and this is the part when you begin to truly pity kuja. he plays the part of the perfect antagonist with a megalomaniac complex, but garland brings him down with just a few words - garland, the only person who ever had the power to oppress kuja, and who kuja was constantly trying to both impress and overpower. kuja was always second-best to zidane, even without zidane at garland’s side, and did whatever he could to rebel - even at the cost of an entire world.

but even with his dying breath, garland manages to foil kuja’s plans and destroy kuja’s sense of worth. kuja laughs off garland at first, but his voice slowly changes to outrage… and finally he panics, until asking in a small, childlike voice, “i’m gonna die…?” 

kuja’s newfound sense of mortality really just hits home for me. it gives him more perspective about the brevity of life - something he clearly never contemplated, nor can he handle - and rounds his character out a bit more concretely for me.