MovieChat Forums > Fainaru fantajî VIII (1999) Discussion > Rinoa becoming Ultimecia is a fascinatin...

Rinoa becoming Ultimecia is a fascinating idea even if it is not true.

posted 10 years ago by Vincenzo19
6 replies | jump to latest

I know this has been debated before and all we have is speculation but the idea of Rinoa as a corrupted sorceress makes for a more interesting storyline.
Otherwise what is Ultimecia? She is the final boss that we have seen in less than 1% of the game. We see her once in a flashback and then at the end of it. She is basically just a Saturday morning cartoon villain who wants to compress time because she is evil and for no other reason. That does not make her interesting, does it?

So if you want to write some good fan fiction, set the sequel a few years after FFVIII when Rinoa is a sorceress and Squall is her knight. I know Seifer was happy and smiling at the end but screw it, let's have him be the antagonist again because I love his rivalry with Squall. Rinoa is hunted by society for being a sorceress, becomes the world's enemy as she said and Squall is killed by Seifer. This turns Rinoa to the dark side and in revenge she annihilates Seifer using Thundaga or something. And thus Ultimecia is born. She annihilates her enemies and builds her castle above the flower field where she was to meet Squall to watch the stars. And in that castle she waits all alone for an eternity. If I was the writer of this game that is the direction in which I would take it. The villain is always more interesting than the hero because the dark side is more interesting.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=23952071

[–] takashi_kupo 10 years ago

Otherwise what is Ultimecia? She is the final boss that we have seen in less than 1% of the game. We see her once in a flashback and then at the end of it. She is basically just a Saturday morning cartoon villain who wants to compress time because she is evil and for no other reason. That does not make her interesting, does it?

There's a really great article (and I hope I can find it) that points out the interesting faults in the argument that Ultamecia is a villain we only see for 1% of the game. It basically goes like this: Ultamecia has spent an entire 2 and a half discs possessing Edea and Rinoa. Whether she's visible as a character or not, the actions of the possessed witches are still that of Ultamecia.

Another interesting facet about Ultamecia's seemingly lacking history of reason: Esthar pretty much takes the cake in FF8's history for kidnapping, torturing, and murdering young girls because of the potential that they might be a sorceress. I think that would qualify as one of the reasons that Ultamecia is such a witch. Opression is a very hardy tool for character development.

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[–] Vincenzo19 10 years ago

True but it doesn't quite explain time compression nor does it make Rinoa turning to the darkside less fascinating. So why does Ultimecia want to compress time? Why is her castle built above the orphanage?

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=23952071

[–] robertmurrin 10 years ago

I don't know about her castle being built above the orphanage, but as for time compression, I always liked to think it had something to do with Hyne. If you read the in-game magazines, they say that Hyne was a god who created humans, but the humans eventually fought against and defeated Hyne. So Hyne split his power in two, gave half to the humans, and then disappeared. This is the origin of the sorceresses. So I'm thinking, maybe with time compressed, Ultimecia would be able to find Hyne and try to steal the rest of his power. I know it's a stretch and there's not a whole lot to back it up, but it's the only reason I can think of for why she would want to compress time

[–] ricky_says_hi 9 years ago

Well a lot of information about Ultimecia is there in the game. You just sort of have to go back and analyse a lot of the story to get it

She gives a passionate speech while possessing Edea about being thought of as a "bloodthirsty tyrant", which implies that she was persecuted for being a sorceress and thus ended up going "well let me be evil then" and becoming a tyrant herself. In her final monologue she says something about how time strips away everything

But really, her goal is to become a living Goddess by compressing past, present and future together so that time literally cannot progress. And she intends to rule over this, effectively controlling reality itself. So surely that's enough of a goal on its own

A few other people have pointed out that she rants about SeeD swarming about like locusts across generations. And we see bodies of SeeD soldiers outside her castle. She has no army to speak of, apart from the monsters inside her castle. So time compression seems to be more of a desperation move. The SeeD army was *winning* and Ultimecia is only initiating time compression because her castle is under siege. It sort of reinforces the stable time loop. Her defeat is prophesied at the hands of a SeeD...because it's already happened. A defeated Ultimecia gives Edea sorceress powers, future Squall gives Edea the idea for starting Garden, Edea trains the SeeDs, is possessed by Ultimecia and then Squall defeats her. Ultimecia doesn't realise that she seals her own fate by starting time compression in the first place

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[–] Sleazy_E 9 years ago

You explained it quite well. Think I got a better understanding of Ultimecia by reading that then I got from the game, lol.

I've always wondered how the cities look during Ultimecias time and also just how many years separate the gang from ultimecia. Maybe it's explained but i haven't played it since 2010 i think.
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[–] ricky_says_hi 9 years ago

Hehe no problem. I don't think they ever did say how many years into the future Ultimecia lives. In her speech before the final battle, she speaks about SeeDs swarming "across generations". So a few decades at the very least I'd say

I'm gonna die of long hair!