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Eden? The Sanctum's seat of power. Oh, that's a great idea. Just charge right in there. Give 'em a taste of l'Cie terror!

Sazh

Eden, known as the "Seat of the Sanctum", is the capital city of Cocoon in Final Fantasy XIII. Named after its patron fal'Cie of the same name, it serves as the center of Cocoon's governing body, the Sanctum. It also has a university, which Serah Farron planned on attending.[1] Eden floats in the sky high over Cocoon[note 1] and thus can only be reached by airship or a railway connected to Palumpolum.

Eden comprises the game's twelfth chapter.

Datalog[]

This city, Cocoon's capital, shares its name with its fal'Cie patron. Host to the world's centers of culture and government, it functions as the heart of human society on Cocoon.

At the city's core rises the monumental Edenhall, seat of the Sanctum's administration. The fal'Cie Eden dwells deep within the structure's interior.

Story[]

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Final Fantasy XIII Gaiden Shōsetsu: Yumemiru Mayu, Akatsuki ni Otsu[]

René is a 17-year-old prodigy attending the university after skipping several grades and finishing high school in just over a year. Ever since losing her parents at a young age and growing up in a Sanctum-run orphanage in her hometown of Bodhum, René has been considered a genius. She is a realist who considers fantasies and believing in miracles to be "the height of stupidity." She has always seen herself as superior to others, as no one has been able to match her intelligence, and thus she sought to escape the orphanage. René aspires to become a member of the Sanctum and rise to a position that would allow her to participate in government operations and apply her knowledge of AMP technology.

As she enters the library to view documents on AMP models, the announcement for the Purge of Bodhum has been made. Worrying about a junior school classmate she knew from the orphanage, René tries to distract herself by working. She begins developing theories and unconsciously types them in an open text file on a terminal, theories stating that the fal'Cie don't care for human lives and allowed the population to grow to fulfill a goal that requires the loss of lives on a grand scale, and in the near future, humanity would be betrayed by their fal'Cie protectors. When she comes to her senses and stops typing, a message flashes on the console, directing her to the upper levels. She descends the hallway and calls for the elevator when she realizes she forgot her ID card on the console panel. When René returns to the reading room she notices she is the only one there.

A metallic statue appears before her and proclaims its purpose to eliminate her. René realizes that since Cocoon's network terminals are under fal'Cie control, they had read her theories and sent a report to a high-ranking fal'Cie that someone there possessed dangerous thoughts. René's theories are too close to the truth, so the steel statue fal'Cie was sent to exterminate everyone believed to have read them. The fal'Cie opens its chest cavity, revealing the gears it used to kill the people in the room, and advances towards René. The elevator arrives, providing René with a distraction. She shoves a stool into the fal'Cie's gears to stall it and bolts out the entrance doors.

The evening is about to turn to dusk and René calls out for help to the few pedestrians still roaming the streets. A soldier belonging to the Homeguard tells them to go about their business so he can talk with René. She is about to tell the soldier everything when she hears a familiar sound of scratching gears coming from the soldier, another exterminator fal'Cie in disguise. René is too shocked to call out to anyone as the fal'Cie reaches towards her. Unbeknownst to René, at the same time, the Pulse fal'Cie Anima has been defeated by a group of people within the Pulse Vestige in the Hanging Edge. The great energy wave released by Anma's demise sweeps throughout Cocoon and the fal'Cie feel its effects and cease to function, including the exterminator fal'Cie. René escapes through the streets of Eden into the night. Unable to return home, René resolves to survive and find somewhere to hide under the fal'Cie's radar.

Around the time the Pulse l'Cie begin their assault on the Palamecia to rescue Vanille and Sazh, René has spent several days continuing to evade the fal'Cie by escaping through the network of maintenance tunnels located beneath Eden. The maze of underground passages has no surveillance cameras, therefore leaving the fal'Cie unable to pinpoint her location. As she hides from her fal'Cie pursuers, René discovers her innate ability to play cat and mouse. The fal'Cie tasked with killing René has been after her ever since the events at the library. René observes its actions and gains an understanding of its abilities. From watching how the fal'Cie destroyed the stool she shoved in its gears before going after her, René knows she can escape while keeping a fair amount of distance from it. Noticing the fal'Cie's underdeveloped independent thinking ability, simple pursuit routine, and limited ambush patterns, René uses these periods to rest and eat some food that she swiped from a store before entering the tunnels. However, unlike her fal'Cie pursuer, René begins to tire.

Eden City

The l'Cie escape to Eden from the Palamecia.

There's the possibility of the purger fal'Cie calling for reinforcements if it fails to eliminate René within a certain timeframe. If multiple fal'Cie begin chasing René, she will be quickly hunted down. With no way to destroy the fal'Cie or trick it into thinking she's dead, René continues the game of cat and mouse. Having experienced moments of extreme drowsiness and fading in and out of consciousness, René digs her nails into her upper arms to keep herself awake as she watches the fal'Cie float around from her hiding place. At that moment, the l'Cie escape the Palamecia and enter the Fifth Ark via airship controlled by the fal'Cie Barthandelus. The vibrations from the transference shake the city but are too small for humans to detect. However, the purger fal'Cie deviates from its established pattern and speeds down a dead-end hallway.

Seventh-Ark-Berserker

René finds a Pulsian Ark hidden under the city.

René springs from her hiding spot and follows the fal'Cie that is pressing the device at the end of its arm against the wall and making a string of electronic sounds that René guesses to be a deactivation code. The wall parts, revealing a hidden corridor the fal'Cie charges down. Not believing it to be a trap, René, now more curious than anxious, follows the fal'Cie. Upon reaching the faintly glowing exit, René is rendered briefly speechless by the view: a vestige full of fearsome beasts, including Berserkers, Behemoths, and Adamantoises, frozen in time waiting to awaken. She recognizes the vestige as an Ark, but a different one from the Fifth Ark the l'Cie were transported to earlier. The purger fal'Cie mistook the earlier vibrations as René making noise and inadvertently led her to the Ark. The sight of the secret Pulsian armory hidden in Eden's underbelly makes René break into a cold sweat as the chilling reality and her previous hypothesis overlap. She believes the hidden Ark to be the fal'Cie's doing, as nobody in the Sanctum could want to hide such a place beneath Cocoon's capital city. She theorizes the Ark will play a role in the fal'Cie's grand scheme as they will unleash the monsters contained within upon the populace.

René screams for someone to help her and a man in Eden-style work clothes comes into view at the other end of the gigantic hallway, smiling at René to calm her down. He is a purger fal'Cie drawn to René by her screaming, disguised to catch her off guard. With its smile frozen like a death mask, the fal'Cie zooms towards René. The purger fal'Cie is destroyed by Centaurion Blades summoned by a Berserker when it came within its detection range. Now back in its mechanical form, the fal'Cie's body is nearly split in two with blood-like oil pouring from it. Its arm rolls, the unlocking device detaches from its tip, and within lies a flickering crystal. René waits for the Berserker controlling the Centaurion Blades to move away and confirms the fal'Cie's "death".

Despite no longer being pursued, René can't feel relieved now knowing that Cocoon's citizens are at the fal'Cie's mercy to be sacrificed. Humans live as the fal'Cie's pets being raised like livestock to be used as offerings in a scenario centuries in the making. The Purge marked the beginning of the genocide, and if left alone, everyone will be wiped out. René, the selfish genius who formerly only cared about her own survival now had the survival of tens of millions resting on her shoulders. She stares at the purger fal'Cie's unlocking device and vows to find a way to stop the fal'Cie from sacrificing Cocoon's people, wishing for a miracle for the first time in her life.

Siege-of-Eden-Aerial-Fight

Warmechs fight against a Pulsian invasion.

During the festival celebrating Cid Raines's appointment as the Sanctum's new Primarch in Eden, the l'Cie return from Gran Pulse and Eden falls into chaos. The Cavalry, an elite group of soldiers seeking to free the people from fal'Cie rule, see their leader, Raines, now acting as the voice of the fal'Cie as an act of betrayal. The Cavalry raises an army in response, unknowingly playing into the fal'Cie's hands. As the rebellion breaks out, monsters from Arks hidden in the city are released. Neither the Guardian Corps's Homeguard, nor PSICOM stationed in the city as a precaution against the l'Cie, are able to make a move against the mechanical soldiers that were made to combat the biological weapons that survived the process of natural selection that rules Gran Pulse. With the military divided, Eden descends into chaos.

After being forced to aid Barthandelus as a Sanctum l'Cie, Raines defied his Focus and turned to crystal. He was revived as Barthandelus's puppet, unable to exercise the free will he still possesses. Raines uses his remaining l'Cie powers to copy the cerebral structure of his former crystallized self into cyberspace to remain witness to the world's final moments. Now existing as a metaphysical entity, an illusion, and a living shell maintaining a consciousness based on his memories, Raines no longer desires to save Cocoon.

Ever since the purger fal'Cie was destroyed, René, now sporting slightly longer hair, has been doing everything she can to help prevent mankind's extinction. She knew it was pointless to announce the existence of the Ark and its monsters to the public and any noticeable act on her part would cause more purger fal'Cie to be sent after her before the information could reach the public. René guessed the fal'Cie seek to crash the city of Eden, make Cocoon's environment uninhabitable, and massacre everyone in one fell swoop, so she had to think of a plan to prevent that alone. It's believed that Eden is kept aloft by its namesake fal'Cie. René thought of using the gravity control devices made with AMP technology to soften the impact of Eden's fall. It would be impossible to completely absorb the mass but, by balancing the weight, the number of casualties could be reduced. Using an unlocking device, she spent weeks sneaking into vital parts of Eden to tamper with the systems while continuing to avoid the fal'Cie. She put in place a program to automatically activate the ideal gravitational settings but to gain full control, René needs a passcode kept by the Primarch. After making her preparations, she waited for the chance to infiltrate the office during the moment where chaos would send Cocoon into high alert.

Cavalry infiltrates Primarch office

The Cavalry infiltrates the Primarch's office.

Her chance comes when the Cavalry's coup d'état and their retreat, as well as PSICOM's, leaving the Primarch's office loosely guarded. René sneaks in and hacks the Primarch's terminal. From within the artificial brain, Raines observes René and understands through her actions that she is trying to do what he failed to accomplish. Since hacking isn't her strong suit, the high level of security on the terminal nearly sends René into a panic when the passcode she needs suddenly appears on the screen. René backs away from the terminal and a synthesized voice tells her to use the final code for access to all of the city's functions. Thinking a fal'Cie has discovered her, René asks for the voice's identity, and it reveals itself to be the remaining echoes of a man who shared her ambitions but failed. Realizing a fal'Cie wouldn't do something like this, René returns to the terminal.

Raines asks if she knows the fal'Cie's plan, and René responds with humanity's genocide by dropping the city. Raines tells her that she is half wrong and reveals to her Barthandelus's plan to send all of Cocoon plummeting to Pulse upon the death of the fal'Cie Orphan, hidden in its cradle within the Edenhall Reliquary. He also explains there is no way to prevent it. The revelation shocks René as a city's worth of AMPs would be pointless. Additionally, as soon as Cocoon begins descending, the disturbance in its gravitational field would scramble the world's inner surface and many people would die in the process.

Sleep-deprived and struggling to stay on her feet, René begs Raines to tell her a way to save Cocoon. Her sincere pleas compel Raines to tell her that she will need to rely on other people to make a miracle to save Cocoon possible and leave the world's fate in the hands of the Pulse l'Cie. René remembers the earlier news footage of the l'Cie and their Eidolons. The fal'Cie Eden currently controls the gravity for all areas of Cocoon, so when the l'Cie infiltrate the Reliquary, the fal'Cie will have to expend a lot of energy to build out the virtual space of Orphan's Cradle, presenting the perfect chance to take control of the entire gravity system. Then René can implement the automatic control system she designed to stabilize all areas and the evacuation points near the control facilities won't suffer from severe shaking once Cocoon begins falling.

Raines alerts René about the footage being broadcast throughout Cocoon. A portion of the terminal display shows René a documentary with shocking images and details depicting the Hanging Edge massacre. The reporter, whom René recognizes, addresses the public, revealing the truth about the Purge, how the fal'Cie ordered it as they seek to eradicate everyone, and that the Pulse l'Cie are trying to save them. Noting the impressive hacking skills being used managing to bypass the fal'Cie that controls the airwaves, René has Raines monitor its progress and as the control code numbers on-screen rapidly change, the pattern feels familiar to René. She unconsciously enters the next code in the pattern and contacts the hacker, whose face appears on the monitor through a cross-connected feed. It is Maqui, whom René recognizes from junior school and who in turn recognizes René. She gives Maqui a rundown of the current situation and sends him a text file containing instructions for her control program along with the passcode from Raines.

She tells Maqui to inform everyone to find shelter at the nearest gravity control facility. NORA's illegal broadcast garners unchallenged support from the public and the army for the group as well as the l'Cie. PSICOM director, Lieutenant Yaag Rosch, suspends all l'Cie hunting operations and orders everyone to focus on evacuating civilians. Rosch's final order is incorporated into NORA's illegal broadcast, and everyone, ranging from the stubborn skeptics to the Sanctum's forces, begins taking steps to ensure their survival and trusting the Pulse l'Cie to make a miracle happen.

Entering the Edenhall Reliquary

The Pulse l'Cie enter the Edenhall reliquary.

The l'Cie reach the Edenhall Reliquary and the fal'Cie Eden uses all its power to manifest Orphan's Cradle. With network security at its weakest, Maqui disables all safeguards, hacks into the gravity control system, and begins installing René's program, giving them full control. Bodhum has been removed from the network by the fal'Cie since the town was emptied by the Purge, and nearly a thousand people, including NORA's allies and the Purge survivors, are now hiding out there. Maqui can't get Bodhum back on the network, so René resolves to go there, use the universal unlocking device to open the facility and install her program directly. René leaves the rest to Maqui, tells him to continue preparations, and to wait for Snow to pull off his miracle.

René hears another familiar voice come through a voice-only transmission—Lebreau, who's been like a big sister to René since she was a child. Lebreau invites René to hang out with NORA and see how her cooking skills have improved when everything is over since Gadot, Yuj, and Snow have worried about her ever since she left the orphanage. Hearing Lebreau and talking to her old friends, a teary-eyed René promises to be there. Raines says it's all he can do and the rest is up to René. She assures that he can count on her and asks him to watch over her and the others like the Cavalry does. Raines says he is the one who should thank René and tells her to go save Cocoon. René speeds out of the office and doesn't look back. With his will now passed on to a new torchbearer, Raines smiles from within the artificial world.

As soon as René exits the Sanctum building, Cielo calls out to her while piloting a small military airship. He tells her to get in since they're the only ones left in the area. René boards and yells at him to go to Bodhum so she can activate the gravity controls and save the people there.

Final Fantasy XIII[]

Return to Eden

The party emerges in Eden from Gran Pulse.

Lightning believes the fal'Cie Eden is manipulating the Sanctum and responsible for the Purge and all of the misfortune that has befallen her. She and Hope Estheim thus attempt to reach Eden and exact revenge. When the pair reaches Palumpolum, Hope's observation that the fal'Cie treat humans "like pets" causes Lightning to realize the life she had under the fal'Cie's care was meaningless, and that her plan for revenge is petty and foolish. The party discovers it is not Eden, but the Sanctum's Primarch Galenth Dysley, who is manipulating the Sanctum, and that Dysley is a disguised form of the fal'Cie Barthandelus, who reveals that Eden houses the fal'Cie Orphan, whose destruction is the party's "true" Focus.

Elsewhere, Sazh Katzroy is trying to fulfill his son Dajh's Focus for him, Dajh having become a Sanctum l'Cie. When Saxh finds Dajh, the boy turns to crystal, as his Focus was the capture of lowerworld l'Cie. PSICOM officer Jihl Nabaat taunts Sazh by saying Sanctum should display Dajh's crystal in Eden as a hero who saved Cocoon from Pulse l'Cie's invasion. Sazh and his companion Vanille are thus captured and imprisoned on board the Palamecia, but the other Pulse l'Cie come for their rescue.

After the l'Cie escape the Palamecia, they are pursued by Rosch in his Proudclad. Barthandelus's familiar, Menrva, guides the l'Cie into Eden and the Pulsian Fifth Ark hidden in the city. Since Orphan powers Cocoon's infrastructure and its death would equate to Cocoon's destruction, the party attempts to flee to Gran Pulse to avoid their Focus, even knowing that the consequence is transforming into Cie'th. Barthandelus draws them back to Eden by inciting political and military uproar, highest among which is convincing the Cavalry that Orphan is the mastermind behind the recent Pulsian threats. This forces the party to return to thwart the misguided Cavalry and put an end to Barthandelus once and for all.

FFXIII Siege of Eden

Lightning and the group prepare to face a Behemoth King.

The party returns to Eden amid a grand prix race and summons their Eidolons. Rygdea and the Cavalry storm Raines's office and assassinate him, and the building explodes. The fal'Cie summon Pulsian wildlife from the Fifth Ark and the oretoises and behemoths storm the capital. Rosch deploys PSICOM to fight the Pulse invasion, their target also to capture the rogue l'Cie.

The party makes their way through the chaos, meeting NORA on the way. NORA help the civilians while the party continues onward towards Orphan. They fight Rosch in his Proudclad, but convince him they are on the same side. Rosch commands the PSICOM forces to abandon the l'Cie operations, and instead help evacuate the civilians. He is attacked by King Behemoths and detonates grenade simultaneously killing the monsters and himself.

Ragnarok in Eden

Ragnarok appears in Eden.

After Orphan's destruction, Eden loses power and large portions collapse. When Ragnarok appears above Eden, the Pulsian wildlife is disintegrated and sucked into it. After Ragnarok crystallizes Cocoon, many citizens have evacuated Eden, while being aided by PSICOM and Guardian Corps forces alike.

The novel Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments After reveals that Eden fell on Bodhum on the Day of Ragnarok.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII[]

An aerial view of Eden is seen as an apocalyptic vista in the trial known as the Altar of Atonement in the Luxerion Cathedral.

Spoilers end here.

Treasure[]

Item Location
Lionheart Grand Prix Circuit
9,250 gil Grand Prix Circuit
Rebel Heart Expressway
Otshirvani Expressway
Punisher Ramuh Interchange
15,000 gil Ramuh Interchange
Perfect Conductor x5 Ramuh Interchange
Blaze Ring x2 Siren Park
Champion's Badge Siren Park
Particle Accelerator x6 Siren Park
Librascope Siren Park
Antares Deluxes Leviathan Plaza
Plush Chocobo Leviathan Plaza
Particle Accelerator x6 Leviathan Plaza
Hellish Talon x17 Leviathan Plaza
Hellish Talon x12 Leviathan Plaza
Mistilteinn Edenhall Grand Foyer
Power Glove Edenhall
Ethersol Edenhall

Enemies[]

Grand Prix Circuit
Leviathan Plaza

Yaag Rosch calls off all PSICOM troops after the Proudclad is destroyed as part of a cutscene, but the troops can still be encountered if the player revisits Eden.

Musical themes[]

"Start your Engines" and "Eden Under Siege" are the main tracks associated with Eden. "Eden Under Siege" has a new arrangement for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT. The original also appears in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival as a Battle Music Sequence.

Other appearances[]

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT[]

Eden was one of the six default stages available in the initial arcade release.

Taking place in the Expressway area, the stage is a long albeit narrow battlefield, and as such distance is key during battle.

Midway through the battle, parts of the Expressway are destroyed, and Crystal Dust begins to appear, reflecting Eden's destruction and Vanille and Fang's transformation into Ragnarok.

Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia[]

The appearance of Utopia Niveus resembles Eden and is recognized by Lightning as such.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy[]

Scenes from Eden appear as part of the background during music sequences.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]

Castle Cornelia PSThis section about a location in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.


Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]

Castle Cornelia PSThis section about a location in Final Fantasy Record Keeper is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Behind the scenes[]

Eden, Hanging Edge and Sunleth Waterscape were the first locations to be revealed for Final Fantasy XIII, shown in the E3 2006 trailer, albeit their names were unknown at the time.

While standing on the Leviathan Plaza and looking at the Edenhall, there is number "13" on the left wall of the entrance, an allusion to the number of the game in the series.

Eden-in-archylte-steppe-artwork-ffxiii2

Eden in the Archylte Steppe, concept art for Final Fantasy XIII-2.

In the early development of Final Fantasy XIII-2, Eden, the great floating city of Cocoon, has collapsed to Lake Bresha that lies at the bottom of crystallized Cocoon. Later, a different concept to the Lake Bresha version, Eden has been collapsed on Gran Pulse, at Archylte Steppe. The scene was to be in the distant future where the ancient capital of Cocoon would have been covered by vegetation.[2]

A certain concept art Edenhall concept of Edenhall was later used as a location in Serendipity in Final Fantasy XIII-2. This concept art of Eden EdenFF13 appears on a wall portrait in the NORA house of New Bodhum in Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Gallery[]

Artwork
Screenshots

Etymology[]

Eden (עֵדֶן, éden) means "place of pleasure" in Hebrew. It often refers to the Garden of Eden in the Bible. In the world of Final Fantasy XIII, the city of Eden is named after its patron fal'Cie. The fal'Cie are named after summoned monsters from the Final Fantasy series; Eden is the name of the strongest Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII whose shape is similar to that of the floating city in Final Fantasy XIII. Three of Eden's locations also share their names with those of past summons (Ramuh, Siren and Leviathan).

Notes[]

  1. The Fifth Ark was revealed to be hidden underneath Eden. The Arks float by the use of Graviton Cores, and Eden is a floating city. It is unknown whether the Fifth Ark contributed to levitating Eden.

References[]

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