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[R^2]

Perhaps the food in Kaipo disagrees with Rydia's sensitive stomach?

[Classic]

It's sad and cruel that this game reminds you that your "last gasp" is probably going to be you soiling yourself.

[R^2]

Final Fantasy IV DS Music - Mystic Mysidia
Man, the cuckoo sound in the DS version got all weird-sounding.


Not surprisingly, Cecil gets an awfully chilly reception in Mysidia.






See, there are problems with pissing off a town full of practiced magic-users.


Some townspeople are still helpful, though.


And some are just sad in general, although pointing this out to Cecil is poignant.




This white mage hops away into the bushes.

[R^2]

Final Fantasy IV DS Music - Dancing Doll Calcobrena














Man, it's rough coming back to a place where you murdered a bunch of people in a military strike.

[R^2]

Final Fantasy IV OST - Mystic Mysidia ~ Mysidia Theme
For the traditionalists.






Cecil: My name is Cecil. I am former commander of the Red Wings. Before, I did not have the courage to go against the king's orders...
Elder: Apologizing won't bring back those who have already died.
Cecil: ...
Elder: However... I see that you have changed. Perhaps it would not be a waste of time to hear what you have to say.
Cecil: We are currently fighting against a man named Golbez, who presently holds power in Baron. However, my friends were attacked by Leviathan on our way to rescue someone who had been captured by Golbez...
Elder: ...Perhaps this is a test and you must prove yourself worthy. However, you have come to rely too much on your dark sword. This will only lead to the darkening of your soul. If you wish to fight with purity, you must head to Mt. Ordeals in the east. There, you may find, is where your fate lies.
Cecil: But my friends are in danger! We can't waste any time!

Rosa is probably the only one left alive, Cees. I frankly wouldn't trust Edward to swim a yard.

Elder: I see your friends mean much to you. But you mustn't be impatient. You are destined to a great fate. You must go to Mt. Ordeals and transform that dark sword you carry into one of light. Those who accept the holy light will become paladins. However, many have journeyed to Mt. Ordeals, but none have returned... Do you wish to go?
Cecil: Yes. But I have little confidence I can do this on my own.
Elder: I thought as much. I shall call upon some mages to help you. Palom! Porom!

Final Fantasy IV DS Music - Palom and Porom's Theme




Elder: Where is Palom?
Girl: Palom! Come out this minute!




Mysidia's Prodigy, Palom: ...will assist you!
Cecil: Are they mages?
Elder: Yes. This is Palom and Porom. Although still apprentices, they should be of great help.

Apprentices? No damn joke. These twins are five years old.

Mysidia's Prodigy, Palom: I'm the greatest mage in all of Mysidia! You should be thankful I'm helping you out!
Elder: Palom! I hope you behave yourself on this journey...
Porom: My name is Porom. I'm pleased to meet you, sir. Palom! Greet him properly!
Mysidia's Prodigy, Palom: Hey, nice to meetcha.


Elder: Now, go to Mt. Ordeals. You two, do everything in your power to assist Cecil.

And when he dies halfway up the slope, teleport on back home and we'll have tea and scones and a good laugh about it all. Pff, a dark knight becoming a paladin. How absurd!

[R^2]

Mysidia's Prodigy, Palom is a black mage. In addition to his black magic, he has a Bluff skill where his own bravado in his abilities increases his magic power. Bluff is actually quite useful because it stacks with itself, and is capable of taking M.P. Palom's Intelligence up to the cap.


Porom is a white mage. Bet you didn't see that coming. In addition to her white magic spells, Porom can cry fake tears at enemies, allowing the party to escape while they're flustered. (In the DS version, it cut enemies' defense instead.)


Needless to say, as mages they go in the back row.


They also have a Twincast ability, where they combine white and black magic together into enemy-clearing megaspells. Neither of them can move while they charge Twincast, and it takes a damned long time to do -- this fight started with three other enemies on the field, and Cecil killed them all before the twins got around to finishing their spell -- so like some other long-charging abilities you're better off doing other things more quickly.


There's a wall of fire blocking the entrance to Mt. Ordeals, in order to make sure Cecil has the twins with him before trying to climb it. There's some dialog here where Palom is a precocious little shit about casting a basic Blizzard spell, but I don't really need to copy all that, do I?

Final Fantasy IV DS Music - Somewhere in the World




Rosa's tied to a wall, with a giant sickle-blade hovering above her head. Kain stands guard nearby.






Golbez: Cecil aspires too much. He ascends Mt. Ordeals as we speak. I shall clip his wings now.
Scarmiglione: So he desires to become a paladin...
Golbez: Dispose of him. His dark sword should be all but useless against your undead.
Scarmiglione: I shall return with his head.


Kain: Cecil might still be a formidable opponent.
Golbez: You dare question my judgment?

Man, Golbez, you're as bad as the king of Baron.

Kain: No, sire!
Golbez: Scarmiglione is one of the four Elemental Lords. He will not fail. Rosa will bear witness as well.
Kain: Sire, please grant me a second chance! Instead of Scarmiglione, allow me the task of slaying him!
Golbez: Just be grateful I let you live after that blunder.
Kain: ...
Rosa: Cecil...


Sure enough, Mt. Ordeals is chock-full of undead monsters. I don't want to burn all of Palom and Porom's MP on Cure and Fire spells to kill them, so I flee from those fights.

[R^2]

20-Mount Ordeals-FFIV DS OST


Hullo, what's this?


Tellah: Cecil?


Cecil: Meteor?
Porom: You know about Meteor!?

Serious business if Porom drops her polite and respectful demeanor, yo.

Mysidian Prodigy, Palom: That means you're Tellah! Hey, old man, am I right?
Porom: Don't be rude! You stand before the great sage himself! It is an honor to meet you. We came here from Mysidia under the orders of our elder.
Mysidian Prodigy, Palom: Yeah, we're spying on...


Porom whacks M.P. Palom over the head.

Porom: ...Excuse me. As I was saying, we're just serving as guides for Sir Cecil. My name is Porom.
Mysidian Prodigy, Palom: And I'm Palom, Mysidia's most exalted mage! I've heard a lot about you!
Tellah: Kids from Mysidia, eh? Cecil, where are Rydia and Edward?
Cecil: We were attacked by Leviathan on our way to Baron, and...
Tellah: What? They aren't dead, are they!?
Cecil: I'm afraid so... On top of that, Golbez has captured Rosa.
Palom, Mysidia's most exalted mage: I'll betcha that's his girlfriend!
Porom: Hush!
Cecil: I thought you'd headed straight to Baron to confront Golbez.
Tellah: Against the likes of Golbez, my spells still lack power. I've come here to seek the legendary spell, Meteor. I sense a strong aura on this mountain. I believe it holds what I am looking for.
Porom: But that spell is much too dangerous! It requires tremendous vitality. For a man your age...
Tellah: I admit I am old. But I will make Golbez pay, even if it costs me my life!
Cecil: ...

Cecil, I'm pretty sure it's the old man living out the end of his days on a diet of impotent rage who should be the gassy one.

Palom, Mysidia's most exalted mage: Geez. Why are adults so pigheaded?
Porom: You don't understand because you're still a kid! Now hush!
Tellah: Cecil, you have yet to answer my question. Why did you come here?
Cecil: I came here in hopes of becoming a paladin. I cannot defeat Golbez with the dark sword... and I have longed to renounce this hateful thing.
Palom, Mysidia's most clueless mage: Who's Golbez?
Porom: Don't you know anything? He's the one controlling Baron.
Tellah: Not just an ordinary man, but a powerful sorcerer, brimming with evil!
Tellah: So, you've come here to become a paladin? Then this mountain must hold some secret, just as I suspected. I shall accompany you.


Tellah hasn't changed at all from before.

[R^2]

Porom: Palom, stop that!
Palom, Mysidia's most exalted mage: Stop what?


Porom: I said, stop it!
Palom, Mysidia's most exalted mage: It's not me!


Tellah: I sense an evil presence.
Voice: I will enjoy... killing you all.
Cecil: Who's there!?


Short guy, robe, sent to kill you. Bet you can guess who that is.


Scarmiglione: But first... My undead hunger... for your flesh!


A bunch of zombies? Cecil's nearly useless in this fight, as his dark sword and waves of negative energy do dick all against undead.


Oh wait, curative items hurt zombies, so he chucks those instead of using his sword.


It doesn't take long to clear out the Skullnants with potions from Cecil, Cura and Fira from Palom and Porom, and Fire (out of a Fire Rod) from Tellah.


Cecil's sword works fine against Scarmiglione himself.

[R^2]

I just have this feeling I should go rest at the nearby save point and... you know, switch my mages into the front row for a minute.


Coming from the bridge, look behind you!


This is Scarmiglione's true form, a shambling maggot-eaten corpse with... big... horn sorta things growing out of him at all angles.


He's called Scarmiglione of Earth, but shouldn't he really be Scarmiglione of Poison? Like Lich before him, this Elemental Lord of Earth draws his powers from the domains of the undead, and is fond of poison attacks. It sort of makes sense, where are the dead interred?


Dammit Tellah he has boss immunities. Recall something better!




I guess that'd cause Curse status, since Zombie isn't a recurring series status ailment yet. But it doesn't do anything.


As always, the undead burn real nice. Cecil's dark sword is useless against Scarmiglione's undead form, so he throws Hi-Potions when he's not patching up the party. Cecil dispensing first aid means Porom can go on the offensive with Cura.


Nothing special. He doesn't really get any important scenes.


You attacked a dark knight with a knapsack full of curative items and his three mage buddies?


Scarmiglione falls off the bridge. You know what I bet really hurts the Elemental Lord of Earth? Falling a long way and hitting the ground. Still, that's all there is to Scarmiglione, and boy am I glad I don't have to type his name out anymore.


So what's inside this little shrine?

[Mothra]

I like to believe there's a little Scarmiglione in all of us.

[R^2]

Cecil: "Son"!? Just who are you?







Final Fantasy IV Ds Ost - The Lunarians


Voice: By doing so, my pain will only grow. But there is no other way...








Voice: You must fight... against the dark knight you wish to rid yourself of!

[McDohl]

This scene still gives me this awesome kind of chills.

[R^2]

Tellah: !?
Palom: What's going on!?
Porom: There's two of them!
Tellah: Cecil!
Palom: Hey!
Porom: Look out!


Cecil, having jobchanged to Paladin, now has a new character portrait without that wraparound helmet.

Final Fantasy IV - Lunar Subterrane




The Dark Knight uses Darkwave over and over. Since Cecil is atoning for his sins, you don't actually fight here -- the game will tell you that a truly noble warrior would sheathe his sword. Cecil just has to endure the pain (the Defend command helps) until the Dark Knight is finished punishing him.

Some fight for law.

Some fight for justice.

What will you fight for?

One day, you will see.


Of course, in the American SNES version, Cecil didn't have his Darkwave attack, so the player had no way of knowing the Dark Knight was slowly whittling down its own HP... and the game was so poorly translated, the message saying not to fight it conventionally was garbled. You can eventually win just by hitting the Dark Knight, but it takes a long time and without Defending there's actually a chance of running out of HP and failing the test of character.


Voice: With this, you must stop Golbez. Farewell, my son.
Cecil: Please, wait!


There's a lot more light and sound to draw your attention to it outside of screenshots, but the image in the mirror is now Cecil-as-Paladin rather than Cecil-as-Dark-Knight.

[R^2]

All right? Kiddo I am fabulous.

Palom: You must be...
Porom: Palom! Enough!

Presumably Palom's next words were "shittin' me!"

Cecil: This feeling... I can't explain it. It feels... so familiar. That voice...

Well, you're apparently the son of a mysterious, distant redeeming figure. I'm changing your name to Jesus next time I get to a Namingway.


You know who the voice is?

Porom: Master Tellah?
Tellah: My spells! I remember them now!


The number of spells Tellah doesn't know can almost be counted on one hand.








Time to go kick Golbez's ironclad behind.

Porom: He is indeed a great sage.
Palom: Hey, Porom... I kinda think...
Porom: Er, Cecil?
Palom: We have to tell you something. We're actually...
Tellah: I am ready to face Golbez! I am doom itself! Come, Cecil! To Baron!
Cecil: Yes... to Baron.

Cecil: That light... Why did it call me "Son"?


And the kids never confess, because old people just refuse to listen to anything children say.

Anyhow, Cecil has shed the Deathbringer in favor of the Sword of Legend. Since all the Dark Knight armor is also gone, all that he's left with is his skivvies.


Thankfully I prepared for this eventuality back in Mysidia and bought all the paladin-exclusive gear already. Alas, these gauntlets do not cast Thundara for free.


Cecil has more HP as a Paladin than he did as a Dark Knight, but restarts all his training at level 1. He has access to white magic (Cure, for now -- he doesn't ever learn much or anything more complicated than Cura) and can automatically Cover allies when they're low on HP. When Cecil is Covering someone, he leaps in front of them to take physical hits on their behalf.


Good news is, his paladin armor resists attacks from undead monsters, and his new sword makes hamburger out of same. (I do not recommend eating zombie hamburger.)


Monsters are still spitting out the same EXP totals, so Cecil levels quickly. This is him after one fight.


But Cecil isn't the only one to get a plot-relevant level up. Tellah remembered all his old -aga-and-beyond magic, and picked up Meteor along the way. Alas, Meteor costs 99 MP, and Tellah has 90 and never gains more. You can't go around just dropping Meteors on people willy-nilly.

[R^2]

Cecil gains eight levels walking down the mountain, picking up two new spells. Sight zooms the world map out a little so you can see your surroundings, and is largely useless. Scan tells you enemy weaknesses, and is less useless.




There's a chocobo forest south of Mt. Ordeals that makes the trip back to Mysidia a short endeavor.


Yeah, sorry about killing everyone you know and love.


It's kind of amazing anyone recognizes Cecil at all, considering no one ever saw his face under that helmet.


That's... fair.

[R^2]

Was there ever any doubt? (Yes.)

Porom: Sir Cecil fought brilliantly.
Palom: I'll say. He passed with flying colors.
Cecil: Come again?
Elder: Forgive me. I assigned them to spy on you.

Japan, you are bad at foreshadowing.

Palom: That pretty much sums it up.
Porom: I feel awful having deceived you. I'm so sorry.
Cecil: I had suspected that was why. I deserved it, after what I did.
Elder: The most important thing is that you have become a paladin and have shed yourself of the darkness you once held. ...That sword...! Where did you obtain it?
Cecil: It was given to me on the mountain's peak.
Elder: Is this...? Yes, it is! This sword holds the words of an ancient Mysidian legend!
Cecil: A legend?


Wait wait, no, that's not it.

[R^2]

Elder: You ask a valid question, to which I do not know the answer. The legend has never been unveiled. For generations, the Mysidians have been told to pray for the fulfillment of this legend and to believe in the one with the sacred light. Perhaps you might be the one.


Tellah gives not a single damn about your plot hooks.

Elder: Tellah?
Tellah: It's been a while.
Porom: We met him on Mt. Ordeals.
Palom: And guess what? The old man learned to cast Meteor!
Elder: What!? Meteor, the legendary spell, unsealed? What is happening to this world...?
Tellah: I care not about the world's troubles. I solely wish to avenge Anna!

Tellah, not a single damn, etc.

Elder: Anna, your daughter?
Tellah: Golbez took her life. And I shall use Meteor to slay him.
Elder: Tellah, you must not fight with hatred. Moreover, you are in no condition to use Meteor.
Tellah: If I die, so be it! Golbez must die at any cost!
Elder: Still stubborn as a mule, I see.
Tellah: Ha! Like you're one to talk.
Elder: Nevertheless, with your spells and Cecil's newfound power, you may be able to defeat Golbez.
Cecil: In any case, we must return to Baron to commandeer an airship first.
Elder: Very well. I shall grant you access to the Devil's Road. As a paladin, I am certain you can safely travel the bedeviled path. Now it is time for me to retire to the Tower of Worship. I shall pray for your success.
Cecil: We thank you.


Porom: Elder, please allow us to accompany him.
Palom: Yeah, you're the one who said we should help him any way we can.
Elder: Very well. You have both overcome the trials of Ordeals and returned alive. Perhaps this is your fate. Please look after them.

So he said before that no one had come back alive from Mt. Ordeals, but really we just did it with a couple of five-year-olds and a geriatric, so I wonder who else went in the first place.

Cecil: But, I... uh...
Palom: Are you saying you don't want us tagging along?
Porom: I'm sure we can still be of assistance.
Tellah: Don't worry, old friend. I will look after them.
Cecil: Very well, so be it. I'm counting on all of you.
Palom: Alright!
Porom: Palom, this isn't going to be some kind of picnic.


The Elder and his attendant mages retreat to the Crystal room, now empty of its Crystal and with the blood mopped up off the floor.


The Elder himself, as promised, is praying in the Tower of Worship.

[R^2]

Other than a low drone and a pan across the map screen, the Devil's Road doesn't actually do anything to your party members. It's built up to be this terrible life-draining teleporter but does not deliver.

[R^2]

...promoted to the second-in-command under their military's top general? Not following you.




I... I... Igottagodosomething!


Every named character in Baron: elsewhere for the time being.


"This place" being the inn and public-house where Cecil got his free drinks as a Dark Knight.


Baron's kind of a military dictatorship under martial law at the moment, so... they kinda do.

[Brentai]

Well, you're apparently the son of a mysterious, distant redeeming figure. I'm changing your name to Jesus next time I get to a Namingway.

Given that room, I'd lean more towards Kal-El.