Ultima - A Deconstruction of Villainy

I've always thought that one of the most extraordinary stories in the Bible is that of the flood that moment when God looked upon his creation and felt disgust revulge and disappointment when he chose to eliminate everywhere All Flesh in which there is the Breath of Life to wash it all away to turn the clock all the way back to the beginning what's really happening in this tale is that God lost faith in his own creation lost faith in its worth in its goodness even in its right to exist in a moment of Doubt God stopped believing in the potential of his creation it didn't really matter that humans were filthy and selfish and evil What mattered was that they didn't have any hope of redemption anymore of ever becoming better they had within them no spark of Salvation and this is what marked them for death in God's eyes not their current ugly state but their lack of future potential in literature there are a lot of of stories about characters who lose faith in their gods but there are comparatively far fewer stories about Gods who lose faith in their own worshipers which I think can be an even more compelling story because thematically flaws in creation can reveal flaws in the Creator and a loss of faith in one's own creation is really a loss of faith in oneself in Final Fantasy 16 Ultima is a Creator God who didn't lose faith in his creation because he never had any faith in his Creation in the first place he is the relatively rare example of a Creator God who truly feels nothing for his creation no compassion no attachment and no interest he created something potentially greater than himself but never realized it never understood it never recognized that potential and because he doesn't understand his own creation because he spurns it he is ultimately destroyed by it in some ways ultima's story mirrors that of the famous Dr Frankenstein in an experiment without Purpose Driven by ambition just to see if he could Dr Frankenstein created a new life form but was so horrified by its terrible appearance that he spurned it labeled it a monster and in an act of Revenge taking Vengeance against a miserable existence that monster destroys the doctor's life but the real monster of the story was always Dr Frankenstein the compassionless Creator who despises his own creation drives it away refuses it the basic respect and dignity that is the right of all living creatures the monster didn't truly kill Dr Frankenstein Dr Frankenstein's lack of compassion and empathy are what killed him this is ultima's story too Clive may have dealt to the final blow but he did not destroy all Ultima alone and utter absence of empathy is the real culprit here empathy is a central theme of Final Fantasy 16 story anytime you hear Ultima talk about the threads of Consciousness that vague internal something that connects people together he's really talking about empathy he just doesn't have the words for this connection because he is incapable of experiencing it himself empathy is what connects people together our amazing ability to not just care about the pain of people around us friends and family and even strangers but to feel that pain to experience someone else's pain deep inside ourselves even though we're not the ones who were hurt empathy is The Fountainhead of kindness and a lack of empathy is always responsible for Humanity's greatest crimes every war every Slaughter and every genocide could these atrocities have still occurred if the perpetrators allowed themselves to feel empathy for their victims it is empathy for the bearers and their plight that lead Sid to found his ragtag resistance to fight for a new and more compassionate world it is empathy that leads Sid to rescue Clive both from the ironborn and then from himself and so it is empathy that propels Clive into the role of leader when Sid dies empathy that leads him to form connections with others without those connections without the help of others he never could have defeated Ultima so in the end it is empathy that saves Humanity in this story that is ultima's greatest flaw and absence of empathy Ultima is not a true God at least not in the biblical sense he is Mortal not undying he is powerful more powerful than any other being we know of but does not possess unlimited power he is knowledgeable far beyond that of any other character in the game but is not all-knowing however he does have one true truly god-like power and that is the power of biogenesis the power to create life Once Upon a Time ultima's race lived and thrived on another world there they created magic an incredibly powerful way of manipulating the physical world but this power came at a price and that was the blight the great death of the world the leaching of all Life in Color I cannot explain to you the lore reason for why the Blake should exist why using magic creates blight white kills the world I'm not even sure if there is a lore reason but I can explain to you the Thematic reasons for magic to cause blight in addition to being a story about the power of empathy Final Fantasy is also a story about the destructive nature of power in Final Fantasy XV great power always always always causes great destruction in this universe when Mages use their magic that magic slowly destroys their bodies piece by piece in an agonizing process of crystallization that results in death when the dominants use their incredible icon Powers they also destroy in the opening cut scenes we see Shiva and Titan clash and beneath them the battlefield is destroyed hundreds if not thousands killed when ifried in Phoenix battle each other on the prologue the entire house of rosfield is incinerated between their consuming rage when Dion loses control of Bahamut the city of twinside is obliterated its citizens slaughtered and when anyone anywhere in this universe uses magic of any kind for good or for ill each time the blight spreads a little further and a little faster the entire world dies a little more again I don't know the lore reason for this I only know the Thematic reason power destroys and it's the same out in the real world power always destroys human civilization is very powerful and look out across the world across human history and see the destruction our power has wrought think of cavemen harvesting fire and then think of all the cities that have been burnt think of mechanization think of flight of bullets of bombs and then think of the incredible Wars that have raged on this planet the slaughter and the death it is an objective reality that greater power leads to Greater destruction in Final Fantasy 16 instead of bullets and bombs this destruction is tied to magic all magic everywhere you might be thinking but can't magic be used for good too can't it be used to build or to heal to create and in any other story you'd probably be correct but in Final Fantasy 16 story even when magic isn't used to destroy its use as a debilitating crutch in this universe magic is holding the entire human race back the civilization of Final Fantasy XV is technologically stunted incapable of taking care of themselves without magic these are Medieval Era humans who don't know how to heat a forge or how to dig a well this is a civilization that never learned how to do some very basic things it's only thanks to Sid a character who is trying to build a world without the abuse of magic that something as basic as a functioning Forge gets invented at all in Final Fantasy 16 magic is death both metaphorically and literally and that is why the use of magic causes the blight to spread so getting back to ultima's origin story his race created magic and in that act his race destroyed their world their entire planet was consumed by blight in order to survive they cast off their physical bodies boarded a cosmic Arc and flung themselves Across the Universe in search of a new world or at least ultimate did it's not clear to me if he's the sole survivor of his race he talks about resurrecting his kin but then his kin look identical to him and merge with his body so are they actually different members of his species or are they fragments of himself either way he or they discovered vallasthea and started a new life here but they had only delayed the inevitable as long as they used magic this new world would be consumed by blight just as the last had so Ultima formulated a plan they would cast a spell a spell of both destruction and creation which would annihilate this world and replace it with something new a paradise where neither death nor blight could ever touch them to cast this spell Ultima needed a powerful enough body to withstand the massive magical energies it would require so he created Humanity a new life form and planted within Humanity the biological seeds from which given enough time enough struggle enough adaptation enough Evolution a body powerful enough to withstand that magic would emerge and then Ultima went into a long hibernation to wait the hundreds or thousands of years it would take for his chosen one to be born which he calls Mythos which is a Greek word that could be translated into fantasy and since Ultima in Greek means last together Mythos and Ultima are a final fantasy nice in effect this Creator God abandoned his Creations left them without guidance without compassion and in his absence Humanity proved their unseen potential by growing and spreading establishing new civilizations new philosophies new cultures as Ultima says in his absence against all expectations Humanity awakened without realizing or caring Ultima created something truly special something greater than his own selfish plan for self-preservation I've wondered if Ultima might actually be a composite being not singular but plural when that ancient race cast off their bodies perhaps they also emerged into a single being Ultima and what about the Fallen all across valicia you can find relics of an ultra technologically advanced civilization that was apparently destroyed in a battle against the gods this civilization is called the fallen and their technology is a close copy of ultima's technology it seems to me that ultimate hasn't just been in hibernation all this time a previous race of humans arose on this planet who copied ultima's technology and when they realized that he planned to destroy their universe and them along with it they tried to destroy him first the resulting battle created the Mastiff crater at zemekis the Fallen civilization was utterly annihilated in this battle Humanity lost the magical technology they had either learned or stolen from ultima's race and that's all we really know about them is it possible that ultimas can were killed in this battle as well that he was the sole survivor that this is why he is the only member of his race we ever see is it possible that he started over after this first failure destroyed all of humanity and then ceded a new human race one without that dangerous threatening technology these questions have no answers only Ultima himself possesses this knowledge and he's not sharing mystery is Central to his character now I want to move away from his Misty origin story and examine how his character is actually depicted in the game itself how the writers crafted this character and to do that I want to watch just three cut scenes from the game first his introduction then the moment he Reveals His apocalyptic scheme to Clive and lastly his death okay so let's start with that first one Clive and Friends shatter the first mother Crystal and then immediately this dark portal appears and then this crazy freaking humanoid creature starts climbing out of the portal the whole thing is a huge what the moment what emerges here is either another member of ultima's race identical to himself or a fragment of himself who sacrificed his body to become a mother Crystal and gather either to fuel ultima's creation's spell when Sid shattered that mother Chris it allowed this particular Ultima Spirit to finally Escape somehow this Ultima immediately recognizes Clive as Mythos and tests his strength after being defeated this Ultima is pleased it believes that Clive is a most suitable vessel Ultima pops up again to claim Clive's body and then Sid stabs it in the neck and before it dissolves Ultima asks why deny your fate your purpose and it seems to me like there's some genuine confusion here I think Ultima truly doesn't understand why Clive would resist him the whole sequence is mysterious bizarre and confusing the first time you watch it the writers want to create a mystery they want to confuse you they are crafting and other real otherworldly Godly alien being and so it should feel bizarre now let's jump into the actual scene that I want to watch in full I know you're there come on you have learned our name what else have you learned Phoenix my travels have revealed much about you and your ambitions I know that it was you who tore me from my brother know that it is his power that you seek but know this if you want him you'll have to go through me very well of mine ancestors fill these lungs that I may dispel the songs of suffering a disturbance we'll leave my brother this is getting us nowhere we agree no more games feelings we have come to claim our vessel and I said no these Flames are nothing to burn this is ultima's true introduction in the game let's start with his name Ultima this name has multiple potential meanings the word Ultima means last this could be a reference to his god-like status as in the Bible God is referred to as the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end or it could refer to him literally being the last of his race or it could refer to his grand scheme to end the entire world or as I said before it could just be a dorky play on words with Ultima and Mythos together being a final fantasy next let's look at his visual design I absolutely love his visual design I think he looks so weird so alien he's almost human except his skin is too pale his eyes too dark he has too many limbs he has strange sort of I like glowing growths that stretch from the sides of his torso down his legs dark claw-like hands pure white hair bulging veins across his face you can tell immediately that he is something very much like us but at the same time he is something very different too he is alien he is strange next let's look at his demeanor the way he behaves his voice is absolutely monotone expressionless without emotion his face is similarly blank and expressionless there is something robotic about his mannerisms and his speech he seems more machine than man remember ultima's greatest flaw is his absence of empathy and this matches his apparent absence of emotion this is what marks him as truly inhuman more so even than his bizarre visual design humans really are defined by their emotions a creature who cannot feel emotion is as different from us as we are different from a sea slug I really love how Joshua has this whole dramatic theatrical monologue if you want to get my brother you'll have to go through me first and then Ultima is is just like okay whatever I don't care Ultima has a supreme confidence in himself and he has no faith whatsoever in his creation no belief in their abilities which is what leads to ultima's defeat in this scene as I've already discussed Ultima is not a true God not all-knowing not all-powerful he is surprised by Joshua's successful resistance here and he is even more surprised when Joshua actually manages to seal him away Joshua seals Ultima inside his own body of course this doesn't really matter since Ultima has multiple versions or fragments of himself running around Joshua only seals one of them away here the rest are free to continue their apocalyptic schemes also notice that line when Ultima is captured you will know what it is to burn that is such a Sinister line and it's even scarier because he says it without any emotion at all like he doesn't even really care he's not going to burn us because he he's angry he's going to burn us just to show us that he can alright let's jump forward like 25 hours further into the game Clive and Friends shatter every single other Crystal except one and at the base of the final mother Crystal Ultima Reveals His True plan a scheme thousands if not millions of years in the making a plan of both destruction and salvation the destruction of nearly all for the Salvation of the very very few is that the fruit or what's left of him long have our ashes laying cold forward of a spark Cast Your Eyes Upon them and see what you must become [Music] oh Palestine cannot endure a second claim upon her being the avarice of man drives her ever closer to destruction but she may yet be saved by you it is what you were born to do why we nurse you and fed you as your own mother should have [Applause] and now that you are fully grown I'm your thoughts it is time time at last for you to serve your purpose to right your wrongs if our sin is wanting to survive then you are as marked by it as we are the fault is yours our Wills were born because you abandoned us and now forfeit them all for a place in your new Paradise do you imagine yourselves worthy of one mankind has no place in our world is this truly so difficult to comprehend only ever require you news us when the time comes to bid this wretched realm farewell None Shall follow none shall remain what do you mean not this is our world once the land's rebirth is complete Humanity will have served its purpose why would we continue to suffer that which has caused us so much fixation because the land doesn't belong to you if it belongs to us all what that is where you are mistaken you are nothing but your precious will ifriet is ultima's true physical body long since cast aside so he could survive the voyage across the cosmos this cold lifeless corpse is the true purpose of humanity in Final Fantasy 16 We Exist too through Evolution and adversity through magic give birth to this creature a new physical body for ultima's Spirit to indwell something else about ultima's character which I haven't discussed much yet and which is on display in this scene is how manipulative he is Ultima manipulates everyone for example when he manipulates Dion and Annabella into orchestrating a destructive Civil War that shatters the Empire here he attempts to manipulate Clive he tells him that they can save the world even though what he's actually going to do is destroy the world and replace it with something else and notice when he says we nursed you and fed you as your own mother should have here ultimate is niggling at one of Clive's insecurities how he never received any affection from his mother Ultima does something very similar with Barnabas earlier he provides Barnabas with motherly affection as well there is something really Sinister about a dark inhuman and strange God who imitates our mothers imitates motherly affection to further his own greed and apocalyptic machinations it's really creepy Ultima is also a liar he told Barnabas that his faithful would be allowed into the new Paradise but that was a lie Ultima was always going to destroy Humanity along with the rest of the world because he doesn't care about Humanity his own creation he only cares about humans as much as they serve their purpose his purpose once that purpose has been served they hold a no value to him there's a hint of cosmic horror to the story of Ultima this dark alien god From Another World a true creator God but one with purely selfish motivations who is incapable of compassion or empathy with power and knowledge beyond our comprehension who has crafted a Universe Scale plan thousands of years in the making a plan which will mean the annihilation of not only all life in the world but the annihilation of physical existence as we know it the writers of Final Fantasy XV have cited Game of Thrones as an influence but they've actually crafted a story worthy of H.P Lovecraft and in this scene we learn the true purpose of Ultima schemes his true motivation and that purpose is a bit disappointing in how bae's selfish and human it is the only thing Ultima cares about is self-preservation he only cares about his own Survival he only cares about living one more day it must be asked is staying alive really worth all of this all this death and strife what even is life to a creature like Ultima it's not like he has any friends or Hobbies what is he even going to do for all eternity in his lonely Paradise Ultima is a villain who is so focused on staying alive that I think he's forgotten how to actually live now let's jump forward to the end of the game Ultima returns to origin the name of his Cosmic Arc his Escape pod where he hibernated and which now serves as the Nexus of all the magic he's siphoned from valesthea first he merges back with the other fragments of himself regaining his true spiritual form and then he and Clive fight in Midway through that fight this happens why why what Layton Force feeds these Flames I sense [Music] have you truly become free [Music] no no you are not a God you are with flesh and Bone you are not one of us I created you all of you and what is mine is mine to destroy during their fight Ultima captures a glimpse of something within Clive something he calls logos something which strikes fear and confusion deep into his heart something he vehemently denies he calls it logos logos is a Greek word with two definitions the first simply means thought or reason but I don't think that's the relevant definition here logos can also refer to the Divine something Beyond mere human reasoning a cosmic reasoning a truer understanding of the Universe and everything in it this is what Ultima glimpses within Clive this is what terrifies him only now does Ultima realize that when he created Humanity he didn't just create a slave species to mindlessly serve him he actually created a new form of divinity something with just as much potential as himself perhaps even greater potential than himself this terrifies Ultima he tries to tries to prove it false by destroying it but he fails and then this happens [Music] something is wrong you're afraid you always have been from the moment the blight exposed what you were weak you conceived us to prove otherwise but the results took you to the Core so in US you saw yourself and realized we had the potential to be more than you could ever be so you turned your back on your creation you're back on the world like the coward you are you think you know me you know nothing logos nothing all along this emotionless exterior has been hiding a deep and writhing well of emotion within him in truth Ultima is driven by emotion even dominated by it and specifically all this time all his life all these thousands of years he has been dominated by one single emotion fear Ultima is afraid he is terrified he is afraid of dying he is afraid of death that's why he fled his own world that's why he concocted this incredible and absurd plan to build a new world all to Stave off the icy Touch of death and that's why he's afraid of his own creation too he didn't abandon Humanity he fled from Humanity he created something with greater potential than himself and instead of embracing that potential nurturing it guiding it not so he could use it for his own selfish ends but so he and his creation could work together could create a new world together but even though Ultima can feel fear he is still incapable of feeling empathy and so he could never join forces with Humanity never join forces with anyone he is so afraid that he would rather craft a new universe free from any emotion at all a supposed Age of Reason where he doesn't have to be afraid anymore in a classic case of literary irony it is ultima's fear of death that ultimately leads him to his death and so let's watch it let's watch the big scaredy cat's final moments tell me what do you imagine will perform this world now that you have gained your precious freedom I honestly don't know but I doubt it will be pretty a sorry tale of sin and suffering hardship and pain and it was for this that you fought so fiercely why it's Who We Are we fight we survive we endure we don't need a reason we are imperfect creatures we stumble we reach for a shoulder to lean on when we fall we stand back up [Music] see the Horizon ever Out Of Reach and still we march on certain the answers lie just beyond it because that is our way [Music] all right congratulations relationship surgery knowing that you have but delayed the inevitable [Music] your world may you enjoy an eternity on this blackened husk I really love this final quiet conversation between Ultima and quive after all the spectacle and the drama and the bombast and the Magical explosions their final moments are quiet simple Ultima wanted to create a world where he would never have to feel afraid never have to feel pain never have to suffer but that's not living that's not life that is just a fantasy life is both Joy and suffering life is both feeling safe and feeling afraid life is adversity that's the world Clive has created here a life where people will suffer but where they will also sometimes feel Joy in those few moments of Joy can make the suffering worth it companionship friendship love empathy these things are only possible because we feel and as long as we feel we will also feel pain that is life and in his final moments Ultima is so confused by this listen to the way he asks that question it was for this that fought so fiercely but of course it is what else is worth fighting for in the end Clive Embraces his own imperfection Embraces the imperfection of his world he realizes that we don't need Perfection and we don't need magic we just need each other what a nice story [Music] thank you

Channel: FatBrett

Views: 4,772

Keywords: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 16, Lore, Story, Explained, Character, Analysis, Villain, Ultima, Fallen, Logos, Mythos

Id: mwEkFiyT808

Length: 34min 45sec (2085 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 14 2023