Orphan's Cradle

Orphan's Cradle (オーファンズ・クレイドル, Oofanzu Kureidoru), also known as "the Nascent Throne", is the final dungeon in Final Fantasy XIII. It is a world in a seemingly alternate dimension, accessible only by a cathedral-like room in the Sanctum building, which towers over the city of Eden called Edenhall. The fal'Cie Orphan sleeps within the Cradle. The fal'Cie Eden creates two portals inside the first chamber, one of which enables the party to return outside to Edenhall, and another leads to the Vallis Media on Gran Pulse. There is a third portal as well, but it is unable to be used until further into the Cradle.

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 of Eden flank the front and sides. They discover the Cavalry has turned into the Sacrifice Cie'th. Just as they walk in, the entire room collapses, revealing an entirely different dimension where floating platforms whiz past. The fal'Cie Eden makes her appearance in the form of three feminine figures - white, black, and gold - revealing warp zones for the party to go back to either the city of Eden or Gran Pulse, which Hope figures to be a "gift" from Barthandelus.

The party proceeds to face the challenges left by the fal'Cie Eden. They pursue the fal'Cie until they open the gate into the Narthex, where Barthandelus awaits. Here, Barthandelus provokes the party one final time - by crushing Serah and Dajh's crystallized form, before Lightning realizes they are just fal'Cie smoke and mirrors. The party defeats Barthandelus and he collapses into a pool, awakening Orphan. Orphan entices the party into giving in to hatred in order to summon Ragnarok and deliver its end.

Zones

 * The Tesseracts
 * The Narthex
 * The Narthex Throne

The Tesseracts

 * Sacrifice x 3
 * Sacrifice x 4
 * Aquila Velocycle
 * Megrim Thresher

Fal'Cie Eden (White)

 * Dagonite x 1
 * Dagonite x 2
 * Dagonite x 3
 * Sacrifice x 2
 * Sacrifice x 3
 * Aquila Velocycle x 1
 * Aquila Velocycle x 1
 * Megrim Thresher x 1
 * Sacrifice x 1, Aquila Velocycle x 1
 * Sacrifice x 1, Dagonite x 3
 * Sacrifice x 2, Dagonite x 2
 * Sacrifice x 2, Aquila Velocycle x 1
 * Aquila Velocycle x 1, Dagonite x 3
 * Dagonite x 3, Sanctum Templar x 1
 * Sacrifice x 1, Sanctum Templar x 1
 * Sacrifice x 2, Sanctum Templar x 1
 * Bandersnatch x 1, Jabberwocky x 1 (Boss)

Fal'Cie Eden (Black)

 * Immortal x 1, Centaurion Blade x 1
 * Aquila Velocycle x 2
 * Sacrifice x 2, Dagonite x 4
 * Megrim Thresher x 1, Sanctum Templar x 1
 * Sacrifice x 3, Dagonite x 3
 * Sacrifice x 2, Megrim Thresher x 1
 * Wladislaus (Boss)

Fal'Cie Eden (Gold)

 * Sanctum Templar x 1, Wladislaus x 1
 * Bandersnatch x 1, Jabberwocky x 1
 * Wladislaus x 1
 * Sanctum Templar x 3
 * Tiamat Eliminator (Boss)

The Narthex Throne

 * Barthandelus (Boss)
 * Orphan (Boss)
 * Orphan (Final Boss)

Music
The theme "The Cradle Will Fall" is the background track of all of Orphan's Cradle. Also, the event sequence that marks the finale of the game plays a succession of "Fighting Fate", "Born Anew", "Sinful Hope", "Fabula Nova Crystallis", "FINAL FANTASY XIII - Miracle", "Focus", and "Nascent Requiem".

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Orphan's Cradle's Tesseract default area appears as an arena for Dissidia 012. It seems that there are three banish traps on the stage. One is at the top of the stage, another at the bottom, and some on the vertical ends. In the Omega Version of the stage, extra supports appear throughout the map.

Trivia

 * Unusual for a final dungeon, the main body of the area is in fact one room, the Tesseracts, which reconfigures itself several times. A tesseract is the four-dimensional extension of a cube, sometimes known simply as a hypercube.
 * In one of the promotional artworks for Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning is shown to be sitting on one of the couches in The Narthex. The party and Serah are also seen in The Narthex on the cover of the Final Fantasy XIII Scenario Ultimania.
 * Strangely, Sanctum enemies can be found in the area, that have not yet been turned Cie'th. They also work together with the Sacrifices when provoked.
 * The Final Fantasy XIII Ultimania Omega reveals that the females statues found in the Narthex are statues of Lindzei. The Lindzei statue resembles that of the Cocoon fal'Cie's symbol, which they also use to brand their l'Cie.