Part 31: Cecil is a Sexist Emo Wretch
Chapter 31 - Cecil is a Sexist Emo Wretch
So we defeated the Four Elemental Fiends. However, we still have another boss to go through.
It's the core of this Giant, the CPU!
Man! It's huge! We must destroy the Defensive System first! Otherwise all the damage will be repaired!
This is the CPU of the Giant of Bab-il, and if you don't know what you're doing, you could get into deep shit. Hell, even if you know what you're doing, you could get into deep shit. You'll see what I mean soon enough.
As FuSoYa said, the Defensive Node will constantly heal the CPU, which is why it's a priority target.
The CPU itself will usually do nothing other than cast Wall on itself.
The Attacker uses a laser attack called Maser. It's weak, but the major thing is that it's fast, so you have to heal constantly.
Priority Number One is the Defense Node. It must go down so you can actually keep some damage on the CPU.
The problem here is that things get really bad when both nodes die, so you want to keep the Attacker alive. This isn't that big a deal, as its attacks are weak and you can easily keep yourself healed with Rosa and FuSoYa alive. But because of this, and because the CPU uses Wall, you can't really use any magic or else it'll risk destroying the Attacker. Even Berserk could work against you. So this entire fight comes down to having Edge and Cecil attack every turn while Rosa heals.
But that's boring, so I try to speed things up by playing risky.
Oops. Oh well, what's the worst that can happen?
...Oh.
You see, when both nodes are dead, the CPU will use Globe99, an attack that does a guaranteed 9999 damage. He manages to wipe out Edge and Rosa, the latter is a pretty big loss.
Then it turns out Wall wore off on FuSoYa, so he just fried himself. Lovely.
Plus the CPU will restore its nodes, so we now have to deal with this shit all over agian.
And here's where things get bad. Remember how I said the Attacker is fast? This is important because I don't even have enough time to heal a character I revived before the Attacker attacks. In the end, I'm stuck with Rydia and Cecil for the rest of the fight.
Defender has to go, obviously.
Luckily, Asura is here to heal.
I get desperate. Nope, Stop doesn't work on the Attacker.
I decide that if I wait long enough for Wall to wear off, I could speed things up. Of course, I thought CPU used Wall as a counter rather than as an action, so I got this nasty surprise.
So right now, I have only Rydia, who cannot attack the boss with her black magic since it'll either bounce off the CPU or kill the attacker, and she is incapable of physically wearing down the CPU.
Thus, I only have one real choice.
Nuke the everliving shit out of it and hope for the best.
Sweet, it worked!
My reward for my recklessness is Rydia gaining four levels and two spells, which is just fantastic. Weak's kind of a waste, knocking enemies down to single-digit HP but isn't that reliable. Hell, Stone's probably more reliable than Weak, and it instantly kills enemies. That said, at this point Stone probably won't work on too many enemies anymore, and I really would have loved it much earlier, but I'm sure I can still get mileage out of it.
Video: Cecil is a Wretch
Out of nowhere, Kain decides to take some of the credit for the kill, despite doing jack shit to help.
You ruined my plan! You shall pay for this! You!
Get away! Don't you realize who you are? Stop it!
Why did I have all that hatred? Come to your senses! Do you remember your father's name?
What!?
That means... Cecil's...brother!?This is the last big plot twist of the game. Golbez, who has been the main villain for the majority of the game, is actually Cecil's brother. It makes some thematic sense for the protagonist and antagonist to be brothers.
These days, it's pretty damn cliche for the villain to be a direct relative to the protagonist, and even back then it probably was. It's really hard to talk about this and not even mention the Darth Vader/Luke connection, considering how much Final Fantasy
While the focus is on the blood relation between Cecil and Golbez, there's so much more interesting stuff that gets overlooked. Mainly, that Golbez ends up actually being a good guy himself, except he let his darkness overcome and consume him, allowing Zemus to take control of him. The DS version actually includes a scene previously cut from this segment, where Golbez, back when he was a young child named Theodore (no, really), tries to supress dark thoughts against Cecil, whose birth resulted in the death of their mother. Theodore struggles to protect his brother, but Zemus reaches him and tries to manipulate his darkness, leading Theodore to the path he ends up taking.
Whether it was time, memory constraits, or simply a poor fit with the narrative flow, it's a real shame that scene got cut, as it adds so much more depth to what's already a paper-thin villain. Still, just the mere fact that Golbez was merely brainwashed and not actually evil gives the character some depth. Golbez the villain may be fun to watch, but he doesn't really have the depth that Golbez the hero does.
Still, the revelation itself isn't as interesting as how the characters react.
You were controlled by Zemus' telepathy. Your blood made it easier for him to use you.
I have been fighting my own brother... You are my brother?Considering Golbez doesn't know that Cecil is also a son of KluYa, it's only just now that Golbez learns the truth himself. Thus the explanation of why he hesitated with Cecil back on the Tower of Zot.
But...it could have been me...who was controlled by Zemus' telepathy. But It was me... It means my soul was stained with evil for Zemus to use.....
Where are you going? I'll settle all this myself!!
Zemus is a Lunar! He belongs to my race! I'll come with you!
Are you gonna just let him go like this? He may lose his life! ......
Isn't he your big brother? Brother... Right! ......Yeah, Cecil really isn't taking the "villain is actually my brother" thing very well, understandably. Then again, Cecil was raised an orphan, so to even find out he has a living brother would be emotional, let alone finding out while he was there, and then factoring in that he's your sworn enemy who injured and killed so many of your allies. That the game puts even a little emphasis on what Cecil is going through shows how the designers put some actual thought into this, as usually characters will just gloss over it. Here, it becomes a test on whether Cecil the Paladin can show compassion even to the person he's been fighting against. It's a question of whether he can forgive his own brother, and even a question of whether Golbez himself can find redemption, and this is what the finale will be building to.
Meanwhile, the robot giant we're inside of is about to explode.
It's collapsing! We must get out! Cecil! ......
What's the matter? But where is the way out?
Oh, hey, there's Kain! I guess he was watching everything from the sidelines, including the previous boss fight. Good thing nobody else noticed.
Kain! You can't trick us anymore!
Hurry up!
At least that clusterfuck is over. Also, looks like Kain has decided to be a good guy again, so there's that.
Video: Kain Betrays Betrayal
Yeah! Who do you think reactivated the Giant of Bab-il?
Rosa... Golbez was also under the control! It's not Kain's fault! Golbez...too?
A Lunarian called Zemus controlled Golbez from the Moon. So Golbez went to the Moon with FuSoYa to defeat Zemus.You know, out of context this sounds like some story a five-year-old is making up on the spot.
Then I'm coming! I feel like defeating Zemus with my blade! Edge... Let's go.
See what I mean?
Cecil...
It's too risky. There is no guarantee of safe return this time. Cecil! What?! Come on. Get off the Big Whale.This is one of the more problematic scenes in the game, and for good reason, as Cecil is telling the two women who have helped save his ass countless times during these dangerous missions to get the fuck out of his space ship. On one hand, he feels he's protecting the two women closest to him, especially Rosa who he clearly couldn't stand to see die, and Rydia at this point possibly serving as a daughter/sister figure. On the other hand, why now when they've gone through this much? Hell, it's not like they're not needed, as they both possess some powerful magic which have saved the men's asses countless times.
I don't know if I'd go so far as to call this sexist, but it's certainly not a flattering depiction of Cecil. Granted, it would come off better with better wording and all, but it's an iffy scene to begin with and the only reason we even have this is to add a bit more tension to the build-up and to demonstrate how high-stakes this final mission is.
So of course Edge tries to do the same thing with Rydia, and of course she once again blows him off. Oh Edge.
So long, Rydia. Cecil...
So the three manly men stare at a crystal.
Rosa! ... Get out of my way... No! I won't unless you take me with you. Don't be silly. I don't care how dangerous it will be!
Rosa...... Take her, Cecil. Come on, man! Okay, Rosa... Whatever happens...
Looks like Rosa's coming along after all
Didn't I say we're all fighting for a common cause? Besides, I'm the only Caller you have!
As I said, all of that was merely to add some tension and to heighten the build up to the final dungeon.
Next time, we take care of a few loose ends on the Blue Planet, and then we begin the final dungeon. We're at the home stretch!