Everything Wrong with Final Fantasy IX

by NC1234567

Final Fantasy IX: "The best Final Fantasy ever!" or an overrated and overhyped game with a poorly done love story? This play by commentary will show. Complete.

27. Chapter 27: Memoria

Chapter 27: Disk 4.1-4.3 Black Mage Village, Memoria and Crystal World

Recap of Disk 3: We get melodrama between Zidane and Garnet because of her becoming Queen (she doesn't just invite Zidane to the Alexandria Castle for some dumb reason), Zidane goes to Treno like an idiot, Kuja attacks, tries to get Alexander, it gets blown up by Garland and the Invincible and never appears again (making Alexander a complete waste of a perfectly good plot), Garnet gets emo and mute and all the drama between Zidane and Garnet is forgotten and rendered moot, game shoves some padding and filler in our faces with dumb stuff like a fetch quest for potions to turn Cid to a frog and a red light, green light minigame, the mute subplot just fixes itself and we get a lousy haircut, we get all the stuff about Terra that is forced and last-minute, the cheap "You are not alone scene" that shows how weak and undermined the love story of Zidane and Garnet actually is, Kuja renders 70% of the game pointless by making Trance suddenly part of the plot and is suddenly being treated as if he was a "complex, tragic and sympathetic" character, and now we are on the final disk which is a straight up drug trip.

[The screen shows the Black Mage Village cemetary; Vivi runs up to Black Mage No. 288]

Vivi "Thanks! They were uneasy at first, but I think they'll get along fine."

Black Mage No. 288 "There's no need to thank me. You've done us all a great service."

Vivi "It wasn't a big deal..." "Well, anyway, everything's gonna be okay!"

[Vivi runs off screen, just as Zidane walk on screen]

Zidane "Are you sure it's okay for them to stay here?"

Black Mage No. 288 "Of course it is. So, this was Vivi's idea?"

Zidane "Yeah..." "He wanted the Genomes to start their new lives here."

Black Mage No. 288 "We're similar in many ways... Maybe we can understand them better, and they might open up to us."

They can't until they actually get souls from the Crystals which everyone seems to be forgetting. The writers aren't even paying attention to their own rules.

Zidane "Right... He also said..." "If you guys can get along with the Genomes, maybe humans and black mages can live alongside each other someday..."

You do realize the Black Mages bodies are going stop functioning soon, right Zidane? Also a lot of the Black Mages were technically already human before, but when they died, their souls couldn't go back to the crystal and were captured and spat out by the Iifa Tree then their souls were put into these artificial bodies, but keep up this pretentious charade.

Skipping some lines.

[Screen fades to black; resumes in the Chocobo Stable, where a Genome and Eiko are gathered, along with a black mage and the baby chocobo]

"Is this a monster?"

Black Mage No. 33 "He's a chocobo, not a monster. He's called Bobby Corwen."

Eiko "Oh, you gave him a name!"

Black Mage No. 33 "Yeah. Bobby Corwen. Isn't it a great name?"

Eiko "Sounds great! Bobby Corwen, huh?"

[The chocobo "kewh!"'s at the Genome, who steps back]

Black Mage No. 33 "I think Bobby Corwen likes you, too."

"It won't bite?"

Eiko "Oh, come on! He's just a little baby chocobo."

[The Genome runs out; Bobby Corwen follows]

Black Mage No. 33 "Bobby Corwen! No! Come back here!" "Wow. I think Bobby Corwen really likes our new friend."

Eiko "Can't you just call him by his first name...?"

Why even give the chocobo a last name at all? Which is also ironic considering the Mages are addressing each other by number rather than name, do they not have even the faintest memories of their names when they were human or rat person or whatever?

[Screen fades to black and resumes in the Item shop. Quina is there, along with a Genome and the black mage behind the counter]

"Why do you display these items?"

Black Mage No. 163 "Why...? For the customers, I think..."

"What are customers?"

Black Mage No. 163 "Well, they bring money, and they hand the money over to the shop, and then..."

Again, this village is on an isolated continent in a forest that is hidden away by a spell, for what purpose do you even need money, a shop and inn for?

"What is money?"

Black Mage No. 163 "Money is, uh..."

The mages don't even know what currency is?

Quina "Why you care about small things? World very simple place." "World only have two things: Things you can eat and things you no can eat."

Black Mage No. 163 "..."

Thanks for the "insight", Quina.

[Screen moves right to show Amarant leaning against the outside wall of the item shop. Near him are a Genome and a black mage, standing on a small bridge, looking at the steam beneath it]

"Does the water here ever stay still?"

Black Mage No. 87 "...? Water flows, doesn't it?"

"The water of Bran Bal was always still..."

Black Mage No. 87 "Hey, did you know that time flows, just like water?"

[Freya walks on screen]

"So, water and time both flow in Gaia...?"

Okay this is getting mundane.

Amarant "..."

Freya "Looks like they're off to a good start."

Amarant "Hmph... It's like watching kids play."

Freya "It's not their fault..." "They've only just begun to live their lives..."

They can't "live their lives" until they gets souls, you idiots.

Amarant "...Can lost time be recovered?"

What lost time?

Freya "I don't know... But there's only one thing we can do."

Amarant "Of course."

Freya "We must protect them from anyone who tries to take their time away from them!"

Dude you just met the Genomes, why are you taking this personally all of a sudden? What about Fratley?

[Screen changes to near the town entrance; Steiner and Dagger are there]

Steiner "Princess, is this what you really wish?"

Dagger "Hmm? What are you talking about?"

Steiner "Kuja must have done something in the Iifa Tree to cover the world in Mist..."

Which is never fully explained.

Steiner "Do you not think it wise to consult Regent Cid before the final battle?"

Dagger "Kuja probably plans on destroying Gaia." "If I go to Lindblum now and tell the regent about it, it might cause a panic." "I'm sure everyone is apprehensive about the reappearance of the Mist... I need Uncle Cid to protect Lindblum right now."

The parade of stupidity continues. If you talk to the regent face to face, will there be a panic? Warning everyone about danger is bad now? Not doing this will be moot anyways.

Steiner "Indeed. We must defeat the enemy on our own..."

That is STUPID, and will bite you in the ass one you encounter the massive hoard of Silver Dragons, but keep endorsing in this bad writing, Steiner.

Dagger "Even if we go back to Lindblum to get equipped, please don't tell Uncle Cid about our plans."

Keep being a moron, Dagger.

[Steiner salutes. Zidane walks up to them]

Zidane "Are we ready...?"

Dagger "Yes. Let's go."

Still no proper love focus I see.

"You haven't got a chance."

[Mikoto walks on screen]

Mikoto "You saw Kuja's power. He destroyed a world by himself..." "You don't even have a million to one chance of defeating him... You'll all die."

Okay Mikoto, are you forgetting that Zidane is supposed to be superior to Kuja? (not that the game fully goes through with that) As are you. Why don't you go help your brother Zidane, Garnet and the others defeat your other brother?

Dagger "..."

Black Mage No. 24 "Wow! This girl knows lots of difficult words!"

Zidane "Doesn't she? She's a bit cynical, but take good care of her, will ya?" "Her name is Mikoto. She's kinda like my little sister."

TAKE MIKOTO WITH YOU, YOU FRIGGING MORON!

Mikoto "Wha-"

Zidane "Mikoto! Listen to your big brother and make some friends!"

Mikoto "H-How silly!"

Zidane "We might be desperate insects to Kuja, but I'll show you how powerful we can be."

How about you figure out how to fully awaken your true powers as a super weapon and overpower Kuja, Zidane? THINK!

Steiner "'Even a fly lives for a day'!"

Dagger "I don't think that's what Zidane meant..."

Zidane "Let's go to the Iifa Tree! We won't let Kuja have his way!"

"We also won't let ourselves think anything through!"

[You choose your team of 4, and retrun to the new airship, the Invincible. Destination: Iifa Tree. Above the Iifa Tree is a glowing ball of purple energy; the Invincible approaches it]

[FMV. The ball of energy is shown, as hundreds upon hundreds of Silver Dragons fly out, towards the Invincible. Screen changes to inside the Invisible]

Yeah I bet you are really regretting your dumb "we must defeat the enemy on our own" decision, eh Steiner?

Same goes for you too, Dagger.

Zidane "They're coming!" [A Silver Dragon, about to attack, is shot down by a blast] "!?"

[Screen changes to outside; a fleet of airships arrive, blasting away at the multitude of dragons]

And exactly at the same moment, not warned by anyone (because it was completely impossible), the regent leads his airship fleet (which he did not have yesterday) to attack these dragons and blast them with LASERS. LASERS, WHAT?! AND THEY EXPLODED! FRIG, WHAT IS THIS, ROBOTEC?!

[Screen changes to inside the Hilda Garde 3; Cid is standing there, along with the members of Tantalus]

Regent Cid "All ships, clear a path for the Invincible!"

How does Cid know the Invincible's name?

Baku "Can't let you guys steal the show by yourselves!"

[Screen changes to inside the Invincible]

Zidane "!"

Dagger "Uncle Cid!?" "Why...? How did he know to show up here?"

Zidane "Probably because of Baku... He loves big showdowns!" "Now, let's lose those dragons!"

That doesn't really explain anything. Where was Baku before? How did he know what was going on and where they would be heading? Baku could not know anything. This is not Baku, this is Sakaguchi.

IX doesn't just fall into freaking nonsense for the sake of pathos, there is also a lot of this. It's no better than Kitase's shit.

[FMV. The Invincible soars past the dragons, towards the light. Several follow, but an airship jumps up from the Mist, as several dragons slam into it. The airship is Alexandria's Red Rose]

[Screen changes to onboard the Red Rose; Beatrix is there]

Kohel, Pluto Knight III "General Beatrix! Our ship is going to burst!"

Beatrix "Do not fret! Your captain is about to enter Valhalla!" "You are a Pluto Knight! Now, act like one!"

I'm sorry what? Since when is Norse mythology part of the IX lore? (I know there is Odin as a summon, but it's clearly not the exact same Odin, as the Norse Odin was missing an eye and had a eyepatch on, we also have Shiva as a summon, which is from Hinduism, except that the original Shiva was male, not female, and etc.)

Blutzen, Pluto Knight II "...We all know you came along because you were worried sick about Captain Steiner..."

Beatrix "Did you say something!?"

[Screen changes back to the Invincible]

Zidane "Red Rose!? Could it be...Beatrix!?" "Quite a woman, you fell in love with!"

Steiner "You're one to talk!"

Dagger "Wait a minute, Steiner! What did you mean by that!?"

[Steiner runs off screen]

Great, another forced moment where they only "tease" Zidane's and Garnet's love story, rather than actually focusing on it. And why would Steiner of all people say this? Were some script pages lost?

Zidane "...Alright! Let's bust through!"

[FMV. The Invincible nears the ball of energy, finally reaching it. The nose of the ship hits it, as a blast of white light fills the air]

[Boss Battle: Nova Dragon vs. Your team. It gets obliterated]

In the Ultimania, this is described as "The nova dragon, the source of all silver dragons, dies and all silver dragons disappear."

Pulled this our of your ass, just like the rest of this bullshit, eh, Sakaguchi?

[Screen changes to inside the Invincible's teleporter; everyone is lined up in front of it, teleporting away]

Zidane "Are you sure this will work, Quina?"

Quina "Is no problem! I warp in from outside before."

Again, how the heck did you do this, especially when no one was even operating this part of the Invincible?

Zidane "I guess this is the only exit, anyway..."

Quina "We find same magic field outside when we come back." "I warp in when I step into magic field outside."

And why did the Invincible have this on back at Terra?

Zidane "Alright... I guess it's no use worrying."

[Everyone teleports down]

[Screen changes to where they teleported; a massive castle looms in front of them]

Zidane
"...What is this place?"

Vivi
"What's wrong, Zidane?"

Zidane
"Did someone just call my name?"

Dagger
"No."

Zidane
"That's weird..."

Freya
"Maybe you're just hearing things."

Zidane
"I don't think so."
"!? You hear that!?"

Steiner
"...I hear nothing."

"...Zidane, can you hear me?"

Zidane
"Garland!?"

"...I am speaking only to you."

Zidane
"Garland, what is this place?"

"Memoria... A place of memories."

This is where the game becomes an acid trip, as I've mentioned before.

Zidane
"Memories...?"

"Yes, your memories brought forth this place..."
"Here, you shall witness the entire truth."
"You have no choice. Now, go..."

How did Kuja even conjure up this place? And how did the parties memories "bring forth this place" if Kuja already went through it, or whatever confusing nonsense is going on here.

Zidane
"What are you talking about!?"
"Damn...!"

Eiko
"...Zidane, what's going on?"

Zidane
"You all heard me talking, right?"
[Everyone nods]
"...Looks like I was the only one who heard him."
"I was just talking to Garland."
"He told me that our memories created this place."
"I don't know what the hell he's talking about..."
"I guess we'll just have to move forward."

[Zidane chooses the team of 4, and heads into the castle]

[After running through several odd screens in Memoria, a boss fight occurs: the Fire Guardian, Maliris vs. Your team. "We meet again..."; "I am one of the Chaos guardians."; "Kneel before my power!". Naturally, Maliris is defeated and destroyed. "It's over..."; "Take this!"; Maliris does the "raining swords" attack, then collapses and dies]

This is like in FFI in the final dungeon, The Chaos Shrine, where you will have an automatic encounter with the four fiends and refight them.

[Next screen, in the background, seems to be a statue of Alexandria Castle, complete with crystal; Quina, Dagger, Eiko and Zidane are standing there]

Eiko
"Isn't this...Alexandria?"

Dagger
"What is Alexandria Castle doing here?"

Dagger, Eiko, and Zidane

[Behind the castle, an FMV occurs; we see the Battle In Alexandria, with Bahamut, Alexander, and the Invincible. A huge wave of fire is seen; the screen flashes white for a moment, and when it resumes, the characters are still there and the image of Alexandria Castle is destroyed]

Dagger, Eiko, and Zidane "!"

Quina
"What!? What you talk about!? I not see anything!"

Zidane
"Of course you can't see anything."
"You weren't with us at the time, so it's not in your memory."

The game will contradict itself on this later in the dungeon.

"In his bid to defy me, Kuja tried to acquire Alexander... An incident, 10 years ago, started everything..."

Which was ultimately pointless seeing as he could have just achieved Trance this whole time instead.

This was also the only time the completely wasted Alexander made a reappearance.

[Screen fades to black, and resumes; Zidane leaves the room and comes to a new screen; It's raining]

Zidane
"A storm..."
[He runs across a bridge, then stops]

[He looks over the railing. Two people are in a boat]
"Hey! What are you doing!?"
"You shouldn't go anywhere. There's a storm."
"Watch out! You're gonna get washed away!"

Okay Zidane, you do remember these are just memories and not the real thing, right?

[Dagger walks up to Zidane]

Zidane
"Dagger! I just saw a little girl on a ship, and-"
"Huh!?"
[He looks down again; they're not there]
"...I guess it was my imagination."
"Yeah, it had to be. What I just saw definitely isn't one of my memories."

Dagger
(What's going on? That was my memory.)
(Why was Zidane able to see it?)
"Zidane."

Zidane
"Yeah, what's up?"

Dagger
"...You didn't imagine anything."

Zidane
"Wait, you saw it, too...!? That means that little girl was you."
[Dagger nods]
"But...why was I able to see something from your memory?"

Dagger
"I don't know..."

Zidane
"Hey, Garland! What's going on!?"
"Garland, can you hear me!?"

"I feared Gaia's eidolons more than anything... However, I decided to deal with them before they became a major problem."

Garland says this, but back in Terra, Mikoto said: "Because of his failure, he was forced to wait a long time."

"...To wait until Gaia's civilizations gained tremendous power: The power to use eidolons."

We were told directly that Garland was specifically WAITING until the Gaians started using Eidolons.

Also regarding the Invincible attacking Madain Sari, according to the Ultimania, Garland actually ordered Kuja to use the Invincible to do it ten years ago, which makes no sense, because twelve years ago, Kuja stole Zidane and dumped him on Gaia, so this event happened after Kuja betrayed Garland and stole Zidane. Why would Garland entrust this task to Kuja who already clearly proved that he wasn't the remotest bit trustworthy after what he pulled with Zidane, and with the Invincible no less, which Kuja still seemed to have control of in the present story as we saw with him using it against Brahne and Bahamut, why didn't Garland just pilot the Invincible and deal with the summoners himself? It would have made more sense that both events happened at the exact same time, Kuja taking Zidane to Gaia while Garland was preoccupied with dealing with the summoners.

[Zidane exits to the next screen. He gets to the base of a set of stairs; in the air is a large eyeball, while clouds swirl around it]

Zidane
"What is that thing...?"

Dagger
"That eye... It's the same eye I saw on the night of the storm at sea."

Which was actually the Invincible, but you don't seem to be acknowledging that.

"...Zidane, can you hear me?"
"...Zidane. What you just saw was from your memory, and not Garnet's."

Holy cow, does this mean that Zidane was there in Madain Sari when it was destroyed?! …Actually no, the game will make a really stupid explanation for it in a few moments…

Zidane
"What!? I don't remember ever being in a storm at sea."

"You still don't understand... You will find out soon enough..."

Zidane
"What do you mean? Can other people's memories become a part of my own?"
"Garland!"

"Once you accept everything, the answer will appear before you."
"A tremendous force was summoned to Gaia during the age of war... However, the Gaians were not ready to harness so great a power..."
"They were terrified and broke the jewel into 4 pieces... and they prayed never to see it again."

Yeah sure, keep mentioning Alexander like it wasn't a completely wasted and pointless plot point, why is Garland even bringing this up? After this line, it isn't even talked about again and doesn't factor into the current situation.

[Zidane heads up the set of stairs, and a Boss Battle occurs: Your team vs. Tiamat, the Chaos Guardian for the Wind Shrine: "So you have defeated Maliris..."; "For Tiamat, there is only victory!" Naturally, Tiamat gets defeated]

[Zidane makes his way to a new screen; in the background, it appears as though two planets are colliding]

Zidane
"What is this...?"
"Two moons colliding...? No. They look more like planets."
"Why does this look so familiar...?"

"This is a picture of Gaia being assimilated by Terra."
"Five thousand years ago, Terra, already an old planet, sought to assimilate Gaia. Terra needed to merge with a younger planet to survive."
"However, there was already life on Gaia."
"And so, the story began..."

Why draw this, if according to the idea (which no one even voices in the game), Terra is INSIDE Gaia?

Also weird how there are no ancient drawings or recordings of this event happening on Gaia, the most we get is the Fat Chocobo in Chocobo's Paradise alluding to it, but that is completely optional and not story relevant.

Zidane
"Oh yeah. I saw this in Oeilvert."

"Life on Terra was coming to an end... We had no choice but to proceed with the fusion, which tragically destroyed Terra's native civilizations."
"Terra was too old to assimilate everything."
"Thus, I created the Iifa Tree to regulate the flow of souls back to Terra."

[Zidane makes his way to a new screen, past a waterful, and ends up underwater. Quina is swimming around]

Skipping this scene. It's just Quina comic relief.

[Zidane proceeds to the next screen; it's a large, destroyed house, with water all around. Zidane, Freya, Eiko and Vivi are gathered]

Zidane
"So, Gaia used to be just one big ocean..."

Eiko
"How do you know?"

Zidane
"...I don't know."
"For some reason, it's in my memory."
"I wasn't even born at the time. It doesn't make any sense..."
"And I was born on Terra, not Gaia, so how can it be in my memory...?"

Vivi
"...It's in my memory, too. Gaia used to be covered with water."

Freya
"I'm getting a similar feeling as well."

Zidane
(...Maybe that means all existence can be traced back to a single source.)
(I don't understand...)

That's stupid, that's not how memories work, and even so, Quina should have been able to see the memory of Alexandria being devastated then.

This is the cop out I was talking about before, instead of revealing that a young Zidane was there the night that Madain Sari was attacked and saw a young Garnet, it just pulls this dumb nonsense. Yes that reveal would have come right out of nowhere, but it would have at least made more of a connection between Zidane and Garnet.

[Zidane runs up a set of stairs, and another Boss Battle occurs vs. Kraken. "I am the 'Water Chaos' Kraken."; "Your presence is forbidden!", and, of course, he dies. Zidane moves on a new screen; in front of them is a ladder leading up, and a large planet of fire looms in the background. Zidane walks on screen; Steiner follows behind him]

Zidane
"Geez... That's one big fireball."

Steiner
"Could it be a moon...?"

"This is the birth of Gaia."

Zidane
"That's Gaia...?"

"Over 5,000 years ago..."

Zidane
"What's above that ladder?"

"See for yourself."
"Terra reached the peak of its prosperity at this time. The people believed that their future was secure. Ultimately, that very hubris led to Terra's demise."

How? You don't even explain the cause of all this.

Skipping ahead.

[Screen changes to in space, Zidane is spinning around; he walks towards a greenish light in the distance and reaches it]

"You have entered a new realm. There are no more worlds. There is no more space..."
"Follow your memory, your original memory, and march forth..."

Zidane
"Garland, what exactly is our memory!?"

"..."

Zidane
"Why can I remember other people's experiences and events that happened before my time?"

"..."

Zidane
"Garland, please! Tell me!"

"...Do not limit memory to just one individual's experiences from birth. That is only the surface."
"Every life born into this world, whether natural or artificial, requires a parent."
"And that parent also requires a parent."
"Life is connected, one to another..."
"If you trace the root of all life, there exists one source."
"The same can be said for memory."
"All life constitutes an intelligence that holds memory beyond experience."
"Memory is not isolated within individuals."
"It is an accumulation of generations of memories that continues to evolve."
"You can say that memory and evolution go hand in hand."
"But most life-forms do not understand the true nature of memories..."
"...which explains why most memories never cross paths."

…and Garland continues to weave this insane narrative, spouting nonsense about "memories" that wasn't even talked about before, anywhere in the game.

Zidane
"...So, what am I gonna find by tracing back our roots?"

"...A presence that presides over all life and memories. The crystal..."

Zidane
"Crystal..."

Finally we get crystals… at the last 1% of the game, with virtually no build up and foreshadowing throughout the entire game… whose tagline is THE CRYSTAL COMES BACK… as I've said all the way back in the first chapter, it's really ironic how the game's simple, most nostalgic promise was OUTRIGHT FALSE ADVERTISING.

Crystals weren't even mentioned back in Terra by Garland or Mikoto when they clearly should have been, regarding the red and blue crystals, or even by Kuja, who knew about the whole thing.

"You are on your own now."
"Zidane...take care of Kuja."
"...and protect the crystal."
"Farewell..."

Zidane
"Garland, wait!"
"Garland!"

"Even if I were created to serve one purpose alone, I do not regret being born to this world."

Oh so now you are trying to give some last minute depth to Garland? Yeah, as I've said before, IX's atrocious pacing and writing robs him of the impact he should have had.

[Screen flashes white; resumes inside a cystalline world; a crystal path in front of Zidane, a crystal planet in the background, all of it shining]

Zidane
"Is this the crystal that Garland was talking about...?"
"...It's time for us to find out the truth."

No, the crystal is still up ahead, what was the point of this dialogue?

[Zidane makes his way through the Crystal World, and enters a white portal. He reappears in a room; the room itself is composed of a platform; underneath is appear to be white-beige clouds. At the back of the room is the bottom of a blue sphere of energy. Zidane runs to the second platform, and stops]

Zidane "!"

[The screen moves upwards. We see the entire blue sphere; floating in front of it is Kuja, and behind him, in the middle of the sphere, something is emanating a tremendous amount of light]

Zidane
"Kuja!"

Kuja
"Nice of you to come."
"I'm surprised you beat the 4 Chaoses that I created from the crystal's memory."

Uh, what? How did you know you could do that? Also if you could do that, why couldn't you recreate more monsters then? Couldn't you create more illusion monsters of Beatrix, Garland or the Eidolons?

Kuja
"But...you're too late."
"Take a good look. Isn't it beautiful?"
"It's the original crystal... This is where it all began..."
"The birthplace of all things..."
"Once I destroy it, everything will be gone."
"Gaia, Terra, the universe, everything..."
"Your lives and memories, too, of course. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Wait, is the game implying that this isn't the red and blue crystal of Terra and Gaia, but the "Mother Crystal" of the entire universe? Keep in mind that on the opening Main Menu screen when you start up the game, it shows a blue crystal which is apparently the Gaia crystal (that, again, is never mentioned in-game along with the red crystal), though the red crystal isn't shown along with it (real great foreshadowing there Square) and it's shape is different from the crystal we see behind Kuja which isn't even Red or Blue.

This is getting ridiculous, they couldn't have just had you go down through the Iifa Tree's roots to the world's core where the red and blue crystals are and see Kuja there? There is even concept art of a final dungeon that seems to imply that this was supposed to be the case, but I guess the developers thought it would be too similar to FFVII where you go down through the North Cave to the world's core as well, but they've already ripped off from a lot of the previous Final Fantasies, why would they refrain themselves now? At least in this case it would have actually made sense and wouldn't have been cheap.

Also isn't this just supposed to be a MEMORY of the Crystal rather than the real deal? What would Kuja destroying a memory illusion actually do? Unless this game is actually suggesting that we went back in time or wormhole traveled through FREAKING MEMORIES, how did Kuja even do all this in the first place, and how does he even know about all this?

Zidane
"Shut up!"
"The only thing that's gonna be gone is you!"
"I'll take you out right now!"

And how are you going to do that, Zidane? How about you actually awaken your powers that are supposed to outclass Kuja?

Kuja
"Hmph. You honestly think you can beat me?"
"Even if you do, Gaia's already doomed. Its assimilation by Terra has begun, and the Iifa Tree will incite a cataclysmic destruction of Gaia."

Here, remember this phrase and remember it after the ending. The characters do NOTHING to deal with this problem. They just give Kuja the boot and forget about the merging of planets and cataclysms and stuff. The ending doesn't even explain anything.

Kuja "It's all over for you and your friends."
"See. I win, either way."

Zidane
"It doesn't matter! Even if Gaia is assimilated, the planet will remain, and we'll start over to make a new home."

Did you miss the part about the Iifa Tree, Zidane?

Zidane "Kuja, you're nothing but a coward! If you're gonna die, leave us out of it!"

Wow, great speech there Zidane, don't you have anything better to say?

Kuja
"Why should the world exist without me? That wouldn't be fair."
"If I die, we all die! Zidane, you will be my first sacrifice."

Again, really "sympathetic and complex" character you have here, writers.

[Boss Battle: Deathguise vs. Your team. At the end of the battle, he gets defeated. Before he gets destroyed, at the top of the screen, it says: Kuja "How did they beat Deathguise...?". As Deathguise burts into fire and dies, the top of the screen shows: Kuja "Do you really think you can beat me?"]

What is Deathguise even supposed to be? I mean, it is supposed to be a reference to the FFVI enemy of the same name, but in the context of IX, what is it? Another "creation from the crystal's memory"? A memory of what? We never saw anything like this before in the game.

[Screen resumes at the platform. Kuja is floating; Zidane is standing. Zidane approaches Kuja]

Kuja
"I can't believe you beat Deathguise..."
"Well... my time is almost up."
"Time to die, everyone!"

Yeah, if you think I'm exaggerating when I've been saying that IX has been ripping off from Blade Runner, explain Kuja's line right here, because this is borderline plagiarism.

[Boss Battle vs. Trance Kuja. At the end of the battle, he's defeated. He says; "Ugh... I'm gonna die anyway..."; "I won't have to be afraid anymore..."; "But I'm not gonna die alone."; "You're all coming with me!". He casts 'Ultima', which blasts into all characters, KO'ing them. They fall on the ground, defeated, Kuja tumbles backwards. The screen fades to white]

And of course, just like with Beatrix, you are never allowed to beat Kuja (though at least in this case the Ultima spell seems to also backfire on Kuja), and also like Beatrix, Zidane is present who is supposed to be stronger than them. What SHOULD have happened was that all of Zidane's true powers awakened, he gets a special Trance form (with black angel wings even!) and absolutely curbstomps Kuja, instead of this unsatisfactory bullshit we got.

Why didn't Kuja just immediately cast Ultima at the start of the fight anyways?

[The screen fades back in. All the characters are knocked out, but alive, on a large slab of rock. In the background appears to be pale-yellowish clouds, constantly moving and shifting. Screams of despair and torment, absolutely hellish cries, are heard in the background]

…and now, the moment you have been waiting for…

Zidane
"U-Ugh..."
[Zidane stands up]
"What happened to the crystal...?"
[Zidane takes a step forward]
"...Where is this?"

"You stand before the final dimension, and I am the darkness of eternity..."

Welp, here is the moment in FFIX that is the most infamous and well known for the fans, the actual final boss: Necron, that comes right out of nowhere.

But… in all honesty, Necron isn't even the BIGGEST problem with IX, I'd say that some of the biggest problems are Dagger's stupidity and the poorly done, unfocused love story of her and Zidane. Necron was at least last minute and a short appearance, and the whole "completely out of nowhere final boss" bad writing isn't even something that is unique to Necron, Final Fantasy and several old JRPG's did this cliché before, "Pulling a Necron" isn't anything new, but this guy's unexpected and arbitrary appearance at the end of IX is by far the most ridiculous example of this unfortunate practice, and the reason it's named after him. (Especially with how this is post-FFVII writing, you'd think that the writers would have moved on from this kind of bullshit) But if anything what is really irritating is that it's Necron that gets all the attention and focus as opposed to other larger problems with IX. What's also irritating is how some fans will actually try to justify his appearance.

These fans will say things like "he is supposed to symbolic!" and "he is supposed to be a physical representation of the game's themes!". Okay, it's pretty dumb symbolism and IX's themes are all over the place and are incoherent, uninspired and uninteresting, and if the writers thought they were being "subtle and clever" they were freaking wrong, because this is about as subtle as a brick to the face. (There are even pretentious, long winded Youtube "analysis" videos about Necron and trying to justify him) Some have also theorized that Necron is actually the true form of the Iifa Tree, based on what Garland said before about how Zidane "only saw the back of the Tree", which is a nice theory and all, but ultimately incorrect as the Ultimania completely josses this theory by stating:

"Eternal Darkness [Necron]
Monster created by fear of death
A being awoken by the fear, despair and hatred of Kuja, who discovered, with the fulfillment of his ambition near, that he had little time left to live. It rejects the cycle of life through the crystal and attempts to return every world, including Terra and Gaia, to nothing. The final enemy to confront Zidane's team." (From the "Lifestream Net")

Necron really is nothing more than just a random monster summoned by Kuja's feelings and the "symbolism" is nothing more than a cheap excuse and a cover up to the REAL reasons that he is here.

The first reason: Necron is actually, like many things in IX, just a cheap reference to a past Final Fantasy, in this case it's a reference FFIII and the "Cloud of Darkness", the CoD was also an out of nowhere final boss for III that was brought upon by a person that feared death (Xande, that Kuja is copying from), though to be fair in the CoD's case, it wasn't completely out of nowhere, III repeatedly talks about the balance of light and dark and how if that balance is upset with light or dark getting out of control, it brings forth a cataclysm, and the CoD is that cataclysm, so it at least had more of a connection to the story than Necron did. (and the DS Remake of III at least tried to expand on this a bit more) Then there is Necron's actual name, You didn't think the last boss's original Japanese name was Necron, do you? It was probably changed because of text space restrictions, but Necron's Japanese name literally translates to "Eternal Darkness", as stated from the Ultimania quote above, and Necron even says his actual name right here in his dialogue (though the translation mixes up the words a bit) Is there a link here? The Cloud of DARKNESS (or Dark Cloud for a literal translation) emerges at the very end of Final Fantasy III to return all existence to the Void. The Eternal DARKNESS emerges at the very end of Final Fantasy IX to return all existence to nothingness. Hmmm. There also might be some FFV thrown in, given that Necron's design looks really similar to the Necrophobe, the optional boss you fight just before the final boss, Exdeath in V (that and the similar names, but considering that Necron isn't supposed to be his actual name, that could just be a coincidence), even the Crystal World looks pretty similar in appearance to the World of Darkness and the Interdimensional Rift, the final dungeons of III and V.

The second and bigger reason: Necron is only here so Kuja can have his cheap last minute redemption, when you beat Necron, Kuja suddenly teleports you away back to outside of the Iifa Tree, and Kuja is suddenly all remorseful and the game try's to have this sad and tragic moment with him and Zidane. (will be addressing how weak that was when we get to that scene) Since having Kuja suddenly getting regretful and teleporting everyone out would have been too blatantly deus ex machina-ish, the writers threw in Necron to try and make the whole thing slightly more coherent.

TL;DR version: The real reasons Necron is a thing is to be just another cheap shout out to a previous Final Fantasy and to be a walking talking plot device for Kuja to have his forced last minute redemption.

(So the next time you come across a pretentious Youtube video or some fan trying to justify Necron, copy and paste this rant to them)

Zidane
"Wh-Who are you!?"

[Zidane walks forward. In the sky above them appears to be a colisseum-type structure, where light is shining from]

"All life bears death from birth."
"Life fears death, but lives only to die."
"It starts with anxiety."
"Anxiety becomes fear."
"Fear leads to anger... anger leads to hate... hate leads to suffering..."

Oh so now we are stealing from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, are we? If having characters name "Biggs and Wedge" was a homage, this here is blatant theft.

"The only cure for this fear is total destruction."
"Kuja was a victim of his own fear. He concluded he could only save himself by destroying the origin of all things - the crystal."

Zidane
"What the heck are you talking about?"
"Why are you telling me all this?"

"...Now, the theory is undeniable."
"Kuja's action proves it. All things live to perish."
"At last, life has uncovered this truth. Now, it is time to end this world."

Necron argues his appearance as follows: "I looked at Kuja and understood everything: we must destroy the world. Before that I did not understand."

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

"I exist for one purpose..."
"To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no crystal to give life." "In a world of nothing, fear does not exist. This is the world that all life desires."

More like you exist to give Kuja his last minute development.

Zidane
"Who the hell do you think you are!?"

This is what all players said when Necron showed up.

Zidane "You're not ending anything! Never, not as long as we have the will to live!"

More clichéd Shonen nonsense dialogue.

"Foolish creature..."
"Your fears have already deluded you."
"One day, you will choose destruction over existence, as Kuja did."
"When he sought to destroy the crystal, the purpose of life ended."
"Now, come... Enter the zero world that you desire."

Zidane
"No!"
"We'll destroy you and prove you wrong!"
"And through our memories, future generations will see that we can overcome any fear!"
[Zidane falls to his hands and knees]
"...We can't give up now."
"...We have to fight together."
"Even if we lose, it doesn't matter... Our memories will live on inside others."
"So, even if we are born to die, I'm not afraid."
"I'm gonna live!"

Dude, Zidane, do you honestly think that anyone actually cares about all this nonsensical bullshit that is happening right now?

[The "Form Party" screen comes up. You get to choose your party of four; no matter what their HP was at the end of the Trance Kuja battle, each character's HP is 1]

[In the next scene, the background fades to black. A blue clump of energy rises from one character, and goes to another. The character which the energy went to wakes up. So, the four characters not in your team give the energy to the four characters on your team.]

The energy that the characters transfer to each other look like bubbles. Which looks silly, and also stupid (when did the characters learn to do this?)

Skipping the characters dialogues when they give energy.

[Screen changes to the "Menu" screen: your team is at Full HP and Full MP. Screen changes to on the rock, your team is standing; Zidane looking up]

Zidane
"We've come too far to lose now."
"Let's just wrap this up and go home...all of us."

Again, I think Zidane is just quoting the players reactions to all this nonsense.

[Screen pans upward to show the coliseum-type area. Boss Battle begins vs. Necron. Necron stands in the colisseum area in all his glory; your team is on the rock. He uses his power to bring them up to him, each of them radiating a blue hue. They float in front of him, as the blueness dissapears. The Final Battle has begun! But like all those before him, he gets defeated (presuming you don't die). This is what occurs at the end of the battle; note that this is still the battle screen]

The last fight makes you remember a word that could be considered a whole swear word. Grand Cross, Grand Cross, Grand Cross, Grand Cross, Grand Cross, GRAND CROSS. It's an attack that inflicts you with a random status aliment, even INSTANT KO. Lucky? Cool. Bad luck? Died of randomness. And the secret boss Ozma is the same. This whole fight can go screw itself.

Necron
"Why defy your fate?"
[Four teleportation beams appears, one to each character, as they dissapear, leaving Necron alone]
"Is the will to live that powerful...?"
[Purple lightning and yellow strands of energy leave Necron's body. The colisseum slowly dissapears into nothingness. Necron slowly blows up in a big dramatic sequence]
"This is not the end."
"I am eternal..."
"...as long as there is life and death..."

You are copying Zeromus' lines from FFIV when he is defeated, so I guess Necron is also partially referencing Zeromus.

[Screen fades to white]

End of Chapter 27.

---

Finally addressed the elephant in the room that was Necron, now on to the game's ending. (But not the last chapter, will be explaining that when I post it)