The Interdimensional Rift sequence in CH48 (VIII-5) is one of the places in which the English and Japanese versions of FFXVI diverge slightly, for reasons having to do with the minor variances in worldbuilding and the heart of Clive’s narrative arc (and the ways the languages themselves behave). Here’s a look at the English dialogue alongside a translation of the Japanese.
<Cutscene>
(Torgal barks, rousing Clive, who comes to in a murky otherspace. He levers himself up, Torgal whining with concern before padding over to Joshua, who lies unconscious a short distance away.)
Clive: Joshua!
クライヴ：ジョシュア…！
Clive: Joshua..!
(Clive rushes over and sinks to his knees beside his brother.)
Clive: Joshua, wake up!
クライヴ：ジョシュア 起きろ！
Clive: Joshua, wake up!
(Joshua comes to, turning his head to look at Clive.)
Joshua: Clive, is that you?
ジョシュア：兄さん…なのか…？
Joshua: Brother.. is that you..?
(Clive breathes a sigh of relief as Joshua sits up and looks around them.)
Joshua: This...
ジョシュア：ここは…
Joshua: This place is..
Joshua: This isn’t Stonhyrr...
ジョシュア：ここは どこなんだ…？
Joshua: What is this place..?
(Clive stands and extends a hand to Joshua, pulling him to his feet.)
Ultima: Welcome to our darkness.
アルテマ：ここは 人の籠——
Ultima: This is the pinfold of mankind—
Ultima: A rift between worlds wherein your kind might...reflect.
アルテマ：汝ら罪深き人を幽する 次元の狭間
Ultima: The rift ‘twixt dimensions which immures ye deeply sinful sons of men.*
*lit. “humans”
Clive: Show yourself!
クライヴ：アルテマ！
Clive: Ultima!
Ultima: Grave and many are the sins of man.
アルテマ：ミュトスよ…そして フェニックスよ…
Ultima: Mythos.. and, Phoenix..
Ultima: And we would have you know them. All of them.
アルテマ：ここに 汝ら火の子らがそろうのも また定め
Ultima: That ye, the Children of Fire should be assembled here, this too is Fate.
Ultima: As Fate has seen fit to deliver you home...
アルテマ：汝らは その身に刻まねばならぬ
Ultima: Ye needs must engrave upon your persons..
Ultima: Consider this our welcoming gift.
アルテマ：人の犯した罪の深さを
Ultima: ..the depths of the sins committed by mankind.
Joshua: It would seem we are trapped.
ジョシュア：閉じ込められたようだね
Joshua: It would seem we’ve been trapped.
Clive: And the only way out is through Ultima.
クライヴ：だったら奴を倒して 脱出するだけだ
Clive: Then all there is for it is to defeat him* and escape.
*n.b. yatsu, meaning “that guy,” but rudely.
Clive: We find him, and we leave.
クライヴ：決着をつけてやる
Clive: We’ll put an end to this.
♫Bow♫
The Interdimensional Rift | 次元の狭間
<Gameplay mode>
(Clive summons an orb of flame and proceeds through the Interdimensional Rift.)
<Cutscene>
(Ultima materializes, hovering in the air above them.)
Ultima: If you are to comprehend the full extent of your transgressions, we must go back. To the beginning.
アルテマ：人の罪を語るには それの誕生以前に 時を遡らなければならない
Ultima: To tell of mankind’s sins, one must trace back the flow of time to before its birth.
(Ultima blinks out again as large slabs of rock reassemble themselves into a single slab and the symbol of the Ultima collective illuminates its surface.)
Ultima: When the world was still young...
アルテマ：悠久の昔——
Ultima: An eternity past—
Ultima: We visited upon it a miracle—magic. And in its light did all life flourish.
アルテマ：魔法という名の奇跡が生み出され この世界を大きなる繁栄に導いた
Ultima: The miracle by the name of magic was wrought and guided this world to great prosperity.
Ultima: Yet the price for this boon would prove heavy.
アルテマ：だが その代償もまた大きかった
Ultima: Yet its price, too, was great.
Ultima: A pall descended upon the land, painting the horizon black as night.
アルテマ：世界は《黒》という抗えぬ脅威に蝕まれていったのだ
Ultima: The world was being consumed by the “Black,” a threat which could not be gainstood.
Ultima: Though we labored to forestall its spread, in this one endeavor, we stood powerless.
アルテマ：《黒》は大地を染め すべての生命を滅びへと誘った
Ultima: “Black” stained the land and beckoned all life unto its demise.
Ultima: And so we fled, that we might endure. Endure, that we might discover a means of salvation.
アルテマ：それは我とて例外ではない 生き延びるために 《黒》の脅威から逃れるほかなかった
Ultima: Nor was I any exception. In order to live on, there was naught but to flee from the threat of the “Black.”
Joshua: But if it was magic that caused the Blight...what of the Mothercrystals?
ジョシュア：まさか 魔法も黒の一帯も アルテマが発端だと…？
Joshua: It cannot be.. Ultima was the genesis of both magic and the Blight..?
(Off to the left, a fractured staircase reassembles itself.)
Clive: I expect he’ll tell us soon enough.
クライヴ：どうやら 進めってことらしい
Clive: It would seem we’re being told to press on.
<Gameplay mode>
(Clive proceeds through the Interdimensional Rift.)
<Cutscene>
Ultima: Salvation, alas, was not readily to be had. First, we would require a land unvisited by the stain of corruption.
アルテマ：黒の脅威から逃れ 生き延びることができた我は それの及ばぬ大地を求めてさまよった
Ultima: I, who had managed to flee the Black Menace and live on, wandered, seeking for a land it had not yet reached.
Ultima: An unprecedented journey lay before us. One beyond the limits of our fleshly bodies. And so we cast them off.
アルテマ：道程で朽ちゆく肉体を脱ぎ去り 精神のみの存在となってもなお 長い旅は続いた
Ultima: Even as I cast off my deteriorating body of flesh along the way and became a being of naught but pneuma, still my long journey continued.
Ultima: Thus stripped to our very spirit did we find our new paradise.
アルテマ：そして ようやく この楽園を見つけたのだ
Ultima: And, at long last, I found this paradise.
(Large slabs of rock reassemble themselves into a single slab and an image of Valisthea illuminates its surface.)
Ultima: A land as pure as driven snow—Valisthea.
アルテマ：無垢なる大地 ヴァリスゼアを
Ultima: A land without stain, Valisthea.
Ultima: There would the true work begin, for the black crept yet behind us.
アルテマ：しかし 黒の脅威は留まることを知らぬ いつの日か この地にも押し寄せよう…
Ultima: Yet the Black Menace knew naught of surcease, and would surely encroach upon this land, too, one day..
Ultima: And soon did we arrive at a solution.
アルテマ：故に 我はここに至り 決意した
Ultima: Hence, having arrived at this point, I determined [a course of action].
Ultima: The illness having spread to every organ...
アルテマ：真あるべき世界の構築——
Ultima: The forging of a new world*—
*lit. “the world that truly ought to be”
Ultima: ...there was but one escape from this fate. To start afresh.
アルテマ：黒など生じぬ 新たな理に基づく創世だ
Ultima: The creation of a world based upon a new world order, in which Black emerges not.
Clive: ...With a new world. The one for which Barnabas labored. A paradise free from the Blight, where his god awaits.
クライヴ：バルナバスは その言葉に踊らされた 真あるべき世界という幻想に
Clive: Barnabas was manipulated by those words, by the fantasy of a new world.*
*lit. “world that truly ought to be”
Clive: And where, if we only forfeit our wills and abandon everything we hold dear, humanity can join him.
クライヴ：人の自我…それを持たなければ… その世界に渡りさえすれば 人は救われると
Clive: Human will.. so long as we do not possess that.. so long as we can cross into that world, mankind can be saved, [so he believed].
Clive: So, Ultima would have us follow in the footsteps of the king.
クライヴ：すべては アルテマの思惑だったとも知らないで…
Clive: Not knowing it was all Ultima’s scheme..
Joshua: And follow we shall.
ジョシュア：まだ道が続いている…
Joshua: The path yet continues..
Joshua: For now.
ジョシュア：行こう
Joshua: Let’s go.
<Gameplay mode>
(Clive proceeds through the Interdimensional Rift.)
<Cutscene>
Ultima: To forge a new world would require not only power but a constitution strong enough to wield it.
アルテマ：真あるべき世界の創世には 莫大なエーテルと それを成す《大いなる魔法》に堪える肉体を要する
Ultima: The forging of this new world would require vast amounts of aether and a body of flesh able to withstand the casting of the “Master Spell*.”
*lit. “Great Magic”
Ultima: Acquiring the first would be simple.
アルテマ：我は策を練った
Ultima: I devised a plan.
(Large slabs of rock reassemble themselves and an image of a Mothercrystal illuminates its surface.)
Ultima: Untouched by the Blight, Valisthea was replete with aether. And we had only to place jewels in her crown to claim it.
アルテマ：ひとつは ヴァリスゼアに配したマザークリスタルから 創世に必要な量のエーテルを集めること
Ultima: First, to amass the aether needed to remake the world from the Mothercrystals placed throughout Valisthea.
Ultima: Acquiring the second, however, demanded...creativity. And so, I cast forth the seeds of humanity.
アルテマ：もうひとつは 我を模した人という種をつくり 器となりうる肉体を芽吹かせること
Ultima: Second, to create the species of mankind in my image and plant the seeds for the body of flesh that might become my vessel.
Clive: You created us...?
クライヴ：人をつくっただと…!?
Clive: You made mankind..!?
(Ultima appears in the air above them.)
Ultima: Is that not what gods do?
アルテマ：そう驚くこともあるまい
Ultima: Surely, such marvel is uncalled for.
Ultima: We sowed the seeds for you, Mythos. All that you might one day blossom.
アルテマ：人とは苗床に過ぎぬ ミュトス…汝を育むためのな
Ultima: Mankind are naught but a seedbed, Mythos.. one in which to nurture thee.
Ultima: And, our future thus secured, we thought to slumber...though that would prove a grave mistake.
アルテマ：我は ミュトスという果実がなるのを待ち 時が来るまで眠りについた
Ultima: I awaited the fruit that is Mythos, and slumbered until the time was at hand.
Ultima: For it was as we slept that man committed his greatest sin—he awoke.
アルテマ：だが我が眠ったことで 人は我とのつながりを失った
Ultima: Yet, with my slumbering mankind lost the threads of connection that bound them to me.
Ultima: Alone in a world bereft of his god’s radiance, he stumbled blindly, desperate for guidance.
アルテマ：人はそれを主に見捨てられたと錯誤し 導きを求めて迷妄した
Ultima: Mankind misconceived this as having been forsaken by their master and, seeking for guidance, strayed.*
*lit. bought into a fallacy
Ultima: Finding no light, he sought to kindle his own.
アルテマ：そして 罪を犯したのだ
Ultima: And committed a sin.
Ultima: And from that single, errant impulse was his will born.
アルテマ：自分自身を主とした“自我”をつくるという大罪をな
Ultima: The mortal sin of developing free will, by which they took themselves to be their own masters..
Ultima: Having discovered himself at last...
アルテマ：…己を維持するがために
Ultima: ..so as to maintain their sense of self.
Ultima: Man turned his eyes inward and found he desired ever more.
アルテマ：故に 人の持つ自我は 際限のない欲に塗れている
Ultima: Thus the will possessed by man is stained with boundless avarice.
Ultima: That which only magic might afford.
アルテマ：己の充足と優越感を欲した結果——
Ultima: As a result of having desired self-fulfillment and a sense of superiority—
Ultima: So wars were waged, and brothers slain, for custody over that dwindling resource...
アルテマ：ついには 人の手によって このヴァリスゼアに《黒》を生じさせた
Ultima: at long last, the hand of man brought forth the “Black” in this, the realm of Valisthea.
Ultima: ...and the land, she wept tears of black.
アルテマ：これもまた 人の罪にほかならない
Ultima: This, too, is none other than a sin of man’s.
(Ultima blinks out again.)
Joshua: He would condemn us for this? Surely he cannot be so blind to his own hypocrisy.
ジョシュア：人が自我を持ち ヴァリスゼアに黒の一帯を生んだのが罪だと…
Joshua: Mankind’s possession of free will and engendering of the Blight in Valisthea is a sin, [he claims]..?
Clive: Not blind. Just unwilling to admit the truth.
クライヴ：人の罪？ それが？ 奴と何が違う
Clive: A sin of man’s? That is? How’s that any different from him*?
*n.b. yatsu, meaning “that guy,” but rudely.
Clive: That we’re one and the same.
クライヴ：アルテマ 貴様は…
Clive: Ultima, you’re*..
*n.b. kisama, often translated as “bastard,” but used here as a rude “you.”
<Gameplay mode>
(Clive proceeds through the Interdimensional Rift.)
<Cutscene>
(Clive, Joshua, and Torgal mount another flight of steps to an open space, above which hovers what appears to be a decayed and inert Ifrit.)
Clive: Is that...?
クライヴ：あれは…!?
Clive: That’s..!?
Joshua: Ifrit. Or what’s left of him.
ジョシュア：黒い…イフリート…⁉︎
Joshua: A black.. Ifrit..!?
Ultima: Long have our ashes lain cold, for want of a spark...
アルテマ：あれこそ遠い過去に捨て去った 我が肉体
Ultima: That is the body of flesh I cast off in the distant past.
Ultima: Cast your eyes upon them and see what you must become.
アルテマ：我が器として求める 汝の姿よ
Ultima: Thy form which I seek for my vessel.
(Ultima appears in the air before the Infernal Eikon.)
Ultima: Valisthea cannot endure a second claim upon her being.
アルテマ：人の罪により ヴァリスゼアに生じた黒の脅威
Ultima: The Black Menace which arose in Valisthea by the sins of man..
(Ultima descends to stand on the ground opposite Clive and Joshua.)
Ultima: The avarice of man drives her ever closer to destruction.
アルテマ：このままでは この地からエーテルが失われる
Ultima: “Should matters persist, this land will be bereft of aether.”
Ultima: But she may yet be saved—by you.
アルテマ：その焦燥に駆られたとき 汝が生まれた
Ultima: When I was all but overcome by that anxiety, thou were born.
Ultima: It is what you were born to do—why we nursed you and fed you...as your own mother should have.
アルテマ：我は汝を まるで人が赤子を慈しむ育むように 召喚獣を喰わせ 成長を見守ってきたのだ
Ultima: I fed thee Eikons and kept watch over thy maturation, just as a human would coddle and nurture a babe.
Ultima: And now that you are fully grown, our Mythos, it is time, at last, for you to serve your purpose.
アルテマ：今こそ己が役割へと還るがよい そしてミュトスよ 《黒》の生じぬ世界の創世を
Ultima: Now the time has come for thou to return to thy purpose. And so, Mythos, [prithee] create a world in which the “Black” emerges not..
Clive: To right your wrongs?
クライヴ：黒の一帯…
Clive: The Blight..
Clive: If our sin is wanting to survive, then you are as marked by it as we are.
クライヴ：貴様だって生きるために そこから逃れたんじゃないのか
Clive: And didn’t you escape from it in order to live, as well?
Clive: The fault is yours. Our wills were born because you abandoned us.
クライヴ：人も同じ 生きるために自我を持ったんだ
Clive: Mankind are the same. We developed independent will in order to live.
Clive: And now you would have us forfeit them? All for a place in your new paradise?
クライヴ：お互い 望みは同じだったのに 手を取ろうとは考えなかったのか…！
Clive: Our wishes were the same, and yet did you not think to join hands with us..!?
Ultima: Do you imagine yourselves worthy of one? Mankind has no place in our world.
アルテマ：我が人と？ なぜだ？ 土塊に何を求めるというのか
Ultima: I, with mankind? Wherefore? What wouldst thou have me seek of lumps of clay*?
*lit. “clods of earth”
Ultima: Is this truly so difficult to comprehend?
アルテマ：汝の言は 理解に苦しむ…
Ultima: Thy words beggar comprehension..
Ultima: We only ever required you, Mythos. When the time comes to bid this wretched realm farewell...
アルテマ：汝が生まれた以上 人はもう その役目を終えたのだ 残す必要もあるまい
Ultima: Now that thou art born, mankind has served its purpose. Surely there could be no need to let them remain.
Ultima: None shall follow. None shall remain.
アルテマ：創世をもって 人は滅す
Ultima: Mankind shall perish with the remaking of the world.
Joshua: What do you mean, none!?
ジョシュア：どういう意味だ!?
Joshua: What does that mean!?
Ultima: This is our world. Once the land’s rebirth is complete, humanity will have served its purpose.
アルテマ：我に背き 罪を犯す人など 真あるべき世界には無用なもの
Ultima: The likes of men that wouldst turn from me and commit sins are unneeded in the new world.*
*lit. “world that truly ought to be”
Ultima: Why would we continue to suffer that which has caused us so much vexation?
アルテマ：この世界は我がもの そこにあるものをどうしようが 我の自由ということだ
Ultima: This world is mine, meaning whatsoever I do with that which exists within it is my prerogative.
Clive: Because the land doesn’t belong to you—it belongs to us all!
クライヴ：こは俺たちの世界だ！ 勝手なことをさせるか！
Clive: This is our world! As if we’d let you do whatever the hell you please!
(Clive begins to prime but Ultima steals his flames.)
Clive: What—!?
クライヴ：なに!?
Clive: What!?
Ultima: That is where you are mistaken.
アルテマ：我は 世界の理
Ultima: I am the Law unto this world.
Ultima: You own nothing but your precious will.
アルテマ：その力を制するは容易い
Ultima: To stay thy power is elementary.
(Clive grimaces, but Joshua walks over and sets a bracing hand on his brother’s shoulder.)
Joshua: Brother.
ジョシュア：兄さん
Joshua: Brother.
(Clive gives him a faint nod and together they step forward and take up positions opposite Ultima.)
Clive: I can’t do this alone.
クライヴ：俺たちならやれる
Clive: If it’s us, we can do this.
Joshua: And you don’t have to.
ジョシュア：ああ そうさ
Joshua: Indeed, we can.
Ultima: I grow weary of your dissent.
アルテマ：自我を持つゆえに仇なすか
Ultima: Ye are possessed of free will, ergo ye turn on me?
(The Infernal Eikon begins to disintegrate.)
Ultima: Now you must learn...
アルテマ：心得よ…
Ultima: Know this..
♫Death Shall Me Devour♫
Ultima: ...that this master will not tolerate disobedience.
アルテマ：真の主の意を覆すことなど ありはせぬ
Ultima: ..the will of the true master cannot possibly be overturned.
(The ashes of the Infernal Eikon and a crackling purple light coalesce around Ultima and he transforms into Interdimensional Ultima.)
Clive: My friends, my family...
クライヴ：俺たちも みんなも…
Clive: We’re, we are all*..
*lit. “Both we and everyone”
Clive: We have all suffered. All fought to survive.
クライヴ：この世界で 必死にもがいている
Clive: ..doing our damndest to make our way in this world.
Clive: This world may be flawed, it may be broken, but it’s all we have.
クライヴ：どんなに歪で穢れていても ここは俺たちが生きてきた世界だ
Clive: No matter how warped or corrupted it may be, this is the world in which we’ve lived.
Clive: And if we can’t share it, I see only one other choice.
クライヴ：俺たちと貴様と どちらかしか残れないのなら——
Clive: If between you and us only one can remain, then—
(Clive draws Invictus and levels it at Interdimensional Ultima.)
Clive: You have to go.
クライヴ：貴様が消えろ
Clive: You* disappear.
*n.b. kisama, often translated as “bastard,” but used here as a rude “you.”
(Joshua draws the Burning Thorn with a flourish.)
Joshua: You may have created us, Ultima...
ジョシュア：この手で世界を《黒》から救う
Joshua: With these hands, we’ll save the world from the “Black.”
Joshua: ...but it’s time we lived on our own terms.
ジョシュア：自分たちの意志で生きていくために
Joshua: So as to live in accordance with our own wills.
Joshua: This isn’t your world anymore.
ジョシュア：もう お前の好きにはさせない
Joshua: We won’t let you do as you please any longer.
Clive & Joshua: It’s ours.
クライヴ・ジョシュア：ここで終わりだ
Clive・Joshua: It ends here.
<BOSS Fight – Ultima>
Ultima: Bow down, offenders, hearts bestained.
アルテマ：罪深き人よ 拝跪せよ…
Ultima: Iniquitous humans, bend the knee..
Ultima: Such foul attaint may not be sublimed through gainstanding.
アルテマ：いくら抗おうとも 汝らの犯した罪が消えることはない
Ultima: No matter how ye resist me, the sins ye have committed shall never be absolved.
Ultima: Only with heads hung low is penance paid.
アルテマ：人よ 拝伏せよ…！
Ultima: O humans, bow down to me..!
Ultima: O wretched mortals, incapable even of contrition...
アルテマ：人よ 地に伏して慚愧せよ…！
Ultima: O humans, prostrate yourselves in contrition..!
Ultima: In fitting season shall we reap our harvest.
アルテマ：我は世界の理…真の主なり…！
Ultima: Law unto the world, am I.. Its true master..!
<Cutscene>
Ultima: Gifted this chance...
アルテマ：ミュトス…！
Ultima: Mythos..!
Ultima: And still you would raise your hand against the Lord.
アルテマ：主に仇なし さらに罪を重ねるつもりとは…
Ultima: Turn not on thy master. To think, thou wouldst seek to compound thy sins..
♫‘Neath the Pall♫
(Ultima transforms again.)
Clive: What now!?
クライヴ：どうなってる！
Clive: What’s happening!?
Joshua: The darkness bends...
ジョシュア：景色が変わって…!?
Joshua: The scenery changes..!?
Joshua: He... He means to end us.
ジョシュア：そろそろ終幕ってことか…！
Joshua: And now the final curtain, is it..!?
Clive: It wouldn’t be the first time.
クライヴ：ああ もうたくさんだ
Clive: Aye, I’ve had enough.
Clive: But let’s make it his last!
クライヴ：ここで終わらせてやる！
Clive: We’ll end this here!
<BOSS Fight – Ultima>
Ultima: Your fate is inexorable. Surrender the vessel unto the darkness. Surrender it onto us.
アルテマ：汝の役割は その身を我に捧呈すること… そのためだけの存在といことを忘れたか！
Ultima: Thy part is to offer up that form unto me.. Hast thou forgotten thou exist solely for that purpose!?
Ultima: [At last...]
アルテマ：[ふふふふふ]
Ultima: [*smug laughter*]
<<ULTIMA VANQUISHED>>
→ Spoils: The Pull of Darkness (Dancing Steel)
<Cutscene>
Ultima: At last... For countless generations have we awaited this moment.
アルテマ：その力—— やはり汝こそ 幾星霜待ちわびた器よ…
Ultima: That power— As I thought, thou art indeed the vessel I have awaited for countless ages.
Ultima: Your struggles have made you strong...
アルテマ：…だが 主に仇なした
Ultima: ..Yet, thou hast turned upon thy master.
Ultima: Yet your soul remains heavy with sin.
アルテマ：この大逆の罪は捨て置けぬ
Ultima: This sin of high treason cannot be let stand.
Ultima: Absolution is nigh. Repent and all shall be forgiven!
アルテマ：今ここで 汝の… その 肥え太った自我を滅する
Ultima: Here and now shall I purge thee.. of thy corpulent will.
<fade out, fade in>
(Clive is transported into an illusion and finds himself seated upon his father’s throne in the darkened throne room at Rosalith, restored here to its former state. Before him, Elwin and young Joshua, Jill and her younger self, Cid and Mid argue silently. Of them, young Joshua alone remains frozen as the others gesture animatedly. After a moment, they all freeze before animating one by one to turn and speak to Clive.)
Cid: Tell me, Clive. How many lives have you saved since taking my name?
シド：——なあ クライヴ 《シド》を名乗るお前は 誰かを救えたのか？
Cid: —Say, Clive. You call yourself “Cid,” but have you managed to save anyone?
Jill (young): Fewer than we have ruined. Wherever we go, we leave a sea of tears in our wake.
幼いジル：マザークリスタルの破壊—— たくさんの人を不幸にしてしまったわ
Young Jill: The destruction of the Mothercrystals— It’s brought misfortune to so many.
Archduke Elwin: These...these are the wages of your will, son.
大公エルウィン：結局 志など何の役にも立ちはしない
Archduke Elwin: In the end, intent is worth naught.
Jill: What good are our choices, when all they ever bring—all they will ever bring—is death?
ジル：所詮は綺麗事なのよ 後にも先にも そこにあるのは積み重なった死体の山だけ…
Jill: From the start, they were just pretty words. All that lies behind and before us is a mountain of corpses..
Mid: There’s no atoning, Clive. No matter how hard you try.
ミド：そう どんなに頑張っても… 報われることはないんだ
Mid: Aye, no matter how hard you try.. it’ll never pay off.
Allies: So why not leave it all behind?
縁者たち：だからもう 無理はしなくていいんだよ
Kindred: That’s why, you needn’t strive to do the impossible any longer.
Clive: ...Leave it all behind?
クライヴ：そうなのかも…しれない…
Clive: That.. may be so..
(One by one, they disintegrate until only young Joshua is left. He unfreezes at last and reaches a hand out to his brother.)
Joshua (young): Clive!
幼いジョシュア：兄さん！
Young Joshua: Brother!
<fade out, fade in>
(Clive stands in the darkened cell block beneath Rosalith, the corridor lit only by torches. One by one, his fallen foes speak from within their cells.)
Benedikta: Please! Won’t somebody save me? Won’t anybody love me?
ベネディクタ：お願い 誰か私を助けて！ 誰か私を愛して！
Benedikta: Please, someone save me! Someone love me!
Hugo: I yearn, yet still she is not mine! Have I not given enough!?
フーゴ：どうして どうして手に入らないンだ!? こんなに願ってるのに！
Hugo: Why, why does she not become mine!? Though I yearn for her so!
Sleipnir: From will is born desire, and it is this which consumes you, rendering you incomplete.
スレイプニル：人が自我を持ったがために 己の欲望に固執する 不完全な存在となった
Sleipnir: Because man developed free will, he became an imperfect being, one that cleaves to his own desires.
Barnabas: Do you not see how the world bends and warps under the weight of your hungering hearts?
バルナバス：それゆえ 自らを苦しめ 殺め 自らの欲望で世界さえ壊してしまう
Barnabas: And thus he brings about his own suffering. his own death, breaks even the very world with his avarice.
Rivals: What if it could all just go away?
宿敵たち：なら 何も考えないほうが楽になれる
Sworn Foes: In which case, abandoning thought is the way to ataraxia.*
*lit. “you can become more at ease by not thinking anything”
Clive: Just go away...?
クライヴ：ああ…そうだな…
Clive: Aye.. that’s so..
(Starting from the far end of the corridor, the torches begin to go out. Just before it goes entirely dark, footsteps sound and young Joshua comes bursting in.)
Joshua (young): Clive!
幼いジョシュア：クライヴ！
Young Joshua: Clive!
<fade out>
Joshua: Clive!
ジョシュア：クライヴ！！
Joshua: Clive!!
<fade in>
(Clive, on his knees outside the castles walls, watches as Rosalith burns. The image strobes and Clive struggles to breathe as he watches his childhood home burn. A single tear tracks down his cheek.)
♫Unreleased Track♫Joshua: None of this is real. Wake up.
ジョシュア：これは幻だ すぐに終わる
Joshua: This is an illusion. It will soon end.
Joshua: It’s time to go home, Clive.
ジョシュア：帰ろう 兄さん
Joshua: Let’s go home, Brother.
Clive: Clive...?
クライヴ：兄さん…？
Clive: Brother..?
Joshua: That’s right. You’re my brother.
ジョシュア：あなただよ クライヴ
Joshua: That’s you, Clive.
Clive: Brother...
クライヴ：クライヴ…
Clive: Clive..
(A light begins to emanate from just above his heart and Clive looks down as he draws out the phoenix feather he’s carried with him all this time. It floats out into the air before him and bursts into flames which transform into Joshua, fully grown.)
Joshua: Come. Remember who you are.
ジョシュア：ほら…もう一度 呼んで
Joshua: Come now.. say* it once more.
*lit. “call [your name]”
Clive: Clive...
クライヴ：クライヴ
Clive: Clive.
(Clive’s gaze focuses, his consciousness once more visible in his eyes, and Joshua extends a hand to him, smiling.)
Joshua: Once more lest you forget.
ジョシュア：これでもう迷わない
Joshua: With this, you’ll not waver a second time.
(Clive takes his brother’s hand and lets Joshua pull him to his feet.)
Clive: My name is...Clive.
クライヴ：そうだ 俺は——
Clive: That’s right, I’m—
Clive: Clive Rosfield.
クライヴ：クライヴ・ロズフィールドだ
Clive: Clive Rosfield.
(Ultima appears in the air over a burning Rosalith.)
Joshua: Look!
ジョシュア：兄さん…！
Joshua: Brother..!
Clive: Ultima!
クライヴ：アルテマ…！
Clive: Ultima..!
Ultima: Even here, the light of the vessel’s will cannot be quenched.
アルテマ：ミュトス ここまでしても自我を消すことができんとは…
Ultima: Mythos, to think that even having gone this far, I could not rid thee of thy will..
Ultima: And the Phoenix... His trespass should not have been possible. Not possible unless...
アルテマ：しかし なぜフェニックスがここに 外界から干渉することなど 人の身にできるはずが…
Ultima: And yet, why is the Phoenix here? To meddle from the world without, no mere human* should be capable of..
*lit. “one with the stature of a human being; one of human ilk”
Ultima: Unless...he has been with Mythos all along.
アルテマ：いや 元より《ここ》にあったのか
Ultima: Nay, was he “here” from the first?
Ultima: The mark of the Phoenix emblazoned upon his heart...made manifest by the power of will alone.
アルテマ：ミュトスの自我に フェニックスの像が刻まれ 思念によって その実体を得たとでも…？
Ultima: Am I to believe that the Phoenix’s likeness was graven upon Mythos’ psyche,* and through consciousness given substance..?
*lit. “sense of self; ego”; used in FFXVI to mean “will”
Ultima: The power...of creation.
アルテマ：思念が人を創造…
Ultima: Consciousness creates mankind..
Ultima: Can it be? Are their wills truly so potent?
アルテマ：人の思念…想いとは これほどまでの力を…
Ultima: Mankind’s consciousness.. their sentiments, to think they possessed such power..
Clive: Are you still talking!?
クライヴ：ここから出させてもらおうぞ
Clive: We’ll be taking our leave of this place.
♫Once More♫
(Clive and Joshua prime, together becoming Ifrit Risen.)
Clive: Our flames burn as one!
クライヴ：この炎で焼き尽くす！
Clive: With these flames, we’ll burn to you to ash!
(Ifrit Risen summons a massive ball of flame and lobs it at Ultima.)
Ultima: This is no mere evolution. It is...
アルテマ：これは ただの進化ではない…
Ultima: This is no mere evolution..
Ultima: ...Deviation. And herefrom does Logos rise.
アルテマ：まさか 汝は《ロゴス》に変わろうというのか…？
Ultima: It cannot be, wouldst thou become “Logos”..?
(Ultima is consumed by flame.)
<fade out, fade in>
(Out in the world beyond, Drake’s Spine shatters and evanesces.)
<fade out, fade in>
(In the Interdimensional Rift, Joshua rouses an unconscious Clive with a double tap to his cheek.)
Joshua: Damn it, Clive! Wake up!
ジョシュア：目を覚まして 兄さん！
Joshua: Open your eyes, Brother!
Clive: That...hurt.
クライヴ：ジョシュア 俺は…
Clive: Joshua, I..
Joshua: Sorry to wake you, but I think it may be time to leave. This place—
ジョシュア：大丈夫だね 奴の支配から逃れた それより…
Joshua: You’re alright, I see. You escaped his* control. More pressingly..
*n.b. yatsu, meaning “that guy,” but rudely.
(Torgal whines as the Rift continues to crumble around them. Joshua stands, Clive following suit, and all three glance around them as Ultima’s disembodied voice speaks.)
Ultima: And once again does my creation stray from the path laid before it.
アルテマ：人がロゴスに—— 偽りの神となろうというのか…！
Ultima: A man [become] Logos— Wouldst thou seek to become a false god..!?
Ultima: Steeped in conceit, you fancy yourself a god. You embrace “Logos”...
アルテマ：進化の道をはずれ 我と肩を並べようなど…！
Ultima: That thou wouldst mistread the path [lain before thee] and seek to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me..!
Ultima: But we will put an end to this hubris.
アルテマ：これ以上 汝の身侭を許しはせぬ
Ultima: I shall abide thy egoism no longer.
Clive: What are you talking about!?
クライヴ：一体 何をする気だ！
Clive: What the hell do you intend to do!?
Ultima: In the halls of Origin does our true power quicken.
アルテマ：《オリジン》をもって 我本来の力を蘇らせる
Ultima: With Origin shall I revive my true power.
Ultima: And there shall you be made complete. Soon, Mythos. Soon you will discover...
アルテマ：そして 汝に耐え難き絶望を与え 文字通り肉の器としてやる
Ultima: And I shall visit upon thee despair beyond bearing, and reduce thee to a mere* vessel of flesh.
*lit. “literal”
Ultima: How little you know of suffering...
アルテマ：我が力 思い知れ
Ultima: Mark well my power.
(Just as the ground beneath them begins to fracture, a ball of light appears and sucks them in before the place they’d been standing is buried in rubble.)
<fade out, fade in>
Twinside, The Holy Empire of Sanbreque｜旧クリスタル自治領 首府ツインサイド、ザンブレク皇国領
(Ultima materializes over Twinside, at the top of its iconic spire.)
♫Eschaton♫
Ultima: And so the crystals are no more. Yet in their silence a new song rings.
アルテマ：すべてのマザークリスタルは消滅し エーテルを集めるという役目を終えた
Ultima: All of the Mothercrystals have fallen, having served out their purpose of gathering aether.
Ultima: Its chorus building—a crescendo as it enters its final movement.
アルテマ：長きにわたる計画も まもなく終局を迎えようとしている
Ultima: My long-standing plan shall soon come to conclusion.
Ultima: ...stirring those long a-slumber to waking...
アルテマ：お前もまた その眠りから覚めるときだ
Ultima: It is time for you, too, to wake from your slumber.
(Bright blue comets of light emerge from the ground and begin to swirl around the spire of Twinside.)
Ultima: ...and back...to their origin.
アルテマ：さあ 天翔けよ オリジン！
Ultima: Come, soar through the heavens, Origin!
(Down in the streets, people panic and attempt to flee as Twinside rises from the waves, shedding vast amounts of water as it ascends into the sky. A shockwave of light expands outward, destroying the city and its inhabitants and revealing what lay beneath—the ruins upon which the Isles of Ark had been built—Origin. As it rises into the air, its surface begins to glow and a massive crystal forms around it.)
<fade out>
Notes:
- 籠 (kagome) → a woven cage, coop, or hamper; often used to mean “cage” in the word “birdcage” (鳥籠・鳥篭). I’ve translated it as “pinfold” here, given how Ultima views human beings.
- 汝、汝ら (nanji, nanjira) → thou, thee; ye. The word “nanji” is an antiquated second-person pronoun most commonly seen in literary, classical, and religious texts. It’s often used in close or hierarchical relationships, i.e. by someone of higher rank to someone of lower rank. For this reason, it can read as rude when used in the wrong context, but more often conveys an air of antiquated formality. This is the pronoun Ultima most often uses to address Clive.
- ミュトスよ、フェニックスよ (Mythos-yo, Phoenix-yo) → The –yo here drops in English, since it doesn’t mesh well grammatically, but this in an invocative, like “O ~” or “Ye ~” in English.
- そろう (sorou), often written with kanji as 揃う → (lit. “to be complete; to be all present; to make a full set; (of conditions) to be satisfied”). This is the word Ultima uses in the phrase “That ye, the Children of Fire should be assembled (そろう) here, this too is Fate.” Basically, he’s saying that since Clive and Joshua together constitute his complete vessel (Ifrit Risen), it’s fortuitous for them to both be present.
- 定め (sadame) → I’ve translated this word as “Fate” here, since that’s how it appears in the English dialogue, but there are many words for fate in Japanese and, of them, sadame means something like “ordained fate.” It refers to things that are predetermined and is mainly used when things are based on reason or rules. In contrast to unmei (運命), which is fate or destiny in a grander/broader sense, sadame is often determined by intention or choice, and can be influenced by an individual’s will and actions—in this case, Ultima’s.
- There are several words that mean some denomination of “create” which appear in this sequence:
- 生み出される (umidasareru) → (lit. “to be birthed; generated”) used in the phrase “The miracle by the name of magic was wrought (生み出され).”
- 構築 (kouchiku) → (lit. “construction [of], organisation, assembly” ) used in the phrase “The forging (構築) of a new world.”
- 創世 (sousei) → (lit. “the creation of a world”) used multiple times to mean just that.
- つくる (tsukuru) → (lit. “to make”) used to refer to Ultima’s creation (つくる) of mankind and mankind’s development (つくる) of free will. It can be written with a number of kanji, each with its own nuance, but they’ve opted to do without here, eliminating any added layer of specificity.
- 生じさせる (shoujisaseru) → (lit. “to cause to be born/come to be; engender”) used in the phrase “the hand of man brought forth (生じさせた) the “Black” in this, the realm of Valisthea.”
- 生む (umu) → (lit. “birth, beget, generate, bring forth”) used in the phrase “Mankind’s...engendering (生んだのが) of the Blight.”
- 創造 (souzou) → (lit. “make; create”) used in the phrase “Consciousness creates (創造) mankind.” I find this interesting because the world also gets used to refer to the creation of worlds. Almost as if each of our consciousnesses is a world unto itself, which I suppose, arguably, it is.
- 真あるべき世界 (makoto aru-beki sekai) → (lit. “the world that truly ought to be”). In the Thousand Tomes, the parallel entry is called “New World,” so that’s how I’ve translated it here.
- 理 (kotowari) → This word appears twice in this sequence, but I translated it differently in each instance based on context. The word “kotowari” refers to the laws and truths of nature the principles and reason based upon them or, put another way, a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in nature and essential to or binding upon society.
- 新たな理に基づく創世 (arata-na kotowari in motodzuku sousei) → “The creation of a world based upon a new world order (理)”
- 我はこの世界の理 (ware wa kono sekai no kotowari) → “I am the Law (理) of this world.”
- 幻想 (gensou) → (lit. “illusion, vision, fantasy, phantasm”), used by Clive in reference to the fantasy of a new world Ultima painted for Barnabas. This is also the word both Clive and Ultima use in the final battle in that iconic “final fantasy” exchange.
- つながり (tsunagari), often written with kanji as 繋がり → (lit. “connection, connections; link; relationship”), used by Ultima in the phrase “mankind lost their connection to me.”
- 己を維持する (onore wo ijisuru) → (lit. “to maintain one’s self”). This one is a bit tricky to capture. Ultima claims mankind developed free will “so as to maintain their sense of self,” but this could also be “maintain the shape of themselves” (in an abstract sense), or even “maintain their [very] selves.”
- There are several words that mean some denomination of “will” which appear in this sequence:
- 自我 (jiga) → (lit. “the self; ego”) called “Will” in the Thousand Tomes, used to mean “human will,” “free will,” etc. throughout.
- 意 (i) → (lit. “meaning, mind, intention, attention”), used by Ultima in the phrase “the will of the true master cannot be overturned.”
- 意志 (ishi) → (lit. “will, volition, intention”), used by Joshua in the phrase “so as to live in accordance with our own wills.”
- 志 (kokorozashi) → (lit. “intention, aspiration, resolution, aim”), used by fake-Elwin in the phrase “intent is worth naught.”
- 穢れ (kegare) → (lit. “defilement; taint”). This word can be written with two different kanji (穢れ・汚れ), though the second can also be read “yogore” and refers more to “taint” in the sense of “uncleanliness,” while the first is more of a philosophical “impurity” or even “sin.” So when Clive uses this word in reference to the world they live in, he’s not talking about the “corruption” of the Blight—though there’s that as well—he’s talking about all the other ways in which their world is corrupt.
- 報われる (mukuwareru) → “to be repaid in kind,” in this case referring to Clive’s efforts. When fake-Mid uses this word, she’s essentially saying nothing will ever come of them, nor will anyone ever thank or repay him for all he’s done and tried to achieve.
- 縁者 (enja) → (lit. “one with whom a person has en”), often—though not always—used to mean a relative, relation, or kinsman. In English, the chyron reads “Allies,” but in Japanese it says “縁者たち” i.e. enja plural. I find it adorable that Jill, Cid, and Mid all warrant this designation—they’re essentially family.
- 思念 (shinen) → This is the word translated as “consciousness” in the Thousand Tomes entry on The Bonds of Consciousness (思念の鎖, lit. “chains of consciousness”)
- 想い (omoi) → this word can be written with one of two kanji (思い・想い). The former more often refers to thoughts, or thoughts and emotions, but the latter is reserved for emotions and sentiments exclusively. Omoi in the purely emotive sense is often used to express deep emotions, love, and desires, and has the nuance of emphasizing strong feelings held in one’s heart. In the English version of the final battle, this word is captured with the phrase “hopes and dreams.” I’ve translated this as “sentiments” because I don’t think Ultima has the capacity to fathom the true depth of human emotions, even as he comes to the realization that they have power.
- お前 (omae) → This is an informal second person pronoun (i.e. “you”), but what’s interesting here is that Ultima uses it when speaking to Origin, as if their mothership is also a being (it’s also in contrast to his use of “nanji” with Clive). Kind of makes you wonder, given that Origin morphs into a giant floating crystal and his brethren once transformed themselves into the Mothercrystals... If Origin was also “slumbering,” could it be it’s semi-sentient, too?
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