Squall Isn't Dead
That's it.
Nah. I'm kidding.
But there is a sentiment in there in how easily we wish to take things at face value. Or how difficult it is. Perhaps we're being lied to, and we should have to expect those lies, or dig for the truth.
I do not believe that Final Fantasy 8 is one of those stories. I truly believe it is a story that should be taken at face value. With its cheesiness, camp, strange plot, strange translation, and stupid plot turns. If you can't enjoy a story at face value, then whats the point of digging deeper? To create meaning for yourself? There is the Death of the Author, where once a story is released, it belongs to the audience and their interpretation. But it is important to think about the Author's interpretation of the work.
I tire of this meta analysis of how to engage with works. At the end of the day, it's your life. Live it how you wish, see stories where others don't.
The point of this essay is to shit on squallisdead.com.
"The main character is dying and this story is but a flash of their life, or what it could've been" is such a stupid argument to make. There is no way to deny it, and worse off there is no way to build off of it. If a character is dead, that is it. They do not come back when the story declares them dead. This means that the entire game, the game which you spent money to buy or rent or borrow was wasted, as the story does not matter. The villain won, you died and you didn't even notice. Worse off, it means that there is no continuation. There is no point to imagining Squall and Rinoa's life after the events of the game. There is no reason to image the party at the end of the cutscene where everyone is enjoying themselves after a victory well earned. After all, Squall is DEAD. So stupid. You deny the purpose of fanfiction, or imagining what lies beyond "The End." because the end was determined a quarter through the game.
Other than being a theory as early internet edgy as it gets (read Rugrats are dead). You laugh at it, saying "ha, thats stupid" and move on, not believing it. The problem with Squall Is Dead is that it desires to be believed. It cements itself as the True Ending. The theory that ties all the loose ends together. Perhaps, the loose ends detected by the author are not as loose as they seem, and perhaps some personal bias crops up. Or maybe those loose ends are supposed to remain loose.
Or simply put, the author of Squall Is Dead, does not like FF8.
To quote SID (acronym) "The brilliance of the dream theory is that it addresses concerns like these [Orphanage plot twist] and offers a logical explanation." which is to say the author did not read the entirety of that scene. Irvine was a child at this orphanage, yet remembers it? Why is that? Because he junctioned with Guardian Forces late, GFs (yes they're called that), junction to you by taking a place in your brain. That's why they take your memories. Yes, that's also in the game. By junctioning to GFs you are giving up your memories to make room for these powers. My evidence is the computer terminal at the beginning of the game, screenshot from https://www.resetera.com/threads/memory-loss-is-a-possible-side-effect-of-having-a-gf.480502/. "Memory loss is a possible side effect, but this has not been proven as of yet."
Why is it not proven yet? Because Garden and SEEDs are a very new thing. Like, within everyone's lifetimes new. Also, Ifrit, the first GF you get hasn't been junctioned yet. GFs are a personal thing, and only one exists at a time. Look at Odin, you have to prove your might for him.
Moving on past the introduction, lets get to the actual meat of the theory. Squall's Wound. At the end of Disc 1, Sorceress Edea sends an icicle through right underneath Squall's right shoulder. A pretty grievous wound, sure, and things in cutscenes shouldn't be ignored unlike regular gameplay. The author says that players believe Edea healed Squall so he could be interrogated, and tries to disprove this theory with the evidence that there are better people to interogate, and even if she didn't know that, Seifer would. "Seifer knows that Squall is no great captain from Balamb Garden. He’s no more privy to top secret information than are the other three." Seifer does not know what being a SEED, is. After all, he isn't one. He didn't pass the test. During the interrogation Seifer asks Squall what the secrets of SEED are, and Squall himself doesn't know, he bullshits an answer about spreading seeds of peace. Squall is no more privy to top information, true, but Seifer would not know that. He would assume that there might be information Squall and the other official SEEDs would know. It just so happens that they don't know. Also why interogate Squall and not Quistis, the senior SEED member? A fairly good point, but I have an idea. They were going to get to her eventually. Squall was the leader of the operation, and also singlehandedly challenged Eda. He's the larger target. Quistis was also imprisoned, they would be able to interrogate her as well. Not mutually exclusive.
Moombas. "But I think it’s more than convenient that the more fantastical elements, such as talking lions, do not appear in the game until after the moment where Squall may have died." This part of the argument is that after Squall's death, the game gets more fantastical and "out there". Saying that Disc 1 was very cut and dry low sci-fi fantasy. To which I say have you read a story before. Have you played a game before? Much less another Final Fantasy game? Do people criticise Moogles for being in every game/ No! You come to expect it! Video games work under suspended disbelief, I agree, do Moombas break that suspension? I doubt that. Not every part of a story must be laid out at the beginning. You don't have to see every character at the very beginning of the game (minus intro cutscene). Take Persona 3 for example (NO spoilers ahead). You gain party members as the story progresses. Do you know all your party members right in the first hour? No! You have to meet them and find their reasons for joining you. Do I find those characters to break my immersion in the story? No!.
NORG. "There are no hints presented in the story to suggest this sort of twist was coming." You do know what a plot twist is, right? It's supposed to catch you off guard. Hence the twist, it's a rollercoasted that yanks you somewhere you weren't expecting. Maybe too many writers focus on having predictable twists if you know to doubt the story, or put the pieces together eariler. But what happened to simple twists? I think a lot of the criticism here against FF8 is that the story is not as deep at the author wanted it to be. They might've wanted a deeper story, with more fleshed out reasoning, people, motives. But instead got FF8. "After Squall and Friends kill NORG, that's it. Nothing happens." Things born in the shadows, and die in the shadows, rarely come to light. What do I mean by that? NORG was in the background, funding Balamb Garden, and others like him fund the other Garden's. This was probably some scrapped plot line if I had to guess, a third group to create tension, Garden, Sorceresses, and NORGs, but didn't get fleshed out. But NORG serves a purpose I think is integral to FF8's story. NORG, controls Garden. he controls the guards around and he controls the money. Without him, Cid never would've been able to start Garden. Now that he is gone, Cid, and Garden no longer have that shackle and are free to do what they want. Balamb Garden is now free to choose its future, which is something Squall struggles with. Hence why the duty of what Balamb's future is falls to Squall. It's a micro-story of his own struggle.
Fate is something stories deal with a lot. Some authors take the side of Fate being a suggestion, or a lie you tell yourself to justify why things happen. Others take the neutral ground and say there might be, there might not be. FF8 takes the stance of Fate is real. I personally feel as though this is a pretty cut and dry topic, at least for this conversation. FF8 questions fate's existence, but rides on the side that it is safer to assume Fate exists.
Now for the real meat and potatoes of this theory. The reckless disregard for a thing known as a "Character Arc" when talking about Rinoa. "Not only does Rinoa show little appreciation for Squall through disc one, but there are many allusions to her on-going relationship with Seifer." This is where I bring in the unheard of idea of a Character Arc. Rinoa is allowed to not like Squall at the beginning, or see him as a hired mercenary. As that's what she does, and is what Squall is. He's hired as a SEED and follows her orders. It is up to Rinoa and Squall to grow on one another, and to choose to try to get to know each other better.
"Rinoa appears to fully dislike Squall's cold and introverted personality... and chastises him for not communicating his thoughts to her and the others in the party." THAT'S THE PLOT OF THE GAME!!! Sorry for the outburst, but I'm really not! Everyone dogs on Squall for being a cold introvert, because that's what he is. Even Squall knows this! That's why his catchphrase is "Whatever." Becuase Whatever, this is how I am. Whatever, what are you gonna do about it? Whatever, what's it to you anyways? It's his defense, his reasoning for pushing people away because he doesn't want to lose them like Ellone. Squall has internal issues he doesn't fully understand himself, and to escape that pain he pushes people away, because abandonement hurts.
"Rinoa does not show Squall the least bit of affection until the end of disc one when Squall saves her from a monster. In this scene she clutches Squall's arm shamelessly in her traumatized state." Can a person not be scared? I don't see the complaint here. She was a party member in previous scenes? Where she fought... Galbadian soldiers? Humans? Not two large monsters ambushing her?
Now we get to talk about Seifer. Squall's rival. Sure they butt heads, but in the SEED test they force each other to get along for a little bit, for the sake of the mission. Then, inbetween failing the SEED test, and Squall infiltrating the radio tower, Seifer has sided with the mysterious Sorceress. Yeah why not. Isn't having your rival fall to the "dark side" a pretty standard trope? I think at least for Seifer's descent into madness, it being a simple trope is what's pissing the author off. As for the rest of Seifer, we see his descent into madness through his buddies, Raijin and Fujin. They stick by Seifer not because of his ideals, but because he's their posse leader. Until the end of Disc 3 when they've had enough of his BS and they've finally opened their eyes to how insane Seifer has gone, submitting himself being a lap dog for the ever changing Sorceress. First Edea, then Adel, then finally Ultimecia. So Raijin and Fujin leave Seifer to his doom. As for Rinoa's stance, the previous maybe lover of Seifer. She comes to terms with the fact that Seifer is with the Sorceress, and she is against the Sorceress. She might not have been fully comitted during the assassination attempt, but she was already on that path. So... y'know... people can change? You can look at someone and go "we disagree too much, we can't be friends."
Now for the end of the game. Ultimecia's final words are "Reflect on your childhood. Your sensation, your words, your emotions. Time. It will not wait. No matter how hard you hold on. It escapes you." What was Squall's childhood? Being alone in an orphanage after a war across the world probably killed your parents, and then your sister leaves you there. This is why Squall is so alone and cold. He doesn't want to love someone again, just to have them taken away and leave. I miss you Sis, but I'll be strong until you come back. Those are Squall's words. I'll be alone until I can find a way to open up. His sensation is of lonliness. His emotions are cold and distand, off-putting to most. Time does not wait. No matter how hard you hold on, it escapes you. This one is a bit harder to frame towards Squall's life and story, but let's think about what we know of Ultimecia. She wants to use Ellone's power to send herself back to the past to compress time to a single point. A point where only she exists, and maybe what she wants to exist. Ultimecia, wants to go back to the past. She wants to relive some part of her life that has passed on. This is her motive for all of this. Time IS always moving, and you can't go back. Not even Ellone could go back. She could only send people back to people she know. And they couldn't change the past. No matter how hard you hold onto a memory, it will still always be that. A memory. No matter how hard you wish you could, you can't change the past, and you can't get a redo at life. Squall, cannot change his past actions. He can't go back and tell himself to open up more, or be more of a leader. You have to accept your past failiures and move on. Learning from them to never do them again. Time waits for no one, and it's up to you to do what you want.
The final cutscene shows Squall in the space between time, trying to remember reality back into existence. But he's having a hard time doing that, probably because of all the junctioning he's done that's fried his memory. Faces are the hardest thing to remember about a person. Squall is trying to remember the things most important to him. He knows there ARE people he cares about, there ARE people he loves. But his memory isn't allowing him to paint the full picture, because he's forgotten it. This is the tradgedy of Guardian Forces. You get these strong powers, but at what cost? As for the famous image of faceless Squall, that image only appears for one frame. It's a momentary flash of what Squall once felt. Alone. Empty. He knew he was cold and selfish, but that's how he'd always been. How could he change? Well that's simple, he changed because of Rinoa. And he has to remember that he was once empty, but isn't anymore.
"That horrible 'Eyes on Me' song boots up, and we see Rinoa wandering around." This sentence is what finally made it click in my brain about this theory. That horrible Eyes on Me song, is what made me realize the author of Squall is Dead. Hates the game. They do not enjoy it, they do not think it is a good game, and this article is a vent piece, and should be treated as such. Sadly, this revelation comes at the end of the article, after you have been slowly indoctrinated into the headspace of this pissed off author. This is the first mention of Eyes on Me in the article, but not in game. It plays earlier. Is it mentioned? No. It is here, at the end of the game, when the credits are about to roll and the time for saying things is coming to and end that the author is also saying their closing words. They hate this game, and they want you too as well. For this theory to hold any wayter, you must deny the story of the game, and write your own, beliveing yourself to be the better storyteller. The one who can solve all the "problems" spawned form your lack of understanding or comprehension. Squall is Dead because you want him to be. You want the easy way out. You don't want to read the library books. You don't want to imagine that maybe Squall can grow to be less cold thanks to Rinoa and his friends. You don't want Squall to get the girl at the end, because you've seen it a million times and are tired of it. You don't want things to be happy. Well guess what? Too fucking bad. Go read Berserk.
As for the rest of the cutscene, I think the scene with Seifer fishing with Raijin and Fujin was the best ending. Now that Ultimecia is defeated, Seifer has no one to control him. So he can return to his old self. Being the bully leader of Raijin and Fujin. His evil arc is over, and doesn't seek out any redemption from Garden. He leaves to forge his own path. Which, I think is what he always wanted. SEED might've been the way to prove that he has the power and the right to go out on his own, instead of relying on himself and his friends to prove his worth on his own. Seifer should never have sought out his purpose in other people.
"If this was really how the game was meant to be interpreted, why did they make the "dream" so subtle?" Based on everything I've said, I want you to excercise your brain and wonder what my response to this will be. How would I interpret this quote, and rebuke it? (Here's a hint: Squall is shown smiling at the end of the cutscene). He has to be dead! That man has never smiled ONCE in this entire game!
"I choose to believe that this is how the game was intended to be understood because, to me, the game makes no sense otherwise. Everything that happens to the characters after the first disc is ridiculous. The ending is like recapping the game on acid. There has to be something more to the story than a simple "Hero Takes All" plot." Here it is folks, the author's own thoughts on their idea. This theory works if the story doesn't make sense otherwise, or if you think a simple story is boring. I believe, that FF8 is a story that is meant to be taken at face value. You are supposed to play as a could, callous child-soldier who had finally graduated from the academy and plopped into a war he wanted to part of. Yet he descovers his purpose within it, and with the help of his friends, opens up to a girl he cares about, and saves the world.
If you want a story where the hero doesn't win, don't play Final Fantasy.
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