Originally posted here on 2022-07-12.

Still trawling through every single file from the FFX voice lines – I’ve just made it to the Via Purifico. A few lines have come up that didn’t make it into the final game (either the Japanese or English versions); I don’t pretend to be so familiar with the whole script that I can spot them instantly, but one component I am extremely familiar with is the content of the spheres from Braska’s pilgrimage, and it turns out that the scene where they meet Jecht in the prison has not one but two sections that ended up being cut.

Firstly, there’s a brief exchange between Braska and Auron after Jecht consents to join them on the pilgrimage (with the surrounding lines for context):

Braska: Then it’s settled. Auron, go tell the jailer to let this man free.
Auron: Sir – but I must protest. This drunkard, a guardian?

This is very interesting to me because I believe it’s the only instance of Braska giving a direct order to Auron. In the rest of the spheres we see Auron being very subservient, but we don’t really know how Braska reacts to it; I’ve seen a few fics where the interpretation is that Braska is a bit embarrassed by this and has to gently persuade Auron to let him handle things under his own steam, but this seems instead to support the theory that Braska is on board with Auron’s subordinate status, and that he’s quite happy to make him do stuff.

The weird thing about this one is that Auron’s “sir” is in a very different tone from the “but I must protest” line that did end up in the game – he seems happy enough to obey Braska’s order at first, and then suddenly becomes Extremely Irritated. It makes me wonder if they recorded both lines as mutually exclusive options, having not decided whether Auron would be happy about Jecht joining them or not – but that’s a bit odd, when that kind of branching doesn’t happen elsewhere in the files.

Secondly … I don’t even know how to describe this …

Braska: Now, Jecht; I am in your hands until we reach Zanarkand.
Jecht: Right, right. Speakin’ of hands, yours are pretty teeny, huh? You sure you’re up for this?
Braska: [resigned chuckle] Looks can be deceiving.
Jecht: Ah – ow, ow, ow! [groan] You’re a little – stronger than I figured. Not bad! So, what’s a summer-ner, anyway?

Going to go out on a limb here and say the reason this was cut was because it seems totally out of character for Braska to – well, we don’t really know what he does because we only have the audio, but, um, attack Jecht in some way, I guess? Honestly, a lot about this is bizarre: firstly, the weird segue, the fact that Jecht comments on the size of Braska’s hands as if this is some kind of indicator of physical fitness, the very existence of the phrase “pretty teeny”, the fact that Jecht’s reaction to a near-stranger suddenly setting upon him is to say “not bad” … all in all, fairly baffling. (Also I’m enjoying thinking about Auron standing on the sidelines like “yeah, my lord! Fuck him up!”)

So, either a new and alarming insight into Braska’s character, or something so ridiculous that it was rightly cut out of the game and never alluded to again … you decide.