As a fan of Final Fantasy, part of the fun in checking the lists of Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy cards is seeing how my favorite games and characters have been adapted to the language and mechanics of the first TCG I played in my life. I had many questions, especially about the Final Fantasy 14 cards. Is Tataru going to help me generate infinite mana? How many Loporrits tokens can I put on the field? Something I definitely did not expect to see was one of the saddest moments in Final Fantasy 14 being represented in this collection.
The event in question is centered around Papalymo Totolymo. He was a noble Lalafell, one of the founding members of the Scions of Seventh Dawn, and a wise thaumaturge. He made a name for himself during A Realm Reborn as the more mature member of the group and a diligent pupil of Louisoix Leveilleur.
It is in one of the last important events of Heavensward, the first expansion for Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, that the name Papalymo was carved into our memories.
[Ed. note: This article contains spoilers for FF14: Heavensward.]
In order to stop a man called Griffin from attacking Baelsar’s Wall, Papalymo, alongside Yda, Alphinaud and the Warrior of Light (us), do their job and run toward the imminent danger to save the day. What they find is pure chaos, a “massacre” in Yda’s words. The conflict reaches its climax when Griffin dies to summon a primal – Final Fantasy 14’s equivalent to the series’ famous summons, which are god-like creatures powerful enough to destroy the world.
By this point, I wasn’t considering anything too serious would happen. I was the Warrior of Light — the savior of Eorzea. But not this time. Even I could not stop the primal. So, in order to prevent this creature from bringing destruction to the world, Papalymo sacrificed himself to cast the same spell his master, Louisoix, used to trap Bahamut at the end of Final Fantasy 14 1.0.
I don’t even know where to start in explaining how emotional this moment felt for me. It is the first time the Warrior of Light isn’t capable of solving things. We see in Papalymo’s last words – “Now let us see how good a student I truly was” – his desire to fulfill his role and honor his friends and master. We even have a dramatic version of A Realm Reborn’s theme song “Answers” playing in the background, but only the lyrics, almost like a prayer.
Now, when bringing the Final Fantasy 14 universe to the Magic: The Gathering cards, the team behind the project didn’t forget my favorite Scion. Papalymo Totolymo is coming to MTG as a multicolor legendary Dwarf Wizard. The art on the card directly depicts the moment he raises Tupsimati, his master’s staff, to conjure the spell that takes his life.
This is not, however, the only reference to his noble sacrifice. Papalymo’s card has an ability that reads: “Pay 4, Tap, Sacrifice Papalymo Totolymo: Each opponent who lost life this turn sacrifices a creature with the greatest power among creatures they control.” In other words, we can relive that tragic event on the top of Baelsar’s Wall whenever we play this card. Although he will enter the field to die, Papalymo is going to live in the MTG cards.
