Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Playing: Final Fantasy IX]

IV. Black Holes and Revelations


Dagger: "Zidane. I want to use summon magic to protect everyone…"
Zidane: "I know you can do it, Dagger!"
Vivi: [Suddenly looking up] "Zidane! Look!"
Zidane: [Looking up] "...Is that the Red Rose?"

Uh-oh.

I have no childhood recollections of the cutscene that follows, which surprises me, because it's kind of incredible.


Well. I guess this answers my earlier question.

It's very short and you can easily miss it, but the ships in that screenshot above? They're ships. Not airships. Alexandria brought its navy around to shell Lindblum from the harbour, and they are doing it with all the gusto of the East India Company rolling into a new place circa ~1840. The Red Rose is the only airship Alexandria has brought to this fight; this is entirely a naval operation.

Now, if you're me, you're thinking, well, they're fucked. Sure, the world doesn't use seagoing fleets anymore so Lindblum doesn't have a navy to respond with, and that's a neat surprise advantage, but Alexandria has to rely on its navy because it doesn't have an air fleet. It only has the Red Rose and like one busted old cargo freighter. Their air force is one flagship and exactly nothing else. Lindblum, meanwhile, is the world's premier airship manufacturer. They have armies of airships. Even if we assume that some of them are still coming back from their last frontier action and so are unavailable, Lindblum still would have air superiority. And airship beats ship every time. So this attack seems doomed. And indeed, Lindblum soldiers are rushing through the castle to the docks, ready to crew the airships and take off…


…the telepods.

Alexandria can teleport their black mage squadrons into Lindblum's air docks. The Lindblum soldiers, caught completely flat-footed, scatter in the face of the magical onslaught, and the black mages pour through the docks. This time, however, their goal is not the extermination of the fleeing soldiers or any cowering civilians.


Lindblum's air fleet is sitting its docks, a bunch of sitting ducks for them to blow up with fire spells, wrecking the entire fleet while it's in harbour. Pearl Harbor with teleporting wizards.

Like I said: The black mages are one thing, but it's the telepods that are the kind of technological breakthrough that redefines warfare.

Back at the Pinnacles Rock, the group stares in horror. Zidane deduces the use of the telepods, then grimly muses that in Cleyra, the telepod attack was followed immediately after by the use of summon magic. Dagger gasps "Mother!" and runs off towards Lindblum, and… Well.

Like at Cleyra, I think you should see this one for yourselves.



Atomos appears, for the first time since V, where he was a boss fight. It is truly gigantic, easily half the size of Lindblum Castle itself; a foe on the scale of II's Leviathan or IV's Giant of Babil, difficult to imagine as anything that could be fought in any straightforward sense. It opens its mouth, and the sheer sucking force of its breath shatters the windows, then the walls of Lindblum Castle, rips iron railing out of walls, breaks the entire outer wall and sucks in not just the Lindblum soldiers, but the Black Mages as well, killing friend and foe equally. It's a spectacle of devastation, about as short as Odin's attack on Cleyra, but lingering more on the terrible human horror of these lives blown away like chaff in the wind.

Then it's gone, scattering into light as Brahne marvels and Dagger falls to her knees in horror. Zidane reaches down, offers her a hand, but there's little comfort that could be brought to anyone in the face of such desolation. Instead, his head turns to Lindblum, and his lips twist in anger.

V. Oh So The Lindblumites Get To Live But The Rat People Don't? I See Your Human Supremacist Agenda, Final Fantasy IX


Zidane: "It's so quiet…"
Dagger: "Mother… I can't believe you attacked Lindblum!"
Zidane: "Careful, they might still be around. Vivi, you stay here and hide."
Vivi: "No way! It's dangerous here!"
Zidane: "There are Alexandrian soldiers everywhere. You should stay out of their sight."
Vivi: "...Okay."
Zidane: "Don't fret. We'll be right back."
Dagger: "I'm sorry, Vivi."
Vivi: "It's okay… Just make it quick."

At first, I was a little confused why this time they want Vivi to stay behind. But it turns out to be justified, because the situation in Lindblum is very different from Burmecia and Cleyra.


Namely, the civilian population is still there, and Alexandria is occupying the city. Casualties were severe, but they didn't slaughter the population. This is an actual conquest, taking and keeping Lindblum as a prize, and Alexandrian soldiers are patrolling the streets. This means that taking Vivi anywhere would inevitably lead to drawing the wrong kind of attention and turn things into a fight with all of Lindblum as potential hostages/collateral.

That's not what happened in Burmecia and Cleyra. Brahne simply wiped both towns off the face of the map and moved on. It's hard not to draw the conclusion that she was motivated primarily by just… Racism. She wanted to exterminate the rat-folk, and so she did, while Lindblum's heterogeneous human population is granted the mercy of living under her rule.

She just grows more awful by the second.

The Alexandrian soldiers we talk to do not recognize us, and are more than willing to talk and take the opportunity to gloat about their victory. Resistance is futile, with the black mage army and the power of the eidolons Queen Brahne is invincible, the Lindblumites should face the truth that Regent Cid lost the war, etc.
Notably, there's a downed black mage just lying in the streets, and a small group of Lindblumites who are wondering if they should crush its skull or its chest, in eyesight of the Alexandrian soldiers who do nothing about it. They genuinely do not care about the black mages, seeing them as mindless weapons. Interestingly, Zidane interrupts the group, telling them that the black mage is a "living creature," that "Brahne programmed it to kill, but they're still like everybody else!" That's… questionable? But his proximity to Vivi would of course incline him to think all the other black mage dolls are just potential sapients under a layer of programming.

Young Man: "Lies! They may look human, but that's where the similarity ends! They destroy everything… like wrecking balls destroy buildings. They don't even know we're flesh and blood!"
Old Man: "If it's human, make it understand how much suffering it caused! Make it understand that it killed my son! Otherwise… My son's death has no meaning!"
Young Man: "They didn't even flinch, even when one of their own got killed. They made monsters seem docile!"
Engineer: "I don't care if it lives. My friend was burned alive by it!"

There's an interesting range of responses here. The blank denial that the black mages could even be human and the "I don't give a damn, I hate it either way" responses are to be expected, but I am particularly struck by the old man who almost wants the black mage to be human, because the idea of his son being killed meaninglessly by an unthinking machine, who does not care and will not remember him, is too horrifying to contemplate.

The air cab service is down, so we can't visit the other districts; we're limited to the business district. The inn is still running (the log book has a customer complaining that a war broke out during his vacation so he should get a refund), and the moogle has a letter from Ruby who is struggling to find any actor for her mini-theatre and ask her if we can send her "the narcissist from Lindblum." It's nice to know that she's having such a chill time during all the ongoing genocide.


One of the Alexandrian soldiers is genuinely shocked, and kind of horrified, by the swiftness and completeness of their victory; she compares the black mages and eidolons to "opening Pandora's box." And you know what, fair, if I was a sword-and-shield soldier in a 17th century army and my commander just dropped a nuclear weapon on the city we were besieging I would be happy I don't have to die storming the ramparts but also, kind of extremely terrified?


Old Margaret, the old lady whom Steiner got his gyhsal pickles from, is also there. She's… blind. One of the black mages crippled her. "I won't ever see my newborn grandchild's face again." Jesus Christ.

One of the soldiers asks us about a group called the "Vigilantes"; I've never seen that name in the game before, and one night seems a little short for an insurrection to have formed, but given this game's disregard for reasonable timelines I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Tantalus crew have started a rebel cell overnight.


At the fountain, an officer gives Minister Artania a summary of the damage. It's bad! Everything is wrecked. Artania orders him to dispatch soldiers to aid in reconstruction efforts just as Zidane and Dagger enter.

Dagger: "Uncle Artania!"
Minister Artania: "Princess Garnet! Master Zidane! Glad to see you're both safe!"
Dagger: "Where is Uncle Cid…? Is the Regent safe?"
Minister Artania: "Yes, Princess. The castle was spared. Regent Cid is alive."
Dagger: "Thank goodness…"
Minister Artania: "I will take you to see him."


…I'm starting to think that "thrones set up on a grand balcony where you can look out over things" is just kind of a Mist Continent tradition, because it's such an odd set-up.

Now, Dagger and Cid didn't exactly leave on the best of terms (she, y'know, drugged him and fled his castle, then he tried to have her captured by his soldiers and brought back), but in the face of the enormity of this disaster it's all bygones.

Cid: "Garnet! I thought Queen Brahne had imprisoned you!"
Dagger: "Zidane rescued me."
Cid: "Thank you, Zidane. <Gwok!>
Dagger: "But Freya, Steiner and Beatrix were left behind. I…"
Cid: "Ah, the renowned General Beatrix. I don't think you have anything to worry about."
Zidane: "I don't think so either, Dagger. We wound up in Pinnacle Rocks instead of Treno, but… they'll be fine on their own."
Cid: "<Gwok-gwok!> Pinnacle…? Did you ride the gargant?"
Zidane: "How did you know?"
Cid: "It's my job to know the land surrounding my country. However… I sometimes lack foresight. Brahne was after the <gwok> eidolons. That much, I knew. But I underestimated the power of the eidolons. Maybe I deserve to be cursed with this body."
Zidane: "I'm glad you surrendered. Cleyra resisted and perished."
Dagger: "(What should I say…? What can I do…?)"

As Dagger wonders this, a commotion starts; some of the guards spot a black mage and start yelling about it and grabbing hold of it, until it starts complaining and Zidane and Dagger realize that this is Vivi, who is then escorted into the, uh, outdoors throne room.


The soldiers tell them they took an Alexandrian soldier into custody and ask if they should turn him over to the Alexandrian army, and Minister Artania finally, after like twenty hours of game, provides the cast with an excuse to get this out of the way: Vivi isn't an Alexandrian soldier, his outfit is "a disguise to deceive the enemy." God. Imagine if Zidane had come up with this like ten hours ago. I mean it wouldn't have meaningfully changed the plot but it would have made some interactions less awkward. The soldiers apologize to Vivi and depart.

Cid: "I've acquired more information about Queen Brahne <gwok>. A weapons dealer named Kuja is behind the recent string of attacks. Kuja has been supplying Brahne with highly advanced magic weapons."
Dagger: "Supplying mother… with weapons?"
Cid: "Yes. The black mage soldiers are among these weapons. According to eyewitnesses in Treno, Kuja appeared from the northern sky on a silver dragon."
Zidane: "(That's the guy I saw in Burmecia!)"
Cid: "That he came from the north suggests that he is from the Outer Continent."
Dagger: "The Outer… Continent?"
Zidane: "There are many unexplored continents in the world. The Outer Continent is an unexplored continent located to the north of our Mist Continent."
Cid: "I believe Kuja is the only one supplying <gwok> Brahne with weapons."
Dagger: "The man I saw at the castle must have been Kuja. He must be the one who is corrupting my mother!"
Zidane: "If we defeat Kuja…!"
Dagger: "If we eliminate Kuja…"
Cid: "You both catch on quickly. Defeat Kuja, and Brahne loses her weapon supply. That will be our cue for a counterattack."
Minister Artania: "Challenging Brahne now will only result in more casualties."
Zidane: "So we crush the source of the evil!"
Minister Artania: "Yes. Kuja will find other clients, even if we defeat Brahne."
Dagger: "I make no excuses for my mother's behavior, but I shan't forgive Kuja for taking advantage of her! But first, we must rescue Steiner and the others…"


Describing Kuja as a "weapons dealer" feels a little like calling Sephiroth a "Shinra security officer" or Ultimedea a "Galbadian advisor." Technically accurate! Almost certainly understating the scope of the threat.

Okay, actually, hold on. I have a question.

Why is it Zidane, the street urchin raised by thieves, and not Dagger, the princess with a high-class education by a scholar whom we saw her teach her the globe, who is delivering this exposition about the Outer Continent?

…

This ties into something that's been bothering me about Dagger's characterization ever since her rescue but that I couldn't quite identify and now I've finally put my finger on it.

Dagger's dominant characterization for the whole stretch of the game up to her capture is that she is kind, sheltered, a little clueless about something, but also thoughtful, with strong emotions she rarely voices, and has a deep romantic streak and a craving for adventure, and her sheltered upbringing makes her just as unexpectedly open as it does make her naive, with her being unafraid of bugs and gross things and always willing to give anyone a chance. But the Dagger we got back after the eidolon extraction has mostly just been… Sad and withdrawn and characterized mainly by self-doubt. Her dialogue contains a shocking amount of 'repeating the word someone just said as a way of asking for clarification', which I know is a common thing in Japanese but I feel she used to do it less? Also lots of variations on "Mother…" and "Mother!" and "M-Mother!?" and looking forlornly as other characters stay behind to protect her and she doesn't say anything to them but clearly feels guilty for them putting themselves in danger for her.

And like, yeah, in character this is understandable: Dagger has been suffering a series of heavy emotional blows that would be devastating to anyone, let alone a sheltered teenager. But I feel like we lost Dagger the Adventurer and her replacement has less agency and like… Just, her not knowing what an "Outer Continent" is and needing it explained by Zidane kind of embodies it in my eyes. She's a princess! She had a tutor! We saw a flashback of that tutor teaching her about the world! But no, because we have Moping Dagger, she inexplicably doesn't have this basic knowledge about the world.

It's kind of damning to be saying this in the same update Dagger had her major character moment with Ramuh, reconnected with her summoning power and convinced her first eidolon to serve her, but also I guess it explains while I kinda felt underwhelmed by that beat in terms of Dagger's character writing, even if in terms of "writing about summons" it was the best in a while?

I don't know, you tell me what you think.


Either way, Cid tells Dagger that he can't spare any soldiers to help rescue Steiner and the others (also that would, uh, kind of fly into the face of the whole "surrendered and your country is now occupied" thing), and Zidane insists to Dagger that they'll be fine: "The best dragon knight of Burmecia, the female general of Alexandria, and Rusty… How could they lose? Besides, you have me to protect you!"

And on the one hand, it's nice of Zidane to be hyping up his teammates. On the other hand, it feels painfully funny to refer to Freya as "the best dragon knight of Burmecia," when 1) we know that this explicitly not true, Fratley is better, 2) she's only that by default because every other dragon knight is dead.

Thus, with the fate of the rest of the team in their own hands (oh god they're going to be in such a deep level gap by the time they come back), the group decides to go "kick Kuja's butt." And to this end, they are heading for…

…the Outer Continent.

Not, you know. Treno. Where Kuja lives. No they decide to head for what they are assuming is his birthplace, an entire continent, in hope of finding him… somehow? Ah, whatever.


God, I hadn't thought about it, but, uh.

Previously Vivi was just a kid with a big hat. He could get most places and except in Dali, the most he was at risk for was people being condescending to him.

Now every place on the Mist Continent has seen or heard about the black mages rampaging around the place. Linbdlum is conquered, Creya and Burmecia are no more (but some survivors might have scattered across the place), Dali is building the damned things, they've probably heard of them as far as the Qu Marsh. And we know that even the Alexandrian soldiers do not care about the black mages to the point of letting conquered civilians kick them while they're down, and some are actively afraid of the damned things.

There's no place on the continent Vivi could go without getting hate crimed.

…now, this would raise the question of "why doesn't Vivi change his outfit," but that would require acknowledging the possibility that Vivi might even do that and answer the question "what does he look like if we take off his hat," and that's something the game does not want to do, so no one in the cast is allowed to acknowledge it. And I honestly am not bothered, it's just a necessary conceit for the fiction of Vivi to work; it's how Season 1 of The Mandalorian asks you not to think too hard about the logistics of Mando never taking his helmet off, and answering these questions in later seasons doesn't necessarily improve the story because it draws attention to these fine points of details. It's a story; nobody can take off Vivi's hat because we are not supposed to see what's under it because that's how Black Mages look. Don't think about it too hard.

Zidane asks Cid to lend them the fastest ship in Lindblum, and Cid reminds him that airships can only fly where there's Mist, which exists only on the Mist Continent. Also, and I can't stress this enough, the city is under military occupation. Which is why Cid can't lend them the new steam-powered airship either: It's not ready yet, and Brahne has seized it. The two conditions of Lindblum's surrender were the surrender of the new airship, and to hand over the Falcon Claw.

Now… Heavy sigh… Because that missable line of dialogue during the time-limited castle raid was missable, it's also non-diegetic. Zidane has never heard anyone say that the three jewels of Burmecia, Alexandria and Lindblum were once part of a single summoner jewel, so he has no idea why Brahne would want some random gemstone, and neither does Cid.

Zidane: "Alright. We'll take a boat."
Cid: "That's not an option, either. The harbor was also seized."
Zidane: "Ahhhhh! What do you want us to do!? Swim!?"


Thankfully, Cid has a way: There is an old excavation site located near a swamp north of the castle. Monsters not native to the Mist Continent are rumored to appear nearby, so Cid's conclusion is that this could be an intercontinental tunnel leading to the Outer Continent. This makes sense because, as we've previously established, the entire Mist Continent is just under the size of France, which means the Outer Continent can't be much larger than Britain, and the ocean between them probably about the size of the English Channel, which would make this intercontinental tunnel… Just about the size of the Chunnel.

So it is, against all odds, completely plausible.

Of course, "there's an old excavation site" and "foreign monsters are spotted there sometimes" isn't much to base this conclusion on, and both Zidane and Cid are aware of this, but Zidane declares that "not knowing is half the fun," and so our next course is set.

Cid asks Zidane to protect the princess and promises to "prepare the counterattack" for our return, then hands us a sweet 3000 gil, and then we're let out back into the city so we can use the shop before heading on the next leg of our journey.


Revisiting the Lindblum shops is as grim as you'd expect. The item store has been smashed to pieces and the proprietor now sells out of the rubble, and she doesn't sell Hi-Potions so I can't resupply. That's a nightmare. Also the synthesis shop's owner got his hands burned by fire and can't work anymore so his son is picking up the slack, and the only store that's still seeing good business is, fittingly enough, the weapons store with a new clientele:


The weapons store owner, a huge bull-man thing, is actually fleecing the soldiers by raising his prices because he doesn't want to sell to them, while offering us a discount. So that's nice of him.

We update our equipment, grabbing a new twinblade for Zidane, the Exploda (this is actually his first new weapon since we synthesized the Ogre during our last visit), plus some robes and accessories, buy new items, check out everyone's ability load, and we are ready for our next adventure.

And that's where we'll leave off for today! The guy who offers to take us out of the city makes it very clear that this is a point of no return for at least a long stretch of the game, as if "heading to another continent" didn't make that clear enough, so I'm going to put it on hold there in case there's anything I really should be doing before I head out on this new journey. Our party is currently only three people and the swamp the characters referred to is definitely the Qu Marsh, so we'll most likely be getting Quina back on the team, that'll be nice.

No telling when Freya and Steiner will be back, though. Or when we'll run into the bounty hunters who are after us.

This update had… Some stuff that bothered me with the writing, mainly about Dagger, which I've gone over already. Some of the decision chains our characters are following are still a bit contrived. But overall this was an improvement from last update and I'd say we're broadly back on track, especially if Dagger's character recovers from her muted phase. And given that we've spent the whole game up to this point on the Mist Continent, whose whole recent history, politics, and geography is defined by the Mist, I'm really curious about discovering a new continent.

Thank you for reading!

Next Time: To the Outer Continent?