#linoa

And immediately we’ve got some interesting stuff as the dialogue between Nida and Squall:

In English, Nida asks “The sorceress is with them, huh? So this is going to be the final battle?”. However, French Nida is more assured, stating “The witch is with them. This is going to be the ultimate battle.”

Also, as you may have noticed, we once again have an example of the French version going back and forth between using the words “sorcière” (witch/sorceress),  prêtresse” (priestess) and most confusingly, “nécromancienne” (necromancer) for Edea/Ultimecia. I know the English verison sometimes uses “witch” instead of “sorceress” as well, but the French version really likes to change what it calls them, although it does usually settle on “prêtresse”.

Anyway, back to the dialogue, English Squall replies with “I hope so,” but again the reply is quite different as he says “(yes, for whom?)” and indeed, it’s between parenthesis, implying he’s muttering it to himself, and making it very clear that he fully expects at least one of them to die.

Next, in English, Squall wonders “What should I do first? I have to give orders to everybody. It’s my responsibility.” in the French version, he’s more straightforward, thinking “I have to distribute tasks and give everyone orders.” Gotta say, I do like the way the English version emphasize Squall’s sense of duty a little more.

Geesh, we’re still on the first screen and we have yet more stuff to cover when it comes to Squall’s orders:

First, in English, Squall is pretty solemn about Seifer being there, as he says “As you may all know, Seifer is with them. I plan to settle everything, once and for all, with this battle.” French Squall is being a lot less cute about it, saying “One of us, Seifer, is fighting on the enemy’s side. Count on me to eliminate this traitor.” DAMN, French Squall ain’t fucking around!

Next, we have a bit of a strange difference in... lore, I guess? In English, Squall orders “1st and 2nd class Sabers” to go in the parking lot. In French, however, he orders the “grenadiers” to do so, which is rather odd for two reasons. First, as far as I’m aware, SeeD doesn’t use grenades (which would seem redundant hen you have magic anyway), and explosives seem to be more Galbadia’s speciality. And second, “grenadiers” as a specific unit isn’t a thing in the French army any more, and is usually associated with Napoleonic times, so that’s a bit of strange reference. Of course, I guess it could be kind of a non-literal term and refer to fire magic specialists.

Next, while giving orders to protect the quad and main entrance, English Squall splits the students between even and odd ID numbers. In French, it’s a bit more complicated, as he tells the “first year students” to get the quad, and the “candidates” to get to the entrance. I’m guessing “first year students” refers to new SeeD graduates and “candidates” to the ones nearing the end who can apply for the final exam but haven’t graduated yet.

Or maybe it’s kind of the opposite, and “first-year student” means people who just entered the cursus to join SeeD (as opposed to younger students who are getting a general education) and “candidates” are again the ones eligible for the final exam. Not that I really have any evidence backing it up either way. :P

And similarly, instead of telling students with an ID ending with 8 (which id a bit confusing considering he already gave students with even-numbered ID orders) to take care of the junior classmen, in French, they do follow through on the previous orders by having Squall tell the second year students to do so.

After the girls and Irvine tell Squall Zell is sleeping, English Squall is quite disbelieving an asks them whet they’re talking about. And in French, he’s actually extra snarky by asking “Are you kidding me right now?”.

And after Quistis says it’s their little secret, instead of wondering “... What’s he doing? We don’t have any time!”, he wonders “Are they drunk or something?”. Seriously, French Squall is so done with anyone’s bullshit.

Here’s one of the more amusing ones. In English, this guy says his status is “Indirect magic operative, level 2″. In French however, he says he’s in charge of... the film club. Now it’s clearly not meant to be a joke, I just find the contrast between the two version funny in this case.

Also, in English, Squall makes him a 1st class MG, as in Major General, presumably, which seems quite a high rank for someone whose background Squall doesn’t know (especially since I’m not even sure that’s how SeeD ranks work but whatever). In French, it seems a bit more plausible as he tells the guy “From now on, you’re the section B lieutenant”.

One thing I do like about the guy being in charge of the film club in the French version is how it shows how suddenly these kids’ lives can change in an instant in this game’s universe. It’s clear that for the most part, education in Balamb Garden is fairly standards, so one minute you could be minding your own business, hanging out with friend, engaging in normal high-school activities when suddenly bam! War gets dumped on you and you gotta adapt or die. Pretty of scary when you think about it.

There’s also a slight difference with these three guys. In English, the boys are part of the “Fire Platoon”, which make me wonder if it means they use guns (which again seems odd for Balamb Garden, but maybe it’s a thing) and the girl is a medic.

In French, however, one of the boys is explicitly a gunner (so I guess it really IS a thing), the other boy is a “nurse-fireman” (because one of these jobs just isn’t stressful enough on its own apparently) and the girl is a regular nurse.

Either way, I always loved Squall thinking quickly under pressure and making sure everyone has a role. It’s funny, there are many high-ranking (para-)military characters in video games, but it’s the only time I recall one actually acting like a leader.

The talk with Zell goes pretty much the same in both versions, I just find it funny that in English, Squall goes out of his way to encourage Zell & co by saying “Zell, I’m counting on you. Good luck, everyone.” whereas in French, he is much more laconic, merely saying “Good luck.”

Probably the smallest difference I’ll mention, but still an interesting one. In English, after the Galbadian forces invade, Squall tells the quad team to watch out. In French, he tells all “BGU Soldiers” to get ready. Both make sense, though I do like Squall giving more specific orders in English a little more. It gives the sense that he’s observing everything from the bridge and uses that to his advantage for tactical decisions.

Here’s another funny one. After Squall tells Zell to do whatever it takes to rescue Linoa, English Zell replies “Leave it to me!”. In French however, he seems less confident as what he says literally translates to “(Poor me!)” and it’s basically him going “(Oh, boy)”. This is especially funny when coupled with his confident-looking chest pat. I love the moment that imply that Zell is often not nearly as assured as he looks, but he puts on a brave face as to not demoralize his teammates.

Back in the headmaster’s office, where Kadowaki is once again proving herself to be the best NPC in gaming history by taking charge instead of Cid, there’s another amusing difference. In both versions, she tells Squall that it’s his destiny to fight Seifer, but while she’s pretty straightforward about it in French, I love that in English, she goes “It’s kind of like your destiny to face him”. Yeah, sort of or whatever. Look, just go kick his ass.

Another Irvine speech, another surprisingly big difference.

English:

Listen... Do me a favor. YOU... go help Rinoa. It may be too late, but don’t give up until you’re CERTAIN that there’s nothing more you can do!

French:

No way you can just leave her like that! Nobody abandons such a pretty girl, as long as there’s really nothing left to do...

By the way, that awkward phrasing at the end (as it should have been “UNTIL there’s really nothing left to do”) is indeed present in the actual text, so don’t blame it on me! And generally speaking I do like the English take on it better, especially as he goes “YOU help Linoa”. It’s like he’s saying “look, you gave the orders, we know what to do, but if YOU don’t rescue her, no-one can”.

And it really goes to show that in spite of the image he wants to give of himself, Irvine is surprisingly thoughtful. He knows Squall won’t be able to forgive himself if he doesn’t try to rescue Linoa, even if someone else rescued her, he’d feel like shit for not going for her.

There’s also a bit of an odd quirk in the English version a bit later, as Quistis says “we’ll clear a path. Once Squall arrives, we’ll move in.” which is a bit weird considering she’s talking to Squall. Even if you want to say she’s speaking to the group as a whole, it’s still a bit strange, especially as she’s still looking right at him. In French, she does address him directly saying “We’ll clear the path. Don’t worry about us.”

And so we get to Squall’s speech and while it’s very moving, I want you all to picture Linoa dangling off the side of Balamb Garden the whole time. Anyway, the first half of it is actually very similar in both versions. But then things get quite different:

English:

SeeD was formed to fight the sorceress; at least, that’s what I heard. And Garden was created to train SeeDs. So this battle is Garden’s destiny and also our destiny. It’s a grueling battle, and I’m sure you guys are all exhausted. But I don’t want to have any regrets. I don’t want anyone to look back and regret this day. So just this once, I want you guys to give everything you’ve got! For yourselves and for me!

French:

The battle we fight has many things at stake: everyone’s life, of course, but also the future of BGU and our democracy! This is why I ask each of you for one more push, non just for yourselves, but for everyone else. I count on you! I ask you to do your maximum, for you and for others.

And finally, I don’t know about you, but this is the moment I’ve been looking for. After Squall goes all tsundere on Linoa and claims him saving her was purely professional because they have a contract and it was everybody else’s idea and ti was a coincidence anyway and it’s not like I keep saving you because I like you or anything, so don’t get the wrong idea, baka, we get some small differences at first.

For example, while throwing Zell under the bus, instead of “Zell gave it to me, see? I’ve been holding on to it”, she says “Zell gave it to me. That was nice of him, wasn’t it?”. Rest assure that Squall swears to kill him either way. Also, I really like the animation of Squall’s shoulders tensing up and him rolling his neck while he thinks that. I don’t remember seeingt hat specific animation anywhere else either, so I lvoe that they gave him one for that of all things.

Also also, in both versions, he specifies that it’s his favourite ring, implying he owns many more. Behold Pimp Squall, blowing his cadet allowance on bling. Oh and while in English, he adds “You’d better give it back,” he doesn’t say that in French, which is yet another small detail that makes him come across a bit nicer in the French version.

People also noted that on top of lions in the FF8 universe not resembling our Earth lions, Linoa sounds out the the word like she’s never heard of it before, implying they’re fairly obscure mythical creatures. Well, that doesn’t happen in French and thinking about it, that’s a bit of a shame as that is an interesting subtle bit of lore.

But the question is: does this L I O N of his have a name? Sure does:

Yep, Griever is known as Cronos in French, tying it back to the time theme. Oddly, it’s lacking an H to really fit, so it might be a reference to the king of Titans as well.

So in both versions, Linoa says that it’s such an accident that people might think they’re together once she gets a copy of Squall’s ring. But what’ interesting is the specific terms used:

In English, she says “That’d be crazy, huh!? I mean, everyone might, y’know, get the wrong idea about us.”

In French, she says “The problem is that everyone will think we’re together!”

What makes this seemingly small difference have such significance is how it leads to Squall’s reply a bit later as in English, he tells Rinoa “You sound like you want everyone to get the wrong idea.” teasing her a bit while kind of calling her out.

In French however, it take son a whole other meaning as he says “I don’t know if it’s really a problem...”

And this to me really sounds like Squall openly admitting that he does have romantic feelings for Linoa. After all, why else would a guy like him be okay with people spreading rumours about him being with a girl? If nothing else, he’s certainly admitting that he’s comfortable being paired up with her by people and that he’s got some things to work out once the battle is over.

Oh and Linoa’s reaction in each version also speaks volume about what Squall just said. In English, she just vehemently denies being up to anything, going “No-no-no-no-no!”. In French, she seems much more flustered, going “Huh? What... What do you mean?”

We’ve got one last difference to end on. And once again, it’s quite a meaningful one. It happens as Squall ends yet another rousing speech. In English, it goes like this:

Squall: “We’ve come this far. I guess there no need for me to say anything.”

Rinoa: “We’re still listening. Squall, we want to know how you feel.”

Squall: “I’ll tell you later... After we all get out of this. Let’s go.”

In French, it goes like this (note that Squall uses the pronoun “tu”, showing he’s addressing Linoa specifically):

Squall: My little memories don’t interest you, huh?

Linoa: Of course they do! Tell me what you really think.

Squall: I’ll tell you that, if we’re still alive after this trial. Let’s go!

I find it very interesting that Squall make sit more personal here, by talking to Linoa directly. It’s a good way for him to tall the rest of the orphanage gang that they can’t put the rest of humanity in jeopardy because of their childhood memories.

But really, I like this part in both versions. And in both, you once again have Squall basically admit that he wants to get closer to Linoa. So even if you don’t take it as a love confession, then it certainly shows that he wants to figure out how exactly he feels about her, that he definitely wants their relationship to be more than professional, and that he intends to work out how far he wants it to go. And on top of that, it’s also a good motivator for her to give it all she’s got. “Don’t you die on me, I’ve got stuff to tall you about.”

Hhhaaa, I really enjoyed that one! And I hope you did too. Next time, it’s the second and final battle against Edea, the end of the CD2 content and the beginning of a new battle. In the meantime, feel free to ask questions, either by replying to this post or through my “ask” thing, or to just make comments or add your two cents. I always love to see people’s reactions and their own interpretations of various elements. And it would be really nice if you could give this post a reblog to help spread awareness. I know some people think their own blog is too small for it to matter but I assure you, every reblog helps.