Chapter 8: Disk 2.2 Cleyra

Skipping the opening scene when you first get to Cleyra. Although I have to ask, what made the sandstorm subside enough that the party could pass through?

[Everyone runs in. FMV of Cleyra, an enourmous tree. At the top, in the branches and leaves, are houses and the town. It then shows the entire trunk of the massive tree, coming to a stop at the base, where Zidane and company are]

[They make their way through the trunk, eventually making your way to the town. The words "Cleyra Settlement" appear on the screen]

Skipping Freya talking with Forest Oracle Kildea. There is also a deleted scene where Freya meets the King of Burmecia and the High Priest of Cleyra, with the King apologizing to Freya and asking her to forgive him for something, it is never explained what this thing is, another interesting thing wasted.

[Zidane and Vivi follow the oracle, leaving Quina behind. You come to the first screen, where water is floating and a turbine is moving]

Forest Oracle Kildea "This is our source of water." "I shall elaborate later on how we have water up so high here." "Now for our next stop."

[Everyone heads right, to a new screen, then moving up stairs. There are several buildings surrounding them]

Forest Oracle Kildea "And this is the liveliest part of our town." "But there's no market today, so the usual crowd is gone..." "Let's move on."

[Next screen, to the left, with a windmill]

Forest Oracle Kildea "This windmill brings the blessings of water to our humble town." "It uses the power of the sandstorm to pump water up from the ground." "Come. Next, I shall show you the observatory."

Dude, you live in a tree. Which is gigantic and stands on the sand. It would have sucked all the water out of there long ago.

[Follow him to a new screen on the right. The observatory looks like a gazebo, on the very edge of a branch]

Forest Oracle Kildea "The observatory is where the citizenry come to relax." "Here, we observe our protector, the sandstorm, and here, we pray for it." "Next is the cathedral, the last stop on our tour."

[Follow him up to the top right screen]

Forest Oracle Kildea "The High Priest, who brings peace to our souls, resides in the cathedral." "The king of Burmecia and Lady Freya are meeting inside this building." "It also houses the harp whose magic stone powers the sandstorm." "Let us make our way back."

We never really get that much of an interesting and interconnected lore with Cleyra, it's just there so it can get blown up (thanks to Garnet's stupidity), same with Burmecia.

[They return to where they started]

Forest Oracle Kildea "And that concludes the tour."

Zidane "Thanks a lot!"

[Zidane now wanders around the town]

- No Yummy-Yummies!

[Quina is standing beside the observatory]

Quina "This town..." "...got NO yummy-yummies anywhere!"

[Two Cleyra residents exit the observatory, only to be frightened by Quina. Each time he speaks, they back up, until they're back inside the observatory]

Quina "You no can make famous Alexandria dish, Queensmeal?" "You no have famous South Gate Bundt Cake?"

RATS Y U NO CAN MAKE DISH?!

In all seriousness, half of the ATEs in Cleyra, which are already pointless enough in general, are Quina's, which makes them even more of filler, but that is what you would expect from a filler character, so I'm skipping Quina's other ATE.

- Don't Hate Me

[Vivi is outside of the inn, and approaches 4 rats (2 adults, 2 children), the same four which were seen before entering the Palace Area in Burmecia]

"Look!"

"Pointy-headed devil!"

Burmecian Refugee Learie "D-Don't come any closer!"

Burmecian Soldier Dan "You demon! Leave my family alone!"

Why the heck is this scene even taking place when Freya personally vouched for Vivi a little earlier, in front of the same rat person, Dan? Yes, that is the same person that Freya talked to in Burmecia and defended Vivi, yet now Dan seems to have completely forgotten all that.

[Zidane heads for the next screen]

- I-I Haven't Hurt Anyone

[Vivi enters the inn, while Burmecian Soldier Dan chases him]

Burmecian Soldier Dan "You bastard! You killed my father!"

Burmecian Refugee Learie "Bastard!"

[Each of their two children shout "Bastard!" as well]

In this translation, this remark looks somehow especially strange.

Night Oracle Donnegan "Well, well. A bit touchy today, aren't we?"

Burmecian Soldier Dan "He's one of the demons that sacked Burmecia!"

Vivi "I-I haven't hurt anyone."

And that's all we will get of that subplot, which, as I already explained above, was completely pointless.

Skipping ahead.

[Zidane heads for the inn. Before entering the door, Burmecian Soldier Dan comes running up the stairs]

Burmecian Soldier Dan "Help!"

[The Night Oracle exits the inn]

Night Oracle Donnegan "What is the matter?"

Burmecian Soldier Dan "Th-The antlion's mauling a kid!"

Night Oracle Donnegan "The antlion!? It is usually so docile... How could-"

Burmecian Soldier Dan "We gotta teach that beast a lesson!"

It's never explained what made the Antlion go nuts, just another check off on this games list of unanswered questions.

Night Oracle Donnegan "This calls for immediate action." "I shall inform the high priest at once."

[Night Oracle Donnegan slowly walks off the screen]

Burmecian Soldier Dan "Hey, buddy, wh-where ya going?" "These Cleyrans are all so damn lazy!" "You there! Gimme a hand if you think you're good enough!"

Dude I don't think getting backup against a large rampaging animal makes the Cleyran "lazy", just wisely cautious.

[Zidane runs down to the screen where they first entered Cleyra, then head to the right. A creature is in a whirlpool of sand, holding a rat kid in one tentacle. Quina and Vivi are already there]

Zidane "So that's the antlion!"

Puck "Aaaa! Help me!"

How did Puck get all the way here? Especially, when the North Gate connecting Alexandria and Burmecia was attacked and devastated, and also especially when he was apparently by himself.

Vivi "NO!"

Zidane "Hang in there, champ! We're gonna save you!"

[Freya runs onto the screen]

Freya "Is the child alright, Zidane?"

Zidane "Yeah, he's fine."

Puck "Like hell, I'm fine!"

Freya "That voice!" "Might it be Prince Puck!?"

Yep, Puck is actually the prince of Burmecia, yet how he snuck out of Burmecia and into Alexandria at the beginning of the game is never explained, or why.

Puck "Freya! Where you been!?"

Antlion "Urgurrra!" [Throws Puck to the group]

Puck "Aaaaaa!" "OW!" "That hurt, ya stupid jerk!"

Zidane "Here it comes!"

[Boss fight vs. Antlion. At the end, it's killed]

Freya "Are you alright, Your Highness?"

Puck "Hey, Freya! Whassup?"

Freya "But how can this be? I heard that Your Highness disappeared upon leaving Burmecia..."

Puck "Uh...yeah!"

And again, Puck will never explain why.

Freya "Well, let us go at once to the cathedral to inform His Majesty!"

Puck "My old man, huh?" "Nah, I don't wanna see him! Just tell him I said hi, okay?" "Later!"

…Really? Isn't the whole reason you came back is because you wanted to see if your father was alright? Now you aren't even going to bother seeing him in person? Is your motive for this just: "I don't wanna get grounded!"?

Freya "But, Your Highness!"

Puck "Take care, Vivi!"

[Puck runs off]

Quina "He so rude! Vivi much nicer."

Vivi "He's the first friend I ever had." "I've gotta tell him something!"

[Vivi runs off. Zidane and company go to the cathedral]

King of Burmecia "I see. So you saw Puck, eh?"

Freya "As mischievous as ever, Your Majesty."

King of Burmecia "I haven't seen him in ages."

Freya "I heard His Highness left Burmecia one month after me. That makes it three years."

According to the Ultimania, Puck is 14, making him 11 when he snuck out, but really, the kid prince of Burmecia has been gone for three years and no one has been making a huge fuss or uproar about it? And why did he leave for so long in the first place?

It feels like writers just made this whole scene simply to remind us that Puck existed, because he was one of the first notable characters you meet and Vivi's first friend, but despite being a major character in the prologue, after Cleyra, he (just like Freya's whole subplot and pretty much the subplot of the rat people in general) completely drops out of the game until the ending where he is just thrown in along with Fratley.

They really should have given Puck a bigger role and presence, heck maybe even be a main PC.

King of Burmecia "And yet both you and Puck decided to return to me in this time of danger." "I am grateful!

…Right, you are grateful that the son, that you were no doubt worried sick about, that didn't come back for three freaking years, didn't even bother to see you in person and screwed off. That's totally healthy. Actually where is Puck's mother, the Queen of Burmecia, for that matter?

Cleyra High Priest "Freya, we shall conduct an ancient ceremony to strengthen the sandstorm." "Surely no enemy of ours would attack with the powerful storm protecting Cleyra." "And with the help of a dragon knight like you, the storm should grow even more powerful."

First off, wasn't the sandstorm already really powerful, I mean when you try going to Cleyra before you've completed Burmecia, you can't pass through the storm because it's too strong (until it isn't after you've completed Burmecia for some random reason) and you've apparently kept this sandstorm up for a long time.

Secondly, is Freya really the only dragon knight in Burmecia? No others? And Fratley doesn't count. (If he is one anyway) Also what is the real significance of the Dragon Knight, especially for this sandstorm ceremony that it can apparently strengthen?

Freya "Ah, the ceremony from the time when Burmecia and Cleyra were one."

Thank you for that pointless bit of "Rat people split up" lore that is never fully explained. Honestly, instead of that pointless backstory, the writers should have written Cleyra as a sacred pilgrimage place made by the rats, at one with nature, kind of like Mt. Fuji or Mt. Everest, with connections to the summoner tribe (as the summoners used to live in Alexandria on the Mist Continent several centuries ago, maybe the summoners showed something about Cleyra to the rats) and great foreshadowing and lore buildup for Gaia's crystal and lifestream, like the IX version of Cosmo Canyon from FFVII. There could even be contrasts between it and the Iifa Tree.

Freya "I understand." "Zidane, I met with utter failure when trying to defend Burmecia..." "And I will not allow Brahne to exert her will upon us any longer!"

Zidane "You've changed, Freya." "I didn't think you were so strong when I first met you."

This is what I hate too. Zidane so pathetically says: "Freya, you have changed", you start to think that we are talking about some kind of "character development" here, as the writers are trying to forcefully imply, and he continues: "well, you are sooooo strong."

Freya "I could not bring peace to Burmecia and thus fulfill Sir Fratley's wish." "But now, all I can do is protect this beautiful place."

What about the reinforcements from Lindblum, the airship brigade that Cid was supposed to send? Which we never saw in Burmecia.

Zidane "Yeah, protecting Cleyra is the best thing you can do for yourself."

Freya "Doing so will help me."

Thank you for pointing out the obvious, dumb lines like these are clearly just for padding.

[Zidane moves out of the way. On the right side of the screen, one Cleyran plays on a harp, which has a red glowing jewel above it. In the middle of the building, 4 Cleyrans and Freya perform the ancient ceremony, while the King of Burmecia and the Cleyran High Priest look on. At the end of the ceremony, the harp's strings snap]

Moon Maiden Claire "The string have snapped..." "A terrible omen, this is..."

[FMV. Blue strands of light surround the sandstorm, as it begins to vanish. In a matter of moments, the sandstorm is gone, and Cleyra, the massive tree, is visible to the world]

Well that was completely pointless.

Zidane "I can't believe the sandstorm disappeared." "What happened...?"

Freya "I don't know..."

Yeah, what did happen? It is never really explained what caused the harp to break and the sandstorm to vanish, it was was like Sakaguchi just said: "Quick! Make the sandstorm arbitrarily disappear so that I can blow it up for cheap shock value and piss off the players!".

Cleyran High Priest "I have never witnessed anything like this since we settled here." "On the harp, there is a magic stone." [Screen shows the red glowing stone] "Since ancient times, we have used the power of the stone to control the sandstorm."

King of Burmecia "Perhaps someone is trying to invade Cleyra."

That doesn't explain why the harp snapped.

Cleyran High Priest "I fear that you may be right, my lord."

King of Burmecia "I only hope our enemies don't come up the trunk..."

Considering that that is the only way to get up to the settlement, I think it's fairly obvious that they will, that was a dumb line.

[Screen changes back to Alexandria, where Steiner and Marcus are imprisoned in a large bird cage, in the air, as two guards are on the bottom floor, keeping guard]

Steiner "How dare they imprison us like this! Those wretched court jesters!" "Zorn and Thorn will never get away with this!"

Marcus "I can't believe I got dragged into this."

Yeah as I said last chapter, Marcus was lucky to not have been immediately executed by the queen. (Which, why hasn't she? With how she was going to straight up execute her own daughter later, you'd think she would have order Marcus and Steiner to be executed already)

Steiner "No one asked you to meddle in our affairs!"

No one asked you to be so obnoxious and exaggerated, Steiner. Though to be fair, as I said last chapter, Marcus did arbitrarily decide to go back to Alexandria despite being a wanted man for "kidnapping" the princess.

Marcus "It's pretty sad, gettin' backstabbed by your own queen."

Steiner "This is all some kind of a mistake!" "I know the queen. She would never betray me!"

Marcus "Wishful thinking." "Who knows what she's gonna do to the princess..."

If you've always suspected this, why didn't you tell Dagger her whole plan was idiotic?

Steiner "..." "I must save the princess at all costs!"

Thank you for telling us this for the bajillionth time, Steiner.

[Scene changes to Dagger, in her room]

And here we go… one of the most annoying scenes in the game.

Dagger "I wonder if Mother will even listen to me..."

Oh so NOW you are having second thoughts about this? Yeah too little, too late, Dagger, you've already abandoned the boy who loved and protected you so you could stupidly run home and get captured like a moron all because of your own selfishness.

Dagger "Why did she attack Burmecia?" "And why did she arrest us like this?"

Are you freaking SERIOUS?! It's because your mother was GOING CRAZY! That is the whole reason you wanted to be kidnapped and escape from Alexandria in the first place.

Dagger "I must be sincere with her." "She hasn't been herself lately..."

For the hundredth time, if you were so convinced your mother could be just talked down to, why even run away from home to begin with, when you could have talked to her when you had the chance? You also clearly said before that Cid was the only one who could stop your mother but then you flipped on that.

Dagger "Actually, she's been acting rather strange since my birthday last year." "The same day that tall man visited us..." "Maybe he had something to do with it." "Come to think of it, that was when things began to change."

…Okay I am going to explode, YOU ARE JUST REALIZING THIS NOW, YOU DUMB IDIOT?! You should have come to this obvious conclusion from the very start of the game, this is what I meant back in Lindblum when she brought it up. Instead of this contrived "mommy is just acting weird" nonsense, Garnet should have been written as wanting to escape from home to find out who Kuja was and stop him, instead of running all the back to the place we just escaped from and trying to solve this bullshit "mystery" that is so frigging obvious, especially to someone who is supposed to be highly educated. But no, instead Sakaguchi writes Garnet as this very clichéd stereotype.

It's not rocket science, how hard was it to tell that Kuja was the source of the problem and that you should have been focusing on him instead of Brahne? Did she never ask who the white haired man was in the castle before escaping in the play? Kuja had to introduce himself, name and all, when he visited them, as that is a requirement. If a suspicious man (and Kuja isn't exactly inconspicuous, just look at what he wears) shows up, meets with your mom and your mom suddenly starts going crazy, it should be REALLY obvious that he is behind it and you should be focusing on him.

Dagger "Doctor Tot left Alexandria shortly afterwards, too." "What happened that day?"

Dagger's dialogue here, as I pointed out in the last chapter, implies that Tot knew that something was going wrong, didn't trust Kuja, and left Alexandria to get help and get more information, but instead of that, Tot is written as apparently just arbitrarily leaving the castle and dicking around in Treno, this doesn't go anywhere, making this line pointless.

If anything, THIS should have been the reason Cid knew something was wrong in Alexandria and with the queen, because what should have happened was that Tot immediately came to Lindblum after leaving Alexandria to talk to Cid about it and Kuja, and both made the kidnapping plan for Dagger, and during the time before the kidnapping Tot simply went to Treno to spy on Kuja, and when Tot heard the kidnapping was a success he immediately goes to Lindblum to meet Garnet along with Cid and tell everyone all the details, especially about the Eidolons that Cid himself also knew the queen was after. (That's in a few chapters)

Tot should have known that Garnet has Eidolons within her since he is so knowledgeable about them and the summoners and he was the one who saw Garnet wash up in Alexandria's harbour and removed her horn when she was little, clearly putting together that she was a summoner.

This is how the story SHOULD have gone, but instead the writers gave us the stupid nonsense we are seeing right now.

[Zorn and Thorn run into the room]

Zorn "Queen Brahne summons you."

Thorn "Come with us."

Dagger "What!?" "How dare you speak to me like that!?"

Zorn "Quiet!"

Thorn "With us, you are coming, and that is that!"

Dagger (What was that phrase...? Oh yeah.) "Get off me, you scumbag!"

And this the weak payoff I mentioned all the way back in chapter 3 when Zidane said this, repeating a phrase from the guy you blew off that does nothing to help the situation where she has already been captured like a dumbass, great use there, Dagger.

Skipping ahead.

[Dagger walks closer]

Dagger "Mother, there is something I need to ask you."

Brahne "What is it, darling? I will tell you anything you wish to know."

Dagger "Did you... Is it true that you are responsible for the destruction of Burmecia?"

Brahne "Oh... Well, no wonder you look so concerned." "That is far from the truth, Garnet." "You see, those Burmecian rats have been plotting to destroy Alexandria for some time." "I couldn't just wait for them to attack and destroy our precious kingdom." "So, I had no choice but to take the initiative."

Dagger "Mother, is that really the truth?"

Brahne "Of course." "I would never lie to you." [Choose between "Believe her" or "Don't believe her". Neither choice matters, for the most part, so I just chose the first one]

Oh so now we get to decide how stupid Dagger is? It's really not going to do much having an option to make a character only slightly less stupid, Square.

Dagger "Alright... I'm sorry, Mother."

Brahne "It's okay, darling. I'm just happy that you understand."

[Kuja walks onto the screen]

Kuja "May I also play a part in this act?"

Dagger "Act?"

Kuja "Yes, an act from a beautiful play..." "There is a knight on a white horse..." "...and a beautiful princess. It is a tale of tragic love." "Overcome by grief, the princess must sleep for a hundred years..."

Dagger "You... I've seen you before..."

You literally just saw him a while ago in the auction house in Treno and just thought about him in your room before being dragged to Brahne, how thick are you?

Kuja "It appears we were destined to meet again." "My sweet angel, come to me." [He walks up to Dagger, and holds her] "I will take you to a world of dreams." [He waves his hand and casts a spell. Dagger falls unconscious] "She is beautiful, even in sleep."

Or should we have been shown Kuja's crotch for better understanding if this scene?

In all seriousness, as I said last chapter, after this scene, Kuja's feelings and obsession for Garnet are completely dropped, cause you know, that would actually be interesting and give more of a comparison with Zidane, but back to being a one-note asshole.

Brahne "Hmph, impudent little girl." "Zorn, Thorn!" "Prepare to extract the eidolons from Garnet."

…Oh wow… Dagger's mother betrayed her, I am totally shocked. *Sarcasm*

[Scene changes to Dagger lying down on a table. Zorn and Thorn are on either side of her]

Zorn "A belated happy birthday, Princess. Hee-hee-hee!"

Thorn "Sixteen years old, the princess has become. Draw the eidolons from her, finally, we can."

Okay several things, if sixteen is when the eidolons can be extracted, why didn't they do this on the very morning of Dagger's birthday, or even the night before at midnight? Heck, are the rules very strict regarding the sixteen years thing, does it have to be EXACTLY sixteen or could they just do it a day or two early before her birthday with no issues?

There is also the fact that Garnet isn't the real Garnet, the original Garnet died several years ago and the young summoner Sarah (AKA Dagger. Also FFI reference, hah hah) was adopted and masqueraded to be Garnet (will be addressing that later when it is fully brought up), thus meaning that Dagger's birthday is different and unknown, or did Dagger just so conveniently happen to have the exact same birthday as the original Garnet?

[Zorn and Thorn begin doing a dance around her. They say the lines at the exact same time, so, they'll be shown in blocks: first line is Zorn, second is Thorn]

"Eidolons of Eternal Life!" "Eidolons of infinite Power!"

"Arise from the 16 year sleep!" "Depart after the 16 year wait!"

[Blue streams of light are directed to Dagger's body]

"Let there be light!" "Let there be life!"

[Blue rings of energy emanate from her body, as red specks of light ascend from her body]

"The time has come!" "The time is now!"

[She floats in the air]

"Come forth!" "Odin, warrior of the dark!"

How do they know the exact Eidolons that Garnet has?

[Screen returns to the sandstormless Cleyra. Zidane walks up to Freya, who is standing in the observatory]

Zidane "What are you doing here?"

Freya "Tell me. Why do you think the sandstorm disappeared?"

Zidane "I don't know." "I was surprised that there even was a sandstorm."

…are you serious, or were you completely blind to the SAND TWISTER surrounding the entire tree!? Especially since you had to walk through said sandstorm.

Freya "Did you know the sandstorm was here for a thousand years...?

Uh, didn't you say back in Burmecia that Cleyra "was in isolation for a century"? Now you are saying it's a millennium? Of course, you can say that the storm at this place was before Cleyra, but I don't believe it, it's clearly not natural, but rather cast by magic. Either this is a mistranslation or the screenwriter just didn't give a crap.

Freya "And in all that time, it never dissapeared, not even once." "Perhaps Brahne is behind all this."

Well none of your questions will even be answered, Freya, because this will never be explained.

Zidane "Who cares? Dagger's the only thing on my mind right now."

Freya "That girl... She's Brahne's daughter."

Zidane "Yeah. So what?"

Freya's dialogue here implies that she has resentment towards Garnet due to what her mother has done. That, and I'm pretty sure the whole "Garnet being in denial about her crazy mother and drugging Freya, wasting her time to get back to Burmecia" bit had a huge hand in that too, plus, with what will soon happen to Cleyra thanks to Garnet's stupidity, if Freya found that out, her issues toward Dagger would be pretty understandable.

Freya "Zidane, I'm going to head down to find out why the sandstorm disappeared."

Zidane "Hey, I was thinking the same thing!" "Let's go together." "I'm gonna go find Vivi and Quina. I'll meet you at the town entrance."

Uh that's a dumb move as the Alexandrians can just fly to the top of the tree using airships, they don't need to climb the trunk, but of course the game forces you to do this dumb crap anyway. Also how would heading down even explain why the sandstorm disappeared?

Skipping ahead.

[The group descends the Trunk, having several fights with Alexandrian soldiers along the way]

Keep in mind that the Alexandrian soldiers, with the exception of the Pluto Knights, are all female, and Zidane, who is so gallant with girls, and Vivi, who "hasn't hurt anyone", CUT TO DEATH and BURN ALIVE poor blondes in leotards, I mean, okay it's up for interpretation wether or not they are just KO-ed or non-fatally wounded as the FF games tend to be vague about this, but still.

Freya "A moment, Zidane." "Those Alexandrian villains back there..." "Weren't they too few in number to constitue a determined attack?"

Zidane "Well..." [Choose between "Yeah, I thought so, too" or "Let's wipe 'em out!". Neither choice matters, so I picked the first] "Yeah, I thought so, too."

"Bingo!"

[Puck runs onto the screen, and into Vivi, exclaiming "Oh!". Puck then runs up to Freya]

Puck "Freya! The town's in trouble!" "Ya gotta come back, please!"

Freya "No! My fears were true!" "At once, my lord!"

Gee, maybe this whole "coming down the trunk" was a really freaking stupid idea? Seriously, what made you think you should do this?

[Freya runs off the screen]

Puck "C'mon, you deadweights! Hustle!"

[Puck runs off the screen]

Zidane "You heard him! Let's go!"

[Zidane, Vivi, and Quina run off the screen. Beatrix appears at the other end of the screen they were just in]

Beatrix "Ha! They fell for it."

That's right, Beatrix is LAUGHING as she is about to commit war crimes on the rat people, keep in mind that immediately after Cleyra, the game will suddenly try to portray her as "sympathetic and conflicted" and apparently "didn't want any of this", while scenes like this one clearly say otherwise.

[The screen changes to show the Cleyra settlement. Balls of light descend, and turn into Black Mages, who attack and kill anyone they see]

Burmecian Soldier Dan "How dare you show up here!" [The black mage does a fire attack on him] "Ungah!" [He dies]

Okay how did a simple low level fire spell instantly kill him?

[Two black mages appear in front of priests in front of the entrance to the inn, and they're killed as well, the black mages exclaiming "KILL!" aftewards]

Okay seriously, WHERE IS THAT AIRSHIP BRIGADE FROM LINDBLUM?! Cid sent them yet we never see them. They had to have noticed Cleyra's sandstorm vanishing and the Alexandrian airships surrounding the tree. But we see any aid from them in story.

[A light floats down behind them, transforming into a black mage. They shout "Aaa!" and run off the screen. He shouts "KILL!". You have a battle with the black mage]

[The two maidens run back onto the screen, shouting "Aaa!", followed by three Alexandrian soldiers]

Alexandrian Soldier "Foolish Cleyrans, your time as come!"

Zidane "Over here!" "I'm the one you want!"

How are you "the one they want"? Do they even know you are the one who kidnapped Garnet?

Skipping ahead.

[Three black mages descend, each one blocking off the three possible exits]

Zidane "They're back!" "Over there!" "Dammit, we're surrounded!"

[The black mages walk closer, surrounding them, each of them shouting "KILL!" in unison]

Zidane "Dammit! I can't save 'em all!"

How? You've been doing just fine fighting off the Black Mages before, why are you suddenly struggling?

"Minions of evil, you have gone too far!"

[The screen shows someone standing on top of the Cathedral]

"My spear will purge this land of you!"

Stranger "You shall fall like leaves in the wind under the force of my blade!" [He jumps near each black mage, killing each one in one blow] "Now, run!"

[Everyone runs inside the cathedral]

Zidane "Dunno who you are, but I owe you one!"

For some reason Freya has a delayed reaction to Fratley showing up, despite technically being here in this same scene as shown in the battle segments… meh, PS1 limitations.

[Inside the cathedral, Freya encounters this Stranger, who is actually...Sir Fratley!]

Freya "Sir Fratley, I..." "I have missed you so much..." "I began my search for you immediately after you left Burmecia." "Where have you been all these years...?" "To what corners of the world have you travelled?" "My dear Fratley..." "I climbed the highest mountains only to hear rumors of your victories..."

Who in their right mind would climb a mountain for rumors? Okay, Freya might be exaggerating, but still.

Freya "I searched the deepest valleys only to find your footsteps." "But I never found you." "And in the end, I heard something..." "Something unbearable!"

…and? What was it? Yeah, Freya never really reveals what she heard.

Fratley "Freya, you say?" "I believe this is the first time we have met..."

Freya "What...did you just say?"

Fratley "I'm sorry, but I cannot remember you for the life of me..."

Freya "Y-You jest!" "You cannot have forgotten me!" "It's me, Freya! Freya of Burmecia!"

Fratley "I am sorry..."

Freya "No..."

Fratley has amnesia, but you want to know the real problem? It is never revealed what caused his amnesia. That's right, this is never properly explained.

Zidane "Hey, wait a minute!" "You can't be serious!" "It's Freya, your lost love!" "How could you forget her!?" "Well, say something!"

Freya "That is enough, Zidane..."

Zidane "What!?" "You've been searching for this guy for years, and now he's right here!"

King of Burmecia "Fratley!" "Do you remember me, the King of Burmecia?"

Fratley "Not at all, I'm afraid."

King of Burmecia "Impossible! Have you forgotten everything that has passed!?" "Then let me ask you this: What brought you back to Burmecia?" "Is it because you learned of the crisis here in Cleyra, whose people are our brothers?"

Fratley "As a matter of fact..."

"As a matter of fact, I'll tell ya!"

[Puck runs onto the screen. Fratley says "Lord Puck!", Freya says "Prince Puck!", and Zidane and the King say "Puck!"]

Oh so NOW you come to see your father and drop this bombshell.

Puck "I found Fratley during my travels around the world!" "And you guessed it, he didn't know who I was!" "Or even who he was!" "But when Burmecia was attacked and he heard that Cleyra was in danger..." "His faint memories as a dragon knight called him back here!"

And you didn't explain all this back when you were saved from the Antlion because…? Also when did you find Fratley? Was it before or after you went to Alexandria to see the play?

Definitely would have been good to give Freya a heads-up about Fratley so she wouldn't be in shock and messed up when she tried to talk to her missing love, Puck, you ass.

Fratley "Dragon knight..." "Yes, I was once called that..." "But now, that is all I can remember..."

Freya "Fratley..."

Fratley "I must go."

[He jumps to the front door, and off-screen]

Are you serious, writers? Fratley isn't going to stick with the rest of the party and defend inside the Cathedral? He came all this way, had this big grand entrance… and then he just leaves, blows off, even out of the rest of the story.

I'm not kidding, this is the last we see of Fratley until the ending, for his and Freya's slapped together resolution, as I've mentioned all the way back in chapter 4 of Lindblum, Freya's whole story is completely dropped after Cleyra (with only a brief mention in an ATE later in Disk 3 Lindblum), she just becomes another filler character and the whole thing is unfinished. Fratley should have been a playable character.

Zidane "Freya, aren't you gonna follow him?"

Freya "No..." "I am happy simply knowing that Sir Fratley still lives."

And yet he isn't going to stay by your side which I've already addressed above. Still better done than the Zidane and Garnet love story though.

Puck "I'm sorry, Freya." "I knew you weren't ready to see him, but with Cleyra under attack and all..."

Oh yeah because after you were saved from the Antlion, you couldn't have at least briefly said to Freya: "Hey, I found Fratley, but he lost his memory, telling you this now so you won't get shocked and overwhelmed when you actual see him later", could you Puck?

Freya "I need no such courteousy, Highness."

Puck "Uh...well, I'm gonna go after Fratley!" "Later!"

[Vivi and Quina walk on screen, as Puck runs off, bumping into Vivi and knocking him over]

And that's also the last we will see of Puck until the ending, going after a guy who shouldn't have even left the Cathedral in the first place.

King of Burmecia "Wait, Puck! I have not seen you in ages!"

Yeah, really great son you have there. *Sarcasm*

Vivi "Wh-What? That was Puck?" "So, what happened?" "What's the matter, Freya? Are you crying?"

You didn't recognize Puck as he ran by you? Heck, you didn't hear him from the other room?

Freya "Ahahaha..." "What irony." "To find the man about whom I have dreamt endlessly..." "...only to discover that he cannot even remember who I am!" "Come, Zidane! The enemy's hand has not been stilled!" "We must regroup!"

Uh, the last bit of that sentence is precisely one of the reasons why Fratley should not have just arbitrarily left.

Zidane "Freya..."

"Eeeeek!"

[On the other side of the screen, the Cleyran High Priest is on the ground, while Beatrix is standing beside the harp]

How the heck did Beatrix sneak in here completely undetected? Where did she come from? Why hasn't anyone seen her before?

Cleyran High Priest "Eeeeek! Have mercy!"

Beatrix "Hmph! Pathetic rodents!" "You fail to grasp the true power of the jewel!"

Beatrix is being a condescending bitch to rat people, really sympathetic character right here. Also how does she know the true power of the jewel? Did Brahne tell her, and why would she? Beatrix never speaks of this later.

[Beatrix knocks it out of its resting place with her sword, and catches the jewel]

Cleyran High Priest "Our magic stone!"

Beatrix "Now that I have this jewel, I am through with your city!"

Again, the writers aren't even trying to make her conflicted and hesitant, yet they will try to pull the bullshit with Beatrix's monologue on the Red Rose airship next chapter (and pretty much Beatrix in general next chapter), and I'm going to really enjoy ripping that apart.

[She jumps to the door and runs out]

Zidane "Wait!"

Freya "Halt, villain!"

[The group of characters follows Beatrix out of the cathedral]

Zidane "Think you can get away?"

Beatrix "Get away?" "Hahaha." "You're a bigger fool than I imagined..." "Have you forgotten how badly I beat you back in Burmecia?"

Freya "So, you are more the fool for not finishing what you started!"

A common theme throughout this game, it seems.

Speaking of that, I refer everyone to what I said back in Burmecia, why didn't Beatrix finish them off when she had the chance? Why didn't the queen immediately order their executions? And don't give me that "Beatrix truly didn't want any of this" nonsense, Beatrix has been blatantly portrayed as a heartless warmongering monster up to this point, as I've been repeatedly pointing out, She didn't spare the party out of some goodness of her heart, she did it because its a JRPG and it has to have unwinnable battles where the boss doesn't bother to finish you off...for reasons.

Vivi "You're gonna pay!"

Quina "I find no tasties in this town, so we cook you for breakfast!"

Beatrix "Then allow me to shatter your delusions of grandeur."

Absolutely no hint of remorse or sympathy in her dialogue.

[Boss battle vs. Beatrix. It ends the same way that it did in Burmecia: she says "No more games." and follows that up with an attack (Stock Break) which takes everyone down to 1 HP. She then says "I shall leave with the jewel now."]

"Sh-She's too powerful..."

Well gee, maybe if Fratley had just stuck with the group and fought Beatrix with Freya and them, they would have done better, but he just had to wander off for no good reason. But I digress, because Beatrix is just a Mary Sue who god-modes her way through fights and is far stronger than she should be, and this is the second out of three bullshit battles with her, and the third and worst one is coming up next chapter, oh joy.

Beatrix "Black mages, our work here is done. Commence withdrawl immediately!"

Beatrix has control over the Black Mages, keep that in mind for next chapter.

[A black mage turns into a ball of light. Beatrix runs and jumps into the ball, and it ascends into the air]

Zidane "Hey, they disappeared!" "What now, Freya?"

Freya "Good question..." "Zidane! Look out behind you!"

[Another black mage comes onto the screen, and turns into the ball of light]

Why did this mage randomly walk up close to the party and cast a teleport spell, convenience?

Zidane "There! I'm gonna follow 'em!" "Everyone follow me!" [He jumps into the ball, which goes up into the air]

Vivi "Zidane! He's gone!"

Freya "I highly doubt I will ever return to this place..."

What makes you think that? And I don't mean "foreshadowing".

Freya "Besides, this may be your last chance to find the truth about who you are..." "Come, Vivi! Show us your courage!" [Freya jumps into another black mage's ball of light]

Why are you suddenly concerned about what Vivi is? You had to have already been told about the factory in Dali, and what makes you think doing this will reveal anything about Vivi? Shouldn't you be more concerned about Fratley? (Who you seem to have completely forgotten about)

Vivi "Oh no... Freya's gone, too!" [Vivi jumps into another ball of light, leaving only Quina behind]

Quina "I no like heights..." [Runs off the screen]

Then why did you climb to the top of a huge tree? Also there is no way you could have known where the balls of light would take you. (The Red Rose airship) This is also the last we will see of Quina until we meet him/her again in Qu's Marsh later, though it will lead to some unanswered questions as to how, considering what we will see happening to Cleyra at the beginning of next chapter.

End of Chapter 8.