The twist...twit...

Take Zell because Zell is who you want for a sneaky infiltration mission.

Balamb is under siege by Galbadia Garden. Talk to the guard to be reminded they're looking for Ellone, and then hang out with the hotel owners to hear their daughter is still in town. I say hang out because we'll be waiting for a moment. The guard thinks we're suspicious because Zell is acting up. It is his hometown, to be fair. Squalls calms the situation by saying they're messengers with word about Ellone. With that, we're allowed into Balamb.

From here, we need to find the commander. She's supposed to be in the hotel, but those guards are better at their job. So now we talk to someone else. The captain is supposed to be doing his rounds, but he's more likely taking a nap. Either way, visit Zell's mom. We can inspect Zell's room now, too, to learn about his hero, his grandfather. Squall says something mean, which gets a laugh out of Rinoa before she tells him Squall is acting "too cool." They think he should lighten up, and we can use Zell's room to rest and save. From here, go to the docks and talk to everyone, especially the dog. Head to the station. Return to the docks to learn the captain just went fishing. Return to the station to see the aftermath with the smelly fish. Talk to the dog at the docks again, and chase him back to the station. We'll see Raijin run out, so go to the hotel. Fight him. Are you excited by this gameplay?!

We'll then have to fight him and Fujin at the same time. Use Protect to negate their attacks and Draw Pandemobia. She (?) is our wind GF. The Disciplinary Committee tell us they're not working for Edea but for Seifer. They're his only friends, after all. Squall lets them go out of some weird sense of understanding, and the rest of Galbadia leaves.

Where to next? Selphie wants to see Trabia, so head to the frozen north!

There's a wall for some reason around Trabia Garden, so we have to climb over. But even from here, we can see the ruins. Selphie runs ahead, filled with all the feelings you'd expect, and everyone else catches up to us. Irvine wants to help her the most. We'll see Selphie talking to an old friend, and she'll tell us to wait for her at the basketball court. Take your time getting there, and you can witness her reconnect a few times. The scene at the cemetery is pretty heavy.

We'll all reconvene at the court, and then we get to the stupid, awful twist of the game. Rinoa wonders if there's another way to stop Edea without killing her. It's mostly because she feels left out. While we're all highly trained warriors, she's just some chick. Rinoa feels like she's falling behind us and trying to play catchup. Can she keep doing this? What happens if something bad happens to her friends? I don't remember how, but Irvine switches the conversation to his youth. He grew up in an orphanage and mentions two girls he liked: "Sephie" and "Quisty." Selphie asks if the orphanage was made of stone, and Q asks if it was by the ocean. "You got it!" The three kids go off to play war while we gain control of ghost Squall for this memory, and we see Charlie Brown upset about "Sis.". Zell suddenly piped in about setting off fireworks and recalled he wanted to tattle on them. Another kid called him a crybaby. Seifer was there too. Both of them were there. Squall says he was there. Bar Rinoa, everyone in this (extended) party grew up together in an orphanage after the Sorceress War.

Irvine remembers everything, but why doesn't everyone else. There's anti GF sentiment in the world that says GFs ruin memories. Maybe it's true? Irvine never junctioned a GF until joining us, but neither has Selphie. She suddenly remembers connecting with a random, nameless GF six years ago. What is a guardian force?! But can we stop using them? The answer is no, so none of this matters. The group discusses how they reconnected before remembering Ellone. She was older than everyone, so they all looked up to her until she left. And they bring up Matron. Her real name is Edea Kramer.. So we're all in agreement that we're killing our mom and return to Balamb Garden. Rinoa hung back for a moment, but I can't remember why. Either way, we're gonna find the orphanage, but I'll do that...

...tomorrow!

Amnesia is stupid. Five people forgot about spending five years together, but some of them had latent feelings for each other that carried over? And a single use of a GF can wipe those formative years away? But they don't destroy any memories that formed while at Garden? Bullshit! And Irvine didn't say thing sooner? I understand why someone could like the awful, forced character growth for Squall, but the overarching plot is so garbage I swore for the first time in over two years.

I also finished the CC Group side quest for the first time ever. ...whatever.