Squall's Dead. SPOILERS

[MJN SEIFER]

The points I can remember from the article that really make this theory credible are:

*Ultimechia just happens to "summon" Griever.. the same lion on squalls necklace.

It is explained that she read Squall's mind and copied the "GF" based on his own dispair - the "nothing" land is Squall's dispair.

*Everything in the flashback at the end of the game is from disc 1 except the rinoa in the space suit.

They also had scenes from disc 3, and disk 2. Like the Garden Battles, the Ragnarok

*Squall gets Rinoa even though she showed interest in only Seifer throughout disc 1

She showed memories in Seifer, she showed plenty of interest in Squall. I can give examples if you want.

*Some of the events after disc 1 had no hinting to in disc 1.

They all had hinting - they where just done in a way so that they are noticed after you discover what they where hinting to. Again, I can give examples.

The only thing in the game I can think of that doesnt, 100% confirm this theory for me is when Irvine says on the train to Deiling, "Maybe its Fate". after "re-meeting" with Selphie.

There where also plenty of other scenes like that.

Magnificent Theory by the author though

.
It was an interesting theory, it's just I can see too many hints against it. Nice work by the author though, although he has a bit of an attitude problem I think - he clearly hates the romantic side of the game, (see his coments on Eyes On Me...)

[Iceglow]

Ok, the article was a pile of steaming bull.....lets move on quickly.

Heres a logical explanation for the whole ending sequence where Squall gets lost onwards:

At one point in disc 3, just prior to the time compression activation if I remember correctly there is a warning given to the party to remember who they are otherwise they may not make it back from time compression.

Squall has never been the most sure of who he is since he met Rinoa. She changed him, shook his world up like a snow globe he's confused and he's been through a damn lot recently: Day one, goes in to battle in Dollet, Day 2 he's sent to Timber call it Day 3 he's sent in to assassinate the sorceress Edea and fails, call it a few more days, maybe a week before he is interrogated (he may have spent a lot of time in the prison recovering from his injury, we assume he was treated at least partially by magical means) About a day after he escapes, garden begins to move having made it back to Balamb and going through yet another big battle. 2 days floating at a randomly slow speed to reach FH, more battles plus garden festival which confuses him all the more. Due to the refit on garden we could possibly call that 2 weeks (though the game makes no point of these times, I could be wrong and it's still only like day 4) basically once you go through the story giving the events maybe a day or two depending on distances and events what make it hard to get there the storyline covers perhaps a month of solid war fighting for him he'd be weary, he's confused and he's all of a sudden alone as he always thought himself to be.

He loses himself in time compression because of the tired, confused and lone wolf status, he can't do everything alone he's realized this now and the idea of being alone is worse than the idea of having to put up with Zell worshipping him on his knees in what looked like a dodgy position. I'd get bent out of shape by that too.

Being lost in time compression he begins to forget himself, then a feather falls and he remembers something important and begins to remember Rinoa he doesn't appear to be calling her name merely calling out could be anything from "Hey biatch" to "help!" eventually he remembers her and she is looking for him between the two of them he gets found just as he's about to fail and she saves him. The weird blurry images going through the screen? Well thats Squall trying to remember, to make sense of everything it's when he either does or doesn't he gets swallowed by the white light. Personally I think he does but he only manages to put together the memory of the "I'll be here" discussion and thus goes there where Rinoa finds him.

[PuPu]

Squall's Dead - a theory of what really happens in Final Fantasy VIII

This has got to be the worst piece of fanfiction I've ever read. 99% of everything that's written there relies on "it's all just a dream," which can't be proven in the first place.

[Raistlin]

The only actual evidence the article cites is the beginning of disc 2, when Squall wakes up and his previous injury is never mentioned again. Beyond that, the whole "story is like an egoistic fantasy" thing is better explained by the game having an annoying story. He basically concedes all this in the last part:

The truth is, I don’t think there is a substantial amount of evidence to conclude whether or not the writers intended for the audience to interpret the game in this fashion. I choose to believe that this is how the game was intended to be understood because, to me, the game makes no sense otherwise. Everything that happens to the characters after the first disc is retarded.

[Vyk]

I'm surprised The Waking Life was never mentioned (I think that's what it was called). Its a movie that, from what I've heard, deals with exactly that kind of story. Living a fictional life in your head right before you die

Random trivia

[The Last Oath]

Iceglow just bombed this theory out the window

[Jiro]

You should look back at some of the theories in this forum. They are fun to read

These theories are all over the internet. some of them are very fun

And I thought we were unique!

This theory is pretty insane but I enjoyed it. It has less solid evidence than half the other ones so I think we can put this in the "haha right" pile.

[BardTard]

Hm. Interesting.
Now what to do with the R=U theory... Well, it still works, I suppose.

That was really interesting to read!

[Iceglow]

Iceglow just bombed this theory out the window

I do my best silly theories need bombing, we all remember what my bomb on the whole R = U theory was after all it got a ciddie.

[Rad Bromance]

Ok, the article was a pile of steaming bull.....lets move on quickly.

Heres a logical explanation for the whole ending sequence where Squall gets lost onwards:

At one point in disc 3, just prior to the time compression activation if I remember correctly there is a warning given to the party to remember who they are otherwise they may not make it back from time compression.

Squall has never been the most sure of who he is since he met Rinoa. She changed him, shook his world up like a snow globe he's confused and he's been through a damn lot recently: Day one, goes in to battle in Dollet, Day 2 he's sent to Timber call it Day 3 he's sent in to assassinate the sorceress Edea and fails, call it a few more days, maybe a week before he is interrogated (he may have spent a lot of time in the prison recovering from his injury, we assume he was treated at least partially by magical means) About a day after he escapes, garden begins to move having made it back to Balamb and going through yet another big battle. 2 days floating at a randomly slow speed to reach FH, more battles plus garden festival which confuses him all the more. Due to the refit on garden we could possibly call that 2 weeks (though the game makes no point of these times, I could be wrong and it's still only like day 4) basically once you go through the story giving the events maybe a day or two depending on distances and events what make it hard to get there the storyline covers perhaps a month of solid war fighting for him he'd be weary, he's confused and he's all of a sudden alone as he always thought himself to be.

He loses himself in time compression because of the tired, confused and lone wolf status, he can't do everything alone he's realized this now and the idea of being alone is worse than the idea of having to put up with Zell worshipping him on his knees in what looked like a dodgy position. I'd get bent out of shape by that too.

Being lost in time compression he begins to forget himself, then a feather falls and he remembers something important and begins to remember Rinoa he doesn't appear to be calling her name merely calling out could be anything from "Hey biatch" to "help!" eventually he remembers her and she is looking for him between the two of them he gets found just as he's about to fail and she saves him. The weird blurry images going through the screen? Well thats Squall trying to remember, to make sense of everything it's when he either does or doesn't he gets swallowed by the white light. Personally I think he does but he only manages to put together the memory of the "I'll be here" discussion and thus goes there where Rinoa finds him.

The Squall's Dead theory makes for a far more interesting story than this though...

[Vyk]

I'm just going to ignore facts and go with Squall's Dead anyway. Until someone explains why you can't see through Squall's chest. That always bothered me. And now I kinda feel closure. Don't take that away from me! Plus he was always a douche to Rinoa and then she just randomly started liking him? I get that girls tend to like guys who abuse them ;P (j/k) but that seemed so abrupt and forced. Much like a dream come true for an introverted socially awkward mamma's boy wanting the right girl to come along and help him learn to live. Also seemed very ... convenient, from that aspect

Squall's dead

[demondude]

[hitman1984]

agreed with Iceglow even though i did alreayd read this theory a while back and it is interesting it completely overlooks every other piece of information you are given on the way, the ending when i first beat the game i looked and thought perhaps Squall is lost in limbo or it's just taking a long time for him to reach "his" time.

The game's story isn't hard to follow i think some people over complitcate it and read to much into the smallest little things, Squall was healed by Edea because at that time while pocessed under the sorceress's power she thought Squall knew the "meaning of SeeD" everything is explained so anyways yeah lol...

[Serapy]

The theory is good. Very detailed and entertaining.

However, I always have believed that Squall actually died at the ending.
Rinoa uses a holographic device (plot device) to visually display Squall for her own comfort, and to represent the happy ending as well.

Just like what one student did to Dr. Cid in the middle of the game. You thought Dr. Cid was real in that scene? Yeah ...

Squall has been darky throughout the whole game. All of that is completely changed when he's begun to smile for the first time, which takes place in a two seconds scene. This is not right.

Maybe Rinoa's holographic device fails at some point into the future. So, she gets very mad and begins to travel back into the past and then start blaming everything that have brought Squall to his death.

[Flying Arrow]

One thing no one's mentioned is that assuming the theory is true, the plot itself still goes completely off the rails about half way in. Dream or not, FF8's second half is still tily plotted. It might make more "sense" as a dream, but it's still written and characterized terribly.

My official opinion: It's interesting as an interpretation (I'm always interested in that kind of radical thinking for any piece of fiction), but not as an excuse for the game's shoddy storytelling.