We return to Zanarkand, or rather the world that holds the city. However, when we last left Tidus he had heard rumours of it's destruction, and he now appears to be in a very different place than the home he is familiar with.
Tidus and the companions he has found himself with board a ship headed for Kilika Port. En route, they see a massive grey fin protuding from the waters. It is Sin. The crew of the boat fears for the lives of their families in Kilika, and they confront the dread beast. Despite the best efforts of the crew and Tidus's companions, Sin carries on to Kilika, destroying the town with a tidal wave.
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| Spira |
The crew arrives to a very somber scene as the Kilikan's tend to their dead and begin the process of rebuilding their town. This is the cycle of death and rebirth on Spira. Sin destroys, and the people rebuild, again and again.
Tidus's team captain, Wakka, assures him that now is the perfect time to pray at the temple for a blitz ball victory. To Wakka, times like this are when blitz is most important to the people of Spira, to help them forget the inevitable pain and suffering wrought by Sin.
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| A summoner must perform a ritual to lead the dead on to the afterlife, otherwise they will remain in Spira and become monsters. |
The companions climb the great steps to Kilika's temple, encountering a massive creature called a sinspawn, left by Sin. They enter the cloister of trials, and emerge with Yuna now able to summon the fire Aeon, Ifrit.
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| Sinspawn: they must defeated, or else Sin will return to claim them. |
While in the Kilika temple, the group has an encounter with a rival summoner Dona, and her companion Barthello.
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| Dona and Barthello. |
Upon seeing Dona and Barthello when I first played FFX a little over ten years ago, I was immediately under the impression that they are based on "Bennifer". Bennifer being the dating team of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The resemblance is uncanny, right?
In the temple at Kilika, Yuna receives her second summon, or "Aeon". The word aeon is apparently synonymous with "eon", and originally meant "life" or being". This makes sense with it's use here.
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| Ifrit's fayth. |
Ifrit has been a staple of the summoned monsters since they first appeared back in FFIII. The creature is probably based directly on, or has the same root material, as the Dungeons & Dragons fire genies known as "efreet". In Islamic folklore, the Ifrit is a winged creature of fire. It is one of many types of beings known as jinn. Jinn is, not too surprisingly, analygous to the word "genie" in English. Jinn is also the name of the same summon in the SNES release FFII (FF IV really, there are some numbering issues due to Japan vs US release dates.), probably changed to avoid potential copyright issues.
Thanks for joining me friends, come back again, for This Bard's Tales!
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