<\/div>Naturally, with Basch and Vaan delivered safely to their respective certain dooms, Balthier and Fran have no motivation to remain in Bhujerba, and they take their payment and leave promptly. After\u2014 wait, wait, that’s the opposite of what happens, sorry. Despite armed authorities literally swarming around looking for him, and knowing that his most dangerous enemy is waiting to trap him with bait he doesn’t care about, and despite the fact that sticking his neck out for no reason will, in but a short while, become a major sticking point for Balthier, he decides to not only tarry with the suicidal Dalmascans but aid them in whatever dangerous monkeyshines they get involved in.<\/p>\n
Fran offers no objection because she has no character or personality beyond following Balthier like a simpleton.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>No sooner do they step outside and mention their destination than a young, well-dressed boy waltzes over and asks to tag along. The very reasonable question of why he would want to crawl into a closed mine is ventured, and he retorts with the same question. Balthier immediately accepts his company; shady criminals are all one big happy family. Asked his name, the kid gives a terrified deer-in-headlights routine and stammers out \u201cLamont,\u201d but the party immediately one-ups his fumbling of an alias when Vaan addresses Basch by name. Lamont seems not to mind or notice, though, so the trip is afoot once more.<\/p>\n
<\/div>Coincidentally, all roads but the one path to the mine happen to be closed.Also coincidentally, there are two Hunts to be done in the mines, but neither can be started on the first go-round due to the roadblocks preventing you from flagging them. Uuuurrrrghgh!<\/span> Upon reaching the mine, Balthier points out that such an important source of the Empire’s magicite is likely under heavy guard, but Lamont protests that the Empire is largely absent from Bhujerba due to the terms of their alliance. Because if there’s one thing we know about Empires and their stormtroopers, it’s their impeccable restraint and respect of boundaries.<\/p>\n Upon entering, whom should we find but Marquis Halim Ondore IVOndore narrated the opening exposition, which is styled as an excerpt from his memoirs. This is a nod to Final Fantasy Tactics, which is styled as a history written by in-game character Orran Durai, retold by his descendant Arazlam. Durai was burned at the stake for heresy! :) <\/span> conversing with an unknown Judge in golden armor.The gold doesn’t show very well in this lighting, but trust me: this guy is blinged out.<\/a><\/span> The Judge browbeats Ondore for a bit while the party listens in. They are on their way out, and the party keeps hidden as they pass. Lamont seems disappointed with how eager the Marquis is to kowtow to the Empire, but Balthier asserts that Ondore secretly funds insurrectionists. This will remain an important fact until the Imperial war plot is sidelined for a much more important and interesting plot, then brought back after that plot is forgotten and the war takes center stage again. I do want to point out that Ondore’s two attendants are some sort of long-necked cat-people, one blue and one orange. I don’t think their race is ever mentioned, and I don’t think you ever see any but these two. Just something I thought was odd.<\/p>\n The party makes its way deep into the mine proper, blue magicite glittering in the walls of the living rock of the floating continent. Lamont produces a glowing stone and waves it about like a Geiger counter.What he actually came here to check is never made clear; rather, the scene exists to introduce the nethicite, naturally.<\/span> This short inspection seems to satisfy his curiosity, and when the party asks about the stone, he replies that it is called \u201cnethicite,\u201d and that, unlike normal magicite, it absorbs rather than releases magical\u2014 oh, I’m sorry, magick<\/i>al\u2014<\/i> power. I forgot we were in Ivalice for a second. Apparently, the Empire has been trying to manufacture nethicite for a while now, and the esteemed Draklor Laboratory has been succeeding to some extent lately.<\/p>\n Upon hearing this, Balthier comes close to losing his shit, demanding a slew of answers from our mysterious fifth wheel. Before his interrogation of a fourteen year old boy can bear fruit, however, who should bust in but Ba’Gamnan! Vaan immediately demands the whereabouts of Penelo, but Ba’Gamnan actually managed to get one over on us, as trivial as that is: Penelo was never to be exchanged, and they shoved her out the door and sent her on her way as soon as they confirmed Balthier was heading into their trap.<\/p>\n Thinking quickly, Lamont flings the nethicite into Boba Fett’s face and gives the signal for \u201cCheese it!\u201d The party scampers around the gaggle of reptilian Zenigatas<\/a> and a truly Yakety Sax-worthy chase back through the mine ensues. Ba’Gamnan and his three cronies assail you continuously as you flee the mine just ahead of them. Lamont is no longer a party member, having at long last realized the quality of his companions. Running from the headhunters is actually not too difficult; they run at the same rate as you, but have to stop moving to attack or cast spells, so if you’re just fleeing, they can’t catch you for more than one or two hits. Once you near the exit of the mine, you have successfully lost them. Yes, lost them, on a completely linear path through the location they chose to ambush you. \u201cGabranth’s dark hand,\u201d indeed.The bangaa are sort of working with the Imperials, and sort of not. They apparently report directly to a Judge Magister and the soldiers at the Aerodrome were tipped off that we would be arriving, but we already know Ba’Gamnan doesn’t want the Imperials to capture Balthier themselves and their entire ambush plan here in the mines seems to occur under Archadia’s nose without their awareness or aid.<\/span><\/p>\n It’s worth noting that you can totally just turn and fight the fearsome foursome, though it’s pretty tough if you haven’t been leveling significantly. The fight is over as soon as Ba’Gamnan falls, but he is, of course, the toughest of the group, and they support each other surprisingly well. If you do take out the bangaa, he runs off in a scaly huff vowing to get you and your little dog. It’s actually pretty funny if you manage to beat him, since you can then screw around farming monsters at your leisure… yet every time you enter a new area, Lamont will still<\/i> be running for his life just ahead of you. What a card.<\/p>\n Well, did you like Ba’Gamnan and his crew? Think they were cool, interesting characters? Hell no? Well if you did, you’re shit out of luck: we never see them again as far as the main plot is concerned.Ba’Gamnan’s gang are the subject of a Clan subplot later; they lure hunters out to murder them, and eventually succeed in cornering your party only to be killed and their corpses tossed into the Sandsea. Naturally they show up in Revenant Wings as comic relief villains.<\/span><\/p>\n Once outside, Lamont runs smack into Ondore and the Judge, who have detained Penelo after she came running out of the mine. Lamont addresses the Judge as Ghis,pronounced \u201cgeese\u201d<\/span> and claims he was merely out for a stroll. Balthier, eavesdropping behind a wall with the party, identifies Lamont as none other than Larsa Ferrinas Solidor, brother of Vayne and youngest son of Emperor Gramis. Naturally, Balthier had recognized him from the start. You’d think he was keeping this knowledge in reserve to leverage it somehow later, as when he tried and failed to grill him about Draklor. But really you’d think it would just make traveling with him go from irresponsible to suicidally insane; who’s to say he won’t run into, say, high level Imperial military authority figures, who would immediately recognize him and become very curious about the ragtag group following him around? Doesn’t Larsa have good reason to turn them all in that very moment, considering that he may well know Basch’s identity, that Ba’Gamnan is almost certainly pursuing targets of the Archadian state, and was just moments ago pushed up against a wall by Balthier and sternly questioned about Archadian military secrets? <\/p>\n Nope! Nope nah-nope nope noooo, Larsa tells Ondore and Judge Ghis to chew his Imperial taint and takes Penelo by the hand, running off to play house (manse?) or whatever. You know what? Fuck it! I’ll take it! This is your chance, Penelo; your prospects just skyrocketed, girl, grab the reigns on that pony and never let go. Vaan will be fine; that Filo chick is probably DTF, and she’s got a hoverboard apparently.<\/p>\n What comes next is not quite so bearable. Yes, it’s time for what might be the game’s most infamous scene. Balthier and Basch have a quick revisiting of the idea that some people might be very unhappy to learn that Basch is alive and well, and that this might get the Marquis in a bit of hot water with the anti-Imperial groups he’s been not-so-secretly funneling money and magicite to. It would also draw a great deal of attention to Basch himself, and anyone he might be traveling with. It now becomes our objective to spread exactly this rumor, for exactly these purposes.<\/p>\n What.<\/p>\n I have watched this scene five fucking times trying to figure out this leap in logic, and I can’t even begin. I can’t come up with one single reason why this would appeal to us for even a second. If we want to get the Marquis in trouble, we can just tell everyone he fucks those cat guys on the sly. If we want to commit suicide, we can eat zombie flesh and jump over the side of the continent. And if we want anyone\u2014 anyone at all\u2014 to take our claims seriously, we would need proof. Luckily for that last point, we have the man himself, in the flesh! So it would be disingenuous to have anyone else out there making these claims. It would be downright counterproductive to have someone half Basch’s age to run around, not claiming Basch to be alive, but to claim to be<\/i> the Captain, back from the dead. And not by submitting any kind of proof to anyone of import, but merely by running through the streets squawking these obvious falsehoods in the faces of inebriated townies?<\/p>\n Oh Jesus why, why does this turn out to be their plan? To go about the worst possible plan in the least effective way possible? To complement a plan that could kick off a war or an occupation, which in no way benefits us and may well lead to our arrest and execution, with a course of action which could never realistically bring about those ends? To pursue self-sabotage, via self-sabotage?<\/p>\n This fucking game. I swear. I swear to God.<\/p>\n It turns out that the point of telling everyone Vaan is a dead terrorist was to somehow get introduced to the aforementioned anti-Imperial elements, and through them to be introduced to the Marquis. Why yes, this is<\/i> like a 19 year old running through the streets of London claiming to be Lee Harvey Oswald, to meet with MI-6, to set up a meeting with the Queen. Naturally, this works immediately and perfectly. Rather than having a bag slipped over his head, a knife stuck between his ribs a dozen times, and a lovely trip over the side of the continent to the sea, some burly men escort Vaan to the backroom of a bar and ask just what the fuck he thinks he’s doing. Luckily for Vaan, these insurgents are even more incompetent than our own party, and Balthier and Basch follow in right behind them,The extraordinary ease with which anyone can shadow anyone else into any location has been demonstrated relentlessly<\/i> by this game, and baby we aren’t done yet!<\/span> mocking how lame it is to run an insurgence out of the backroom of a pub. Don’t knock it, bro, it worked in Ace Combat 04<\/a>.<\/p>\n The insurgents warm right up to the real Captain Basch, accepting his story at once. Is it FFXII canon that Vayne’s conspiracy is as preposterous as I made it out to be, and all anyone needs to realize this is for it to be pointed out to them once? Oh well. As it turns out, one of the participants in this cute little private club is Ondore’s orange cat-man adviser! I call him Curly. Curly says he’ll run right off and set up a meeting with his Excellency.<\/p>\n This scene is intercut with another, in which Penelo hangs out with Larsa in his office. Amazingly, it isn’t until this scene that Larsa actually introduces himself to her. This scene is almost sort of comical, with Larsa telling Penelo how great and super-trustworthy his big brother Vayne is and how awesome things will be in Dalmasca now that he’s in charge, while Penelo tries to break it to him as gently as possible that the Empire has been rather unkind to Dalmasca in recent years, and trusting the Empire might not be the easiest or smartest thing to do for someone in her position. I make fun, but I like this scene; it establishes Larsa as honorable but eminently na\u00efve about his country, contrasting his uncomplicated optimism to someone who has suffered her entire young life at the hands of the Empire he’s talking up.<\/p>\n It also establishes how much Larsa looks up to his brother, who truly is a charismatic and capable statesman, and his belief in the responsibility inherent in wielding power. More and more, this will emerge as one of the game’s central ideas.<\/p>\n The party makes their way to the home of His Excellency the Marquis. Once inside, Basch and the party meet with Ondore himself. Basch and Ondore seem to think that leaving Basch alive was a measure to try and hold the Marquis in check, the idea being that if Basch’s survival came to light, Ondore’s announcement of his execution after Nalbina would make him seem like an Imperial collaborator and damage his position with his anti-Imperial allies.He also relates, after Vaan butts in, that Larsa (with Penelo) has already rejoined the Imperial Fleet. Ondore makes a priceless \u201cwho the fuck is this kid\u201d face when he says it, too.<\/span><\/p>\n But how is this supposed to work in practice? Word gets out that the Empire totally staged the assassination of Raminas and subjugated Dalmasca under those pretenses, and then they yell, \u201cYeah! We’re all total bastards, and Ondore was our friend! So no one hang out with that guy!\u201d All Ondore has to say is, \u201cI had no idea, I really thought the chump was dead,\u201d and then it’s just the word of the Empire that everyone already hated against the word of the guy funneling money, magicite, and airships their way to fight the Empire in the first place.<\/p>\n Ondore isn’t willing to take that chance, though, and after turning down Basch’s plea to help him rescue Amalia for the resistance, he makes clear his intention to hand Basch back over to Archadia to keep in their good graces. Curly opens the doors to the hall, and stormtroopers flood in to capture the party.<\/p>\n Cut to the city of Archadia, where Lord Vayne and Judge Gabranth are having a nice chat. The Empire is wise to Ondore’s scheming, knowing that the insurgency in Bhujerba is too well-supplied for the Marquis himself not to be involved. Gabranth recommends action, but Vayne punts, diverting the subject. Ondore has just happened to send him a letter: the Marquis has captured Basch and handed him over to Judge Ghis. Gabranth sets out without pause to execute his brother once and for all.<\/p>\n On the way out, he passes Doctor Cid, of the Empire’s Draklor Laboratory, babbling foreshadowing to himself like a fucking lunatic as he enters. Cid and Vayne exchange pleasant greetings, but the scene fades to black, and the audience is not privy to their discussion…<\/p>\n The Travelog continues next week.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As much through a stroke of good luck as anything, the bounty hunter Ba’Gamnan has at last drawn his target to him, and Balthier and co. arrive in Bhujerba. The Strahl’s flyover of the skycity is freakin’ gorgeous, too; Final Fantasy XII really is a beautiful game. At the airport, Balthier points out once again […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[616],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ffxii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53534","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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53534"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53770,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53534\/revisions\/53770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![They never really explain why the two most important men in Bhujerba are just kinda hanging around with Marquis Ondore and a Judge Magister.](\"https:\/\/static.wikia.nocookie.net\/finalfantasy\/images\/8\/85\/XII_ghis_render.png\" "They never really explain why the two most important men in Bhujerba are just kinda hanging around with Marquis Ondore and a Judge Magister.")
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>