Originally posted here on 2022-04-07.

I stand by my interpretation* that Braska goes on the pilgrimage because he’s suicidal. Nobody makes reference to this ten years later, but why would they? Everything everyone (except Auron) knows about Braska’s motivations comes from two sources: Yevon’s official narrative, and Yuna’s memories of her father. Given the nature of Yevonite society I don’t think it’s a huge leap to suggest they would be highly offended by the mere notion of depression and suicide and would want to sweep that under the carpet as soon as possible. As for the other, Braska surely wouldn’t have been telling his seven-year-old daughter about how much he wanted to die. Not to say there’s no truth in “my father wanted to make Spira’s sorrow go away”; I’m sure that’s a valid reason for his pilgrimage as well. I just think going through with it allowed him to achieve that while also fulfilling the personal goal of putting an end to his own existence. He’d been disgraced and rejected by his people for the sake of his marriage, and now even his wife was gone, and … he was a very lonely and miserable person, who decided that becoming a summoner would be the most profitable way of ending his life.

That scene where Jecht gets struck by apparently harmless lightning and Braska laughs: that’s a huge deal. (And yes, it’s definitely Braska laughing there; I’ve seen transcripts where the laughter is attributed to Auron, but the Japanese version of the game subtitles it as Braska.) Auron, who is recording the sphere, hears this and immediately stops filming, because (this is where I begin to extrapolate) this is the first time he’s heard more than a brief chuckle from Braska in three years. Oddly enough, this could well be the point in the pilgrimage where Auron starts to show Jecht some respect: if Jecht can make Braska laugh this unreservedly so soon after meeting him, when Auron’s been trying for so long to convince Braska there’s a reason to stay alive – that makes Auron (whose only concern throughout the pilgrimage is Braska’s wellbeing, Change My Mind) realise there’s a benefit to having Jecht around. Perhaps, Auron might think, Jecht’s presence will eventually be enough to persuade Braska that he can still laugh and be happy, and that he might experience this enough to have second thoughts about going to his death. (And then when Jecht turns out to be happy to be sacrificed as well … that’s when Auron really knows he’s fucked.)

DFFOO hints at something similar:

Auron: In my world, summoners give their lives to defeat the beast Sin. We all knew this, so the journey wasn’t a happy one … but still, we managed to have our share of fun. Thanks to Jecht. His carefree attitude helped us forget … forget what awaited at journey’s end. [source]

I think this interpretation could go some way towards explaining Braska’s astonishingly unconvincing rebuttal, when Auron pleads with him not to go to his death: “Would you have some other summoner and his guardians go through this?” Surely, even without the knowledge that an Eternal Calm can never be brought about via the usual method, they’re both aware that the odds are pretty long on another summoner not having to do the same thing at some point, even if it’s a few years down the line. But if Braska is really doing it because he wants to die, and Auron knows that, there’s not really much point in providing any more robust argument other than for the sake of politeness, and perhaps obscuring the truth of Braska’s depression from Jecht. It’s my firm belief that a lot goes unspoken over the course of the pilgrimage, and that this results in various potentially preventable misunderstandings and even more delicious tragedy than the game already supplies.

*But if others don’t, you know, we’re good – my partner read this and respectfully disagreed with my interpretation because he doesn’t find the need to make everything maximally sad as compelling as I do … really the only thing I properly tinhat is that Auron is gay, otherwise I’m easy.

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