Did Matoya just possess Y'shtola's body?

[Cilia]

It's a possibility, though as others have said the specifics remain unclear. If Y'stola's body remains an empty vessel, there's nothing stopping Matoya from possessing it... somehow...

It clearly is Y'shtola's body, though, with the faded white eyes.

Alternatively, I would posit that "Matoya" or perhaps "Master Matoya" is simply a Sharlayan title, and for whatever reason Y'shtola inherits it before the beginning of Shadowbringers.

[MetalSnakeXI1]

It's a possibility, though as others have said the specifics remain unclear. If Y'stola's body remains an empty vessel, there's nothing stopping Matoya from possessing it... somehow...

It clearly is Y'shtola's body, though, with the faded white eyes.

Alternatively, I would posit that "Matoya" or perhaps "Master Matoya" is simply a Sharlayan title, and for whatever reason Y'shtola inherits it before the beginning of Shadowbringers.

I'm honestly expecting the possession since as Matoya mentioned that she's getting old and the best way to preserve Y'shtola's body till she comes back from the call's effect is to possess her through the echo

If the sahagin and Zenos can do it's pretty safe to assume someone like Matoya would be capable of it

I doubt Matoya is simple a title but we wont know much specifics until part 2 of 4.5 rolls around.

[YianKutku]

Alternatively, I would posit that "Matoya" or perhaps "Master Matoya" is simply a Sharlayan title, and for whatever reason Y'shtola inherits it before the beginning of Shadowbringers.

I don't think there's any lore supporting this at all, which actually does make me a little annoyed, because I'm seeing this claim everywhere (Reddit, Tumblr, Discord), taken as gospel truth.

It's as bad as "FFXIV is the same world as FFXII".

[Iscah]

This was my speculation. I think since Y'shtola's soul was ripped from her body. Something probably happens to Matoya to where she either borrows Y'shtola's body until she 'comes back' as it were.

It's a possibility, though as others have said the specifics remain unclear. If Y'stola's body remains an empty vessel, there's nothing stopping Matoya from possessing it... somehow...

I'm honestly expecting the possession since as Matoya mentioned that she's getting old and the best way to preserve Y'shtola's body till she comes back from the call's effect is to possess her through the echo

There's a problem with this line of thinking: Urianger is back. And if he's back, Y'shtola probably should be as well, unless she "stayed behind" for some reason.

Unless it's... I don't know... some weird thing where both of them are possessed and it's just not evident that 'Urianger' is someone else because he didn't get addressed by name.

In any case, I don't think there's a need to "preserve" Y'shtola's body until her soul gets back - from the dialogue in 4.5 it sounds like they're perfectly fine and alive despite being soulless. Just don't think too hard about the mechanics of them staying alive in that state.

[Anonymoose]

I can see why the parsimonious "Matoya is a title that's been passed on" idea is a go-to, but that it's being presented as fact everywhere already is bizarre to me, lol.

Once upon a time, Matoya threw a brick in the air by telling Y'shtola that seeing the way she was circumventing her blindness was an added burden on her spiritual vitality. We never learned what that meant.

What kind of burden?

• This is like carrying around a 50-ponze backpack at all times; you're gonna get tried easier, you're gonna have new limits. Take care of yourself!
• Every second you spend doing that cuts a minute off your life! Ahhh!

What if whatever's going on with Y'shtola / Matoya is that brick finally coming back down?

What if, just like Thancred was the first to fall because of his sensitivity, Y'shtola struggles to come back because of hers? What if Matoya's presence is propping her up and preventing her from dying? What if Matoya has had to somehow to sacrifice herself so that her protégé can live?

There are a lot of possibilities; we should at least cover them.

[silentwindfr]

probably she use the name matoya as alias while acting like a warrior of darkness

[gamanosai]

What about something similar to Lalai/Shatotto?
If Matoya is about to die(she's not a young lady anymore), she will probably want to be usefull...like transferring her memories/Knowledge to Y'shtola.
In the lvl60/70 BLM job quests, Shatotto is able to hijack Lalai body from time to time.

[Kabooa]

My assumption is Matoya is a surname, and Y'shtola took it to honor the witch's memory.

Every x.55 patch we've seen someone sacrificed, and while that's only two samples so far, I would guess that Current Matoya does something similar for whenever this "Aether Draining" obelisk thing backfires.

[Ardox]

I can see why the parsimonious "Matoya is a title that's been passed on" idea is a go-to, but that it's being presented as fact everywhere already is bizarre to me, lol.

Matoya is a recurring name just like Cid, Biggs and Wedge so I really don't know why that theory got so much traction. Let's say Matoya is the old witch's title. What is her real name? Why Y'shtola (or even the porogos/broomsticks servants) never allude to the fact it's a title? Why they don't hint to her real name? Why introduce that new fact in the MSQ after 2 expansions? I'm positive Matoya is the character's name and not a title.

So either
1. Urianger is musing to himself, then ask a question directly to Y'shtola and his way of talking is confusing us;
*****I find this explanation oddly satisfying since it's so simple. It's the Occam's razor answer.

2. Urianger is addressing Y'shtola with her Master's name.
*****And then the next logical answer is, why?

I don't like the impersonator theory since only Ascians has done that. How would they steer the narrative to make Matoya control Y'shtola like Elidibus control Zenos and not make it about protagonist-centered morality. I know they said the 2nd part of 4.5 would have a lot of things going, but it's still just half a patch. I would be surprised the elements for the answer aren't already laid out..

[ChazNatlo]

Possibly a question that may have come up, and the phrasing may be different enough in the Japanese version to make this question moot, but do Matoya and Y'stola use the same personal pronoun in Japanese? I don't know Japanese, just the stuff relevant to anime tropes, but if they don't, it might help. 'Course, as master and student, and being of similar personality, it's probable that they both use Watashi, but as a hail mary...