FFXIII-2: Plot Discussion

[Cichy]

I think with Ark in the sky they can bring in people and deal with the situation better.

[Gokulo]

Not sure thats all bout radioactive before in the ending, they let the old cocoon fall and crash on pulse, so unless they plan to bring everyone to cocoon and no one else live on pulse

They did want to get everyone to new Cocoon.

[vadre]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzZoQ_h1kx0

If anyone's interested in seeing the secret ending itself

[Cichy]

They did want to get everyone to new Cocoon.

Yeah, they could not avoid Grand Pulse getting scorched so the Ark was the only salvation for humans they could think off.

[Spira]

I think the effects of the fall of Cocoon weren't great considering they had 500 years to plan for it as compared to Noel's history where they weren't exactly prepared for it. People might still have been living at the base of the pillar and in Cocoon, leading to a degree of mass destruction.

I think Academia was sufficiently far enough to not really be affected by the crash.
Their plan was first to levitate Cocoon again with a fal'cie but that wasn't viable and any human means was out as well due to the incompatibility of Cocoon with normal power sources. In the end they decided to build a new ark because I suppose they preferred a comfortable life above Pulse and it might be pretty uninhabitable after the true fall of Cocoon.
Ultimately it was probably due to the fact that their ancestors came from Cocoon and they wanted to go back to that life.

[Gokulo]

I finally got all the fragments and saw the extra scene. Just more wtf's lol... :D
First of all I found "Ignorant and blind to their true mission" pretty interesting - wondering what he means ?.?
Secondly, does his glowing red eye means he got Eyes of Etro or something else? (though that would be weird considering she's gone)

[Cichy]

It seems to me much like Fal'Cie Caius was incapable of stabbing himself without any help. Wonder if that had anything to do with the fact he was a l'Cie.

[Alkar]

In Noel's past Cocoon crashed killing lots of people. When many people die at the same time Etro's Gate needs to open to let their souls pass but Chaos can get out of it from Valhalla.
Most likely that's what happened to Pulse after the fall and created the world we saw in 700 AF. It wasn't enough to completely erase the timeline but probably enough to corrupt the land.
Caius needs Noel for his plans because only another guardian who's strong enough can kill him. Noel just happens to be that guardian.
Serah also manages to send a message to her past self after her death so she's not gone completely. Not yet at least.

[Datonare]

I thought the titan paradox ending explained why Noel's world was scorched and barren

[Souj]

My assumptions;

Caius didn't know he had to kill himself originally, or that probably would have been the very first thing he did. He was under the assumption that Yuel kept coming back because there was a future however after the final battle he understands that Yuel keeps coming back because of Caius so that is why he then kills himself.

Caisu might not have been lying when he said he killed Lightning. The opening Cut Scene happened at the end, assumably at the same time or right before the final battle with Caius. Lightning knew she was going to die and she knew what was going to happen so she had sent Noel into the past to get Serah and told him to bring her to Valhala because they needed to stop Caius.

Snow became an l'Cie for some reason, not exactly sure why nor what he has to do in turn of gaining l'Cie status. The question is if it was the Fal'Cie Hope made (Adam) that made him an l'Cie, which could explain why we never saw him again after because without Adam existing, Snow couldn't become an l'Cie. (I know they changed the future which changed Snow ever being at the spot where he was trying to save the pillar, but I would assume he would have found other ways of trying to help Serah/find lightning)
Or maybe it was Fenrir. I don't recall anything being resolved from Fenrir. For some reason Fenrir was blocking out the sun, they solved a paradox and then for some unknown reason Fenrir was gone, though he was still there in earlier time lines partially blocking out the sun.
Or hell, it could just be a whole different Fal'Cie altogether.

[Tidane]

Snow became an l'Cie for some reason, not exactly sure why nor what he has to do in turn of gaining l'Cie status.

Snow went looking for a fal'Cie to turn him back into a l'Cie so he could travel through time. Tearshang's spoiler gives a bit more information about it.

As for Caius, I'm fairly certain that he couldn't kill himself. The power had to be passed from Guardian to Guardian, so if he died by killing himself, he would just come back. My understanding of it was that he was technically killed by Noel, Noel didn't inherit the power (apparently it isn't forced onto a person, since one of the paradox endings does have Noel gaining the power by besting Caius), and that caused Etro to vanish.

Why Noel didn't gain the power and control it, I do not know. I thought there were hints that Noel could take the power (being the only remaining Guardian) and not pull a Caius and decide to destroy everything.

[Appie]

Considering Snow started his little trip between AF0 and AF3 (gone when we first meet Serah) It can't be the fal'Cie Hope made, because that plan was made in AF13. Also there is a Paradox ending with Snow in Academia AF4XX iirc.

Lightning isn't dead, she's crystalized (going by the interview in the guide anyway). Crystalized because her sister died and Lightning wanted to be a glimmer of hope after that. Why not warrior goddess that shit up instead of being in a crystal? Dunno, maybe with Etro gone she lost some/all power?

Caius isn't dead either, he "died" in Valhalla, where there is no life or death, no flow of time. This whole outcome was his plan. Caius played it well. He positioned himself as the menace that messed with Lightning which makes Serah and Noel go: we have to stop him! Completely ignoring what Caius says to them halfway in the game that killing him would kill Etro (as Noel is reminded in the ending scene like a dumb fuck). Too focussed on saving Lightning, they played their part as Caius' pawns very well.

[Tidane]

Too focussed on saving Lightning, they played their part as Caius' pawns very well.

To be fair, they really had no choice. If they don't go after Caius, cocoon falls, the gate opens, and chaos comes. Go after Caius, Etro dies, the gate opens, and chaos comes.

[Appie]

True, which I loved about the story =)
They couldn't win either way. Defying fate in XIII? Fate back with a vengeance in XIII-2. Suck it main cast.

[Cichy]

So here's a scenario for 13-3. In remaining DLCs they undo what Etro did by helping them, meaning they turn into ragnarok, destroy cocoon, and turn into crystal. Beginning of XIII-3 they wake up in a completely new world 1000 years later.

[Tidane]

True, which I loved about the story =)
They couldn't win either way. Defying fate in XIII? Fate back with a vengeance in XIII-2. Suck it main cast.

Yep. For most of the second half of the game I was wondering what piece of the story they were going to pull out and say "nah, that's not true" to give a happy ending. I was glad that they didn't do that (yet, anyway)...

On the topic of DLC, it seems like they left themselves a lot of room to do a more western expansion pack-esque DLC. The Academia AF4XX Paradox Ending was one I could see leading into a Shivering Isles like DLC: extend that line from the AFXX PE downward and away we go.

[Alkar]

The reason why Fenrir suddenly disappears is because they fixed the paradox that was causing it to show up 200 years in advance.
Fenrir wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. By fixing the paradox they create an alternative timeline where Fenrir never appeared.

[Spira]

If u read some of the fragments and do the cutscenes for the wild artefact in dying world, they state that a guardian has to be killed by another guardian to pass on the role to someone else. And that the next guardian needs to have the power to still the chaos or something like that. I'm guessing Noel just wasn't ready for it. Except in the
Paradox ending

[Burningthought]

The reason why Fenrir suddenly disappears is because they fixed the paradox that was causing it to show up 200 years in advance.
Fenrir wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. By fixing the paradox they create an alternative timeline where Fenrir never appeared.

Isn't Fenrir supposed to be roaming Pulse looking for an entrance to the Unseen world for Bhunivelze?

[shukudai]

There is a Plot Analyses on Gamefaq's for FFXIII that probably contains more information, about the Fabula Nova Crystalis Legend, that confuses things more. What's more frustrating is that the FNC Legend isn't "set in stone", any game made in that universe is supposed to draw from that legend for inspiration, or something along those lines. i.e: Bhunivelze is the name of the god that created the three original fal'Cie (Pulse, Etro, Lindzei). So, they could have chosen to ignore Bhunivelze being a god, and just used it as a name for the city... But at the same time, if I remember correctly, the stone tablet things in Gran Pulse in 13 also referred to Etro as a death goddess, kind of feared like the grim reaper (even refers to her as Etro the Grim Reaper or something very similar). But somehow, now she's suddenly a good goddess? Lots of things don't really add up >_>

I haven't gotten the paradox endings, or most anything like that, I will probably do a complete play through and get everything in the asia version instead.