>>717817449
I believe that the point the story is trying to make is absolutely true, relevant to today, and in perfect agreement with my ethical intuitions. I don't think XIII is first and foremost a story of fighting fate and finding a purpose. This is a story of how human condition of abandonment causes the sufferer to further sever ties with others and the world at large, and how to stop this regression.

In the story, all parties to the conflict try to return to those who abandoned them or/and cope with the tragedies of the death of loved ones. The tragedy of Fal'Cie is that they are ready to completely sever ties with the world and their brothers in order to return to their father, while Lightning and company find the strength to reunite with each other. This is the reason why at the beginning of the story they punch each other in the face and argue, only to eventually make peace and become a family. When I say that the Fal'Cie sever ties with their brothers, by brothers I mean humans.

Perhaps the key symbol of XIII is the Crystal Pillar. At the end of the story Etro participated in the creation of Crystal Pillar by causing a stream of water from Gran Pulse to flow, which, when reacted with Ragnarok and crystal dust from Oerba, crystallized. Basically what happened at the end is that she caught on the fly her literal children. This echoes the core motif of the game of the abandoned ones finding a new family. Etro also was forsaken by Bhunivelze and her mother, but in the finale was given the opportunity to “embrace” her children one last time and reunite with her family.
>As for Etro, however, there was nothing she could do.
>Lonely Etro thought of the one who looked just like her: Mother.
>Etro injured herself, shedding her own blood, and vanished.
Ultimately the Crystal Pillar symbolizes a mother cradling her children. This is the ultimate, key symbol of Final Fantasy XIII as a story. Perfect representation of the core thematic idea of the tale.