No it's not. Nothing has been officially confirmed one way or the other, at this point it's all speculation.
No it's not. Nothing has been officially confirmed one way or the other, at this point it's all speculation.
I have seen the ending FMV.
Yes, but it is still open to interpretation.
SPOILER
As far as I know, from the game translation, the only couple that was explicitly stated is Ashe/Rasler. Fran and Balthier [I]could[I] be together, but it is not confirmed one way or the other.
It can clearly be seen
I'm going to have to side with Sashi on this one. Fran and Balthier are not an official couple - no matter how much I might want them to be. There is strong evidence that the two have feelings for each other that go beyond friendship, but nothing concrete. The English translation may add to, or detract from, the strength of that evidence.... We'll have to wait and see.
(SPOILER)The penultimate FMV shows them bickering amiably, not having sex among the wreckage. Yes, Balthier lifted and carried Fran with great care - he is undoubtedly devoted to her - but that does not prove that they are in a romantic relationship. Better evidence would be that they live and work together, understand one another extremely well (to the point where Balthier is able to finish Fran's sentences), Fran apparently sacrificed some of her innate Viera abilities (such as the ability to understand the forests?) in order to travel with him - she ran away with him, basically (which sounds awfully romantic....), the forest now hates "the one who took her away", or something, they seem to be quite physically intimate >
(just look at his groping hand! and that smirk!), and some people have translated that after Fran is tied up and breaks loose and goes berserk, Balthier remarks that he "always thought she liked being tied up"...or something along those lines.
N.B.: I got most of this information from fan-made translations of the game, which are unofficial and not entirely trustworthy. I wouldn't swear by the validity of any of the evidence I have listed.
However, I get the general impression that Fran and Balthier behave like a married couple, even if they aren't officially together. She is yin to his yang, and all that.
Last edited by scooby; 04-28-2006 at 04:48 PM.
indeed
the translation, i feel, could really sway this one way or the other...for example if there is a scene where Fran yells "Balthier!" If the translators feel like emphasizing the romantic qualities of their relationship, they would have the voice actor say it with maybe concern, longing, fear, etc...if they wanted to detract from this possibility, they could have the voice actor say it nonchalantly (it's like the vw commercial (i think it's vw, here at uni, i live in a vacuum) where the only word they say in the commercial is "dude" but each time it has an entirely different meaning
another reason i dont think fran and balthier will be together because vieras live for around 300 years unless im mistaken.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4
...*holds up free hugs sign.*
No - you're quite correct. (Although, 200 years would be closer to the mark - but that's quibbling.) But, to quote Lord Alfred Tennyson, "It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." Balthier would of course die, eventually, and Fran would live on for a while longer (unless something happened to her first). Balthier is only 22 though, so his death is quite far off yet.Originally Posted by boys from the dwarf
another reason i dont think fran and balthier will be together is because viera live for around 300 years unless im mistaken.
But, to return to my favourite comparison: Arwen knew that she would outlive Aragorn when she pledged her love to him, but she accepted this harsh reality as part and parcel of a relationship with him. Fran, like Arwen, would just have to live with the knowledge that, sooner or later, she would have to watch her lover die.
There is always the risk of somebody dying. Fear of losing shouldn't stop us from acting.
scooby, where did you get that Fran/Balthier picture from? I have seen that picture before, but not at that size.
fran and arwen
i couldn't have thought of a better example...but now i'm imagining an inconsolable fran, pining to death after the death of bal...so sad...
DLLS posted it on the first page of the thread, so you'd have to ask him/her. It's from the (SPOILER)credits. Gorgeous, isn't it? They look so...coupley, in it.Originally Posted by Sashi
Fran in heat :laugh:
Er.... The point of this post? Other than to try to further dehumanize Fran...?I'm not familiar with your example. But an often cited example of discrepancy between the Japanese and English versions of the FF games can be found in FFX: in the Japanese game, Yuna says "thank you" to Tidus at the end - but this was changed to "I love you" in the English game. Now...that's a pretty big change! There's quite a difference between thanking someone and telling them that you love them!Originally Posted by nobuteru
the translation, i feel, could really sway this one way or the other...for example if there is a scene where Fran yells "Balthier!" If the translators feel like emphasizing the romantic qualities of their relationship, they would have the voice actor say it with maybe concern, longing, fear, etc...if they wanted to detract from this possibility, they could have the voice actor say it nonchalantly (it's like the vw commercial (i think it's vw, here at uni, i live in a vacuum) where the only word they say in the commercial is "dude" but each time it has an entirely different meaning
Last edited by scooby; 04-29-2006 at 07:04 PM.
Coming back to you comparing Fran to arwen, scooby, didn't Arwen give up her immortality for Aragorn? I mean, she was a half-elf, so she could do that.... At least that's what my mom told me, and she's a HUGE fan of LotR.
Just so you know, I dusted off my old and battered copy of LOTR just to answer your question.
Okay, it's kind of complicated.... *sigh* Arwen did forsake her immortality to be with Aragorn; that fact is reiterated many times throughout the book. But she still outlived Aragorn - as was her fate. To quote from the book (Appendix A, 'The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen'), "But Arwen became as a mortal woman, and yet it was not her lot to die until all that she had gained was lost." Arwen knew this would be her fate, because her father, Elrond, who had the gift of foresight, had long foretold it. Yet, despite her foreknowledge, she found it a bitter pill to swallow at the coming.
'Then Aragorn said to Arwen:
"At last, Lady Evenstar, fairest in this world, and most beloved,
my world is fading. Lo! we have gathered, and we have spent, and now the time of payment draws near."
Arwen knew what he intended, and long had foreseen it; nonetheless she was overborne by her grief.'
And:
'"Lady Undomiel," said Aragorn, "the hour is indeed hard, yet it was made even in that day when we met under the white birches in the garden of Elrond where none now walk. And on the hill of Cerin Amroth when we forsook both the Shadow and the Twilight this doom we accepted."'
After Aragorn's death, Arwen bade farewell to the rest of her family and her loved ones, and left the city of Minas Tirith, where she had reigned with Aragorn for 120 years, forever. She returned to Lorien - the elven kingdom - which was now deserted, for all of the elves had departed overseas, and "dwelt there alone under the fading trees until winter came". The following spring, she laid herself to rest upon the hill of Cerin Amroth (where she and Aragorn had pledged their troth), and died.
....Cheery tale, really.... He was a fun-lovin' guy, that Tolkien!
So, to summarize: Arwen did become a mortal, but she did not die of old age; she died of a broken heart.The deal was that she could live happily with Aragorn until his death (he was long-lived anyway, being one of the Dunedain), at which point her own slow demise would begin. Thereafter, she was destined to wander the world alone until she perished from grief....
....
Rather different from Fran, I suppose - but similar in many ways.
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