Final Fantasy 15’s version 1.6 update went live last Friday, and with it came several new cutscenes to fill out the game’s story. Alongside bug fixes and new items (and fish to catch!), Square Enix tweaked the 12th chapter, finally squashing a long-held fan theory in the process.
Here’s your obligatory spoiler warning for Final Fantasy 15, by the way.
Chapter 12’s “new event,” as Square Enix described it in a tweet, covers several events that lead up to a climactic event in the Final Fantasy 15 lore: the War of the Astrals. This is primarily told not through cutscenes, like the rest of the new content, but illustration. This may be a disappointment for anyone looking for more time with Ifrit, one of the six gods of the Astrals, and the one most reviled by the human citizens of Eos.
But regardless, Shiva — another Astral and narrator of many of the new scenes — fills in the gaps of Ifrit’s backstory. Known as the “Betrayer” for turning his back on humans, Ifrit actually felt betrayed by the people of Eos first. Citizens of the Solheim region turned against not just Ifirt, but all Astrals, despite these otherworldy beings offering nothing but love and support for them. Enraged by their deceit, Ifrit feels obligated to fight back against Solheim, plotting to burn it all down. This prompts the other Astrals to regretfully defend the humans from their fellow god, Shiva explains.
It’s key that Shiva is the one explaining Ifrit’s story; the pair of Astrals were in love. And that revelation is huge for anyone who followed Final Fantasy 15’s most polarizing theory. Earlier this year, fans began to hypothesize about what was going on in Pitioss Ruins, the most difficult and mysterious dungeon in the game. The theory is ... complicated. We invite you to read the whole thing for yourself, but the abridged version is that players believed that the villainous Ifrit was a good guy who sought out to protect a goddess named Eos (yep, just like the world of the game.)
The various statues and other set dressing in Pitioss Ruins was interpreted as symbolizing the story of Ifrit and Eos: How their star-crossed love ended with Ifrit saving Eos’ at the expense of her body, in order to save the world while losing the humans’ trust.
Phew. It’s a lot! But in just under 10 minutes, Chapter 12’s new scenes undo this theory once and for all. That’s good news for Final Fantasy purists who rejected the Pitioss Ruins theory from the get-go, even as it persisted within the fandom.
For those less invested in the deep lore of Final Fantasy 15, there’s some nice scenes with female lead Lunafreya in the mix as well. It’s nice to see her get some more screen time, even if it’s just a little bit.
Players who want to check out the new scenes can dip back into Chapter 12 through the game’s chapter select menu. We’ve also included them above, if that suits you.
