Your videos are way more interesting and insightful than 2-hour long video essays that just summarise the game. Thanks for the hard work!! 🤍🤍🤍

Ultimecia is Future Rinoa, proves: 1. Use The same weapon, shooting star 2. She used GF which had the same name as Squalls Ring he lent to Rinoa during Galbadian attack arc. You will be asked by the game to give that ring name. And that will be the name of the GF that ultimecia used to fight you in final battle 3. In Dissidia, when ultimecia meets squall, she said "shall we dance?" Referring to the first memory of how they met. 4. Rinoa & ultimecia both are sorcerers 5. Her castle is located in the flower field behind the orphans house. Which the place where Squall and Rinoa promised to meet again.

Your work and research has been so convincing, I am now a believer. I first played ffviii back at it's original EU release, I am amazed it is still giving me so much to think about nearly 25 years later!

First time I encounter someone who shares this theory with me! As someone who loves maps, comparing the ones of these games is something that stood out to me immediately, paired with the presence of Hain, it just fits so well together. This is one of those headcanons I've been obsessed with for so many years that Nojima could come to my house to tell me it's fake and I'd still run with it anyway. I will forever believe these two games are set in the same world thousands of years apart. Nojima who is btw the same guy who wanted to subtly connect 10 to 7 as well, so it wouldn't be out of character for him.

FFVIII and FFIII are connected, very interesting. 😍 There are similar point to connected the two world.😊

You should also know that in FF14 Shadowbringers the theme was FF3 with the crystal tower, and the raid patch introduced a raid that used FF8 as the theme

Square only said they are not the same "person". They never clearly denied the identity in character of these two. So, this hypothesis still holds ground.

There are also a few spin off games that adds more lore to these games, There are a few connections in some of the spin off titles that give more depth on there lore of these games… Dragon Quest Monsters 1 and 2 focus on an era before Dragon Quest VI: with a younger version of Terry on a quest to save his sister Milly in the world of GreatTree/GreatLog and two kids unrelated to Terry search for a plug to prevent the kingdom of Great Log from sinking to the bottom of the ocean Monsters the Dark Prince has evidence that expands the lore of 4 and gives a more clear placement of 5. (If you haven’t play the game: there are a few spoilers that I want to point out) 1. Professor Toilen Trubble, who appears as an NPC in Dragon Quest V but as an elderly man… meanwhile, The Dark Prince shows that same NPC as a younger man (possibly confirming that DQ4 and DQ5 are set decades apart from each other rather than centuries). 2. Estark, one of the antagonists from 4 is revealed to be one of three separate entities known as the Unholy Trinity (the one we see referred to as Estark Dumajurah/Dumah, with the other two titled Estark Izmajurah/Izmah and Estark Venjurah/Venjah respectively) created by a rouge Zenithian called Azabel 3. Finally, the Dark Prince focuses on Psaro’s perspective of Dragon Quest 4 while also giving more details on his heritage as a half-human/half-demon (sort of like an antithesis to the Hero’s half-human/half-zenithian heritage). It goes in depth on how he was cursed by his own father, Randolfo the Tyrant, preventing him from killing any monsters (thus swearing retribution against him); shows how he first met Rose for the first time being harassed by humans for her ruby tears right up to her death (which was conspired by Aamon); finally, there is a plot twist involving a device known as the Sands of Time (due to Toilen’s interference in you choose to defend a false Rose) which prevents Rose from dying at the hands of the humans and gives Psaro a redemption arc as a character. And then (after that extremely long summary on the Monsters series) there’s the famous Torneko Trilogy… which focus on the future adventures of Torneko Taloon after the events of DQ 4 where he exploring mysterious dungeons which also provide support for his wife and son… I know it’s a lot to take in by reading this comment, but the side games like to add some interesting new lore… All in all, this video represents a good summary and some possible theories that give off major or hard to miss connection that tie these three main games together. Thank you.

My favourite Square BGM is "Shore of Dreams (Another World)" (Chrono Cross) and my favourite Enix BGM is "Dark Side Field" (Tenchi Sōzō/Terranigma). Yasunori Mitsuda is my favourite game composer, but I also love Nobuo Uematsu & Koichi Sugiyama, who makes some of the best Battle themes. My favourite Uematsu songs are "Release the Seal" (Blue Dragon) and "Howl of the Departed" (Lost Odyssey). Sugiyama's Zoma battle is so amazing (I also love his BGM for Space Runaway Ideon). Other RPG composers I want to mention are Yuki Kajiura (Xenosaga), Yuzo Koshiro (ActRaiser), Hiroki Kikuta (Koudelka), Yoshitaka Hirota (Shadow Hearts), Keiichi Suzuki & Hirokazu Tanaka (MOTHER), Hidehito Aoki (Megami Ibunroku Persona) and Noriyuki Iwadare (Grandia). There are so many more, but these are the ones I listen to the most.

I like the CMs directed by Yoshihiko Dai. The were shot in various European countries and the actors speak their native language. The CM for DQ4 (DS) & DQ8 (3DS) was filmed in the Czech Republic. DQ5 (DS) was filmed near England and the actors speak Dutch. DQ6 (DS) & DQ7 (3DS) was filmed in Spain.

Wow this is extreme detailing!

Squall die in Disk 1 being stabbed by Edea ice spear. Disk 2 and Disk 3 basically Squall "last couple of sec" before totally died, life flashing before his eyes on his dream and hope, being Rinoa boyfriend, best seeD, etc. Basically being the hero. Thats why when you see Squall again on disc 2, he's an unwounded prisoner despite those massive ice spear from Edea. On top of that, disc 2 onwards are starting to become more and more imaginary. They'll encounter red talking lion creatures, a bizarre race of alien-like humanoids and a variety of other odd plot points that just seem to fall into place. It's an almost ethereal realization.

I love FF8 but Ultemecia being Rinoa who didn't get therapy makes the story way more interesting.

Well just give y'all reminder. When ultimecia have beaten, she comes to the past (where Squall also there) and meet matron. Matron take her power (worry that one of children got instead) to let her died Matron, in the end turn as edea. When she got beaten, the power move to rinoa accidentally. Another you need to remember, This FF series is about "time-loop" concept. 1) Adult Squall from future tell matron about SEEDs and meet young Squall, after matron take ultimecia's power 2) matron ask cid to establish SEEDs 3) young Squall and the children join SEEDs when they grow up 4) matron turn as edea and got beaten 5) ultimecia got beaten 6) Squall failing to back to his current time and come to past and meet matron 7) back to: 1) So yeah, that "power" never disappear. it just circles around to the same people in different time So the plot hole is: There is possibility that after Rinoa, there was an event that caused her power to transfer to another person until it reached Ultimecia?

I don't think it proves Ultimecia is Rinoa but it may hint that Ultimecia didn't want to be enemies or felt hostility to the party members. At least at the beginning. Then in her final form she feels hostile towards the party members.

A bit of a stretch, but would you have any ideas as to what happens to Norg? If you return to his pod in Balamb's basement, it looks like he broke out of it

the developer said Chrono Cross is not sequel to Trigger which clearly is, so i dont trust the developer about this theory too...

for me Rinoa animate when she cast a spell one hand and Ultimecia animate when she cast a spell with two hands and 2 animate when casting is similar

I hope you can make one about the Centeran civilization next. That always fascinated me. I pieced together clues that Hyne was far from divine. I think instead he was some kind of military or science figure that ended up blowing up a huge chunk of the world by accident. Or on purpose. The gist is that there are few old people in FF8 because 80 years prior civilization was destroyed. At the last second children were shoved into mobile shelters while the adults perished. No one is alive to remember how the old world used to be. 80 years is not a whole lot of time to forget... Everything. I also pieced together how the fateful Doomsday Cry went down. That platform in the ocean? I think that was an observation bunker for a 'test' that went way wrong. I think Centeran scientists were trying to 'weaponize' the lunar cry in a Manhattan Project of sorts. Except they screwed way up and what they unleashed had a payload an order of magnitude higher than they expected. Hence that giant crater.

It’s amazing to me how much FF8 doesn’t outright tell you unless you go looking for it. Hyne, Witches/Sorceresses and Crystal Pillar are so interesting. The way you summed up exactly what is happening during the Tears’ Point cutscene is perfect! As a kid I just thought Lunatic Pandora had to be over Tears’ Point in order to trigger the Lunar Cry. I had no idea that Esthar had actually built Tears’ Point in order to try and prevent it; hence why Ultimecia has Seifer move Lunatic Pandora directly over it (in turn releasing Adel). Excellent video! Edit: You’re also right about Deep Sea Research Facility instilling a sense of fear; when I got to the bottom of that place as a kid it was late at night and it gave me the creeps lol.

We need to bully SE into remaking FFVIII and turning this theory true

I’m hooked on your vids, this was the first FF I played and I didn’t realize that the lore was this deep😂

It will play the same texture animation in different ways for mobs, bosses, and allies.

These are just my thoughts and not specifically saying anything in regards to this video. But- Rinoa is Rinoa and Ultimecia is Ultimecia. It's as simple as that. This was even debunked by Kitase and when he gave some credence to the idea that it could be possible by saying he doesn't know what Nomura and Nojima had in mind when they plotted her character, even that doesn't actually work. If you read any Nomura and Nojima interview, you know they'd be rolling with it if only to mess around. If they were intending people to make that connection, they would absolutely be saying something about it in a "yeah, we definitely want people to think that" sort of way, even if they never confirm it. Or hell, if it was something intended it would have absolutely been in the Ultimanias. Squall being Laguna's son is confirmed in one of the Ultimanias. And they even go further into things that they wanted to do with the game. All the "evidence" over the years has largely been evidence that tends to ignore what actually is shown in the game and in the lore and what the themes of the game are actually intended to be, as well as ignoring that a lot of subtext was cut from the English version because they translated directly from the game text and not from a script. As one person I was read put it, the R = U theory was always about putting in a tragic story element just add more pathos, no matter how much it doesn't fit with the lore. How does Rinoa live for many generations after the events of the game? Because. Why does Rinoa decide to do these things knowing she was there and saw what the outcome of those actions were. "Well maybe she forgot". Why would Ultimecia risk leaving Rinoa to die in space when she needs Rinoa to live so that she can become Ultimecia. And she knows that it's inevitable that she will be saved but somehow doesn't know that she will be defeated once she does Time Compression. When the answer is just "well she knows because of x but still can't change her fate" it just becomes circular reasoning that doesn't fit because it just raises more questions. That's what I despise about the R = U theory, it doesn't solve the puzzle because it's a piece that doesn't fit. And the mental gymnastics I've seen over the years to justify it just makes me really annoyed.

I sincerely hope that this video can reach million views as your channel is truly outstanding

I love how there is absolutely nothing in the game that debunks this theory. If they need external sources to deny it, I couldnt care less.

I really like your timeline breakdown. My interpretation was always that Ultimecia was Rinoa in her past, but that OUR Rinoa will not become that same Ultimecia. She might become a different Ultimecia, or she might avoid that fate altogether, because each loop is its own world, and so the future is always unknowable. Bravo, great videos, friend!

I've never understood why everyone is confused by how Squall survived Edea's Ice Strike attack. Ice Strike is just a Limit Break. It's like saying, "I don't understand how everyone didn't drown when they summoned Leviathan." That's just not how the logic of the magic in the game works. Squall is confused because he probably doesn't know that Edea used her Limit Break. But as people evaluating the game after the fact, we do know this.

Boo, this is just reaching. A lot of enemies also use the 'ally casting effect' like Wedge.

You are doing the Lord's Work 🙏🙏

Unrelated but I'd love to see you compare FF8 to The Wizard of Oz because kitase admitted FF8s fantasy side was based on Oz in an interview for the remaster. Esther was supposed to be green and the witches are like the wicked witches. So I wonder if Oz has anything that could be a clue to the story of FF8 or even the R=U theory. Like maybe Rinoa is Glinda the Good Witch? Idk.

Even if it's not proof of R=U its such an interesting detail. It must have been missed by a lot of people.

Have you ever heard the theory that the monolith is a film screen on a 90 degree angle? I find it a very interesting coincidence because in Xenohears Fei watches his memory on a film screen in Disc 2. But its probably just a coincidence. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYrGlp6uo9idr7ssi=zd1_Z1rWtZItdlRs

0:50 In 2001 perspective of the the pyramid and crescent moon makes it look like a closed eye sitting at the top of it, like the eye of providence on the dollar bill /illuminati stuff. And HAL9000 has a big red eye. In Xenogears the Zohar has an open blue eye that seems to reference the eye of providence too. I just thought that was an interesting parallel. Its hard to notice in 2001. I really enjoyed this video Inlove both FF8 and 2001 a lot. I noticed Japanese games reference it a lot too.

Can’t make a case for Rinoa-Ultimecia relation when you also show other examples of non-allies having the same allied casting effect. It would be more plausible it signifies casting magic thru junctioning GF or casting with lack thereof.

The reason it's different is because they are drawing the magic from the GF junction then casting it.

im so happy these details were already noticed by many. i've been thought of this already even from ps1 days ^_^ to add, rinoa's way of casting magic is nearly identical with Ultimecia's. the head movement, eyes closing then eventually opens before casting. Ultimecia just use both hands ^_^

I feel like this may have something more to do with GFs or junctioning than something as confusing as allies vs. intended allies vs. enemies. It's an interesting note though.

Awesome.

So with your theory, we can make another funny : the whole game is Ultimecia telling Squall to regain his memory, on who he is, identity is a big thing in ff8, Squall needed to developp his identity, take back what was his memories. This don't really add anything but it's funny.

I hate FF8 but boy i prefer the Rinoa Ultimecia theory over anything. The Griever, her suddenly becoming a witch(with wings), it all adds up if Square wants to take another crack at this one

This is actually creeping me out. Good job!

So it's why Hyne is tell to have battle with wave of monster, the same who come like her from a tear moon, i suppose they were too many with Hyne and so it's take time to clean up all of them.

I've heard the "Rinoa is Ultimecia" theory before, but for some reason, it never quite "clicks" with me. I'm not sure why that is. So instead, I'll end on a positive note, even if it is unrelated: It would be awesome to see a fleshed-out prequel starring Laguna that culminates in his fight against Adel and rewards the players with some answers.

It is 100% obvious the original intention was to hint Rinoa being Ultimecia, the only statement against this was 1) from a person who is not in charge of those decisions and 2) has been withdrawn by himself in the meantime. This isn´t even a debate according to me. Rinoa IS Ultimecia, period.

It would be very telling. Except the devs have denounced this theory multiple times over the years.