I see your ‘Ultimecia is Rinoa’ theory and raise you ‘Ultimecia is the Great Hyne.’
Explain.
I’m glad you asked/demanded on pain of death.
Okay, so the Great Hyne is purportedly the god who empowered sorceresses, and you can find about five different variations of the myth about him, all of which are contradictory – and in fiction, ‘multiple contradictory myths’ is usually shorthand for ‘this is semi-true, but has been distorted.’
Of the features consistent across the myths, we know:
Hyne has ‘two halves,’ and he gives half of his body to humanity (with myths differing on whether the sorceress power is the half he gives, or the half he keeps), while the other is never found.
People go to war with Hyne, and Hyne kills or abducts children.
Hyne is the source of every sorceress’ power.
Then we have Ultimecia, who becomes a goddess of sorts when she performs time compression. When she does, she looks like this:
She has two distinct halves to her body: The powerful upper half, and the bound lower half. The upper half also forms part of the backdrop in the fight, showing stars and planets, indicative of Ultimecia achieving a deified nature.
When Ultimecia is killed in this form, she’s actually still alive – her human form (which is her lower half here) escapes and gives Edea her power, because a sorceress can’t die until they’ve passed on their power.
We’ll get to that later, but first: Hyne goes to war with humans, and kills children (either as the instigating incident in the war or as part of it). Ultimecia was, we know, persecuted for being a sorceress (in a stable time loop where she attempts to alter the past to become a god in order to escape that persecution, but her actions in possessing other sorceresses creates their bad reputation which leads to her being persecuted), but we also know that Ultimecia specifically fights SeeD: Outside her castle are the bodies of dozens of White SeeDs, and SeeD are all child soldiers, at least when they’re starting out. So Ultimecia does kill children.
Back to her giving Edea her power: Notably, Ultimecia is apparently the only sorceress of her era, and one recipient can gain multiple sorceress’ power (because Rinoa does just that), so it’s likely that in the far future, all of the sorceress lineages converge on Ultimecia somehow.
Edea, however, is just a regular sorceress with a single sorceress’ power, not the recipient of dozens or hundreds of sorceress’ power.
Moreover, the Junction Machine Ellone that Ultimecia has apparently been using to possess sorceresses from across history can, if it functions like Ellone’s powers do, only be used to transplant someone’s mind through time to the body of someone they have a personal connection to. Ultimecia has a connection to Edea through giving Edea her power, but she shouldn’t have one to Adel, who she also possesses.
Instead, it seems plausible that Ultimecia is the originator of all sorceress lineages: After her defeat, she’s fragmented through time into as many copies as she has sorceress’ powers, and appears to the sorceress at the start of each lineage, granting them one sorceress power each. This in turn makes another stable time loop where they pass on their powers until Ultimecia becomes the eventual recipient of all of them, is defeated, and is fragmented through time to start the loop again.
This would also explain why there’s apparently an ancient legend about a ‘Legendary SeeD’ defeating her (and that legend sets Ultimecia up to hate and fear the SeeDs), despite the fact that only Squall’s party was present for it – Ultimecia tells a woman the story as she gives her the sorceress power, and they pass it on, while others to whom she gives the power pass on the story of the Great Hyne. Essentially, a third stable time loop where the prophecy drives Ultimecia to actions that ultimately result in her telling people about it, which then becomes a prophecy.
there’s not really much discussion of child neglect on here so i guess i have to do it
p l e a s e don’t shame neglect survivors for not knowing “basic” things like how to eat a balanced diet, when to go to the doctor, how to drive, etc. you know these things (usually) because a caring adult taught them to you. we didn’t have that. we often enter adulthood knowing jack shit about how to take care of ourselves. we know we’re missing information, and we feel so fucking lost.
it’s okay to, if you have a friend who’s experienced neglect, try and help them learn how to take care of themselves. saying things like “hey, do you think you could try to eat at least one vegetable per day?” or “that infection looks pretty bad, do you want to go to a doctor?” is genuinely helpful. but belittling us for not already knowing these things is completely unproductive and unnecessarily cruel.
don’t be a dick to survivors.
I can barely tie my shoes, can’t ride a bike, know how to set a washig machine or dishwasher or cook anythng because no one taught me. Having to learn all these thngs mot people know yourslf is already embarrassing enough, please help us, don’t make fun of us.
I don’t lurk on discord, I lurk on your blog! I misspoke. also here is grandpa
Bunni reply:
GRAAAAAAAND PA
its grandpa!! He’s grandpa!!
The grandest of pa!!
I love him what a pure and good example of everything huggable about a gramps! He looks so kind and smol!
Im happy that he’s the only one ive seen so far that didnt get ruined in the redraw, he just got a fancier jacket and apparantly a chiropractor. Good for him!!
I hope he is a good dude that i can hug and that he doesnt die in the plot or something. He has such kind eyes!! He’s like the kind of guy you would see as a college professor teaching ye olde literature and he’s very quiet and softspoken and wears an argyle sweater and hands out werthers originals to all the students and he’s totally forgiving if you hand in your homework late
Also i like that he has the Grandpa Classique hair! I’m always like ‘dat charon’ whenever i see a guy like this, but really charon is just a particularly goofy example in a long list of pointy croissant hair mens. Its a proud tradition of viddygame minion gremps! I like how this guy has a more realistic less stylized version. And i like how they made it seamlessly transition into his mustache/sideburns. I think the original’s combination mustache sideburns is better than just the sideburns in the remake. And also they pulled back his widow’s peak a bit for some reason? Did they want him to be less grandpaish? Is that also why he doesnt have a slouch anymore? Tho srsly i’d love to imagine that his boss gave him a raise so he was able to get better healthcare and get some relief from his back ache and also have the money left over for the fancy outfit he truly deserves. But yknow it could always be fancier!! And have more medals!! And every medal says #1 Gramps!
God i have no idea who he even is or what his personality is but i already want to hug him so much!!! Its definately the same Instant Gramp Fave feeling as Charon and Vexen. (Tho vexen did turn out to be younger than i expected so he’s just like a 40 Something Dad With Sort Of A Gramp Aesthetic Fave)
Anyway *pulls up a chair* PLEASE TELL ME MORE
I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone call Heiss kind looking xDDD Not that it’s bad!! But Heiss here is a ruthless spymaster with a very ends justify the means personalitymost of the time. His one soft spot is for main character Stocke, who he dotes on like a proud parent and tries stuffign Werther’s into his pocket whenever he sees him. (like, i personally adore him, but i can’t deny the man has issues)
His redesign is one of the few I like as well! And his new voice acting is, for the most part, absolutely amazing.
I’m trying to dance around spoilers for hte most part here, so excuse my vagueness, but Im assuming a big chunk of his glow up is because the original game was trying to hide his importance to the backstory, while the remake was like HE’S IMPORTANT LETS MAKE HIM PRETTY!!
(like, uh, be careful googling for him, grandpa is attached to some plot revelations and I don’t know if you want it all laid out yet!)
BUT HE’S SMILING! He has a little 🙂 with the lil corner cheeks thing they give anime grandpas and he just looks like he’s gonna say “i’m proud of you kiddo!” I wanna personally punch everybody who says he doesnt look like a huggable friend!
Aww shame to know he’s a jerk! But honestly ‘jerk with a soft spot of potential redeemability specifically through a parental role to a younger character’ is like MY FAVOURITE EVERYTHING! He’s like vexen but for sora! I’m really intrigued to find out how in the heck our protagonist ends up with a villain guy who loves him?? Is it like you were part of the villain country during the backstory but defected when you realized what they were doing, but then it means fighting your BELOVED GRANDPA WHO STILL LOVES YOU????? i dont think my heart can handle that aaaa
Im glad to know he’s an important plot role tho! Most of my faves are very minor npcs, lol. I kinda hate the idea of ‘important peopoe have to be conventionally attractive’ tho, im glad they just gave the grandpa a polish and didnt actually replace him with some young bishie dude. Im imagining them spit-shining his bald spot XD
It does make me kinda worried tho cos seriously as soon as you said he’s got some parental-ish relation to the hero but is also a villain im like “he’s probably gonna die and im gonna cry my eyes out”. Like,him being a grandpa instead of a dad makes him even more expendable. There arent many jrpgs where the protagonist’s grandpa/equivelant unrelated gandalfy mentor stays alive through the whole thing.
So umm yeah can i ask for spoilers on one thing? Can i ask if he dies? Just so i can be prepared and not get my hopes up too much.
I am so so so weak to antagonists with soft spots for the protagonist,and Heiss is just. So well written.YOU ARE IN LUCK, HEISS IS A MAJOR PLAYER AND HE WILL NOT LEAVE.
*already preemptively shedding tears* oh god..oh fuck… That sounds like such a damn good plot oh god for once one of my grampfaves is getting the good character development he deserves BUT AT WHAT COST
I don’t lurk on discord, I lurk on your blog! I misspoke. also here is grandpa
Bunni reply:
GRAAAAAAAND PA
its grandpa!! He’s grandpa!!
The grandest of pa!!
I love him what a pure and good example of everything huggable about a gramps! He looks so kind and smol!
Im happy that he’s the only one ive seen so far that didnt get ruined in the redraw, he just got a fancier jacket and apparantly a chiropractor. Good for him!!
I hope he is a good dude that i can hug and that he doesnt die in the plot or something. He has such kind eyes!! He’s like the kind of guy you would see as a college professor teaching ye olde literature and he’s very quiet and softspoken and wears an argyle sweater and hands out werthers originals to all the students and he’s totally forgiving if you hand in your homework late
Also i like that he has the Grandpa Classique hair! I’m always like ‘dat charon’ whenever i see a guy like this, but really charon is just a particularly goofy example in a long list of pointy croissant hair mens. Its a proud tradition of viddygame minion gremps! I like how this guy has a more realistic less stylized version. And i like how they made it seamlessly transition into his mustache/sideburns. I think the original’s combination mustache sideburns is better than just the sideburns in the remake. And also they pulled back his widow’s peak a bit for some reason? Did they want him to be less grandpaish? Is that also why he doesnt have a slouch anymore? Tho srsly i’d love to imagine that his boss gave him a raise so he was able to get better healthcare and get some relief from his back ache and also have the money left over for the fancy outfit he truly deserves. But yknow it could always be fancier!! And have more medals!! And every medal says #1 Gramps!
God i have no idea who he even is or what his personality is but i already want to hug him so much!!! Its definately the same Instant Gramp Fave feeling as Charon and Vexen. (Tho vexen did turn out to be younger than i expected so he’s just like a 40 Something Dad With Sort Of A Gramp Aesthetic Fave)
Anyway *pulls up a chair* PLEASE TELL ME MORE
I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone call Heiss kind looking xDDD Not that it’s bad!! But Heiss here is a ruthless spymaster with a very ends justify the means personalitymost of the time. His one soft spot is for main character Stocke, who he dotes on like a proud parent and tries stuffign Werther’s into his pocket whenever he sees him. (like, i personally adore him, but i can’t deny the man has issues)
His redesign is one of the few I like as well! And his new voice acting is, for the most part, absolutely amazing.
I’m trying to dance around spoilers for hte most part here, so excuse my vagueness, but Im assuming a big chunk of his glow up is because the original game was trying to hide his importance to the backstory, while the remake was like HE’S IMPORTANT LETS MAKE HIM PRETTY!!
(like, uh, be careful googling for him, grandpa is attached to some plot revelations and I don’t know if you want it all laid out yet!)
BUT HE’S SMILING! He has a little 🙂 with the lil corner cheeks thing they give anime grandpas and he just looks like he’s gonna say “i’m proud of you kiddo!” I wanna personally punch everybody who says he doesnt look like a huggable friend!
Aww shame to know he’s a jerk! But honestly ‘jerk with a soft spot of potential redeemability specifically through a parental role to a younger character’ is like MY FAVOURITE EVERYTHING! He’s like vexen but for sora! I’m really intrigued to find out how in the heck our protagonist ends up with a villain guy who loves him?? Is it like you were part of the villain country during the backstory but defected when you realized what they were doing, but then it means fighting your BELOVED GRANDPA WHO STILL LOVES YOU????? i dont think my heart can handle that aaaa
Im glad to know he’s an important plot role tho! Most of my faves are very minor npcs, lol. I kinda hate the idea of ‘important peopoe have to be conventionally attractive’ tho, im glad they just gave the grandpa a polish and didnt actually replace him with some young bishie dude. Im imagining them spit-shining his bald spot XD
It does make me kinda worried tho cos seriously as soon as you said he’s got some parental-ish relation to the hero but is also a villain im like “he’s probably gonna die and im gonna cry my eyes out”. Like,him being a grandpa instead of a dad makes him even more expendable. There arent many jrpgs where the protagonist’s grandpa/equivelant unrelated gandalfy mentor stays alive through the whole thing.
So umm yeah can i ask for spoilers on one thing? Can i ask if he dies? Just so i can be prepared and not get my hopes up too much.
I am so so so weak to antagonists with soft spots for the protagonist,and Heiss is just. So well written.YOU ARE IN LUCK, HEISS IS A MAJOR PLAYER AND HE WILL NOT LEAVE.
(I’m putting the spoilers under the cut.)
Heiss does die, but it’s a heroic death saving Stocke from certain doom. For all of Heiss’s issues, he really does love Stocke as an adopted son. A lot of Heiss’s antagonism comes from being (over)protective of Stocke, and doing Nasty Things to try and protect him and help him, even when Stocke really would prefer he did not do that. (”I would like to stab your friend who keeps on putting you in danger >8(” “PLEASE DO NOT”)
They do reach an understanding at the end. Sometimes, to save the world, you just have to save one person.
Plot Designing 