IKAI OKURI THE SENDING OF THE DEAD "How many died today? People die, and Yuna dances. When will she
stop dancing? When will it stop? Yuna won't stop dancing -- not
until Sin is gone."
Ikai okuri, or the sending, is the only way to prevent the souls of the dead from haunting the living. This is one of the duties of a summoner, to perform the sending and guide those souls to the Farplane. We first see Yuna performing the Sending at Kilika, as the sun goes down on the aftermath of Sin's destruction. It is evident that the young summoner has never performed this rite in an occasion of actual death, despite the practiced grace with which she moves. I've always felt that this scene is one of the most powerful ones in terms of Yuna's true character. She feels for the people, feels their pain, and any death that they suffer is a death that she suffers as well. Yuna is on the same wavelength with the people of Spira, and consequently she is on the same wavelength of their suffering. As she sends the dead for the first time, the weight of her role in this world is starkly visible. Every single time Yuna must dance the ikai okuri, it is yet another instance where she has failed in easing that grief.
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