifer (The Devil) and Zombie Borghen. Speaking of which, [[FridgeLogic How does Zombie Borghen work? You kill him, then kill him in Hell and he comes back in the afterlife? How about Beelzebub Soul? The other Chest Monster in Pandemonium]]. [[WildMassGuessing This Troper always assumed that Soul Of Rebirth took place in another part of Pandemonium and the Emperor lies at the end in an attempt to get the heroes to drop their guard]].
12	*** Zombie Borghen says that he can't die and that he'll just keep coming back if he gets killed. That being the case, it really depends which version of Zombie Borghen died first; if it was the version in Pandaemonium, he probably got tired of being killed by Firion and his party, and decided to pick on Josef instead. Otherwise, the Soul of Rebirth party probably killed him first, and the Emperor got annoyed at Borghen's constant failures and stuffed him inside that chest in Pandaemonium as a punishment.
13	** My interpretation was that there was some kind of soul link thing going on between the Dark Emperor and the Light Emperor, where he could only die if they were both killed. They saw that their still-living allies were fighting the Dark Emperor with all they had, but they were doomed to lose unless they spurned the Light Emperor's offer and did their part in killing their half. In this interpretation it doesn't really matter if the Light Emperor was genuine or not, because as long as he's alive the living world is doomed.
14	** While the Dark Emperor is a proud CardCarryingVillain, the Light Emperor is more of a ManipulativeBastard, but no less evil. There are multiple hints in how he talks about it that his bid for forgiveness isn't exactly in good faith. He's "good" only insofar as he entertains a diplomatic approach to stopping the heroes before deciding to straight-up kill them.
15	* What was Cid's angle when the party rescues him from the Dreadnought? He was escorting Hilda to meet up with the party, the both of them got captured, then the two of them were separated and he was imprisoned with "Hilda"(Lamia Queen) for a while before being rescued. Two issues with this: If he knew the princess was replaced, why didn't he tell the party? He's not part of the rebellion, but I don't see him just Sabotaging them. And if he didn't know, how was he kept out of that loop?
16	** Cid could have been knocked out when they were first captured. He could have just woken up in the cell to the fake Hilda, and wouldn't have known any better. Or they were both knocked out, it doesn't change the fact that the swap would have happened while Cid was unconscious. It's always possible that they were separated briefly, and on being reunited, Cid never even entertained the idea that it might not be the real Hilda.
17	* When you fight the Emperor at the end of the game, he's undead. The Blood Sword heals undead enemies and hurts the user when used against the undead. So why is the Blood Sword so effective against the Emperor?
18	** Maybe he's not technically a dead human at that point, but a live demon.
19	*** The Demon Emperor is vulnerable against Blood Sword, Drain spell, and Osmose spell (Don't use this, depleting Demon Emperor's MP will force him to use physical attacks which is highly accurate and more dangerous than any magic he possesses, he will decimate your party in no time). Yet, he absorbs all spells that cause instant win condition such as Break, Toad, Death, or Teleport. I think the game developers want to prevent the player from cheesing the final boss encounter by making instant win spells impossible, but if that is the case, they should make Blood Sword heals him too .
20	* If Ultima and especially Destroy were so dangerous and had no practical use anymore, why weren't the tomes just destroyed? Why bother with the dungeons, Leviathan, and Deumion?
21	** Basic Eastern philosophy. Evil cannot be destroyed only sealed. If it is destroyed then something will replace it to "keep the balance". Often is it worse than before to prevent future imbalance.
22	** Plus, in the NES version Ultima ''wasn't'' dangerous; it was just a myth. When you actually get it you'll discover it sucks.
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Context Headscratchers / FinalFantasyII