Quote Originally Posted by Persephone Stephanie View Post
I like to consider XII an imperialistic political drama with the underlying theme of humanity's (or rather, humes') emanicipation from divine intervention. I hesitate to refer to the Occuria as 'divine', but in the context of the game they may as well be gods; gods against whom Venat, Doctor Cid, Vayne and Ashe struggle to throw off a long history of Occurian manipulation of human affairs so that the people of Ivalice can forge their own future. As the people of Dalmasca are under the thumb of the Archadian Empire, so is all of sentient life in Ivalice under the thumb of the Occurians (consider that all the Viera, Bangaa, Moogles and other species who live amongst hume society, even those who live outside it, would be subject to the effects of war); in the end not only one kingdom, but a whole continent of peoples is liberated from its oppressors. Their (political) will becomes their own again, no longer subject to whatever plans the Occurians held for Ivalice.

I'd consider it an oversimplification to call Vayne and the Occurians "evil" and Ashe and the crew "good". Those terms are inadequate for the characters. The Occuria, for example: they had a vision for the world unlike anything a mortal could imagine; they had power; they knew how they wanted to wield it, but needed an agent to act through. A bit like God in the Bible, but less terrifying because they can't conjure floods to just kill everyone in Ivalice when the little people refuse to follow their orders. Now that's what I call evil. No, the Occurians seemed to me beings powerless without humans to manipulate, incapable of assuming corporeal forms through which they could do things themselves; they're scheming, shadowy and sinister beings with an agenda incomprehensible to men, but not "evil". I felt the same about Vayne. I admired and was creeped out by him. The villains in XII were not black and white which to me is one of its greatest appeals.

I don't think the game was any less political near the end, but the politics were elevated from the human realm to a divine one. They are necessarily intertwined. I do think they could have executed parts of it better with more exposition, but I still really like the whole story...
I concur with all the points that have been extrapulated here, and I commend you on a very detailed and meritorious post. I do not share the OP's opinion of the Occurian plot being more interesting than the political intrigue in FFXII, because in my mind they are inseperable. Up until Giruvegan, we are given a very traditional, "god guys v. bad guys" sort of plot wich only hints of something larger(like the humanity of the otherwise villainized nation of Archadia seen through the party's exploration there) and more profound. Once the story reaches Giruvegan, the underlying plot of the game becomes realized and it is, as Persephone Stephanie theorized, a tale of people breaking out of the restraints of an allegedly higher force(or you could even simplify this to "destiny") and choosing their own course in life. Ashe, after learning that her rage has been fueled by a deception employed by the Occuria, comes to the crossroads at Pharos and decides not to be a pawn. Vaan, who was most likely intended to be the Occurias' failsafe as he was plagued with images of his brother, eventually lets go of his need for revenge and focuses instead on doing what he believes is right. Dr.Cid learns of the role the Occuria have caused in manipulating history and instigating wars, and decides to take control himself--though in a very different way than Ashe. Vayne, who had been manipulated from a young age into being a sword for the Empire(such as having him dispose of his older brothers), took his ambition and used it to try to wrench the reigns of history from the Occurias' hands and to finally control his own destiny. Ironically, all of these characters are really looking for the same thing, but they've been caught in the cross fire between the Occuria and the "heretic" Venat, who has decided that the time for humes to control their own destinies has arrived.

In my mind, I can't seperate the Giruvegan "plot" and the politcal "plot" because in the end, they're both apart of the same plot.

Where I will agree however, is that I wish we had been given more information about Giruvegan, the Occuria, and the giant Crystal. One of the beautiful aspects of this game is its subtlety, which makes itself more apparent on each playthough. This is one area, however, where I wish they hadn't been quite so subtle and more straightforward. I had always hoped these loose plot strings would be woven together in a sequel. *Sigh RW*