Is she evil or something? I beat the game and my suspicions are left unanswered. But there seems to be some implications that she is secretly evil. Like, when you get all the graviton cores and leave Academia 4XX, there's a weird lingering scene where she smirks as you leave and Mog acts perplexed by it. Hope also says she leaves without telling him and goes on secret trips to do something that she says nothing about. Also there was a sidequest late in the game where an Academy scientist says he got pushed into a paradox and Noel and Serah are suspicious of this only to never have it be answered.

I haven't gotten any of the paradox endings yet, so maybe those will answer it? Or maybe it will be in the Sazh DLC which will explain why Alyssa isn't there in 500AF? I really hated Alyssa so I hope she's evil and that we get to kill her.

yeah the paradox ending in Academia 4XX answers it, which I didn't pick up at all so it sort of confused me, but it was cool nonetheless. I really don't get alyssa's place in the game though

When you go into the gate she "conveniently" found the crystal for there is a little monologue where she says she is basically fucking you over because the timeline you want to fix involves her dying in the purge, which she doesn't want. This isn't the paradox ending or anything, either, its part of the main story. If you want to see it again really fast just rewind Academia 4XX, skip all the cutscenes until the one where you leave and you can hear her say it.

Yeah, what Zenaxzd said. Also, at the very beginning of the game, there is this scene with her when you find the cemetery in Bresha Ruins, where she tells you about her "dream" where her name is actually engraved on the tomb. So it's not just a dream but a remnant memory of her actual death in the original past.

Yeah I figured that was her tossing that big cog at Serah and Noel, but it is weird for them to not address it directly and give her betrayal a proper reveal. But yeah, maybe she will serve as an antagonist in Sazh's DLC? Who knows.

@Zenaxzd said:

@MiniPato: They totally do, though. I mean she openly says what her plan is and why she is doing it. What more could you ask for really?

A cutscene that lays out and fully explains her motivations. Considering that FFXIII-2 likes to repeat known facts over and over again, they could address the Alyssa situation like they do with the rogue AI falcie thing. A disembodied voice that may or may not be Alyssa ( I wasn't sure when I first watched it) does not really clarify things for me in-game. Unless I'm missing a cutscene where the characters confront Alyssa about her shady behavior. Cause that cog thing just happens and neither Noel nor Serah address it going, "Was that Alyssa? Why would she do that?"

Edit: Apparently there is a paradox ending involving Alyssa maybe trying to merc Serah, so I'mma go for that.

I didn't say it didn't make sense. I said I wish they would compile all this in some meaningful cutscene or something that directly addresses it, which the paradox ending does!

But before the paradox ending I was unsure because I didn't know how exactly Alyssa could manipulate the Historia Crux before. Making it to the end of the game without them addressing it made me think it was some other version of Yuel since she is the most likely female candidate that would be able to pull that off. Without the paradox ending I'd still say Alyssa's allegiance and motivations are unclear.

@MiniPato:

Without the paradox ending I'd still say Alyssa's allegiance and motivations are unclear.

Yes and no. For keen observers there is a huge hint as to why she does it at the very beginning of the game. There is this scene with her when you find the cemetery in Bresha Ruins, where she tells you about her "dream" where her name is actually engraved on the tomb. So it's not just a dream but a remnant memory of her actual death in the original past. Therefore you can conclude she died in the original past once the player is told changing the future means changing the past. The cemetery scene is quite long and too "in your face" not to have any meaning.

 Without the paradox ending I'd still say Alyssa's allegiance and motivations are unclear.

@Zenaxzd said:

@MiniPato said:

Without the paradox ending I'd still say Alyssa's allegiance and motivations are unclear.

I dunno, I can't buy that. I mean she clearly says the timeline you want to repair involves her not being in it. I mean seriously, the exact quote is: "I'm sorry. But in the new future you wish to build I no longer exist. Good-bye." What isn't clear here exactly? She straight up says all there is to say in that one sentence. She isn't a part of the future they are repairing and doesn't want it to happen. I literally can not think of a way it could be more clearly stated than outright telling them before they jumped into the time gate, which would sort of defeat her whole goal.

I wasn't sure if that was her saying it or not! We're running loops here! There was no clear or consistent precedent for her having the ability to fuck with the Historia Crux before that and not explaining that without the paradox ending coupled with not being sure if that was actually her speaking gave me doubt. I'm not saying they have to give away her motive before the act, but after the act at least addressing that double cross and how exactly she was able to do that, which the paradox ending addresses. In Hope's words in the pardox ending, "You can't just drop a bomb like that without any explanation."

I'm not saying FFXIII-2 is a piece of shit game, I just would have liked some real closure on that thread. But that was before discovering the paradox ending, with which I am now satisfied!