The true tragedy.. (potential spoilers)

[iSmiff]

Just a word of warning there may be some very minor spoilers so be warned, assuming I have my facts right anyway.

In FF there are various emotional moments and events which often make people think and reflect. In my opinion, playing through FF9 more recently as a much more mature adult than when I last played the black mages have really garnered a soft spot with me.

From the introduction of ViVi a sweet but naive 'kid' to what initially seemed like a heartless bunch of warmachines (the other black mages).

The Black Mage village is relevant to anyone who has experienced some sort of tragic loss in their lives and their harsh reality is that they must come to grips within a horrificly small timescale when compared to the other living beings around the world, predicted only to live for a year.

And, being alive for a year does not mean that they have been self aware for that amount of time.

Black Mage #288 states that the moment he became self-aware was on the battlefield, seeing a man dead and covered in blood (who, possibly the black mage could have just brutally murdered) sent a shock through his system and scared him.

Imagine being so confused. Having been constructed to do such terrible things when it is clearly possible they are capable of living in a positive community.

On the other hand I do realise that they were created purely for war. Ultimately, if they hadn't been designed for war they wouldn't have that time of self awareness but it made me think and I do believe it's one of the most hard-hitting aspects of the FF series.

Coming to grips with and eventually accepting the facts that they will die soon is very emotional. Some humans live 80 years and aren't ready to go, imagine only having a year to live yet living some of that time as a fully aware mature adult. What would you do if you only had 6 months left, assuming you could do anything; depending which continent you're on you may be considered tools for war)

FF raises some very interesting moral and spiritual questions and dilemmas but this one is especially hard-hitting as I feel it's something we all think about sooner or later. I think such a potentially kind and warm group of beings being created for such hateful reasons is one thing, but the tragedy of their gaining of self awareness and coming to terms with their harsh life-cycle is a true tug of my heart-strings. It's at times like these I tell myself to man up, it's only a game. But hey, some people like to rant about books and movies (so do I..)

"...You're right, but I don't think we build cemeteries for the dead. Sure, it may seem pointless to you, but... How can I describe it? It's so that we can think like this: We'll never forget you. We'll remember you every time we stand at your grave. And we won't let the fear of death, which each of us knows, stop us from living our lives. ...Because my friends will remember me when i'm here." - Black Mage #288

Thoughts? Opinions? I'm rambling as it's 4am but I wonder what any of you think. I'm not used to typing such long topics so apologies if I failed to explain my thoughts and opinions very well. Feel free to ask me specifics.

 

[Karu]

It is an interesting view of death and having to confront it in that way. Having known people with either a short timer or something similar slapped on their life it was a very emotional point of FFIX for myself and some of my friends. I found that what especially made it tearful was the fact that as illustrated the mages only had such a short time to learn before they 'expired'.

I find something like this can also be perceived as was it not only a method of control to keep them without particular sentience but also something of an act of kindness? I'm sure it likely never entered into the minds of Kuja, Brahne or the likes but it's certainly a point to consider.

Considering I was reasonably young playing IX, I found the mages as something to be admired that they knew they were so close to death but just kept going regardless. To be honest it helped me with accepting the whole process. So yeah, I can get where you're coming from but I'm also curious to what you and other make of it on the concept of were they better with or without sentience or particular awareness of death.

 

[iSmiff]

I think the main reason that this whole thing entered my mind again was ViVi, a main character is what we assume is dead (I prefer expired actually) before the final FMV as there is no sign of him, only what seem to be some unexplained childs versions (which is another topic of discussion in itself). Anyway, the black mages seem to have come to terms with their fate however, understandably, seem very scared during the Black Mage Village part of the game which is shown through Kujas manipulation of them, promising a longer life. Quite frankly at this stage I understood the Black Mages point of view and didn't resent them for helping Kuja, and nor did ViVi.

I just found it rather interesting and made me think alot when I was wide awake at a ridiculous time in the morning that as you hear more and more sad stories about terminal patients coming to terms to what is happening with them; and I just found the fact that the mages were only aware for such a short period of time before they expire to be particularly emotional.

Good point about the possible mention of control though, I never really saw it like that, more as just an oversight from the construction point of view. We know they are created with mist but it makes more sense to have their lifespans be much longer than they are, especially as the plans were to lay siege to many of the continents settlements which I assumed would of taken some degree of time. I definitely don't think it's an act of kindness though, but a potential control method is an interesting idea I hadn't thought of. Was Kuja aware that eventually they would become self aware and stop obeying him and was that why he limited their lifespan? No-one knows really. Theres not much theory on FF9 compared to FF7 and the likes.

 

[Roshidon]

Well it's been a while since I played the game I totally forgot the Black Mages only have 1 years to live. Is that all the Black Mages including Vivi? Seems kind of redundant to create something so profound that will only last a year.

 

[iSmiff]

It would seem so. Like I said, we don't see him in the final FMV where Zidane returns, only what seem like offspring. The whole length of the FF9 game seems to only be what seems like a couple of months at most, maybe more as we don't know how long the gaps between the disks really are and how much time they spend relaxing at various places like Lindblum and Alexandria after Garnet becomes queen.

 

[Roshidon]

That's just friggin sad.

So if you see baby black mages in the final FMV (how do I not remember that?) I guess they can mate which means the Black Mage legacy lives on.

 

[Mr. Zombie]

I usually am not attached to secondary characters, so I don't mind too much about them, but rather the message or ideas they were intended to give by the writer (good 'n' old Sakaguchi).

I think Sakaguchi desired to explore the idea of mortality and spirituality with the mages, and give that old but no less important cliché to us to think about, that is, to live everyday as if it was the last of your life (think about it at this moment, this can really be the last the day of your life, or of the life of someone you know and/or care about).

It not only makes the game more deep, but makes the player think about something he may have not thought about, which is important, because makes him more prepared to face the matter once it happens in his life, like happened to Sakaguchi in 1997 when his mother died. Her death influenced him during the develoment of FFVII, and it may have influenced other titles, like FFIX.

 

[iSmiff]

I suppose it does rin a bit of cliche actually but I still found it one of the most influential themes in FF9 and I think the storyline is stronger because of it. (Hey, it beats the shit out of the orphanage angle from ff8). I think had ViVi not been a member of the party I wouldn't of cared as much but the realisation that one of my favourite characters was perishing sucked. It also impressed me how these creatures had obtained an awareness.

They had been manufactured so I assumed they were just mindless fleshy robots however the realisation they were capable of thinking for themselves, and once they had become so, decided that what they were doing was wrong and scary proves that they are clearly 'born' good, I believe much like humans and pets, and it is how they are brought up which determines weather they are good or evil (however in the case of the mages, they aren't aware of their actions whilst performing the evil actions to begin with hence why when they become aware they do not feel an affiliation towards the dark side (muahahah))

 

[Roshidon]

So Why was Vivi so small anyways? Queen Brahne must have skimped on development, probably to have more money for sweets.

 

[iSmiff]

So Why was Vivi so small anyways? Queen Brahne must have skimped on development, probably to have more money for sweets.

He was the prototype, that's why he lived for longer too.

 

[Roshidon]

= O WHAT! Freaky

 

[iSmiff]

Hence why he had more power like the comparable Black Waltzes (who also appeared to have the ability to think for themselves, although they followed orders to an extent)