Chapter 24: Disk 3.9 - Ipsen's Castle & The Four Shrines

[Zidane approaches Ipsen's Castle. There is a long, high-reaching staircase leading up to the castle]

Zidane "Is this the old castle Hilda told us about?" [Everyone else walks on screen and looks up at the tremendously huge castle] "What a strange-looking place... Like it's upside down or something..." "Alright, I'll take 3 of you with me. The rest of you secure this spot."

We flew in an airship to a place that cannot be reached otherwise than by airship, why do we need to leave some party members behind to have "lookout"? Especially when the Hilda Garde crew can already do just that?

[Everyone nods except Amarant]

Amarant "...Hey, Zidane."

Zidane "...? What's up, Amarant?"

Amarant "I work alone." "Always have, always will." "I don't know why you bother carryin' dead weight all the time."

Here we go with Amarant's stupid arc…

Zidane "What's your point?"

Amarant "I'm sayin' working alone beats working in a team any day, and I'm gonna prove it." "Hilda said there's some key here to break the seal, am I right?"

And now is when you start spouting all that, Amarant? Yeah because "working alone" worked out so well for you when Zidane framed you for theft and when you fought him in Madain Sari, I didn't see you doing anything to prevent yourself from getting captured along with the others by Kuja at the Desert Palace when they did that stupid quicksand thing, or telling Zidane that leaving Alexandria to go to Treno was a stupid thing to do, or trying to stop Kuja at the Iifa Tree by attacking him while he was in the middle of his monologuing.

Also, tell that to Dagger in disk one and two.

Zidane "Yeah."

Amarant "Let's see who finds it first. I'll be going by myself, of course."

Steiner "Amarant! You selfish, ignorant fool!"

Something that should have been said to you yourself and Dagger during the first half of the game, Steiner.

Zidane "Calm down, Rusty."

Steiner "B-But...!"

Zidane (What should I do?) [Choose between "Let him go" or "Don't let him go". Let Amarant have his fun and "Let him go"] "...Okay." "I don't know what you're thinking, but if that's what you want, it's okay by me."

Wow, really "smart", Zidane, and not at all just random. (which I will be getting to later down below)

Amarant "Well, aren't you an agreeable fellow?"

It's called being a "dumb yes man".

Amarant "Well, see you later."

[Amarant runs up the stairs to the castle]

Freya "...Are you sure about this, Zidane?"

Zidane "What can I do? I can't change the way he thinks."

Way to be a simp, Zidane. Not even going to give him a big lecture and knock Amarant down a couple of pegs by pointing out how "working alone" didn't help him with everything that I have already stated above?

Zidane "Let's get going, everyone! We'll beat Amarant at his own game!"

And yet you let him get a head start over you, not really thinking that through Zidane.

[Choose your team of characters.]

[Zidane runs up the stairs and enters the castle. The words "Ipsen's Castle" appears on the screen. Near the entrance is a message, which is optional to read]

"Do not be restricted by your knowledge and experience. This place turns logic upside down. What's big is small, what's strong is weak, and heaven is earth."

So how Ipsen's Castle works is that your strong equipment is reversed to weak, while the weak equipment is reversed to strong. But here is a question, what exactly in Ipsen's Castle is causing that? At least with Oeilvert's "no magic" it was explained to be because of an anti-magic field, but with Ipsen's Castle it's never explained what the cause of this stat switch is, and since Ipsen's Castle is actually originally from Terra, why would they build something like this? What was the purpose? There is also a secret room in this place that apparently has a connection to Odin, having his giant sword hung up in it. Why, isn't Odin supposed to be a Gaia crystal Eidolon?

It looks like the game designers just put in a gimmicky dungeon for the sake of having a gimmicky dungeon.

[Zidane makes his way through the wacky castle, eventually moving up a lift and arriving at a room. Amarant is in it; the ground and all around is glowing bluish light]

Zidane "!"

Amarant "You're late, Zidane, and I'm the winner." "See how much time you lose by working with others?"

I think it has more to do with Zidane stupidly allowing you a head start.

Zidane "...Have you figured out how to break the seal?"

Amarant "Take a look at that wall. Maybe you can figure it out." "But it's no longer my concern."

Zidane "What do you mean?"

Amarant "I proved myself right. I don't need to follow you around anymore." "We may be enemies next time we meet..." "See ya."

Wasn't the whole reason you joined in the first place was to figure out how Zidane beat you? Quote from when they were in Treno: "Don't get me wrong. I don't hold a grudge against him."

"But I need to understand him... He doesn't flaunt his power."

That scene also seemed to show him having friendship bonding with Freya.

[Amarant walks out]

Steiner "How selfish! I can't believe him!"

Zidane "...It's his way. We can't change him." "...Let's get going."

Again, stop being a simp, Zidane.

[Zidane approaches the wall. On the wall is a mural of the World Map; four mirros are placed on them in different areas]

Why is there a map of Gaia in a Terra location? Was this map placed there by Garland at some point? Why? He can already travel between Terra and Gaia using the Invincible, couldn't he just close off any entrances to Terra, such as the Shimmering Island, with no way to unlock them? Why did he need to make those four shrines and mirrors?

[Zidane picks up a mirror]

Zidane "Let's see..." "...? There's something written on it." "'My power is protected underwater, surrounded by the earth.' [Received Water Mirror!]

Also why would he put instructions on these mirrors to find the locations of these shrines?

[He picks up another mirror]

Zidane "Let's see..." "...This one, too." "'My power is protected high atop a fiery mountain.'" [Received Fire Mirror!]

[He picks up the third one]

Zidane "Let's see..." "And this one..." "'My power is protected behind a tornado.'" [Received Wind Mirror!]

[He picks up the fourth and final one] Zidane "Let's see..." "That means... This one, too." "'My power is protected under the shaking ground.'" [Received Earth Mirror!]

[Zidane goes back to the room, where the other three characters are waiting]

Zidane "Well, looks like we got what we came here for. Let's go."

Freya "Were those writings in a language only you can read?"

Zidane "Yeah, they were the same as the ones I saw at Oeilvert..."

Weren't those words in Oeilvert literally "speaking" to you in your head though? How can you just manually read these ones?

Zidane "Like Hilda said, those things on the wall must have something to do with the seal." "Let's think about that later. We need to get out."

"M-Mirror... Return...to me..."

Zidane "Who's there?"

[Out of the mural, a huge creature exits]

"Energy flow...interrupted... Energy to...Terra..." "You dare get in the way of Terra's master plan...?"

What does that even mean? Did the mirrors have something to do with the flow of souls/Lifestream? I thought the Iifa Tree was doing that.

Zidane "Wh-What is this!?"

"My name...is Taharka. Return...my mirrors..."

Zidane "You should say please when you ask for things."

Taharka "Fool! You'll regret this..."

Does Taharka also not recognize or know who Zidane actually is?

[Boss Battle vs. Taharka. At the end, it's defeated. Screen resumes in the room, where it's sprawled on the floor, dying]

What even is Taharka? Is it something created by Garland to guard Ipsen's Castle? Terra Fauna? This is never elaborated upon.

Taharka "One is all, all is one..." "You'll never break the seal..."

Then why are you giving them a hint?

Skipping ahead.

[Zidane and company return outside, where everyone, except Amarant, is waiting]

Zidane "What? What happened to Amarant?" [The 3 characters who waited outside shake their heads] "He was waiting for us at the top and left as soon as we got there!" "I thought he took off!" "Is he still inside...?" [Zidane shakes his head] "You guys wait here. I'm gonna go look for him."

[Zidane runs back inside, and heads down the pole]

Great so now you have to backtrack into the castle with only a single party member, joy. You couldn't at least still have four party members for the random battles? Well at least it is short anyways.

"Uh..."

Zidane "Who's there!?"

[He runs for a bit, then stops]

"Uh..."

Zidane "Who's there?"

[Amarant is lying down. Zidane approaches him]

Amarant "Zidane...? Why did you come back...?"

Zidane "Amarant! What happened to you?"

Amarant "Answer my question..." "I told you we might be enemies next time we met..." "Or did you come back to mock me?"

Zidane "You say some strange things." "The guys outside told me that you hadn't come out yet. That's why I came here looking for you."

Amarant "We don't have anything to do with each other anymore..." "You don't have anything to gain from this. Or do you?" "I don't understand you. I don't understand the way you think..."

Zidane "Who cares what I have to gain? You need help right now."

Amarant "You don't care...?" "You're willing to put yourself at risk to save me?"

Zidane "Come on. We've helped each other many times since we joined forces." "You're a part of the team. That's all that matters." "I don't know why I'm doing this, but I can't just walk away. It goes against my nature."

…And this is how the dungeon ends, created only to resolve the unbearably stupid line from Amarant. (I refer to the fanfics I've mentioned before that give Amarant a much better story)

It amazes me that Zidane can't properly articulate why he does ANYTHING. Not to say some banality like "helping is good", "together we are strong", "I have such a life credo", no.

"I don't know" is his answer to everything. IQ like Zell, I guess. At least say that your love for Garnet is a huge part of your motivation.

Skipping ahead.

Amarant "And that's what being part of the team means...?"

Zidane "Isn't it?" "Come on, that's enough talk. Let's get outta here!"

[Zidane and Amarant exit the castle. Screen changes to all 8 characters gathered at the base of the castle's stairs]

Zidane "Listen up, everyone." "Let's sort out what we found in the castle."

[Screen changes to show the mural with 4 Mirrors on it]

"On top of this castle is a mural, a map of the world." "There were 4 mirrors on the mural." "The writing on the mirrors was in the language only I can read." "'My power is protected under the shaking ground.'" "'My power is protected behind a tornado.'" "'My power is protected high atop a fiery mountain.'" "'My power is protected underwater, surrounded by the earth.'" "I'm sure the mirrors are pointing us to the locations that help us break the seal."

[Screen changes to when they defeated Taharka]

"What the monster said before he perished provided us with a clue about the seal..." "'One is all. All is one.'" "Meaning, there is a connection between these 4 seals..."

[Screen changes to the cockpit of the airship, where several of the characters are gathered]

Dagger "So, what do we do? Are we going to take each location one by one?"

Zidane "'One is all, all are one'... We're going to conquer all 4 locations at once."

You just pulled this out of your ass, didn't you?

How can you conclude from the phrase "one is all, and all is one" that you need to kill four bosses at the same time? How can it be done at the same time, when you have no portable means of communication?

Why would Taharka even say this? I thought he DIDN'T want them to break the seal, why did he tell them something that would help them?

Eiko "We're not going together like we always do?"

Zidane "No. I'm going to drop off two of us at each location."

Hey, how about you get more party members, like Beatrix, Fratley, Lani and Tantalus to help? But screw making Fratley and etc. a main party member and actually continuing subplots like Freya's.

Eiko "I see... Hey, I'll go with Dagger!"

Zidane "What? Why...?"

Eiko "It's called 'ladies first,' Zidane! And we girls have things to talk about!"

What about Freya?

Zidane "Uh-huh. Is that okay with you, Dagger?"

Dagger "Sure, but... Where are we going first?"

Yeah because screw actually focusing on the Zidane/Garnet love story, also considering that Eiko and Garnet are the only two major healers with good white magic, keeping them bunched up together in one area instead of evening it out isn't a good strategy.

Skipping ahead.

[Back on the World Map in the Airship, the Hilda Garde 3 approaches the Water Shrine. Screen changes to the entrance of the Water Shrine; Eiko, Dagger, and Zidane approach it]

Zidane "Are you gonna be okay by yourselves?"

Dagger "You're the one who suggested we split up."

Eiko "What? Don't you trust me and Dagger?"

Zidane "It's not that I don't trust you..."

Eiko "Hmph! You just wanted to pair up with Dagger!"

Then why didn't Zidane just do that instead of agreeing with Eiko? Who even made Zidane the "strategist" here? Considering this is the same guy, who, as was stated above, DOESN'T EVEN THINK!

Why is Eiko even complaining? I thought she wanted Zidane and Garnet to be together, why is she budding in by taking Garnet instead?

Dagger "You better get going. We need to take all points simultaneously."

Zidane "You're right..."

Dagger "Where are you going next, and who are you going to drop off?"

Zidane "'My power is protected high atop a fiery mountain.' I think I'll ask Freya and Amarant to take that location."

Yeah, don't bother to have Fratley with her or anything.

Eiko "Alright, now, get going! Don't make us ladies wait!"

Zidane "I'll be back to get you guys soon!"

[Zidane walks off screen]

Eiko "Well, now that the men are gone, we can do all the girl talk we want!"

Dagger "...Girl talk?"

Does Garnet seriously not know what girl talk is?

[You choose your team of 4 characters, and return to the World Map. The Hilda Garde 3 heads North, to the Fire Shrine]

[Screen changes to inside the Hilda Garde 3]

"We're going to overheat!"

Zidane "Just a little closer!"

Freya "Zidane! The heat is going to kill the engine if we get any closer!"

Zidane "Okay... When we get closer to the volcano, you two head for the shrine's entrance."

Amarant "...Why do I have to go with her?"

Zidane "Oh, sorry. Did you wanna go with Eiko?"

Amarant "..."

Why not just let Vivi go with Eiko?

[Freya runs off screen]

Zidane "Good luck!" [Amarant walks off screen] "Alright, our next destination is... 'protected behind a tornado.'" "Pairing up Steiner and Quina seems like a bad idea..." "I think I'll ask Vivi to babysit Steiner."

Or maybe have Beatrix and Steiner go together?

Actually, wait a second, Steiner and Quina did not interact at all until the Desert Palace. (Depending on who you choose to go with you to Oeilvert) They didn't say a word to each other. Not one. On what basis do you draw such a conclusion? And, more interestingly, why did you decide that the pairing of a princess who had just recovered from a (forced and contrived) paralytic shock and a six-year-old dummy was a good idea? Darn it, now I want to see how Steiner and Quina can even defeat someone together.

Also the writings say "tornado", but you don't actually see a tornado on the World Map near the Wind Shrine, it's just strong gusts of wind.

Skipping ahead.

[Back to the World Map: the Hilda Garde 3 heads to the Earth Shrine, at the northeast part of the Outer Continent]

[Screen changes to the entrance of the shrine. The words "Earth Shrine" appear on the screen. Zidane and Quina walk in, down a set of stairs]

Zidane "Let's get going..."

Quina "Ah, Zidane. You want go with me!"

Zidane "Well... I sort of got stuck with the leftovers..."

Well you could have just took Garnet before instead of saying yes to Eiko, you know.

Skipping ahead.

[Walls begin to move out from the sides and the floor; Zidane and Quina jump over them, avoiding being crushed alive. The screen flashes white, and changes to the Water Shrine: Eiko and Dagger are in a similar tunnel]

Eiko "This place is empty..."

Dagger "It's too quiet..."

Eiko "They probably got scared of us and ran away!"

Dagger "I hope so..."

Eiko "Aaargh!" "I hate it when you fret like that! That's why I always worry about you!"

Eiko would be great at "Everything Wrong with FFIX"

Dagger "Wh-What are you talking about?"

Eiko "Oh, nothing. I just have a lot of things on my mind..."

Like what?

Dagger "..." "!?" "Look out!"

[A huge blue rock falls, nearly hitting them. The screen flashes white, and returns to Zidane and Quina, where the wall-moving has stopped; they're in the shrine]

Quina "Aiyaaa!" "We almost flat like pancake!"

Zidane "I hope there aren't too many more of those." "Dagger... Please be safe..."

Again, why didn't you just take her?

Skipping ahead.

[Screen changes to Freya and Amarant in the Fire Shrine; they're ready to put the mirror in as well]

Freya "That was too easy.. It must have been dissapointing for you."

Amarant "..."

Freya "Now, I'll place the mirror here..."

Amarant "!?" "Freya, stand back!"

[She jumps back. Something suddenly appears in front of them]

Freya "!?"

Fire Guard "It's just as Kuja said... He said I should expect intruders."

Why would Kuja say this? Doesn't he want to get to Terra, why would he warn the four fiends to prevent Zidane from unlocking the seal? That's counterproductive. Also the game really expects us to buy that Kuja went to every shrine so quickly and warned the fiends? Kuja doesn't have to be involved with every little thing, writers, give Garland a chance, especially since Garland is a far more complex and interesting character unlike Kuja whom the game pretty much forces upon you.

Why would they even listen to Kuja, shouldn't they know that Kuja is a traitor at this point?

[Screen flashes white, and changes back to Zidane and Quina. A floating skeleton-like creature is in front of them]

Zidane "Are you under Kuja's command!?"

Quina "He not good person! Why you work for him?"

Earth Guard "No... We are the guardians of Terra..."

Zidane "Guardians of Terra...?"

[Screen flashes white. Returns to Freya and Amarant]

Fire Guard "Yes, we are the guardians of Terra. Filled with the power of Terra itself..."

Much like Taharka, it's never really explained how the elemental fiends came to be, I guess they were made by Garland, but again, why would Garland even make these shrines rather than keeping all entrances to Terra completely sealed off with no way to get through? This was just for the sake of cheaply rehashing FFI.

Freya "What is Terra!?"

Uh, another world? Hilda already told you all of this, why are you even asking that question?

Fire Guard "We did not become guardians to chat with mortals..." "We derive pleasure from ending your worthless lives..."

Great, more one-note, edgelord enemies, though at least these guys have little screentime and are just a reference, unlike Kuja and Brahne.

Amarant "Just to prove how powerful you are..."

Fire Guard "So you understand. But will that knowledge help you?"

Amarant "Foolish."

Fire Guard "What?"

Amarant "Picking fights with strangers in a place like this..." "I used to know someone like that. He was a loser..." "He refused to find beneficial ways to use his power. Instead, he'd seek out people to fight..."

Well technically they are guarding the shrines, but keep pretending that you have an interesting story, Amarant.

Skipping ahead.

[The screen flashes white and returns to Zidane and Quina]

Earth Guard "Kuja told us there'd be eight rats..."

Okay so not only is the game trying to bullshit that Kuja went to all four shrines in quick succession and warned the guardians which is counterproductive to his intentions, but now it's saying that Kuja keeps thinking that the group would only be stagnant to eight people and more people like Beatrix, Fratley or even a ton of guards wouldn't be a part of that? (As it should have sensibly been)

Zidane "Sorry, it's just the two of us. Did you have a feast prepared?"

Quina "You no worry! We eat everything."

Earth Guard "Ah, so you're attempting to conquer all 4 shrines at once... How futile."

Ah, so we didn't need to do that all at the same time, great job Zidane, you moron.

Zidane "We'll see about that!"

Quina "Must try eating before we give up!"

Earth Guard "What will you lower life-forms do on Terra?"

…Like the Soul Cage and Taharka, the Earth Guard, Lich, doesn't seem to recognize Zidane, who is actually from Terra and was the second "Angel of Death" made by Garland and supposed to be more powerful than Kuja, does Garland never tell them anything? Lich could probably contact Garland right now and tell him that Zidane is here with only other person, and Garland could take advantage of that and fly to the Earth Shrine on the Invincible and abduct Zidane back using the ship's tractor beam.

Zidane "We won't know until we get there!"

Quina "Must eat to find out what taste good! Is my lesson from traveling around world."

Earth Guard "Good... I shall show you the true meaning of fear!"

[Boss Battle: Zidane and Quina vs. the Earth Guardian. He's defeated and destroyed]

The developers seem to have designed all 4 Shrines and all 4 bosses. Apparently, someone (we won't point fingers, but his name is Hiroyuki Ito) was smart enough not to put all this into the game as full-fledged dungeons. (It is disappointing, though, that you can't fight all four guardians at this point, you only fight the Earth Guardian, the other three are defeated off-screen, and them reappearing to be fought in Memoria doesn't count) He, however, did not have the sense to not shove dull shit in the form of a Desert Palace and Ipsen's Castle into it.

In general, here you can clearly see that the script is not able to clearly justify visiting all the levels invented by Ito, the game designer, and he himself is not able to understand that, although he has good ideas in general, they stumble and break their ass on the dullest random battles. The game design is also lame.(oversaturation with dungeons, because of which temples were abandoned)

Skipping ahead.

[Screen fades to black; changes to the entrance of the Water Shrine, where Dagger and Eiko are walking out]

Eiko "Fresh air! Finally!" "Zidane is unbelievable... Asking us ladies to fight a monster like that..." "Oh my gosh!"

You were the one who asked to take Garnet, you brat.

Dagger "What's wrong, Eiko?"

Eiko "Oh, I completely forgot! And we're all alone, too!"

Dagger "Wh-What is it?"

Eiko "There's a question I need to ask you!" "I've been waiting for a chance to ask you for the longest time!" "Give me an honest answer, okay?"

Dagger "Well, you have to ask the question before I can answer..."

Eiko "...Do you love...Zidane?"

Dagger "Wh-What? Why...?"

Eiko "You have to answer me! Do you love him or not?" [A moment of silence is broken by the sound of the airship] "Hey, it's the airship! Zidane's back!"

Dagger "..."

Eiko "Did you just say something, Dagger?"

Dagger "Let's go, Eiko!"

Was that the only purpose for this set up of Eiko and Garnet, just to have this annoying tease, as opposed to actually focusing on and having outward open love with Zidane and Garnet? (it also just further implies that the scene last chapter was purely platonic) Why did Eiko even want to take Garnet if she cares about Zidane's and Garnet's love story so much? She should have just let Zidane and Garnet go to a shrine together. (not that this whole "splitting up and going to every shrine at the same time" plan was a smart move)

[She walks off screen]

Eiko "H-Hey, wait! That's not fair!"

[Screen changes to inside the airship; Zidane walks onto the deck; only Amarant is there, leaning against a wall]

Zidane "Well, now that we've got everyone, we can head to the Shimmering Island..." "Hey, Amarant. I didn't know you were here."

Amarant "So we'll go to Shimmering Island, then to Terra?"

Zidane "Yeah. It's near Esto Gaza. It won't take long."

Amarant "..." "Tell me something... What motivates you to do this?"

Zidane "What motivates me...?" [Choose between "I do everything for Dagger", "To find out what Kuja is after", or "I don't know". The third choice is best; very philosophical. So, I chose it] "I really don't know."

If by "philosophical" you mean pretentious, then yes, yes it is. Garnet being a huge part of his motivation makes more sense, and actually tries to give significance to the love story. (not that picking that reply automatically fixes everything wrong with it)

Amarant "You don't even know why you do the things you do?"

Zidane "I didn't say that. Maybe I do it because I don't know what motivates me." "To understand something is interesting, but what's already understood is boring." "I'm sure we'll understand something when we get to Shimmering Island and go to Terra."

[Zidane walks off screen]

Amarant "I'm beginning to understand why he won and I lost..." "I lost against his way of thinking..."

The worst thing about this is what Amarant (and the game itself) concludes: Zidane is so cool and invincible BECAUSE HE DOESN'T THINK.

Wow, right? "Philosophical" my ass.

[You pick your team of four characters; in my case, I chose Zidane, Freya, Amarant and Steiner. (Does this player ever put Zidane and Garnet together?) Screen changes to the Hilda Garde 3 on the World Map; it heads to the Shimmering Island. Once there, the screen changes to the cockpit, where several characters are gathered]

Crew Member "Mister Zidane! I'm showing abnormal readings!"

Erin "It feels like the ship is getting sucked in!"

Steiner "Zidane! It might be dangerous to keep going!"

Eiko "Are we gonna bust in on the airship!?"

Zidane "All we know is that this is the entrance..."

Dagger "I heard the people of Esto Gaza call it the 'Spirit Road'..."

When did you hear this? Weren't you still in your mute wangst during that point? Also how were the people in Esta Gaza able to make that soul connection?

Zidane "The path that leads souls to Terra..."

Dagger "Maybe it's a teleportation gate, like the one in Kuja's hideout..."

If it is, why would Garland even have a massive something like this constructed when he has the Invincible to appear between Gaia and Terra?

Erin "Mister Zidane! We're going to get sucked in! What shall I do!?"

Eiko "What now, Zidane? We may not be able to turn back!"

Zidane "Alright, then..." [Choose between "Keep moving forward!" or "Let's pull back for now!". You have to move forward sooner or later] "Keep moving forward! We're going out on the deck!"

So the party is preparing to land on Terra. How are they going to do it? Just jump from the airship face down! Makes a lot of sense, huh?

Eiko "What do you mean?"

Zidane "If Dagger is right, we can jump into the teleporter!"

Dagger "From this height!?"

Zidane "We'll be fine! Considering all that we've been through, this is nothing!"

Yeah, of course. Here it is, a typical explanation for something in the FFIX script. "YES", "how could it be otherwise?", "we have already jumped here from airships and into quicksand and so on, and there was nothing wrong, so it will not happen now!".

End of Chapter 24.


Now we are finally getting to Terra, and all of the perfectly good and most interesting plots being wasted and coming far too late and forcefully.