Father & Son

Nothing is more central to Jecht's story than his relationship to and with Tidus, the son who he left behind in Spira. All through the story, we see Tidus's perception of his father as a selfish, drunkard, hasbeen sports player who never really cared about his juxtaposed by the flashes of Jecht's more tendr nature: scenes where he tells his wife to go to their son, others where he becomes choked with emotion at the thought of never seeing his son again. For both father and son, this confused relationship is a major force in their actions, personalities and fates.

[Good or bad father?]
Jecht was not, in my opinion, a good father. However, he was not necessarily a bad or uncaring father. Aptly put, Jecht was an awkward father, one who had no real concept of how to express his love in a positive way. Like many manly men with sons, he chose to bond by trying to toughen his kid up for the world, the whole "teach him how to be a man" business. At other times, the words just seem to come out wrong, such as in the scene where Jecht tells Tidus that no one but he can perform the Jecht Shot. I never thought that this was necessarily supposed to be a bad-intentioned statement but that Jecht was trying to keep Tidus from becoming discouraged that he wasn't able to do such a tricky shot at seven years old.

[Good or bad son?]
The most obvious reason that Tidus hates his father -- other than the aforementioned comments -- is that he ultimately blames his father for his mother's death. Also, he's always been secretly jealous of his father; this was made obvious in the flashbacks of his mother ignoring him when Jecht was around. One of the biggest problems with Tidus's perception and feelings for his father is that he was only seven years old when Jecht disappeared. Perhaps given the time and maturity to do so, he and Jecht might have worked out their problems. However, seventeen-year-old Tidus is stuck with a seven-year-old's perception of his relationship with his father. Because of this, he never really tries to understand his father or his father's motives. Tidus may have been a good son, had he been given the chance to develop past his own childish emotions.

[Reality]
Simple facts: Jecht did love his son. Tidus did care for his father, if only as the memory of someone he'd once loved and someone who admittedly did courageous things while he was Braska's guard. Jecht's last thoughts before becoming the fayth are of Tidus and the son cries as his father dies in his arms. The last shot of them together points to their resolved relationship --- partners who exchange a high-five at a job well done. Jecht was right when he believed that Tidus could break the spiral and it was possible for him to do so because of what Jecht had accomplished in the past.

[Sinspawn]
All throughout the game, many people remark on the Sin's habit to come back to retrieve its spawn -- in this case, the monsters which come from its armored skin when it attacks. The Crusaders are always diligent in trying to destroy sinspawn in order to stop that from happening. Then, to ensure Sin's prescence at Operation Mi'ihen, the Crusaders capture, transport and position a number of sinspawn to lure the monster to Mushroom Rock. Basically -- Sin always comes after its progeny. When Jecht being Sin and Tidus being his son -- literally, the spawn of Sin -- it puts an interesting spin on the situation. Just as it is the monster's nature to come after his monstrous progeny, Jecht as Sin repeatedly returns to his own son. First, he goes into dream-Zanarkand to retrieve him; then, to the Al-Bhed ship. Next is Kilika and Operation Mi'ihen. All througout the game, Jecht/Sin seeks Tidus out, almost as if for once the mind of the monster and the mind of the man agree: Sin feels the pulls of its spawn and Jecht wants his son to kill him. Working together at cross-purposes, so to speak. With Jecht being Sin, Tidus is Sinspawn.

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