[SPOILERS] Plot "holes" and analysis

[miklol]

My fellow FF8-fans eager to talk about that convoluted story, here we are!

Tons of people talk about some aspects of the story as "plot holes" although it's just stuff that they didn't figure out, or things that got lost in translation. For instance, some complain about the crater in Trabia remaining unexplained, when it's really made obvious during one of Laguna's dream sequence (I'll be happy to develop if asked).

So let's talk about shady parts of the story, and try to figure them out, and maybe identify them as plot holes.

My feeling is that the story was set to be grand but they got in a rush and had to go with not explaining very well some motives or some mechanics of the story. Dr Odine litterally explains that Ultimecia wants to reach time compresssion and that you have to go through with it to go kill her in the future in one paragraph.

1) It doesn't make a lot of sense that Ultimecia is able to use Junction Machine Ellone in the future. After this reveal by Odine, the party could very well just destroy the machine in the present, burn the plans, and Ultimecia would then never have been able to possess anybody in the present. Sounds simpler than time compression.

2) Why would the Galbadian army still follow Seifer's orders after Edea's demise? Why go dig up some Lunatic Pandora, look for Ellone and attack Esthar on orders of a former student of Balamb (that's not even in their country)?

Things that are left unexplained:

A) Ellone isn't a sorceress. Where does her power come from then?
B) Where was buried Lunatic Pandora before Seifer could reach it? (EDIT: Laguna says something about giving it a random course and then bury itself)
C) What are Ultimecia's motives? One can imagine that she got crazy not having a Knight to rely on. Then why did Edea not go crazy being far from Cid for so long?

Things that are not plot holes:

a) The reason Seifer follows sorceresses to do their bidding (EDIT: his "romantic dream" of being the Knight to a Sorceress + Ultimecia's visions)
b) The love story which actually makes a lot of sense.
c) GF cause memory blocking (EDIT: by taking up space in the same area of the brain where memories are stored)
d) The icicle not leaving a wound to Squall at the end of Disc 1... just seems weird but not enough to justify "Squall is dead" theory.

Hopefully I get some opinions on these!

PS: maybe I'll make a guide out of this.

[Esther]

For Unexplained thing B, I think it is explained that Laguna set it's course to go to an unspecified point and then be sunk underwater after dealing with Adel.

For not Plot Hole A, it's manpiulation, and then outright mind control, at least that's what I've read, never beat Mobile Type 8 when I was younger and am just making it to that point again.

Not Plot Hole C they say that Junctioning a GF is putting them inside the part of your brain where your memories are at. And this is where it gets a little wild mass guessery, but I guess that it consumes memories to wield the Power of GFs, unless that too was brought up.

And for Not Plot Hole D just some more WMG, but considering what some of the Magic and GF attacks actually do, I think it's safe to assume that Magic just don't leave visable wounds in the world of FF8.
I won't get into the Squall's dead theroy though. I'd be here forever tearing that thing to shreads.

[miklol]

Right I remember now about the random course for Lunatic Pandora.
Thanks for your answer!

About A, it could be Mind control, but really if you pay close attention, you'll notice Seifer pictures himself being a Knight for a Sorceress, having been very influenced at a young age by a movie, actually the movie Laguna appeared in (where he got inspiration for his gunblade pose: same animation in the game). Also, he got books about this from the library. He also wants to leave a mark on the world, and has this "romantic dream". Ultimecia's visions work so well because that's what he really wanted to see to begin with.

I really like the bit about Seifer copying Laguna's pose. Square probably didn't want a new set of animations just for this dream sequence, but still they made Laguna use Seifer's animations rather than Squall's and made it fit into the story. So that's a thought-out choice.

[Pendrokar-OD]

Originally posted by brolz:

C) What are Ultimecia's motives? One can imagine that she got crazy not having a Knight to rely on. Then why did Edea not go crazy being far from Cid for so long?

Dunno. I have a guess though. A witch hunt for sorceresses occuring in the future. She became a survivor absorbing the powers of other sorceresses. I am kinda basing the last part on the fact that non-humans are also noted to become sorceresses, which might explain why her hands are animal like.

Square Enix once asked a question of which FF villain should get their own game(a statement which I can no longer find). No one really picked Ultimecia, even though this would make for an interesting story. Remember, Ultimecia was destroyed in the future. The happy ending doesn't change the fact that she appears in the future, kills white SeeDs and creates that castle.