Chapter 5: The Farplane and the ending

Story mode. Written for a first playthrough and kept free of spoilers — it will not tell you what happens here, only what the game is asking of you.

When you have done what you want to do around Spira, talk to Brother on the bridge. He will take you down. This is the last stretch of the game. This page will not tell you what happens, only how to get through it.

Before you go

Everything optional closes once you pass a certain point below, and the game tells you nothing about it. Do the side content you care about first. That means any location you have not finished this chapter, and the long tower under Bevelle if you want it. Then go.

The fights down there are much harder than anything the main story has asked of you so far. If the first one goes badly, go back up and get stronger. There is a lot of Spira left to fight in.

Picking a way down

Brother offers five starting points. They all end in the same place, and you only have to do one. Each has its own trick:

• Besaid: small floating islands carry you back up the path. Ride them a few times and a chest appears.
• Kilika: flame geysers reset you if they catch you. Wait for each one to die down, then run.
• Djose: the hardest. At a dead end, go back to the first islands, stand on the strip in the middle and push the three anchored islands to make a bridge.
• Bevelle: the easiest. No tricks.
• Calm Lands: teleporters try to send you back. Keep going downhill.

Whichever way you go, you will hit three big platforms with a hard fight on each. Bring protection against Stop, against status ailments in general, and a healer who does nothing else. Ribbons, if you have them, belong on now.

The glen

After the third fight you reach a quiet meadow with familiar faces and a shop. A Save Sphere and a portal appear here. The Save Sphere still takes you back to the airship; the portal does not. Save on the sphere, in a slot you will keep. Then go back up and talk to everyone on the Celsius. There are new things to hear.

When you are ready, come back down, save again, and step into the portal.

Past the portal

Barriers block the way. Each one opens to a short tune. Step on the glowing pads nearby to hear the notes, then play them on the keyboard. If you try to walk through a barrier or misplay the last puzzle, you fight something very large and very tough. Do the puzzles.

Look out for three chests: one near the second keyboard, one near the third, and one on the stepping-stones at the end.

At the end there is a long fight in several parts. In the last part there is a hidden time limit. Do not stall. Kill the two side pieces, then focus the middle. A healer who keeps everyone above 1,500 HP is the key. Ribbons help throughout.

The ending

After the last fight, press the confirm button when the girls are standing in the field of flowers, and when you are asked a question, answer “Yes!”. After that, put the controller down.

Completionist mode. Full spoilers, in play order, with every permanent loss called out before you reach it. 5 entries below are marked where our sources disagree with each other — we have not picked a winner for you.

Spoilers from here.

The point of no return is the portal in the Farplane Glen, which appears after Anima and the Leblanc scene. The Save Sphere beside it still returns you to the Celsius. Save there in a slot you will keep. Once you step through the portal, every unfinished episode, the Via Infinito, the Den of Woe and the last Celsius scenes are closed for this file.

The 100% checklist

Before the portal, all of these must be done:

• Every Chapter 5 location at Episode Complete, with Mascot in hand.
• The Den of Woe cleared, and Nooj’s sphere (“Deathseeker”) watched on the Celsius.
• Via Infinito cleared to Cloister 100, Trema included. This is required. Without it the count stops short of 100.
• The first full descent and the Leblanc scene in the Glen.
• The four Celsius scenes below: Shinra, the deck, the cabin, then Rikku.

The status screen must read 96% when you step through the portal. The final battles add the last 4%. If you are at 95%, the usual gap is the Via Infinito. Anything lower means a scene from an earlier chapter is missing. Find it now, because New Game Plus is the only other way back.

Going down

Talk to Brother on the bridge. The five starting points are Besaid Temple, Kilika Temple, Djose Temple, the Bevelle Underground and the Calm Lands gorge. Once you start a route you have to finish it. All five meet at the same three boss platforms. You fight the bosses once, on whichever route you take first.

Each route has its own chests:

• Besaid: floating islands carry you back up the path. Ride them four times and a chest with Mega-Potion x2 appears.
• Kilika: flame geysers reset you. A chest with a Mana Tonic sits on the path after the second big platform.
• Djose: the puzzle route. At the dead end before the first platform, go back to the strip in the middle of the first islands. Push the left anchored island to 3, the right one to 1, and the middle one to the spot left over. For the chest, ride the first island to a side branch and follow it to the end, past an empty chest, for Turbo Ethers.
• Bevelle Underground: no tricks. One chest, an Elixir, between the first and second platforms.
• Calm Lands gorge: teleporters send you backwards, so keep going downhill. A Shining Gem sits before the last platform.

One more chest, an Arcane Tome, is somewhere on these routes. Its spot is unconfirmed. It is probably a second chest on the Besaid route.

Do all five routes for Megiddo. After the first descent, use the Glen’s Save Sphere to go up, pick another route from Brother, and walk it down. No bosses get in the way after the first time. Megiddo lets any dressphere use learned Black Mage skills, and its gates add Flare and Ultima.

Shiva

14,800 HP. Absorbs ice, weak to fire. Steal Snow Ring; she drops Crystal Gloves, rarely a Regal Crown. Heavenly Strike halves HP and MP and inflicts Stop, so put Kinesis Badges, Ribbons or Shmooth Shailing on anyone who can’t afford to lose turns. Never let the whole party be stopped at once. Diamond Dust hits everyone for about 1,000. Open with Mighty Guard and break her stats. Firaga, Flametongue or Darkness do the damage.

The Magus Sisters

Sandy has 10,330 HP (steal Potpourri), Mindy 9,788 (steal Chaos Shock) and Cindy 12,240 (steal White Cape). All three are evasive. Delta Attack needs all three alive and drops one character to 1 HP, so kill one fast and don’t spread damage. Kill Mindy first, the fastest and frailest. Mindy’s Passado takes most of a target’s HP. They cast Not-So-Mighty Guard, so Dispel before you use spells. Dark Knight’s Darkness hits all three. Lady Luck’s dice and Samurai’s Spare Change are expensive shortcuts. Afterwards, the Save Sphere behind you heals for free.

Anima

36,000 HP. Weak to Holy and halves magic, so attack physically. Steal Fury Shock; she drops a Tetra Band. Pain lowers stats and inflicts Poison, Silence and Itchy. Oblivion is 16 hits across the party, and her plain attack poisons. Shell early, put Ribbons or Shmooth Shailing on your attackers, and keep a White Mage on Curaga and Esuna. Holy from a White Mage or Supreme Light, or a Warrior’s Excalibur, speeds it up.

After Anima the story gives you the Immortal Soul grid, with Cure and Life always on and Cura, Curaga and Full-Life through its gates.

The Farplane Glen

Walk up to Leblanc. Talk to her, Ormi and Logos for the scene. Leblanc sells basic items here from now on. The portal and a Save Sphere appear next. Use the Save Sphere to go back to the Celsius.

Back on the Celsius

Do these in this order. Each one counts toward Story Completion.

1. Shinra on the bridge. This needs the Thunder Plains episode done and Cid aboard.
2. The deck scene. Ride the lift to the deck; Cid walks past you inside. Follow him to the bridge to hear him argue with Brother. Go back to the deck and up again for the Brother and Buddy talk. You will want most of your Al Bhed Primers to read it. They give you the last Al Bhed Primer handed out on the airship.
3. The cabin. Cid, Rikku, Brother and Yuna talk sphere hunting. This needs about 80% Story Completion.
4. Rikku on the deck. Check the bridge map until Rikku is missing, then find her on the deck. This needs 95%, so it comes last.

If you have not cleared Cloister 100 of the Via Infinito, do it now. Then come back down through any route, save at the Glen, and confirm the display reads 96%.

The Heart of the Farplane

Step into the portal. Barriers block the path, and each opens to a tune. Step on the glowing note pads to hear it, then play it on the keyboard:

1. First keyboard: the pad just left of it. So Mi Re.
2. Second keyboard: three pads under electric fields. Wait for each field to switch off before you step in. A chest on the right-hand path holds a Megalixir. Do Ti La So.
3. Third keyboard: one pad on the left path. For the second, take the right side and drop down to the lower path. The third is at the top of the slope. A chest on the right holds Turbo Ether x3. Fa Mi Fa So Do.

Gippal is on the way north. He gives you Paine’s Sphere, and the party watches it.

The last stretch is floating stepping-stones. Each one plays a note when you land on it. Play the whole melody in order: So Mi Re, Do Ti La So, Fa Mi Fa So Do. One of the stones holds Mega Phoenix x2. There is a Save Sphere before this section, and you can go back to it between attempts.

Forcing a barrier or landing on a wrong note starts a fight with Azi Dahaka: about 146,000 HP, no escape, an X-Potion steal. It is a waste of time. Solve the puzzles.

Vegnagun

Four fights back to back. Ribbons and elemental Tetra accessories pay for themselves here. Bring two heavy hitters (Dark Knight is the standard) and one White Mage or Alchemist who only heals.

Tail. 34,200 HP. Steal X-Potions; it drops a Megalixir. Noli Me Tangere opens the fight and comes back below 25% for 1,250 to everyone, or 625 under Protect. Tail Beam takes about a third of one target’s max HP.

Leg and Nodes. The Leg has 18,220 HP: steal Elixir, drops Mythril Bangle. Nodes A, B and C have 300,000 HP each. Ignore them unless you want the experience. They cycle colors: red attacks, green heals and buffs the Leg, yellow casts party-wide elemental spells. A Dispel Tonic clears the green buffs. The Leg uses Break, Berserk, Slow and Absorb, so Ribbon is ideal. Kill the Leg.

Core and Bulwarks. The Core has 33,040 HP: steal Turbo Ether, drops Megalixir. Each Bulwark has 3,000 HP. They punish attacks: physical hits damage the attacker, magic drains its MP, and special attacks do both. The Left Bulwark uses Break, Bio, Doom and Dispel. The Right buffs itself and the Core. Keep both down; Darkness hits both. The Core charges three times and then fires Memento Mori at the party. Don’t bother with Protect and Shell while the Left Bulwark is up, because it dispels them. Shell just before the blast. Armor Break on the Core.

Head and Redoubts. The Head has 38,420 HP (steal Megalixir). Each Redoubt has 2,500 HP (steal Phoenix Down, rarely Mega Phoenix). Kill both Redoubts and the Head becomes targetable. It revives them, so kill them again and hit the Head between revivals. It fires Nemo Ante Mortem Beatus at 80, 60, 40 and 20%, for 700 to 1,500 each. Stay above 1,500. Mors Certa inflicts Silence, Darkness and Poison. Odi Et Amo strips your buffs. Hidden timer: Shuyin talks during the fight, and on his seventh line Vegnagun fires. That is a lost game with its own bad ending. There is usually enough time. Do not stall.

Shuyin

23,850 HP. Steal Hero Drink. He borrows Tidus’s moves: Spinning Cut, Run & Slash, Force Rain and Terror of Zanarkand, which can knock a character out. Keep Protect up and Phoenix Downs ready. It is short.

Beating him adds the last 4%. At 100%, Sweet Perfection pops during the final sequence.

The endings

• After the “Chapter 5 Complete!” screen, press the confirm button while the Gullwings stand in the field of flowers. This unlocks every ending past the Normal one.
• When the fayth asks, answer “Yes!” The second answer, “It’s better this way”, gives a quieter version of the ending.

Normal Ending always plays. Good Ending: Tidus comes back. It needs the flower-field press, “Yes!” to the fayth, and the two Chapter 3 conditions: Maechen’s full story in Guadosalam and pressing the button through the four whistles in the Farplane vision after Ixion. Some players report the Good Ending from Story Completion alone, quoting 75% or 90%. That claim is disputed. If you did the Chapter 3 steps, you are covered either way. Perfect Ending is the Good Ending plus 100%. It adds a scene after the credits with Yuna and Tidus.

After the credits you can make a clear save. Loading it starts New Game Plus. Dresspheres and Story Completion carry over, so a scene you missed can still count on a second run. Reaching 100% in a single run needs the Youth League route; New Yevon tops out just short of 100% (commonly quoted as 99.4%).