FFX-2 A useless thread regarding the mention of Yunalesca in a fiend tale

[Catnip]

Read the Sallet's fiend tale here.

What we know from FFX:
• Nearing the summit (Gagazet Mountain Cave), Auron revealed to Yuna that Yunalesca sent fiends their way and "awaits the arrival of the strongest" in Zanarkand. This is where Yuna learned to expect meeting Yunalesca as an unsent.
• This implies that Yunalesca being in Zanarkand is not common knowledge, even among summoners. However, it could have just been Yuna who was in the dark, for narrative purposes.
• If I recall correctly, the game doesn't explicitly mention the fact that Yevon's maesters had knowledge of Yunalesca lingering in Spira, but it was mentioned in the Ultimania. The farthest we got was when Mika candidly asked the group, "You have obtained the Final Aeon from Yunalesca, have you not?"

What we know from the fiend tale:
• He was previously a "monk of Yevon."
• Believing Sin to still be a reality, he says to Yuna, "We must make haste to Zanarkand, to Lady Yunalesca!"

This could mean:
1. That even Yevon monks were privy to such information, implying that it wasn't necessarily a secret, just not common knowledge among Spira's populace.
2. That Sallet may have been a high-ranking monk, thereby granting him access to well-kept knowledge.
3. Either way, it may not have been something that only the maesters knew about.

Well, these are my thoughts. Just wanted somewhere to write them out. I'm not sure how canon these fiend tales are, but I think some of them gave neat insight into Spira's lore.

 

[Dionysos]

I'm not sure who was responsible for writing the fiend tales, but I believe they are canon in at least the sense that they are associated with and appear in various forms in the game. Whether they remain consistent with wider aspects is another matter. Some things that don't add up might have slipped through the net.

There were definitely different levels of secrecy within the ranks of Yevon, and maybe it is possible he might have been privy to some of this. Still, if every monk had access to that information then more people were in on the secret than we might have previously guessed. And I don't think we're meant to have the impression that anybody other than the top brass within the cult truly knew the darkest secrets.

My memory is hazy now, but I believe that what people thought was at Zanarkand was simply the Fayth for the Final Aeon, and that they anticipated something along the same lines as other Fayths. I don't think they expected a zombified Yunalesca in a bikini capable of transforming herself into a giant gorgon head.

I would say that it was definitely not known to the populace as a whole, even devout Yevon followers. Wakka and the rest of the guardian party seemed to be almost as surprised as Tidus to learn the full truth of the lie when they met Yunalesca.

To reconcile, perhaps it could be argued that Sallet became confused, being dead and unsent (as a fiend) but regaining consciousness enough to express these words. While not making it to the Farplane, he might have crossed-wires with other pyreflies and gained knowledge beyond his ken and merged them with his own memories when it came to speaking his tale. That is if I am interpreting the whole thing correctly, I'm not confident on this matter as Final Fantasy X-2 is one of my major blind spots.

This is a very interesting topic.

 

[Bambi]

Whats always got me to wondering is surviving guardians would surely tell the tale of what goes down for the final summoning. Like, surely they weren't all a party of two and must have had othet guardians with them? I mean, we know what happens with Auron, and he keeps silent, but surely not every remaining guardian would? Unless - as i know it would go down differently if they just accepted their fate, yunalesca gives them some spiel about hope etc and not telling the general populace, but surely SOMEONE would talk? Or kick off like Auron did - or does she make someone a fayth and kill the rest? Though that wouldn't make sense either as the Summoner would still need to get to the Calm Lands and perform the final summoning. Id imagine id kick off too and kick yunalescas arse if she just decided to wipe out all my guardians
Though, i do think the Maesters all knew/know. Some of these guys have been dead for a longass time, i mean look at meachen, he's definitely been around since yunalescas day, we know that other maester is dead as well, forgot his name but he essentially just sends himself when he realises the party didnt get the final summon lol. Could some of these guys actually be from Zandarkand themselves and are essentially in on it with Yu Yevon and just kicking off with Sin for all eternity? I mean, i know how to hold a grudge myself so i get it lol
I feel like ive gone off track abit there