Final Fantasy VI Analysis (Ep.7): The Warring Triad | State Of The Arc Podcast

[@ResonantArc]

First of all, a quick correction: Yes, this is the last time we FIGHT Ultros, but it won't be the last time we see him! Secondly, this is the order in which we will be visiting areas during the World of Ruin: Solitary Island (obviously), Albrook, Tzen, Mobliz, Nikeah, South Figaro, Figaro Castle, Kohlingen, Colosseum, Darill's Tomb, Maranda, Back to Mobliz, Zozo, The Veldt. I doubt we'll actually get through all of that in the next episode, but that will cover everything I've played up through at this point.

[@rainmaker709]

Note on Sketch: It is one of those abilities that on the surface is terrible but only because it is opaque. Under the hood, it can do some of the most obscene and op things in the game and in fact can actually break the game. The issue is that you would never know unless you looked up a deep dive into it online. In game it just hits like a wet noodle 99% of the time because you don't know when to use it.

[@ManiacalForeigner]

@@rainmaker709 It can indeed break the game, as in, in the original SNES version it can bug out and do anything from filling up your inventory with a random item to DELETING YOUR SAVE DATA. Thankfully there is a patch you can apply.

[@Seomus]

@@ManiacalForeigner I once had 99 economizers thanks to Relm. Then my game softlocked in the next battle.

[@ILoveThisBlank]

Another note of music as storytelling: When you first get to Albrook before the first time you go to Vector, the music in Albrook is "Under Martial Law," the same music we heard when South Figaro was occupied by the empire. After the banquet scene, the music in Albrook is "Kids Run Through the City," the same music South Figaro had *before* the Empire attacked it. The music there is helping the player feel like everything is at ease. When we return to Thamasa with the Espers, we don't hear Strago's theme, which we did when we first arrived in Thamasa. Instead, we hear "Kids Run Through the City." The music putting us at ease helps the shock of Kefka's arrival feel even more brutal.

[@Chadius]

6:15 Nintendo: "Hey, don't use the word kill in the localization." Ted Woosley: "Understood! I won't use the word kill!" *wicked grin*

[@ftilxe]

Fun fact: In his artwork of the Warring Triad, Tetsuya Nomura named each of the figures. Fiend = Sephiroth, Goddess = Sophia, Demon = Zurvan. There are parallels between the Warring Triad figures and Gnostic beliefs, particularly the Triad's role in shaping the material world. Nomura appeared to have later referenced his own artwork of the goddess Sophia in his art and design of Yunalesca for FFX. Yunalesca plays a role in the world of FFX that parallels the role of Sophia within Gnosticism - giving material form to thought (Aeons), and serving as a liaison between heaven and earth (Sin/Yevon/the Church and the people of Spira). Thought Casen might enjoy that detail, having explored many of the elements of Gnosticism present within FFX's story in that podcast series.

[@TeaNoSugar87]

They are indeed named these in FFXIV

[@Sauvenil]

Mother Sophia is a Xenogears character that has a similar connection.

[@Lunchb0xSH]

Something I think Shadow was getting at with the "Some people have chosen to kill their emotions. Remember that." line, is that feelings can be so terrible that some people opt out of emotion altogether. Kind of a cautionary statement to Terra, hinting that she might be better off not experiencing the extreme highs and lows that come with love.

[@KingBanks18]

That’s exactly how I interpreted it as well!

[@santinopaone-hoyland]

This is surely what the writers intended, don't think Mike's reading of it as motivational really works.

[@Chadius]

1:26:35 Ted Woosley's HATE HATE HATE HATE rant is legendary, and I'm sad the new translation removed it. Kefka isn't the type to curse creatively when directly threatened - he just gives in to raw emotion.

[@valdegard]

Something Casen and perhaps Mike might be interested in regarding Relm's abilities: Relm's Sketch implies that she is able to see through into a monster's true essence and replicate it; however her Control ability is supposed to let her control an enemy by invoking their "true name", which has a huge amount of implications across cultures and especially demonology. This was written in her bio by either her creator Akiyoshi Oota or good ol' Soraya Saga, I'm not sure which. I figure Casen might have fun with the implications of that. I think at least this hints at her potential being far more immense than she lets on, going to explain her lead magic stat. It's also implied that Strago makes the costumes that both him and Relm can wear as armor; his bio mentions his monster costume collection and making costumes as a hobby. I'll bet he's dressed Relm in those outfits all her life.

[@gregtroyan]

Siegfried and Ziegfried are two separate characters. It's a nice little subplot in the background of VI. Basically, one of them is a legitimately great fighter and the other is a joke, and the great fighter is upset that someone with a similar name is ruining his reputation. Also, as far as Interceptor liking Relm, there's a great reason for that involving Shadow's backstory. Please make note of this for future podcasts as you learn more about Shadow and Relm. As often as I critique VI's story, the stuff with Shadow and Relm is truly excellent, IMO. I really hope that Nomura can get some love and appreciation for the great work he did here with Shadow and Sezter's scenarios in this game. Nowadays he gets so much hate as having "ruined" Final Fantasy, but he wrote two of the best scenarios for two of the best characters in what a lot of folks consider to be the best game in the series.

[@EdreesesPieces]

Yes if one bets a megaexilir at the Coloseum, they'll see just how much stronger Siegried is.

[@Chadius]

I often wonder if it was better for Square to cut the "Strago confronts Shadow over Relm" scene...

[@WildMatsu]

That there are two characters is canon. That one is named Siegfried and one is named Ziegfried is a misconception; they're two different translations of the same name from different releases.

[@dudemcguy1227]

Regarding Kefka's power level: My interpretation is that at the start, Kefka wasn't all that powerful. In an effort to replicate Terra's powers, the Empire infused Magic into Kefka and Celes. Kefka was the first test subject to have magic artificially infused into him, but they went too far and it made him go insane. Celes was the next experiment, but now they had an idea of where to draw the line in order to make a reliable Mage-warrior. The result was that of the initial 3 experiments, Kefka was slightly ahead in terms of magic power, but Terra and Celes had much more long term potential. Or so we thought... After Kefka is defeated at Narshe we don't see him again until the Magitek research facility. There he seems to be acting without Cid's knowledge or supervision as he drains Ifrit and Shiva's powers for himself and discards their bodies. We only see him do this once, but it's implied in the dialogue that he's been at it for a while. Kefka: "I'm a god! I'm all-powerful! Uwee-hee-hee... I'll collect more espers... I'll extract their magic... And then......... I'll revive the Warring Triad!" My interpretation is that Kefka drained the Espers powers with the Emperor's blessing. Kefka had already gone insane from too much magic energy, so what would happen if he acquired even more? The Emperor figured he might as well test that hypothesis. Worst case scenario is that Kefka could completely lose his mind and die. Then the Emperor would need to recruit Celes and/or Terra back to his side somehow (Slave crowns). Or find a new pawn with high-magic potential (Thamasa?). But after what happened at Narshe, the Emperor already knew that Kefka wasn't strong enough to defeat the returners anyway. So he told Kefka his ultimate plan about the Warring Triad and ordered him to gain more power by draining the test subject Espers at the Magitek facility. But during the "peace" negotiations, the Emperor showed Kefka what he really thought of him. That he was as a disposable pawn who could be thrown in the dungeon to gain some favor with his enemies. Kefka was completely loyal to the Emperor up to this point, but I think it was this decision that set Kefka against him. So Kefka followed the Emperor's orders one more time at Thamasa, because it gave him the opportunity to test out his new powers he took from the Espers in Vector. It also gave him an opportunity to kill Leo, who he always hated. I suspect that wasn't part of the Emperor's plans there, he just wanted to lure the Espers out of hiding and turn them to Magecite. Then Kefka has the opportunity to betray the Emperor on the floating Continent due to the unique situation with the Warring Triad Statues. This is what I find interesting about Kefka, he starts off weaker or close to the same power level as your characters. But it's you defeating him early on that leads him down an immoral path of seeking more power, killing his superior, undermining his master, and finally becoming the God-level villain by the end. It's almost like a reverse Shonen-Hero arc. Usually this sort of "I must become stronger to defeat you" archetype is usually designated for the hero or a reoccurring rival character, not the "big bad" main villain. Usually the "Final Boss" archetype starts off as an intimidating and powerful character like Darth Vader or Sephiroth. And it's made very clear that the hero has a long, long way to go just to have a fighting chance against them. Kefka kind of throws that formula out the window and does the reverse. Where it's up to him to become stronger than the heroes if he hopes to achieve his insane plan. And he actually succeeds using mostly deception and some luck.

[@Chadius]

I never thought about Kefka getting mad for being in the dungeon. I always interpreted him as mostly lazy until he saw a power grab. And WHAT a power grab!

[@michs7451]

It’s an entirely plausible interpretation of events that you constructed. It also occurred to me that the way in which you characterized Kefka and Terra / Celes’ relationship here reminds me of that between Kuja and Zidane (the prototype having more magical power, while the actual unit having more long term potential). The only spanner in the works is that I can’t imagine Kefka being “loyal” to anyone other than himself. The Emperor could have been using him, while Kefka could have been secretly accumulating power for his own ends at the same time while appearing outwardly subservient, again much like Garland vs Kuja in IX.

[@LoganSewell83]

After reading that essay I would have loved to have seen Leo overthrow Gestahl and Kefka. By removing these two politicians the Empire could have been a beacon for peace under Emperor Leo; Cid and Celes could have made great advisors and administrators to run a new Empire. Leo's great weakness was revealed when he knelt before the Emperor's clone, not realizing that this was one of Kefka's tricks. Leo was loyal to a man whose love of power would lead him to sacrifice all those around him.

[@raza5757]

Well said

[@kolebowyer3837]

As a random note.. there is a fan theory regarding Kefka's identity. If you watch all of Shadow's dreams and get the backsory of Baram there are interesting links to the POTENTIAL of Baram being Kefka. 1. Kefka's reference to seeing his own blood(similar to Baram) 2. Baram was taken by the empire(did he actually die? Or was he experimented on to maybe save his life?) 3. It is referenced somewhere that until Celes it was generally (pun intended) thieves and criminals yhat were experimented on. 4. This would have happened about 11+ years ago based on relms age. And Celes was a child when she underwent the procedure (maybe 8, so maybe 10 years ago), giving credibility to the fact that Kefka was the first to survive being uminfused with the power of espers If this was true I find Shadow's heavier inclusion in the floating continent scene to be rather interesting. I cant say i believe it, but its an intriguing idea.

[@Xygor]

Well done guys! This was arguably the most important segment of the game's entire story and you guys covered it masterfully as always.

[@jacobstevens7548]

These scenes are incredible in FFVI. First you think you have a happy ending. Then it turns out the Empire betrayed you, and now you are headed to a perceived final battle. Then you fight through the imperial air force only to see the situation go from unconquerable despotism to world-ending chaos. In fact, the entire first half of FFVI is basically one bad turn after a slight change for the better, over and over again. Each time you think it can't get worse for the heroes, it does. And that continues for even a little longer after the scene on the Floating Continent. But, if the game is a retelling of Pandora's Box, it does eventually give hope, after all the evil escaped that terrible box.

[@caturiges]

1:31:59 The uniqueness of Kefka being a villain that actually suceeded and you having to gather the survivors to build the world from scraps really makes me think of the two Avengers latest films, with Kefka being nihilistic like Thanos.

[@michs7451]

From the FF Wiki: In the original concept artwork by Tetsuya Nomura, the Warring Triad are named beyond their basic titles: the Goddess is Sophia, the Demon is Zurvan, and the Fiend is Sephiroth. The Warring Triad's primal counterparts in Final Fantasy XIV retain these names with Sephiroth's spelling changed to Sephirot to disambiguate from the Final Fantasy VII antagonist. Aside from Zurvan, we see “Sophia” and “Sefilos / Sephiroth” reused in later Square games such as Xenogears and FFVII.

[@vany6]

in FFXIV there is a whole sidequestline for the warring triad, where you fight all 3 of these, and their names are indeed Sophia, Sephirot and Zurvan, and their soundtracks reference the "demon", the "goddess" and the "fiend" motiffs. Pretty cool

[@SierraGustafson]

Also, Zurvan is mentioned in the climax of Chrono Cross.

[@Chadius]

One cut character was Angela, Strago's wife. They would bicker like a married old couple. She would be a geomancer, but they rolled that into Mog's dancing ability.

[@SuperHeroR]

My favorite game moment of all time happens in FF6 coming up soon. You hint at that moment in this episode. Your party awakens to a world that's been destroyed. You somehow manage to find a couple of friends, but the world remains gloomy, even the background music of the overworld reflects this. Terra loses hope and her fight. Then you find you old gambler friend and somehow manage to convince him to fight. He tells you that there may still be hope, but you have to decend a dark scary tomb. At the end of the tomb, you finally reach the treasure Setzer left here for his departed friend/rival. She died and her airship, the Falcon, is now your last hope. Cue the "Searching for Friends" theme and the Falcon breaking out from underneath the waves! This moment is glorious! And "Searching for Friends" becomes the new overworld theme.

[@michs7451]

Yes! I love this - what began as a spark of hope, a defiant cry in the darkness, an insistence on love and a refusal to give up on that love, became a full blown ray of hope, breathing life once again to a dead and dissipated world. Part of me wishes that Celes’ theme would have become the new world map theme in the World of Ruin, given its feeling of hope in the darkness, but Searching for Friends is really great as well.

[@Kasaaz]

On Pythagoras: He, like we, thought the idea of writing numbers down as letters was dumb. It was even weirder in Greek. So he and his followers started making dots for numbers. For 3, it's just three dots in a triangle. Then 6 and 10, etc. Can also be a triangle of dots. Basically, they realized that HOW you write numbers can affects the patterns you see in them and led them to so many geometric ideas based on it. It's fascinating.

[@grahamwade5932]

This is one of the funniest episodes you guys have done. All your observations and appreciation for the humour the game's writing contains is just cracking me up listening.

[@_UPRC]

I honestly hadn't heard of you guys before I found this series on FF6 a few weeks ago, but I sure am glad that I did. I could listen to you guys talk about my favourite games for hours upon hours on end. Love how you dissect character relationships, themes, etc.

[@ILoveThisBlank]

I'd like to add that the scene at night in Albrook between Locke and Celes is only the second time we've heard Celes' theme. She didn't have her theme yet until the opera scene. I liken this to her acquiring her Stanislavskian Superobjective (SO) at that point: The opera is when her feelings for Locke crystalize, and that's when she "obtains" her SO and, thus, her character theme. Like Terra's theme (other than on the world map), we tend to hear Celes' theme mostly when it has something to do with Celes and her SO. Her theme is used so sparingly in this game. In order for Celes' SO to be met, Locke needs to let go of his past, and Celes needs to learn to let other people in. I think it makes sense that she doesn't talk to Locke in Albrook - she doesn't know how to. But her theme playing, working like any good leitmotif, tells us that she WANTS to, she just CAN'T.

[@ILoveThisBlank]

Also, Celes' "Please, not another word." in Thamasa makes further sense for her character: she's not good at relationships, so she doesn't want to do the work of talking through the problems, she wants to just ignore them. These feelings are going to come back again! You gotta talk about them!

[@Chadius]

23:23 If Strago is blinded, he doesn't learn the spell because he didn't SEE it.

[@michs7451]

Incidentally, the track Casen is referring to during 1:00:51 (Kefka’s Magitek Mayhem) is called “Metamorphosis,” which is the name of a famous short story by Franz Kafka where the unthinkable happens and a salaryman wakes up as a bug.

[@tehjamerz]

Also the name of a series of woodcuts by MC Escher... :)

[@ManiacalForeigner]

The original Japanese title of this track is even "Metamorphose" in katakana (メタモルフォーゼ)

[@EBattousai]

Also the name of Terra's ability (morph) short for metamorphosis

[@Chadius]

1:56 I've never seen this scene before. Thanks for showing it. It's a nice opportunity for Cid to continue his series role as the airship machinist.

[@_7thSage-9405]

Seriously, you guys have the best video game storytelling show/podcast on all of KZbin! The passion you two have for your craft is infectious. Also, the knowledge the two of you bring to the podcast is always fascinating and illuminating. I'm a voice actor, writer, and lifelong fan of Final Fantasy and great RPG's in general. If you ever need a perspective such as that, I'd love to connect with you guys in some way or another. Thanks for the great show, guys! Absolutely amazing!

[@managers6667]

these losers leech from others work

[@michs7451]

"People are people. Not everyone in the Empire is like Kefka." "I knew that you [Terra] were half esper and being made to suffer through horrible experiments . . . Yet I did nothing. I’m no better than Kefka.” I like General Leo and I think he stands as an especially conflicted character. On the one level, Leo is the anti-Kefka, who stands as a reminder that the ‘Evil Empire’ is not so much comprised of *essentially* evil orcs, but multi-faceted human beings no different from you and I. And yet, the game recognizes that despite his goodness, Leo is complicit in the crimes committed by Gestahl and Kefka against Terra and against the rest of their victims for the sheer fact that he “did nothing” to oppose evil when he saw it (unlike Celes). I am reminded here of the German thinker Hannah Arendt and the two conceptions of evil as articulated in her works. In contrast to Kefka, who stands for a grander and nightmarish conception of ‘evil’ much like the one described in *The Origins of Totalitarianism*, Leo stands for a more muted and *banal* description of evil, the characterisation of evil as perpetuated by regular human beings who go about their business in an ‘evil organization’ in an unthinking, slavish fashion, who turn away from the injustices that their group perpetrate before their eyes, who never stop to truly think for themselves and ask if the ends to which they serve are, in the final analysis, justified.

[@GeebusCrust]

I know I'm finishing this episode a whole 2 weeks late, but I just wanted to say thanks for sharing my comment! Always hyped to be a part of the discussion!

[@snugsmchuggsly5449]

How is it you guys don’t understand? Shadow used the smoke bomb to distract the fire ravaging the building, so he can sneak them out undetected.

[@SuperNovaPup]

Love this podcast! FF6 is my favorite Final Fantasy game! Your commentary is so insightful and thought provoking. One thing I just realized that you all may touch upon in the next episode is how the chaos present in the World of Ruin is represented in a narrative and storytelling mechanic, which is so meta! In the World of Balance, the game and story are presented in a very traditional, linear fashion. Lines represent balance, order, and a sort of fairness or justice. When people queue up in a line, it makes sense how to proceed. The first person in line gets served first, next second, next third, and so on. We all agree that is a fair and just way for service to be rendered. Chapters in a book and stories told are generally expected to be conveyed in chronological order, which is pleasing and satisfying. At this pivotal moment however, Kefka literally shatters the gestalt that the story was building towards and fractures the world, fractures the airship, and shatters the fellowship, throwing all party members to separate corners of the world. In the World of Ruin, the very mechanic of how the story is told changes from traditional, linear, to messy, chaotic, non-linear. There no longer exists a "canon" chronological order to the story. The world became so fractured that even the way stories are told become broken, shattered, disordered, chaotic. Even the very first chapter of the WOR, there exists two different outcomes, neither of which claims to be official canon. After that, events can be completed in whatever order, or even skipped entirely. One can proceed from event 1 to 4 to 9 back to 3 to 6 to 12 to 7, etc. This is jarring, confusing, messy, unsettling, upsetting, and even anxiety forming. Kefka so ruined the world, that he even shattered the timeline. Crazy!!

[@michs7451]

Yes! I mentioned something similar in a comment, that the World of Balance segment is not only linear, but centers on the Evil Empire plot, which continues in the trajectory found in earlier story-driven Final Fantasies like II & IV. The World of Ruin, however, cares nothing for this plot. There is meager reference to the Gestahlian Empire or to the Returners, and all of the townspeople are afraid of a cruel, arbitrary god in Kefka. It is fractured and dissonant, almost hopeless, but the player comes in with Celes to pick up the shattered pieces and to recreate balance and order in the midst of this total chaos.

[@kingofthesharks]

In a hypothetical world where an FF6 adaptation exists as an HBO show, it'd be cool if they did traditional weekly releases for the first half of the story (season 1?) and then for the World of Ruin they just binge-dump most of the episodes Netflix-style so that viewers could watch in whatever order. Then after a couple months they could release the ending at a set time haha

[@EdreesesPieces]

I never thought World of Ruin as a spoiler because the game came PACKAGED WITH A DOUBLE SIDED MAP, WOB AND WOR. if you bought this game on SNES, you knew about the WoR the moment you opened the game. Haha.

[@kingofthesharks]

42:12 The power of those earth-creating goddesses of the Zelda series are also represented by the Triforce, the infamous triangle consisting of 3 triangles. Which of course fits right into Casen's discussion at the end of this video. The Triforce of course represents balance, and when it is broken apart the game world is often in disarray (i.e. Wind Waker). Like FF6's statues and pretty much everything else out there, the use of triangles is probably not some hard deep symbolic choice in storytelling or graphic design, it's just so natural at this point in human history to utilize the shape and/or the number "3"

[@randallsavage827]

1:01:01 The main melody of that song (Metamorphosis) is a distorted, dissonant variation on Terra's theme, which also serves as the intro theme to the game when the Magitek soldiers are trudging through the snow to Narshe. And the part leading into the song is exactly the game's intro piece. After you fight Atma Weapon, and approach Kefka, the game's opening theme starts playing ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIm9dWyQetOEeKs ). But instead of transitioning into the hopeful Terra's Theme, it cuts into the Metamorphosis. So it is kind of indicating a chaotic start to a new world, or new game even, and maybe also symbolizing what Terra is going through inside and the upheaval of her world. Uematsu is excellent at incorporating motif scattered throughout the FF games into different tracks, depending on the scene.

[@Metro4466]

Thank you guys, watching your podcast one evening a week makes me feel less lonely in Japan since I moved here one month ago ^^ I've been watching your podcast actively since 2017

[@rezahydra]

Something to note about Relm’s class, she’s a Pictomancer! This can be seen with a good few other games across Square’s series, Bravely Default 2 even has one. Basically just a painter job through and through. As for what Sketch does, it mimics a specific move of the enemy it was used on. Not the last one, mind you. This also leads into some enemies where the move is pointless to use on certain monsters as it’ll try and cast a move that’ll insta-kill but the monster is immune to insta-kill and stuff like this. As for why it breaks stuff… without getting into detail, you can use it in a very specific way to duplicate a SINGLE item in the entire game, including most famously the Ultima Weapon (Sword, not the Ragnarök blade or the monster). Using Dual Wielded Ultima Weapons is very strong. Also one tip we have to touch on later, Relm and Shadow are the ONLY two party members who actually can wear the Memento Ring, a relic which implies in its text that it’s from a deceased mother. Personally think Strago should be added to that list but that’s just me.

[@armorvil]

*the Memento Ring

[@Chadius]

I remember getting 255 illuminas (renamed light bringer) and a ton of end game equipment when I accidentally triggered the Sketch glitch. It also wiped out my other save files!

[@Kara99tg]

Relm's official class is Pictomancer, which is functionally a Beastmaster (especially with the accessory later that turns Sketch into Control). But that doesn't matter, she has the highest natural magic stat growth in the game. Yes, without magicite level up bonuses, a 10 year old human girl is a more powerful mage than the half-esper.

[@masterkl16]

Another suggestion that people decended from Magi have vast potential.

[@Chadius]

Relm has the best magic, while Terra & Celes get very good strength & magic so they can go physical or magical. The adult ladies also have great weapons to choose from while Relm is swinging paintbrushes. Then again Relm is never going to use the Fight command, ever when she can use her big magic brain.

[@Kara99tg]

@@masterkl16 That plus her age probably both contribute to her huge potential. Normally she'd have to spend years mastering the basics like the other kids, but she gets to use magicite to gain access to spells she'd normally never even know existed. Her friends are trying to learn to cast Fire and she's able to use Ultima.

[@MagicDarkIight]

Great episode for one of the most memorable section of FF VI ! To add to the Warring Triad symbolism, I've seen some comments mention gnosticism and that's even more obvious when you look at the name of some of these but, while it might be a stretch, I think it also ties in a little bit into alchemy. In some sprites, each of the statues has a distinct "color", you have black, white(-ish) and red, which are the nigredo, albedo and rubedo concepts of alchemy. The fact that they turn into all-powerful statues of stone makes me think of the philosophical stone. On another note, espers turning into magicite is a lesser version of what the three statues are and Kefka and Celes are kind of homunculi. I don't have all the keys at hand needed to analyse this much further but I feel like there might be some significance to be found there.

[@nanoglitch6693]

The little statue shrine always stood out to me for its singularity. The world of ff6 is strangely devoid of cultural and historical reminders. And apart from one optional dungeon later, there aren't even any ruins left from the previous civilization.

[@michs7451]

The existence of the World of Ruin seems like an organic outgrowth from the direction and the themes of the story, just like the later incorporation of the introductory sequence in Bioshock. In my view, the World of Ruin has to be one of the most interesting settings for a Final Fantasy game. It also marks a structural change in the tone of the game. Whereas in the World of Balance the game felt somewhat orderly (the fight between the ‘evil Empire’ takes center stage, much like the plots of FFII & FFIV), the World of Ruin is a fractured, dissonant experience (you can go anywhere in any order and fight Kefka at any time), where the player is, along with the characters, invited to pick up the pieces in the worst possible situation and to re-create meaning and order in a world that, as it stands, seems to be totally devoid of it.

[@EvilCronos13]

Many of the songs used for flashbacks are leitmotif from the character's own themes. Coin song is Edgar's theme slowed down. Darryl's theme is setzer's theme slowed down. There are many variations on Terra's theme associated with aspects of her story. Those are just a few examples, but Uematsu does a fantastic job incorporating these songs into the character's own backstories.

[@lex4111]

All I can say at this point is what a game, this last section of game play we were on was probably the most fun I've had playing a game in a while.

[@phantom8157]

I dont have a comment about everything covered here today as I agree with all I've heard and read in the comments. I do however have a story I'd like to share involving an event covered. So when this game first came out, I rented it from my local grocery store. I fell in love the moment I heard the opening theme playing. So on the second day I had reached the part where we rescue Relm from the burning house. It was about 12:30 in the morning, so I saved the game and went to bed. It was about 3 in the morning when I woke up and saw a light shining through my bedroom window. I looked outside my window and over the fence my dad put up to separate the yard from his neighbors I saw flames shooting up. Turns out my the neighbors car and side of the house was burning. I remember waking up my parents and my dad rushing over to help while my mom called 911. The neighbors car set on fire and my dad rescued his drunken from inside the vehicle. Thankfully it only destroyed the car and somewhat melted my parents siding and the guy was fine. I cannot remember any other point in which an event happened in a game I was playing and it occurring in real life. I love the game, the music, the characters, and everything else about FF6 but this occurrence made the game come alive for me and it has been etched into my being ever since.

[@CasenSperry]

Wow. That's crazy! Synchronicity.

[@armorvil]

considering the high number of people who played this game, it was certain that at least one person would experience something like this. Something like this happened to me too in Metal Gear Solid 1 in my first playthrough : when fighting Psycho Mantis, a few seconds after he "switched off my tv" (screen turns black), my lightbulb died. I was like "wtf happens?!! Is this game magical??? First he successfully guesses I like Castlevania, then he turns off my tv, and now he kills my lights!!" God, that was fun. My brother was there too and he couldn't believe it either, haha.

[@NicolasDeWolfe]

33:55 - Little did they know that a Smoke Bomb is actually a teleportation device.

[@davidcockreham7329]

Kefka destroying the World blew my mind as a kid playing this game. (A similar moment happened while playing Chrono Trigger, when you visit a certain time period for the first time). Kudos to Casen for calling the next part of the story act IV, as FFVI really fits the five act structure. And yes, World of Ruin is absolutely necessary to explore the theme of hope fully. I am very much enjoying this analysis. Here's hoping you play Mass Effect 2 in the near future. I've always felt that game had parallels to FFVI with its large cast of disparate heroes, each with their own abilities, each with a past to resolve before taking on the task of saving the world.

[@michs7451]

Yes! I completely agree that Mass Effect 2 feels very Final Fantasy VI-like in terms of gathering all the different companions, and in being able to confront the final mission at any time.

[@Enharmony1625]

I'm not sure that any game has so perfectly balanced a dark and impactful story with moments of lightheartedness, comedy, and quirkiness! This game's charm is off the charts, and I love how you both love it so much. While some fans are lamenting the loss of turn-based combat in FFXVI, it's the quirky charm that I miss the most. That being said, I'm VERY excited for FFXVI. I think it looks amazing. But part of me will always miss the indelible charm of these older games.

[@zakelli1472]

When you talk about Geshtal and Kefka who represented order and chaos, it made me think about the two antagonists of Fantasian the last game of Sakaguchi as they are the gods of order and chaos. It could be a coincidence as this is a common trope in games like that but maybe it is not as FF6 was the principale inspiration behind the creation of Fantasian.

[@TylerMireMusic]

I don’t think Kefka is a shadow earlier in the game. I think it’s pretty clear the game uses the gameplay to continually show that the acquiring of magic makes one very very powerful (look at the party after some grinding with espers). It’s a nice touch that Kefka is a bit of a low level mage at first before become a world busting god tier villain by end game

[@DungeonBricks]

I can't remember which version pointed out, but the warning triad, apart of being the balance in geometry, one of the translations pointed that each of the triad where canceling eachothers power, so the triangle configuration was so each could see the other 2 and cancel their power. This is also why, when Kefka moved the statues out of order "out of sight" caused the world order to break

[@relaxingtopology256]

That was bloody brilliant. Love these. Hoping I can catch these live someday.

[@The810kid]

These videos make me realize just how little Terra and Celes spent around each other. Usually one is absent from the party for Story reasons it's probably why Celes gets called the main character of VI by people.

[@rodflounder]

I REALLY hope you guys dig into the shadow dreams. Imagine playing this when you are 8 and stumble upon them. Scared the shit out of me.

[@WoobertAIO]

Something I love about Relm as a character is that she doesn't seem to be conscious of the power she wields while Sketching. I see that reflected in the way her character theme is so innocent and sweet, and then it plays during that Ultros battle, where we see her Sketched Ultros beat the shit out of the real one while the sweet innocent music still plays. Also how later on, she threatens to draw a Sketch of one of the party members (for some reason I can't remember) and they're all like "NO RELM DON'T DO IT"... And she's just dissapointed because she doesn't get to draw a funny cartoon of them LMAO

[@zenoslime]

never thought of terra wanting to know emotion and love "now" as a common teen angst thing. i always just read it as an understandable feeling of impatience with her own confusion, and with the time stolen from her by the empire. not quite the same as that tone of "i wanna know NOW." i think she feels she's owed a better understanding of what love is, having been deprived of it (or any other form of selfhood, emotion, etc) until... well, now.

[@TheBeird]

Threw me for a loop when the story actually followed through on the threat of the villain. Have never forgotten that cutscene once the world comes to an end. Worst of all . . . I didn't wait for Shadow, so I was never able to find him again in the World of Ruin. I mean, I finished the game with the goddamn Yeti, but not the cool-as-hell ninja. That's a reason to play the game again

[@Chadius]

1:04:25 Before Aertith, Leo's death spurned a million rumors about how to revive him. One particularly sticky rumor involved fighting some kind of super dragon boss who you can't fight without hacking the game (and even then the dragon is incomplete.) The GBA port and the first iOS/Android port adds a bonus dungeon with said super dragon.

[@michs7451]

The rest of the game moves into a philosophical argument against a Kafkaesque sense of the world. Much like in *The Metamorphosis*, Kefka connotes the idea that you can one day wake up and find your entire world upside down, literally shredded beyond belief, that the "order" you have in your life is precarious and fundamentally built on a sinking pit of sand. He embodies the horrifying realization that in the world of FFVI, there are no benevolent gods looking out for humanity, that a sadistic megalomaniac could actually succeed in the unthinkable, in causing the annihilation of 80% of the world for power and the sheer fact that he *can* do it. If the moralism of Kant operates according to the dictum of “ought” implies “can” (i.e., the existence of moral imperatives implies the ability to act according to said imperatives), the amoralism of Kefka manifests as “can” implies “ought” (the possibility of transgression implies the necessity to perform said transgression). The characters are hence going up against the Kafkaesque (someone that unilaterally and ultimately rejects whatever they stand for, the core of what it means to be human, which includes life (in the broader sense of the word), dreams and hope)). The Kafkaesque is to fail and to realise that all of what they have done would have meant nothing, in light of suffering and the inevitability of death, which holds all of their values in contempt. But FFVI refutes that insofar as the characters triumph over Kefka, over the absurdity he represents, and shows that even in the worst possible situation, when all order is lost, with hope (the evening star in the pitch black night), you can well rebuild and try again.

[@mattcat83]

Kefka having the ability to one shot espers really should have been set up earlier in the story, definitely before Thamasa. It should also be clear that it's an esper specific ability. Otherwise, why would he continue to take orders from Gesthal?

[@armorvil]

I think stuff happens off-screen at the Empire, not only after Cid sees the Espers turn into magicites during the Magitek Factory raid, but also after Terra and Locke leave for Thamasa. I like to think that Cid, being some kind of genius, figured out how to create such a power and made the mistake to mention it to someone who immediately informed Gestahl (or maybe he really believed that Gestahl turned into a good guy and told him himself). Gestahl then made this power a reality while Terra and Locke went to Thamasa. They might have forced Cid to work on it by threatening his "granddaughter" Celes's well-being, who was surrounded by imperials (on the boat to Thamasa or elsewhere), thus easy to harm if Cid didn't cooperate. As for why Kefka is the one who was infused with this power, I think that just like his first operation to infuse him with magic, this new process came with another risk of brain damage so Gestahl once again used Kefka as his favorite and already-damaged guinea-pig. Just a theory of mine, but I think it makes sense given the game events. It would also explain why the Warring Triad followed his order to nuke Gestahl's face on the Floating Continent : they noticed this power over Espers he has, and thought he was their sibling or some kind of God too (or perhaps this new special power also allowed him to mind-control the Warring Triad).

[@Howwi]

I really love this series. I listen to it when I'm going to bed. Several times, cause I tend to fall asleep. It's so nice seing this type of longer content!!

[@pullthatwigback5969]

The nice thing about the airship repair scene is it shows the power of seltzers relationship of the past. This loose morales gambler refuses to make his ship faster so as to compete with the falcon in a fair manner. That relationship meant everything to him.

[@radicalantitheist]

gestal found terra when she was still a baby, and he knew what she was from the beginning so its safe to say terra never had any kind of famiily type bonds at all, she literally does not know what love is, she was a test subject / slave soldier.

[@spencerrenwick5131]

1:11:07 I really like Edgar, and I wanna think was maybe just a different kind of joke, culturally, for them over in Japan. Or maybe something is lost in translation, just a tad, in terms of what the tone is meant to be. Like, maybe Edgar is thinking that in a sarcastic way? Thanks for the original Japanese insight as always, Casen! Now I'm stuck wondering about the morals of Edgar which I didn't think I'd be doing 😂

[@OmriGrin]

30:29-34:54 I really like this section of the podcast, it simply is a great listen. You start with an in-depth analysis of the house on fire and why Stargo didn't immediately use magic. They both gave eloquent insights into the interactions with the characters. Straight from there, we go to the surprise, look at the AMAZING FIRE GRAPHIC for that time, and I agree entirely. From there, we go to Shadow's badass samurai move, the "switching places" move. Followed by the funniest piece of FF VI of him using a frickin' smoke bomb in the middle of a house on fire to escape. It's awesome to be privileged to listen to your conversations.

[@ILoveThisBlank]

You can also use the Stanislavskian method of analyzing a character to talk about Kefka and Gestahl's Superobjectives: I'd say that the first half of each of those SOs is similar: to obtain the ultimate power. The difference is what they want to do with that power. Gestahl wants to rule, Kefka wants to destroy. When they're working together to obtain the ultimate power they're capable of great things - for instance, Gestahl can trick the party into working for the Empire, and then Kefka can swoop in at the right moment to capitalize on that. But, on the floating continent, when it's clear that their SOs don't exactly match, they turn on each other: Celes manages to actually draw blood from Kefka. Kefka freaks out and overreacts, but kind of shows his hand early with his actual goals. Gestahl tries (and fails) to kill Kefka because of Kefka's ultimate goals. Kefka kills Gestahl instead.

[@michs7451]

Yes, the relationship between Gestahl and Kefka always seemed to me like the parasitic relationship between Faust and Mephistopheles in Goethe’s Faust. Whereas Faust is relentlessly single-minded on his goal for progress and movement, Mephistopheles is ironic, sardonic, and craves nothing more than the destruction of all (everything that exists deserves to perish). Yet they have almost become inseparable from each other in the literary imagination.

[@ILoveThisBlank]

@@michs7451 Yeah, I like that!

[@jonathanmatthews8862]

I misremembered the explanation given for Espers. The actual 20th Anniversary FF Scenario Ultimania doesn’t explain if they were ever once human. It just says “those who were caught in the crossfire became Espers.” Then it goes on to say that due to the intense magic their forms changed into either animal, demi-human, or human. I will post the actual Japanese below for anyone who wants to read it; it’s a short snippet. 体内に魔導の力を宿した異形の存在。三戦神同士の戦いに巻き込まれた者が魔導の力によって姿を変え、神のしもべとなったのが起源だと伝えられる。動物に酷似している者、半獣半人、人間と見わけがつかない者など、その姿は千差万別。 It then goes on to talk about Esper Human relations and how they sealed themselves off. That part above is pretty much the only information on the Esper origins.

[@mattcat83]

Ultros appears later at the Colosseum in the World of Ruin.

[@Scimarad]

It all kind of went wrong this week; I got to the floating continent but I didn't really want to go into the second part of the game without making sure I'd got everything. Only problem is, I couldn't really be bothered to do that yet 😄

[@retrogamerdad9621]

That balance between comedy and tragedy is what's missing from modern FF.

[@ms08gouf]

Listening to the geometry bit at the end reminds me of congruent angle's thesis video, someone mashed up an old geometry video with cruel angel's thesis it's amazing

[@TheHeroExodus]

I'd like to see a full remake... and like an episode shadow (lol). And the subtle struggle when he opts not to go to the fire..... but I doubt they'd do it right tbh. I like in movies, TV shows and games where silence speaks volumes. I feel in this game they do have some points where they use animations to convey thoughts in place of dialogue. I'd also like to see strago recognize the dog, and maybe whisper his name to see if he reacts.

[@Chadius]

24:50 How Sketch works: 1) It can miss 2) Each enemy has a collection of abilities you can sketch from. They are similar or the same as Gau's Rage, IIRC 3) Relm chooses a random ability from the list and then the enemy uses it on themself (or all enemies if it's an AoE) 4) Enemy uses their own stats, not Relm's. Usually it's not worth using unless you're in a challenge run of some kind. You can sketch Ultima from the final boss, it's hilarious.

[@armorvil]

"They are similar or the same as Gau's Rage, IIRC" >> they're not, sadly. You're correct about the rest.

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

I often have read the word "Pictomancer" when referring to Relm's class. Not sure if it's official though. Later on you can get an equippable item for Relm that will basically turn her into a Beastmaster class. Her Sketch ability is more like a one-off Beastmaster attack, while Beastmaster class gives you more direct control over the enemy.

[@reloadpsi]

The classes were dropped from the menu in the SNES translation, but yes, she's been a pictomancer since the original Japanese version.

[@Kasaaz]

I remember thinking Kefka moving the Statues was a Magnets kind of thing, when I was a kid. I dunno why.

[@ExplorerFam]

In the SNES version ; when Leo defeats Kefka in combat, he reveals that, “That was simply my shadow!” Which made me consider that fighting Kefka back in Narshe was again his simple shadow. However battling him at the Imperial Camp was his real self, a coward, but maniacally evil. I always had the impression that Kefka lied to Leo about Emperor Gestahl calling him away from Doma, to poison them as he wanted to. :(

[@GelgoogJ]

Maybe Shadow is the one who found the warring triad? I mean, we don't see him at the esper hideout and he says he is double crossed.

[@akiinmoonlight79]

This analysis series is some of the best content ever, i love every single video sooooooo much 😭❤

[@armorvil]

**FF6 END GAME SPOILERS BELOW** 10:25 I'm wondering if it's really because of the Slave Crown that Terra couldn't feel anything. Maybe she could never feel anything her whole life so it could be because she's an half-Esper... Espers can feel emotions, but maybe human emotions act like a "plus" while the esper emotions act like a "minus", effectively nullifying each other in Terra's case? It would also explain why she survives at the very end : the "+" human emotions took the advantage over the esper "-" ones thanks to the kids in Mobliz. Thus she became more human than esper and that saved her life. 22:35 Relm's class is Pictomancer, as seen in the GBA / old mobile-Steam / Pixel Remaster versions. 26:20 I think Relm's powers as a pictomancer made her detect that Terra could use magic, so when she says "can those people use magic too?" it was actually a calculated slip up. Maybe she also recognized her father's eyes somehow (or at least she felt some familiarity) behind Shadow's mask and the expression in his eyes made her realize that it was ok to let Terra & Locke know about their secret? I think that despite Shadow being cold and not talkative in this game, he obviously took a liking to the crew. He wouldn't have joined them to fight Kefka later on in the WoR if he didn't learn to trust Terra, Locke, Edgar and Sabin with his life.

[@Postumeartist]

If I remember right, there’s actually a ziegfried and a Siegfried in the game world. One of them is a master swordsman (who I don’t think you ever fight) and the other is pretending to be the master swordsman… I think

[@Chadius]

1:09:10 This is probably the most infamous line in the game. Either Edgar is hitting on a 10 year old girl (right after "hitting pay dirt" with a waitress), or he's warning her not to throw her life away so early, or he's lamenting the weight of war because Relm is basically a child soldier. Each translation has never been clear and the true meaning really changes Edgar's character. Oh right, the Japanese is even worse!

[@armorvil]

yeah in Japanese he says "that would be criminal, don't even think about it" when she leaves 😲

[@omensoffate]

@@armorvil okay and ?

[@sonnieandjacob]

I have always assumed that normally espers have to become magicite by their own will, but once kefka and the emperor figure that out then Kafka is able to force espers to do it at will

[@armorvil]

I think that after seeing the espers turn into magicites, Cid imagined this ability and made the mistake to talk about it to someone. That someone informed the emperor and he had their scientists (or forced Cid to) infuse that ability into Kefka.

[@trollingisasport]

If you like the humor in this, I recommend the first Wild Arms.

[@Seomus]

If you do get Shadow kill, Interceptor stays with Relm and protects her like he did Shadow.

[@adampit8214]

This channel is the best discovery of the year for me.

[@mattcat83]

I've been playing this game since it was new and I never visited the airship to see the optional scene between Setzer and Cid.

[@brhodes625]

Same. I was checking comments to see if anybody else was surprised when they saw this exchange.

[@Griever8686]

Someone may have mentioned it but I don’t think it’s so much that Ultros sees himself and doesn’t realize he’s nothing but an octopus. I interpreted that line of dialogue as that he was a stupid octopus for falling for a childish trick. Maybe I’m wrong but I think either interpretation is funny 😄

[@Griever8686]

Also you guys mention that Shadow leaves the party when you meet him at the floating continent However, if you only bring three party members with you, he joins instantly.

[@Unpetitmax]

I know it's an old comment, but whatever. I think you're right regarding Ultros. While it's funny to think he's just now realizing he's an octopus, he mentions having several arms, he says "you're in the presence of octopus royalty" etc. He knows already. What they meant about Shadow leaving, is he joins your party when you get to the floating continent but leave after the Ultima weapon fight. You can't enter the floating continent with 4 party members anyway.

[@Griever8686]

@@Unpetitmax yeah you’re right, I forgot you have three party members by default when you enter the floating continent 😅

[@EBattousai]

Your first time meeting him on the raft he says, "Don't tease the octopus, folks!"

[@greg9088]

Those last ten minutes man. Damn.

[@thecubemiser]

The discussion around the 'fake' Gestahl during the scene with Leo, and the Gestahl/Kefka dynamic, makes me wonder if you could interpret the characters as more than simply a philosophical narrative device, and is actually two aspects of the same individual. That Gestahl has *always* been a projection of Kefka (i.e. a Fight Club scenario) and he has been trying to wrest control of his own psyche.

[@michs7451]

On another level, the erstwhile harmony of the Warring Triad is the most explicit articulation of a sense of the world as an orderly, structured, and measured place, with very clear boundaries that separate one power from overwhelming another (the idea of ‘checks and balances’). However, for a being such as Kefka, lines and boundaries exist only be transgressed and to be stepped over to demonstrate the ultimate futility of these attempts at order. In a sense, he might even see these orderly constructions of the world as ‘untruths’ that paper over a horrifying truth: **that the world is and always has been fundamentally a chaotic place devoid of order and meaning**. Kefka might well behave like Camus’ Caligula in seeing himself as a teacher - one who enlightens others to the essential truth that the ‘Nothing’ communicates by means of sadism and violence.

[@ikkinwithattitude]

Yeah, I think the problem with the Warring Triad wasn't that divine intervention as bad, but rather that multi-polar worlds whose highest principles are in competition with each other are inherently chaotic. There needs to be a single, stable thing at the top maintaining the proper relationships between said principles, which the Warring Triad ultimately demonstrated by balancing each other out as immovable statues. Kefka thinks that the "single, stable thing at the top" is a fragile lie and has his mind set on shattering it. But the fact that the world falls apart in the absence of a stable unifying principle is itself evidence that reality must inevitably be marked by just such a stable unifying principle.

[@michs7451]

@@ikkinwithattitude Great comment! In that sense, as you rightly pointed out, Kefka is ironically showing his own chaotic philosophy to be false, and the need for that stable unifying principle in order to hold the world together. It is also worth noting that he becomes that unifying principle, albeit a chaotic one, after the world ends.

[@ikkinwithattitude]

@@michs7451 Yeah, in a weird way, he basically makes himself into a Scapegoat that the world can unify against. Everyone has different reasons to protect the world, but they all agree that nihilism needs to be rejected.

[@michs7451]

@@ikkinwithattitude Yes, and this is how Kefka unifies all of the party members, with their disparate concerns and individual reasons for fighting, against him. A little bit like Thanos and the Avengers in the Infinity War saga.

[@RetroFrito]

1:08:57 In this scene I always interpreted it as Edgar thinking Realm was a bit mature for her age.

[@kevinstreetgaming]

Don't leave Shadow behind!

[@Luminator_maior]

Thank you so much for providing an explanation for Kefkas sudden power surge! For years i've hated him as a villain, because he went from joke character, not to be taken seriously, always getting the floor wiped with, to a monster without any reason. This was always such a disconnect with the game for me, and probably still will be, but now i at least have a head canon to weigh against it.

[@ardith]

After winning the WWE championship and then getting ambushed by a folding chair when he wasn't paying attention, Shadow then destroyed the world by moving the statues. Kefka was helpless as he got pinned by the statues. The true destroyer was Shadow all along.

[@tebbtebberton1007]

Ok, I'll try and make this quick(er). Gau: Class - Morpher. A class introduced with Gau, and only named as a class in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (where it also had other more complicated mechanics behind it's power). Vincent Valentine is technically also a Morpher through his Limit Breaks. The character "becomes" the monster and gains all of it's traits and some of it's abilities. If you "Morph" into a Bomb, you gain the float status, absorb Fire Elemental attacks, become weak to Ice, and become immune to...I dunno, Silence? Whatever the Monster itself is immune to. For Gau specifically, he goes into an uncontrollable state (just like Vincent), and uses either a regular basic attack (with different hit animations as if striking with the monster's claws or weapon), or a single special attack depending on the Monster. (So for a bomb, it might be Fira, or Self Destruct, but only one of those). Onion Knight: Reraise Stray Cat: Cat Scratch Magic Pot: Curaga *Those flowers you might fight later when re-recruiting Relm*: Charm (which is a game breaker ability, by the way, enemies basically hit themselves forever cause the status can't be removed easily/normally). Pterodon: Fireball. As shown, the special attack Gau can use based on monsters ranges from magic spells anyone can learn, to Lores for Strago, to unique abilities only used by monsters. There are 255...or was it 256 Rages, making Gau EXTREMELY versatile. The hard part is the game doesn't tell you what innate status or weaknesses/resistances/immunities/etc the monster comes with, you just have to remember if a monster absorbed fire or not. Relm: Job - Pictomancer A Unique variation of Beast Master, that's really what Relm is. Final Fantasy 5's Beast Master has "Catch" and "Release" commands. Catch captures a monster in one battle. Release sets the monster free in another battle (or the same one, if it's still going), it does a single attack, then it's gone (kind of like a summon). Sketch is just...both of those commands combined. She sketches the monster, setting the monster against the enemy party, it does a single attack and that's it. I BELIEVE every monster has a specific attack called on for Sketch, in the same way Gau gets one special attack for every Rage. A Relic changes Sketch to Control, which is a later Beast Master ability. Just like Manipulate in FF7, Relm controls a monster, bringing up a menu of monster specific commands on Relm's turn. It's possible Sketch pulls a random attack off this control menu, but I forget. Notably, when a monster is confused, they use a different AI table, and I THINK it happens to be the same one as control. So again, it's a matter of trial and error of seeing what each monster does when Sketched. With the drawback that...sketching an elemental monster will proooooobably result in an elemental attack...that that monster will then absorb. But the biggest problem is that Sketch can miss, and apparently often does. A special shout out to Strago, who, unlike 80% (we aren't talking about Quistis, Quina, or Kimari, they're the other 19%) of the other Blue Mages in the franchise, does not have to be affected by the Blue Magic he can learn, he literally only needs to SEE it. As such, Gau and Relm can Rage, Sketch or Control monsters and use the Blue Magic Strago can learn offensively, before Strago has even learned it, and TEACH IT TO HIM. (Unlike Enemy Skill Materia, which actively can not learn enemy skills off a party member that already has it.) I know this is not a game mechanics based podcast, but could these characters (and Setzer) get a shout out for thier actual class titles, and the real potential they have? It's a shame when they get cast aside and left on the airship because thier abilities are so...not straightforward, so they deserve more respect for thier versatility.

[@AkaiAzul]

There are 253 obtainable Rages. 3 more Rages are programmed, but are unobtainable: Tonberry, Typhon, Siegfried.

[@leoncrus]

Garrotte is not only torture device. In Italy mafia used a piece of of wire with two handles to strangle people. So I think Shadow meant that he was not going to kill them by strangling.

[@apoema42]

I glad you guys acknowledge the pandering to pedophilia in the original Japanese script. It always made me uncomfortable.

[@EvilCronos13]

Relm's sketch can be upgraded to control with an accessory and I think she has a random chance to use one of the monster's abilities. But I also don't use sketch, do I'm not sure

[@skippyzk]

1:01:54 I believe, because he casts some sort of special spell that looks like a save point, he has created some sort of soul trap spell

[@zenoslime]

with regard to triangles and the pythagorean theorem, you guys may wanna look into bloodborne and the "make contact" gesture... i think you'd have a field day with what you discover.

[@michs7451]

It is worth noting that the character Siegfried is also a reference to an opera by Richard Wagner, the third of the four music dramas that constitute the famous work The *Ring of the Nibelung*.

[@srswriter1165]

Just want to add that if you go to Albrook just before you go to the Floating Continent, it's completely dark because it has been overcast by the shadow of the floating landmass above. It isn't really significant or worthy of more than a note, but I thought it was a nice detail.

[@skippyzk]

13:44 the scene with locke in the boat is like mcu humor but well executed, ah, back in the day 😢

[@josephstringfellow7959]

Can anyone explain why the triad obeys Kefka? Aren't they sentient beings. I always wondered why they didn't wipe the floor with him when he disturbs their balance and either go back to sleep or become the new villain. Glad they kept him as the villain rather than a late 3rd act "now you fight someone you've never heard of before" though.

[@armorvil]

Maybe this had to do with his weird ability to turn espers into magicites? After the party visits the Magitek Factory and the espers turned into magicites in front of Cid, since he is some kind of genius, I like to think that Cid came up with the idea of such a power and Gestahl forced him to work on it (or he used Cid's assistants). There was probably a big risk to the life or psyche of the person infused with such a power, so Gestahl used Kefka as his guinea pig again (especially since Kefka's brain is already damaged), and my guess is that the Warring Triad detected this special power inside Kefka so they saw him as some kind of sibling and followed his commands. Or this power simply allowed Kefka to mind-control the WT perhaps?

[@mattcat83]

No mention as to why or how the Empire has an airforce of soldiers flying machines?