“The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.” ~ Aleksandr Pushkin
In the most recent two episodes, Cloud has given Sephiroth the Black Materia, punched Aeris while possessed, nearly cut her in two while possessed, and stood there like a man frozen in corbomite while Sephiroth performed Death From Above.
Let’s pause for a moment to celebrate the hoary Final Fantasy tradition of playing into enemy hands.
- FFI: Retrieve a magical artifact for a villain masquerading as an imposter king!
- FFII: Rescue an imposter Princess Hilda and take her back to the rebel base!
- FFIII: Let an enemy steal two magical artifacts while we’re returning the one he stole earlier!
- FFIV: Steal a crystal and slaughter innocents on our imposter king’s orders! Let more crystals fall into enemy hands on purpose or via a possessed friend!
- FFV: Help possessed Dad destroy crystal for the enemy! Get captured so as to be used as hostages by enemy!
- FFVI: Open the Sealed Gate so the enemy can break in and kill/drain all the Espers and destroy the world!
But now that we’ve handed Sephiroth the Black Materia on a platter and let Aeris die, there’s no way we could screw up anything else, is there? I mean, it’s not like we could give him the Black Materia again, right? Ahahaha.
Well then. While Cloud was angsting over Aeris’ bloodless body, Sephiroth idly mentioned his upcoming journey to the Northern Crater. Naturally, we must accept this veiled invitation.