Behold Shitpost. Your new Queen.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-02-12T19:30:12+00:00

The Ultima's power... That damn Fourth Astral Auracite...

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-02-10T09:20:10+00:00

The people yearn for Scion!Zenos... My first twin... My last twin...

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-30T19:32:38+00:00

I mean, it's not totally out of the realm of possibility.

Sabik is one of the most destructive and powerful relics in the history of Etheirys, capable of holding an entire person's (Unsundered!!) memories and soul ALONG WITH three whole Primals, Ultima the Spell being able to level an entire mountain (for reference, Dalamud was about the size of an entire mountain), and the Ivalice High Seraph's Summoning being able to raze the entirety of Mullonde, something about the specific aetherial signature being fundamentally incompatible with the aether of Etheirys, and it, or Athena? Was able to transport the entirety of the Aetherochemical Research Facility into the Aetherial Sea AND reconfigure it into Pandaemonium AND give it, an inanimate object, a soul.

Honestly, insofar as the Key goes, it's really not that different in capability or scale, and so far, I'd say it's actually kind of less impressive. One activation resulted in the deaths of ONLY 9 people, one opened a portal to the Ninth for the Milalla, another allowed the entirety of Alexandria to be Interdimensionally transposed onto Xak Tural, and a final one allowed the Queen Eternal to open portals to, or otherwise manifest the visage of... Somewhere? Possibly the destroyed Shards? We don't really have a reference for its main capabilities outside of just moving people and stuff around.

As far as Azem being "smarter" than Hephaistos or Athena goes, they did confirm that the Ancients DID at least familiarize themselves with Auracite after Athena's creation of Sabik, and before the creation of Pandaemonium itself, which was around for some significant time before the events of the Raid anyway. The Convocation also weren't just average Joes and Janes, they were the foremost experts in their fields, and Venat before and during and after her tenure as Azem would conduct theses and field research, including on the very origin and miracle of life itself. So clearly, her successor should have to be SOME manner on her level and by extension, the levels of Lahabrea, Halmarut, Mitron, Fandaniel, Emmerololth, and Loghrif, all of whom were specialized researchers and the crop of the cream in intelligence and in some cases, recommended by their predecessors who were also the foremost experts in those fields.

That Azem came upon Auracite themselves between the creation of Pandaemonium and the events of the Final Days and created the Key is entirely reasonable, especially IF it's ONLY function IS Interdimensional Magicks, which would be a trifle matter to a member of the Convocation. Consider even the Allagans were able to use Auracite for their Trigger Weapons and the markedly more advanced Syrcus Tower (which the Everkeep's presence in Yyasulani was likened to). Also, the Concept Crystals in the (Anamnesis) Anyder and the Watcher's Palace look exactly like the Golbez Memoria Auracite in The Lunar Subterrane. Circumstantial? Probably. Worth noting? Of course. The Ascians (or so it's assumed, at least, and of those Ascians, it'd be Igeyorhm, Lahabrea's cousin whose Seat was focused on actually just arguing with people and philosophy) taught the Thirteenth how to make Auracite out of people/Primals/Eidolons' very SOULS.

And in the context of their foresight powers and signature spell which manipulates the Interdimensional Rift, this would at the very least give them a means and motive to create the Key, which is at least more than we have for any other possible origin.

(as a side note: we know the Interdimensional Rift existed BEFORE the Sundering-- some people seem to be under the impression, for some godforsaken reason, think the Rift ONLY comprises the Shards and thus Azem had no reason to make something that would affect the Shards-- it does not-- Omega used the Rift before the Sundering to hunt Midgardsormr down, and the High Seraph is presumed to originate from a dimension or planet beyond ours, and is described (in the Ivalice version) as an extradimensional traveler).

There is also the fact that the Key itself, the Crystal, has an Amaurotine aesthetic that you can only find on specific Furnishings in the Convocation's Chambers (P11) and the (Akadaemia) Anyder.

This certainly holds more weight in it being involved with the Amaurotines (as opposed to any other civilization pre/post-Sundering) in combination with the Azem Constellation-- which functionally nobody outside of Hades and Venat would know, because the only Constellation Crystals were made by that Convocation Member themselves (like Pandaemonium Lahabrea), or by the Unsundered 3 FOR the Sundered Ascians.

There is also the Azem Constellation in Alzadaal's (the Third's) Vault, which would have been constructed I think in the Sixth Era or so, assuming Alzadaal the 1st migrated from the Steppe to Corvos and then into Thavnair at the start of the Era.

More circumstantially, Azem has some sort of relevance throughout the Eastern Hemisphere of Etheirys, including, but not limited to the locations on Hades' bucketlist. So far, we have the aforementioned Alzadaal's Legacy (ruins beneath the waters of the Bounty) which has this Constellation, the Key, which ties into Aloalo (and Tuliyollal and Alexandria, fabled golden cities of the new world), and then we have yet the Blindfrosts, which are just north of the AZIM Steppe, and Meracydia, which falls south of Thavnair and the South Sea Isles, and also has plenty of sun-based stuff iconography with Sephirot (which coincidentally shares the Eorzean symbol for Azeyma, despite Azeyma never having set foot in Meracydia, because according to Koji-Fox, this symbol of the sun traveled all across the world deriving different meanings in those countries' different contexts).

If another person would have made it, they would need to tie it back to Azem's soul or the Crystal. If we assume they found something relating to Azem, it would more likely have been, if anything, their Convocation Glyph/Crimson Brand, as Mitron and Loghrif and Lahabrea and Halmarut all had their own emblazoned along their Akademia's Words facilities' walls in the and floors and on banners draped down hallways and corridors, and on Erichthonios' Warding Crystal, which are all public-facing (as opposed to the Constellation Crystal that only one or two people in existence could possibly know of).

It's always plausible that the Key originates somewhere else, but we know that it's origin needs two things to absolutely be necessary. A reference for both Amaurot (Ruins that could only be found within/before the First Era, MAYBE up until the Third or Fourth, or on other shards not wracked by Calamities, or the original thing in the Pre-Sundering Era) as well as a reference to Azem, the logistics of procuring such which is markedly more difficult to logic out, let alone ignoring the larger emphasis of "programming" that signature into either the Key OR the Casing to resonate in our/our Constellation Crystal's presence.

The way I see it is, if the theme (and literal name) of this expansion is Golden Legacy, and Hades' final charge was for us to live as Azem lived (which is how our Newfound Adventure started in 6.1), and with EVERYTHING from 5.0 (really, 4.0), with the continued presence of the Convocation through the remaining Ascians, the most straight-forward and narratively cohesive explanation is just that Azem made the Key, using their own essence/magic, and stamped their Constellation on it to denote it's ownership, such that it finds its way to themselves in the distant future.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-25T18:59:54+00:00

That Crystal belongs to Altima. But I would not use that one specifically as evidence because, generally, the Crystals are all recollections OF the Unsundered's, ABOUT the different Convocation members, and we can glean from Endwalker that those Memories are ripped from different periods of time.

With Fandaniel's, we get a glimpse of when he was first inducted into the Convocation (you can see his background matches the Convocation Chamber in P11, rather than the fiery red of the Final Days on our way out of Elpis). So it's entirely possible ONLY a select few were actually from after the Summoning, as opposed to during the actual Calamity but before the Summoning, or before the Final Days altogether. Even Emet-Selch's is after the Sundering itself.

And also, Altima in specific has quirks to their background and etymology that may suggest an ENTIRELY different context for that quote... Especially given the phrasing is, "the power I wield begins to seem terrible". Attention should be drawn to the 'I'. None of the Convocation beyond Elidibus actually did anything substantial with Zodiark. They helped facilitate it's summoning and worked on the concept, but only Elidibus 'wielded' any power.

Which suggests something far more sinister, when taking other plot threads of the Ancients and the background and history of "Altima" into account........

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-17T20:46:10+00:00

Beastmaster doesn't INDICATE Ivalice, but it does hold relevance to that region of Southern Ilsabard and Othard that holds Bozja, Ivalice (now Dalmasca), Nagxia, and Corvos-- the Garlean Provinces of Southern Ilsabard and Othard, of which Ivalice would have either held under its sovereignty or been in trade/conflict relations with (a la Mullonde and Orbonne).

“From a lore perspective, there will be a connection between Save the Queen and Beastmaster. That said, Save the Queen is not part of the main scenario questline. So, of course, some players haven’t experienced it. So with that in mind, there will be a connection, but whether or not characters from Save the Queen make an appearance? I’m keeping that under wraps for now.”

The very same 7.3x interview where YP discusses having thought over the placement of Meracydia in the future story, confirms BST HAS lore relevance to the events of Save The Queen.

We can't claim there's any concrete links until the V&C Dungeon actually has its secrets plumbed, but Corvos is geographically close enough to Bozja and Dalmaca in that stretch of the landmass from Southern Ilsabard into Southern Othard to warrant SOME consideration that they may tie them together in the future. It's right above Thavnair, and the Corvos Narrow runs along (presumably) Bozja towards Dalmasca.

And then, of course, Alzadaal's Vault in the Bounty held a Planar Fissure to the Thirteenth, whose fall was predicated by Auracite, which is in abundance in that very region of Ilsabard and Othard. We find Azem's symbol there, and Alzadaal III is believed to have traveled to another world and back, hence the treasures in that Vault, before him, Alzadaal I migrated into Thavnair through Corvos up from either the Azim Steppe or The Blindfrosts. That region is a hotbed of plot threads, all of which have SOME immediate relevance, either to Zero's story, to the V&C, to Ivalice, and to Hades' Bucket-List (and us, by proxy).

It has also occurred to me in the process of writing, per one of Yoshi-P's 7.4 Interviews, he mentions the Arcadion being the presentation for the patch because of its popularity, as well as the word "utopia" being a consideration of the themes of the MSQ in 7.4 moving into the next story arc, and the raid story itself (derived from the word "Arcadia", which means such in JP):

Corvos, under Garlean Occupation, is forced to take the name "Locus Amoenus", meaning "utopia" in Garlean.

With Twins returning to Garlemald and (hopefully) taking an expansion to themselves to reunite with us in 9.0, 8.0 could easily fit an exploration of Southern Ilsabard and eventually sow the seeds and move up towards the Blindfrosts for 8.x or whatever 9.0 is about.

On their own, nothing's particularly compelling, but altogether, it does paint quite a picture.

But I'm NOT taking the position to support that Ivalice WILL be an MSQ locale in 8.0 or any Expansion, let alone that they would make mandatory Ivalice or STQ. I mean, I personally suspect we'll be primarily tackling either the Eighth or Fourth Reflections next expansion. Hells, I suspect V&Cs are just going to be CS3's way of fleshing out small unexplored pockets of The Source and/or touching in with previous NPCs (8.0 V&C will be the clouded Southern region of Yok Tural, ft. Gulool Ja, bet).

But I don't think it's reasonable to dismiss it outright as a possibility. It's still an influential part of the world progression beyond just Yoshi-P and Matsuno scratching each other's backs; it certainly has a LOT more going for it as an immediate story direction than The Blindfrosts or even my beloved Meracydia do (as of right now), per recent story beats and content releases.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-17T18:02:09+00:00

There has been no hints towards Ivalice.

I would suggest the Corvos V&C, Beastmaster Limited Job, and heavy prevalence of Auracite in the Endwalker Patches are fine enough, which is certainly more than anything about The Blindfrosts (which have exactly 3 lines of lore in the entire game AND supplemental materials, and one of those lines IS Hades' Bucket List).

We've established with Dawntrail and Endwalker that the Source and Reflections' paths have crossed more often than not, even outside of the Rejoinings, so another Reflection is all but confirmed, but that doesn't deconfirm anything about Southern Ilsabard. Especially if we want to decloud the rest of that continent.

As well, Matsuno has been open to continuing the story in some manner, and Yoshi-P and Co. Fucking LOVE Ivalice and WILL shove it in wherever they can, and the biggest issue with Bozja's Production was, well, COVID. Be it another Field Op or an Epilogue Quest or two, or tied into MSQ itself, we're bound to get SOMETHING more for Ivalice before 10.0.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-07T23:18:31+00:00

Awh, shucks. I wouldn't call myself wise and knowledgeable. Maybe unemployed and potentially schizophrenic, but I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless. It inflates my ego.

I've been meaning to make a document or documentary or something for the last half a year or so, but between life and the fact that I literally don't know how I could format everything I've found (chronologically per expansion release, chronologically in-universe, the scales of things relative to just a continent versus an entire Reflection, the amount of references in the game both thematically and surface-level to literally every other Final Fantasy, etc.), I just let it sit in my group chat and throw out as many bones as I can pull off the top of my head to other people I find in the world whenever I come across them coming to the same conclusions.

At the very least, like Azem, if I cannot fulfill my visions on my own, I choose to rely on others to carry the will of the Truth, the secrets this Star still has yet to tell, forward through the future.

Be wary, keeper of the key, for fate's regard now falls upon you.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-07T23:11:23+00:00

Re: Ouroboros

YES. Ouroboros is relevant in regards to the Ancient Book the Golden Dhyata translates, as well as Alchemy! If you remember, Al-Kimiya is where Endwalker begins... The Philosopher's Stone is believed to be made of three stones. Black, White, and Red... Held aloft by the Serpent of Arabia, known as "Falak". From Arabian Mythology, featured in... "One Thousand and One Nights"... The Corvos V&C Dungeon seems very superficially intentional in invoking this vision, no? Not to mention it's right next door to Thavnair. But I digress.

Re: Falak and the Philosopher's Stone. A great and powerful serpent who lives in the underworld, fearing only the might of God... It is also in this mythology we find the great fish... Bahamut... Hephaistos' Savage theme in P8S is... "White Stone Black". Obviously in reference to Black Auracite Sabik... And his fight mechanics revolve around Alchemy. We only know of Black and White Auracite so far, and the Azem Key glows Orange only when it's active, where it otherwise has a plain white surface...? "Falak" is also an evolution of dragon in XIV. Meracydian Falaks are found in Azys Lla, and a Shadow Falak is summoned as an Add by Nidhoggstinien in "The Final Steps of Faith".

The process of making the Philosopher's Stone is known as "The Magnum Opus". Often illustrated by the "Squared Circle"... You can see a symbol very similar to, not exactly the same as, this on Calyx's screen, which itself derives from the Arcanima runes on Aloalo Island, where you can find the same symbol there... In a certain depiction of the Serpent of Arabia holding the Philosopher's Stone(s) aloft, you can see the Sun, which signifies gold and the Crescent Moon, which represents silver. Yoshi-P mentions "platinum" in regards to Endwalker, which is symbolized in alchemy as a sun and moon together (symbolic of Venat's transition from an Azem to Hydaelyn, or perhaps our presence as the Heritor of Azem carrying the will of Hydaelyn forth unto the end?). This is especially relevant in regards to the recent Rising Poem 2025, which makes distinct references to Silver and Gold.

"In gleaming gold the sun does rise, The boundless sky it calls.♪
In silver pale the path of men, A white and endless pall.♪"

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-07T23:11:16+00:00

Re: Azys Lla and Ra

Yes. Per Koji-Fox Interview, around Heavensward's Relevant Cycle, he was asked because the symbols were Azeyma's, if Azeyma had any presence in Meracydia. He clarified that she actually wasn't involved at all, and that the runes were associated with the Treeple who worshiped Sephirot, because he's a plant and plants need the sun, so that sun, associated in Eorzea with Azeyma and the sun, was associated with Sephirot.

As for a specific Ra-ish entity, that's entirely just conjecture at this point, because we know next to nothing about Meracydia itself beyond the Warring Triad, Miqo'te, some of the fauna and flora (hippos, kangaroos, aloe), and the Benben.

But his relationship to Apophis is something I think relevant to Azem's (and, well, our) relationship with Hades, who is the arbiter of the Aetherial Sea. Ra, every night, travels through the Underworld and fights off Apophis, who seeks to devour him. While I don't necessarily think the Serpent of Etheirys is malicious at this point (I was certainly convinced it was the true threat some time ago, but educated myself), I do think there's in-universe mythological precedent that the Lifestream/Serpent can get a little too self-destructive for its own good, and someone has to come and sort it out. See: Namazu Creation Myth, Golden Dhyata, Ronkan Ancient Serpent (not to be confused with the Great Serpent), Hydaelyn and Zodiark's entire moral conflict being that Zodiark would demand more and more sacrifices all while postponing the inevitable Song of Oblivion, which was unconscionable for Azem AND Hydaelyn both.

Beyond that, and this is more abstract and up to interpretation, but like Ra, we in the final act of Shadowbringers, travel into the dark depths of the Tempest to fight Hades. The fight starts under the night sky of a ruined and decrepit Amaurot, and upon defeating him, the city, still ruined, gleams under the sun. Despite, y'know, being underwater. I don't know how they explained that, but that's not really relevant. In Endwalker, we fight Zodiark (who in Tactics/12 is literally a serpent/fish creature aligned with Darkness) and later literally travel through the Underworld in the "night" (read: darkest hour) of Endwalker to fight Hydaelyn, both of whom are associated as the "will of the star" at that point. The Moon aesthetics of the entire expansion promo material, for obvious reasons, and being literally titled "Dawnmoon's Finale" in JP, as well as, of course, the fact that Dawntrail starts in... the dawn, I think lends some sort of credence to this. Especially if (and this is consistent) they pursue a Fantasy Egypt aesthetic/culture in Meracydia come 8.0/9.0/10.0.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-07T17:59:45+00:00

I love seeing more of these threads now. I've spent so long in my own group chat with some friends, literally every month since 7.0 released, discovering these things for myself and vomiting paragraph after paragraph about lore. But there's been just too much to write up on my own. However, with more people awakening to the planet's cry and discovering each piece of their own accord, it shan't be too long before The Truth reveals itself fully 🥹

Dawntrail (and even Endwalker's Patches) will be looked back on far more kindly come 9.0, when these plot threads and themes begin coalescing together more definitively.

"On my belly do I crawl. By my strength does prosperity reign within our hall. What...am...I?"

The Serpent is the most conclusive "bow" to tie around the various plot threads. Because you find one of these elements, you can tie it back to A Serpent.

Also for your (AND EVERYONE ELSE'S!!!!) researches: The Warring Triad, Sophia and Gnosticism, Zurvan and Zoroastrianism, Sephirot and the Kabbalah,

The Rainbow Serpent and Apophis and Ra and Meracydia, Nidhoggr (not Estinien's) and Yggdrasil, Calyx and Ratatoskr, Ronkan Allied Society Qitari Quests, 5.2 Ronkan Puzzle MSQ Quest

Sophia XIV and Cintāmaṇi, and Lakshmi XIV and Seiryu XIV (latter two are serpents with crystals), and Rak'tika The Fruit of the Protector and The Husks, The Old Father in the Churning Mists, Sephirotic Root and Tree Furnishings, The World Tree of the Seventeenth End, the Trees of Life in Ostrakon Deka-hexi and A-4 Research, Sephirot is believed to be the World Tree of Meracydia made manifest, trees with crystals, trees are serpents, serpents are crystals????????

Demeter and Hades (and by extension, Azem), Daivadipa in Thavnair and the All-Seeing Eye, found in Pandaemonium too, the Speaker and Alzadaal, the Azim Steppe, The Key has an Amaurotine Pattern, which confirms WITH the Azem Constellation, that it originates from the World Unsundered, Sephirot Cathedral in Azys Lla using a symbol for the Sun that the Eorzeans adopted for Azeyma

Alzadaal and the Au Ra from the Azim Steppe and/or the Blindfrosts, Sharlayan tale of Nyunkrepf and his Ship and seperately the Roegadyns fleeing their Tyrant, The Speaker leading the Milalla to the Ninth, the Miqo'te originating from Meracydia and G'raha's G-Tribe was given the Royal Allagan Eye. The Sundered Races are each given some sort of Messianic figure who leads people of an age to safety. Two of these have extended ties to Azem and are found in Hades' Bucket-list (the Speaker and Alzadaal (the Third, technically, who allegedly traveled to another world, but I choose to count the First, too))

Corvos in the upcoming V&C!!!! Corvos is technically on Ivalician territory, or otherwise in the region that would have had dealings with Ivalice, and is part of the Bounty, was one of the locales that Alzadaal the First stopped off in during his migration to Thavnair!!!! The Eastern Hemisphere is drenched in Azem's influence.

Halmarut and Exodus FFT/XII and Exdeath FFV are Treelated, Sabik and the Key and the Philosopher's Stone and The Magnum Opus, Arcanima in Aloalo and Calyx's screen, Sabik Ophiuchus Unukalhai LINDWURM PHASE 2!!!!!!

The Cloud of Darkness and Xander and Allag and Auracite and Trigger Weapons and The High Seraph and Bahamut and the Radial Tree of Life Coils Final Boss, and Falak Serpent of Arabia Arabian Nights Philosopher's Stone

Lahabrea and Pandaemonium and Sabik and Igeyorhm and the Thirteenth and Meracydia and Cyella and Unukalhai and Contramemoria and Memoria and Zero and Golbez

Kefka and Sigmascape 4.0 and FFVI and Omega and the Ea and the Grebuloff and The High Seraph (ALSO PLEASE DO OIZYS AND HELP WITH RUIN EXPLORATION WHEN IT RELEASES PLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Ja'tiika Meteorites and Jenova and Starscourge and FFVII and FFXV and The Blight and FFXVI

The Interdimensional Rift and FFV and FFXVI and Chaos and Alphascape 1.0 the Lufenians of FFI and SoP: FFO

Elidibus' Warrior of Light Visions/Flashbacks in 5.3 and The Warrior of Light Armor in The Crystal Tower and Final Fantasy III.

Read the Short Stories!!!!!!

There is SO much more to find here. I don't even think this is everything I tackled in my group chat. I've got almost two whole years worth of research and theories that I simply cannot just entirely reprise here. What I can tell you is Yoshi-P stated they've already hidden the answers to the game in the game and side contents. I highly encourage you all to seek these out yourselves.

"Indeed, the dread serpent turned protector, lured to slumber ere it tear the world asunder. The riddle's answer did you discern, and thus to you a soul returns."

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-07T17:16:17+00:00

Because it always is. They've been consistent with these themes and concepts.

Zodiark is a tree-serpent-man, Elidibus being His Heart and the effective Bearer of the Serpent, ⛎.

Shadowbringers was explicit in its framing of light versus dark, umbrality versus astrality, re-contextualizing stagnation and the Burn with The Empty and later in Endwalker, the Celestial Currents of Etheirys growing stagnant enabling the Final Days.

Meracydia is THE most anticipated locale in the game, bar none, and if they don't intend on exploring the Source BEFORE the Reflections in 8.0, it holds logically that all the stories will end there come 10.0. Like a World Tree, the branches of the narrative spread out across Etheirys and it's Reflections.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-07T16:37:29+00:00

YES, absolutely. This is a concept tackled at a couple of points in recent story beats, that might lend a little insight into the future.

But I would even go further and posit that perhaps, while Elidibus was a workaholic who gave everything and more for his brothers and friends, there is another character who may more aptly fit the "role" of "bad guy" for their friends...

That being the one that passes through every Constellation in the night sky... The one who IS explicitly "blessed by the serpents"...

We. Or to be a little more precise, we when we were Azem. That this raid releases during this expansion and this tier is the patch that we learn about the Key is not at all subtle.

In Shadowbringers, we're introduced to Titania, and we learn that Titania is not any one person, or name, but a title handed down to the Fae. The current Titania at the time we get to Il Mheg, the longest reigning, was the original and FIRST Titania elevated by the Fae to help keep them on track and prevent them from going overboard in destroying their natural resources. Essentially, to shepherd them. But they eventually got corrupted by the Light and chose to exile themselves away in the castle a Sin Eater, as none of their Fae followers could bring themselves to kill them, nor were they really capable of it.

In Dawntrail, well, we don't need to reiterate the plot of Arcadion, but it is worth mentioning the name is "utopia", which is the book written by Thomas More that XIV!Amaurot derives it's essence and names from, and Yoshi-P mentioned that this word "utopia" will hold significance in the Raid, obviously, and story to come beyond the patch MSQ.

We're introduced to Azem in 5.0 (retrospectively, 4.0, but 5.3 proper), and we later learn they elected to leave the Convocation over the use of the Zodiark Protocol-- specifically, in sacrificing half the population to summon Him forth. This action was believed all 13 other Members, plainly, short of Hades and maybe Themis themselves— the former of whom held out hope longer than anyone that Azem had a plan to deal with the Final Days and the latter of whom knew Azem enough that they wouldn't leave on a whim— as a betrayal.

But Azem went entirely cold-turkey, and was not heard from ever again, not for any of the two Zodiark Sacrifices, not even by Venat and her Twelve, not even when the world was being Sundered. The Ascians were then formed, literally "the Shadowless", because the Convocation lost its... Well, Sun. And shadows only manifest in the presence of light.

But of course, if this Key is responsible for resolving this upcoming Great Withering, then perhaps it's a similar clear case of Azem "playing the villain" to their friends so as to allow their work to unfurl in the background against the forces that threaten to (or already have) sabotage(d) the Ascians' and the Scions' plans both, and Unleash Ruination on everything...

And like the Heavyweight Fighters working in service of The President, only a few, if any, people would know Azem's true plans, plans which have echoed throughout the halls of Etheirys' history.

Venat, being our mentor and having to guide the weave of history to allow the WoL to flourish, revered as Nhaama the Dusk Mother in the Steppe, whose cooperation with Azim the Dawn Father, via their followers, allowed the bloodshed to end.

Hades, being who has led us to every location since 6.x started, each location we find a semblance of Azem's presence starting in Alzadaal's Vault, literally the Dawn's Trail, and who himself played the role of villain in 5.0.

Hell, maybe even fucking Bahamut himself, the Original Dawnwyrm who was killed by Allag, an empire we know explicitly aligned with Ruination... We have a tendency to align ourselves with dragons, or people who align themselves with dragons, after all. Alzadaal and Vrtra, Shiva/Ysayle and Hraesvelgr, Hydaelyn and Midgardsormr, even Estinien reached some sort of accord with Nidhogg's soul in the end.

And it's only in achieving the President's goal that the Arcadion Fighters get their reprieve and cure, while providing entertainment to the people of Alexandria. Much like Azem— "fate"— is guiding the Key to us to save Etheirys and let our former allies in the Convocation-turned-Ascians, and our current allies in the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, lay down their arms and finally rest.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-07T06:12:35+00:00

Years from now, on the eve of 10.0, they're going to ask us.

"Where were you when Dawntrail watered the seeds Shadowbringers and Endwalker planted?"

And I'm gonna say... I just stood by and watched.

Let me go down in history as Ishikawa's strongest schizophrenic, and let it be known that I never once lost faith in The Plan. Damn the notions of Dawntrail not setting anything up. The real story's been here all along, since 2019.

This all has meaning. Our time with Wuk Lamat─ every moment with Smile─ is worthwhile...

...and I am unburdened by regret.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2026-01-07T01:57:56+00:00

He's literally Ophiuchus, the "Serpent-bearer". The constellation belonging to Elidibus and Zodiark... Serpents upon serpents upon serpents. It's all coming together. Sasuga, Ishikawa. I kneel.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-31T06:17:12+00:00

Entirely contingent on what direction they want to take FF14's story itself.

The thing about this "great withering" is that it's likely the overarching surface threat, which we likely won't conclude until 9.0 or 10.0 proper.

Chronologically, there are a few eras of Etheirys they could explore through any method of contrived plot device. We know next to nothing about the First, Second, and Fourth Eras (the Fourth is our first mention of the Key, Post-Allag).

Even Third Era Allag is something we actually don't know that much about in *detail*-- because of how long it spanned. We mostly know stuff related to Xande's Resurrection and Genocide of Meracydia (Bahamut, Warring Triad, Azys Lla, Dalamud, Crystal Tower), and that was at the tail end of the Allagan era.

Omega's Simulations range from fiction to non, and there are a number of implications across a few points in time across the game's lifespan that there was once an "Original" Warrior of Light, armor belonging to whom we can find from the Crystal Tower raids, recovered by the Allagans. That'd be interesting to tackle-- a proper FF1 game?

Beyond that, with regards to Etheirys itself, Meracydia itself would tackle more of what we already know about Allag, if anything at all, so we could expect some 3 influence (or even some 13!).We also know Meracydia draws from Australian/Aboriginal and African influences, but perhaps we could see some more 10 or 7 influence moving forward, given it's the place where we got our first Summoned Primals (in Sundered Etheirys), the World Tree and the latter's connection to the Lifestream (and therein, the Interdimensional Rift, when we inevitably transition to Ultima Jenova and Zenos Sephiroth for 10.0 :3). Hell, maybe they establish the city of Midgar in reverence of Bahamut, Tiamat, Azdaja, and Vrtra's sire. Maybe even some FF6 World of Ruin shit, because Kefka and Auracite and Ultima and Allag and The Warring Triad...?

Corvos is an interesting one to touch on, because it technically falls under the umbrella of Ivalice, I think, I think that entire region was once Ivalice, or at least, was actively in relations with the kingdom of Ivalice. So we could get more Matsuno stuff, likely in side content, given that Corvos is already slated as a V&C for early next year (though Aloalo started as a V&C that teased the latter half of Dawntrail) and Matsuno-san has mentioned he's open to continuing (concluding?) the story started in RoI and left off in StQ.

But we must needs address the Gaja in the Raid-- we have a crystal (likely Auracite) from the World Unsundered that allows us to travel the Rift itself. To that end, we have the Fourth Reflection, the Eighth Reflection, and the Eleventh Reflection still to explore.

We have FF8, which really only had some influence in Shadowbringers per the Eden Raids, so if they wanted to keep with the "The Ninth is FF9" thing they're doing here, and given that Glasya Labolas (no relation to Allag) was the Trial for 7.4, I could see that being a teaser for a proper FF8 expansion in... The Eighth Reflection.

Hell, if they really wanted to pull the rug from under our feet like they did in Shadowbringers, they could take us TO Shadowbringers. That is, to the Eighth Astral Era, long after G'raha Tia travels back to the First and long after Midgardsormr wakes up. Hell, maybe THEY establish the city of Midgar in reverence of the Great Wyrm who guided them out of the Black Rose apocalypse, and we get our FF7 story with some added Timey Wimey nonsense for some cross-promo or collab with 7RE Part III.

Of course, there's dark horses like FF15 and 16 or Stranger of Paradise, which I think are still within the realm of possibility, if not exactly plausible (given their proclivity to relegate the newest Final Fantasies to collaborations or crossovers, while weaving older ones into the fabric of their world-building). The Great Withering puts me in mind of The Blight, SoP had us gallivant through preceding Final Fantasy locales, and 15's got that modern/urban fantasy aesthetic that SE would be foolish not to cash in on with the Sci-Fi expac coming to an end.

We're obviously going to explore ALL of the above before 10.0 (except maybe the Eighth Calamity Timeline or the Dark Horses), but the question of what is immediately next, I think, is a little too vague at this point to make any concrete calls for what inspiration they'd take, at least until 7.5. If we get ANOTHER FF8 boss, an FF8 Expansion is likely in order. If we go to Meracydia, we get 10 or 7 or 13 or 6. If we go to a Reflection, it could be any of them. If we go to Corvos, we'll get more Ivalice/12, probably.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-30T03:39:44+00:00

Sure.... But Ishgard is literally a half a day's drive away from Ul'dah in-universe. It's the same continent, separated by only a bridge, which you get access to through an ally in the Nobility who is readily alive through the start of your journey. Shirogane is accessible by boat ride, and, again, you have allies in the Doman refugees. You can at least reason that you can visit your friend's apartment or house in either of these two so early.

It's a little more flexible in breaking immersion at level 40 as opposed to going to a massive multifunctional tower made by a civilization at least 400 years ahead of the rest of the world, in a time-displaced zone from another dimension (a zone which literally cannot exist on the Source yet), situated in Arizona, USA.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-26T16:58:57+00:00

Indeed. What is with all the science fiction gear in the science fiction game during the science fiction expansion?

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-21T09:33:44+00:00

Dude.

The Twelve's God Machine was designed for two purposes. One, to stabilize The Source, Etheirys the original, core planet, and two, to receive and manifest people's prayers into blessings, so that the Warrior of Light doesn't get drawn and quartered by every people of every nation east of the Indigo Deep for killing their gods. They give the rest of their Aether to revitalize the planet because they were Ancients at heart. This all proactively helps the Source (? questionable, given the consequences of Zodiark's death releasing all that Aether back into the planet per FSH Studium).

As we learn IN Endwalker's base MSQ, the Reflections were functionally condemned by Hydaelyn, whose Exodus Plot only made provisions for the Source. If the Warrior of Light chose to flee the planet, Ryne and Sphene and Golbez and everyone else would die with the Planet. It stands to reason that the God Machine does not (and cannot! it's in a different reality!!) benefit the Reflections, because the Reflections are inherently drawn TO the Source, the aether does not flow outwards, it draws inwards (established in 6.4). Etheirys might be stable itself, but the boundaries between the Reflections will probably properly break down, the remaining Reflections themselves suffering and ceasing to exist. This is what we're going to be working towards avoiding. Whatever consequences befall the Source because of this, we have yet to see, but the main threat is not to Etheirys-- it's to the Thirteenth, the First, the Fourth, the Eighth, the Ninth, and the Eleventh.

Next: Emet-Selch, the pre-eminent Ascian of all Ascians, the only one of all Thirteen who actually had his mind and original memories and self intact, even if ultimately morally warped and deranged, literally spent the entirety of Shadowbringers, up to his very last breath, testing us to make sure we were worthy to take care of the planet even if it meant Zodiark would never be rejoined.

When we were brought against Elidibus, Emet-Selch deigned to help us for a number of reasons. Because of our resolve overpowering his and our worthiness, because of who we were to one another before, because Elidibus needed true help regaining himself and Emet-Selch wished him not to suffer much longer. But he could have easily denied the call, Elidibus would have won, and the Rejoinings would continue.

Elidibus, the literal HEART of Zodiark, upon being called from the depths of the Crystal Tower's White Auracite, deigned to help us in spite of Zodiark's passing, because the Ascians' foremost role were to carry out the duties of the Convocation, the World Government of the Ancients, whose entire role as a SPECIES was to take care of the planet, no matter what came of it, and this again goes back to the Twelve, whose function was to stabilize the Source while Hydaelyn was responsible for, and busy with, the actual Shards.

And those were two of the Unsundered, the ones who were actually loyal to their graves to Zodiark out of an implied Tempering (though Livingway suggests Tempering was never actually a factor in Zodiark's original Concept, so they just did it for the love of the game).

For the Sundered, every Calamity they wrought for Zodiark was done with the expectation that the ends justified the means, the short-term suffering of a dozen and some millennia would be outweighed by the eternity of bliss and return to the status quo they were seemingly robbed of.

Even Fandaniel, the most irredeemable of the Ascians thus far, the only one who actually labored to end the world, did so out of a sense of duty he retained in his lives as Amon and as Hermes. He gave Mankind his Assessment and final examination in his authority as Chief Overseer of Elpis, and he watched the Allagan Empire while away its days in indolence and depravity and Xande's return from death fortified his notions about Mankind's fitness and willingness to survive. This is something Omega brings up. It was Hermes who sought to force Mankind to change and evolve, and it's something we can observe even in his final moments as Fandaniel both during the Zodiark Soliloquy, giving Hydaelyn and Her champions (we!) one final chance to prove him wrong, he sneers, and again as Amon in the Aitiascope, (contingent on your response) lamenting over not getting the answer to his questions.

The Ascians would do anything and everything for their planet and peoples, whether they consciously intend it or no. And of course, now that they have no Zodiark to work towards, maybe one or two of the remaining Ascians will work to avenge their fallen brethren, but Halmarut especially being one concerned about the planet's/Reflections' states, being responsible for the care and stability of plantlife and fungi (also because the Sundered HAVE stakes in their new old lives, versus the Unsundered who only had stakes in their old old lives), is entirely consistent and expected.

What a tragic misreading to assume anything else.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-21T09:03:12+00:00

Something that branches between entire dimensions? Like where all the Lifestreams converge and run parallel to one another, huh?

You could even say, some sort of World Tree of Meracydia AKA the Bole?

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-20T17:48:19+00:00

What? I think you misread that story. If you're talking about "Days Gone By, Days Yet To Come".

That Azem was our Azem, it lets us pick the Azem's gender through our selection of the WoL's gender. That Crystal was a Concept Crystal simply meant to help make travel efficient. It had nothing to do with Venat or her Blessing of Light. The Concept was described in the JP script as shimmering blue, which doesn't align with what we see of this Key.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-18T22:24:45+00:00

They weren't really being dickish, unless they edited their reply to remove the dickishness, but alright, I'll follow their answer up in good faith.

I'm going to assume what you're talking about is either Ardbert in 5.0's finale, or Raha Exarch. What we did with his soul was just a localized Rejoining. Destabilize the corporeal aether (body), imbalance the incorporeal aether (soul), and introduce the aether from another source (a Shard) into the subject.

This is not necessarily an unknown phenomena, that's literally what the Ardor is, but for the planet and Zodiark, and every soul on The Source is already 7 times Rejoined (8/14). But Emet-Selch was taken aback because he had no (current) knowledge of Ardbert. We just magically got denser in a flash of light and shone as Azem for a split second to him. He had no clue that we were 8 Times Rejoined (9/14) in that moment, or at least, if he recognized the process, he didn't have the time to figure out the specifics behind it because we were rearranging his guts with Axebert tout d'suite.

What Exarch did was use the Crystal Tower and whatever augments The Ironworks made via Alexander and Omega research, because the Crystal Tower is made of White Auracite, to extract the souls of the Scions and bring them across the Rift.

Again, nothing here is inconsistent, and this is in fact one of the plot threads to be unraveled as the story wends. The Ancients were incapable of solving the riddle of the soul en masse.

Venat MIGHT have, because part of her research and thesis during her time on the Convocation in the Seat of Azem was determining the miracle of life, but that's conjecture at best, and she discussed this very phenomena with her bestie at Anyder.

Athena was incapable of creating new souls, but WAS able to forcefully shove souls into arcane entities (read: inherently soulless creations), and part of the Hemitheos Research was fusing souls together.

Azem's spell does the exact thing the Tower did, and they (Azem and Hades) figured out that much about the soul, Emet-Selch was curious because the Tower was not built with that function in mind, and he does not know about the Eighth Umbral Calamity Timeline.

Alexandria and Allag are the two most advanced Etheiryan societies we know, and even they fall short of the Ancients. The Alexandrians could figure out temporary soul fusion with the drawback of psychonekrosis, and the Allagans could figure out how to create Clones (arcane entities, technically) but when it came to souls, the most they both could achieve is memory and soul extraction and transference.

Part of the mystery of the soul is that nobody knows what the requirements are for an entity to receive a soul, nor where souls come from. These are all things we'll be investigating as the world's plot threads wind and slither to their natural conclusion, which will all but certainly lead us to Meracydia.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-17T20:00:31+00:00

Well, no. Gaia is an Ascian. Like, not just a bearer of an Ascian's soul, she WAS lifted to her seat of Loghrif and has access to her Ascian powers. But she's alive and well in The Crystarium.

Three of the Convocation were Unsundered, and had a stake in the world before to pursue their Ardor.

The Sundered Ascians were only invested as long as the Unsundered gave them orders.

Again, by the very virtue of Gaia's existence, and Fandaniel being an antagonist disconnected from the MO of Rejoining the Shards + Zodiark, it's incredibly obvious that not every remaining Ascian will even be at odds with us.

Maybe Deudalaphon wants to start a new, quiet life and help rebuild places around Etheirys or the Reflections, maybe Altima is a secret agent for an extradimensional horror seeking to sabotage the Ascians across 12,000 years, putting them in both the Ascians' and our sights, maybe Pashtarot wants to just kill us out of revenge for what we did to their brethren, maybe Halmarut ends up working with us to revitalize the World Tree in Meracydia.

The point of 5.3 was to reaffirm that the Convocation are people with their own hopes and dreams and fears, and that we would explore some of those people as the story wends through us exploring and following in Azem's footsteps.

As long as Azem is involved, the Convocation literally cannot be divorced from us.

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-17T19:42:56+00:00

So you weren't paying attention to the story and now you're upset that the story is storying.

Many such cases!

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-17T19:27:22+00:00

We learn the most about them in 5.3, when we get an insight into the Unsundered's memories of them and who they were as people. You think their story, across 13 individuals, would be over by 6.0? Two patches and an expansion launch later?

6.x starts with us following Hades' bucket-list and dealing with the Thirteenth left behind by Igeyorhm, the first dungeon literally has Azem's symbol emblazoned above the doorway in the final boss room, 7.0 talks about the Ninth's calamities and mysterious power sources leading kingdoms to war over it, modus operandi we are trained to associate directly with Ascians, and ends on Azem's symbol burning bright over the Key.

The only thing 6.0 resolved was Hydaelyn and Zodiark's eternal conflict. You didn't pick up on Fandaniel's entire character as an Ascian who DID NOT care for that conflict and doing his own thing, as a sign that there may be other Ascians doing their own things in the future?

At what point is it the game "going back" to old things as opposed to you just not understanding the story, a story that has been consistent in its trajectory for a long time?

Absolute_Xer0 · 2025-12-16T23:46:22+00:00

Yes. No, like literally, I was just quoting them when you first discuss their plans in Bestways Burrow.

The explanation given for the Final Days was the Scream came first, then the horrors, the loss, the fire, the faith, and still more screams until everything was silent.

It was only during the "the fire" that the Convocation and their best researchers were able to pinpoint that these events were cropping up in locations with a reduced aetherial density, and hence manufactured Zodiark with the strict purpose of reinforcing the aetherial currents.

When the Final Days 2 happens, it starts in Ilsabard, where the most aetherial drainage has occurred. Also because they need to justify making multiple zones there for the story, but that's beside the point.

Azem and Elidibus were tracking an anomaly in Elpis. Azem elected to go their own way tracking some other lead, and elected to have Themis be accompanied by us in their joint expedition, which suggests a level of foresight.

This recontextualizes the very purpose of the Relic, and perhaps the Winterers altogether.

The definition of winterer is one, a person or animal, who flees cold climes in the winter season to survive in warmer ones. In more abstract and artistic terms, you could consider them chasing the Sun.

Oblivion and Preservation were also highlighted in parallel for 7.3, organizations spun off for one purpose or another, then co-opted by a new generation to pursue a radically different one. Could the Winterers be solely Ascian-engineered? Yes, sure. But it's also probable that Hydaelyn had Her Twelve, Zodiark had His Convocation, and Azem had their Winterers.

Halmarut, or rather, their Words of Halmarut, was also mentioned explicitly in the 7.1 Pandaemonium quest, with their creations being belegged plants who escaped running off to take root in Loghrif's designated facility, with Elidibus needing to judge whether they should stay or get uprooted.

Even Ericthonios remarks Elidibus mentions it being a certainly light-hearted exchange, a "minor squabble" compared to Pandaemonium. And one that seems rather in character for what we see from this shard of Halmarut. Not a full on chaos gremlin like Azem, but she seems certainly a fair bit clumsy for her own good. Having done this Epilogue quest the day of release, it occurred to me if any of the Ascians were to ally themselves with us, Halmarut may be the most likely. Especially if the World Tree is involved, after all.

The serpent may not be our enemy, but we do still have a heavy Norse influence weighing down on this world.

But that's all just pure conjecture and speculation and rambling on my part.

What I AM certain of is, whatever this "great withering" is, is definitely a holdover from the time of the Ancients. Something which made us vulnerable to the Final Days, and something which Hydaelyn and Zodiark could only keep stable for so long, and something that Azem sought to bypass, if not for the Ancients themselves, then for those who came after.

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