On day 11 of my Final Fantasy Marathon, I obtained the Ultima Tome from the Mysidian Tower. Today, I return to Castle Fynn only to find the Emperor has destroyed Poft, Paloom, Altair, and Gatrea with a magical cyclone and it appears Fynn is next.

Paul shares his loot

I visit Paul in his house and ask him about the cyclone. He thinks we are insane for considering going into it.

Most of his stash is unimpressive items we already have. However, he has the Blood Sword, which steals HP from enemies.

The sword doesn’t have impressive attack power, but the more HP an enemy has, the more damage the sword does. This makes it valuable for cheesing the final boss.

Return of the wyvern

Next, we go to the mirror in Castle Fynn and use the dragoon pendant. We see an image of the wyvern egg hatching and the wyvern flying toward Fynn.

Shortly after, the wyvern reunites with Ricard and we get a not so subtle hint that it can fly us into the cyclone.

We’re not in Kansas anymore

I approach the cyclone and the wyvern picks up my party and flies us into it. It’s a relatively short dungeon. There are a few branching paths that lead to treasure.

I get a Ripper, which I give to Ricard. The Poison Axe goes to Perrin.

The Diamond Helm, Diamond Gloves, and Diamond Armor also go to Perrin. Rand gets the Defender.

At the top of the cyclone, we find the Emperor. To reach him, we must first win a series of battles.

We take down two Royal Guards in the first round and three Royal Guards in the second. The Emperor then vows to kill us personally.

However, he does bring along a Wood Golem and two Royal Guards for insurance. They all go down fairly easily.

The Emperor dies, and Rand says it’s over. Hilda thanks us for defeating the emperor.

Ding dong the Emperor is dead

Hilda decides it is time to party and everyone starts dancing. However, an injured soldier shows up and tells us that Galad is the Dark Knight and has declared himself the new emperor. Hilda rubs the fact that Galad was our friend and brother in our faces a bit.

Elayne tells Hilda she knows she can talk Galad down. She is sure he is under the emperor’s spell.

Hilda and Gordon tell us that Galad is in Palamecia. It is an impregnable fortress high in the mountains. Gordon suggests Paul may know how to get in.

Cid

We go to Paul’s house and find a badly injured Cid. He tells us the cyclone did a number on him in Paloom.

He offers to lend us his airship and then dies. I swear this game has more deaths than Game of Thrones.

Paul tells us that he once snuck into the castle using a kite to land on the roof. He suggests we use Cid’s airship to do the same.

I walk back to my ship and sail to where Cid left his airship. I make a stop off at Bafsk to heal up at the inn.

Before heading to Palamecia, I stop by Deist. Ricard promises to return and raise young Kain to be a dragoon…

Palamecia

I fly the airship over Palamecia and drop onto the roof. However, a trap door drops me all the way down to the first floor.

I must now work my way back up to the throne room. There are some branching paths along the way that lead to treasure.

The Warp spell is particularly useful for avoiding backtracking here. I pick up a Diamond Cuirass, which goes to Perrin.

Ricard gets the Thunder Spear. A pair of rune axes drop as treasure from a random encounter. Those go to Perrin.

There’s one particularly tricky monster-in-a-box encounter against five Coeurls and a Lamia Queen. The Coeurls can hit the entire party with annoying status effects like sleep and confuse.

They also have a one-hit-kill special attack. How hard this fight is depends a lot on your luck.

I got wiped quickly on my first try, but defeated them with only one death on the second attempt. I got a Sun Blade, which I gave to Rand.

Coeurls can appear as a random encounter in the throne room, so it’s a good idea to quicksave frequently in there. After picking up the last couple boxes, I approach the throne.

Galad questions whether I can kill him. Elayne tries to intervene.

Galad says the weak cannot survive without the strong to control them. He also accuses the rebels of throwing away lives by opposing the Empire.

Before Galad can attack, the dead Emperor arises from Hell. He has looked better.

The emperor strikes back

The Undead Emperor tells Galad he is delusional and will never rule. Galad isn’t ready to give up.

The Undead Emperor says he doesn’t even need the empire now. He intends to rule the entire world with the new powers he gained in Hell.

Ricard tells us to call the Wyvern to escape. Meanwhile Ricard will hold off the Undead Emperor.

The wyvern shows up and whisks us away, leaving Ricard’s fate unclear. We see a flash of purple light, and a crystal palace replaces the old Palamecia.

We return to Castle Fynn, and Hilda demands an explanation. Rand tells her that the emperor has risen from Hell.

He then begs her to allow Galad to join us to fight against the Undead Emperor. Hilda is skeptical, but says the decision is up to us.

Galad joins the party. I quit the game at 13 hours and 44 minutes.