I hate this game, why does anyone play it?

[Forsaken Lover]

Saving something by killing it is not an original concept. Seymour just borrows it. I think he's a little bit misleading though: I would say he genuinely hates Spira. You have to remember that he suffered ridicule and mistreatment because of his parentage. A combination of payback and the cynical recognition that death and sin are the only certain things.

NONE of the FF villains are unique in any way. Seymour at least has a small claim to fame in being the only one in the series who has had the goal of saving the world. (Vayne wanted to rule the world. The Occuria were just in his way)

Ya know what I hate? People who bitch about Seymour and other villains wanting to mercy kill the world because they personally have had a lot of suffering.

Would people rather a villain who has no grievances with life and just decides to end it all because he read about children starving to death in Africa?

And I agree that Seymour's motives are not crystal clear. You might even say he has layers to his personality. I know this might be frightening to FF fans, since they love their one-dimensional crap-piles like Kefka and Golbez, but I feel it's a nice change in storytelling when writers realize complex, thinking animals have complex ideas.

Seymour isn't just out to end the Spiral of Death. He didn't just kill his father to gain his position as Maester. He has a grudge against those who persecuted him, whether they were guilty of it like his father or they were innocent like the Ronso. Remember the joy Seymour took in slaughtering them and tormenting Kimahri?

Seymour was not a pure angel of light looking only to save the world from its pain. He was after all a product of that pain himself. But THERE - there is the essence of a good character and good writing. To what extent was he motivated by revenge? Was he more driven by his hatred or by his own ideas of salvation?

Such character analysis and discussion is the very essence of fiction. I can get on here and tell you word-for-word what The Emperor was up to in FFII. There's nothing really to discuss; he's bland and unremarkable. But when multiple people can examine the same material and offer up their own conclusions and ideas, that is when storytelling really becomes something special.

For my part, I think examining Seymour's last words is a good indication of hiw feelings.
"But even after I am gone..Spira's sorrow will prevail."
(recommended you watch the clip)

The dialogue and the voice-acting suggests to me Seymour was quite....melancholy. He did truly believe Spira was "a land of suffering and sorrow caught in a spiral of death". However he was far from altruistic and my personal guess is that he had largely repressed his childhood traumas behind his rationalization of saving the world. So, consciously, he did believe he was helping, but subconsciously, he just wanted vengeance. It's intriguing to ponder to what extent each goal motivated him.

I could throw out another possibility as well. His mother's stupid reason for turning herself into Anima was so Seymour could gain acceptance from the people of Spira. Perhaps poor, twisted and deluded Seymour was still attempting to fulfill his mother's wishes.

I don't really believe that but I think the mere fact it's a plausible theory is yet more proof Seymour was a good villain.