Final Fantasy VIII Part #20 - Part Twenty: Regrouping

Part 20: Part Twenty: Regrouping

Part Twenty: Regrouping

So, recap: Seifer attacked the President, then left with a strange woman.

Now, here's our friend/contract-holder Rinoa. Hey, Rinoa.

"Fuckin' beats me. Dude walked into a wall."

: We don't know.

Rinoa's not a huge fan of that answer.

: ...He'll be ok, right?

The odds are bad.

Well, there's nothing more we can do here. Let's go home.

You can't go back to the TV station, by the way. This camera angle isn't great for things like "making out details", but I think this guard is one of the Galbadians who doesn't care much about his job.

As you can see, the TV is back to its old tricks.

Well, fuck.

: And everyone else?

: They're fine. They're good at escaping.

That's good, then.

This little segment involves a lot of just following Quistis and Rinoa along the already-linear path. It spaces things out a little oddly, to be honest.

: Is there a safe place you can take me? This is an order, an order from your client, remember?

Things are pretty bad for the SeeD team right now.

We're still obligated to protect Rinoa, though.

At least we have these incredibly useful Scan spells to get us through this trying time.

Yeah, I heard it got blown up.

Mother: Come over to my place until things settle down.

: I appreciate it. Thank you...

: What are you waiting for, Squall? Come on!

I'm just waiting for the text boxes to clear. Give me a damn break.

And now it's back to the house next door to Timber Maniacs.

: Thanks, chief.

: Chief?

: She's the leader of the 'Forest Fox'. Almost everyone's a resistance member in this town. But right now, we're the only ones that are really active.

That's probably not gonna last long, what with your blown-up base.

We get a fade to white here, probably while everyone debriefs everyone else on the failures of their various missions. Character-wise, what the Timber sequence establishes is that we're all fucking terrible at our jobs. Everyone did well in the controlled conditions of the field exam, but once we got out on our own, pretty much all we did was fuck up and almost get each other killed.

: What did Seifer come here for?

: I think...he came to help us, the 'Forest Owls'.

She's probably right; Seifer is the type of guy who would run all over the place to try to be a hero and save the girl.

: I talked about it a lot with him. So please...don't think too badly of him.

Instead, he just got himself wrecked and the girl feels guilty about the whole thing.

Ah shit, it's the heat.

The old lady's got it in hand, though.

: Will she be ok?
Daughter: She'll be fine. The legend goes...that my mother took down many soldiers with her strength, cooking, and beauty.

Jesus, Selphie, you're in her house.

As soon as we're upstairs, Selphie takes the opportunity to relax.

Also of note, Zell has been spending time crouching in the corner, because he feels terrible about putting Garden in Galbadia's crosshairs.

I think everyone is tired after a hard day of completely shitting the bed on their mission.

Of course, Zell doesn't have anything to say.

: 'What!? They might end up fightin' the whole Galbadian force! And all they dispatch are 3 rookie SeeD members!? Dammit! I'm going to Timber!'

Huh. Seifer always seemed so level-headed.

: I never would have guessed he was serious about it.

: (That guy's always serious. You should know that by now...)

It's one of those oblique character things, but part of why Quistis is bad at her job is because she can't really understand people well.

Rinoa still feels like it's her fault if anything happens to Seifer, even though he probably didn't come for her specifically.

Jesus Christ, have you ever heard of tact?

: (...Feel sorry? Seifer would hate to hear that.)

: What's so funny!? You're terrible!

Screenshots, but Squall sort of laughs when Rinoa says she feels bad for Seifer.

: So...why do you think Seifer may already be dead?

: (Because...) The president of Galbadia and the sorceress joined forces. Seifer attacked the president. It's no surprise that Seifer may have been killed because of it.

Like the chat with Quistis in the secret area, this is one of those situations where Squall's not wrong, but he's being an emotionally ignorant ass about it.

In contrast to Quistis, though, Rinoa isn't going to take it lying down.

Rinoa is much more emotionally honest than either Quistis or Squall; she's actually able to communicate with another human being because of it.

Squall's not a fan.

: As long as you don't get your hopes up, you can take anything... You feel less pain.

Note here that Rinoa turns away from Squall because she's sick of talking to him. People tend not to like this bit because of Rinoa's using "meany," but it's not just because she's a child, but because - as I said - she's more honest than other characters, and it wouldn't fit for her to use formal or flowery language to express the idea. She's mad at Squall and she's speaking ineloquently out of anger.

She's mad at you, you dunce.

: ...Sorry.

Thanks for breakin' that up.

Mother: If you're gonna leave town, now's your chance! You know how persistent those soldiers can be!

Everybody else leaves, but Rinoa takes one last look at Squall before she goes.

Downstairs, we get another chance to chat.

Zell's still not sayin' anything.

Neither is Rinoa.

Selphie's reaction is understandable, but likely not tactically sound.

I don't think we really have one. Honestly, it's a big weakness.

Understandable.

: (We have to get out of here first...)

: Getting out of here is only the first step.

For her flaws, Quistis at least has some experience, and she's probably the best planner in the room.