Squall hole-for-a-face pic

[Wilder]

That´s a Good point Shivablizard, but I don´t think this picture have an explanation so logical, is just so weird , I think nobody says anything about it because they haven´t see it yet,I was confused and scared when i saw that, and everybody is like "What" "What is this guy talkin´about", for me this is a real mistery that somebody should ask directly to square, why they put that there, to make us forget the face of ultimecia in the ending ? well... we can´t waitfor an answer so... here it is , The Pic , I want some explanation... LOOK IT FOR YOURSELF.

[ShivaBlizzard8]

Actually, plenty of people have seen it, and it has been discussed across the internet. The website http://www.square-x.com/ even interviewed a person from Square about it (and the R=U theory) and this was their reply:

"Question: There are 3 FMV shots of Ultimecia in the game, all are at the ending, and last less than 1/10th of a second each, barely visible (did you notice them?). Why would Square go to all the trouble of making the FMV if no one were to see it? Square is not stupid, and it would not waste time and money for nothing."

Reply: This is a good point, why go through the time, but the direction this person is going is off. Little clips like this are all over the ending. . . the picture of Squall with a black hole for a face - The ending is supposed to be everything that happened to squall being "thrown or smashed" through time.

The entire article can be found here: http://www.square-x.com/news/169

[Wilder]

Hi, Shiva blizard , that´s the same interview that I was talkin´about up there, and the one who sir bahamut said it was posibly a fake one. But now that I read it Again it talks about a "rinoa pic" no a squall pic , maybe it was his mistake or maybe he refers to all the Rinoa scenes in the FMV with no face. I don´t know, this guy is like send to deny the theory. If you read it it says " If you want to spark a debate, why not look for the picture of Rinoa with a black hole for a face from the ending. Now that is a mystery image", so , It´s very clear that the pic isn´t a mistake, got to be something hidden.

[Big D]

R=U will NEVER be true, NOR will it NEVER be false. The point is, unless Square releases some kind of answer or sequel explaining the relationship or lack thereof between Rinoa and Ulty, there will NEVER be enough proof in the existing game to proove OR disproove this theory. Therefore, there really is NO POINT in rehashing the same arguments over and over with the same result. Getting nowhere. /rant

Absolutely. Heed the words of wisdom, y'all. There are plenty of arguments both in favour of R=U and against it. It is a matter of personal opinion whether you believe it is right or not; there's no "true" opinion.

As for the "faceless Squall" image, I believe that is a symbol of what happened to him when he tried to traverse compressed time alone. Laguna explained that it's a team effort, that each of them would be dependent on others believing in their existence, in order to make it through. Time compression is a form of magic, and magic is manipulated with the mind, so this makes sense to me.
However, Squall got lost, ending up at the orphanage, then trying to navigate back on his own. Before he left Edea's house and returned to compressed time, his last thought was that he was alone, and needed to find the others. He realised that the key to his return was gone, and that thought expanded and became overpowering - the knowledge that he was alone and powerless, that everything was disappearing. The people places he knew, shown disintegrating and colliding in his thoughts. The faceless image, I think, represents Squall with his sense of identity and existence gone. The "R=U" images symbolise the idea that Rinoa expresses during disc four - that her powers, and maybe her memories, will be passed on through time and eventually reach Ultimecia. Or maybe it's the other interpretation, that Rinoa could become a hated and feared Sorceress because of her powers, just like Ultimecia. Squall's hallucinations represent every bad outcome happening.

[Sir Bahamut]

I kind of thought it was a given that it was personal opinion that was crucial in deciding whether or not to believe in it.

It is labelled a THEORY after all.

And again, I want to stress how poor a source the so called interview with Square is, and also mention that the version of the theory presented in that website is ridiculous.

That's why there still is a point to discussing it. You see, I can google search "Rinoa Ultimecia theory" and find dozens of website on the issue, but 9 out of 10 present hopeless and lousy cases.

Another point is that there are still many who consider the theory impossible. largely because of the many ridiculous arguments floating around on the internet.

[Del Murder]

You make some good points, Sir Bahamut. We have one thread dedicated to discussing the R=U theories, and it can be found here. Feel free to take the discussion there. Otherwise, stay on topic, please.

[Sir Bahamut]

I have posted there several times some time ago, but ironically enough, the discussion seems to flourish in any topic BUT that one.

But fine, I won't post anymore on the matter in this topic.

[Giga Guess]

(Much like the 1001 Aeris Revival rumors, no?)

As for Squall, there, I think it could be the fact that he underwent a great deal of change, possibly to the point of not recognizing who he was. In that case, he sees the body, the basic form, but no face, as it is no longer "him."

Either that, or he's getting lost in the time compression, and that's Square's way of showing him getting deleted. Until, of course, our delightful heroine rescues our hero. Possibilities?