scala ad caelum

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Vaan's goal is to take revenge on the empire, initially by stealing from them. The first set of story beats are dedicated to him enacting petty revenge, before he trips and falls into a larger plot along with other interested parties. Vaan drives much of the early plot- it's about what he wants, although he is a somewhat reactive protagonist, often being guided by other party members on how to acheive short term goals. He and the others often end up going where the plot demands them to (Bhujerba to rescue Penelo, the Leviathan to rescue Ashe...), until Ashe finally joins the party, where he becomes her foil and voice of reason in regards to their joint desire for revenge and Dalmasca's sovreignty. The first third of the game is dedicated to Vaan's becoming a capable sky pirate successor to Balthier, his own reckoning with the trauma of loss and war, and coming to understand that the destruction of the Empire won't give him the peace and freedom that he craves. Vaan debateably becomes a passenger to the story from here out, but always is a foil to Ashe's character. When she lingers on what she's lost, Vaan starts to move on and seek to build bridges. When she is fixated on revenge, Vaan guides her away. When Ashe errs, she eventually listens to Vaan. Because Vaan has his story arc early, he gets to play support to Ashe in a meaningful way no other character really can.

From here, Ashe becomes the main driving force of the plot. Her arc, once she joins the party proper, revolves around the restoration of Dalmasca and the freedom of humanity from the occuria and the once dynast king's doubtless violent and colonialist dealings with them. Each stage of the narrative hinge's on Ashe making a choice to save her nation, either through seeking peace with leaders of neighbouring states, or by outpowering them with her birthright. Although she initially seeks deifacted nethicite as simple proof of her birthright, to allow her to negotiate with either empire, she is swayed by visions granted by the occuria to use it as a weapon. The conclusion of the story is decided by her choice at the end, her party members acting as rudders to lead her to choose peace and freedom over her god-given right to subjugate. Each of these characters has their own arc or motivation that feeds into the themes of the story that bolsters her own narrative.

Basch has the constant presence of his brother, and a need to clear his own name and conscience from Gabranth's deeds. Most characters tied to Basch question his ability as a Knight of Dalmasca to protect, as he has sworn to do. Vaan and Ashe believe that he is not just responisble for the downfall of Dalmasca, but in the loss of people beloved to them. Vossler questions his failures too, and tests his resolve for the true restoration of Dalmasca. This mirrors his relationship with his brother, Gabranth, who sided with his former oppressors, just as Vossler would have, each in the name of protecting something important to them (to Vossler, peace in Dalmasca, at the cost of true sovreignty, and to Gabranth, the memory of their Arcadian mother who he sees Basch as having abandonned). Gabranth becomes an avatar of this guilt for Basch, and every time the party face him, Basch has to reckon with this guilt. Gabranth reminds him of his inadequacy (to protect Landis, and later Dalmasca), and contrasts his own apparent successes as a Judge Magister to Basch's failures. This gives Basch a recurring NPC/enemy to face, as well as a thematic throughline within the story, of cleansing the guilt of the past in pursuit of an honourable peace.

Balthier, who seems to be there (at first) just for his own amusement, has his father. He meets Vaan in pursuit of treasure, and is only ever motivated by the rest of the party at the promise of treasure or gil. His reason for travelling with the leader of the resistance suddenly seems very personal when his past is revealed. His drawing comparisons between Ashe and his father initially just ties him in with the core story, but also introduces us to the following arc with Cid, as well as the grander plot set up by Vayne. Similarly to Basch, he reckons with guilt, both for having been party to the empire's deeds as a judge, and for leaving his father to go mad. Narratively, he is given catharsis by finding out that his father wasn't mad (or that he was, albeit in a more sinister way than he'd thought), he had just chose to neglect him, and chose his pursuits above all else. The series of Cid encounters comprise an arc for Balthier's character, where the player learns why he has a facade of a cocky leading man, why he boasts the freedoms of sky piracy, and why he had personal reasons to abandon and oppose the empire he once called home. Like Basch, he has a recurring backstory element that comes back to haunt him time and again, and resolves by tying his own themes of freedom into the larger narrative of humankind's freedom.

Before he has this arc, his otherwise quiet companion Fran has her own arc that almost mirrors his own. Fran is in many ways the most blank slate of the playable characters. She speaks only for exposition or snark. But her leading the party through the golmore jungle, and meeting with her family and confronting her decision to leave her enclave gives us our first (and last) insight into her interiority. We're finally allowed to see Fran vulnerable and affected by the world around her. We see her regret. In travelling through the forest and rescuing her sister (something only Fran and her outsider companions can do), she comes to terms with this regret (although not entirely) and accepts her final decision to leave the Wood. Balthier's arc, then, is a twisted mirror of this. He had held regret for leaving his father under false illusions, and came to accept his decision only once the illusions and ultimate conflict with his father were over. Fran is never under any illusions, but accepts her choice for freedom not through conflict, but through her sisters' acceptance that her choice is a valid one. Although it is a short arc, it gives us a glimpse into Fran's inner world and the world of Ivalice outside its warring empires.

The guest characters each get to have a starring role in their own arcs, too. Vossler plays foil both to Basch (the loyal knight who must repair his reputation) and Ashe (the princess who is seeking the most honourable way to restore her nation). His role as an NPC is to show us the differing views of the resistance- his 'by-any-means-necessary' approach vs Ashe's seeking true restoration. Larsa has a significant role throughout the whole game, both in party and outside of it, and drives the solutions to the war between Arcadia and Rozarria almost as much as, if not more so, than Ashe. Unlike Ashe, he never has the temptation to use violent means to quash war, but instead must always use peace and ideals to broker an end to war to protect his own people from loss and trauma. He has less of a tidy arc than Vossler, but throughout the game has the necessary growth to eventually step into the shoes of an emperor.

Reddas has a compact arc. He exists as a warning of deep regret to Ashe, who is at this point, still undecided whether she will become a dynast queen or diplomat. Like our other pirates, he hides his true identity at first, but reveals that he is seeking atonement for his past as Judge Zecht, and very quickly sacrifices himself for the cause, but not before steering our heroes in the right direction. Unlike Larsa and Vossler who operate on ideals of peace, Reddas operates on guilt. Like Basch and Balthier, he is driven by this guilt. Whether he was tricked into committing genocide or merely felt immediate shame after using the nethicite, he feels he must atone, and does so not just in sacrifice, but also by imparting the gravity of genocide, something that the player will only ever encounter out of the core story by chancing upon the Necrohol of Nabudis.

Each of our heroes has an opportunity to drive the plot, either by choosing the path (Vaan early on, Ashe throughout most of the game), providing context or exposition (Balthier, Fran and Basch) or driving other main characters to develop (Vaan, Vossler, Reddas). But Penelo feels deeply left out of this. It's certainly true that she is the first bridge between Dalmasca and Arcadia with Larsa, but here, she is acting almost as an NPC. Her relevance to the story is continued by her being kidnapped at one point. Penelo rarely gets to drive the story, provide context or play foil.

Earlier, I said that ffxii tells its story the way a good DM might weave a d&d campaign. It's not identical, of course, but characters are each given a chance to shine, an opportunity to shine a light on the world, or space to grow the other leads. Penelo gets one opportunity to matter, and it's during an interaction where she is isolated from her party. And it's such a shame. Penelo is a great character, who has such a clear yearning for adventure, the same as Vaan does, a strong reason to hate the empire, just like Vaan and Ashe. But she, until the events of the game, is shown to put both of these things aside to care for those around her. She's smart, funny, and I adore her teenage fooling around with Vaan and Larsa.

We know she experienced cut content from the FMV of her dancing that we saw in a trailer. Her love of dancing is picked up, somewhat, in Revenant Wings and Tactics A2. What would her story have been if she was allowed to dance in XII? Would she have been more of a bridge between worlds, as she was with Larsa and Ashe in XII and with Mydia, by way of her departed Yahri boyfriend, in Revenant Wings? Would we get to see Penelo more often act as a charismatic communicator? Would she get to choose a path because of her past and break down barriers due to her unique knowledge or abilities?

It's hard to imagine a ffxii where Penelo gets be more of a lead. Even in sequel media, she serves as a nag to Vaan, trying to dampen his adventurous spirit. I can't help but find it sexist that "the girl one" of the point of view characters is overly worrisome, motherly and lacks drive compared to "the boy one".

I'd love to see a Penelo who takes up adventuring as much as Vaan does. Maybe this reflects in her caring nature? Less "you can't go because I'll worry," more "I have to go or else I'll worry." I'd love to see a version of the story where Penelo isn't kidnapped to get Vaan and the crew to visit Bhujerba. Basch already needed to be there, and its a hotspot for airship enthusiasts. Heck, let Nono drive the plot for a second and persuade Balthier and Fran to be the ones to take Basch there so he can have some time talking with the fellow airship freaks. Using her as a token to motivate Vaan et al seems so cheap, and robs her of opportunities to take the lead or have a say. Vaan and Penelo could be easily persuaded if the mcguffin is swapped into Balthier's purse by his light fingers. This way, Penelo gets to meet Larsa more by choice, not by happenstance of being taken hostage. I have no doubt she would have chosen to go to the dreadnought to rescue Ashe due to her empathetic nature. I'd miss Ba'Gamnan and the gang, but I'm sure their roles could be switched around.

By the time Ashe is in the party, the role of "assertive woman" is occupied, and whilst I wouldn't want to turn Penelo into a clone of Ashe, it is a shame that she never gets to choose where the party goes. Plus, I'd love to see her bully Balthier a bit, gently teasing his leading man mantle to get him to do the right thing. Penelo should want the same things as Ashe and Vaan, but unlike Vaan is pragmatic enough to see that Ashe is the best route to Dalmascan peace, or even that Basch isn't the guilty man he appears to be. We know Penelo is a pragmatist given that she is the one who explains to Vaan why Migelo acts the way he does, and that she sacrifices her own wants to help those in need (definitely inspired by her parents who adopted the orphaned Vaan and Reks). We also know that she's got the level of insight to see past appearances (see her relationship with Larsa).

Penelo was supposed to have a cutscene where she danced. According to the wiki (by way of an Ultimania), it was supposed to take place in Jahara, but looking at the short snippet in the trailer, I think it's more likely to take place on the ozmone plains, as we can see the carcasses of airships in the background. We never know what this war was, but judging by the state and makeup of the ships, its feasible that it could have been recent, and have involved Arcadia, who seem to be the driving force of the metal hulled, high tech airships we see in ffxii. We know that Penelo's parents died in the war. The ozmone plains adjoin with Dalmasca via giza. What if it was Penelo, not Fran, who told Ashe that the garif are knowledgeable about magicite? What if she had heard stories from her parents before they went to ozmone to meet their deaths? And what if she really wanted to go there to say goodbye to her parents and find out how they died? It would be a short story arc, but one where we get to see a character move on from the deaths caused by the empire to the ones they loved. This would be a good beginning to Vaan and Ashe each moving on from their own loss.

I think this ties in nicely with her quickenings. Intercession, the act of praying on the behalf of others, could be her praying at first for her parents, but then to save others, as her parents did. Her quickenings are all dances, linking back to this moment in her story, where she does something personal and meaningful. This would tie with the greater themes of letting go of grief after mourning, and not allowing it to fester into vengence. It would also make Vaan not seeing the nethicite ghost more meaningful the second time around. Perhaps seeing Penelo let go would be the thing that tipped Vaan over the edge, and made him finally let go of his revenge fantasies, and allowed him to become that voice for Ashe.