Final Fantasy Art & Music

I think Ultimecia at the very end was a creature utterly defeated mind, body, and soul. Squall had killed her, fate had bested her, society had been right to condemn her after all, she had failed to safe herself and defy fate.

I would argue that it's fate/destiny more than time. Cid founded Garden/SeeD because it was his destiny to. Ultimecia targeted Squall and SeeD because it was fate that Squall would kill her. The orphanage gang reunites to fight their matron because of the will of the "faeries". Laguna and Juila's true love couldn't be realized so their children inherited it because the romance was destined to happen. The theme of fate/destiny is so strong in VIII it permeates every aspect of the story, from the main party to the villain to even the main romance.

But I wanna touch more on Ultimecia. Her story is the most tragic and twisted by fate. While she masquerades as Edea, she gives a speech to the people of Deling City where a lot of her backstory and motivation can be assumed.

"How you celebrate my ascension with such joy. Hailing the very one whom you have condemned for generations. Have you no shame? What happened to the evil, ruthless sorceress from your fantasies? The cold-blooded tyrant that slaughtered countless men and destroyed many nations? Where is she now? She stands before your very eyes to become your new ruler."

The people of Squall's time know of Ultimecia's existence. They know that eventually an evil sorceress will rise to enslave the world and threaten all of time itself. Every sorceress a generation or two after Rinoa (or even immediately after her) was probably persecuted and treated like the potential destroyer of the world. Fate has condemned Ultimecia before she even gets a chance to live her life (while it is ultimately her fault, a child Ultimecia shouldn't be held responsible for her actions as an adult.)

In any event, Ultimecia becomes the villain she was destined to be, and tries to defy her fate of her inevitable defeat by the legendary SeeD by taking control of time. She succeeds briefly, but her manipulations of the timeline gave Squall the means and motivation to defeat her. She's unable to stop Squall no matter how hard she tries because it's his destiny to kill her and fate always wins.

I think Ultimecia's final message was her lamenting and regretting her actions. I imagine once she established herself as Ultimecia, she tunnel visioned on her goal to defy fate and conquer time. It's very likely she missed out on some major things in her life because of her obsession with preventing her fate. I think it's a word of advice to Squall. Something akin to "You bested me, but please hear me out and don't repeat my mistakes."

I don't think her following Squall to the Orphanage was malicious. I think she ended up there because as Time Compression unraveled, she could only focus on Squall, the legendary SeeD she had been so obsessed with stopping. I don't think her line of being unable to disappear meant she was gunning for the children, I think she simply didn't want to suffer whatever fate falls on sorceresses who don't give up their powers before death. I think Ultimecia at the very end was a creature utterly defeated mind, body, and soul. Squall had killed her, fate had bested her, society had been right to condemn her after all, she had failed to safe herself and defy fate. If the game had been made with modern graphics, I imagine she would be weeping during this scene rather than angry. It's probably one of the reasons why Edea is so quick to dismiss her hostility and accept her powers, granting her a peaceful death.

If Square does in fact remake VIII after VII like they've been hinting at, I really hope they go more in detail about Ultimecia. There's a lot of story there that could use some fleshing out.