Finally got to the ending, time to wrap this train wreck up.

Chapter 28: Disk 4.4 - Ending

[FMV: Above the Iifa Tree, Memoria reduces into a tiny yellow ball of energy, then explodes in a tremedous burst. The blast rockets past the Iifa Tree's roots, which come alive, flailing around like the limbs of a killer octopus. On the outskirts of the Iifa Tree, the teleportation beams land]

Zidane "Are you alright?"

Dagger "Yeah... but look what's happening."

Zidane "So what Kuja said was true... The Iifa Tree is beginning its violent reaction."

[The other character's teleport beside them]

Dagger "What's gonna happen?"

Zidane "I don't know, but it doesn't look good..."

We never actually see what the Iifa Tree does nor are we explained what happened in the aftermath.

[Screen changes to the Red Rose. Mikoto, Beatrix, and 2 Pluto Knights are standing on the deck]

Beatrix "...I doubt anyone could've survived that explosion..."

"Nooo..."

"Captain..."

Mikoto "...They are still alive."

When did Mikoto get here? Did the Red Rose just randomly go to the Black Mage Village to pick her up? Why? How did Mikoto contact them?

Beatrix "What!? Where are they?"

Mikoto "...Over there." [She points]

How did Mikoto noticed them? Could she sense them or something?

Beatrix "The Hilda Garde is probably closer..." [She faces a knight] "You. The tall one."

Haagen, Pluto Knight VIII "Sir! Haagen, Pluto Knight VIII, ma'am!"

Beatrix "I didn't ask for your name. Contact the Hilda Garde right away."

Haagen, Pluto Knight VIII "Yes, sir, ma'am, sir!"

[Haagen runs off. The screen changes to the cockpit of the Hilda Garde 3; Regent Cid is there]

Regent Cid "Please be alive..."

Erin "Sire! We're receiving a transmission from the Red Rose!"

Regent Cid "Punch it up on the main line!"

[Erin salutes and...well, punches it up on the main line. It basically is heard over an intercom of some sort]

"This is the Red Rose."

Regent Cid "You're not General Beatrix. Who are you?"

Mikoto "My name is Mikoto." "Everyone is alive. You are very close to them."

Regent Cid "What!? How do you know?"

Mikoto "I can hear him..."

Regent Cid "Who?" [Cid turns to Erin] "Prepare to land immediately!"

Continuing the tradition of idiotic and unnecessary scenes, eh, Sakaguchi? Couldn't have just cut this out and simple showed the airship landing to pick up the others?

[FMV. The Hilda Garde 3 descends and lands near the 8 characters, who look upon it]

Zidane "That's the Hilda Garde 3..." "Looks like Cid came to rescue us." [Cid walks onto the deck] "Cid!"

Regent Cid "Thank heavens, you're all safe!" "Come quickly! We don't have much time!"

[Everyone runs or walks off screen except Zidane and Dagger. Dagger begins to walk away]

"...Farewell, Zidane..."

…Here we go with Kuja's forced last minute atonement and sad moment.

Zidane "Ah, dammit..."

Dagger "What's wrong?"

Zidane "...Why don't you go on ahead? I'll catch up with you all later." "I have to take care of something..."

Dagger "What...!?"

Zidane "...He's still alive."

Dagger "He can't be..."

How did Kuja telepathically communicate with Zidane anyways?

[All the characters return on screen]

Steiner "Zidane! What are you doing!?"

Zidane "Steiner... Take care of Dagger."

Steiner "What!? Wh-What do you mean by that!?"

Zidane "...Kuja's still alive. I can't just leave him."

Steiner "This is ludicrous. Just because you two are from the same planet doesn't mean-"

Zidane "No, that's not the reason."

Eiko "Come on, Zidane!" "Why are you doing this!?"

Zidane "Because..." "Because I might've done the same thing if I were in his shoes." "I probably would've fought against you guys and wreaked havoc in Gaia like he did..." "I know it sounds crazy..." "...but I know, deep down inside, I have to do this."

Zidane is starting this again. "If I were Kuja, I would...". No, damn it, you are a good-natured idiot, and he is a vicious man child. You are DIFFERENT, that's the point. Zidane has had zero development with Kuja, all of this "feeling sorry for him" is coming right out of nowhere.

Quina "You no crazy, Zidane." "But you go help Kuja not good idea. Is too dangerous."

Zidane "...I can't just leave him. There's no way I could live with myself." "I'm going."

Steiner "You're making a big mistake!"

Zidane "Maybe... But we all have to make big decisions in life sometimes." "For me, now's that time." "I have to face up to it, just like Vivi did when he confronted his fears to find out about himself." "That was a big decision for Vivi."

Vivi "I don't know about that... I don't think it was really a big deal."

That and it didn't involve the stupidity that Zidane is doing now.

Zidane "That's what you think, but I might not be doing this if it weren't for you." "You've definitely taught me to take life more seriously."

When? You definitely aren't taking this seriously now because you aren't even getting help from Garnet or the rest of the group.

Freya "Well, you're obviously not going to change your mind, so I'm coming with you."

Steiner "The principle of knighthood requires that one assist his comrade in times of need. I shall accompany you as well!"

Zidane "Whoa, wait a minute." "Like I said, it's my moment, so don't butt in. You guys'll have your own someday." "Besides, you guys have more important things to worry about, like Burmecia and Alexandria."

And this refusal of help calls into question the entire "You're Not Alone" scene. It's meaning boiled down to the fact that everyone convinces him that they should help him. He says "okay", and then after a couple of hours, "hohoho, piss off, this is my moment." What was it all about then? It just makes the whole thing even more stupid.

Freya "For once in your life, why can't you be honest!?"

Zidane "Sorry, but I can't-"

Amarant "I can't just walk away. It goes against my nature."

Zidane "!?"

Amarant "You're a real simpleton." "Forget it, guys. There's no stopping this fool."

Yeah, yeah, I already talked about Amarant's dumb conclusions about Zidane before.

Regent Cid "What are you still doing out here!? Get onboard right now!"

Amarant "Come on. Let's just leave him and get outta here."

[Amarant runs off screen]

Zidane "...That guy will never change."

…Except that he did, but keep making annoying jokes.

Zidane "Alright, you heard the man! Get out of here before it's too late!"

Eiko "Zidane, I love you! You'd better come back!" [Eiko runs off screen]

So much for not getting in the way of Garnet and Zidane, wouldn't it have made more sense for Eiko to want Garnet to say this?

Quina "Zidane, I need eat more different food." "I still hungry! You need come back, take me more places, show me more food!" [Quina runs off screen]

Freya "I still can't believe you're doing this. You've changed, Zidane." "Til we meet again." [Freya runs off screen]

Blah, Blah, "You've changed, Zidane", keep trying to imply some sort of "character development" has happened here.

Vivi "Zidane, you've taught me another big lesson in life. Thanks..." [Vivi runs off screen]

"Welp, today we sure learned a lot, eh, Lois?"

Seriously, what lesson? That charging off all by yourself into danger is a "good idea"? Are you high?

Dagger "Zidane..."

Steiner "Princess... We must go."

Dagger "..."

Zidane "Dagger - I mean, Your Highness." "The abduction is over. I can't take you any further." "...I'm sorry for being so selfish."

Grrr… Okay, Zidane, the abduction has been over since Disk 1 Lindblum, when your precious love of your life drugged and abandoned you to stupidly run back home, making it all pointless, but keep acting like the kidnapping ultimately mattered.

[Dagger approahces Zidane; Steiner steps away from them, his back facing them, letting the two of them have a private chat]

Dagger "No... You're not being selfish." "...You've done so much for us." "If it weren't for you, I probably would've led a meaningless life." "With you, I was able to see so much of the world and meet so many people."

And yet you tried to abandon Zidane and run back to your secluded life during Disk 1&2.

Dagger "We faced many hardships, too..."

Many of those hardships which you were responsible for. (I know that I'm coming off as repeatedly really harsh towards Garnet, but my issues is really just at how poorly written she is along with Zidane and how weak their love story is)

Dagger "But...I think I finally know what's important." "I'm so fortunate to have met you. I'll never forget our trip together." "Thank you, Zidane." "..." "..." "Promise me one thing... Please come back."

[Screen fades to black]

[FMV: the Hilda Garde 3 flies away. Dagger and Zidane look at each other one last time, as the airship soars off into the sky. Zidane turns around and walks a few steps]

Keep acting like the love story is such a big deal, game, even though it didn't get the focus and attention that you hyped it up to be.

[Screen resumes where Zidane and Dagger first arrived after being teleported out]

Zidane "Kuja! Can you hear me!? I'm coming to get you!"

"You still have time... Forget about me and go."

Zidane "Just shut up, and stay where you are!"

"...I don't understand you."

A line that can be said about this whole game.

Zidane "Okay, here goes nothing."

[FMV. The Iifa Tree's roots are flying around frantically. Zidane sprints to the tree, avoiding them as they try to hit him. Another set of green roots fly towards him, cooliding with the other ones. He hitches a ride on a root, standing tall and proud on it as it flies towards the tree. It smahes into a wall of rock, which Zidane jumps onto and runs. He jumps into a hole of the Tree, falling towards; A Matrix-style slowdown effect is shown, as Zidane is frozen in time beside Kuja, lying down, dying; Zidane plummets to the ground, hitting it with a thud]

Of course, we get a long cutscene with a pretentious Zidane (who isn't even in FMV render!) dodging tentacles that suddenly whip up near a tree. What for? Just to get screwed, because teenagers love it so much. Couldn't have just used an airship or the Invincible to pick up Kuja, Zidane? (What even happened to the Invincible? It disappears after Memoria)

Zidane "U...Ugh..." "...?" [He stands up] "Phew... Still alive..." "I guess that was pretty crazy."

[Zidane runs up a root and arrives at Kuja's deathbed]

Zidane "Hey! Are you alright?"

Kuja "Zidane...?" "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to go..."

Zidane "Wouldn't you do the same for me if you knew I was dying?"

Kuja "..."

Zidane "...Never mind."

We get it, Kuja was a shitty person.

What was the point of these lines?

Kuja "Your comrades were able to escape?"

Zidane "Yeah... I knew you had something to do with it."

Apparently Kuja was the one that teleported everyone out when Necron was defeated, the question is how? From what we see of Terra teleportation you need to have some sort of physical pad to be set up for it on the ground and the party was in mid-air while fighting Necron, and since when was it portable? Where even was Kuja during that battle against Necron? We last saw him getting blown back by the blast from the Ultima spell in the Crystal World and tumbling over the cliff, was he also somewhere around the "Hill of Despair"? (which is apparently a different dimension) How did he wind up back at the bottom of the Iifa Tree? Did he teleport himself there for… some reason? If he could teleport himself this whole time, why did he even need a Silver Dragon or airship to get around in the first place?

Kuja "...I'm glad they made it."

Zidane "Yeah, well...it's our turn to get movin'."

Kuja "..." "...I don't deserve to live after all that I've done." "I'm useless to this world."

Zidane "No one's useless..." "You helped us escape, remember?"

You mean from that Giant Space Flea from Nowhere final boss that was only there in the first place so that Kuja could have some cheap last minute development?

Kuja "..." "After you guys beat me, I had nothing left...nothing more to lose." "Then, I finally realized what it means to live..." "I guess I was too late."

Okay Sakaguchi, if you want to have a tragic, deep and sympathetic character, YOU HAVE TO MAKE THEM A TRAGIC, DEEP AND SYMPATHETIC CHARACTER! Throughout most of the game, Kuja has been nothing more than a one-dimensional moustache twirling Saturday mourning cartoon villain who was about as deep, sympathetic and complex as a puddle of water whose motives amounted to petty narcissism and thinking himself to be a special snowflake, he has received virtually no development until this moment that is so forced that they had to use another asspull (Necron) to make this asspull look like slightly less of an asspull.

[Kuja's head tilts to one side; he remains motionless]

Zidane "!?" "Hey! Don't you go dying on me, alright!?" [A loud sound is heard] "!?"

The first thing Zidane said to the ripped up and dying Kuja was "Are you alright?" Yeah…
And to make things easier for Zidane, as soon as Kuja died, the tentacles swooped in and flattened them both the heck out.

[FMV. A series of roots penetrate the wall, and tumble town to Kuja and Zidane's locations. Dozens upon dozens of roots smash into them]

Why are the roots specifically targeting them?

[Screen fades to black. It reumes far from the Iifa Tree; all is still and silent, except for the sound of wind in the background. The screen is still very dark. Mikoto can be seen walking around, though]

"Kuja... What you did was wrong..." "But you gave us all one thing... Hope..." "We were all created for the wrong reason, but you alone defied our fate." "We do not want to forget this. We want your memory to live on forever..." "...to remind us that we were not created for the wrong reason - that our life has meaning."

Oh shut the eff up Mikoto, how were the genomes "created for the wrong reasons"? (unless she is just specifically only referring to her, Zidane and Kuja) How did Kuja "defy his fate"? He still (apparently anyways, it's pretty unclear) died from his short lifespan, this applies more to Zidane than Kuja. Kuja was literally going to kill you and the rest of the genomes if Zidane and Garnet hadn't evacuated you from Bran Bal because Kuja was throwing a temper tantrum about how he can't have everything. Yeah, this all totally feels earned and is totally not manipulative writing and a cheap attempt to humanize and make you feel sorry for Kuja. This is so rushed.

Go back, rewrite and try again.

[Screen fades to black once more]

"Some time later..."

[Fades back in on a part of Alexandria. It's rebuilt; Vivi is walking with a stack of tickets in hand]

Vivi "So, this is Alexandria..."

[Puck runs on screen, bumping into him and knocking him over. Vivi drops all the tickets he was carrying]

Oh hey, Puck is back. Hey, Puck, HOW THE HECK DID YOU SURVIVE CLEYRA GETTING BLOWN UP?! (Along with Fratley as we will see in a few moments, and Quina)

Puck "Pick up the pace, will ya!?" "I don't believe it! Vivi!"

Vivi "Vivi?" "How do you know that name!?"

Puck "What are you talking about?" "It's me, Puck! How could you forget me!?"

Vivi "Puck...?"

Puck "You know, Puck!"

Vivi "Th-The Prince of Burmecia!?"

Puck "Oh, come on! What's wrong with you?" "If you're not Vivi, then who are you!?"

Vivi "I'm..." "Vivi's son!"

[Six more Vivi's walk on screen, following the first one]

Puck "Yeeeeeow!" "Look at all the Vivis!"

Where did Vivi's "sons" come from, especially since the Mist is gone? … Never explained. Why would they even make more Mages when the souls are supposed to return to the crystal and be reborn?

[Screen fades to black]

"I always talked about you, Zidane. How you were a very special person to us, because you taught us all how important life is."

Oh yeah, Zidane, the idiot who never thinks, really taught a lot didn't he? *Sarcasm*

This really is starting to sound like the ending of a typical Family Guy episode.

[Screen fades in on a section of Burmecia. Sir Fratley and Freya jump down, landing in front of each other]

Sir Fratley "Freya, you're leaving soon, are you not?"

Freya "Yes. I can hardly wait to see everyone."

Sir Fratley "Alexandria... I went there many years ago."

[They both sit down beside each other]

Sir Fratley "How long will it take to rebuild Burmecia...?"

Freya "I don't care, as long as I am with you."

Sir Fratley "...I love you, Freya."

[Fratley puts an arm around Freya. She rests her head on his shoulder]

Freya (...Yet he still doesn't remember our past.) "I just want to cherish our time right now."

…and that is the cheap twist-tie of a resolution that we get on the Freya-Fratley subplot that is so clearly unfinished, it doesn't even explain what caused Fratley's memory loss.

[Screen fades to black]

"You taught me that life doesn't last forever. That's why we have to help each other and live life to the fullest."

Again, the only thing Zidane taught is how to be a unthinking generic character who runs into something without help like an idiot and not have a good romance, but keep up the Zidane wank.

[Screen fades in on Dagger's bedroom; Beatrix walks in]

Beatrix "It's time to say goodbye to this room..." [She lifts her sword into the air] "Save the Queen, you have served me well..." [She places the sword on the table] "My duty is finished here." "Farewell, Alexandria..."

[She walks out of the room; screen fades to black]

It isn't really explained what Beatrix is doing here, I guess she is leaving because of the guilt of what she did in Burmecia and Cleyra? So now is when the whole war crimes thing is being addressed?

"Even if you say goodbye, you'll always be in our hearts. So, I know we're not alone anymore."

[Screen fades in on a small wooden bridge near the Treno exit of South Gate; Amarant is walking on it. He gives a small hand motion to the screen]

Amarant "...Hey."

[Lani runs on screen]

Lani "Why are you going to Alexandria?"

Amarant "You're not going?"

Lani "I-I never said that!" [Amarant walks off screen] "H-Hey, wait!"

Amarant contines to prove how uninteresting his part in this whole story was.

[She follows him; Screen fades to black]

"Why I was born... How I wanted to live... Thanks for giving me time to think."

Well you weren't technically "born", your soul just couldn't return to the crystal to be reincarnated and was placed into an artificial body, Vivi, but keep being pretentious about this instead of actually expanding on that more interesting plot point.

[Screen fades back in on Alexandria kitchen; Quina is sniffing the food]

Quina "Good food not only delicious!" "Good food made with heart!" "This very important when cooking for friends!"

Quina is working in the Alexandria Kitchen again, like we saw at the beginning of the game when we were controlling Steiner, the question though, is how Quina was hired to cook back then in the first place, especially when he lives in the secluded marsh on the Lindblum side of the continent?

[Screen fades to black]

"To keep doing what you set your heart on... It's a very hard thing to do. We were all so courageous..."

[Screen fades back in on the elevator in Lindblum Castle; Regent Cid, Hilda, and Eiko are descending]

Eiko "Hurry! Hurry!" "We gotta get there before the play begins!"

Regent Cid "Ha ha... There's no need to hurry." "The theater ship is no match for my new ship." "My new Hilda Garde is the fastest ship ever!"

Eiko "Do I have to remind you?" "You said the same thing about the theater ship!" "...Ahem!" "That's what you said, Father!"

Regent Cid "Eiko... What did you just call me?"

[The elevator stops. Eiko runs out]

Hilda "Darling, she called you 'Father'..."

[Eiko runs back on screen]

Eiko "Father! Mother! Hurry!" [She runs off screen again]

Regent Cid "S-Say it again, Eiko!"

So apparently Cid and Hilda adopted Eiko, the problem is that this comes right out of nowhere, there was no real development and build up between Eiko, Cid and Hilda, the most interaction we got was that offscreen tussle of Cid as a frog trying to protect Eiko from Zorn and Thorn in the Desert Palace, but that wasn't even really a familial bonding moment.

[Screen fades to black]

"What to do when I felt lonely... That was the only thing you couldn't teach me."

…Pretty sure Zidane told you to find some girls.

"But we need to figure out the answer for ourselves..."

[Screen fades in on the exit of Alexandria Castle. Beatrix walks out; Steiner, standing on the side, sees her]

Steiner "Beatrix!" "Where are you going?"

Beatrix "Please don't ask. My mind is already set."

Steiner "Wait! Listen to me!" Thump-Thump...Thump-Thump... "I, uh..." "I-I never wish to lose you again!"

Beatrix "Steiner..."

Steiner "Let us protect the queen together!"

[She runs to him; screen fades to black]

These two barely acknowledged each other at the start of the game, yet somehow an accidental love letter by Eiko makes them pull a complete one-eighty and be head over heels for each other.

"I'm so happy I met everyone... I wish we could've gone on more adventures. But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday."

[Screen fades back in in the conference room of the Theater Ship; Baku, Marcus, Cinna, Blank and Ruby run in and take their positions]

Baku "Alright, you scumbags! We're almost there!" "Been a long time since we saw Alexandria." "Let's give 'em a show they won't forget!"

Ruby "Yeehaw!"

Cinna "Break a leg, people!"

[Screen fades to black]

"Everyone... Thank you. Farewell." "My memories will be part of the sky..."

So yeah, Vivi is the one that is narrating here, and had "stopped" now, I know that this is supposed to be sad, but as I been repeatedly saying, all the stuff involving the Black Mages was wasted potential, them being literal ghosts inside the shells and who they actually were, including Vivi, but the game completely ignored this interesting development. (and again, where did those other Vivi's come from?)

[Screen resumes at Alexandria Castle; Dagger is sitting in her throne, garbed in a white dress, sitting in the same place Queen Brahne sat in when the Prima Vista first arrived at the beginning of the game; Dagger is awaiting the start of the play. Steiner and Beatrix walk on screen; Steiner goes on the left side of the doorway, Beatrix, the right]

Dagger "The theater ship will arrive any minute." "It's been so long..." "I can't wait to see everyone." "But..." "It'll never be the same..." "I have to let go of the past..." "I have to move on, just like he taught me."

[Screen fades to black, as clapping is heard. Screen resumes on the stage of the theater ship, identical to the stage of the first Theater Ship. Baku is once again garbed in his King Leo uniform; he walks on stage and bows to the clapping]

Baku "Ladies and Gentlemen!" "Tonight's performance is a story that takes place long, long ago." "Our heroine, Princess Cornelia, is torn from her lover, Marcus." "She attempts to flee the castle, only to be captured by her father, King Leo." "Tonight's story begins when Marcus and Cornelia decide to run away together." "And now, Your Royal Majesty, Queen Garnet, Lord Steiner, Lady Beatrix..." "...noble ladies and lords, and our rooftop viewers, Tantalus proudly presents 'I Want to Be Your Canary'!"

This is the "book ending" I was talking about with the game and the "I want to be your Canary" play, it ends how it begins, and like the first chapter, I am going to be repeating this: Here we go with the 'I Want to Be Your Canary' play, which I have quite a few things to say about. I was honestly expecting the whole play to be huge forshadowing for the events of the story, VIII did something similar with the vocal Latin Choir in it's opening FMV sequence in which it's lyrics foreshadowed the game. I mean, the play in literally done in "book ends" with the beginning and end of the game. But no, the only real connection to the plot is the play's love story with the thief Marcus and Princess Cornelia (which is much better done than the actual love story with Zidane and Garnet), which is really disappointing.

It's just a retread of the opera scene from FFVI, but the difference was that in VI it was just at a random point in the game, and just a fun sidetrack to show off the capabilities of the SNES, here in IX it's at the beginning and end of the game and the developers could have actually done something more unique and different. Like how about Lord Avon, 'I want to be you Canary's" author, actually based the play off of a dream or "vision" he had which was actually a clairvoyant view into the future, due to some mystical or celestial event (details can be ironed out more), which was actually the story events of IX and thus the play was all really huge foreshadowing, almost prophetic, with the main characters of the play representing Zidane and Garnet, their love story, and other cast members can be other characters like Vivi, Eiko, Steiner, Beatrix, Kuja, Garland, etc.

[Screen changes to a section of the stage. Princess Cornelia (Ruby) is running]

Cornelia "Marcus?"

[A man garbed in a black cloack, complete with black hood, walks on stage. Cornelia approaches him]

Cornelia "Sweet Marcus, I fear I love thee more than I should!"

Marcus "Princess... Wilt thou be happy, married to a lowly peasant such as I?"

Cornelia "Prithee, call me 'princess' no more!" "Marcus, wilt thou truly cherish me, the king's only daughter?" "Or is such a desire too dear to wish for!?" "After our nuptials, shall I become no more than a puppet?" "A mindless puppet, never to laugh, never to cry?" "I wish to live my life under the sky. At times I shall laugh, at other times cry." "For no life is more insincere than that lived as a masquerade."

Marcus "So much consideration thou hast given it! But worry not!" [They embrace] "Cast away thy trappings of royalty, and I shall swaddle thou in a gown of pure love!" "Never again will I part from thee!" "Pray, my love, make me thy canary to keep forever in the cage of thy bosom!" "Let us embark on the first ship tomorrow, before dawn can tell of our elopement!"

This is the kind of stuff that Zidane and Garnet should have had.

Cornelia "All my fortunes at thy foot, I lay, and I shall follow thee throughout the world!"

Marcus "No cloud, no squall shall hinder us!"

Hah hah, nice reference, but are the writers really implying that Cloud and Squall are "hinderances"? Cloud and Squall had way more interest and depth than Zidane "generic RPG protagonist" Tribal here.

[Marcus turns around and walks off screen]

Cornelia "O, love is the sweetest joy and the wildest woe." "All I wish is to be by my sweet Marcus's side."

[Screen shows Blank on the side of the stage, eavesdropping]

Blank "Fie! It shall be war again unless this marriage is stopped." "Ne'er will I let their plan come to fruition." [He walks on stage] "Good day to ye, Highness."

Cornelia "Good day..."

Blank "Wist thee of Marcus?"

Cornelia "Marcus!? What news dost thou bring?"

Blank "This!" [He punches her in the stomach]

Cornelia "Ugh!"

[She falls into his arms; screen fades to black]

[NOTE: If you completed the Stellazio quest and have the item "Hammer" in your inventory, you will see this scene. It's the bonus scene of the ending; otherwise, skip it and move on to the next part]

Wow, real great pay off, your reward for that side quest is just a few seconds extra scene in the play that adds nothing and might as well be filler, you couldn't have given us something just a bit better, game staff?

Skipping said scene.

[Screen fades back in on Marcus, standing alone. It's dawn]

Marcus "The time for our departure is long past." "Where is Cornelia?"

[Cinna walks on screen]

Cinna "Marcus, the ship soon embarks!" "Board ye the boat alone, and peace could come to both kingdoms, as Blank so said." "Speak, Marcus!"

Marcus "She told me that she could not live without me." [A section of the sky lights up; several pictures of birds flying appear] "So, the sun is our enemy, too. The eastern sky grows bright." "Will we not spread our wings, as yonder birds in joyous flight?"

Cinna "Hark, Marcus! They cannot wait any longer!" "The ship departs!"

[Cinna runs off screen]

Marcus "Could she have betrayed me?" "Nay, ne'er would my love speak false." "I must have faith!" "She shall appear if I only believe!" "As the sun lends me no ear, I pray instead to the twin moons!" "I beseech thee, wondrous moonlight, grant me my only wish!"

[Marcus throws off his robe and spins around, facing Dagger at her seat, to reveal that it's...ZIDANE!]

Zidane "Bring my beloved Dagger to me!"

Why did Zidane wait so long to come back to Garnet? Considering that Garnet's hair is back to it's original length here, at least over a year must have passed since Zidane went back to get Kuja at the Iifa Tree (with whom it isn't even fully explained what really happened to him), he must have gotten out way before then (especially since he needed food and water), yet he made the love of his life wait so long, putting her though so much pain to the point that she thought he was dead and was going to force herself to move on? Real great husbando aren't you, Zidane?

[FMV. Dagger looks on in shock. She jumps out of her seat and runs toward the door. Steiner and Beatrix's arms block her path; their arms then open the door for her, giving her the go- ahead. She runs down the stairs and along a path, making her way through the crowds of people.]

After an unbearably long and dull theatrical scene with unwinding lines, Zidane solemnly returns, Garnet rushes to him and NO ONE GIVES ROAD TO THE QUEEN, even though the theatrical performance ended with Zidane.

[She drops her Royal Pendant, looks at it, and decides it's not worth going back for; continuing to make her way through the crowds to Zidane.]

She does this longer than it would take to come up and pick it up. But keep putting emphasis on the pendant that stopped being relevant after Alexander got blown up, game, reminding us of how much of a wasted plot Alexander was.

[She throws her tiara to the ground and jumps on stage and buries her face in his chest.]

You know Garnet, you could have done this a lot earlier, particularly during the start of Disk 3 and avoided all of that forced drama between you and Zidane because of the coronation.

[He smiles and strokes her hair. The crowds all cheer. We see the characters all happy and clapping, along with the Vivis. Steiner and Beatrix lift a sword into the air, which shines a bright light. The rebuilt crystal of the rebuilt Alexandria Castle is shown, and a final moment of Dagger and Zidane embracing is seen, with the crowd cheering in the background. The screen fades to black]

Awww… Truly the "greatest love story" in the Final Fantasy series, and it all started with the fake kidnapping and Zidane sweeping her off of her feet to take her away from the confined cage of Alexandria… until that was all ruined and rendered completely pointless when she drugged and abandoned his ass to run back into said cage like a moron and even saying that she "didn't care about him" and that is was all "his fault" and never getting called out on any of this, oh yeah, THAT part will be a really nice story to tell to their kids.

"How did you survive...?

"I didn't have a choice" "I had to live" "I wanted to come home to you."

"So...

"I sang your song."

"Our Song"

Yeah, this pretty much irrefutably confirms that "Melodies of Life" is a love song, speaking of which…

[The Ending FMV begins; we see a shot of Alexandria Castle & all of Alexandria from above, a bird's eye view]

[The credits begin to roll. While they roll, past FMV's from the game are shown in the background]

This is where the Melodies of Life song fully plays with lyrics, and now I am going to be picking apart the lyrics of the song itself:

"Alone for a while I've been searching through the dark, For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart. To weave by picking up the pieces that remain, Melodies of life—love's lost refrain."

Again, this makes it really clear that Melodies of Life is a love song, for anyone who still tries to deny it.

"Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why. We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye. And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told? Let them ring out loud till they unfold."

If by "laughed", you mean that only Zidane did while Garnet spent most of the game whining about her crazy mother and being bland and mopey to the point that she had a big wangsty mute moment, and by "held on fast" you mean that Garnet blew Zidane off first chance she got when she drugged him in Disk 1 Lindblum and gave him the cold shoulder for most of the game.

"In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me. Though you're gone, I still believe that you can call out my name."

"A voice from the past, joining yours and mine. Adding up the layers of harmony. And so it goes, on and on. Melodies of life, To the sky beyond the flying birds—forever and beyond."

"So far and away, see the bird as it flies by. Gliding through the shadows of the clouds up in the sky. I've laid my memories and dreams upon those wings. Leave them now and see what tomorrow brings."

"In your dearest memories, do you remember loving me? Was it fate that brought us close and now leaves me behind?"

These lyrics are describing a much better love story than the one we actually got.

"A voice from the past, joining yours and mine. Adding up the layers of harmony. And so it goes, on and on. Melodies of life, To the sky beyond the flying bird—forever and on."

"If I should leave this lonely world behind, Your voice will still remember our melody. Now I know we'll carry on. Melodies of life, Come circle round and grow deep in our hearts, as long as we remember."

Now here is the Japanese version:

"I was wandering around aimlessly, Continuously searching without a clue, And I made the memories you gave me into a song that soothes my heart"

"The days that we held close and then confirmed, Without making any promises and deciding on The words we exchange with each other, Are never to return again"

"You who waves your hand in my memory Are able to call out my name"

"Replace those overflowing tears With shining courage, And life will go on, Across the night, Leading into a tomorrow where there is no doubt"

"How many memories have I entrusted To the sky beyond the flying birds? Forgetting about the fleeting hopes and dreams In a place which is out of reach"

"We can say that our encounters are accidents, Even though the time to bid farewell will always come"

"Even if it's a fading destiny, As long as you are alive, Life will go on, Eternally, To the extent of its power, wherever it goes"

"Even if I die, As long as you are alive, Life will go on, Eternally, To the extent of its power, lasting to the ends of the earth"

It's different, but it's still clearly a love song. It just shows how overhyped the love story actually is.

[The FMV then stops, and we see the image of two planets, blue and red, joining, resulting in a large fiery explosion and turning into one]

Then there is this imagery, the red and blue planets overlap over the scene with Zidane and Garnet in the ending scene where it looks like they are going to kiss, with the red planet (Terra) over Zidane and the blue planet (Gaia) over Garnet, seemingly implying the two worlds becoming one. (even though the whole thing was really vague and poorly executed) Which brings me to my final statement on Zidane's and Garnet's love story and how much of wasted potential it was, along with Gaia and Terra and what I was referring back in chapter 26 about how the love story could have factored into it all.

Zidane's and Garnet's love story should have paralleled Gaia and Terra becoming one, a person from Terra and a person from Gaia in love, heck they could have went even further and made Zidane and Garnet the incarnations of Terra and Gaia and their crystals themselves. But everything about Terra and Gaia was so last minute and forced, instead of building it up from the start and actually giving more justification to the love story as one of the main focuses and why it is so significant and hyped up.

[As the final credits roll, bright light in the background turns into the crystal, the symbol of FF9]

[FINAL FANTASY IX is shown, with the crystal symbol in between "Final" and "Fantasy", just like on the cd case]

End of Game.

Well everyone, it's been a while but I've finally finished going over this whole game's story, there were some troll comments but I pushed through in making this big criticism of IX which nobody seems to have really done before. Thank you to all the readers that took this constructively and I like to give credit to sites like "Final Fantasy? Whatever" and "Socksmakepeoplesexy" for giving me some inspirations and critiques to use.

I've heard there was more criticisms with IX in the earlier days when it first came out, but all the forums that had those criticisms apparently aren't around anymore, if anyone that has been on those forums during those days and remembers them is reading this, could you please share me a link to web archive so that I can see their criticisms?

Final tally of the game: Final Fantasy IX is far from perfect. It's story is overcluttered and suffers from astoundingly poor pacing; it has an overabundance of random battles and load times; the Trance system is yet another failed attempt at a Limit Break mechanic that isn't somehow broken; it has antagonists with personalities and motives as two dimensional as Zemus, Exdeath and Kefka yet are exposed and hyped up to the degree of Sephiroth and it thrusts Quina, Brahne and Kuja upon the players.

The story is a mess, pure and simple. But so were most early Final Fantasy games' plots during the NES and SNES and we didn't hold it against them. Why judge IX's so severely, then? The answer is because this is post-FFVII, which was very revolutionary and we're now at the point where an RPG's story is about as equally important as its gameplay when determining its overall quality. The genie's out of the bottle now, and there's no stuffing it back in. When a game has hundreds of pages' worth of dialogue and enough minutes of FMVs to fill a half-hour television slot, the narrative it spins has to be equally engrossing as the time a player spends running around and slaying monsters, or else it becomes a hindrance. In a game like Final Fantasy, the story is the payoff the player earns for slogging through all those dungeons and fighting all those random battles, and if the story with which he or she is rewarded isn't up to snuff, the game does not succeed. IX's story really could have been better, and the entire experience suffers for it.

Final Fantasy IX is often tried to be justified by saying that it's a "cute children's story" - as if that should brush aside any claims against it. This is not a children's fairy tale, by the way, already according to the age rating. This is Final Fantasy and the Finals are aimed at teenagers, and teenagers, as you can see, will blindly praise IX. (Though that could just be a vocal minority, IX was one of the least selling post-VII games) It is full of empty and useless pathos replicas inserted there for the sake of pathos, and a good half of the screensavers are there only to be joyfully jerked off (I'm sure there are those who claim that IX is the best already because of the fact that there summons in screensavers), and the relevance of this in the narrative and common sense close their eyes.

Even if we consider it from the standpoint of a fairy tale, then it fails here too. Kuja is not a fairy-tale character at all, and Garland destroys the illusion of the deliberate simplicity of the local plot, winding up new turns of an inexplicable and indistinct whirlwind of facts over and over again, which does not add up to anything integral.(hello, FFI) All this stuff about Gaia with Terra does not fit into the fairytale-ness that could be referred to throughout the first two discs. And needless to say, this attempt to look smart has completely failed.

In general, Final Fantasy IX is a very stupid game. In everything. Attempts to intricate the plot here are powerless and miserable, the drama is feigned, the characters are empty. Oh yes, many still like to say that IX is a "return to the origins" of the series. It couldn't be farther from the truth. Yes, IX is full of references to the previous parts. Mostly so fat that afterwards you need to wash your hands of it. Wow, Gulug volcano with music, what a reference. And Garland and Sarah are FFI characters, did you know? Nothing that they have other roles at all? Ramuh gives the heroes a test - to listen to the retelling of Joseph's story from FFII. Just a retelling without any relevance to what is happening here. And at the end of FFIII and FFIV all the characters resurrected to beat the last boss that came out of nowhere, what a freaking move, let's do it again. And what, this is called a "return to the roots" ? A bunch of bad Easter eggs? Really?

Another factor is lack of effort on Square's part. Apparently, Final Fantasy IX wasn't intended to be a part of the numbered Final Fantasy titles. It was originally developed to be a spin-off, like Tactics or Crystal Chronicles, and therefore not as high-priority in terms of budget or development time.

And then there is the love story, as I've said in the first chapter, I am a big sucker for big romanced focused stories with a lot of charm and wholesomeness. (I do read and watch a bunch of Ecchi manga/anime) But IX's love story barely had any of that, and is really overhyped (to where even Vivi "stopping" took a back seat to it in the game's ending), with even the TV commercials and ads back then putting the most emphasis on Zidane and Garnet and the love song Melodies of Life playing in them.

One of the reasons I made this review is because of the announcement of the Final Fantasy IX french animation, and rumours of a IX Remake like with VII, and I want to call attention to all of IX's many problems so that more people will notice, especially the game writers, so that hopefully the IX Remake and the french animation will rewrite and fix a lot of the original's problems like the VII Remake did, some of which I have pointed out in this fic (Yes the Whispers sucked, but they didn't ruin the entire game, I honestly just saw them as a big metaphorical middle finger to the fans that had nostalgia goggles on that didn't want to change anything from the original regardless of how bad or stupid it was, and it was just a bit too hamfisted), and even the original VII was held back by the limitations of the PS1 and wasn't really a complete and finished game, the Remake is restoring a lot of things that couldn't be put into the original, like expanding on Wutai, Yuffie and Avalanche. So everyone, please make sure to share this on lots of public websites like Reddit and Final Fantasy forums, please, and if a Final Fantasy IX Remake IS announced (along with the cartoon), make sure to share this on forums talking about that as well.

And just to clarify, this isn't the final chapter, there is still one more BONUS chapter. What is it about? Here is a hint: it has to do with a certain website that talks about "Tropes".