Before Final Fantasy X

Before Seymour became a Maester, before Yevon, before the wish to become Sin, there was a child who lost everything.

Twenty-eight years before the story of Final Fantasy X, Seymour was born to Lord Jyscal and his human mother. Their dream was to unite the Guado and human races together.

But the persecution of young Seymour and his mother was not something Lord Jyscal could stop. When Seymour was eight years old, exiling them became the only option to keep the peace.

This is one of the things I still struggle with. I understand that Jyscal was the leader of the Guado, but I do not understand why his leadership came before his family.

That matters to me, because a child at that age is old enough to understand rejection, unfairness, and absence. He may not have understood every political reason behind his exile, but he could understand that his people did not want him. He could understand that his father did not protect him.

On a stormy night, Seymour and his mother were sent away in secret with a handful of guards. Maester Jyscal was not there to see them off. Seymour’s mother looked back toward Guadosalam, hoping he would come, while young Seymour was clutched to her chest.

That absence says so much to me. Jyscal was not there when they sailed away. No wonder Seymour hated him. A child can understand when something is not fair, and Seymour had to leave his home without even seeing his father stand beside him.

When Seymour was ten years old, he travelled to the Zanarkand Ruins together with his mother. There, she became the fayth for his Final Aeon. But Seymour did not want to accept his Final Aeon. He did not want power.

After that, Seymour returned to Baaj Temple, where he lived in isolation.

Isolation for a ten-year-old child is heartbreaking. And it lasted for years. I always wonder if anyone ever visited him. A Guado soldier, perhaps? Anyone? Or was he completely alone with questions like: where is my father? Did he forget me?

And on top of that, Seymour had just lost his mother. Yunalesca had told him that death was a release from pain. I cannot help but think that this became one of the first roots of his broken idea of salvation.

When examining Seymour’s psychology, I think his isolation at Baaj is one of the most important things to remember. Some people really underestimate what isolation can do to a person, especially to a child. Seymour was not simply sitting alone somewhere for a few days. He lost his home, his mother, his place among the Guado, and then he lived with that pain for years.

I am not trying to diagnose him. He is not lying on my therapy couch, and I am not writing a medical file. But because I have been interested in psychology for years, I cannot just skip over this part. Isolation can do terrible things to someone’s confidence, social skills, trust, and sense of reality.

To me, Baaj is not just a location in his backstory. It is the place where a lonely child was left with grief, rejection, and no healthy way to understand what had happened to him. Deep down, I think that little boy was still trapped there.

During Braska’s Calm, the internal discord among the Guado slowly subsided, and Seymour’s exile was revoked. He was eighteen years old when he returned to Guadosalam to assist his father as a priest.

It took far too long. That is what makes this part so sad to me. By the time Seymour returned, he was no longer just a lonely child. He had grown up with that wound.

At twenty-five years old, Seymour became the high priest of Macalania Temple at Mika’s nomination. At some point, he secretly returned to the Zanarkand Ruins to obtain Anima. He transported the fayth statue to Baaj Temple and sealed it there.

By then, Seymour was moving inside Spira’s endless religious circle. He did everything he could to belong, but I do not think he would ever speak easily about himself. The Guado keep their secrets very well, and Seymour learned to do the same.

A fortnight before the game begins, Seymour secretly murdered his father, Lord Jyscal. After that, he became the leader of the Guado and a Maester of Yevon.

This does not excuse what Seymour did. Murdering Jyscal was still his choice. But deep down, I think that little boy was still trapped in the ruins of Baaj.