Metia

Jill makes a wish upon the star, Metia, in Clive's presence.

Metia (メティア, Metia?) is a bright red star on the night sky of Valisthea in Final Fantasy XVI, appearing just below the realm's moon. According to folklore, Metia is a message-bearer to the moon. A custom is to wish upon the star to convey one's heartfelt desires to the heavens and beyond. Metia is also known as the "custrel", and the moon's attendant, carrying and equipping her armor in times of battle.

Story

12-year-old Jill Warrick lives as a ward in Rosalith Castle. Upon sensing a new war coming, she finds the 15-year-old Clive Rosfield gazing at the night sky, and makes a wish upon the star for his safety, though Clive thinks they are too old for this type of custom. When the two are reunited as adults, Jill ascribes Clive's survival to her childhood wish upon the star.

Night sky in the ending.

When Clive is about to depart to his final task as Mythos, Jill is found gazing at the sky, but she can no longer see the moon or the star due to the skies being obscured due to Primogenesis. She makes an allusion to the wish-making tradition regardless, implied again to be Clive's safe return. After Clive destroys the source of magic on Origin, the skies clear and he washes to shore and looks up at the night sky with Metia shining next to the moon. Jill and Torgal are at the hideout. Jill sees Metia flicker and dim and bursts into tears while Torgal howls.

Musical themes

"My Star" is Jill's theme and refers to Metia, as well as to Clive.

Behind the scenes

Allusions

Metia may be an allusion to another red celestial body that makes appearance in Final Fantasy XIV, Dalamud. Both games are made by the same development team, Creative Business Unit III. "Metia" could also have some correlation to "Meteion", a being made of dynamis rather than aether in Final Fantasy XIV that converts emotion into reality, something "a wish" could be defined as. It also calls to mind Meteor, a red celestial body in Final Fantasy VII.

"A wish upon a star" has been used as a theme in Final Fantasy before: with Rinoa Heartilly from Final Fantasy VIII. Though the wish itself is not vocalized, Rinoa points at a shooting star twice during the game, and her ultimate weapon is named Shooting Star while her ultimate Limit Break with her dog is called Wishing Star.

Satellite

Metia is always on the same spot on side of the moon on the night sky, behaving like a satellite orbiting the planet at the same speed as the moon, rather than a star. This could be artistic license from the part of the developers, or a hint that Metia is not really a star.

Wish-making and Jill

Wishing upon a star is a tradition in the real world, especially with children. The name "Metia" may be intended to sound similar to meteor, the real-life phenomenon behind "shooting stars".

Jill wishes upon the star for Clive's safe return when she is a child, and holds onto this wish throughout the game. In the final scene with her, she is looking at the now-cleared skies, and bursts into tears when the star dims. When the sun comes up, however, she smiles.

As the lyrics to "My Star" imply, Jill views Clive has her star. When the star dims, she cries, but when the day breaks, she looks up and smiles, perhaps remembering her comment to him earlier on how he always returns with the dawn. The lyrics to "My Star" include a line that even should the stars fade, their fire would burn inside the stargazer. Clive's fate is left ambiguous in the end.