That Ever-Elusive Time Compression

[ThroneofDravaris]

I thought I would take advantage of the recent theories on Time Compression and state my own opinion on the subject. I apologies in advance if any of what I am about to post has been brought up before (no doubt it has, but I wasn’t able to find anything recent on the forum).

It’s interesting; people have been trying to decipher this theory since the game first came out, yet Time Compression seems to remain the one aspect of Final Fantasy that we STILL have can’t figure out. We are given a pathetic amount of information on it; some times I wonder whether the game designers themselves had any idea what it was. But really, I wouldn’t have it any other way. For once, we aren’t spoon fed a plot device, and actually have to formulate our own theories as to what it all meant. The following is my interpretation of what time compression was, and more importantly, what Ultimecia was seeking to achieve from it.

Well, let’s start with what we are told about time compression within the game.

By the way, as I don’t have the time to replay the game to get these quotes, the following are from a script I found on the net, written by Olivia Kong. I’m appreciate the fact that people go to the trouble of writing things like this, otherwise I would have to remember this sort of thing!



Ultimecia wants to send her consciousness from this period further into
the past. What's she going to do in the past?

Time compression.

Time compression?

It's time magic. Past, present, and
future get compressed.

What's going to happen to the world? Why do
something like that? I can't even
imagine a world where time is compressed!

This is the first mention of Time Compression, right after you free Edea from Ultimecia’s control.


Rinoa: (to Squall) ...I should tell you this before I go. I was possessed
out in space. There was a sorceress inside me. Ultimecia, a sorceress
from the future. She's trying to achieve time compression. She's the
only one who would be able to exist in such a world. She, and no other.

The second mention of Time Compression, this time by Rinoa after returning to the planet in the Ragnarok.


Dr Odine: There is no way to jump to ze future under
normal circumstances. But there iz still a way! It iz because Sorceress
Ultimecia plans to compress time. Compressing time with magic... Vat good
will it do for ze sorceress to compress time? There may be many
reasons, but it doesn't matter. Let's just figure out vat Ultimecia iz
up to. In order for Ultimecia to exist in this time, she must take over
ze body of a sorceress from ze present. But ze machine must have a
limit. Ultimecia probably needs to go back further in time to achieve
time compression. Only Ellone can take her back further into ze past.
Zat iz why she iz desperately seeking her

This is, more or less, the majority of the information that we are given on Time compression. What does it tell us? Well, it tells us that Time Compression :

A) Is a form of Magic

B) Compresses the past, present and future into one.

C) Would create a dimension in which only Ultimecia would be able to exist.

And what does that tell us? Well, nothing much at all really. So in order to discover the nature o time compression, one important question needs to be answered: Why did Ultimecia need to travel further into the past in order to Compress Time? This is where my theory comes in. Perhaps, Ultimecia only needed to compress a certain era (beginning for the time she finds herself when Ellone sends her back in time, to the moment she is defeated by Squall and co.) in order for all of time to follow in the compression. But then, what was in the past that she felt that she needed to include within the original compressed dimension? Well, as we all know, in the end of the game, Ultimecia travels back into the past via Time compression and passes her powers to Edea. Then, Ultimecia’s powers will be passed from sorceress to sorceress, until eventually they reach her again in the future. But if the original event in which Ultimecia passes her powers to Edea is not included in the Compression of Time, then Ultimecia will never have her powers returned to her in the future, thus she will not be able to perform time compression. So she must travel to a point in the past before she gives her powers to Edea, and then begin the compression of time from this point. In this way, Ultimecia ensures that She is the source of her own power (to simplify things, she becomes both the chicken and the egg), so when the past no longer exists after time compression, it will not matter and she will maintain her powers.

Now, this leads to the reason why Ultimecia and only Ultimecia can exist within Time compression. All events require a past in order to come into being. However, in a time compressed world, the past no longer exists, thus nothing can be created. However, Ultimecia’s powers are not reliant on the past, as she has found away to make herself the original source of her own magic. Thus, when everything else becomes nothing, Ultimecia, or at least her powers, shall continue to exist. The only problem with this is that Ultimecia had to be born at some point, thus she too must have some form of past that would be wiped out by Time compression. My only explanation or her continual existence is that somehow, her consciousness is able to co-exist with her powers, or her consciousness was the result of her powers. It is possible that her powers are also her soul, and this would explain the bizarre final form she takes at the end of the game. This is probably where I am speculating the most, really this is one question that I can’t seem to find a completely plausible answer for.

Finally, to what extent did Ultimecia succeed in Compressing Time? Well, obviously she didn’t completely succeed, because everyone still exists at the end of the game. However, it is obvious that she was able compress time to a certain extent, because Squall and the other seeD are able to travel through the compression to the future, where they defeat her. However, she was yet to complete the process by the point at which Squall defeats her, as is evident in Ultimecia: Final Form’s scan information:


Ultimecia, transformed to absorb all time and space.
Absorbing all existence as we speak.

As can be seen from this quote, Ultimecia was still compressing time when she was defeated, thus never completed the process. Also, note the way that it says that she had to transform to complete the process. This ties in with my point earlier, that Ultimecia is able to exist in Time Compression by merging with her powers, or that her powers were infact Ultimecia’s consciousness itself.

Well, I think that about covers it. I understand that that may not have made much sense, I don’t think there are many theories out there on Time Compression that are completely logical. Anyway, consider it in the manner that you will, it’s just my opinion after all.

Any thoughts?

[Sir Bahamut]

Why did Ultimecia need to travel further into the past in order to Compress Time? This is where my theory comes in.

...

In this way, Ultimecia ensures that She is the source of her own power (to simplify things, she becomes both the chicken and the egg), so when the past no longer exists after time compression, it will not matter and she will maintain her powers.

But Ultimecia shouldn't by any means KNOW that her powers are a result of the loop. She'd simply think she got her powers from whatever sorceress was behind her in time, and that's it. She then want to compres time, not realising that it was her casting TC that led her to her death and to her powers being passed on in the first place. After all, had she known about her death at Squalls hand after casting TC, it would seem awfully stupid to go out and do exactly what is supposed to be the death of you!

It seems that Ultimecia needed to get further into the past for reasons we cannot hope to know. It might seem like a sad conclusion, but we'll never fully understand Time Compression on the basis of what we know, so this is one of those things which seems to only have the conclusion: she needed to be in the far past because that's how TC(time compression) works.

As for why Ultimecia can survive in TC and no others, you could think of the line of time as being the sum of every single particles personal histories. Since it is clear that Ultimecia is capable of controlling TC to at least a certain degree, she probably had TC start compressing every single personal history on the line of time EXCEPT her own. In that way she'd be able to carry on leading a normal life, while everyone else would be trapped in TC at Ultimecias will.

Your conclusion that TC doesn't ever completely finish is a correct one.
However, besides the things pointed out, your theory doesn't cover every thing. Ideally, the 'perfect' TC theory would fulfill these points:

1) Explain why we only see effects from TC at the point of Adels defeat and some time into the battle with Ultimecia. (After all, since TC would have certainly reached the events we play in the game prior to Adels defeat, we have to explain why we don't see any influence in those events).

2) Take into account the fact that you travel through TC and LEAVE TC before ending up in Ultimecias world, before seemingly entering TC again in Ultimecias battle. Prerably, it should explain why Odine makes it sound like you couldn't actually end up anywhere BUT Ultimecias time, when the error margin are VERY slim(considering how close Ultimecia comes to full time compression).

3) Take into account the fact the time in FF8 is static and set in stone.

4) Explain why Squall and Co were not affected by TC(ie. why weren't their own individual lines of time also compressed?).

These are the 4 main points. Over at www.gamefaqs.com we're actually in the middle of a debate on TC, and have succesfully created theories which explain almost all the unexplained elements, but not all points in an entirely satisfactory manner. We do however seem to be close to a conclusion, whether or not we conclude it is impossible or if we finally nail it completely. If you want to hear more about time and TC I'd recommend you check out the Time/Ultimecia Plot FAQ on Gamefaqs(search for Final Fantasy VIII, go to FAQs/Guides, and find the FAq called "Time/Ultimecia Plot FAQ; note that the one called Plot Analysis sucks big time). It's credited to my name, but ideally it'd be credited to everyone who has participated in the big discussions that have been on Gamefaqs for a long time.

Then, after you've read that, I'd recommend you catch up with what we're thinking today(the FAQ is outdated) by checking out the topic "Some things in this game make no sense". The TC discussion starts after a few pages. If you have some fresh ideas we'd be more than happy if you registered and partook in the debate.

If you don't want to read through the entire thread, which I guess might be understandable, I can post my most recent theory here.

[Future Esthar]

Don´t agree.In TC there is past,present and future.

[Sir Bahamut]

Future: Naturally TC contains both past, future and present. That's kind of in the definition of TC to begin with, and as far as I can tell, no one ever said otherwise...

[Future Esthar]

I was talking to Throne of Davaris.

[Sir Bahamut]

I know that =P

But I noticed what it is you were talking about it, sorry. He says that in TC the past no longer exists, while you say the past DOES exist. Well, technically you're both correct. The past exists in the sense that although none of the events in the past have been destroyed, it is meaningless to seperate "the past" from any other time in history. In other words, in TC, the past in a sense = the future.