An Apothecary Reflects on Castti's Story In Octopath Traveler 2
Here we talk about key story and plot details from Castti's story in Octopath Traveler 2.
Ever had life hit you so bad that you start questioning every damn thing you believe in and the very essence of what makes you “you”? I've been there, but I believe we all remain works-in-progress no matter how old we get. The apothecary story in Octopath Traveler 2, featuring the noble Castti Florence, is a case in point.
Out in the real world, I'm a pharmacist - the modern-day to the apothecary, and adhering to a similar code of ethics as Castti. Of all the great stories in Octopath Traveler 2, hers really stuck with me, challenging that code, shedding light on the many obstacles we pharmacists face in our daily work, and the need to redefine our values and rediscover ourselves in a world that constantly tries to sway us from what's truly important.
The story of Castti is a twisted tale of the Apothecaries of Eir and the tragedy that befalls them in their noble pursuit of healing. United under Castti’s mantra of "extending a helping hand to those in need," these healers traveled far and wide in pursuit of this lofty ideal, no matter how difficult–or fundamentally impossible–to achieve. Trousseau, a kind and compassionate apothecary among Eir's ranks, got this reality check when he failed to pull his sister back from the brink of a terminal illness.
Watching his sister slip away before his eyes plunged Trousseau into a dark and despairing state of mind known as Therapeutic Nihilism, a state we as healers swear an oath–The Hippocratic Oath–to avoid, as it represents a fundamental rejection of the very principles of our craft. As the name implies, it's a doctrine that views treating people as a futile exercise, because sometimes you just can't save everyone, and other times, some drugs can end up causing more pain than the ailment itself.
That said, this credo faded by the mid-20th century, thanks to advances in medicine and the discovery of antibiotics, and that's why I found the game's choice of a medieval setting to be fertile ground for discussing this theme. Finding a suitable cure back then was a daunting task, one that fueled Trousseau's despair and later drove him to mass murder everyone in the name of bringing true salvation.
Fortunately, Castti survived his onslaught, but at the cost of her memory and the lives of her companions, especially her friend Malaya who struggled until her last moments to send Castti to a safe place. That's how her journey in the game really begins, moving steadily toward regaining her memory and remembering exactly what happened to her and her friends.
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Having worked in a chemotherapy hospital for a while, I've experienced that cold and lonely mental place. I was also at my grandmother's bedside in her final days, which is an experience that threw me into a conflict similar to Trousseau's. I questioned the value of it all, wondering if my efforts as a medical professional to save lives were just an exercise in futility, or if death was a better respite for these suffering souls. I also wanted to forget the whole thing, just as Castti unconsciously did.
Strangely enough, all the patients I saw–even my grandmother–showed remarkable courage and serenity in their final moments, and Castti's experience was no different. At first, she seems to block out the tragedy of Eir’s apothecaries dying at Trousseau's hands from her memory, but through her interactions with the various patients in the story, she not only remembers the pain, but also learns from them how to overcome it.
Castti's friendship with the sickly mother Rosa in particular is what I would call a life-changing experience, as the latter refused to leave this world until her daughter was ready to take over the family estate and its responsibilities. As she helped the brave Rosa through her illness, Castti realized that people are driven not only by bitter memories and bad circumstances, but also by hope and love for the people they are leaving behind.
Her experiences also reveal a vexing contradiction, How can she reconcile her desire to help with her inability to save someone like Trousseau, whose mind has been consumed by madness? Can she truly reach out to those who have committed sins, or who are unwilling or unable to accept her help? What exactly gives people the right to have a hand extended to them? These are questions that Castti grapples with as she moves forward, ever vigilant and determined to make a difference for all those in need, as her creed states.
Castti's final encounter with Trousseau ultimately tests this resolve. As he questions the point of preserving a life filled with nothing but pain and regret, coupled with an inevitable ending, Castti stands undaunted and undeterred. In fact, she would have no qualms about killing him, as–in her words–it was the only way to extend a helping hand to those who still carried hope and the desire to live. This may sound a bit selective, and contradictory to her original mantra of saving everyone, but I felt it was more realistic than just extending a hand indiscriminately, not to mention how it redefined–and refined–Castti's motto about the true role of an apothecary.
What Castti realized through her experience is that a healer cannot preserve life, only prolong it, and that living or dying doesn’t define our self-worth; it’s what we do with the time we have that gives us value. Extending a helping hand to all those in need is meaningless without our patients' hope for a better tomorrow, and vice versa; seeing our patients use their extra time to find happiness and fulfillment is how we find meaning in our work.
Trousseau was a person who was dead while alive, because he lost the glimmer that invigorated his soul. Conversely, Castti’s friend Malaya remained alive even after death–literally, in the way she appears and speaks to her as an illusion despite her death..
The takeaway for me, as someone with a similar profession to Castti's, is to accept the inevitability of death and accept that we're not gods. Being healed-being alive-is a shared responsibility between the healer and the patient, and while there are many people who don't have the luxury of choosing their conditions-myself included-the story simply argues that true life is not bound by the physical realm.
Perhaps, by striving to preserve life and help others do the same, even apothecaries–like Castii–might one day decipher the significance of being alive, and give meaning to the lives of those who died prematurely.
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