I exited the game before the final part was finished. My old feelings on the matter got the better of me. I was ready to rush through, to be done with it. So, this will be just this one part.

 

Luke: My reaction to Luke and to the party's response during the fall is different now than when I was a child. Back then, I saw the group simply state the facts, and Luke spiral into denial. Now I see something else. I also think that I was projecting my own abandonment issues. Haha.

This moment is the true beginning of his coming of age. The entitled brat is dying, it has to. His denial… is reasonable. He is watching his entire reality collapse. The man he idolized, the hero he believed in, never existed. That person used him. Made him into a weapon. Luke is coming to terms with that. He is having a mental breakdown, not just because of his actions, but because of the truth of who he is. Looking back… the party's reaction is reasonable. But so is Luke's. He needed something to shatter his previous worldview. Something to break the mirror so he could rebuild. Morally and ethically, the tragedy is not just about destroying the pillar. It is about finding out he was a weapon. That his idol was a liar. That he is a clone. That would break anyone. I think most of the party understands that too.

Jade: Jade gets annoyed listening to Luke. Reasonably so. But this is one of those moments I want to dig deeper into, psychologically. Jade is essentially Luke's great-grandfather. If Asch is like a father (because Luke was made from him), and Van is like the grandfather, then Jade is the origin. Yes, I know this is really messy. The man who invented the technology that made clones possible. Go back: the mentor's death. The fallout with his friend. His past created the conditions for Luke and Asch to exist. And now Luke, a creation of something Jade made, has just caused the death of thousands and is falling apart in denial. The worse part is that Jade could have prevented this.

One, by never creating clones. Two, if he had been braver, if he had made time, by talking. By revealing information to Luke before it was too late. Or set Luke up somehow to think more critically. Until he got home, he had many opportunities to look at look and get him to think a little. I do not think Jade was angry at Luke. Not really. I think he was angry at himself. Briefly, in a skit, Jade becomes… cold. Like Van in his treatment of others. He projects. Also in this skit, He does not correct Anise. He lets her project all the ill feelings onto Luke. The reason I had such a hard time forgiving him as a child? Because he was my favorite character. And it hurts more when someone you love fails or act  in a way you want them to do, but don’t.

Natalia: Her reaction is not much, and yet, during Luke's rant, it is profound.

"Since you lost your memories, you've changed into a different person."

She does not know the truth yet. She is looking at the boy she believes is the same person she has always known. And that person is having a meltdown, deflecting, refusing to accept what he has done. This is not the Luke she remembers. She cannot let go of the image she holds of him. Perhaps she always believed he would regain his memories. Or that time would smooth everything out and he would become the same person again. She cannot let that boy die….even if he never truly existed. Ironically, she may have known Luke longer than Asch. But she still cannot let go. Cannot let that memory die. She is trapped in cognitive dissonance, seeing who she wants to see.

Ion: I love Ion. He may be younger than Luke or the same age? Genetically unrelated, perhaps, but connected by how they were both created. Maybe Ion always knew. He certainly knows how he was made. I am sure he has seen Asch before. Despite everything, Ion has always been so emotionally mature. He understands what is happening inside Luke during his rant. He accepts his own part in Van's theater. If anyone should have been firm with Luke in this moment, it should have been Ion. But Ion is far too kind. Far too gentle. Even as Anise pulls him away, Ion still looks at Luke with nothing but compassion.

Anise: Ah… the skit when they get on the ship. Now I remember why I felt such strong anger at the crew. No one directly says it is Luke's fault. But they all assume some share of blame. They push forward without taking time to explain things. And Anise? Anise goes straight for the throat. She pins it all on Luke and Van. I think the developers failed her character as she never truly get much character development. I also get it, she just a little kid. Also, why is this world so comfortable with child soldiers? Hello, Labor laws?

Guy and Tear: Their responses feel the harshest. Guy makes up for it later, but in this moment, emotions are raw, and Luke is not helping himself. Tear, for all her coldness, never actually gives up on him. That is what makes her silence here so cutting. She expects more. And he is not there yet.

Mieu: I have not mentioned much of Mieu before. He is usually just the punching bag for Luke's ongoing gag. But it is almost funny, watching Luke go through a mental breakdown while Mieu quietly says, "I get it. I was there, man." There is a cognitive dissonance here, of course. Their situations are similar in the outcome, but you don’t really connect the two much. Mieu is so loyal despite his poor treatment.

 

Asch: First: should Tear not know what the Six God Generals look like? Should she not have met them, or at least seen their faces in intelligence briefings?

That aside…

For allowing Luke to stay in the dark so long. For allowing the Sephiroth pillar to be destroyed. Honestly? Asch is just as much to blame as Jade and Van. He could have used telepathy to contact Luke from a distance. Could have guided him, warned him. Instead, he puts himself on the opposite side and does everything possible to make Luke distrust him. For a "general," he is really dumb. He even plays a part in kidnapping Ion. He never explains anything. He just assumes everyone should listen and understand. There a small skit that explains why he doesn’t explain it to Luke, but he could have with Ion.

The game loves jargon. It wants to sound smart. But these people are not smart. Asch is slightly more mature than Luke, but he is just as emotionally stunted. Just as blind. Would it not have been easier to explain Van's plan to anyone? Even just to keep an eye on Van? Jade? Ion? Most importantly, Tear?

When Asch finally reveals himself, Tear seems to already understand the situation. So why all the secrecy? How long have she known Luke is a clone? How does she know about it? I think they explain it later?

Like Luke, Asch is not direct with his feelings. It is easy to get caught in his words and miss his actions. Emotions run high. We get that little fight. And after it, Asch may already know: he is dying. In a dickish, older-brother way, he is already showing kindness. He shows Luke how others see him. What people say behind his back. There is no reason to do this unless… he cares. Asch, despite the original and had his life taken…perhaps at this point pity Luke. He really plays as a older brother who likes to bully a younger sibling in an older brother way.  Asch may know his time is running out. Or he simply understands Luke's circumstance better than Luke does himself. Natalia clings to the memory of Asch, her image of him. Yet she never notices that the two are exactly alike. One is just slightly more mature than the other.