[Spoilers] The general crackpot and head-canon thread

[CyrusArjuna]

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That would be freaking hilarious. We really need more closure on the 1.0 story lines. And as someone who started in Limsa on my 1.0 character, I'd love to see what happened with Travanchet after he disappeared. I'm also curious about what rank he would've been.

And also, what the hell was that freaky skeleton looking Ascian from back then? An improper fusion between two lesser Ascians or something?

And about the Neurolink thing...that scene has been stuck in the back of my mind since I first cleared T5.

[CyrilLucifer]

I've considered that it's a botched fusion, but first I question why Lessers would need to initiate that fusion. Not just anyone is going to be able to stop an Ascian, even a singular Lesser Ascian, so why would they need to merge in the first place? The entire point of Ascian Prime was so that Lahabrea and Igeyorhm could overcome the limitations of their aether-flesh.

Unless fighting someone as strong as the WoL, they're not going to need something like that - so why try if it carries risk and limits their overall ability to interact with the Spoken, hindering their duty?

That being said, Ascian hierarchy is definitely going to be important going on, hence that whole bit on page 1-2 about the differences between Elidibus and the black-robed Overlords. We just don't know enough about it, with Nabriales' lines and SE's multiple translations of it furthering our confusion.

[myahele]

Maybe they're lesser asciens and the 1st mortal-to-ascien Lahabrea experimented with? Maybe it was necessary due to it still being an Astral era; hence they could not exists unabated while Hydaelyn was healthy?

Being of "this world" might allow Lahabrea and Elidibus to ascend people into Ascien-hood? As it stands, they're the only Asciens that have underlings.

[CyrilLucifer]

The idea that Eli and Laha are somehow different (which we do know, via Nabriales' dialogue) and it's what allows them to take servants and not the others is also something I've toyed with. It also explains why it's Nabriales and Igeyorhm overlooking their assigned Primals where Lahabrea has his group of Lessers dealing with the Beast Tribes in the Ex primal quests.

But at the same time I feel like we can't make any solid conclusions. It's just 'here's a phenomenon, here's my logical thought pattern on why I think it happened. Evidence? What evidence?'

I'm hesitant to draw conclusions just because we haven't seen the other Overlords' Lessers. Just because we've not encountered them doesn't necessarily mean they don't exist.

But that's why it's perfect for a thread like this, really.

[Berethos]

Leaving void-crazy Nabriales aside, Lahabrea's big expodump in the Praetorium seems to indicate that the planet can continue to exist just fine without Hydaelyn, which wouldn't be possible if she were, or was crucial to, the upkeep of the planet itself. It's also not a distinction he would have any reason to make if ending the planet itself was his objective.

My pondering wasn't really about the her being crucial to the upkeep of the planet, but rather whether or not the existence of aether is tied to her existence. I think it's us mortals who are responsible for the upkeep of the planet, using or abusing aether as we do.

Still, cutscene #11 in the Unending Journey, right? The part where he calls her a "parasite that must be burned out if the planet is to recover"? He does believe the planet can continue just fine without Hydaelyn, but in the sense that they need Zodiark instead. Interestingly, he also talks about imbalance and that if "it is permitted to worsen, the very laws of existence - both aetheric and physical - will be warped beyond all recognition" and goes on to claim that Hydaelyn is the source of that imbalance (hence his belief that she needs to be replaced with his own god, and an early echo of what Hydaelyn tells us, that Zodiark was the cause of the imbalance and that she excised him).

That being said, I think that expodump just indicates that Lahabrea believes the planet can exist just fine without Hydaelyn, and since part of that belief is Zodiark replacing her (in fact he says Zodiark's return is necessary to excise her completely) I don't think what he's saying quite reaches the level of indicating that the planet's existence (aether included) is independent of either being.

The scene really only goes so far as to say he believes she needs to be replaced and leaves the question of whether either one is necessary wide open and unanswered.

Also possible that it's among the things Lahabrea is wrong about, according to Elidibus' comment, and Lahabrea's knowledge of what is and isn't necessary for the future of either the planet or the deities could be quite lacking.

Basically I'm not inclined to believe Lahabrea as a source of Word of God information, not at the present time anyway.

[Draxis_Fallspear]

Not sure how crackpot this is, but let's see:

Each rejoining matches pretty accurately with the events of its associated number Final Fantasy entry. (Earthquake/Cloud of Darkness -assuming Cloud of Darkness would've caused it anyway if the earthquake hadn't happened- for the third; Meteor/Dalamud for the seventh; War of the Magi for the sixth). So the next umbral era should be caused by Time Kompression, or something like it. Alexander bends time. Eighth umbral era confirmed?

Bonus: We'll get a surprise fifteenth rejoining only if FFXV manages to come out before then.

To be fair, I'm not really well versed enough in the other calamities to know whether this makes any sense. Just seems convenient that those three examples line up fairly well.

[Garthas]

Hopefully everything will eventually be explained!

[Fenral]

Also possible that it's among the things Lahabrea is wrong about, according to Elidibus' comment, and Lahabrea's knowledge of what is and isn't necessary for the future of either the planet or the deities could be quite lacking.

Basically I'm not inclined to believe Lahabrea as a source of Word of God information, not at the present time anyway.

Well, sure, but if you wanna rule out Lahabrea entirely, there's nothing stopping the rest of us from throwing out everything Louisoix has ever said, too. Or are the Good Guys just naturally always right?



My strongest theory is still inferring from what Ramuh said about how light and darkness were as one before man. Moose-senpai has taken this to mean that mankind was born after or during the split, but I take it at face value: mankind split light and darkness.

We start with a planet and a Source. Mankind evolves on its own, not by the will of a creator, and once it reaches a certain level of self-awareness, it does what every good fledgling civilization ever has done: creates a god. This isn't really an issue until they come into contact with the Source. Rather than throwing their own creation myths aside, they take their encounter with this fount of aether as proof of their god's existence. And then they worship it, pouring in all their belief in a greater good for all humanity, and a creator that loves them and shields them from all the evils of the world.

Faith + Aether = Primal, and Hydaelyn is born from the Source. As a consequence, or perhaps as the result of worship from another sect, Zodiark is born at this time as well to represent the abstract "evils" Hydaelyn is opposed to. Two gods, one of light and one of darkness, created to believe they were the creators. Eventually, Hydaelyn splits the Source to banish Zodiark, and the rest is history.

For a story that, at it's core, involves a lot of killing the gods of unwashed tribals, this would be perfect. It would require our band of enlightened merry men to face the realization that they've only been serving a god of their own making as well, and tie the primals into the themes of our ongoing struggle, rather than just as our go-to setup for 8-man bosses.

[Berethos]

Well, sure, but if you wanna rule out Lahabrea entirely, there's nothing stopping the rest of us from throwing out everything Louisoix has ever said, too. Or are the Good Guys just naturally always right?

Not believing him as a source of "Word of God" level information is hardly throwing him out entirely, it's just recognizing that for the time being he's as fallible as any of the other in-game sources of information.

That being said, it's really only a side point to the rest of that post, which is talking about what the expodump mentions and how I don't think it serves as strong evidence for the idea that Hydaelyn isn't necessary to the existence of the planet, since it's really only Lahabrea talking about replacing her with Zodiark. That is its entire focus, and any additional conclusions as to how it relates to what is and isn't necessary for the existence of the planet are interpretations with little to no evidence for or against. Basically, your conclusion (which could still be absolutely right) is outside the scope of the limited information given in that expodump.

The inference from what Ramuh said...now that's an interesting one, and I can't think of anything outside of what Hydaelyn and some of the Ascians have said that serve to contradict it, and I don't consider those to be "Word of God" level either (despite Hydaelyn being a goddess - more a case of irony, since the phrase refers to authors and not in-universe deities usually - I don't consider her an omniscient one, so she's as capable as being wrong as any other character).

[Dualblade]

Reading your post Fenral, has given me a new crackpot theory.

We are going to get a keyblade, and be Keyblade Masters. We'll have a nice back2back with either Sora or Riku as well. It will be awesome.