#ignis dlc

So! A lot of thoughts! I may jump around a bit but I’ll try to stay on task. First, I found it really incredible that Ignis has visions of the future. It might not be so wow in its own right, but I think the crux of the episode lies in this; the where from and the why now.

Even through the good end, we can reasonably assume that Ignis keeps all the visions that Some Force bestows upon him, as evidenced by the flash of memory when he puts on the Ring to fight Ardyn (assuming you do not fail, and both he and Noctis end up saved). I found myself wondering why? Pryna is just there, stumbled upon mere moments before they find Luna’s body. Furthermore, when Ignis is walking through Zegnautus, the voice he hears is likely a whisper from the Ring. Something from beyond, communicating with him on purpose, showing him the prophecy on purpose. It isn’t a lie or a trick; Ardyn is genuinely surprised to see that Ignis has the Ring of the Lucii.

It’s interesting to me, that Ignis can have visions, that the Kings favor him. He’s being shown specific images, namely Noctis dying, repeatedly, killed by his own father. Ignis understands these images. He knows Noct’s face when he recalls the memory of them at the camp that’s ten years away, he’s even shown his own face. How much was he shown? Does he harbor these things like memories, with all the emotion tied to them that they’d inherently contain? I get the feeling that whatever astral or consciousness that bleeds this information to him was hoping he’d find a way to break Noct’s chains. I would even venture so far as to say it might be a little bit of Luna from the other plane. Everything they reveal is like a giant warning sign. Almost like…hints?

“Hey, the King will be stronger than the gods themselves! He controls the light! This is his fate! It really sucks, doesn’t it! IT REALLY SUCKS RIGHT??? ……..RIGHT?”

I mean these things happen upon Ignis, the one person that would, hands down, be the most likely to turn the world upside down to save Noctis. It never really felt right, did it? Ignis being silent in the train. Letting others speak for him. Letting Noctis walk up those steps, never to return. This has always been very difficult to reconcile, I think. But now we know that he struggled all that time with burdensome knowledge. I think it’s safe to say we suspected as much.

But imagine, then, Ignis’ willingness to make the sacrifice, and it failing. He’s not broken Noct’s chains, and Ardyn never planned to simply stab Noctis to death on the altar; his goal has always been to push Noctis to Ascension. So basically, in the bad ending, Ignis gets entirely played. He’s blinded himself and failed. These are facts. I don’t think he ever gets over it, and I’m sure every step of it was agonizing, until the day he had to let Noctis go. Again.

Now, imagine knowing all that shit already. Knowing that you become a victim, knowing that you’re outsmarted, that your loved one will still die. He still puts the fucking ring on. OF COURSE HE STILL PUTS THE RING ON. That’s when we get the “do what you will with this world,” Ignis. He hasn’t just seen Noct’s death, he’s seen what happens to himself. I don’t think he’d be able to stand the sight of himself that way, and it’s at that moment that ripping Noctis from the jaws of fate itself is the only goal. He simply decides to reject it, and then he does just that.

Similarly, Noctis simply decides not to accept his death, and bids the light to scorn the contract between Ignis and the past Kings. He has that right. When he’s at his maximum power level, he has the ability to undo whatever he wants. He’s the Chosen King not just of men, but of all creation, the Star and the Astrals, too. There will come a time when they answer to him. Ignis’ willingness to see his own future and say ­“well fuck that!” is precisely what gives Noctis his push. No more dead loved ones; this is the last straw. This one, they are not taking away.

So, in the end, the End End, the good end, I like to think that Ignis still has these memories of pasts that never occurred. He knows what was at stake in this reality where Noctis gets to live. Knowledge. Scientia.

It can be a burden. Choose what to do with it.

Related note; I know about the “ignoct are dead” theory floating around, and while I get it, I don’t think it’s what we’re meant to believe. Or at least, I don’t find it likely/subscribe to it. To put it short, 1) there was too much time spent on the montage for them to tear the rug out from under us like that, 2) see above regarding breaking chains of fate that bind; why would the Kings let Ignis live for 10 years and then just? take him anyway??? and 3) Noctis appears with Luna in the original in garb extremely reminiscent of Imperial dress circa WWII, and this likening to the Emperor via imagery would carry the distinct impression that Noctis had Ascended. He’s not a man any longer, but a god. He’s divine and not of this world. And obviously, in Iggy DLC good ending, none of this applies. We are not meant to believe that he Ascended. 

And just for fun! Pics for comparison! 

(Emperor Hirohito; note the sash placement. Noct looks a little more modern obviously but there are some similarities!)