Since there have always been a lot of confusion regarding the content and quantity of CG Cutscenes created for Ultima IX, and how they related to each plot, I thought it would be useful to describe and analyze a bit all the FMVs we know of.

FMVs created for the Bob White Plot

These are the videos created for the original plot. Some of them were (completely or partially) reused in the final plot, sometime for the same purpose, sometime for a different one.

Introduction

This is the original introduction of the game, with the first part showing the Avatar’s arrival on Britannia and his encounter with the dragon, and the second half showing a conversation between Blackthorn and the Guardian before showing the stained glass title.

This introduction was kept as it is in the final plot since it fit as well – the only difference being that it was shown after a tutorial on earth instead of actually opening the game.

Sending 1 (Pyros)

This was to be the first sending of the game, with the Guardian showing to Lord British a vision of the Avatar summoning Pyros and unleashing it upon him. It showed British standing on a balcony overlooking a dark forest where the Avatar was doing his evil ritual. The untouched video was used in multiple trailers for Ultima IX over the years.

This video was reused in the final game with the Avatar having to summon Pyros in order to enter the Abyss (note however that the concept of summoning a daemon to enter the Abyss was present in the del Castillo plot, but done by Lord British and without Pyros). The video was modified to remove all traces of Lord British and his castle, and only showcases the Avatar summoning the Titan before being enveloped in weird tendrils that drag him underground (an element which was in all likelihood added to fit the final plot).

Sending 2 (Raven/Branding)

This second sending showcased Lord British seeing the Avatar being branded as a member of the Guild by Raven.

The final game reuses the video for this purpose but it appears very late in the game (while it was rather early in the original plot) and the branding aspect feels secondary to the fact that this video focuses on the romance aspect of the Avatar/Raven relationship, ending with them kissing and suggesting they spend an intimate night together. The kiss was most likely added for this revision of the plot, because while there was some Avatar/Raven romance in the original plot, it would most likely have been too early at this point of the game. I likewise wonder if the dress that Raven wears (which also conveniently shows a lot of cleavage) was
not added later on as well.

(Note that there is no mention of the branding in the del Castillo summary, perhaps it was cut or perhaps the video would have been used in a similar manner as in the final game since the romance supposedly had a stronger focus. No way to be sure at this point.)

Sending 3 (Prison)

This third sending was to show the Avatar being imprisoned in Dungeon Wrong (or in the case of Bob White’s final revision one of two unrelated dungeons) to Lord British.

What seems to be the original version of this video was featured in the Ultima Collection trailer for Ultima IX. It showed the Avatar being thrown into the cell by a Wyrmguard, with a skull rolling revealing Lord British sitting there and looking at him. While at the time it gave the impression of Lord British being imprisoned with the Avatar… no plot revisions ever mentions anything like this so this was most likely a “virtual” Lord British witnessing the event. There is some sort of discrepancy in a way since one have to wonder why seeing the Avatar being thrown in a cell by a Wyrmguard would instill doubt into Lord British. (I theorize that an earlier variation might have had a Britannian guard instead… but nothing points at this).

This video was reused in the final game as well, except that Lord British had been removed from the equation, since this was no longer a sending. Having a Wyrmguard imprison the Avatar is actually consistent with the events of the plot… except when you get back in game you cell has a metal grate instead of a wooden door. An obvious level design mistake here.
Sending 4 (Armies at the Shrine of Justice)

This video was the final sending “proving” to Lord British that the Avatar had betrayed him for good and planned to overthrown him with an army. It featured the armies of Amoranth and Verona at the Shrine of Justice, with the armies’ leaders (the son and daughter of Corigan) swearing fealty to the Avatar.

While this video was not reused in the final game and indeed cut altogether, it was later salvaged partially to serve as the introduction of Ultima Online Renaissance.

Note about the sendings: in addition to events presented from the Guardian’s twisted sending these video also featured Lord British and the Guardian to some degree. There are three aspects that were showcased in multiple trailers:

• A close up of the Guardian’s eyes.
• A scene of the Guardian’s eyes in shadows over twin flames (possibly related to the shot mentioned above) which fades into the Mirror of Darkness, zooming into it until it reveals Lord British’s bedroom and the king awakening, troubled. (I believe this part was shown in one of the Ultima Collection interview videos).
• A scene of a semi comatose Lord British sitting on his throne with tendrils (similar to those that take the Avatar in the final game’s Pyros video) surrounding him. Note that this scene was reused in Ultima Online Renaissance intro as well and showed Lord British being enveloped by the tendrils and dragged through the Throne Room’s ground (Not sure if this was how it was to proceed in the original video, or if it merely reused the idea of the final Pyros video).

It is however uncertain as to which sending these specific shots and scenes were to be related. I would assume the Bedroom’s scene to relate to the first one… but we really can’t say for sure unless we find someday the full videos or detailed storyboards.

Ending 1: Exodus

This was to be the first part of the ending, showcasing Skara Brae launching from Britannia and travelling through space in search of the New Britannia.

Obviously: it was never showcased in any trailers and not reused either in the final game so we can only imagine what it must look like.

Ending 2: Armageddon

This is the second part of the ending, showcasing the casting of the spell, the destruction of Britannia, the remaining people on the surface being killed and the Avatar and Lord British looking over the ruined land while talking.

The full video was leaked over at Aiera a few months ago.

This video was first showcased in the E3 98 trailer – which seemed crazy for a while, but not so much considering the Ed del Castillo plot had changed the ending and only planned to use this as some sort of vision when destroying the mirror of Darkness (an aspect that was kept in the final game).

The final game used this video in three occasions: when the Avatar destroys the mirror’s in Lord British’s room, as a “bad end game” if the Avatar gives the lenses to Blackthorn in Shame, and as a vision shown to Lazlo the Gypsy King of what would happen if he refused to help the Avatar. The Armageddon video was mostly kept intact, except it cut the part of Lord British casting the spell on Stonegate and obviously the final conversation between Lord British and the Avatar.

Note about the endings: Comparisons between the Bob White summary from 1999 and his final revision tend to suggest the ending had some variations over time, with the Armageddon part shown before or after the Skara Brae bit. The full leaked ending also show Lord British and the Avatar alive and well after the Armageddon while the summary said they would both be dying in the process, leading to the Avatar ascending. Likewise the Avatar is said to cast the spell in the summary (because Lord British is too weak), while the FMV obviously shows Lord British casting it. Hard to say if there was more to this, or alternate version of the FMVs.

Other possible videos

The disc found by Joe Garritty of the Origin museum appeared to contain all the FMVs of Ultima IX, alas most are corrupted except for this original full ending and not exploitable. However it showed three other video files called “meteorite”, “ring of fire” and “teleport” –- hard to say if they were FMVs or not, although I would tend to think these might have been gameplay videos showcasing some spell effects, since these are all spells available in the final game.

Over the years there were also shots leaked/distributed of what appears to be other FMVs: notably a shot of Britannia from space, a shot of a Stonehenge-like location, a shot of a small Pyros walking on a Pentagram. It’s possible these were just concept arts however and never were meant to be part of the game’s plot or FMVs.

Note however that from both the Bob White summary and the final revision presented recently, the FMVs listed above appears to be the only ones that were to exist in the original plot. On the other hand, Bob White did mention recently in a comment explaining the status of the game when the team shifted to UO that there was around 13 FMVs or so… If that is the case, hard to say were these others cutscenes might have fit in light of the plot documents.

Since a female Avatar was planned, we should also wonder if versions of these videos with a female Avatar were ever conceived (indeed this would explain the 13 FMVs comment by Bob White). I will also say that the ending videos also broke my belief that voicing the Avatar only came with the final game – which brings to question what quantity of speech was planned for the game.

FMVs created for the Final Plot

There are the videos which were in all likelyhood created for the final Mendelsohn/Garriott revision of the plot. One point to note is that they were outsourced at a different studio that those created for the 1997 variation and you can actually notice a discrepancy concerning the look of the Avatar which can very much help to see which FMVs were created for which plot: the Avatar of these later videos looks a tad more chubby than the original, and the ankh on his chest is of a lighter yellow.

Column

The opening flick of Ultima IX which shows a Column raising from the ground and squashing a poor peasant -– and is reveled to be a dream the Avatar has on Earth.

This was most likely added as the new introduction when it was decided to begin the game with a tutorial on Earth to ease new players into the game rather that beginning straight where Ultima VIII left of. As far as I can remember, this decision was made for the final revamp, and there is indeed no mention of this in the del Castillo document.

One point of note: the Ultima IX demo had the stained glass title appears at the end of the video instead of the Intro movie.

Ambush

The video where the Avatar is captured as he exits Despise and Raven saves the day –- gauging out one Blackthorn’s eye in the process.

While this FMV echoes a similar event between Slaine and Raven in the original plot, nothing hints at this being a video back then.

Maelstrom

The video showcasing the Avatar descending in a whirlpool to Ambrosia through the Shrine of Humility.

While the aspect of using a whirlpool to Ambrosia appeared at various point in both the development of the Bob White and del Castillo revisions, again nothing hints at a FMVs back then (nevermind the fact that this was done with Shamino in del Castillo’s version). The chubby Avatar is also telling.

Samhayne

The scene were the Avatar is captured by Blackthorn at Samhayne’s.

The whole Blackthorn/Codex subplot being an addition of the final plot – there is no doubt about this scene being crafted for it.

Skara Brae

The destruction of Skara Brae shown through the Mirror of Darkness.

The zoom in on the Mirror actually appears to be salvaged from the Lord British’s bedroom sequences, except that instead of seeing the bedroom we see the destruction of Skara Brae. While the wave feels consistent with the Armageddon flick, there is obviously no such scene in it – and of course Skara Brae was not rebuilt in the original plot and the Sentinel did not
exist either.

Moongate

Lord British realigning the Moons to allows the Avatar to get to the Shrine of Spirituality.

Again there is no doubt this was done by the final plot. This plot element didn’t exist before, Lord British appears bulky, the Avatar chubby… and of course it has the same purple moongates than the game features.

Good End Game

The ending where the Avatar and the Guardian merge together, causing the Ascension of the Avatar, the destruction of the Columns and the appearance of the Ankh Constellation in the sky.

While the ending is somewhat similar to the del Castillo one, the beginning doesn’t fit as this version didn’t had the whole Sigil aspect to it. The rather poor rendering quality also suggest this was a rush job done late into development.

So this is it about the FMVs of Ultima IX and this will hopefully help clearing the misconception that the final game’s plot was crafted solely to salvage awkwardly the FMVs from the original plot. Let us hope that the rest of them will surface some day, and hopefully in HQ.