Sin & The Spiral of Death
An installment in the "The Real Story of Spira" chapter of Ultimania Omega. This contains two sections titled "Sin" and "Spiral."
Sin
(Compare to Pmog’s translation of this section in SUG, which they note does contain minor errors. It may also contain canonical information not present here.)
The True Nature of Sin
Sin is generally considered a type of fiend, but its true form is a combination of armor and weapons worn by Yu Yevon to perpetually perform a summoning. The core of Sin is the Final Aeon that defeated the previous Sin (with the exception of the first). Yu Yevon lives inside it, using gravity magic to attract and compress pyreflies from the atmosphere at high density, forming its massive body.
Sin has a tendency to collect parts of its shed body — known as Sin Scales. This is because it's more efficient for it to repair its body by incorporating condensed pyreflies as Scales rather than absorbing new pyreflies floating around.
(Pyreflies of those who pass away without being sent to the Farplane are often absorbed by Sin along with their thoughts. This is why Sin is called a collection of departed souls.)
The Purpose of Sin
The purpose of Sin is to keep Yu Yevon alive inside it and ensure the continuous summoning of Dream Zanarkand for eternity. To prevent anyone from hindering this process, Sin possesses immense power.
When it detects machina or large gatherings of people, Sin moves to the location and destroys them. This is not to destroy Spira. It does not harbor hatred towards people or machina, nor does it punish people for their sins involving machina, despite popular belief in Spira. It operates out of a defensive instinct to eliminate anything that might interfere with the actions of Yu Yevon and to protect its safety. When people gather and civilizations develop to a level comparable to that of the time of the Machina War, they may produce enough power to harm Yu Yevon. Sin attacks cities that have grown to a certain point for this reason.
Sin is in a state of over-defense, so to speak, and its destructive actions are carried out autonomously regardless of the will of Yu Yevon within. Furthermore, the will of those absorbed by Sin or those who became its core is not reflected in actions other than its destructive ones. However, sometimes when Sin appears before Tidus and company, there are often moments when it seems to act of its own will. This might be because its core, Jecht (or more precisely, Braska's Final Aeon), is not fully assimilated into Sin yet, and because Jecht was originally part of the dream that Yu Yevon wanted to keep alive.
The Final Summoning and Sin
Because the power controlled by Yu Yevon is so immensely strong, even if Sin is injured, it quickly absorbs pyreflies and repairs itself. The difference between the Final Summoning and normal attacks lies in whether the gravitational power of Yu Yevon can be severed or not.
Only the Final Summoning can temporarily sever the gravitational power of Yu Yevon, breaking the bonds between the pyreflies that make up Sin, and disintegrating/dispersing Sin. However, once Yu Yevon is exposed, it directs its power towards the Final Aeon. As a result, the Final Aeon is drawn in as a unit of pyreflies and is possessed by Yu Yevon, tuning into a new Sin. In other words, Sin is replaced each time it is defeated by a Final Aeon (in the story, Tidus and others fight the sixth generation).
Since the new Sin is composed of pyreflies of the Final Aeon, it is very weak. Moreover, Yu Yevon has lost a lot of strength. Therefore, the new Sin hides, absorbing pyreflies over several months to several years, in order to rebuild its body and gather power. This “charging period” for Sin is what the people of Spira call "The Calm.”
The Relationship Between the Dream World and Sin
Sin is the only physical being who can freely travel between Spira and Dream Zanarkand. Tidus and Auron were able to travel from where they originated only through Sin.
For Yu Yevon, Dream Zanarkand is a homeland it wants to preserve forever. Therefore, whenever it feels nostalgic, it visits the dream world along through Sin. Additionally, Dream Zanarkand seems to have a healing effect on Sin's body, which is why Sin sometimes goes there. In either case, Sin lurks in the deep sea of Dream Zanarkand and does not show itself there.
(In a screenshot, a Crusader says, "The previous Sin swam in the sea of Zanarkand. Maybe the dream world healed Sin." The caption reads: "The Sin that brought Jecht to Spira seemed have visited Dream Zanarkand to heal its body.")
—The Sin that brought Jecht to Spira—
Jecht, whose daily routine included diving into the sea of Dream Zanarkand for blitzball training, had seen the fifth generation Sin visiting the sea there several times during his practice. This Sin had come relatively close to the coast in the shallow waters of Dream Zanarkand's sea.
Jecht had wanted to touch it someday, repeatedly dived deep into the sea in attempts to approach Sin. Then, one day ten years ago, he finally achieved it. As a result, he was swallowed by Sin and became the first citizen of Dream Zanarkand to visit Spira.
—The Sin that brought Tidus to Spira—
The sixth generation Sin, whose core is Jecht, appeared before Tidus in Dream Zanarkand. This Sin did not visit the dream world out of Yu Yevon’s nostalgia or for healing purposes. It was because the Jecht within Sin wanted to come and retrieve Tidus.
Normally, Sin should have remained in the sea, but it appeared in the urban area at Jecht's will. The large-scale destruction that occurred in the dream world at that time was due to Sin's instinct to "destroy everything around it" at work.
Sin’s Toxin and Tidus
The densely packed pyreflies that make up the body of Sin affect the pyreflies inside the bodies of those who get close to it. This is the actual phenomenon of "being affected by Sin’s toxin."
When exposed to the toxin - that is, when touching the pyreflies that make up Sin - many people experience abnormalities in their memory and mental state, and their physical condition worsens, but only a very limited number of people can touch the information within the pyreflies that make up Sin and comprehend it, albeit in fragments. Tidus is one of those few individuals.
Tidus can approach Sin without suffering any physical abnormalities and sees countless visions. Often, these visions are the mental landscapes of Jecht, who became Sin, or the figures of the deceased absorbed by Sin. This is because Tidus has a connection with Jecht, who is the core of Sin, and because his body's composition is different from regular people.
Moreover, what Tidus sees when affected by the toxin takes on clear forms, even though they are illusions. This could be because Jecht within Sin intentionally shows him these images. By revealing his feelings or suffering as Sin, he may have been pleading to his son to "defeat him."
—Scenes where Tidus is affected by the toxin:—
Encounters Sin in Dream Zanarkand → [Transported] [“Poisoned”] → Wakes up in the ruins in the sea
Encounters Sin on the salvage ship → [Transported] → Wakes up near Besaid Island
Pursues Sin after the Mi'ihen Operation → [“Poisoned”] → Wakes up on the Djose Coast
Swallowed by Sin at the bottom of Lake Macalania → [Transported] [“Poisoned”] → Wakes up in the oasis of the Sanubia Desert
(In a screenshot showing several blitzballs in Dream Zanarkand, the subtitles read, “Tidus: That’s not your world anymore. You’re Sin now.”* The caption reads: “Tidus, affected by the toxin, will now see fragments of Jecht's heart within Sin through his hazy consciousness.”)
*BA: Japanese Version: “It's impossible, you're Sin after all.”(ティーダ:「もう ムリだってあんた『シン』なんだろ)
Spiral
The Nature of the Spiral of Death
"Sin" produces the dead, the dead become fiends, and fiends produce more dead. To stop this cycle, summoners challenge Sin, guardians die to protect the summoners, and the summoners themselves die after defeating Sin. And then, the defeated Sin revives and produces more dead... The "Spiral of Death" refers to such a futile situation in Spira.
It all began 1,000 years ago when Yu Yevon summoned Dream Zanarkand, and Sin was born. As long as Sin exists—that is, as long as Yu Yevon, the root of all this evil, is not defeated—this spiral cannot be broken.
(There is a screenshot of Auron and Tidus imprisoned in Bevelle. The subtitles read: "Auron: It is a cycle of death, spiraling endlessly." A caption reads: "The fact that people rely on the Final Summoning, which requires the lives of summoners and their guardians, is a perfect symbol of Spira being trapped in a spiral of death.")
The Merits and Demerits of Yevon Temple
In a sense, the Yevon Temple is complicit in the continuation of the Spiral of Death. By spreading the idea that "the Final Summoning will bring The Calm," they instill hope in the people for the Calm. However, this results in the deaths of summoners and guardians, one after another. The teaching that "Sin will disappear if sins are atoned" does not actually provide a solution to eliminate "Sin." Yet, the temple hides the fact that their teachings do not offer a resolution and suppresses any attempts that do not align with their doctrines. Originally, this was meant for the sake of Spira.
Leaders like Maester Mika do not fear the destruction caused by Sin. What they fear is that people will despair and lose the will to live, thinking "Sin cannot be defeated." Believing that despair would lead to Spira's demise and resigning themselves to the idea that Sin cannot be truly defeated, they give people false hope through their teachings, and as a result, they continue the Spiral of Death.
Giving peace of mind is a significant achievement of the Temple. The problem lies in the fact that, in their effort to avoid the worst-case scenario of "Spira's destruction," they forgot about improving the current situation and eventually shifted their goal to maintaining the status quo (= maintaining the Spiral of Death).
(There is a screenshot of Maester Mika addressing the party. The subtitles read: “Mika: Spira has lost its only hope. Destruction is inevitable.” A caption reads: “Many were possessed with power and greed, but at least Mika was solidifying the foundations of the Temple for Spira’s sake.”)
The Two Spirals Created by Yu Yevon
Yu Yevon, in his attempt to escape into a dream, inadvertently created two worlds. One is Dream Zanarkand, a fiction that recreates happy memories while excluding the pain of reality. The other is the current state of Spira, a world suffering from an endless tragedy, yet moving towards no solution, thus existing in a stable Spiral of Death. These two eternal spirals—one of eternally happy dreaming and one of endless suffering—cannot exist without each other.
Though these two worlds appear to be polar opposites at first glance, they share many similarities. Both resist change and believe maintaining the status quo is for the best. Dream Zanarkand, whose very existence is not allowed to change, is also caught in a kind of spiral. And as long as the people of Spira rely on convenient ideologies and halt critical thinking, it too exists as a sort of "lukewarm world."
Breaking the Spira’s Spiral of Death means that it must break out of its stagnation. The time of transformation might be when people experience true suffering.