Bannon and Gestahl are pretty much the same thing, so their really wasn't a need to further Bannons story. They were the leaders in a war, but Kefka ended the war by defeating the Empire. Kefka became the empire, so there was no longer a need for a emporer character. Once Kefka gained his *god-like* (snicker, I mean in the story line, not the gameplay) status, the puny resistance soldiers stood no chance against him. The only ones who could face him were Terra and Co. Therefore they became the resistence, making Bannon obsolete. Maybe I'm just reading too much into this, but I think that Gestahls death served to symbolize Bannon's death as well. As for Ultros, I believe he is a mercenary, and he gets employed by the empire, the colloseum, and Ziegfried throught the coarse of the game. I'm also pretty sure that Siegfried is the imposter Ziegfried, and Ziegfried is just a roaming warrior who wasn't meant to be developed. Sorta like ruby weapon from FF7 almost. I wouldn't criticize FF6 too much for it's character development though, anyone remember how FF4 used to kill off half-developed main characters when they were no longer useful?