Ｆｉｎａｌ　Ｆａｎｔａｓｙ　Ｖ

As described, this small island lies just off the continent, northeast of Wyvern Valley. Conveniently, the only gap in the mountains leads almost directly here.

However, the music fades out.

Faris turns around, and the screen begins to shake.

The shaking gets worse, panicked music starts, and everyone looks shocked.

They rush back out, and none too soon, as the island crumbles into the ocean! Meanwhile, we briefly see Exdeath in a foggy and somewhat fleshy-looking room that seems rather more fitting for an evil overlord's castle than the fairly ordinary structure we visited before.

Back where we were, the wyvern bursts out of the ocean. Everyone's fine... but there's no trace of the island.

Karulu says nothing new, but maybe Kelger has some ideas?

The castle's name has no obvious meaning, and this spelling works at least as well as any.

Even aside from Kelger's hint, this is the next closest location of interest on the map, west and slightly south of where the island was.

It's one of only two locations marked on the map that we haven't already visited, in fact, and the other one is a town to the west surrounded by mountains and unreachable by wyvern. There's also an area ringed by mountains north of here that looks suspicious, and two towers surrounded by mountains that aren't even noted on the map, one on a small island southeast of Exdeath's Castle, the other just southeast of the forest where the party encountered a lone moogle.

On a side note, you can go visit the island where Butz's contingent arrived, if you'd like. It's south of the desert outside the Moogle Village, and still has only weak monsters that constantly drop Tents. Might as well stock up.

If, for whatever reason, you still don't have Bloodsuck, !Control a Bold Manny (ボールドマニー) in the forests near Surgate Castle, though note that they start with no MP, so you'll have to supply them with some to learn it that way.

Soldiers stand guard at the entrance, and the gate is shut. They don't take kindly to attempts to open it.

Fortunately, another soldier arrives from inside to clear things up.

Galuf nods.

The soldier escorts them inside and to the throne room.

There's what looks to be a guard barracks downstairs. Some of them have more information.

The floor below has the usual inn and shops, including a few new weapons for sale.

Upstairs from the throne room, in what must be Zeza's bedroom, we find a book lying out.

Speaking of books, another staircase up from the throne room leads to a walkway into a different section of the castle that houses a large library, complete with a number of scholars. Naturally, they have things to say.

Most of them, however, are particularly fascinated with one book in particular, which sits out on a table.

That sounds strangely familiar. Maybe if we take a look at it ourselves...?

Another floor has a series of labeled bookcases, three books lying out on a table, and an apparent librarian.

The books need to be placed by title in the correct bookcases. きんだんの書 (Kindan no Sho, "Forbidden Writings") goes under か (ka), 魔物大じてん (Mamono Daijiten, "Big Dictionary of Monsters") goes under ま (ma), and ロンカのひみつ (Ronka no Himitsu, "Secrets of Lonka") goes under ら (ra).

Come to think of it, "Lonka" sounds familiar, too...

She opens a hidden door in the back of the room and heads through. Before following, though, check the left side of the あ (a) bookcase for a bit of humor.

Presumably he's looking for エッチな本 (etchi na hon), in short, porn. Also refer to the Development Room in FFIV.

The librarian is upstairs at a table in another, smaller, room full of books.

A book on the table gives a bit of a gameplay tip.

Down another staircase, along with a chest containing some money, is an old man.

Of course, the lake, being surrounded by mountains, is unreachable for now, so let's keep exploring the castle. A door leads outside, where passing under the earlier walkway leads to a remote storeroom, containing...

That fills the annoying hole in the Timespace magic list. Now, let's go find Zeza!

As the soldiers at Surgate Castle suggested, the fleet is anchored east of Exdeath's castle, and the wyvern can land on the largest ship.

Incidentally, Zeza's fleet does not appear until after both seeing Gheed's island sink and visiting Surgate Castle. On another side note, trying to approach Exdeath's castle directly, by either land or sky, just results in being pushed back by the barrier.

Consider taking a side trip to the forest on an island to the southeast if you're missing any of the following Blue Magic skills.

Shadow (シャドウ) has Bloodsuck, Black Shock, and Guard Offer in its !Control list. However, it also has no MP, so you'll have to provide some.

Hedgehog (ヘッジホッグ) has 1000 Needles in its !Control list. Like Shadow, it starts with no MP and will need to be given some to use it.

Several soldiers stand on deck with a man, familiar from flashbacks, who wears armor that has includes a distinctive teal horned helmet.

A shadow passes by, and the soldiers group up as though preparing for a fight.

The wyvern lands and everyone gets off. Galuf steps forward.

They share a laugh.

The soldiers are chatty enough to give some idea of what he's up to.

There's nothing else to do for now except take a nap belowdecks.

Though you can still fly off on the wyvern if you'd like to.

Unfortunately, the opening chord and cymbal crash of "Battle on the Big Bridge" soon startle everyone out of bed.

Better head back above deck and check. The wyvern is flying around, so there's no escaping now.

Monsters appear fore and aft on the ship. That one out on the bowsprit looks familiar... One soldier gets knocked around a bit, but Zeza and Galuf meet up in the middle of the ship and arrange themselves back to back, ready for a fight.

Zeza steps up to engage a more distinctive winged monster.

The cutscenes here set Galuf as the displayed party leader, and I'm defaulting to that in describing the following scenes (it also fits the dialog better this way). However, entering the menu will reset the displayed leader to whoever is in the lead slot, as usual.

Those two fight their way right off of the ship and continue battling each other on a neighboring one. The remaining monsters chase Galuf and the rest of our party.

Curiously, merely coming in contact with one doesn't lead to a battle. You have to actively interact with them.

Each lesser monster on the ship is a Gobbledigook (ガブルデガック), which has a 33% chance to use Goblin Punch every second turn. I can't imagine why you wouldn't have long since learned that, but it's the only thing about them that's even slightly remarkable.

All that matters is heading for the prow, where beating the monster that stands guard triggers another scene. Zeza, running from one ship to another, blasts a pursuing monster with lightning, and seems to have the upper hand until the winged monster he was fighting before swoops in and slams him against the ship's railing. Back on the main ship, the party can now approach Gilgamesh.

But make sure you have someone who can steal before engaging him, since he has a unique item this time!

As far as I've been able to find, this line, though unusual enough to be memorable, has no particular significance.

Steal from Gilgamesh to get the game's only Genji's Bracer. After he takes a bit less than 3,000 damage, a winged monster appears behind him.

Enkidu casts White Wind, healing both of them for 4,000 health (which also shows how much health Enkidu has).

He has only a small chance to heal after this, fortunately. Wind Scythe and some nasty Blue Magic are most of what can make this battle challenging.

Unfortunately, you can't learn White Wind here, since it's not in Enkidu's !Control list and can't be reflected, even if that were a practical option.

However, Enkidu does have several Blue Magic skills that you can learn if you haven't already. Aerora comes up 33% of the time on the first turn of his five-turn cycle, Missile 33% on his second turn, and Bloodsuck 33% on his second and fourth turns.

Gilgamesh can also use Missile (33% on the second of his four-turn cycle before Enkidu appears or on the first of his three-turn cycle after), and can additionally use Death Claw (33% on the fourth of his four-turn cycle before Enkidu appears or on the third of his three-turn cycle after).

If Gilgamesh is alone when beaten, he has a few extra lines (nothing special happens if Enkidu outlasts him).

Hearing no response, he turns around to find himself alone.

The Mesopotamian myths involving Gilgamesh also include a wild man named Enkidu who eventually becomes his closest friend and constant companion. Enkidu dying prematurely (after being struck ill by the gods) is part of the Gilgamesh myth, too, so perhaps that's relevant to this special reaction.

Neither has any elemental weaknesses or strengths, except that Enkidu is immune to Earth damage.

If you don't mind cheap tactics, Gilgamesh, although Heavy, is vulnerable to standard instant death. Not much of that is available at the moment, but mixing a Death Potion (Phoenix Tail + Dark Matter) will do him in. So will the random Death from a Death Sickle, assuming you have any handy, though it's rather less reliable. Alternately, he's level 31, so Black Shock will halve that to 15, letting Level 5 Death work if you have that. Enkidu, on the other hand, can be neutralized with the Beast Tamer's !Control command, and is not Heavy, making him vulnerable to skills like Gravity and Death Claw.

Regardless of how and in what order you take him down, Gilgamesh drops a Gold Shield.

Again, the Genji's Bracer Gilgamesh carries in this battle is the only one in the game. Don't miss stealing it!

He leaps off the bowsprit, pulling Galuf along with him. Though Gilgamesh falls in the ocean, Galuf manages to grab hold of the anchor chain.

Unfortunately, Galuf's grip is tenuous.

Gilgamesh washes away. Zeza steps out onto the bowsprit of the next ship over, but he's not very close.

Just as Galuf loses his grip, the wyvern swoops down to catch him at the last second.

As the wyvern carries the party back to safety, Zeza heads below deck. We find him standing on one side of a large box.

Together, they lift the lid. He hops into the opening revealed, and the others follow to find a small hi-tech-looking room, where Zeza stands by a large device.

A brief view from outside shows a submarine moving. Galuf looks around in apparent confusion.

Zeza pilots the submarine to a nearby opening. Once there, he heads for the door.

...and take the submarine back to his ship. The wyvern has finally settled onto the deck and will fly the party elsewhere until they're ready to return.

The submarine itself also has a lower deck with seats that are evidently comfortable enough to sleep on, for it functions as a free inn.

Following Zeza out the door leads to a small cave. He waits at the far end.

Zeza sets off an explosion that blasts an opening...

...into a building on the other side with architecture vaguely similar to the Wind Temple.

Zeza fishes something out and approaches Galuf.

Neat! That's what the spoony bard gives Cecil in FFIV!

He heads to a nearby doorway...

...and continues through. There's no point in following him...

...and the apparent doorway to the south doesn't work, so there's nowhere to go anyway except upstairs, or back to the submarine.

The Level Tricker (レベルトリッカー), as its name suggests, specializes in level-based Blue Magic. It may use Level 4 Graviga with 33% probability every turn, and has both Level 5 Death and the newly available Level 2 Old in its !Control list. Unsurprisingly, Level 2 Old causes 'aging' status and hits only targets with a level evenly divisible by two (and, like Level 5 Death, it works regardless of immunity when it hits).

Note that any offensive skill that always targets a group will automatically target all monsters when used through !Control, so Level 5 Death and Level 2 Old here need to be reflected for anyone to learn them. The Reflect spell isn't available yet, but there's at least one alternative (refer to the notes on Red Dragon, below), and Level Tricker may appear alongside Reflect Knight (リフレクドナイト), which has 'reflect' status innately, further up the tower. This is inconvenient, of course, especially since you can't choose who to reflect it to, but at least Level 5 Death can't wipe out the entire party here. On that note, Level 5 Death is worth going after if you didn't get it in the Ancient Library, and don't forget that Black Shock may be able to adjust your levels into the target zone if needed.

Traveler (トラベラー) knows another new skill, Time Slip, and has a 33% chance to use it every other round, or can be controlled into using it. Time Slip inflicts the 'aging' and 'sleep' status effects, thoroughly debilitating enemies vulnerable to those.

Ziggurat Gigas (ジグラトギガース), found only on the higher floors, uses Guard Offer 33% of the time every other turn.

Last and least, Neon (ネオン) has a 33% chance to counter physical attacks with Flash, neither new nor particularly interesting.

Aside from potentally helping with learning Blue Magic, Reflect Knights also have a decent chance to drop a Reflect Ring.

The second floor provides a save point. The third features two treasure chests, one of which contains either one Red Dragon or two Yellow Dragons.

A Red Dragon here is technically the first possible chance to learn Level 3 Flare. However, not only do you need to have a compatible level (or be able to adjust to one with Black Shock or Chemist brews) and !Control it (since it won't use the spell on its own and can't be confused), you'll also need to find a way to reflect the spell (since it automatically targets the monsters when used from !Control), and then hope it bounces to a character with Learning. Reflect and Carbuncle aren't available yet, so I think that leaves the Dragon Armor !Mix (Phoenix Tail + Dragon Fang) as your only option if you want to give this a try. Also note that Level 3 Flare (when not reflected) will substantially damage the Red Dragon itself.

The Red Dragon additionally has a Flame Ring as its rare steal, which is good enough that it might be worth considering using Return to reset the battle and try again if you get the common High Potion instead. A Yellow Dragon, on the other hand, can potentially give you a Coral Ring, also quite good, but as a rare drop, so resetting that chance means loading from a save, and you might not even get the same battle then.

In any case, the chest gives a Blood Sword after the battle. Continuing up the tower, the party hears a voice shortly before entering the eighth floor.

The scene shifts to Zeza outside a large door presumably in the basement. A monster approaches him from behind.

Noticing his attacker, Zeza leaps aside, letting it run into the door before he finishes it off with a lightning strike.

Zeza continues to the door, and Galuf's party continues up the tower.

A chest on the left side of the tenth floor holds another Red Dragon or two Yellow Dragons, and after the battle gives a Gold Headdress, which halves MP consumption. A save point awaits on the righthand side of the floor. Soon after comes the very top, where a large device sticks up, ringed in electricity.

The scene switches to Zeza in a room full of vibrating machinery. He shuts it off.

Back on the roof, the electricity fades away, but the screen goes dark.

Atmos (アトモス) likes to spam Comet until taking someone down. Once anyone falls, the boss gets less aggressive, but gradually draws any 'incapacitated' characters in closer, and if they get too close, it uses Wormhole, and they get...

Once that happens, the affected character cannot be recovered for the rest of the battle.

Since Atmos is far less aggressive while occupied with sucking people in, the basic strategy is to just leave a sacrificial victim lying there while everyone else piles on damage, possibly reviving them before Wormhole can happen. Atmos has a lot of health, but unremarkable defenses.

As usual, several cheap tactics are also possible. 'Sleep' status will work, though it won't last terribly long. 'Berserk' isn't supposed to work, but the Kiss of Blessing !Mix (Maiden's Kiss + Holy Water) doesn't care, and will leave Atmos stuck using pathetically weak physical attacks until you put it out of its misery. However, Level 5 Death, if you have it, takes the prize again, though Atmos is level 41 and needs Black Shock to lower its level to 20 first.

That's worth 12 ABP and a Dark Matter, at least. The antenna explodes, too. Everyone jumps with excitement.

The scene switches to Zeza in the power room. Everything is vibrating again, and worse, much of it is throwing off sparks or outright exploding. One large arc of electricity blocks off the entrance as he approaches.

Back on the roof, the whole tower is shaking. Lenna and Faris walk to the edge as a familiar cry is heard

Butz grabs Galuf and pulls him away from the stairs down.

They nod and leap off together.

Galuf tries to force his way through Butz, taking both of them partway down the stairs.

The music turns sorrowful as the scene returns to Zeza in the power room.

The room continues destroying itself around him as the scene returns to the roof...

Butz shoves Galuf back up to the top...

...knocks him down, and carries him off the side of the tower and onto the wyvern.

The wyvern flies away, the tower explodes, and the barrier around the castle collapses.

Some time later, Galuf waits by the opening in the cave that led to the tower.

After a little while, he drops his head as he finally acknowledges the unavoidable truth.

Inside the submarine, Faris approaches Butz at the controls.

Lenna comes up from below.

The scene ends on Galuf, resting by himself and seemingly still stunned.

The submarine starts just outside the underwater cave, which is no longer accessible. There's no sign of Zeza's fleet, but the wyvern sits on the land nearby, and the southeastern barrier tower is also gone without a trace. We can now approach and even enter the castle.

Zeza's soldiers have also reached the castle now that the barrier has collapsed. However...

...we can't reach any more of the castle now than we could when Galuf rescued the others before the barrier went up.

In case that wasn't enough prodding, Karulu's line has changed, too.

Well, if he's still calling, that must mean he's fine... right? We'd better go check.