A recap of...
Final Fantasy Xiii-3
Lightning is awoken from crystal stasis by the god Bhunivelze. As the world is set to end in thirteen days, Bhunivelze makes Lightning the Savior, a figure who will free the souls of humanity from emotional burdens and guide them to a new world that Bhunivelze will create. Lightning agrees to commit this task, on the condition that Bhunivelze ensure the rebirth of Serah's spirit. Hope acts as her guide from the Ark, which houses the rescued souls of humanity, having been reverted to his younger self to act as Bhunivelze's servant. As she journeys and performs her task, she encounters her former allies and adversaries, many of whom carry heavy emotional burdens. She is also followed about by Lumina, who both gives her advice and taunts her at regular intervals.
In Luxerion, Lightning investigates serial killings of women matching the description of the Savior; the culprits are the Children of Etro. During her journey, she is followed by Noel, who has become obsessed with a prophecy that he must kill Lightning to reunite with Yeul. The two briefly ally to rout the Children of Etro, then later do battle. Lightning uses Noel's rage to make him realize and accept his mistakes, lifting his burden. Lightning also meets Vanille in the Order's cathedral. Vanille shows Lightning a place within the cathedral where the souls of the dead have gathered. Vanille is being prepared for a ritual to take place on the final day that will apparently purify the souls, hoping to atone for past actions by doing so. In the Dead Dunes, Lightning encounters Fang and goes with her on a journey through the region's dungeons in search of a relic called the Holy Clavis. When they find it, Fang reveals that it is key to the ritual in Luxerion as it has the power to draw in the souls of the dead, and that the ritual will kill Vanille. Fang attempts to destroy the Holy Clavis, but the Order arrive and take it. On the eleventh day, the souls of the dead speak to Lightning through the visage of Cid Raines, a man Lightning encountered during XIII. He tells her that the Order has deceived Vanille into destroying the dead, so the living will forget their existence before their rebirth in the new world. Lightning decides to stop the ritual, though Cid warns her that she will be defying Bhunivelze's will.
In the Wildlands, Lightning rescues a wounded white chocobo called the "Angel of Valhalla" and nurses it back to health. The chocobo is revealed to be Odin, an Eidolon who acted as her ally. She encounters Sazh, whose son Dajh has fallen into a coma and become unwilling to wake because of his father's current state. Lightning retrieves the fragments of Dajh's soul, lifting Sazh's emotional burden and waking his son. Traveling to the ruins of Valhalla, Lightning encounters Caius and multiple versions of Yeul. After fighting with Caius, Lightning learns that he is bound to life by the Yeuls and cannot be saved. She also learns that it was Yeul's perpetual rebirth that caused the Chaos to seep into the mortal world, triggering the events of XIII-2. Encountering Mog as the leader of a moogle village, she helps him fend off attacking monsters. In Yusnaan, Lightning infiltrates Snow's palace and finds him preparing to enter a concentration of Chaos contained inside the palace. He plans to absorb the Chaos, transform into a Cie'th, and have Lightning kill him. Though he performs the act and they fight, Lightning manages to renew his hope of seeing Serah again, reverse his transformation and lift his burden. On Nova Chrysalia's final day, Hope reveals to Lightning that Bhunivelze used him to watch Lightning and that the deity will dispose of him now that his task is completed.
After Hope disappears, Lightning is transported to Luxerion and enters the cathedral, where Noel, Snow and Fang help her fight the Order to save Vanille. Lightning manages to convince her to free the souls of the dead. This act allows Lightning to find Serah's soul, kept safe inside Lumina, but Bhunivelze arrives using Hope as his host and captures everyone but Lightning. Transported to an otherworldly realm, Lightning meets Bhunivelze in person, and learns that he has been conditioning Lightning to replace Etro. After wounding the god in battle, she frees Hope and prepares to become the new Goddess and protect the new world by trapping herself and Bhunivelze in the Unseen Realm. An illusion of Serah then confronts Lightning, revealing Lumina as the physical manifestation of Lightning's suppressed vulnerabilities. Accepting Lumina as a part of herself, Lightning calls for aid. Hope, Snow, Noel, Vanille, Fang and the Eidolons answer her call, severing Bhunivelze's hold on the souls of humanity, including Sazh, Dajh, Mog, and Serah. The souls then unite and defeat Bhunivelze. In the aftermath, Caius and the multiple versions of Yeul remain in the Unseen Realm to protect the balance between worlds in Etro's stead. The final incarnation of Yeul, who wishes to live with Noel, is allowed to accompany Lightning and her friends. After the Eidolons and Mog depart for the Unseen Realm, Lightning, her allies, and the souls of humanity travel to a new world. In a post-credits scene, Lightning is seen going to reunite with one of her friends.
Lightning Returns is set after the events of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2. In XIII, Lightning is one of six people who are turned by a fal'Cie—one of a race created by the gods—into l'Cie, servants of the fal'Cie gifted with magical powers and a 'Focus'—an assigned task to be completed within a time limit; those that succeed in their Focus go into crystal stasis, while those that fail turn into monsters called Cie'th. The six were intended to cause the large, floating sphere named Cocoon to fall onto the world of Gran Pulse below, killing all the humans of Cocoon. At the finale of the game, two of the l'Cie transformed into a crystal pillar to support Cocoon, preventing the catastrophe. The remaining l'Cie were made human again by the Goddess Etro, the deity responsible for maintaining the balance between the mortal world and the Unseen Realm. In XIII-2, it is revealed that Etro's interference allowed Chaos, an energy trapped in the Unseen Realm, to escape and distort the timeline as written after the fall of Cocoon. Lightning was drawn to Valhalla, Etro's citadel, and decided to stay and act as her protector. Three years after Cocoon's fall, Lightning's sister Serah sets out to correct the timeline distortions and reunite with Lightning, while the people of Gran Pulse construct a new Cocoon, since the old one is destined to collapse. The protagonists unwittingly end up instigating the death of Etro, which allows Chaos to spill into the mortal world and bring an end to time itself. Serah also dies, causing Lightning to nearly lose hope. Reassured by her sister's spirit, Lightning chooses to enter crystal stasis to preserve her sister's memory and keep hope alive.
Lightning Returns is set five hundred years after the ending of XIII-2, during the final thirteen days of the world's existence. Because of the unleashing of Chaos, the world of Gran Pulse has been consumed, leaving only a set of islands called Nova Chrysalia. The new Cocoon, called "Bhunivelze" after the key deity of the XIII universe, acts as the world's moon. The Chaos has halted human aging and no new children are born due to Etro's death, causing the human population to stagnate and shrink. Over the intervening centuries, two opposing religions have formed and dominate the life of Nova Chrysalia's people: the Order of Salvation, that worships Bhunivelze, and the Children of Etro, a rebel cult who worship the Goddess. The world itself is divided into four regions, each dominated by a specific mood and environment. The city of Luxerion is a capital of worship whose people are loyal to the Order. The pleasure capital of Yusnaan is a city of revelry where people live in a constant state of celebration. The Dead Dunes is a desert area dominated by ruins. The Wildlands is an untamed area where the human city of Academia used to stand; it also houses the remains of Valhalla, the capital of Etro. Within the New Cocoon is the Ark, a zone where time is frozen.
In Luxerion, Lightning investigates serial killings of women matching the description of the Savior; the culprits are the Children of Etro. During her journey, she is followed by Noel, who has become obsessed with a prophecy that he must kill Lightning to reunite with Yeul. The two briefly ally to rout the Children of Etro, then later do battle. Lightning uses Noel's rage to make him realize and accept his mistakes, lifting his burden. Lightning also meets Vanille in the Order's cathedral. Vanille shows Lightning a place within the cathedral where the souls of the dead have gathered. Vanille is being prepared for a ritual to take place on the final day that will apparently purify the souls, hoping to atone for past actions by doing so. In the Dead Dunes, Lightning encounters Fang and goes with her on a journey through the region's dungeons in search of a relic called the Holy Clavis. When they find it, Fang reveals that it is key to the ritual in Luxerion as it has the power to draw in the souls of the dead, and that the ritual will kill Vanille. Fang attempts to destroy the Holy Clavis, but the Order arrive and take it. On the eleventh day, the souls of the dead speak to Lightning through the visage of Cid Raines, a man Lightning encountered during XIII. He tells her that the Order has deceived Vanille into destroying the dead, so the living will forget their existence before their rebirth in the new world. Lightning decides to stop the ritual, though Cid warns her that she will be defying Bhunivelze's will.
In the Wildlands, Lightning rescues a wounded white chocobo called the "Angel of Valhalla" and nurses it back to health. The chocobo is revealed to be Odin, an Eidolon who acted as her ally. She encounters Sazh, whose son Dajh has fallen into a coma and become unwilling to wake because of his father's current state. Lightning retrieves the fragments of Dajh's soul, lifting Sazh's emotional burden and waking his son. Traveling to the ruins of Valhalla, Lightning encounters Caius and multiple versions of Yeul. After fighting with Caius, Lightning learns that he is bound to life by the Yeuls and cannot be saved. She also learns that it was Yeul's perpetual rebirth that caused the Chaos to seep into the mortal world, triggering the events of XIII-2. Encountering Mog as the leader of a moogle village, she helps him fend off attacking monsters. In Yusnaan, Lightning infiltrates Snow's palace and finds him preparing to enter a concentration of Chaos contained inside the palace. He plans to absorb the Chaos, transform into a Cie'th, and have Lightning kill him. Though he performs the act and they fight, Lightning manages to renew his hope of seeing Serah again, reverse his transformation and lift his burden. On Nova Chrysalia's final day, Hope reveals to Lightning that Bhunivelze used him to watch Lightning and that the deity will dispose of him now that his task is completed.
After Hope disappears, Lightning is transported to Luxerion and enters the cathedral, where Noel, Snow and Fang help her fight the Order to save Vanille. Lightning manages to convince her to free the souls of the dead. This act allows Lightning to find Serah's soul, kept safe inside Lumina, but Bhunivelze arrives using Hope as his host and captures everyone but Lightning. Transported to an otherworldly realm, Lightning meets Bhunivelze in person, and learns that he has been conditioning Lightning to replace Etro. After wounding the god in battle, she frees Hope and prepares to become the new Goddess and protect the new world by trapping herself and Bhunivelze in the Unseen Realm. An illusion of Serah then confronts Lightning, revealing Lumina as the physical manifestation of Lightning's suppressed vulnerabilities. Accepting Lumina as a part of herself, Lightning calls for aid. Hope, Snow, Noel, Vanille, Fang and the Eidolons answer her call, severing Bhunivelze's hold on the souls of humanity, including Sazh, Dajh, Mog, and Serah. The souls then unite and defeat Bhunivelze. In the aftermath, Caius and the multiple versions of Yeul remain in the Unseen Realm to protect the balance between worlds in Etro's stead. The final incarnation of Yeul, who wishes to live with Noel, is allowed to accompany Lightning and her friends. After the Eidolons and Mog depart for the Unseen Realm, Lightning, her allies, and the souls of humanity travel to a new world. In a post-credits scene, Lightning is seen going to reunite with one of her friends.
Lightning Returns is set after the events of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2. In XIII, Lightning is one of six people who are turned by a fal'Cie—one of a race created by the gods—into l'Cie, servants of the fal'Cie gifted with magical powers and a 'Focus'—an assigned task to be completed within a time limit; those that succeed in their Focus go into crystal stasis, while those that fail turn into monsters called Cie'th. The six were intended to cause the large, floating sphere named Cocoon to fall onto the world of Gran Pulse below, killing all the humans of Cocoon. At the finale of the game, two of the l'Cie transformed into a crystal pillar to support Cocoon, preventing the catastrophe. The remaining l'Cie were made human again by the Goddess Etro, the deity responsible for maintaining the balance between the mortal world and the Unseen Realm. In XIII-2, it is revealed that Etro's interference allowed Chaos, an energy trapped in the Unseen Realm, to escape and distort the timeline as written after the fall of Cocoon. Lightning was drawn to Valhalla, Etro's citadel, and decided to stay and act as her protector. Three years after Cocoon's fall, Lightning's sister Serah sets out to correct the timeline distortions and reunite with Lightning, while the people of Gran Pulse construct a new Cocoon, since the old one is destined to collapse. The protagonists unwittingly end up instigating the death of Etro, which allows Chaos to spill into the mortal world and bring an end to time itself. Serah also dies, causing Lightning to nearly lose hope. Reassured by her sister's spirit, Lightning chooses to enter crystal stasis to preserve her sister's memory and keep hope alive.
Lightning Returns is set five hundred years after the ending of XIII-2, during the final thirteen days of the world's existence. Because of the unleashing of Chaos, the world of Gran Pulse has been consumed, leaving only a set of islands called Nova Chrysalia. The new Cocoon, called "Bhunivelze" after the key deity of the XIII universe, acts as the world's moon. The Chaos has halted human aging and no new children are born due to Etro's death, causing the human population to stagnate and shrink. Over the intervening centuries, two opposing religions have formed and dominate the life of Nova Chrysalia's people: the Order of Salvation, that worships Bhunivelze, and the Children of Etro, a rebel cult who worship the Goddess. The world itself is divided into four regions, each dominated by a specific mood and environment. The city of Luxerion is a capital of worship whose people are loyal to the Order. The pleasure capital of Yusnaan is a city of revelry where people live in a constant state of celebration. The Dead Dunes is a desert area dominated by ruins. The Wildlands is an untamed area where the human city of Academia used to stand; it also houses the remains of Valhalla, the capital of Etro. Within the New Cocoon is the Ark, a zone where time is frozen.
