Alexandria Castle

Alexandria Castle is a location in Final Fantasy IX. The castle is situated within the city of Alexandria and is the most prominent landmark of the area. It is the home of the royal family.

The castle is surrounded by a deep water moat and is reached from the town by a gondola. Alexandria Castle is an expansive palace containing kitchens, libraries, and a special balcony from which royalty observe performances such as I Want to be Your Canary. Rising from its center is a gargantuan crystalline sword. Compared to the modern machinery and engine-driven transport available in Lindblum, Alexandria's style is of medieval decorations, replete with spiral staircases and lofty stone towers. The castle is also connected to the ocean by a little underground waterway where boats can come in.

The castle has a vast dungeon, containing many old defense mechanisms, such as a hidden passage and revolving platforms. The deepest room of the catacombs contains links to both an ancient ritualistic room and a connection to Gargan Roo.

Story
Tantalus Theater Troupe comes to Alexandria to perform I Want to be Your Canary for Princess Garnet's sixteenth birthday. As the princess and the queen, Brahne, watch the play from the castle balcony, two members of Tantalus, Blank and Zidane, sneak into the castle in the aftermath of a sword fight that is part of the play. The two plan to kidnap the princess as per orders from Regent Cid Fabool IX of Lindblum, who wants to ask Garnet about her mother's recent and strange behavior.

Unbeknownst to them, Garnet plans to escape to Lindblum herself and puts her plan to motion to sneak aboard Tantalus's Theater Ship. She runs into Blank and Zidane in the castle hallway and runs off. Adelbert Steiner, the captain of the royal guard called the Knights of Pluto, pursues Blank and Zidane to "save" the princess from them. When Garnet is caught by Zidane, she asks him to kidnap her, a request he gladly accepts. They escape the castle on the Prima Vista but crash into the Evil Forest. They accidentally take both Steiner and the young black mage Vivi with them.

Later on, Garnet decides to come back to the castle to speak with her mother, after finding out that Alexandria is producing black mage soldiers in Dali. Brahne orders Garnet detained and Zorn and Thorn to extract her eidolons, while Steiner and Marcus, who accompanied Garnet's return to the castle, are thrown in the dungeon. Steiner and Marcus escape and go their separate ways—Marcus leaves for the Evil Forest, while Steiner meets up with Zidane, Freya, and Vivi, who have come to rescue Garnet.

They make their way to the castle dungeons where they find Garnet in deep sleep from a spell, her eidolons having been extracted by Zorn and Thorn. Zidane takes a soporose Garnet with him, and the party begins to escape the castle but run into General Beatrix who fights and defeats them. Upon seeing Garnet's condition, Beatrix realizes the extent of the queen's insanity and vows to protect the princess and wakes Garnet from her sleeping spell. Garnet, Zidane, and Vivi escape the castle via a hidden underground passage known as Gargan Roo, while Beatrix, Steiner, and Freya stay behind to secure this getaway.

Queen Brahne uses the eidolons she extracted from Garnet to attack the other nations on the Mist Continent and then travels to the Outer Continent where she is struck down by Kuja and Bahamut. After Brahne's death, Garnet is crowned the new queen and once again takes residence in Alexandria Castle. While the others travel to Treno to take part in the Tetra Master card tournament, Alexandria is attacked by Kuja, who summons Bahamut on the city, while Garnet watches in horror from the castle balcony. After giving out orders to the Knights of Pluto, Garnet is left alone in the castle and hears the summoner's call from the eidolon Alexander.

Not knowing what it is, Garnet follows the voice to the top of the castle where she is joined by Eiko Carol, a young summoner girl who joined the party on the Outer Continent. They join hands and summon Alexander, which emerges and shields the castle in angel wings, then proceeds to destroy Bahamut. Garland arrives on the Invincible and destroys Alexander, shattering the crystal sword in the center of Alexandria Castle and leaving the building in ruins.

Reconstruction work begins straight away, and by the end of the game when Tantalus returns to Alexandria to perform I Want to be Your Canary, the castle appears to have been restored to its former glory.

Guardhouse
The guardhouse is the dressing room for the Knights of Pluto. A poster on the wall lists each knight's proficiency; memorizing the list comes to use when giving the knights their battle orders in disc 3. In disc 1, the room has a moogle to save the player's game.

Throne
The throne is located on a balcony overlooking the city of Alexandria. At the beginning of the game, Queen Brahne and Princess Garnet watch Tantalus' performance from this balcony. The player can obtain an item here from the Queen in the beginning of the game if they speak to her as Steiner. Later, in disc 2, this is also where Lani and Amarant present themselves to the queen.

Princess Garnet's Room
Princess Garnet's room is found within the castle. She is seen preparing herself before appearing in public numerous times in the game, and at the end, Beatrix laments her future here.

Queen Brahne's Chambers
In disc 2, Garnet is brought to her mother's room in order to confront her. Kuja is there waiting for her and puts her to sleep with a spell. When the party arrives at Alexandria to rescue the princess, they go through the secret passage located behind the fireplace. The passage leads directly underground, to the castle's dungeon.

Staircase
This spiral staircase connects the Queen's chambers to the underground dungeon beneath the castle. After saving Garnet, in disc 2, the party (with Beatrix) must fight Bandersnatches and Black Mages on their way down.

Chapel
The underground chapel has an extraction circle on the floor, which can be used as a place to extract eidolons from a summoner. This is likely a relic from the time the summoners' tribe used to inhabit Alexandria. Behind the raised dais in the chapel is a mosaic with what appears to be one blue and one red triangle encapsulated by a circle. The triangular shape is the same design as the Gulug Stone; the color scheme and the circle it is inside implies the design either represents Gaia and Terra or their respective moons.

Dungeon
The castle dungeon is located underneath the castle. It houses numerous cells and a single cell hanging from the ceiling. Steiner and Marcus are imprisoned here but manage to escape.

Kitchen
The castle kitchen is occupied by many chefs including Quina Quen; s/he can be found working in the kitchen both in the beginning and at the end of the game.

Library
The castle library holds one of the most ancient collections of books in the world, including an original Lord Avon script for I Want to be Your Canary. When she was young, Princess Garnet was schooled here by Doctor Tot. One of the books in the library is cursed, and summons the optional boss Tantarian.

Courtyard
This is where visitors arriving from the town come to the castle, by crossing the water moat with a gondola operated by a castle guard. The Knights of Pluto patrol the courtyard. At the entrance to the Castle proper, there is an emblem on the floor that is not seen anywhere else that has a sword surrounded by two pairs of angelic wings, alluding to the failed summoning of Alexander five hundred years ago by the Summoners who originally settled there.

Neptune
The West Tower holds the floating statue of Neptune that can be used as an elevator to enter the port beneath it, by draining the water from the "well" it floats on. The Stellazzio coin Leo can be found in this room.

Port
The port located under the castle has ships come in from the sea. The way to the castle is by an elevator.

Treasure
Disc 1=
 * The Queen gives one of the following items if spoken to as Steiner, item received depends on the score player attained in the sword fighting minigame:
 * Ether (possible prize)
 * Elixir (possible prize)
 * Silk Shirt (possible prize)
 * Moonstone (possible prize)
 * ??? Gil (possible prize)
 * Eixir (round up all Pluto Knights as Steiner)
 * -|Disc 2=
 * Ice Brand
 * Tent
 * -|Disc 3=
 * Opal
 * Topaz
 * Amethyst
 * Phoenix Pinion
 * Ether
 * Lapis Lazuli
 * Stellazzio Coin Leo (right wall near Neptune Statue, at underground harbor)
 * When Garnet is giving orders to the Knights of Pluto, depending on the accuracy of orders, one of the following is received:
 * Angel Earrings (if orders are correct)
 * Ether (possible prize)
 * Hi-Potion (possible prize)
 * Elixir (possible prize)
 * -|Key Items=
 * Desert Star
 * Falcon Claw

Mognet
If the player attempted the skipping mini-game with Vivi at the beginning in Alexandria, and skipped at least 50 times, when the player meets Mosh (while controlling Steiner) in Alexandria Castle, he will have received the following letter from Kupo:


 * * The number is based upon the player's highest record in the minigame. Kupo's record is always the third of Vivi's.

Obtaining an item from the queen
(Disc 1)
 * Ether
 * Elixir
 * Silk Shirt
 * Moonstone
 * ??? Gil

Only one of the above can be obtained. To get the Moonstone, Zidane and Blank must impress 100 Nobles during the sword fight scene. The gil varies depending on how well the fight went.

Rounding up the Knights of Pluto
Early in the game, during the performance of I Want To Be Your Canary, the player has the option to find all the Knights of Pluto as Steiner. Locating them all and reporting to Breireicht in the left tower will earn an Elixir.


 * Blutzen, Pluto Knight II - The first super sleuth, was ambushed by Blank and Zidane, and his armor was stolen.
 * Kohel, Pluto Knight III - The second super sleuth, was ambushed by Blank and Zidane, and his armor was stolen.
 * Laudo, Pluto Knight IV - The Writer, found in the library.
 * Dojebon, Pluto Knight V - The Artilleryman, a bit of a klutz, he runs straight into Steiner at one point.
 * Breireicht, Pluto Knight VI - The knight who is exercising in the left tower, he knows all the knights and what they do best.
 * Weimar, Pluto Knight VII - The knight who knows the names of all the girls in town. He also appears as a boss with Haagen and Steiner.
 * Haagen, Pluto Knight VIII - The Navigator, found dipping his feet in the canal in the courtyard. He also appears as a boss with Weimar and Steiner.
 * Mullenkedheim, Pluto Knight IX - The Cannonball expert, found hungry in the banquet hall.
 * Unnamed Ninth Pluto Knight (Blank) - Found near the right-hand gate.

Saving Garnet within the time limit
In disc 2, Zidane, Vivi and Freya must save Garnet from the dungeon of Alexandria Castle within a 30 minute time limit. There will be several Alexandrian soldiers in most screens and the only way to avoid a battle is to outrun them. If time runs out before the player reaches Garnet, it will be Game Over.

The starting point is the East Tower and the next screen is the courtyard. From the courtyard, the player should go north to enter the castle and, once inside, go up the central stairs and then run south towards the screen. This brings the player to the familiar central hallway of the castle. From there, the player should take the stairs on the left and enter the northern door. For the next area, all the player has to do is go north, avoiding the female soldiers if time is an issue. This leads to Queen Brahne's Chambers.

The player should examine the strange purple light coming from a candle at the back of the room. Doing so will reveal the secret passage behind the fireplace. Now that the player is already inside the dungeon, they simply have to make their way down the spiral staircase until they reach a circular area. Garnet will be inside the northern room (the Chapel) but the player still has to fight Zorn and Thorn before the countdown stops so it's advisable to make sure one reaches this area with at least five minutes to spare for the battle. After defeating them, approaching Garnet will stop the countdown.

Tantarian


Tantarian is an optional boss found in Alexandria Castle's library by examining a book on a top shelf, but there are only two chances to fight it: during disc 2 when the party is rescuing Garnet, and on disc 3 when the party arrives to save Garnet and Eiko. If the player misses out on these two opportunities, Tantarian cannot be encountered again.

Stellazzio Coin
One Stellazzio coin is found in the castle; Leo, by the right wall near the Neptune Statue, at the underground harbor. The player gets there by going through the side door of the west tower of Alexandria Castle.

Giving orders to the Knights of Pluto
When Bahamut attacks Alexandria on disc 3 Garnet gives orders to the Knights of Pluto. If the player assigns all the jobs correctly, they will receive Angel Earrings. Otherwise the reward is just either an Ether, Hi-Potion or Elixir.


 * Weimar and Haagen are more suited for the Protect the Townspeople task.
 * Breireicht and Laudo should be the ones for the Contact Lindblum task.
 * Blutzen and Kohel are the simple choices for the Gather Information task.
 * Mullenkedheim and Dojebon have the skills needed for the Fire the cannons task.

Disc 2 (Garnet's Rescue)

 * Soldier x2
 * Soldier x3
 * Bandersnatch
 * Bandersnatch x2
 * Bandersnatch, Type C x2
 * Type C x3
 * Type C, Type B x2
 * Zorn and Thorn (Boss)
 * Beatrix (Boss)
 * Tantarian (Boss)
 * Tantarian can also be fought in disc 3.

Musical themes
Alexandria Castle does not have a musical theme of its own; however, when controlling Zidane in his search for Princess Garnet in the beginning of the game, the song "Find the Princess" plays in the background. Later, when Steiner searches for her, the background song is "Steiner's Theme".

During Zidane's rescue of Garnet on disc 2 and the escape from the castle on Disc 3, the musical theme played in the castle is "City Under Siege", also known as, "Ambush Attack".

Trivia

 * Alexandria Castle looks similar to Castle Cornelia from the original Final Fantasy, especially in Dissidia Final Fantasy.
 * For reasons that have not been forthcoming, Alexandria Castle's basement contains two hallmarks of otherwise Terran architecture; the "triforce" symbol similar to the Gulug Stone that has become known as the symbol of Terra itself in the underground chapel and eye motifs in the Spiral Staircase. Both the floor of the battle background and the brickwork contain designs which look decidedly ocular. Other such instances of Terran structures featuring eyes are the underside of the Invincible, the name Oeilvert and the control panel of the lift inside Pandemonium as well as the majority of the pipe-like walls of Pandemonium.

Burgstadt Alexandria