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Final Fantasy XII, Part Two
It's been a busy week, but I've been trying to make time for Final Fantasy XII. Last night I got as far as watching Vayne's speech in Rabanastre, and I was impressed. This is partially because the voice audio has been beautifully remastered, and partially because the voice actor (someone named Elijah Alexander?) does a wonderful job, but mainly because it's a good piece of writing.
I don't remember ever having strong feelings about Vayne, mainly because I've never been 100% clear on what his story arc is supposed to be. From what I understand, he firmly believes that there should be peace in Arcadia, and he wants his little brother Larsa to preside over that peace. Vayne fears that the continued existence of Rabanastre as an independent state will only result in escalating tensions between Arcadia and Rozarria; and so, to shield his brother from becoming enmeshed in a prolonged conflict, he has the king of Rabanastre murdered by someone imitating one of the kingdom's war heroes in order to force a quick resolution. Vayne knows full well that what he's doing is evil, but he takes one for Team Larsa.
And then at some point he goes crazy and becomes the final boss monster, which has something to do with Balthier's Hot Dad. To me, a more reasonable narrative progression would result in a final boss battle against Hot Dad and Venat, but... Maybe I should talk about this later. In any case, Vayne deserved better.
Speaking of hot dads, Vaan is such a dick to Migelo. I know Vaan is only seventeen, but come on. Migelo deserves all the love. His voice actor (John DiMaggio, who is apparently also Wakka's voice actor??) does this weird cottonball mouth sort of thing, but I would not be surprised if Migelo was a total badass when he was younger. He is a master of social interaction, and the way he bows his head to Vayne after their conversation, like, hurt me.
As an aside, I would recommend that no one go looking for fan art of Migelo, just take my word on this.
I don't remember ever having strong feelings about Vayne, mainly because I've never been 100% clear on what his story arc is supposed to be. From what I understand, he firmly believes that there should be peace in Arcadia, and he wants his little brother Larsa to preside over that peace. Vayne fears that the continued existence of Rabanastre as an independent state will only result in escalating tensions between Arcadia and Rozarria; and so, to shield his brother from becoming enmeshed in a prolonged conflict, he has the king of Rabanastre murdered by someone imitating one of the kingdom's war heroes in order to force a quick resolution. Vayne knows full well that what he's doing is evil, but he takes one for Team Larsa.
And then at some point he goes crazy and becomes the final boss monster, which has something to do with Balthier's Hot Dad. To me, a more reasonable narrative progression would result in a final boss battle against Hot Dad and Venat, but... Maybe I should talk about this later. In any case, Vayne deserved better.
Speaking of hot dads, Vaan is such a dick to Migelo. I know Vaan is only seventeen, but come on. Migelo deserves all the love. His voice actor (John DiMaggio, who is apparently also Wakka's voice actor??) does this weird cottonball mouth sort of thing, but I would not be surprised if Migelo was a total badass when he was younger. He is a master of social interaction, and the way he bows his head to Vayne after their conversation, like, hurt me.
As an aside, I would recommend that no one go looking for fan art of Migelo, just take my word on this.