Orphan's Cradle, also known as the Nascent Throne, is the final dungeon in Final Fantasy XIII. It exists in an alternate dimension created by the fal'Cie Eden, accessible only by a cathedral-like room in the Sanctum building that towers over the city of Eden, called Edenhall (actually the fal'Cie Eden itself). Unusual for a final dungeon, the main body of the area is one room, the Tesseracts, which reconfigures itself several times.[note 1]
The Cradle is Orphan's resting place, the fal'Cie that powers Cocoon. The fal'Cie Eden's servants create two portals inside the first chamber, one of which enables the player party to return outside to Edenhall, and another leads to the Vallis Media on Gran Pulse. There is a third portal that leads to the Narthex , but it cannot be used until further into the Cradle.
Orphan's Cradle comprises the thirteenth chapter.
Datalog
This is the dimension created by the fal'Cie Eden at the command of Barthandelus. The very structure itself is the true form of the being that sits at the center of Cocoon, overseeing the endless functions that keep the floating city running.
The sea of data flowing through Eden has materialized as physical matter, forming a shell that shelter the sleeping Orphan in a space that hovers between reality and dream.
Story
The party walks into the heart of Edenhall where three statues flank the front and sides. They discover the Cavalry has turned into the Sacrifice Cie'th. As they walk in, the room collapses, revealing a different dimension where floating platforms whiz past.
Three feminine fal'Cie—white, black, and gold—reveal warp zones for the party to return to either the city of Eden or Gran Pulse, which Hope figures to be a "gift" from Barthandelus. As the party encounters more Cavalry members turned into Cie'th, Hope remarks it to be a part of Barthandelus's plan to get one of their party to become Ragnarok by making them feel guilt.
The party opens the gate into the Narthex where Barthandelus awaits. Barthandelus provokes the party by crushing Serah and Dajh's crystallized forms, but Lightning realizes they were but fal'Cie smoke and mirrors. The party defeats Barthandelus and he collapses into a pool, merging with and awakening Orphan.
Orphan entices the party into giving in to hatred to summon Ragnarok and deliver its end. Fang succumbs to its demands, and her friends try to stop her. Everyone but Fang and Vanille turn into Cie'th, who pile on Fang. She transforms into an incomplete Ragnarok, unable to defeat Orphan before reverting, and Orphan tortures her to have her become Ragnarok again. When Vanille defies the fal'Cie her friends turn back to normal, and Fang is released when their spells hit Orphan who sinks back into the pool. Deducing their transformation was another fal'Cie illusion, the reunited party decides to fight Orphan, who has shown its true colors as an enemy of Cocoon. Orphan's final form emerges from the pool, and as they vow to save Cocoon, the party's l'Cie brands burn out and turn white.
Orphan's Cradle vanishes as Orphan dies as the fal'Cie Eden—the entity in charge of projecting it—loses power. The party is left hovering midair above the city of Eden, as Cocoon falls from the sky.
Treasure
| Item | Location |
|---|---|
| Librascope | The Tesseracts |
| Cherub's Crown | The Tesseracts |
| Millerite | The Tesseracts |
| Seaking's Beard x20 | The Tesseracts |
| Supercharger x4 | The Tesseracts |
| Aegisol x2 | The Tesseracts |
| Gale Ring | The Tesseracts |
| Tear of Woe x9 | The Tesseracts |
| Shamanic Spear | The Tesseracts |
| Perfect Conductor x4 | The Tesseracts |
| Turboprop x5 | The Tesseracts |
| Particle Accelerator x2 | The Tesseracts |
| Uraninite | The Tesseracts |
| Tetradic Crown | The Tesseracts |
| Starblossom Seed x6 | The Tesseracts |
| Black Mycelium x8 | The Tesseracts |
| Rhodochrosite | The Tesseracts |
| Adamant Bangle | The Tesseracts |
| Weirding Glyph | The Tesseracts |
| Elixir | The Tesseracts |
| Scarletite | The Tesseracts |
| 3,000 gil | The Tesseracts |
| 5,000 gil | The Tesseracts |
| Ethersol | The Narthex |
Enemies
Sanctum enemies can be found in the area that have not yet been turned Cie'th who work together with the Sacrifices when provoked.
- The Tesseracts
After defeating Tiamat Eliminator only the first two encounters are available.
- Fal'Cie Eden (White)
- Dagonite
- Dagonite x2
- Dagonite x3
- Sacrifice x2
- Sacrifice x3
- Aquila Velocycle (two separate encounters)
- Megrim Thresher
- Sacrifice, Aquila Velocycle
- Sacrifice, Dagonite x3
- Sacrifice x2, Dagonite x2
- Sacrifice x2, Aquila Velocycle
- Aquila Velocycle, Dagonite x3
- Dagonite x3, Sanctum Templar
- Sacrifice, Sanctum Templar
- Sacrifice x2, Sanctum Templar
- Bandersnatch, Jabberwocky (Boss)
- Fal'Cie Eden (Violet)
- Immortal, Centaurion Blade
- Aquila Velocycle x2
- Sacrifice x2, Dagonite x4
- Megrim Thresher, Sanctum Templar
- Sacrifice x3, Dagonite x3
- Sacrifice x2, Megrim Thresher
- Wladislaus (Boss)
- Fal'Cie Eden (Gold)
- The Narthex Throne
Maps
Musical themes
The theme "The Cradle Will Fall" (終焉の揺籃, Shūen no Yōran?, lit. Cradle of Demise) is the background track of Orphan's Cradle. Its name alludes to the lullaby Rock-a-bye Baby. The event sequence that marks the game's finale plays a succession of "Fighting Fate", "Born Anew", "Sinful Hope", "Fabula Nova Crystallis", "FINAL FANTASY XIII - Miracles", "Focus", and "Nascent Requiem".
Other appearances
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Orphan's Cradle's Tesseract appears as an arena. It is a large, long arena, the central area consisting of a circular platform with two staircases and various archways and protrusions around a small circular platform in the middle. At one end is a series of rectangular platforms spaced evenly apart, while at the other end, there is a four-pronged platform with two ends arcing downwards.
Uniquely, the arena is ringed by a continuous banish trap that teleports characters to the central area—there are no walls or ceilings. The archways are destructible, and thus the only solid surface is the ground itself. In the stage's Ω version, other platforms of various design and size appear in the air. The stage is unusual in that the banish trap always resets fighters to the center of the stage, rather than the nearest solid platform.
The Fal'Cie Husk is the battlegen item obtained through stage destruction in Orphan's Cradle.
Story
Lightning, Vaan, Laguna, Yuna, Kain, and Tifa rest before making their final journey to the manikins' spawning area. They are ambushed by Golbez and Exdeath. Kain fights Exdeath alone, letting the others escape, and kills Exdeath before bidding farewell to Golbez, having assisted the warlock in his plans thus far, but choosing to help his comrades succeed in sealing the manikins rather than remain behind to live to the next cycle of the war.
In the 13th cycle of war, after Cosmos's demise, Ultimecia explains her goals of time compression to the Cloud of Darkness at the cradle, which involves compressing time and space to erase all from existence with exception of Ultimecia herself. These actions do not worry Cloud of Darkness, who sees the witch's actions with pure apathy.
Pictlogica Final Fantasy
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Orphan's Cradle appears as the BMS for "Blinded By Light", "Fighting Fate" and "Desperate Struggle".
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
Orphan's Cradle returns as the BMS for "Fighting Fate" and "Desparate Struggle".
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Behind the scenes
Seventh Ark was once considered to be a downloadable location, if DLC was to make an appearance in Final Fantasy XIII. It was intended to be accessed from a portal in Orphan's Cradle. It would have been where Lightning and her companions could have fought powerful enemies.[1]
There were once plans to have Orphan's Cradle crash in Oerba after the events of Final Fantasy XIII, as a concept art for it exists for Final Fantasy XIII-2.
In one of the promotional artworks for Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning sits on a floating couch in The Narthex 
. The party and Serah are also in The Narthex on the cover of the Final Fantasy XIII Scenario Ultimania 
. The Narthex is also glimpsed during Lightning's monologue with Yeul sitting on the bench 
, mirroring a key art released for Final Fantasy XIII with Lightning herself in this position. The promotional shots for Final Fantasy XIII: Reminiscence -tracer of memories- of the cast being interviewed also feature the white couch, as does the Ark in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega reveals the female statues in the Narthex are statues of Lindzei, the deity whose fal'Cie created Cocoon. The Lindzei statue resembles that of the Cocoon fal'Cie's symbol, which they also use to brand their l'Cie.
In the very first steps taken in Orphan's Cradle, it appears as a small, holy sanctuary with what appears to be sunlight passing through the windows. If the player decides to check the area map while it is in this state, it will have its own map background. A dark mist swirls around the large circular gateways at each end of Orphan's Cradle. Its appearance is like that of Chaos.
Gallery
- Artwork and key art
- Screenshots
Notes
Annotations
- ↑ A tesseract is the four-dimensional extension of a cube, sometimes known simply as a hypercube.
Citations
- ↑ Westbrook, Logan (2010, October 4). "Final Fantasy XIII Producer Wants a Sequel". From Escapist Mahazine. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021.