Of The Destruction of the Old World and the Death of Etro

Understand the lore behind the destruction of the old world and the death of Etro in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Learn how humanity and time were affected.

Hey there! So, you're diving into the lore of Lightning Returns, huh? Let's break down what went down with the old world and the goddess Etro. It's a pretty wild story that sets the stage for everything you'll experience.

Basically, the gods and the Fal’Cie had this messed-up plan. They wanted to bust open Etro’s Gate, which leads to Valhalla, by totally wrecking Cocoon and forcing all the humans to die. See, humans are made from Chaos, which is pretty much Etro's essence. They figured all those deaths would shatter the Gate, letting them waltz into Valhalla and live forever. Luckily, Lightning and her crew put a stop to that scheme, but the idea didn't just disappear.

Then there's Caius Ballad, who had his own agenda. He wanted to free Yuel from this horrible cycle of being reborn over and over. His grand plan? Kill Etro herself and mess up the whole timeline. If he succeeded, all the Chaos from Valhalla would flood into the living world, and time would just… stop. Pretty intense, right?

Now, enter Serah, Lightning's sister, who was blessed with the Eye of Etro. She was on a mission to find Lightning, who had gotten lost in Valhalla. With the help of Noel, a guy who literally comes from the end of time, she found out about Caius's crazy plan and decided she had to stop him. And guess what? They actually pulled it off and saved humanity from extinction!

But here's the kicker: by defeating Caius, who was basically carrying Etro's power (the Heart of Chaos), they accidentally killed the goddess herself. This unleashed all that Chaos into the world, merging the realms and making humans immortal – they stopped aging. They could still die from sickness or accidents, though. The really weird part? No new children were born after this, and all the souls that died just ended up wandering in Chaos forever because there was no longer a place for them to go. It's a pretty heavy consequence that shapes the world you'll be playing in.