Im going to post a section of a theory from
www.gamefaqs.com
By: Sir Bahamut -- Real name: Kristian J. Strømmen
TheOnionKnight -- Real name: N/A
Squall_of_SeeD -- Real name: Glenn Morrow
1) THE RINOA = ULTIMECIA THEORY
This highly controversial theory has become immensely (in)famous ever since
it was first conceived of. Whoever it was who first came up with the idea, we
don't know, because so many ripped him/her off that it's become impossible
to tell by now.
The theory basically states that Ultimecia is in fact an older Rinoa.
In other words, after the game ended, a string of events was set into motion,
ultimately leading to Rinoa ending up "becoming" Ultimecia.
This simple idea has been subject to much hate, and much praise too. It seems
you either love it or hate it.
Ultimately, we will show that the theory is highly implausible, and simply
not valid, or even possible as a theory. We will show that there is
absolutely no basis in assuming Square intended for Rinoa to be Ultimecia,
ultimately nailing the coffin by referring to the Ultimania Guide itself,
Square's official guidebook.
THE BASIS
The R=U theory is a proposition of what might happen to Rinoa after
a set of assumptions are made. To be precise, these assumptions are:
1) A sorceress has extended lifespan, and will live much longer than a normal
human.
2) Rinoa wouldn't give away her powers to some other innocent girl, and would
instead want to keep them herself.
3) Rinoas mental strength isn't all that good if she's all alone(ie. without
Squall and Co).
You may notice that assumptions 2 and 3 are really subsets of a greater
assumption, or rather interpretation of the plot; Rinoas psyche.
Obviously everyone will form an opinion of the main characters psyche during
the game, and this theory is based on an interpretation of Rinoa which makes
assumptions 2 and 3 perfectly logical and plausible. Assumption 1 is brought
up later, but just accept it now for the sake of understanding the theory.
It is quite trivial to see that once the three(or as explained, two)
assumptions are drawn, we can deduce that Rinoa will outlive Squall and all
her friends. They will all die eventually, whether it be of age, illness or
in combat. Rinoa will witness her true love and Knight(Squall) die, as well
as her father and all her other friends, die. They will die and she will not.
I mentioned that Squall is Rinoas knight. Just to remind you what we know
about a sorceress knight:
Edea tells us that a sorceresses Knight is supposed to help maintain the
sorceresses mental stability, keep her from bucking under to the pressure
of the people(remember that sorceresses are generally hated, there is even
an organisation made solely for killing them!). Adel for instance, had no
Knight, and I don’t think I have to remind you what kind of a sorceress Adel
was! An example of a good knight, would be Edeas knight, Cid.
So we have a Rinoa, all alone in a world filled with people who generally
want her dead, fear her and hate her, knowing that SeeD still exists to
kill people like her. We have a Rinoa in this scenario, without a Knight.
Based on the aforementioned assumptions, we can now see that Rinoa could very
easily be Ultimecia, driven insane by the grief and pressure, probably
driven to severe paranoia. Eventually, she is so warped that there's hardly
any trace of the old Rinoa in her. Instead, she is now the evil Ultimecia,
trying to compress time and absorb all sorceress powers and eventually all
time and space itself.
I should add that if Rinoa continued to use GFs after the game ended, her
insanity would doubtlessly be "amplified". GFs are very effective at removing
memory after all. Remember Squall. He had forgotten almost all his childhood
except the strongest memories of Ellone, and he'd only used GFs for 4-5
years. Of course this added assumption cannot realistically be backed up by
anything over than personal opinions on what happens after the game, so it
it is not a strong point in itself, and we are really left with insanity
as the thing. The theory requires such a strong insanity over such a long
time that Rinoa could literally become a completely different person(if you
then wonder what the point of the theory is, since R and U are basically
different people anyway, you are not alone).
Now, you may ask yourself what "hints" supposedly back up this claim? And
are there not certain things in the game which seem to contradict this
theory? In this next section, all arguments used in favour of the theory
are discussed, and as we shall see, it does not contain much backing from
the game.
NOTE: This next bit was written (almost) entirely by Squall_Of_SeeD, based
primarily on the framework created mainly by myself(Sir B), with hints
and such having been compiled from a multitude of sources over time.
Also note that sorceress will be referred to as Witches in this next
bit, seeing as that is that they were called in the japanese version.
