Part 43: The End

Part 43: The End


We open with a nice shot of the distant stars.


Then WHAM, Meis and company arrive!


Safe and sound, somehow.


The Sacred Altar of the Darkness should be around here. Let's hurry, Meis!


This is indeed the moon, the very last (I mean it this time) dungeon of the entire game.


As you may have surmised by now, the moon is really the land of the Dark Clan, the place they managed to screw over completely with infighting, hence all the giant swords strewn across the landscape. There must have been one hell of a giant mecha battle right before the end.


As far as the dungeon goes, it doesn't hold a candle to the Dianova mazes, for which I am thankful. I'm also reasonably certain that reaching the moon was a point of no return, so this time I really am confused over why we're still getting dating items. At the very least, you should have done all you could before now.


Also, here's where you find that Lord Armor outside of Smoochy, almost too late to be useful.


Magatamas work sort of like bombs in Final Fantasy. They're not very dangerous in their first form.


You hit them once, and they start looking almost cute, in a fetus sort of way.


Hit them again, though, and shit starts going down. Have fun sleeping tonight!


This thing mostly loves casting spells.


And this, well, you can't see it in this shot, but there is seriously some honey in that jar. Everything's just a little messed up on the moon.


This is the last area of the moon. Note how it seems to have a lot of space and light underneath. This will be coming up later.


Finally, it would seem we have found the final destination.

I feel an overwhelming power in the air. Could this be...the Emperor?
I think we're getting close. This time, we'll get him!


We're almost to the Sacred Altar. It's the Holy Flame...of the Dark Clan.


WE MUST HURRY! We must get there before the Emperor uses the power of the Light!



The very last point of no return. This time there is absolutely nothing but fighting and the last cutscenes awaiting you if you select A.


Meis slides down a slope to reach the Dark Holy Flame.


The Emperor is already there, basking in its light, along with the five Holy Flames of Light.


He rises up out of the light as the heroes approach...


...Then sinks back in some.

Fools! The Primordial Flame belongs to me! It is now the flame of the Darkness. I will become a god. Sacrifice your worthless souls to me!


Time for the first part of the final confrontation! I don't think it's any spoiler to say that this guy is going to have more than one form. This one isn't terribly impressive, since the Emperor mostly tries to attack with his sword. It was fairly short, so I included it in the video. Also, defeating the Guardian of the sixth flame gave Meis access to a sixth summon, but without access to a rest point, I can't actually use it. Kind of a dick move, there.


The Emperor doesn't seem too disturbed about losing. Then again, it's hard to tell when his head is a gyroscope.


Instead, he swings his sword and starts absorbing the Dark Flame directly.


This makes him...oh dear.


Ick. What the hell, man? Now he's suddenly a giant fleshy pile of Emperor.

The power courses through my veins. I am a god! I have become a god! Now, I will show you how powerless you are against me.




Welcome to the exciting stage two boss, where...all he does is sit there on standby. He's not even bothering to defend like Bolt or the Guardian. In fact, no matter what you do, summons, attacks, buffs or debuffs, all the Emperor will do is sit there and let you wail on him. And it's at about this point you suddenly realize...


...He was just playing with you the entire time.


Coming back out of combat mode, the Emperor gives another great big laugh, then fires a purple beam at Meis.


This makes his sword break (yet again).

See how weak you are? Behold my power! The power of a god!


This video also contains the lead in from the Emperor. So it turns out that the moon was, this entire time, a hollow, earth-shattering laser cannon. It's just a shame that the Emperor can't aim the cannon at a spot on the moon, or else this fight would have been a lot shorter than it winds up being.


You're no god! You're just a cold-blooded monster!
Insolent woman!


The Emperor responds to Sodina's outburst by firing another purple laser.


Sodina responds by...glowing?

Sodina...?
This can't be happening!


Remember how I said way back to get used to disappointment regarding Sodina's real history? That's because it's taken until the end of the game for it to be addressed. It seems Sodina was never really Jyabil's sister at all. In fact, she was never really fully human.

I must sacrifice myself...This way I can protect everyone, and the Elemental Spirits.


Sodina then transforms into that oddly featureless version of herself which we saw last in Schmidt's lair.


Sodine flies up into the air...


Then fires a full restore beam at the party.


She ends this by forming herself into a new sword for Meis, this one invulnerable to any beams the Emperor Pile may fire at it.

The Sword Spirit! Why is it here?
Meis, know that the mind generates power. I unite my power with yours. Let's finish this, Meis.


At last, we have the real second form battle. Sodine's full restore means that Meis gets access to both his most powerful summons, although my best backliner is gone now. Still, I defeated this form by simply using the top three summons one after another, so it's in the video.



Also, my apologies about the sudden cut during Sodina's big speech, but I rather unavoidably had to pause the game there.


PS: I hate those fucking diamonds.


There's not much involved in the Emperor's final transformation. The screen flashes, the ground rumbles, and suddenly:


You're facing the Darkness. Yes, the Darkness.


Unfortunately, the final final boss of Thousand Arms is kind of a disappointment. He's got a bunch of all-out and frontline attacks that do nothing but damage (plus those fucking diamonds), but after he uses them over and over again, it's just not that exciting. Really, this fight was just a 13 minute slog where Meis uses his nearly all his summon uses while Kyleen (thank you, Miss Speed) slings the potions and an occasional Spark Bottle. Even the final boss music was kind of boring. I've included the last two moves of the battle in the following video just so you can see what I'm talking about.


Sure took long enough.


Upon getting his ass kicked in the most thorough way possible, the five Sacred Fires abandon the Emperor, changing him back into his original form.

All existence originated from the Primordial Flame and now it has been dispersed. The great power has been lost. I wanted to unite them again. I wanted to become a god...


The Flame rages one last time, burning the Emperor to nothing but cinders.


The five Flames of Light return to Meis one by one.


And what's left of the Flame of Darkness looks like it could barely act as a pilot light.


Suddenly, Meis' sword starts shining!


Ah, because Sodina wants to say one final word.

Don't forget what you've created, and never lose faith in them.


Sodina smiles one last time as she fades out.





The End.