For context, this article is another analysis of the significance and emotional impact of a scene in the popular Japanese RPG, Final Fantasy 10. As I don't expect the audience of this article to start playing a game targeted towards an audience of 12-15 year olds, this includes a spoiler of arguably one of the most important scenes in the game. A couple weeks ago, I wrote an article about the scene where Rikku reveals a necessary sacrifice in the final summoning, the rite of passage throughout the whole game to defeat Sin, the monster terrorizing the world.

In that scene, Rikku revealed to our protagonist, Tidus, that the final summoning requires the death of the summoner, the other protagonist: Yuna. The final summoning gets a summoner the final aeon, which will defeat Sin and kill the summoner. In addition, Sin always comes back after period known as the "calm," when Sin is not killing people in Spira.

The religious infrastructure of the world of Spira, Yevon, teaches its followers (the vast majority of the population) that Sin terrorizes the world because of the their sins in using advanced technology, known as machina. This makes sense, since Sin most commonly attacks vastly populated areas where the use of machina is often inevitable. Knowing this, the followers of Yevon have hope that Sin can one day be eradicated if they follow the teachings of Yevon. As such, Yuna is a celebrity of Spira - ten years before, her father was the summoner who defeated Sin and initiated the last calm. Expectations are the same for her.

The party undergoes an adventure of fighting monsters and getting the necessary aeons. Midway through, however, they earns the ire of Yevon after killing one of its most powerful members, Seymour. When they reach the main temple of Spira, Tidus, Yuna, Rikku, and the others find that Yevon is embroiled in hypocrisy: the temple uses very advanced machina, while preaching to its followers to not do so. Finally, the party reaches the final destination, Zanarkand, where Yuna is set to get the final summoning. For the past couple days, the party has been trying to find ways around the final summoning, or at least get the final aeon without Yuna having to die, and at that point, they still have not found a solution.

They reach the final temple where they meet Yunalesca, the first summoner to obtain the final aeon a thousand years before, and the safeguard for the final summoning. While Yuna is more than willing to give her own life to obtain the final aeon and give the people of Spira peace, there's another stipulation: the final summoning requires another sacrifice of one of her guardians to be the spirit of the aeon. Almost every one of the guardians volunteers without hesitation, with the exception of Tidus and Rikku, who are opposed to the whole process in the first place.

But Yuna is hesitant. Tidus and Rikku still want to find another way, but the rest of the guardians think they're being naive, immature, and too idealistic. The next scene is, without a doubt, the climax of the game, when Yuna rejects the final summoning because she doesn't want to sacrifice any more lives. The party confronts Yunalesca, and the following dialogue ensues (I have selected what I feel are the most pivotal quotes).

Yuna: "Might I ask something first? Will Sin come back even should I use the Final Summoning to defeat it?"
Yunalesca : "Sin is eternal. Every aeon that defeats it becomes Sin it its place... And thus is Sin reborn."
Lulu: "This...this cannot be! The teachings state that we can exorcise Sin with complete atonement! It's been our only hope all these years!"
Yunalesca: "Hope is...comforting. It allows us to accept fate, however tragic it might be."
Yuna: "I would have gladly died. I live for the people of Spira, and would have gladly died for them. But no more! The Final Summoning... is a false tradition that should be thrown away."
Yunalesca: "No. It is our only hope. Your father sacrificed himself to give that hope to the people. So they would forget sorrow."
Yuna: "Wrong. My father... My father wanted... to make Spira's sorrow go away. Not just cover it up with lies!"
Auron: "Now! This it is! Now is the time to choose: die or be free of pain, or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories. Your fate is in your hands!"

There's a lot of analysis that can go into this - but there are a couple instrumental themes that make the scene. Yuna, Tidus, and the party want to save the world, but do it in a way that doesn't perpetuate the institutional cycle of death that it requires, and they don't want it to be a band-aid solution like it was in the past. They want to reform not only the system, but the world, and eradicate Sin forever rather than just a couple ears. The party has an idealism that is criticized by the whole rest of the world, and in finding another way, they eventually succeedl

Yuna and Tidus teach us what we need to make reform and idealism come true: an unwavering determination, a willingness to work against tradition, and lifelong allies at your side. They want to dismantle the status quo of the world, and replace it with something better. Auron's last line of the scene, right before the party is about the fight Yunalesca (the most powerful enemy they have faced so far, and one of the most powerful and respected in the world), epitomizes the famous Emiliano Zapata quote: "it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees."

You need a lot of things to win a revolution - and one thing the party has in Final Fantasy 10 is a whole lot of luck. At any point, they could have been too weak and died. Yunalesca could have easily done away from them, and the status quo would have been maintained.

There is one thing that is absolutely essential to destroying the status quo, though: a better alternative. While change, any change may be desired and even necessary, what would have happened if the party just killed Yunalesca, eliminated the final summoning because it was wrong, and left it at that? Sin would have terrorized the world forever, without any peace for the rest of eternity. The goal, for Yuna, was not to leave the world and the final summoning worse off than they were before - but rather better than before.

It's important to note that Yuna didn't choose to defy Yevon and destroy the rite of passage of the final summoning by choice. She lived her whole life as a devout follower of Yevon. She wanted to follow in her father's footsteps and go through with the final summoning. But when the hypocrisy of Yevon conflicted with her integrity, and the sacrifice of one of her lifelong, closest friends conflicted with her morals, she was pushed in that direction. Yuna leads her reluctantly, but in her reluctance is graceful in doing so.

Maybe there aren't that many lessons - but this scene is the emotional and plot climax of the whole game. Although it was a scene I first saw as a kid, I get the chills even now every time I watch it, maybe partially out of nostalgia, but also out of something powerful that I can't capture correctly. Yuna was willing to step off the path put before her and make her own story, and maybe it's just because they were willing to risk everything to do things differently and capture a real hope that would last.