{"id":33533,"date":"2016-08-04T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T10:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=33533"},"modified":"2021-02-19T02:26:26","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T07:26:26","slug":"final-fantasy-x-aint-no-party-like-a-summoners-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=33533","title":{"rendered":"Final Fantasy X Part 8: Ain’t No Party Like a Summoner’s Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before I start today’s entry, I have a bit of housekeeping to take care of. When my brother Patrick read part 5 of this series<\/a> he wrote to me:<\/p>\n

[…] You also failed to tell your readers that your brother won 100 straight Blitzball games, butt-fucked the Luca Goers, and routinely won games by double digits. My personal best was a 27-0 destruction of the Al Bed Machine Fuckers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I try to imagine what Twenty Sided would be like if Pat was running it. That would be a very different kind of website.<\/p>\n

It’s also worth mentioning that Pat recruited Bickson, the lead jerkface of the Luca Goers. He did this just so he could bench him and make sure the guy never played Blitzball ever again. We made a pretty good team. When it came to doing the sidequests to unlock the super-weapons, he handled the Blitzball and some of the races, and I did the monster arena collection stuff. (We’ll talk more about that later.) We played through the game many times like this. The only super weapon we never got was Kimari’s, because to hell with THAT minigame<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Anyway, back to our story…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Secrets Within Secrets<\/h3>\n

I really appreciate how the game always spends a line or two of dialog to remind you of important locations. You can go for hours between cutscenes, so these little refreshers are really helpful.<\/div>
I really appreciate how the game always spends a line or two of dialog to remind you of important locations. You can go for hours between cutscenes, so these little refreshers are really helpful.<\/div><\/p>\n

Final Fantasy X is basically a series of increasingly big reveals. There’s a lot of tension in the story as characters work on secret agendas, try to keep things hidden, and struggle to understand the world around them. At this point in the story there are several layers of knowledge:<\/p>\n

What Tidus (and the Audience) knows right now<\/b>: Summoners go on a pilgrimage to Zanarkand where they get the Final Aeon to fight Sin. It’s a long and dangerous road, so they take guardians.<\/p>\n

What everyone else in the world knows<\/b>: The summoner is killed when they call the Final Aeon. Thus every successful summoner pilgrimage ends in martyrdom. Once you know this, a lot of the conversations in the first half of the game will take on new meaning or depth. It’s why everyone is so somber about beating Sin. It’s why nobody else seems eager to reach the end, even though this is a tough journey and beating Sin will help the entire world.<\/p>\n

What only the Maesters and Auron know<\/b>: When the party gets to Zanarkand they’re greeted by the ghost of Lady Yunalesca, who was the first summoner to defeat Sin. She reveals that not only does the summoner need to die, but they must also choose one of their guardians to become a Fayth. Basically, this volunteer will be entombed in this supernatural display case and their soul will be used to power the Final Aeon. <\/p>\n

By the time the summoner makes it all the way to Yunalesca, it’s unlikely they will reject the deal. After all, it would mean their long hard journey will have been for nothing. (The sunk cost fallacy<\/a> in action.) They would need to face another hard journey to return home, and all the while they would just be leaving this horrible choice for someone else. <\/p>\n

Furthermore, when Sin dies it body-hops to the Aeon that vanquished it. Which means that every incarnation of Sin is using the soul of a former guardian.<\/p>\n

What only Auron knows<\/b>To be fair, the Maesters could probably figure this one out if they cared.<\/span>: The last person to become a Fayth was Jecht, which means that the current incarnation of Sin is Jecht. Auron tells Tidus that Sin is Jecht, but since Tidus doesn’t know any of the other secrets he has no idea how it’s possible or what it means.<\/p>\n

What probably nobody knows<\/b>: If you get to the end and refuse Yunalesca’s deal, then lady Yunalesca will try to kill the entire party. The text never says this explicitly, but it’s what happens to our party and it explains why the secret never leaked out into common knowledge. There’s no telling how many summoner parties she’s devoured over the centuries. <\/p>\n

We never hear about guardians returning from successful pilgrimages. If a three-person party shows up, then the summoner and their volunteer will die fighting Sin, leaving one person alive. Maybe they die on the road home, since making the journey alone would be very difficult. Maybe they stick close to their summoner and end up dying in the conflagration between Sin and Final Aeon, since – as we see later – these showdowns can unleash enough power to level cities. <\/p>\n

But maybe Yunalesca makes a habit of quietly disposing of any leftover guardians once she’s done with the summoner and their Fayth. This is conjecture on my part, but it would explain how the Big Secret has remained a secret for so long.<\/p>\n

During operation Mi’ihen, Maester Kinoc asks Auron if he’s been to Zanarkand. I’ve always assumed this line was to show Kinoc was worried that Auron was in on the Big Secret, and that he might spill it.<\/p>\n

Summoner Parties<\/h3>\n

While Yuna and her entourage are the center of this story, we get glimpses of other summoner parties on our journey. Right now there are two other summoner groups doing a pilgrimage at the same time as Yuna: Donna and Issaru. <\/p>\n

I wonder how common this is? If there are always multiple summoner parties going, then the attrition rate for these folks must be terrible. I’d assume that the number of summoners would start out small at first, but as Sin’s rampage went on the number of vengeful widows, widowers, orphans, and general mourners would grow over time. The number of summoner parties would go up until one of them closed the deal. <\/p>\n

Yuna’s Party<\/h3>\n

Don't mess with this group, or three out of seven of them will fight you!<\/div>
Don't mess with this group, or three out of seven of them will fight you!<\/div><\/p>\n

Yuna’s party is enormous by the standards of this world. (But exactly the right size for a Final Fantasy team. What a coincidence!) It looks like her original plan was for a four-person team of Yuna, Kimari, Wakka, and LuluIn a mechanical sense, this is a complete party capable of handling all monster types. Although fast-moving foes would have been a little annoying without Tidus.<\/span>. Then Tidus, Auron, and Rikku get dragged into things.<\/p>\n

Yuna’s party is also unusual because they have several compartmentalized secrets within the group. Tidus is the only one who doesn’t know about summoners dying at the end of their journey. Auron is the only one who knows about the Big Secret regarding the Fayth, while everyone else thinks that only Yuna is doomed to die and the rest of them will get to go home. Auron and Tidus are the only ones who know that Sin is Jecht. <\/p>\n

It’s also an unusual party because Yuna is the daughter of the last summoner to defeat Sin. Her party is a bit of a do-over for Auron. It’s pretty clear that Auron has an agenda and it’s a safe bet he’s not on this journey just so he can re-live the anguish of ten years ago by watching Braska’s daughter and Jecht’s son sacrifice themselves. <\/p>\n

Donna’s Party<\/h3>\n

Look at these two. Isn't Donna supposed to be some kind of magic user? What happened to good old-fashioned mage robes?<\/div>
Look at these two. Isn't Donna supposed to be some kind of magic user? What happened to good old-fashioned mage robes?<\/div><\/p>\n

I don’t know what to make of Donna. She’s got this snooty attitude and line delivery. She comes off like a spoiled rich snob out on holiday. I always got the impression that muscular lunkhead Barthello – her only guardian – is also her boy toy.<\/p>\n

But it’s hard to imagine someone as soft and self-centered as Donna being willing to march down the harrowing road of the pilgrimage to sacrifice herself for the greater good. Then again, she does quit when the road gets tough. She’s not a very sympathetic character, but she is an interesting one. I always thought there must be a good story behind her decision to become a summoner.<\/p>\n

Isaaru’s Party<\/h3>\n

Okay, I see you have like a cape thing on top of mage robes. And also a bow? This might have been an over-correction.<\/div>
Okay, I see you have like a cape thing on top of mage robes. And also a bow? This might have been an over-correction.<\/div><\/p>\n

Yuna runs into Isaaru in the Djose Temple, just after Operation Mi’ihen. This is another three-person team, but this time they’re all brothers. Moroda and the shockingly underage Pacce are his guardians. We learn later that Pacce is like Tidus: He doesn’t know the summoner is doomed to die at the end of the journey.<\/p>\n

Isaaru’s party eventually falls apart, which is probably good for everyone involved. Imagine if he’d made it to Zanarkand ahead of Yuna. Lady Yunalesca would have dropped the bombshell that Isaaru would need to pick one of his brothers to become a Fayth, which would leave the other grief-stricken brother to face the long dangerous road home all by themselves. Would Isaaru sacrifice his 10 year old brother, or leave Pacce to die alone in the ruins of ZanarkandTechnically you don’t call the Final Aeon right there in Zanarkand. Presumably you go somewhere like the Calm Lands where you’ll have room to fight. Regardless, the leftover guardian will have to make their way home alone. Figuring out how difficult this would be depends on how literally you want to take the portrayal of combat.<\/span>?<\/p>\n

This is why you shouldn’t bring a ten year old with you on a dangerous quest, dumbass!<\/b><\/p>\n

Braska’s Party<\/h3>\n

Oh, you want mage robes? Well how about I just put on a mage robe, then another one on my arm, then another mage robe on my other arm. Maybe I'll even top it off with a mage robe on my head. Happy now? IS THIS ENOUGH MAGE ROBE FOR YOU?<\/div>
Oh, you want mage robes? Well how about I just put on a mage robe, then another one on my arm, then another mage robe on my other arm. Maybe I'll even top it off with a mage robe on my head. Happy now? IS THIS ENOUGH MAGE ROBE FOR YOU?<\/div><\/p>\n

Here we have another three-person team. Braska was the summoner with Jecht and Auron acting as guardiansI hope Braska had some black mage training, because otherwise elemental foes were going to be a pain in the ass.<\/span>. We see their journey in recordings that Jecht made along the way.<\/p>\n

Auron was a serious stiff at the time, while Jecht was a brash loudmouth. Auron hated him at first, but they bonded during the journey. I’ve always wanted to know more about their adventures. While I think this game is a complete as a stand-alone story and can only be diminished by adding more, if I had to have a sequel I’d rather it have been a prequel that told Braska’s story rather than whatever the hell Final Fantasy X-2 was supposed to be.<\/p>\n

Seymour’s Party<\/h3>\n

Geeze lady, are you TRYING to make your son a supervillain?<\/div>
Geeze lady, are you TRYING to make your son a supervillain?<\/div><\/p>\n

Well, this explains a lot. The audience doesn’t learn this until reaching Zanarkand, but Seymour was a summoner when he was about tenSo, this was probably a decade or two before Braska brought the Calm? I guess it depends on how old we assume Seymour is.<\/span>. His mother was his guardian, and she was going to become the Fayth. <\/p>\n

So you make a ten-year-old kid sacrifice his mother so he can turn her into an Aeon, and then kill himself summoning her to defeat Sin. Yes, mom was dying of some non-specific disease, but sending your son to his death is still pretty messed up. I strongly suspect this was his father Jyscal’s idea. It sure as hell wasn’t Seymour’s plan, since he wanted nothing to do with it. Jyscal wanted to unify his people (the Guado) and humans. So he married a human, and then sent his wife and son off to die for the people. <\/p>\n

We’ll talk more about Seymour later.<\/p>\n

Honorable Mention<\/h3>\n

Father Zuke and WakkaAnd possibly others, we don’t know.<\/span> did a pilgrimage a year or two ago. Zuke lost heart and quit before reaching Zanarkand. At the time Wakka was relieved, since his mind was still on Blitzball. If Zuke’s pilgrimage had been a success, then right now the world would be enjoying a nice post-Sin Calm, but the new Sin would be growing and forming. And it would be Wakka. Which is strange to think about, brudda.<\/p>\n

Lady Ginnem journeyed a few years ago, and had Lulu as her guardian. Ginnem perished just after the Calm Lands – about the same point that Zuke gave up. Lulu still carries some guilt over failing to guard her summoner. Again, if Ginnem had succeeded then we’d be in the Calm and the next Sin would be Lulu. Which is actually pretty easy to imagine. It would just be this giant angry mass of black leather, fur, and belt buckles. <\/p>\n

Ohalland was a successful summoner from a couple of centuries back. We don’t know who his guardians were, but we do know he was a champion Blitzball player. He’s a major source of inspiration for Wakka and comes up several times in conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I start today’s entry, I have a bit of housekeeping to take care of. When my brother Patrick read part 5 of this series he wrote to me: […] You also failed to tell your readers that your brother won 100 straight Blitzball games, butt-fucked the Luca Goers, and routinely won games by double […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[612],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retrospectives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51866,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33533\/revisions\/51866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}