Chapter 6: Disk 1.8 - Burmecia

[On the way to Burmecia, the team can stop at North Gate, which is completely optional]

Freya "The smell of fire... And blood!"
"There must have been a huge battle on the other side of that gate..."

Well yes, Zidane and Garnet clearly saw the devastation on the other side of the North Gate earlier in chapter 3, were you never informed of this?

Quina "Something smell bad. I get bad feeling!"
"Flower smell good! You smell flower!"

Freya "...Quina does whatever s/he feels like doing. I must learn from his ways."

Uh, what? Why?

Zidane "I don't think it's intentional, Freya."

Freya "No, if I had done as I pleased, I would've been..."

Quina "Zidane, this flower taste good!"

Yeah this is basically Quina's only purpose, to be "LOL SO WACKY AND RANDOM XP!" and does nothing story significant, not even his connections to Vivi's Grandpa Quan have that much emphasis, just a completely optional side quest.

Sure the FF series has had flat player characters before like FFVI's Mog, Umaro and Gogo, but they were all completely optional and it was the SNES which was pretty limited, while Quina is optional right now, he is mandatory later, and again this is post-FFVII where the writing and development should be to a higher standard. Heck while in VII Yuffie and Vincent where optional, that was only because of PS1 limitations, they were supposed to be mandatory and have bigger parts in the story, which the Remake seems to be fixing.

Zidane "See what I mean?"

Freya "But still..."
"Let's go! Burmecia is just ahead!"

[The group leaves it and journeys to Burmecia. The sky is dark, and it's raining]

Again, where is that airship fleet that Cid mentioned that was coming to aid Burmecia? Actually, speaking of which, why didn't the party just take an airship ride to Burmecia instead of going on foot?

Zidane "So...this is Freya's home..."
"What are you doing? Get over here."

Freya "It's been five years..."
"I've been away for so long."
"Not a night went by when I didn't dream about home."

Didn't you say in Lindblum that "there was nothing for you back in Burmecia"? Kind of a contradiction.

Freya "I can't believe I'm here..."
"I am no longer the selfish child I was five years ago."
"The time has come to serve my kingdom as a Burmecian dragon knight once again!"

Really? All you did was go to find Fratley and there were no problems and when you heard that Burmecia was being attacked you came back, what exactly is the big deal here?

Zidane "I'll do what I can to help!"

Again, what about Garnet?

Vivi "Me, too!"

Going to point out again that Vivi is just a kid and yet everyone seems to be just fine taking him into a war zone, as apposed to a healer.

Quina "I help, too!"

And Quina is just a random tag along.

Zidane "Let's go."

[Everyone except Freya runs into the town. The words "Burmecia Realm of Eternal Rain" appear on the screen]

Freya "What can I do for my kingdom?"
"This is not the time."

Again I refer to my comments above.

[She runs in as well. The group makes its way to the ouside of a house, with two open windows, and a balcony under each. Zorn appears on one balcony, followed by Thorn on the other]

Zorn "It is them again!"

Thorn "Most persistent, they are!"

Zorn & Thorn "Black mages!"

Do Zorn and Thorn STILL not recognize Zidane and Vivi? You were chasing them and trying to get Garnet back (whom they seem to be suddenly not focusing on) from them and saw them take down your Black Waltzes, why is this such a stumper for you?

[They walk back in, and two black mages walk out, shouting "KILL!", and jumping down. You have a battle against them. Afterwards, Zorn and Thorn reappear on their respective balconies]

Zorn "The general will punish you for this!"

Thorn "Yes! Very scary, it is, when the general gets mad!"

Ah yes, Beatrix… we'll be getting to that bit of bad writing near the end of this chapter.

[As Zidane and company walk up a set of stairs, Freya stops him]

Freya "Zidane..."
"Burmecia's royal palace is beyond these steps."
"It must be in ruins, just like everything else. I can't bear to see it like that..."

Zidane "I understand, but we can't go back now. We have to find out who's behind this."

Um, ALEXANDRIA AND THE QUEEN, OBVIOUSLY, how dense are you? Did you forget all of the clear evidence you saw before? Like North Gate and Dali? The only reason you are apparently this oblivious seems to be because you haven't seen any Alexandrian soldiers yet, just Black Mages, which makes no sense, why aren't there any Alexandrian foot soldiers wondering around? (Especially considering that their Queen and General are in the Burmecian Palace right now) They don't appear here but they do appear in Cleyra.

Vivi "...I wanna find out who those guys were...and why I look like them."

And how are you going to do that Vivi? Walk up to them and ask them straight up?

Zidane "Look, Vivi's scared, too. But we have to face reality."

Vivi "Come on, Freya. It'll be okay..."

Freya "Vivi..."
"Do you really know what you're doing?"
"The answer you seek may forever change your life for the worse."

Vivi "Um..."
"Y-Yeah... But..."
"But I have to... I have to find out who I am..."
"I'm scared... What if I'm not even human...?"

Freya "Vivi..."

Quina "What you talking about? I not human, but you definitely human!"

What.

WHAT.
Vivi? Human? This golem without a face? Human?

(and no, you don't have to say that he has a face and you just can't see it because it's like in FFI, where the black magician revealed his face when upgraded and was a man. For Vivi there were constant close-ups in screensavers, and he has a BLACK HOLE there).

To be fair Quina might have meant it metaphysically but considering how he referred to himself before referring to Vivi, he seems to be speaking literally.

Zidane "Someone's coming!"

[Two adult Burmecians, along with two Burmecian children, run down the steps towards the group]

Burmecian Soldier Dan "Who are you!?"
"Are you in league with the black mages!?"

Zidane "No!"

Burmecian Soldier Dan "You're lying! There's a black mage right behind you!"

Vivi "No! I didn't do anything! I would never hurt anyone!"

Burmecian Soldier Dan "Lies!"

You aren't surprised that this mage said words other than "KILL!"?

Freya "He's telling the truth."

Burmecian Soldier Dan "...Freya!?"

Freya "It's good to see you, Dan."

Did they seriously not notice Freya until she spoke up? Not very observant for knights.

Burmecian Soldier Dan "Damn, I haven't seen you in years! Where've you been!?"
"Actually, this isn't the best time to talk!"
"We've gotta get out of here fast. There are black mages swarming all over this place."

[Dan's wife and children run out]

Burmecian Soldier Dan "What are you waiting for!?"

Freya "Where is the king?"

Burmecian Soldier Dan "I don't know. I didn't see him in the palace."
"Well, I'm going. I've got my own family to worry about."
"Freya, forget about the king and get out of here! We're no match for those black mages!"

[Dan runs off]

Freya "I will protect my home and my king at any cost. Let's go to the palace."

Really because you seemed to be under the impression that "there was nothing left for you in Burmecia" before.

[The group heads to the palace. Inside a room with a giant statue, two people are arguing, one of them sitting on the ground]

Wei "Come on, dear! We have to go now!"

Kal "I can't move anymore. Go on without me..."

Wei "No! I can't do that!"
"Remember that promise we made each other in front of Master Gizamaluke?"

Kal "How could I forget..."
"But my only wish now is for you and our child to survive."
"Please bear a healthy child, darling. Raise him to be strong."

Wei "Oh, Kal!"

[Zidane runs in]

Zidane "It's too dangerous to stay here. You have to escape to Lindblum."
"I'm sure Regent Cid will protect you."

Wei "But my husband... He was hurt by those black mages. He can't move."
"How can we possibly escape to Lindblum!?"

[The statue begins to shake]

Zidane "LOOK OUT!"
[Zidane pulls Kal out of the way, just as the statue crashes down]
"Whew, that was close!"

Kal "Thanks again, pal. Maybe I'll see you again in Lindblum. By then, my kids'll be born. You definitely have to come and see them."

Zidane "Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Take care."

Again Zidane should be jealous that he is seeing devoted lovers here, while his (supposed to be) lover blew him off the first chance she got to run back to her psycho mom that she wanted to escape from.

[The group finally makes its way to the entrance of the palace. Statues are destroyed, and it's in ruins. Only problem is, there's no way in]

Zidane "Geez, this is terrible..."
'Freya, I'm sorry, but from the looks of this, I don't think the king made it."
"..."

[Choose between "Talk to her", "Leave her alone", or "I wonder if Dagger's alright...". It doesn't matter which choice you pick, and you have to pick "Leave her alone" eventually]

Well at least the game gives you the option for Zidane to think about Dagger more (it doesn't fix this whole mess though).

Skipping a few lines.

Quina "I meet you after I eat food inside palace!"

Quina inserts one inappropriate line into each dialogue moment. Nobody ever answers this statement. S/he is not funny, s/he is even more idiotic than Steiner (although not by much). How the heck does this happen all the time?

[Zidane jumps up to the top of the statue, and joins Freya. They both hide behind a series of statues, and see two people standing inside the palace. One of them is Queen Brahne]

Zidane "Who is that?"

Do you really not recognize the overweight Queen you performed for and escaped from, Zidane?

Freya "I knew she was behind all this."

Zidane "What do you mean, you knew?"

Freya "I decided to return to Burmecia because I heard rumors that Brahne had set her sights on our kingdom."

And you didn't bother to mention this to Cid, Steiner, Zidane and Garnet before because...?

Actually what is up with Freya's dialogue here? Before in Lindblum, as I've been repeatedly pointing out, she said that she "had no desire to return to Burmecia" and now she is saying that she always knew about what was happening with Brahne and that she was going to attack Burmecia before it happened, and she didn't bother to share this critical info with everyone back in Lindblum when she had the chance BEFORE all this bullshit happened, either this was another mistranslation or Sakaguchi and his co-writers flubbed and mixed up or lost script pages.

First Garnet, and now we have Freya who doesn't tell anyone any important info.

Zidane "Then that girl standing next to her must be Beatrix, Alexandria's general."

Freya "That's Beatrix?"
"The cold-blooded knight who knows no mercy."
"Beatrix..."

Ah yes, the God-Mode Sue that the game will suddenly pull a one-eighty on with her dick behaviour.

Freya describes Beatrix like this, and the next several bits of the game will prove her right, but then the game will suddenly try to asspull Beatrix being "sympathetic" and "well-meaning" later.

[Flashback time. Freya is with Sir Fratley. Even though it does't say "Sir Fratley" or "Freya" with their lines, that's who they are: I just added their names to their lines, to avoid any sort of confusion]

Freya "Beatrix?"

Sir Fratley "Yes... Beatrix."
"I hear there are many fierce warriors out in the world - some more powerful than even I..."
"...Beatrix of Alexandria, in particular. They say her swordsmanship is the best in the land."

Freya "Sir Fratley, do you still insist on going on your journey?"

Sir Fratley "Yes... Please understand, Freya."
"Right now, Burmecia is at peace, while other nations are slowly but surely gaining power."

Fratley's words are strange here. There are only two other nations, Lindblum and Alexandria, all on a single continent, the rest of the world is barren and only has small communities like Conde Petie and Esto Gaza (but we'll be getting to that lousy world building later) and Lindblum isn't hostile with Burmecia. Also wasn't Lindblum already pretty advanced? Unless Fratley is a shut in who has lived in a bubble.

Sir Fratley "I don't know if my spear alone is enough to protect Burmecia..."
"...which is precisely why I must go out into the world."

Freya "Sir Fratley...I don't think I can live on my own - not without you."

Sir Fratley "Freya, you're going to be fine."
"Trust your strength... and have faith in your destiny."
"Once I complete my journey around the world, I will return to Burmecia."

Why can't Freya and Fratley go together? What is preventing that from happening?

Freya "Then promise me, one more time, that you will return."

Sir Fratley "I promise."

[Sir Fratley walks off the screen, as Freya falls to her knees. The screen goes black]

"Fratley..."
"You never came back..."
"You've left me with nothing except rumors of your death."
"I couldn't believe it!"
"I still won't believe it!"
"Never. Not until I witness proof of your death with my own eyes."
"And I will travel across the world forever if I must..."

I'm going to admit something here, back when I first played IX and the frustrated memories I had afterwards, I felt that Freya was hijacking the love focus from Zidane and Garnet, though now, really I think it was just because we are seeing a better love story (except for this bit where Fratley leaves and for no real reason Freya doesn't go along) than the actual one that is supposed to be a major focus. The fact that this is happening during the point where Garnet has abandoned Zidane also doesn't help matters, this isn't really Freya's fault though, she isn't the one who made Garnet act like an idiot and Zidane act inconsistent, or any of the forced drama surrounding that scene in Lindblum.

Again, Freya and Garnet should have been properly introduced to each other and had actual character interaction, with Freya teasing her about love.

[Screen returns to Zidane and Freya]

Zidane "Are you alright?"

Freya "Yes."
"I was just thinking... about the past..."

Zidane "...You still can't get over him, huh?"

Says the guy who left Tantalus for Garnet.

[A white-haired man walks onto the screen]

Zidane "Who is that?"

[Screen changes to Brahne, Beatrix, and the Mystery Man]

Mystery Man "I find this rain quite pleasant..."
"It feels as though the raindrops are blessing our victory..."

Ah yes, here is the "mysterious man" that Garnet mentioned earlier in Lindblum that is so clearly the cause of the Queen's behaviour.

Brahne "This is a great victory for us. Kuja, your black mages made this conquest so simple."

"so simple" Yeah I refer to what I said above about the Black Mages being stronger than they should be.

Brahne "My only concern now is finding the King of Burmecia."
"We must take care of him once and for all, and prevent these rats from ever rising up again."
"Beatrix, what's taking so long!?"

Beatrix "I don't know, Your Majesty. I've ordered Zorn and Thorn to search the perimeter, but there's been no word so far."
"I will join them and lead the search right away."

Uh, why Zorn and Thorn? Why not any of the other Alexandrian knights? (Who don't seem to be around as I've already complained about earlier) Also what were Zorn and Thorn doing inside Gizamaluke's Grotto then?

Kuja "You're wasting your time."

Beatrix "What?"

Kuja "Rats often look for new homes when they sense an earthquake."
"They probably moved to the sandy tree house by now..."
"So, you see, it's too late. The king has already turned tail and fled."

Brahne "Sandy tree house... Surely, you don't mean Cleyra!?"
"It'll be quite difficult if they escaped to Cleyra."

Did none of the Alexandrian foot soldiers outside of Burmecia notice this? Or you when you came on your airship?

Beatrix "Cleyra..."
"Unless we can get through that sandstorm, it will be impossible to attack them."

Yeah Beatrix is just casually talking about attacking a tree full of innocent people, I'd like to remind you all that the game tries to make her out to be "conflicted" later.

Brahne "Sneaky, little rats!"
"Kuja, what do you think? Surely, with your powers, there must be something you can do."

Kuja "Of course, Your Majesty. I will present you a marvelous display of my power. I am certain that you will be most pleased."

We never see this "display of power".

Kuja "I was wondering if you would gather your troops near Cleyra."
"I'm certain those filthy rats will retaliate in full force, and my black mages may not be enough."

Really… because it seems like the Black Mages were doing just fine with Burmecia which is different from Cleyra, or is this the weak "justification" for why there are no Alexandrian foot soldiers in Burmecia, because this is some bullshit.

[Screen changes back to Zidane and Freya]

Zidane "Sounds like we got trouble."

Freya "That sinister man... Who is he?"

Zidane "Beats me... I've never seen him before."

Really? Not even triggering something in your subconscious Zidane? If Garnet can recall the Melodies of Life song from her village and have dreams of the night she fled Madain Sari, surely you could have some form of Déjà Vu regarding Kuja?

Zidane "Well, it sounds like they're going to Cleyra. I've always wondered why people call it the 'City of Illusion.'"

"Illusion"? Shouldn't it be City of Sand since it's surrounded by a sand storm? What exactly is illusionary about it?

Skipping ahead.

Burmecian Soldier "Burmecia will never fall! Prepare to die!"

Beatrix "You wish to fight me, Beatrix of Alexandria?"

Bumercian Soldier "B-Beatrix!?"

Beatrix "I commend your courage, but I will show you no mercy."

Again, real "conflicted" character right here.

[Freya and Zidane jump down. Beatrix, Brahne, and Kuja turn around to face them]

Zidane "Hold it!"

Freya "You'll have to deal with us, first!"
"We'll take care of this. Go find the king. Protect him with your life."

Burmecian Soldier "...Thank you, Freya."

[He runs away]

Beatrix "Ha ha ha. I've never been so humiliated in my life."

This is our "sympathetic character" folks, the laughter really "helps".

Also, do Beatrix and Brahne really not recognize the tailed boy who "kidnapped" Garnet? He was performing for them on stage, was clearly in full view holding on to Garnet on the stage in the FMV of Brahne firing upon the Prima Vista, and Zorn and Thorn must have no doubt reported who was running away with Garnet to the Queen when they were chasing them with the Black Waltzes.

This is what I meant regarding Beatrix back in chapter 1, she doesn't seem to be concerned for Garnet here, she's more interested in being a warmongering *word that means female dog*, she doesn't ask for Garnet's whereabouts when she sees Zidane, nor does Zidane try to reason with her by saying what Garnet would think of Beatrix if she saw her right now, for ANY of the fights actually.

"I once killed a hundred knights single-handedly... To me, you two are nothing more than insects."

You killed a hundred knights alone. OK. A Hundred knights WHERE?

Let's take a look at the timeline.

"1772
Beatrix is born in April. Lindblum and Alexandria begin diplomatic relations. The wars that have been plaguing the continent for hundreds of years cease due to Lindblum's air power."

Since the birth of Beatrix, there have been no wars AT ALL.

[Vivi and Quina run up, joining Freya and Zidane. Boss battle begins vs. Beatrix. No matter how badly you beat her, at the end of the battle she says "You're no match for me!" and hits everyone with Stock Break, reducing all of their HP to 1, then saying "Ignorant fools."]

And here we go with Beatrix's God-Modding, the game will force you to lose to her THREE FREAKING TIMES, and what makes this worse is that Zidane is in all these battles, getting to that in the next line.

[Once the battle is done, the four characters are on the ground, defeated]

Beatrix "How ridiculously weak..."
"Isn't there anyone who is worthy of facing me?"

Zidane, the Angel of Death who is supposed to be superior to Kuja is "ridiculously weak", that makes sense, or maybe you are a poorly written character that is stronger than she should be that the writers refused to give a loss and then white knight.

Brahne "Come, Beatrix. We must prepare to attack Cleyra."

Beatrix "Yes, Your Majesty."

You aren't going to finish off the people you just fought? I'm surprised that the queen isn't immediately ordering Zidane's execution or grilling him for information on Garnet's whereabouts.

And speaking of which, as I pointed out in chapter 4, Garnet said back in Lindblum that she tried to tell everyone in Alexandria Castle that her mother was going nuts and nobody believed her, which apparently includes Beatrix, but what is happening here in Burmecia should be direct proof to Beatrix that Garnet was right, yet she doesn't consider Garnet's feelings in any of this. What makes this worse is that neither Garnet nor Steiner are around to witness Beatrix committing these atrocities.

And again, WHERE ARE THOSE REINFORCEMENTS FROM LINDBLUM?

[Brahne and Beatrix walk off screen. Kuja approaches the fallen heroes]

Kuja "Now, what do we have here...? Another filty rat, and..."
"Hmm... This boy could become a problem..."

Dude. Well, you understand. He lies, you stand. He's a potential problem. Why not kill him right now? Why leave him alive? Which Kuja? What is stopping you?

[FMV. Everyone is on the ground, while the rain continues to poor down. Kuja looks at all of them. He then steps away, approaching a white dragon, and climbing onto it, before flying high into the sky and far away]

Let's compare the ending of FFIX's Disk 1, with that of VII and VIII:

In VII, Disk 1 ended with Aerith's death and Cloud tragically laying her body to rest in the pond of the Ancient Capital in one of the FF series most emotional scenes.

In FFVIII, Disk 1 ended with Edea impaling Squall with an ice shard with Rinoa crying out in desperation and anguish as the screen dramatically zooms out in what is a pretty tense scene.

The difference is that both VII's and VIII's Disk 1 one endings had emphasis on the love stories (though VII had more of a love triangle), while with IX all we get is Kuja flaunting his man thong (Men do not have such waistlines btw), we don't get a dramatic Disk 1 ending scene with Zidane and Garnet like the previous games, all because Garnet abandoned Zidane and causing everything to go wrong, and we are going to see it get worse on Disk 2.

Chapter 6 End.

End of Disk 1.