Why did she do it?

Squall's griever is a necklace.

Why did she do it?

They're both muslim.

It's a ring.

Because a good man is hard to come by.

Yeah, Ultimecia is a crap villain otherwise, but this one theory actually makes her interesting, so it’s fun to cling on to it. And there’s enough things supporting the theory that it’s not complete crackpottery, yet Square is unlikely to ever deny or confirm it, so it hits the sweet spot of lore theorizing.

debunked bullshit, move on:
kotaku.com/is-squall-really-dead-final-fantasy-producer-addresses-1800007113

I still don't understand why there was a need to deny this in an interview instead of letting it stay unanswered.
Ultimecia suffers from being of last minute asspull FF villains and making her exactly what Rinoa was afraid to become is a nice narrative choice. Making her GF based on something you're specifically allowed to choose custom name for kills any semblance of subtlety.
It's like setting multiple Chekhov's guns and then gaslighting you by saying you did not hear any shots being fired.

There's too much supporting the theory.

unironically linking to Kotaku

Go back.

He put on everything even his gun blade case.

And a reminder that Lions are fictional in FF8. Squall made them up and only came up with them being brave and strong.

Ultimecia is the only "enemy" in the game aside from Seifer/Fujun/Raijin/Edea who uses "friendly" animations/sound effects when casting magic, which is distinct from other enemies that include monsters, robots, and even soldiers.

Basically, there are two different casting animations for magic, with different color effects, one for enemies and one for allies. Even in cases where an ally is fighting you, they still use the ally animation.

They kind of soft support it since they name Ultimecia’s weapons in Dissidia after Rinoa’s like Valkyrie, Cardinal, and Shooting Star and a lot of her quotes parallels her as well.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQUSTRVWXYZ
IWILLNEVERLETYOUFORGETABOUTME

So Squall is dead and Rinoa is the big bad?

shit.

That was so fucking creepy when you didn’t know the reason for the fucked-up signals

The Final Fantasy VIII director, Sakaguchi, made a single comment when off-handedly asked about "R=U" saying, "nah."

Shortly after, he rescinded his statement when asked again, claiming he wasn't certain of the details from the writing staff and, "maybe."

It's almost like the people who played the game could infer the game and discuss it with their friends.

Ultimecia has mind powers, she can read minds and control them as well. She reads Seifer's mind and gets him to turn to her side and knows Rinoa is trying to trick her. She then makes Rinoa her thrall while causing the people in Deling City to cheer for her while she berates them. Also that shot in the op of Ultimecia pointing her finger is from Mobius Final Fantasy, which AFAIK was developed by S-E themselves.
youtube.com/watch?v=rKBe41CpptY

it's like when tommy wiseau comes to screenings of The Room and says "Haha I'm glad you all like my funny comedy movie"
you'll say anything to save face

No

All sorceress's have a human life span so Rinoa can't be Ultimecia.

Rinoa spent time with Seifer, so of course she knows him well. Rinoa as Ultimecia could have easily convinced Seifer to help her.
Even then the one with mind powers isn't Edea, or Rinoa, or even Ultimecia. It is Hyne.

Ultimecia during the time compression was able to gather all of Hyne's fragments that were scattered throughout time inside various sorceresses

People don't know that during the final boss fight, Hyne takes over Ultimecia's body thanks to time compression returning all the fragments of his power and their personalities get mixed up

Pic related, they literally show Ultimecia chained up and becoming Hyne's missing lower body that he had cast off in the past.

All sorceress's have a human life span so Rinoa can't be Ultimecia.

Wrong, the sorceresses are unable to die before passing on their powers to another sorceress. That's why Ultimecia was only able to die after passing her powers to Edea. If there's no one for them to pass on their powers they're effectively cursed with immortality.

While all of this would make sense, it doesn't really explain why Ultimecia would behave as though she doesn't know any of the people she is fighting/struggling against, their weak points or their capabilities, if she is in fact Rinoa and has any goals relating to her past life.

What even is griever
People are saying if R=U is true then maybe she turned squall into a GF.
Which I mean hey that could work maybe

GFs literally make you lose your memory and it’s a big reveal in the story

R=U schizo is eternal

Because the ultimate bad of the game isn't Ultimecia herself but Hyne, who according to the lore is the creator of mankind and the sorceresses. Ultimecia is being controlled by Hyne.

Anon, junctioning with GFs make you lose memory.
It's a core plot point

What even is griever

Squall's image of idealized strength

Rinoa spent time with Seifer, so of course she knows him well

Disagree. Seifer claims he'll someday tell Squall, who's his rival, about his romantic dream. If you think he blabbed about that to Rinoa then you're going to have to provide proof of that

Rinoa as Ultimecia could have easily convinced Seifer to help her.

Absolutely presumption. Again, show us the proof of this.

Even then the one with mind powers isn't Edea, or Rinoa, or even Ultimecia. It is Hyne

Then why does Ultimecia tell Seifer to interrogate Squall about SeeD when Edea is the one who created them? Wouldn't Ultimecia/Hyne as Edea already know about that?

Then she would not have any goals relating to losing Squall or feeling sad about her fate or anything, she'd just be some whatever amnesiac bitch by now, making the time compression business back to being a "for what purpose?" beyond Hyne asspull.

Ultimecia's tower being at the place where Rinoa and Squall promised to reunite if they got separated could be interpreted as "The mind forgets but the soul remembers" type shit

Dialogue of the Squall-Ultimecia Confrontation in Ultimecia's Castle Dissidia which leads to the Squall-Rinoa relationship.

Squall : I only came to turn my promise (I only came to fulfill my promise)

Ultimecia : Shall we dance? (Are we going to dance?)

Well, it's as if Squall wants to keep his promise even though he has never made an agreement with anyone other than Rinoa, especially at Ultimecia who just met at the end of the game. There also gives the impression that Ultimecia remembers that they have danced together, even though it is clear that the only one who has ever danced with Squall is only Rinoa. Dissidia is not part of the story of FFVIII, but Square certainly does not just write the Squall-Ultimecia dialogue like other FF characters when it comes to confrontation with the main enemy in the series.

You’re intentionally being dense. It’s not uncommon in stories that a character is driven by their lingering emotions and feelings despite no longer remembering why they have them. Emotions and memories are usually defined as two separate experiences and are not interchangeable

I only know about ffix from linkin park amvs but I think the main girl being the villainess due to the hero's death is very kino.

Ultimecia is constantly making allusions to Squall's relationships, see Is she also Seifer as well? Why does she have more appearance and ability resemblances to Quistis than Rinoa?

You might as well ask why does Squall have abandonment trauma and deliberately keep people at a distance if he doesn't remember being abandoned or who abandoned him or why he was abandoned?

Ultimecia knowing about Seifer's personality and mannerisms can be easily explained since we know that Rinoa dated Seifer before falling in love with Squall.

Ultimecia was born from the wish of all of Squall's friend after he died at the end of Disc 1 causing a loop to be made where he would eventually kill Ultimecia and live

Kino

Yes I'm sure Seifer made Rinoa pretend to be Squall while they reenacted the duel they had at the beginning of FF8, clearly that's the reason why Ultimecia knows about it and invokes it against Squall rather than her being able to delve into his mind

That stance is something Seifer does every fucking time he casts magic.

If evil why hot

I wish Seifer, Raijin and Fuujin would have joined the party permanently. Edea, too.

Or you can play the game and learn that Ulitmecia was simply a witch who grew tired of persecution and sought ultimate power to overcome her subjugators

For those that are against the R=U explain this then.

NTA, but not mutually exclusive with being Rinoa

So Seifer went out with Rinoa and showed her his magic casting stance? For the third time I'm going to have to ask that proof be shown of these claims.

Because Seifer wouldn't impregnate her

Are you saying that Seifer would never boast about his gunblade skills/magic skills to his girlfriend?

Then the onus is on you to provide proof that shows that. And I mean actual proof, not speculation.

First it was actually confirmed in dissidia, second it was debunked by some retard. Then the same retard rebunked it. People still argue about it to this day. If you're an actual fan of the game you knew immediately when you either first heard the theory or played the game yourself.

Due to how both powers and memories get passed on, Ultimecia doesn't explicitly need to be Rinoa, but only has to be down the line in succession from her powers. Since she is the last (known) sorceress of her era, she would have them.

I asked you to show me proof of that. Considering that you didn't provide any it seems there isn't any.

You know what WOULD make the game significantly better?
Swap Rinoa and Seifer.
I know it sounds like dumb bait at first, but if you actually think about it, the entire story works way better.

That's wrong

They just have to pass on their power before they die but they do die like everyone else.

GFs being a thing does not prove that Rinoa is Ultimecia and that's what I'm asking for specific evidence of, not speculation that it could be possible, actual irrefutable evidence that they are definitely the same person. At this point there's more evidence that Quistis could be Ultimecia, so how about you disprove that first?

comparing soma Hapa to an evil white goddess

Not even on the same level

Can you stop being a contrarian sperg? Jesus Christ, you’re an annoy twat.

evil white

Redundant

contrarian sperg

that's the people trying to push R=U despite no one on the dev team confirming it

Reminder he did that interview before approving the OP clip. He leaned into it.

Explain Ultimecia's Castle being built on top of the orphanage's garden where Squall and Rinoa promised to meet each other.
I don't remember Squall promising such a thing to Seifer or Quistis.

At this point there's more evidence that Quistis could be Ultimecia

No there isn't.

You clearly do have autism when any degree of subtlety not explicitly spelt out sends you into a conniption because your malformed brain is literally incapable of understanding subtext and can only understand things literally

Ultimecia built her castle on top of where SeeD was first conceived to display her absolute dominance over the organization that sought her destruction

and before you screech that I should provide proof of this I want to see the proof for the things I've asked for

see

I hate you 8'ers like you wouldn't fucking believe.

Reminder that FF8 is a direct sequel to FF3.

Nah, autism is when people point out basic flaws in your speculation and rather than accepting that there are facts that go against your head canon you start calling them names and insisting you're right despite there being evidence that you're wrong

Ultimecia in the far future doesn't even know why Seed exist or why they're hunting her, which is why she had Edea kidnap and torture Squall after he 'died'.

It says i will never let you put me back you fucking idiot.

Tell me more

It's almost as if Ultimecia is her own person rather than anyone that knew Squall, or something

Also, she only shows indications of knowing these things after she possesses Rinoa...

Again no there isn't. Try counting.

Tell me more2

Ultimecia knows that the SEED are after her life, it's why she sends her consciousness back in time and nukes the gardens. There may be some nonlinear subconscious fuckery going on since she possesses Edea, the person who technically already possesses her powers AND created the SEED program. Ultimecia kinda can't escape the orphanage because she's a time witch and her own timeline literally ends there.

she only shows indications of knowing these things after she possesses Rinoa

Squall being tortured for information about SeeD happens while Ultimecia is still possessing Edea

similar hair style

similar color clothing

shares the same special magic spell

now tell me the similarities between Ultimecia and Rinoa

In FF8 there's this entity called "The Great Hyne" who is part of the world and human creation myth.
The legend goes that the Great Hyne was a God and that he made mankind so that he could use them for tools to fight and labor, but after undergoing a great sleep mankind started to overpopulate the planet and when the Great Hyne woke up and saw that mankind overtook the planet he started killing their childrento curb the overpopulation that happened when he was asleep.
The humans all united to kill him but in exchange for his life he offered them the ability to use magic. He split himself in two and gave his magical half to the humans. But it was really just his physical side, his outer body or "skin", meanwhile his magical side escaped.
His magical side possessed women who became witches, and eventually Ultimecia which is why in her final fight you see that weird shit above her. It's the Great Hyne's torso.

In FF3 there's this great wizard called Hein, who's just a skeleton.

Anon Babble as fuck.

The irony of this post is almost palpable

It genuinely confuses me why these threads always have some turboautist that gets irate about a fan theory that literally does nothing to affect their enjoyment of the game.

Reminder that Kitase barely involved himself with FF8. He was a "director" of the game in title only.

FF8 is a game where the people that were really involved pretty much were free to go wild.

point out where I'm wrong about irrefutable facts

It gets them attention, and being told to fuck off by strangers online is the closest some people have to a social life.

I've never seen FFVIII storyboards before, pretty cool.

Rad

Because of people who bring up the "fan theory" as the de facto interpretation of the game or better than the actual story in moronically inflammatory ways?

Don't forget that Lunatic Pandora is literally a gigantic crystal tower

You're the only person causing any friction in this thread, anon. If you had a heart attack and died right this second, Anon Babble would be a slightly happier place. Do keep that in mind.

But none of that is IN the game. It's all just shitty fanfic.

You're the only person causing any friction in this thread

not that guy but the friction always starts with U=R posting

If you had a heart attack and died right this second, Anon Babble would be a slightly happier place

case in point

Yes, she can. The timespan is obstacle. Cryofreezing is in the story for a reason, if R=U.

However neither major theory is true, VIII is just godawful and written by a madman.

Lol wow ur a faggot who can't read between the lines?

*is not an
Sorry, I seem to have edited too much.

what did Raine die of? how did Laguna know about time compression? what if Raine was Ultimecia

I'm just someone who doesn't rely on speculation in order to believe a fan theory is true when even the devs have said it isn't true

b-but Kitase backpedaled!!

so where are the devs that confirmed it?

It’s a R=U thread, retard. How does the friction start with R=U when it’s the entire foundation of the thread you could simply ignore?

the entire thread and it's theories is based on the inaccurate english translation of the game. I'd expect nothing less from Anon Babbletards.

meant for

Same finger.
Same pose.
Same facial expression.
Why are you purposefully ignoring so much of that picture's content?

Wow this faggot is really this desperate for attention

Rinoa was my first vidya crush

There's more.
The maps of FF3 and FF8 look alike, with many places sharing similarities.

In FFIII the second to last dungeon is the Crystal Tower after that, a dimensional portal is open and the party travel to another dimension.
In FFVIII the second to last dungeon is the Crystal Pillar after that, a temporal mambo jambo ensues and the party travel to another time.
In FFIII you fight Bahamut in the Floating Continent, where he sleeps.
In FFVIII you fight Bahamut in Deep Research Center, where he is housed, which if you follow the map is close to where the Floating Continent was in FFIII.

see , U=S
Same hand.
Same pose.
Same facial expression.
Why are you purposefully ignoring so much of that video's content?

It's called a motif and they are usually on purpose. In a deliberately created text nothing happens by accident, anon.

that's like saying FFVI's prelude is a retelling of FFIV

being told to fuck off by strangers online is the closest some people have to a social life

Man, what a sad existence

I asked you to PROVE that 2+2=4

Just because 2 of X + 2 of X = 4 of X,

That DOESN'T mean the math is correct!

It's circumstantial! NO PROOF!!

Square had "carte blanche" after the success of VII and they went full ham for VIII in early development - a ton of the game was left on the cutting room floor as Square obviously wanted the game to be released at a certain time as opposed to letting it cook for multiple years.

Don’t care plus didn’t ask

It is certainly a literal interpretation, but Square was most likely recycling old ideas rather than making an intentional crypto-sequel.

Yeah so....no.
FF generally takes the Earth's global map and twists it a bit.
From right to left I see the Americas, Australia, then a heavily compressed variant of the Asias including India.
But that's my interpretation as an American native. It could just as easily be the Euro-Asia continent with Africa, split up with Australia in the middle, based on the "old world" european interpretation of the world's continent and flipped.

You could almost universally take any Final Fantasy world map, compare it against the real world map, and either link all your self perceived similarities or link it to the real Earth.

With that aside I'm not discounting the Hyne inspiration theory/games universe link. I just want to nitpick about how fans may perceive these maps against what the artists are really doing to make them.

anon so tsun

Yeah, and FFVII is a direct sequel to FFVI, retard

“…SeeD… SeeD……SeeD…… SeeD, SeeD, SeeD! Kurse all SeeDs. Swarming like lokusts akross generations. You disgust me. The world was on the brink of that ever-elusive ‘time kompression’. Insolent fools! Your vain krusade ends here, SeeDs. The price for your meddling is death beyond death. I shall send you to a dimension beyond your imagining. There, I will reign, and you will be my slaves for eternity. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Whom shall I exterminate first!? I’ll start with you three!”

Here’s roughly what she says in Japanese:

“…eeD…

SeeD…SeeD…

SeeD, SeeD, SeeD!!

It displeases me…

Why do you interfere with sorceresses!?

Why won’t you let me be free!?

In just a little longer, my perfect world of time compression would have been completed…

I won’t allow you to interfere…

Your very existences shall be absorbed by the algorithm of time compression!!

You will feel agony as your thoughts are ripped apart and all your memories fade away to nothing.

There won’t be a thing you can do, think or even feel!

That’s the world I’m going to send you to!

There will be absolutely nothing you can…

…No, you’ll be able to worship me, the sole existence for all eternity!!

So, who will come first!?

Who will fight me!?

Hmpf, it matters not, the end will be the same!

I will choose!”

Taken from a google doc with a rough translation of the OG Japanese text. In the original Ultimecia seems to consider herself to be a victim of Seeds meddling, but beyond that there's not much of a difference. Are there examples of the original dialogue you can produce that blatantly proves the R=U theory is false? If so I'd genuinely like to see it.

Leave 3 alone!

kids are destined to be in love because their parents were in love but fated to never be together

I hate this Japanese trope.

But sorceresses don't need to use GFs. Rinoa wouldn't keep using them and lose her memory after the plot of VIII.

it's two different texts created decades apart by different people
you could equally make the argument that quistis, seifer or any other characters are ultimecia because it's nearly baseless outside of overanalyzing a poorly-made unfinished script

It’s the fact she used them to begin with, especially during the events of the game where her memories occur

I'll only support this theory if you add red circles to both pictures

Reminder that the opening cinematic is connected with the ending cinematic. It is a loop.
The opening cinematic show us a version of Rinoa wearing a necklace with a single ring and being amnesiac, completely confused and lost without any memories of who Squall is and why he is waiting for her at their promised destination spot. Squall is essentially trying to jog her memory and trying to rescue her.
The ending cinematic is Squall being lost in space and time, and almost giving up before being rescued by Rinoa, who's wearing a necklace with two rings, the second ring is the ring Squall gave her, and this version of Rinoa is able to bring both of them to their promised destination.
In the very last scene we see that Rinoa now after everything is said and done is wearing a necklace with a single ring, after having given Squall's ring back to him. This is the Rinoa that will leave in relatively peace with Squall. The happy ending.

The one version of Rinoa who's shown carrying wearing necklace with a single ring and doesn't remember the past that we can see in the opening cinematic is ULTIMECIA!
Watch the opening cinematic with this in mind.

I asked for proof!

NO, THAT'S NOT PROOF!

I'm going to post ff8 images, now.

Because I say so!

Let me guess, you post on social media?

I wonder how many miles of dick your mom had to take anally to produce a self absorbed asshole like you :D

Story variables are not math variables, in math there is a specific answer whereas in stories the author can create absurd asspulls in any way they like and the fact that you have to try and conflate the two proves how weak your arguments are. Either prove your claims or admit you can't.

Reminder that FINARY FANTASU 8 is actually kino and based on the real historical and mythological figure of the Greek queen known as Artemisia II of Caria, that married her own flesh and blood brother, King Maussollos (the ruler of Caria), and that when he died she was so struck with grief she drank his ashes and built a huge monument to his name, the first ever built Mausoleum, the Mausoleum of Maussollos. Thus the name. The Maussollos symbol was that of a great lion.

In FF8, Squall and Rinoa almost ended as half-brothers, where he Rinoa could very well might have ended as Laguna's bastard daughter with Julia, and if the R=U theory is correct that means that Rinoa/Ultimecia (in some translations named Artemisia) created her castle in the far future as a huge mausoleum in Squall's honor.

prove your claims

Ok, I did.

Nu uh!!!

Story is like math; you can prove it with examples and function!

EXCEPT WHEN I SAY IT DOESN'T, SO YOU'RE WRONG, YOUR MATH IS WRONG THE STORY IS LIKE I SAY SO

Ok.

When king Maussollos was alive this particular coin was used during his reign. It was the symbol of a great lion showcasing his courage and strength.

In the game Squall told Rinoa about Griever, which is a creature called lion that he createdm and he explicitly express that is meant to signify strength and pride.
Ultimecia's castle that can be seen as a mausoleum in Squall's homage, is full of lion imagery as statues.
Ultimecia in the game summon Griever as a great lion/monster hybrid to fight the protagonists. The Griever on the Moon...

Absolute kino. Speaking of confrontations, did you notice that Squall's and Seifer's cards are the mirror oposites?

Artemisia II of Caria, the historical one, was named after Artemis. It's a female variant of Artemis. Artemis is the Greek goddess of the moon.
The moon symbolism in FINARY FANTASU 8 is quite something. There are monsters on the moon and there's that Lunatic Pandora. The Moon in Latin is Luna. When people go crazy we say they become Lunatics. The moon is associated with the female menstruation cycle. The Lunar Cry looks like blood pouring down from the moon. Artemis is also the goddess of childbirth, etc.

Ok, I did

You didn't, a claim was made based on presumption rather than actual canon

Story is like math

It's not though. If that were the case then every story with a specific input would have the same output as every other story given that input

The opening cinematic show us a version of Rinoa wearing a necklace with a single ring and being amnesiac, completely confused and lost without any memories of who Squall is and why he is waiting for her at their promised destination spot.

I always interpreted that as the original timeline where Rinoa became Ultimecia

Nuh

You didn't provide proof,

you provided proof I didn't agree with!

I'm not autisitic!

I totally understand other viewpoints and can make inferences!

The conclusion is I hate you and you're wrong!!!

It's fine, you cute little guy, you~

In Hynesight...

Huh, Artimesia sounds a lot like Ultimecia

you provided proof I didn't agree with!

more like you made a claim that has no canon reference
Are you actually going to prove that claim or continue to avoid it?

Artemis is also the goddess of childbirth, etc.

I don’t think that’s true since she was the virgin goddess

Ultimecia name in Japanese is アルティミシア, or rendered in roman characters as Arutimishia, pronounced "a-roo-ti-mi-shi-a."
In Spanish the name was translated as Artemisa, while in Italian and German it was Artemisia with an extra 'i'. In English it was translated as Ultimecia.
I find it very unlikely it is Artemis, as that name would likely be rendered as アルテミス, or Arutemisu. That said, it must be noted that there is some wiggle room in this interpretation. Ultima the spell is itself rendered as アルテマ, romanized Arutema. Thus, upon introspection, a more possible likely translation of her name would be Artemisia.

It's what they used in XIV

Why is everyone conviced Ultimecia and not just a distant decendant? Ultimecia is from the future so it could be perfectly possible she is just a decendant of Rinoa...and Squall.

*Ultimecia is rinoa and not...
I am doing this type of mistake a lot lately, I am getting worried.

no it's a sequel to X

Because there's memory erasure.
It's a core plot point at every step of the story.

Shut up

Prove it!

NO, THAT'S NOT PROOF!

"Fithos lusec wecos vinosec"

When we remove the letters "L O V E" from that, we're left with "succession of witches"

Someone in the songwriting team was a seriously autistic cryptographer. I'm not even going to discuss the shit going on with the Hymn of the Fayth. That was just fucking insane. The lyrics are gibberish that form actual lyrics when you read them vertically.

The one version of Rinoa who's shown carrying wearing necklace with a single ring and doesn't remember the past that we can see in the opening cinematic is ULTIMECIA!

oh my god it's another person who doesn't understand the romanization rules of the japanese language and why they put in those extra syllables

Yes, "Arutimisia" is a direct equivalent to "Artemisia"
The "ru" part of the romanization is to help a native Japanese with no or very poor English skills separate the syllables to produce a similar-but-not sounding way of speaking it.

Next, we're all going to have a 400 post flame war about whether or not romanized Rs should be Ls or if Ls should be Rs.

It's all just implications!

Just because YOU see similarities DOESN'T MEAN I see similarities!

Therefore, you're wrong!

They're children posting on Anon Babble raised in 2024.
Everything is either right or wrong, but being "wrong" is incomprehensible if applied to them. Responsibility is for old people.

not even reading the fucking post which clearly doesn't disagree with you

Mentally handicapped.

I think so too.
Here's Ultimecia talking to the group at the end of the game:

Reflect on your... Childhood... Your sensation... Your words... Your emotions... Time... It will not wait... No matter... How hard you hold on...It escapes you... And...

Here's Rinoa and Squall's exchanged words during the opening cinematic:

Squall: I'll be here...

Rinoa: Why?...

Squall: I'll be 'waiting' here...

Rinoa: For What?

Squall: I'll be waiting... for you... so...

Squall: If you come here...

Squall: You'll find me.

Squall: I promise.

Squall and Rinoa make the promise together during their stay in Edea's orphanage to meet one another, and this same place in the far future also serves as the local point for Ultimecia's castle.
This Rinoa during the opening cinematic is wearing a necklace with a single ring, we see her confused seeing past memories like when an possessed Edea was controlling her, and eventually we see black feathers coming from her. Black feathers are associated with Ultimecia.

The 90s really were an awful time for translating and localizing Japanese into English. I suspect it's the cause of 90% of fan arguments about plot.

I love final fantasy 8 but the story is fucking retarded.

can't prove anything

refuses to even quote who they're arguing with

what was her problem?

WOT IF... Laguna fucked Julia and Julia was pregnant with Rinoa before marrying that general?
WOT IF... Squall and Rinoa are in fact blood related and half-brothers but Square Enix tried to keep that under wraps?
WOT IF... FF8 is about the tragic romance incest-y lovers?

Think about it logically.

It's a core plot point at every step of the story.

blatantly proves the R=U theory is false?

What needs to be "batantly proven" is the R=U theory being true.
Until then it is automatically false.
Linking incoherent asspulls does not prove a theory.
Linking the base of the source material to the heavily modified and expanded narrative variant also does not prove a theory. It only proves the source, of the source material.

You guys need to spend a few weeks reading about deductive reasoning and language logics.

The memory loss was foreshadowed throughout the entire game.

The 90s really were an great time for translating and localizing Japanese into English. I suspect it's the cause of 90% of fan arguments about plot, in 2020s, because their Youtuber commented about it, once.

Not only that, but the entire speech at the end of Disc 3 where Ellone reveals to Squall that her power can't actually change the past, but instead it lets her experience past events with fresh eyes and that is often enough (in essence, remembering the events more clearly or being able to remember them with the mindset of your adult self).

Think about it logically.

Sure.

WOT IF... Laguna fucked Julia and Julia was pregnant with Rinoa before marrying that general?

Can't; Rinoa is younger than Squall, and Laguna fucked Raine a long time after getting sent away to war.

WOT IF... Squall and Rinoa are in fact blood related and half-brothers but Square Enix tried to keep that under wraps?

Zero genetic relation. But, Rinoa is a half-Julia, so Squall (the half-Laguna) do like each other. It's a plot element.

WOT IF... FF8 is about the tragic romance incest-y lovers?

The world destroys itself as a result. Don't let lust drive your actions.

She acknowledges Roman Reigns.

trawling is an job

Drawing amazingly accurate, consistent, and satisfying conclusions from dozens and dozens of consistently displayed facts from multiple different viewpoints

is incoherent!

If Na'avi doesn't shout, "Hey! Listen!" and then do an expository dump, then nothing in Hyrule actually happened. It's not even lore, it's just bad writing!

There it goes, doing performative asspulling again.

Oooooh.
Ahhhhhh.

Wow he even interacted with the audience this time.

And Rinoa and Squall are ALMOST siblings. Because of the events which happened between Julia, Caraway, and Laguna. Squall and Rinoa's relationship is as close to incesteous as possible without them actually being blood related. They are so "close" by past events, that when you play through the game the first time it's possible to get confused into believing they even have the same fathers.
They are of course supposed to have different ones, but in fact it's fully possible Laguna impregnated Julia before she got together with Caraway, and by the time she and Caraway had sex she was already pregnant, so Caraway believed himself to be the father while really it was Laguna.

And Rinoa and Squall are ALMOST siblings

They aren't any closer or further from being siblings than the idea you ALMOST died in a car accident or ALMOST banged that super hot chick at school ha ha.

I almost moved to Sweden.

Skill issue

Debunked by game staff

Retarded fans BTFO

The strongest evidence against Ultimecia being Rinoa is that I want to fuck Ultimecia but I have zero interest in Rinoa.

I believe in Nojima.

The German translation of the game is more accurate than the English translation. Her final words are very similar in German, but it's better:

"Erinnerungen aus ferner Kindheit. Jenes empfinde. Jene worte. Jene gefühle. Mit dem erwachsen werden, geht vieles verloren. Die Zeit wartet nicht. Man hält sie fest und doch zerrinnt sie. Doch jetzt..."

Which in English is:

"Memories from a distant childhood. That feeling. Those words. That touch. With growing up, much is lost. Time waits not. One holds onto it hard, but still it disappears. But now..."