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FFXII WEEK – DAY ONE

Favorite Scene: The Interrogation

This is one of those scenes where I find a new thing to appreciate each and every time I watch it.

It’s brilliant from a storytelling perspective: the dialogue lays out so much of the political exposition that we’ve been missing since Ondore’s history lesson in the game’s prologue, but I’d argue that the dialogue is one of the least important things about this scene. Two interrogations can be said to take place here – one from Gabranth and one from Vaan – and both are rich with all sorts of emotional undertones from the characters involved.

In particular, Basch’s interactions with Gabranth and Vaan provide a lot of context to some of the more poignant body language we see throughout the rest of the game. As soon as Gabranth removes his helmet, it’s made perfectly clear to us just how ill at ease he is; we see for the first time his habit of breaking eye contact when he’s uncomfortable in a conversation, a habit which reappears at various points throughout XII. This only ends when he dons his helmet again, implying that he relies on his position as Judge Magister as a sort of emotional support. Basch’s facial expressions aren’t very dynamic when compared to the rest of the cast, but this is a man who has spent the last two years of his life being questioned and presumably tortured by his own twin brother. He’s had to keep his emotions in check as a means of survival, and to offer what little protection he can to Dalmasca and the Resistance. As a result, some of the most dramatic emotional responses we see from him in the entire game happen right here, while his neck is weighted down with a heavy metal collar: he lifts his head both to glare at Gabranth and to directly meet Vaan’s gaze as the boy berates him for having betrayed Dalmasca. The parallels and differences between character dynamics in this scene alone make for powerful, moving stuff, and it creates such an engaging moment that it easily sticks out among my many favorite parts.

For more XII commentary, check out my completed IZJS playthrough at Livvy Plays Final Fantasy!