Squall The Impaled

[Yar]

At the end of disc one, Edea impales Squall with a giant icicle right through the chest.

Squall later wakes up in disc 2 without even a scratch...

Is this ever explained?

[Gamblet]

Not really. But I think the sorcerer healed him for interrogation or something.

[CimminyCricket]

Squall dies, lol dream land.

[Red Mage Coffman]

This was another big complaint I had about the game. One Disc in and Squall is already dead! Yes! Wait... He's alive? How.? What..? I just... Never mind.

[noshowmillk]

Errrr... maybe it's like Advent Children where you get stabbed multiple times and still able to hold a sword... I don't know...

[maybee]

Oh my god you guys.

Seifer uses fire magic. Kay ?

Now Ice is melted by heat

Kay ?

Now it's clear that Seifer melted the ice magic and healed Squall to torture him.

Because Seifer loathes Squall and believes that he's the good guy.

Ghee. It's not that hard to work out ! :stare:

[charliepanayi]

I remember exclaiming 'that's gotta hurt!' when I saw that scene. It's a great way to end Disc 1 anyway.

[Heath]

Well, there's always the Squall's Dead theory (http://squallsdead.com/) which I think is more attractive than it seems at first glance.

[Gamblet]

Oh my god you guys.

Seifer uses fire magic. Kay ?

Now Ice is melted by heat

Kay ?

Now it's clear that Seifer melted the ice magic and healed Squall to torture him.

Because Seifer loathes Squall and believes that he's the good guy.

Ghee. It's not that hard to work out ! :stare:

Seems logical enough...

[Roogle]

I was under the impression that Sorcery, true magic, does not fall under the standard destructive conventions of regular magic. Edea's Limit Break would make you think otherwise, though...

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

This scene is a great example of the mystery behind being hit. Throughout the game you face monsters and soldiers that shoot you, stab you, light you on fire, pound you into the ground etc etc and yet you survive to fight another day. You could always look at the giant ice spikes as just a way of taking out a great amount of HP.

This is looked at in the same way as someone saying "Why can't you just use a phoenix down on a character who's death is plot related?".

[Gamblet]

This is looked at in the same way as someone saying "Why can't you just use a phoenix down on a character who's death is plot related?".

Because you can use phoenix down on a character that is "knocked-out" not dead. At least that is what I think.

[Formalhaut]

Based on some of the K.Os that can befall all of our characters (claw swipe, mega laser beam, being eaten) it would take alot more than a phoenix down to be un-knocked out. Characters have died in cut-scenes for less. :p

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

Another question arises. Why is the spell equivalent of the phoenix down called "Life" if they are only KO'ed? And I believe it has always been implied that the party gets killed after they're KO'ed, hence the Game Over screen instead of the "enemies that just destroyed us leave us alone while we regain consciousness" screen.

Waxing philosophical over here.

[Loony BoB]

Localised Time Kompression!

Remember, follow the Lucy Lawless philosophy and you can't go far wrong: A wizard did it!

[Jiro]

I really like the Squall is Dead theory. However I think it's simply a case of mysterious magic at work. How did Cloud survive being impaled by Sephiroth's sword when Aeris died in one hit? Same with Tifa surviving. It's all just conveniently ignored because there's not a realistic explanation.

[blackmage_nuke]

Another question arises. Why is the spell equivalent of the phoenix down called "Life" if they are only KO'ed? And I believe it has always been implied that the party gets killed after they're KO'ed, hence the Game Over screen instead of the "enemies that just destroyed us leave us alone while we regain consciousness" screen.

Waxing philosophical over here.

Sometimes it's called "Revive" which can apply to bringing an unconcious but not dead person back to conciousness.

[maybee]

I really like the Squall is Dead theory.

Why ? If CD 2 onwards is Squall's ego fantasy then what's the point in playing and spending a hour drawing Meteor magic from a level 60 Red Dragon ?

It might as well just be a movie. Plus it makes Squall look like some huge egoistical ass-hole instead of a misunderstood soul.

[Clo]

I think they were just like, "We need to end the first disc with a BANG!" and someone said, "Let's make people afraid that Squall might be dead but then he's okay!" and then someone else said, "Make it so."

[Jiro]

I really like the Squall is Dead theory.

Why ? If CD 2 onwards is Squall's ego fantasy then what's the point in playing and spending a hour drawing Meteor magic from a level 60 Red Dragon ?

It might as well just be a movie. Plus it makes Squall look like some huge egoistical ass-hole instead of a misunderstood soul.

I enjoy the theory for the same reasons I enjoy the theory that Pokémon is Ash Ketchum's comatose fantasy. It provides an interesting framework for which to wave away some of the flaws while simultaneously giving us a great insight into Squall's personality. It doesn't make him look like a huge egotistical asshole, or at least, no more than he already is. Instead, it shows how his mind reconciles all of his flaws and insecurities by pitting him against an impossible foe and having to rely on the people he loves closest but fears to lose.

The mechanics of the game are irrelevant. You're right though: it might as well be a movie. Every good video game story might as well be a movie. Or a book. Or whatever else. The mechanics are often completely removed from the tale itself and while you might be a gaming buff for the gaming, I'm a gaming buff for the story.

[DMKA]

In a game where you can bring dead characters back to life and heal their wounds with magic...

[Yar]

In a game where you can bring dead characters back to life and heal their wounds with magic...True. But the game never explains why or how. Squall comments on it briefly and then everyone moves on with their life.

[Loony BoB]

You can't bring dead characters back to life - only knocked out characters.

[Mercen-X]

Final Fantasy protagonists are difficult to kill unless they are on their knees begging to be impaled from behind.

[DMKA]

Final Fantasy protagonists are difficult to kill unless they are on their knees begging to be impaled from behind.
Or not consuming enough healthy fish during the apocalypse. ;__;


You can't bring dead characters back to life - only knocked out characters.
So...is the "Death" spell a mistranslation?

[maybee]

In some Final Fantasy games it's knocked out when you loose HP and sometimes it means death. I think in Final Fantasy VII 0 HP equals knocked out. In Final Fantasy VIII I think it's death.

In Final Fantasy IX it's death for sure because the game over picture is a graveyard same with Final Fantasy VIII I think.

[Citizen Bleys]

He survived specifically because he's a Final Fantasy character, and if there's one thing we know about Final Fantasy characters, it's:

http://www.bastardly.org/bleys/ff5sp/5/14unkillable.jpg

[Mercen-X]

Or not consuming enough healthy fish during the apocalypse. ;__;
What?

[Gamblet]

Or not consuming enough healthy fish during the apocalypse. ;__;
What?

Haven't played a certain game, I presume?

[Red Mage Coffman]

Wow. What a fantastic theory. The Squall is Dead theory is deep and explains a lot. And for someone like me who HATES this game with a burning passion for its horrid story, plot holes, and gameplay, this offers an escape from all that. If this theory were true, I could like this game. I really could. I'd still hate the battle system to some extent, but I could still accept this.

To bad it isn't true though. I think everytime I play this game now, I'll remember this theory. It'll keep me playing, looking for more evidence supporting the theory.

[charliepanayi]

The Squall is Dead theory is almost as stupid as the Rinoa is Ultimecia theory.

[Red Mage Coffman]

Final Fantasy VIII is almost as stupid as the Tidus is actually a Dream theory.

Oh, wait a minute...

[noshowmillk]

Final Fantasy VIII is almost as stupid as the Tidus is actually a Dream theory.

Oh, wait a minute...

Haha... haha... no...

[Mercen-X]

Or not consuming enough healthy fish during the apocalypse. ;__;
What?

Haven't played a certain game, I presume?

Possible, I suppose. Or more possible I didn't pay close enough attention to certain parts of the game to know what the hell this is about.

Anyway, I'm gonna carry on with the newfound belief that Squall is a dream of Rinoa's fabrication.

[Tigmafuzz]

All of FFVIII was just a bad dream.

[Mercen-X]

As in, Square producing and releasing VIII was just a nightmare you're still hoping to wake from?

[Sephiroth]

And I always thought the only dream in Final Fantasy VIII is about a moron.

Final Fantasy VIII has a in my opinion good but by far not the best story. Definitely interpreted by far more than it means but it is a good story.



This is looked at in the same way as someone saying "Why can't you just use a phoenix down on a character who's death is plot related?".

In early Final Fantasys you were able to die and you have been brought back in churches. Now it is just: Story dimension: real, Battle dimension: not real except the demonstration and that a battle itself happened without counting that it really happened how you see it (stats, moves which can never be used against characters or enemies in the real storyline when it comes to comparing their power). Magic like "Death" is just called that because it is fitting for the system which includes stats. In fact normally magic and items cannot bring you back to life. It is like being unconscious - the only special case is Rachel in Final Fantasy VI who is in some sleeping beauty death-like state and where Phoenix really has some story effect. Nevertheless death normally cannot be cured in Final Fantasy. What would characters like Tellah, Galuf, Leo, Aerith, Odin, Brane, Kuja, Reks, Rasler, et cetera say? "You bastard! Just buy that damn Phoenix Down!" - "Sorry, no Gil." Not everything in the battle dimension means what it shows. Attacks for example only demonstrate, what characters and enemies can do. The attack itself, not that is works against every character like people would (normally jokingly) say about characters like Sabin (who can lift many things without a doubt but not like Superman) or Tifa (who can also not lift a WEAPON but you would assume it by just looking at the Battle dimension.

When it comes to theories at least I think the one about Ultimecia, even though it is also wroing, is a bit more interesting. Finding out that nothing of what you experienced, really happened and not having one real moment to show that this is really what is meant, which is also missing for the Ultimecia theory in case you do no over-interprete too much, is really bad.

[Reverof Enola]

I'm not sensing a lot of ffviii fans on this thread.

[Sephiroth]

I'm not sensing a lot of ffviii fans on this thread.

I guess many Final Fantasy VIII fans are here but theory fans are less here.