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Paradoxending-fateandfreedom-ffxiii2

A paradox ending.

There are several story conclusions known as 'paradox endings' awaiting you on your adventure. These endings are triggered under various circumstances, such as winning certain battles or making certain decisions. Explore the possibilities of the timeline and see how many paradox endings you can uncover!

Online Description

Paradox endings (パラドクスエンディング, Paradokusu Endingu?) are a series of multiple endings unique to Final Fantasy XIII-2. They are scenes which can be viewed by making certain choices at different stages of the game.

Paradox endings have no effect on the main story. To access most paradox endings, the Paradox Scope Fragment Skill is required to be active. Witnessing all paradox endings and the secret ending unlocked after obtaining all 160 fragments earns the player the "Anomalous" achievement/trophy.

Director Motomu Toriyama said that the different scenarios featured in the paradox endings could be be integrated into the story of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.[1]

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

List of paradox endings[]

Transcript: A Giant Mistake[]

Atlas ffxiii-2

Atlas on the Archylte Steppe.

"Transcript: A Giant Mistake" (写本:巨兵たちの大戦, Shahon: Kyohei-Tachi no Taisen?, lit. Manuscripts: The Great War of Giant Soldiers): By destroying Atlas at full power, without first resolving the paradox affecting Bresha Ruins, Serah and Noel end up on the Archylte Steppe at the time when an army of Atlases were deployed during the war and turned Gran Pulse into a wasteland. It is implied that Noel and Serah die battling a pair of Atlases in an attempt to stop Cocoon's fall in the turmoil.

Transcript: Vanille's Truth[]

Ff13-2 vanille paradox

Vanille in crystal stasis within Oerba.

"Transcript: Vanille's Truth" (写本 : 償いの夢路, Shahon: Tsugunai no Yumeji?, lit. Manuscripts: Dreaming of Atonement): If Serah and Noel defeat Caius Ballad in Oerba 200 AF before he could fulfill his role, they arrive to an alternate timeline before the events of Final Fantasy XIII. Following a woman's voice, they find a crystallized Vanille in Oerba, lamenting for leaving Fang during the War of Transgression. Serah resolves to help find the crystallized Fang for Vanille.

Transcript: Mischievous Mog's Marvelous Plan with Flan[]

Paradox Ending 3

Serah is disguised as Miniflan and Noel as Microchu.

"Transcript: Mog's Marvelous Plan with Flan" (写本 : プリンをもってプリンを制す, Shahon: Purin o Motte Purin o Seisu?, lit. Manuscripts: Fight Pudding with Pudding): If Noel and Serah defeat Royal Ripeness without resolving the paradox affecting Sunleth Waterscape, they unknowingly call a temporal backlash that results with not only Flan taking complete control of Cocoon, but giving rise to another evil flan that threatens the world to make monsters the dominant species.

Arriving to the Sunleth Waterscape ??? AF, Noel and Serah use a spell to disguise themselves as Microchu and Miniflan to move unnoticed while Mog prepares a poisonous pudding to kill the evil flan. The track for this on Final Fantasy XIII-2: Original Soundtrack is called "Mischievous Mog's Marvelous Plan with Flan".

Transcript: Test Subjects[]

Test Subjects

Noel, Serah, and Mog, prisoners of the Proto fal'Cie.

"Transcript: Test Subjects" (写本 : 魂のレプリカ, Shahon: Tamashī no Repurika?, lit. Manuscripts: The Replica of the Soul): After defeating the Proto fal'Cie Adam, Serah and Noel are captured and used in the creation of Subjects Alpha and Beta to serve as guards in Augusta Tower and later enforcers in the upcoming Eden Restoration Project, though the AI notes in its report that the two do act more human than the other copies.

Transcript: The Future is Hope[]

FFXIII2 The Future is Hope

Snow reveals Alyssa's true intentions.

"Transcript: The Future is Hope" (写本 : ふたりの門出, Shahon: Futari no Kadode?, lit. Manuscripts: The Two Head Out): In Academia 4XX AF, Alyssa is about to give Noel and Serah an artefact that would have sent them into Caius's trap. Snow appears with the Guardian Corps and exposes the plot while revealing Caius to be the one causing the paradoxes. He takes Serah and Mog on Shiva to stop Caius while Noel stays behind to keep Hope safe from his upcoming assassination in three days time.

Transcript: Beneath a Timeless Sky[]

End of time ParadoxEnding

Noel, Serah, Yeul, and Mog at the end of time.

"Transcript: Beneath a Timeless Sky" (写本 : 世界の終わりの空, Shahon: Sekai no Owari no Sora?, lit. Manuscripts: The Sky at the End of the World): Destroying Caius in the Void Beyond before his purpose in the timeline ended, Serah ends up in a era of New Bodhum in a state of entropy by time being stopped. Reunited with Noel and Mog, they find Yeul can live in this timeless world. With Serah providing morale, the group looks for a way out of New Bodhum ??? AF.

Transcript: Heir to Chaos[]

Heir to Chaos

Noel floats through the Historia Crux.

"Transcript: Heir to Chaos" (写本 : 混沌を継ぐもの, Shahon: Konton o Tsugu Mono?, lit. Manuscripts: The Successor of Chaos): If he kills Caius in the Dying World, Noel takes his place as the new Guardian of Time, floating through the Historia Crux with the Heart of Chaos inside him. He inherits Caius's memories and resolves to save both Yeul and Serah from their mutual fate.

Transcript: Fate and Freedom[]

FateandFreedom paradox

Serah remains in her dream in the Void Beyond.

"Transcript: Fate and Freedom" (写本 : とこしえの安息, Shahon: Tokoshie no Ansoku?, lit. Manuscripts: Eternal Rest): Serah remains in her eternal dream with Lightning, Snow, and the members of NORA in New Bodhum 00X AF. As a result, she has all but forgotten Noel and Mog, whose absence yet prevents her world from being truly perfect.

Transcript: The Goddess is Dead[]

The Goddess Is Dead - Caius unleashes Chaos

Caius unleashes copious amounts of Chaos into the Void Beyond.

"Transcript: The Goddess is Dead" (写本:女神なき世界, Shahon: Megami Naki Sekai?, lit. Manuscripts: The World Without the Goddess): Though defeated and seemingly killed with the destruction of the Heart of Chaos, a revived Caius sits on Etro's Throne in the Void Beyond and explains how Serah and Noel had unknowingly played into his plan. With Goddess Etro no more and time nullified in every timeline, Caius unleashes a flood of chaos within the Void Beyond into Gran Pulse and creates a new world without the goddess now that he and Yeul are free from their respective curses.

This ending is the secret ending, unlockable after collecting all 160 fragments, which plays after the canon ending once it has been unlocked.

References in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII[]

In Transcript: Vanille's Truth, Vanille narrates:

All roads are connected somehow. And they all lead to a time of salvation, where imprisoned souls will be freed. They all lead to the end of the world, and a new beginning.

The story of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII concentrates on Lightning's mission as the savior and her task of freeing people's souls from their burdens, which tie them to the dying world of Nova Chrysalia. The story ends with the destruction of the old one and birth of a new one.

In Transcript: Mischievous Mog's Marvelous Plan with Flan, Mog narrates:

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a giant forest, kupo. There was plenty of water in the vibrant woods, and all the monsters lived happily together, kupo.

In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the Moogle Village deep within a forest in the Wildlands has moogles tend to their lives with little worry about the outside world.

In Transcript: Test Subjects, Serah, Noel, and Mog are mere puppets controlled by Augusta Tower's AI, but for a brief moment they break up from their robot-like demeanor where their soul "manifests" and they act more humanly, remembering about their promises. In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Bhunivelze struggles to control humanity's souls, whose humanity prevents him from fully controlling mankind.

In Transcript: The Future is Hope, it is said that if Hope is gone there will be no future. In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Hope's artificial Cocoon is used to save the souls of the dead who were melted into the Chaos and lead them to the new world, as well as his role as Bhunivelze's puppet in being forced in creating the deity's ideal future before being discarded once his purpose to the god ends.

In Transcript: Beneath a Timeless Sky, Caius is defeated and the timeline exists no more, Yeul approaches Serah, Noel, and Mog, and they seek for other survivors. In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Yeul is brought back to the world with her countless past incarnations due to the lack of normal time passage. After the world's end the final incarnation of Yeul is allowed to join Noel and his friends in the exodus to the new world.

In Transcript: Heir to Chaos, Noel narrates:

The gift of immortality made me realize that hope is a double-edged blade. It's cruel to those who cling to impossible dreams. For the undying, this torment haunts them for all eternity.

In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Noel is tormented with the events of Serah's death and his inability to save the future which he sought to protect. The long life he has lived resulted in a near nervous breakdown, and resulted in his obsession with a vision from an Oracle Drive that promised him a happy future should he fulfill the prophecy.

In Transcript: Fate and Freedom, the shown world represents Serah's dream of all her loved ones reunited and living like a big happy family. The ending of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII shows that Serah's dream has came to fruition with the birth of the new world.

In Transcript: The Goddess is Dead, Caius commands the chaos. In Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning learns that Caius has become a vessel of Chaos as a result of the Yeuls' need for him.

Spoilers end here.

Gallery[]

Etymology[]

A paradox is a statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet might be true.

References[]

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