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ANALYSIS & SPECULATION
This section is intended to fill in gaps and provide explanations of key plot points, joining up events and backstory for players who missed any details along the way. It should be evident that this section contains major spoilers. If you have yet to complete the main storyline, we suggest -- nay, insist -- that you turn away from these pages now.
What are fal'Cie, l'Cie and Cie'th?
The fal'Cie are sentient beings created by the Maker to perform a host of tasks and duties. Fal'Cie are described as a race of superior beings but their forms are varied and mechanistic. The Datalog reveals that there may be as many as eight million fal'Cie on Cocoon, all playing their part in the daily functions of the society and Sanctum operation -- even down to tasks as trivial as controlling a sliding door.
Creatures of purpose, the most potent fal'Cie have the power to bind humans to a task. L'Cie is the name given to such humans, and the task given is called a Focus. Mark missions on Gran Pulse reveal some of the ordinary types of Focus that once applied when society on the surface was thriving, though the surviving thoughts of the recipients reveal that the assignation of a Focus was always a life-consuming affair, regardless of its success or failure.
L'Cie who fail irredeemably or entirely reject their Focus face a terrible fate: they become Cie'th. Vampires, Vetala, Chonchon, Raktavija -- all of these crystalline monsters were once human beings, bound to a task that they could not or did not wish to achieve, and their monstrous mutation into life-hating beasts of spite and hatred is their punishment for failure. The majority of these abominations eventually transform into Cie'th Stones, still longing to complete their goals but unable to do more than pass on the task to another. The Undying are an exception: they retain their Cie'th form by sheer force of will and unremitting rage.
Even those who fulfill their focus are not free to return to their previous lives. The so-called reward for completing a focus is not eternal life but eternal sleep, and a transformation that results in crystal stasis. It is as if the fal'Cie wish to keep their best servants for future ends, rather than let them return to the lives they once knew.
How are the two worlds connected?
For the most part, the game takes place inside the floating world of Cocoon. This futuristic realm boasts a capital, Eden, as well as many smaller towns such as Bodhum and Palumpolum, and nature reserves that are home to wild beasts. These locations are actually situated on the inner surface of a vast sphere: Cocoon is an enormous hollow shell, with its cities on the inside. Fal'Cie control the climate of the internal atmosphere and there is even an artificial sun (in the burning form of a fal'Cie, Phoenix) that floats in the center of the sphere, radiating heat and light to all inhabitants.
But it is only when Sazh steals a ship after the defeat of Cid Raines and crashes it on the surface of Gran Pulse, the huge planet below, that we see Cocoon for what it is: a satellite, an artificial moon, completely enclosed and suspended just a short distance above the vast steppes of the untamed lowerworld. The same AMP Technology that powers Lightning's anti-grav device also helps to hold Cocoon aloft and maintains its inner integrity. The green scar is the outer rim of the broken area of the Hanging Edge, where the game opens.
In the final battles, the heroes find themselves on neither Gran Pulse nor Cocoon. Orphan's Cradle sits in another dimension, a cyberspatial realm where the data that controls Cocoon's vital operating systems has been manifested as a physical space. The dimension was created as a secure housing for Cocoon's primary fal'Cie energy source, and this is why it can only be reached by warping through portals.
What is the grand scheme of Barthandelus?
Barthandelus is an architect among fal'Cie, an assigner of roles, who believes that the world has fallen into ruin since it was created. He also believes that the only way to put things right is to recall the Maker, and he intends to do this through an act of immolation; sacrifice on a grand scale.
And so begins an audacious plan. Cocoon is created; a place to nurture and support human life beyond the natural realm. In contrast to the ferocity and uncertainty of Gran Pulse, Cocoon is a paradise of needs met and desires served. With great ease, humans are drawn out of their ordinary place in the scheme of things to lead lives of pleasure and plenty on the new satellite.
Cocoon is a revealing choice of name. It is a protection, shielding its inhabitants, but also holding them tightly and maintaining them in a juvenile state of development while warding off all outside influences. The larva waits in its cocoon until its day of glory.
Barthandelus intends that rebirth to be a dramatic end to both, because the conclusion of the plan is to sacrifice all life on Cocoon. This is the terrible secret of the place that is home to so many, but the reasoning is brutally simple: with such a massive demonstration of death, the Maker must surely respond by returning to his creation.
Why did the people leave Gran Pulse for Cocoon?
The records of Gran Pulse report that there was discord and disarray on account of the actions of the lowerworld fal'Cie. Entrusted with the task of completing the Maker's wishes, the Pulsian fal'Cie had no qualms with issuing Focus after Focus and enlisting the human population as l'Cie in the pursuit of ever more obscure and unsympathetic goals.
By contrast, the population that was to grow and prosper on Cocoon saw few instances of its own fal'Cie needing to enlist humans as l'Cie.
What are the Analects?
Unlocked throughout the endgame, these scraps of wisdom are the teachings that were once passed down through generations of Gran Pulsians.
Study suggests that the fell demon Lindzei may well be the same entity as Barthandelus. Lindzei is credited with creating Cocoon and weaving lies to ensnare the creatures of Gran Pulse, leading them to a "paradise".
The Anelcts also make note of Fang and Vanille, describing them as the Chosen and revealing their task to be the burden of the Beast.
Just to confuse matters, the Maker is known to the inhabitants of the lowerworld as the god Pulse, and they name their world Gran Pulse in his honor.
Why doesn't Barthandelus destroy Cocoon himself?
Powerful as he may seem, Barthandelus is as limited in scope as any other fal'Cie. He must rely on l'Cie to discover the true extent of human potential. As the Analects put it, fal'Cie were made with the Maker's purpose but humans were made with pieces of the divine spirit. The power of a fal'Cie is fixed but humans may attain a much greater power if they pursue it.
Furthermore, Barthandelus simply does not have the power or the strength to achieve his plans directly. That is why he needs to trick others into doing his bidding, and why his plans are founded on lies and deceit. Another translation of the name Barthandelus is "Baldanders", a reference to a mythical creature of many shapes and guises, as would befit the fal'Cie who masquerades as Sanctum hierarch Galenth Dysley. He is a master of illusion, as he demonstrates to the party by imitating Serah and, in the final scenes, by trying to trick Fang into believing that her friends have already turned into Cie'th. It is said that he possesses a rukh familiar called Menrva (referencing the goddess Minerva, or Athena, whose symbol was an owl), but it is possible that this is his true form.
The player may even notice that boss battles with Barthandelus are not rewarded with CP, and that he seems to survive each defeat unscathed, indicating that the party has been fighting a phantom or illusory form each time rather than the real fal'Cie. The secret of Barthandelus is that he possesses no real power of his own, but relies on his ability to manipulate the minds of others. Among the people, he spreads fear and mistrust. His design for the heroes is to inspire despair and hatred, knowing that he can then provoke them into attacking what they hold dearest.
How did Fang and Vanille get from Gran Pulse to Cocoon?
500 years before the events of Final Fantasy XIII, a first attempt to wipe out the inhabitants of Cocoon had already been made. The agents involved were Fang and Vanille, residents of Oerba who had been conscripted as l'Cie. And though they did not succeed entirely, the damage they caused at the time has never been repaired. The sabotage they wrought created the area known as the Hanging Edge, in which the game opens, and when Cocoon is viewed from Gran Pulse then the wound to its outer rim -- and the constant rain of debris from the rift -- remain visible.
Though Fang and Vanille initially failed in their task to destroy the whole of Cocoon, they were placed in crystal stasis aboard the Bodhum Vestige.
Why is there an Ark hidden within the very heart of Cocoon?
Barthandelus constructed Cocoon with an ulterior motive from the start, and the inclusion of the Ark was intended as a means of preparing the l'Cie who would become Ragnarok. The Ark may well have originated on Gran Pulse but was probably transported to Cocoon by the same means as the Bodhum Vestige. Its placement was no accident, therefore, and it is the guiding hand of Barthandelus that forces the party's ship to crash into the Ark after penetrating Eden. His intention is to place them in a training ground, honing their skills and improving their prospect of becoming Ragnarok. And when the time comes, the Ark will unleash its weaponry on Cocoon to throw the residents into panic.
What is the truth behind the War of Transgression?
The events of the past are no longer easy to verify. Remnants of Pulsian warships and automata clearly indicate a history of conflict, but were they ever used against the people of Cocoon? Or were they defending the last human residents of Gran Pulse who stubbornly held out against fal'Cie relocation? What is certain is that the War of Transgression remains a powerful piece of propaganda, reinforced through popular media with events such as the Pompa Sancta held in Nautilus Park.
Scouring the lowerworld for answers, the heroes find that only beasts and Cie'th have survived on Gran Pulse. Back on Cocoon, however, the pretense that a Pulsian invasion remains a threat feeds the insecurity of the populous and enables the Sanctum to exert ever greater powers of control. This, too, is part of the fal'Cie's grand design: Barthandelus wishes to turn the people against the l'Cie and make terrorists of them. Rejected and despised, the l'Cie are more likely to embrace Ragnarok and lash out against the society they once wished to preserve.
If the heroes don't wish to destroy Cocoon, why attack Orphan?
The opening of the Ark and the ensuing rampage of Pulsian beasts continues the part of the plan that began with the Purge. The people will be led to believe that the war has broken out. Cocoon has been created as a gigantic sacrificial altar, in which all of the Sanctum fal'Cie have played their part, so the heroes face a dilemma. If they destroy Orphan, they will be playing into the hands of Barthandelus. But if they do nothing, people will still die and the fal'Cie will simply continue to pursue their deranged machinations. While Orphan continues to exist, humanity will never be free.
How do Fang and Vanille save Cocoon at the end?
Having undergone all of the tests and trials that Barthandelus placed in their path, the party is strong enough to carry out the final stage of his plan. If just one of them loses hope and becomes Ragnarok, they will have both the power and the furious desire to tear whole worlds apart. And this is exactly what Barthandelus intends.
But with the strength they find in each other, Fang and Vanille make their own choice. Deliberately, they take on the power to become the destroyer of worlds, but use that power in deciding their own fate.
With Orphan defeated and the whole of Cocoon now heading for destruction without its power source, Fang and Vanille assume the form of Ragnarok to dig roots deep into the rock of Gran Pulse. They may be completing the Focus they were set 500 years ago, but they are now wise to the manipulation of their masters. Creating a massive bridge of matter between the two worlds, they embrace their fate and turn to crystal -- and so save the people of Cocoon, supporting the imperiled globe on the crystalline pillar created by their eternal sleep.
What does the future hold?
As prophesied, a sacrifice has been made, but not the one that the fal'Cie intended. Instead of recalling the Maker from his distant retreat, this sacrifice ushers in a new age of free will for humanity. The residents of Cocoon are seen evacuating to the surface of Gran Pulse, disembarking from their craft to find a world without fal'Cie to pamper them and tend to their every need. It may be a tougher life ahead for the survivors, but it will be their own. Neither gods nor fal'Cie will determine their fate from this point.
With their Focus completed by their friends, and a destiny willingly borne, the other heroes are released from their own crystal sleep to find their brands have disappeared.
The power of the fal'Cie has also faded with the destruction of Cocoon's energy source. Other humans can no longer be held in crystal stasis by conditions which have ceased to apply, and so they too lose their brands. Dajh and Serah are just two of the l'Cie freed by Fang and Vanille's sacrifice. The game ends with the worlds once again rejoined by a physical and emotional bond of friendship.
And, if you hadn't noticed, the final scenes reveal the true meaning of Yoshitaka Amano's FINAL FANTASY XIII logo: an image that has been staring at you from the game's title screen in every playing session. It is the world of Cocoon, safely clasped in the coils of the crystal beast that sprung from the will of Fang and Vanille.
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It's never died. Got me through that paradox battle with Caius (the Vanille alone one).
SO I AGREE WITH YOU THERE; SISTAH!
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