This leads me into another thing I hear people say against Auron: “He shouldn’t have kept everything secret from the party,” otherwise commonly known as “Tifa Syndrome,” the condition of keeping critical information from other party members. One of these days, I hope someone makes an RPG where every party member who joins will tell you everything they know as soon as they join! Everyone will hate it! Regardless, in Auron’s case, I actually agree with his decision not to divulge everything to them. I don’t know how effective it would’ve been to lay everything on the table from the get-go and say, “Here’s what you’re up against, and here’s what’s false about everything you’ve ever believed about Yevon.” I think you’d be running the risk of breaking their will to continue the pilgrimage. It’s just too much to process at that point in time. It’d be overwhelming. Like I said, I think Auron’s sense of timing is solid. He told people what they needed to know when they needed to know it. He was a bit more open with Tidus, but I think that’s because he wasn’t from Spira and he had no attachment to the religious traditions of Yevon, so it would be easier for him to take.
Plus, I think one of the reasons Auron didn’t spill the beans right off the bat was because he wanted to be a guide rather than a director. He helped them along when necessary, but for the most part, he wanted them to figure out everything for themselves and make their own decisions about it as much as possible. He didn’t want to influence or prejudice their thinking too strongly one way or another. I think of what Auron said to Rikku when she was trying to pressure him into telling them something he knew. “Look not to others for knowledge. This is your journey, too.” Auron understood that the pilgrimage was a journey of discovery and decisions, and everyone deals with it in different ways. He wanted them to have their own unique journey instead of making them think what he may have wanted them to think. Even if they did not reach the conclusion he would have liked, I don’t think Auron would have necessarily stopped them because it’s their journey as much as it is his. He considered the learning experience to be a crucial part of the pilgrimage.
I think the reason Auron feels he can be more open when they reach Zanarkand is because they’ve reached the destination in spite of the adversity, and he can see what decisions they’ve made and what kind of people they’ve become. When Yuna discovers Zaon’s fayth statue is empty, one of them asks Auron if he knew this was going to happen, and he replies, “If I had told you the truth, would that really have stopped you from coming?”
Anyway, this writeup has gone on way too long, so let’s wrap this up by talking about Auron in battle. It’s always satisfying to deal lots of damage and kill big enemies, and he excels in this department. I love tearing things down with his Break abilities, and I think one of the most gratifying feelings in the game is using Shooting Star on a really big enemy and launching them out of the stratosphere with one shot. Plus, Auron quotes The Princess Bride’s most famous line! How cool is that? Also, he has one of the best character designs in the series.
Finally, I really like the scene in the ending when Yuna sends him (although I wish there had been some sort of final dialogue between Tidus and Auron instead of the two of them exchanging glances for a few seconds). That final line, “This…is your world now,” is fantastic. Spira is no longer the spiral of death. It belongs to the living now. Just a great final line, very impactful.
Bonus Question: Who is your favorite Final Fantasy X character?
Whew, consider that writeup a holiday special!
--
http://i.imgur.com/fe05x.png
http://i.imgur.com/stNJf.png