Consider this a rebuttal.

by Wisdom 

After reading the editorial dealing with my favorite Final Fantasy character÷ever÷I have to say that I was largely disappointed at the viewpoint taken. The stance taken fails to give any adequate reasoning to justify the far-fetched idea, and strives to draw tangents where the foundation for a connection is lacking. It is not enough to say that Cecil is a paladin only to the effect that he is a champion or knight. That is not a paladin; that is a champion or knight. A paladin is something more: as her own definition stated, the paladin is an exemplar of all that is good. Furthermore, a paladin is not both Light and Dark: what the editorial truly fails to recognize is Cecilâs balance. Although the author recognizes that a balance is struck, she never realizes the effect the Dark must have on Cecil before he is ready to become the Light÷and he does become the Light. And finally, the editorial completely misinterprets the relationship between Cecil and Golbez÷it has nothing to do with the Light and the Dark. In fact, the only part the editorial actually addresses to my satisfaction is the prophecy. When it speaks of Light and Dark, yes, it is implying Cecil.

Far be it from me to make claims without providing substantial evidence, so let's start with what a paladin is. In case, by the large overdose of a few mind-altering substances, one failed to notice the religious and holy imagery surrounding the post of the paladin in Final Fantasy IV, (They say "Holy Warrior" around 50 billion times.), a paladin has always had religious connotation attached to it. A sworn protector of the king? Oh no, the king's not holy at all. We don't consider him God's messenger on Earth. He's the tool of the devil. His protectors--they're just foot soldiers. Nothing special.

But the misinterpretation, while grievous, doesn't stop there. She goes on to say that Cecil is a "a defender of the people, using his might to take from the people what he thought would hurt them." Not at all. The picture that is painted for us in the introduction to Final Fantasy IV is that Cecil does not want to take things away from the people; he is questioning his king's motives and the actions he is forced to undergo. This man is obviously honorable and noble at heart, and the situation he is subjugated into for his king and his country is one he resents. He would not have questioned his king's orders, and thus been ousted from Baron, had he been willing to use Dark means÷after all, Cecil never opted to use the Dark Blade in the first place. He was ordered to, and he accepted it as a necessary evil, not a useful one. It's because he's not using this power to defend the people, but instead terrorize them, that he questions his majesty's authority. (Look at the man. He's a walking black tank with spikes. Somehow he doesn't radiate an aura of benevolence needed to be a "protector.")

So from the beginning of this epic we can tell that Cecil is ill suited to his role as a Dark Knight. He's not an evil man, and although Raincrystal states that he is good at heart even when using the Dark Blade, itâs obvious that he does not think so. When he reaches Mysidia and is branded as a walking devil, (Certainly my way of saying "Thank you for protecting us!"), Cecil resolves to purify himself. He has recognized a much greater evil, (Golbez÷big dude who kills lots of people), and is made fully aware that the Dark Blade is corrupting him and is useless against his large, black adversary. Obviously, the purification won't be easy: Cecil damn well knows he's committed atrocities and that he can't just drop the act. He needs to be redeemed, hence the journey to Mt. Ordeals. And to make a quick note, the entire village of Mysidia regards the mountain, and the quest to become a paladin, as astoundingly holy. (More proof that a paladin is holy. Holy, holy holy. H-O-L-Y.) They send him there to die. They're rather shocked when he doesn't. And when he receives the Legend blade, i.e. "holiest sword to ever exist," (So damn holy you can't even throw the thing away until you re-forge it... is anyone noticing a pattern?), he starts doing ungodly amounts of damage to undead enemies. Two things do ungodly amounts of damage to undead things: fire, and (guess) holy stuff! Iâll leave it to the reader to guess as to which they think the Legend sword falls under.

But the important thing about the redemption--and I have to admit that for all of the argument's flaws it does mention this÷is that he does not attempt to destroy the evil inside of him. He knows it's there, and he doesn't want to eliminate it, because it is that evil that allows him to be redeemed in the first place. In fact, the proper way to proceed in the combat against Cecil's darker half, during the trial at Mt. Ordeals, is to not attack him. After three turns, the illusion fades away: by proving that he is more concerned with truly being Light than destroying all Darkness, Cecil earns the rank of paladin÷once again, a holy warrior. (That word keeps coming up.)

Now concerning Cecil's actions during the later half of the game, and how "his heart never changes," it's completely self-explanatory. Light and Dark DO mean good and evil in this case, because they are derived from those roots in this game. It's not like the Dark Knights of Baron pass out food to homeless children: they're thugs and Cecil realizes this! Of course his heart doesn't change÷he's been a paladin in thought all along, and that's why he's allowed to realize it in body. He does not undergo a massive change in Mt. Ordeals÷it is his subtle realization of forgiveness and reconciliation that changes him, and that's it. He never tries to overcompensate for his new path, because in reality it's been his path all along. It's just official now.

As for overcompensating for his goodness, that's just insane. He doesn't call Golbez brother because the man went on a frickin' killing spree. Yeah, I don't know about anyone else, but if I'm cornering some psycho responsible for the complete annihilation of four or five cities and he just sort "comes to," you can bet the first words out of my mouth are not going to be "Wow, that's a relief! Welcome back, bro!" Cecil is, rather justifiably, shocked to learn that Golbez was being brainwashed and not really responsible for those murders. (After all, Golbez was one bad mofo. Whatever controlled him has to be a much, much badder mofo.) And to add insult to injury, Cecil learns that he's related to this monstrosity of a man! Not even distant cousins, but brothers÷twins! Cecil doesn't maintain a shocked silence because Golbez is dark and paladins just can't have dark friends. (Kain, anyone? Yeah, he's not exactly John the Baptist.) Heâs hit with the incredibly disarming knowledge that he is directly related to a serial killer. I think the man is entitled to some hesitation.

The second Cecil picked up the Legend at Mt. Ordeals, he learned to harmonize the forces within him. That was the first half of the game, people: Cecil coming to grips with himself. He's the only permanent character you have in that section of the plot for a reason. As the story progresses, and he realizes his destiny, then you see others flocking to him: hence the battle for the world begins. When Golbez turns away, to sleep in the Core, Cecil calls him brother because the shock has worn off. They've now fought side-by-side, and Golbez risked his life to amend the wrongs he'd previously committed. Cecil is now able to accept who his brother is and embrace Golbez as such. In a way, the battle against Zeromus is Golbez's Mt. Ordeals, because it's then that he willingly sacrifices his own power to help Cecil save the world. But that's up to interpretation.

Cecil is the foundation for the more psychologically complex characters to occur later in the Final Fantasy series, such as Squall and Cloud, who have their own struggles to face. But Cecil's struggle is unique in that it involves reconciliation, and not mastery, in the other cases, or as Raincrystal would have us believe. She is right to note that he is secure in accepting the Dark in him, but not because he's able to call Golbez brother, but because he accepted evil when he took up the Legend. He became a hero for it.