Baaj

Baaj Temple is a creepy, dark, emotional place, and a key location in Seymour Guado’s story.

It is full of memories. This is where he and his mother lived in exile after refusing to accept the Final Aeon, Anima. He lived here in isolation, all alone. According to the Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega, Seymour was the one who moved the statue from the Zanarkand Dome to Baaj Temple and sealed it there. I think he likely did that to keep his mother hidden from everyone.

When we first arrive in the world of Spira together with Tidus, we come to a place known as the Submerged Ruins.

As we continue exploring the ruins, we come across a pillar with Al Bhed language on it. If you have all the Al Bhed Primers, you can read it. I still wonder: is this the island the Al Bhed used to live on? On Bikanel Island, Rikku mentioned that their island was destroyed by Sin, so is this the same place?

Anyway, further into the ruins, we get an underwater hall with statues of the High Summoners. But as we get closer to the door, we are ambushed by fiends. Tidus swims for his life and nearly gets sucked in like by a vacuum cleaner by Geosgaeno.

As Tidus continues up the staircase and moves the pillar, we enter a huge hall with writings on the floors and pillars. On the staircase that leads to the Withered Bouquet and the corridor to the treasure chest, we can see words like: Fire, Flower, Jyscal Guado, Guadosalam, Sin, and Seymour.

What is this place? I feel like we are playing Final Fantasy X and Silent Hill at the same time. These words do not feel random to me. Do they mean something about Seymour’s past? Are they connected to his trauma? Or is Seymour giving us hidden clues? Maybe he is trying to guide us. Still, Seymour feels almost present through the remains of Baaj, as if he is not leaving Tidus alone in this same solitude.

The campfire in the middle feels like such a beautiful detail. Someone was there. Someone was trying to create warmth. And when you connect that to Seymour, the written word Fire gains so many layers. Fire can mean love, passion, and motivation, but also anger, rage, and jealousy. For Seymour Guado, it immediately becomes practical warmth, magic, survival, anger, longing, maybe even love or attention.

Guadosalam is his birthplace, and Jyscal Guado is the father he hated.
And then there are the words Sin and Seymour. Is that a clue about what Seymour wants to become? I really love exploring these hidden details.