FF VIII Theories Debunked

I don't know if there are any VIII fans around, but lately I've been feeling nostalgic, listening to the soundtrack, looking through old fanart, wishing like crap I didn't have actual responsibilities so I had the time to replay the game, etc., and I stumbled across this article from last year that addressed some Final Fantasy theories that have been around for years. The article interviews director/producer Yoshinori Kitase and addresses a few different games, but I thought the comments on VIII were the most interesting.

Two of the biggest fan theories I remember about VIII from back in the day were the Rinoa=Ultimecia theory and the "Squall is dead" theory, and Kitase squashes the hopes and dreams of fan theorists everywhere by confirming that those two theories are in fact bullshit. I thought the theories were fascinating but didn't think they would actually end up true because I didn't give the writers that much credit. I didn't think they'd ever actually confirm it one way or another, though, so I thought it was cool when I ran across the article.

Sharing because 1) maybe someone out there cares, who knows and 2) we need more threads. ^_^

Link to interview: https://kotaku.com/is-squall-really-dead-final-fantasy-producer-addresses-1800007113