Masterpost
Day Fifteen: I'm Glad Irvine Isn't The Main Character
There's actually another problem with the revelation that these guys were all at the same orphanage that was run by the Sorceress.
I was so annoyed by the way that Quistis got shafted during that whole section that I barely even noticed this:
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| "That's why I tried to shoot her." |
However, that little factoid does not excuse the fact that most of these people didn't have a clue who this woman was and what role she played in their upbringing until five minutes ago.
Can they really love her? Would memories just returning like that have any emotional weight, or would it just be a clinical and academic knowledge that they should love her?
But of course, the question of whether it would have any emotional weight for the characters overlooks one important question. Does it have any emotional weight for the audience?
I don't think so.
The only emotion I felt during this whole section was annoyance.
I don't know Edea Kramer, the characters didn't know Edea Kramer. This doesn't have the impact of a betrayal because they have not been betrayed. Yes, she was so bad at her job that only one out of six children in her care ended up with a loving family, and all of them ended up as child soldiers, but that's not really a betrayal.
Yes, she's the one who set up SeeD, but so what?
She doesn't seem to remember what she did. She's obviously not the same person any more, so what's the point?
Edea having Zog tortured means about as much as Seifer doing it. Neither of them remember who he is.
(Seifer clearly has a severe case of the crazies. And poor writing.)
Also, this raises two questions.
One: Irvine, why the living hell didn't you tell them this before? Just telling them was enough to bring back their memories, so why didn't you let them know earlier?
Two: Why the hell didn't Ellone tell Zog all this?
They're famiwy, aren't they? There is no reason she couldn't just talk to him about it when Balamb Garden was adrift. Why keep him in the dark? It doesn't help him, it doesn't help her, it doesn't actively help anyone!
But no, she'd rather screw around with the heads of people that she's supposed to care about than just tell them what's going on.
And remember, we've been through how dangerous this whole 'passing out on cue' thing is in this series before. She's not just been screwing around with their heads, she's been putting their lives at risk.
Three: Why didn't Cid tell them this?! He's Edea's husband, he must have known.
How am I meant to see any of these characters as people who actually care about Zog, Selphie, Quistis and Zell? They keep important information from them for no reason.
If anything, Irvine is the worst offender here, because he was just going to let them kill Edea without letting them know what they were doing and/or purposefully sabotaged the mission which led to Zog getting tortured and Zell almost being killed.
And according to Nina, she had to force him to go back with her to save them. A group which includes Selphie, who he claims he's cared about for years.
Then, then he has the gall to talk about his back story and how he wants to stay 'true to his life choices' by letting them know that they may have to go up against their Matron. Also known as, the woman they recently attempted to assassinate.
And no one brings this up. No one reminds Irvine that he could have told them this before they tried to kill her, that they did try to kill her.
And then he goes on about how they're all together now, just like old times.
Excuse me, I need to scream for a couple of hours.
Three hours later...
One. you're not all together, Seifer is nowhere to be seen.
Two. why didn't you tell them earlier?!
I really cannot get over this.
The other four orphanage guys are all 'we can't run from her forever' and I don't get it. You were never running from her in the first place! That's the kind of thing you say when you have to track down an abusive caregiver, not a woman who was nice to you the entire time you knew her.
After some twee snow, Nina agrees to go with them, and it's time to try and find Edea's house because the gang have decided that it's the best shot they've got to find out what on earth happened to her.
Now, I do know where this is. I've been there three or four times before. Every time I have, it's just said something like 'this place seems familiar' and nothing happens. Which is a mechanic I find frustrating at best.
This time, Galbadia Garden is floating around just outside of it.
Of course, this means war.
Now, I wasn't expecting this, and I have to applaud them for taking me by surprise. That's clearly what they were going for.
Since there's a fight, Zog needs to organise the Garden.
These are the options you're given:
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| These are fantastic options? |
One of the options I picked was 'what to do with the hotdogs' just to see what happened. It was mildly ridiculous, and I'm not sure what the point of this comedy option was.
Also, I didn't pick 'take care of the junior classmen', so Dr Kadowaki called the bridge and reminded Zog to do something about that.
Once done with these options, Zog went back down to the Principal's office proper where he was met by Selphie and Quistis (because I picked the 'call my comrades' option) and Irvine, who complained abut not being called for.
Screw you, Irvine.
Also, Zog says something about them having some time, so they might as well not bother equipping their GFs. This fills me with negative confidence that I won't have to faff about on that front again.
Finally for this day, there was another FMV cutscene.
I do question what their logic was with these FMV cutscenes, because this one is literally just a stag being startled by Galbadia Garden.
Also, are the stags not being attacked by the monsters? Because if not, why not?
Maybe we'll find answers during Day Sixteen: Part Thirty Eight. (Spoiler Warning, we won't)
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