Clive’s fate in A "Modern Masterpiece": Final Fantasy 16 Review

Clive’s Fate Is Somewhat Open-Ended In Final Fantasy 16

During Final Fantasy 16’s ending sequence, players witness the last moments of Clive Rosfield. After a gargantuan battle with the villain Ultima, Clive absorbs him, restores his brother Joshua’s health, and decides to put an end to Origin and the Mothercrystals altogether. This destructive power sees him use his aether on a massive scale and, shortly after, we see him washing up on a beach, tired. He tries using magic and sees that his hand has turned into stone, a consequence of his overuse of aether. The cutscene ends, not putting a definitive pinpoint on whether Clive dies or not in Final Fantasy 16.

All Signs Point To Clive’s Death In Final Fantasy 16

Despite how the cutscene is constructed, however, there are multiple signs that Clive Rosfield dies in Final Fantasy 16. The first evidence comes from a scene that is played immediately after he destroys Origin and right before he washes up on the beach. During the scene, players can watch Torgal and Jill accompanying a woman giving birth. This same scene later shows the two allies moving to a balcony inside the Hideaway and looking up into the sky. When they do, Torgal and Jill witness a red star flicker and fade away.This red star had been present next to the moon throughout the entirety of the game and only came to cease existing when Clive made what seems to be his sacrifice. When Torgal and Jill witness the red star fading away, the dog howls, and the woman cries as if they knew about Clive’s death in Final Fantasy 16. The red star is simply a red star, but it does serve as a representation of the protagonist – its constant presence during the game only to fade at the end can have multiple meanings, but it most likely represents Clive.In addition to that, the very scene of him on the beach gives out more information that can be interpreted as Clive’s death in Final Fantasy 16. The hero’s hand became petrified and the effect likely did not stop at that. During the game, players witness that Branded who use too much magic end up turning to stone completely and, with it, dying in the process. This is what likely happened to Clive off-screen. The protagonist utilized an absurd amount of aether, more than he could handle despite his inborn affinity with it, and paid the ultimate price to destroy Origin and end the war for the Mothercrystals.

Why Clive Had To Die In Final Fantasy 16

Although Clive’s death in Final Fantasy 16 is completely up to interpretation – though most signs point to the fact that he did, in fact, away – there are actual reasons why he should have died instead of living on. Clive is the only being on Valisthea capable of harboring the power of all the Eikons and, subsequently, using such an immense amount of aether. While Ultima saw his perfect body as a tool to reshape the world, Clive is actually the only one capable of bringing an end to all the Mothercrystals at once and spoiling Ultima’s reign of terror across the world.This unspoken burden that he carries is exactly why Clive must die in Final Fantasy 16. The new game constantly portrays magic as the root of all the evil in the world, and, ironically, only the most powerful aether-attuned creature in Valisthea can destroy it completely. Ultimately, Final Fantasy 16 is a story about sacrifice, and that is exactly what Clive does. The story talks about endings and new beginnings, and Clive’s actions are directly linked to that. By ending the reign of the Mothercrystals, he brings an end to magic itself and starts a new world free from the grasp of such a malicious power.The child that Torgal and Jill see delivered in the Hideaway is not simply a randomized event, but a symbol of a newfound hope. This is the first child to be born into the new magic-less world created with Clive’s death in Final Fantasy 16. After players see the protagonist die in the game, the credits roll, but the game does have an important post-credits scene. It seems to show a Valisthea far in the future when the events of the game itself are told as fairy tales from a book written by Joshua Rosfield.The peaceful existence of the family shown in the post-credits scene highlights how much Clive’s sacrifice molded the world into a better place. It is clear that it was always his ultimate duty to use his exceptional powers to save the world. Clive’s death in Final Fantasy 16 is but a small consequence of the bigger and brighter picture, which shows a world free of wars between nations disputing the magical powers enabled by the Mothercrystals. Even if Clive’s death brings a somber tone to Final Fantasy 16, it is a beautiful and poetic ending to his tale.