FFVIII Disc 2 Progress: Break out Jail and Break into Hostile Territory

[zen_monk]

I think one of my favorite sequences in Disc 2 was the Galbadia prison jail break. You get to see Zell take up action, and this guy is super energetic so I feel pumped for him. Also, we get see what Ward was doing, which was being bored out of his mind and doing janitorial work in aforementioned prison...coincidentally. Well, I guess there's only one prison for political dissidents in Galbadia, so it's not so coincidentally randomized.

I like that Quistis and all the other people are just giving Zell BIG HINTS on what to do next and how to jailbreak. Such as Rinoa being like "....anything looking familiar, Zell?


 

Cut for D-District Prison comments, Squall and Seifer comments, and Rinoa comments. And blowing up missile bases. 

I also get a kick out of Squall in a position of vulnerability. I think it's because his body language fits really well in that kind of setting, in which you see him being disoriented and groggy and then being beaten the shit out of Seifer. He's in a state where he reacts very believably towards the situation, in which the audience also share his bewilderment in Seifer's involvement.

Also, dang Seifer being all delusional and stuff. Caught up in Sorceress influence and propaganda, and not just with a little bit of resentment and paranoia into what SEED secrets that are privy to students who graduated. This also foreshadows the sentiment shared at Balamb Garden.... several paragraphs later. I also think that this is where the themes of romance and growing up get to show up more prominently: in which you see the gradual maturation of Squall and crew through encountering real life situations in which they had to improvise and modify what they learned from school. And then you see Seifer, who claimed to have his dream acquired, but also have implications of which he's still trapped within his own ideal of what he wanted to be and is instead being manipulated by the authority around him. 

The pretense of authority while still being ruled by authority. This is me rambling, by the way, so I dunno if this is starting to make sense.

The line "This is the scene where you swear your undying hatred for me! The tale of the evil mercenary vs the sorceress' knight" is pretty much him still trapped in a script he wanted for himself.

Moombas are cute, also. It's a shame we never see them outside of FFVIII again.

Squall's epic save on Zell was awesome. And then Selphie lampshades it with a BL implication :B. 

I like the crossroads where one direction is where the missile base is and the other is the train station that will get them to Balamb. This is a crossroads point for Squall and crew, in which he has been made leader for these endeavors and also when he goes beyond the call of duty. Before it had been simple motivations to get out their predicaments: get out of Timber because they're in danger. Get to another Garden and then go to an even more important mission while still maintaining the ties of your first one. Get out of failed Assassination plot. These are all by the book kind of things for Squall to follow on and be able to improvise easily. Then it gets to open groundwork once you do the "get out of jail and torture" conflict. What are the important things to Squall once there isn't a mission to go to? What ought he to do in order to do good? I think he obviously feels that he has to save everyone in Garden because that's his home, but he also realizes that this is something bigger than what he's used to and decisions make a lot of weight here.

Responsibility is in his hands. And part of that is relying on others and delegating them to tasks in which he's not sure would be able to pull off. And that is the start of the realization of his fear of being attached to others on a more personal and weighty level because there is more to lose when he depends on an unsure future.

Though it's pretty interesting that Rinoa was the first to delegate Squall as leader, and through a vote, no less. Typically, chain of command would go to someone with more experience or knowledge, like Quistis, and I'm thinking that what Squall would probably expect to happen. Since, Quistis has been the one to tell him what to do next a lot during the first disc. I guess this means that Rinoa really trust Squall's judgment more ever since Galbadia. I also think that Rinoa has more faith in Squall doing what needs to be done, because I'm sure that Rinoa would also be the first to say "hey we have to save everyone in Garden and thwart the plans of Galbadia."

I also think she gave that choice to Squall because he, and alongside everyone else from Balamb Garden, would want to lead their own path to saving their homes, just like how she makes a group effort with the people in Timber to facilitate their own liberation. So it's not like Rinoa is suddenly relying on some guy for decision-making; I think it's also because Squall and crew have more vested interest in saving Balamb than she does.

And the missile base did go ka-blooey didn't it Selphie? I had Irvine and Quistis be on her team (because I think Zell's personal quest with library girl happens if you bring him along). I also like that Irvine gets to add in that he thought that he was assigned with Selphie because Squall didn't trust him. I don't think that's what happened, but I think it's interesting that Irvine really cared about what Squall thought of him since he tried to be an aloof and cool dude. He probably kept thinking about the Assassination attempt and how he wasn't able to kill Edea, as well as not being able to save Squall and Rinoa from losing to Edea.