Crystal Tower theories

[Seraphor]

OMFG, mind blown.

Just listened to speakers network #133, for those who haven’t, here’s a summary of the discussion:

It’s greatly suspected that the cloaked figure in the Shadowbringers cover art is G’raha Tia from the Crystal Tower plot.

End of the Crystal Tower series:
G’raha Tia, a scion with Allagan blood, goes into slumber in the Crystal Tower so that there can be someone with Allagan blood when civilisation has progressed to the point that they can utilise the power of the tower.
He specifically mentions ‘until the gates are opened’.

The voice inside the scions heads when they’re called says ‘open wide the gates, let eons become instants’.
Krile mentions she knew G’raha in Pyros, and now she’s returned to the main plot, ready to identify that voice maybe?
Perhaps the 'eons become instants' isn't about direct time travel, but about speeding up the process in which we might utilise the power of the tower.

The Crystal tower has the ability to open a portal to the void, the world of darkness, which is otherwise known as, the thirteenth shard.
It could be used to open portals to other shards…

Also, new renders for the Crystal Tower are shown briefly in the latest trailer, only for a split second, but will likely be shown more in the full trailer in a couple weeks.


Also:

Lore states that below the crystal Tower there is another great Labyrinth (more than what we see in the first 24 man) that houses secret Allagan Weapons.
At the end of the Crystal Tower plot, Nero throws his scanning device over the edge, which falls... deep below the tower.
Could this lead us to our new 8-man raid series? Could it be… other Weapons? As in Ruby, Emerald, Diamond?

[Mansion]

It holds onto together quite well indeed. Thanks for the summary!

I don't know how much is written by design to make sense years laters and how much is written with some kind of open ending that could be used later, although.

[Seraphor]

Personal theory, to work in the whole 'rewriting history' angle:

What if the calamities happen, everything goes to crap, and G'raha Tia wakes up in the future after his slumber, to a dead or dying world. In desperation, he enacts some kind of Allagan technology to trigger 'Time Compression' sending himself back in time to his former body, and picking up other Scions along the way via the echo to warn them. 'Let eons become instants' is him enacting this process, and while he does time is all jumbled up for him. Our 'called' scions are caught in this Time Compression with him, until he reaches his 'destination' and joins up with us in the main plot.

The history being rewritten, is only history to him, we never actually witness it, be we know it's what will happen if we don't act on it.

[Iscah]

I've been suggesting it's G'raha for a while - actually a somewhat wild guess back in the initial speculation about the Voice in 4.4, inspired by one of the leaks suggesting the Crystal Tower would be important. So having maybe-him appear in the poster definitely feels like confirmation!

For reference, a comparison picture of the two:

...and somehow I never thought to go back and re-read the script before now, but oh my goodness, he does say he'll "greet those with the means to open the gates"!

That last scene, then:

G'RAHA TIA
Go no further, my friends! The doors will close ere long.

RAMMBROES
So you are of a mind to seal the tower, G'raha.
I know time is of the essence, but all I ask is a hint of your plan. Please, come here so we can discuss this.

G'RAHA TIA
...No. My apologies, but I cannot.

RAMMBROES
Come, man, what is this nonsense!? If aught is amiss, surely we can help!

G'RAHA TIA
Not this time, my friend. Just as Unei and Doga fulfilled their destiny, so too must I fulfill mine. My blood has awakened me to this fact.
As my father told me, the truth has always lain with Allag. Or, rather, 'twas there the wish I must grant was born.
You see, not all the world perished in Xande's calamity. Survivors stood amidst the ruins of Allag, looking to the Crystal Tower. But it was nowhere to be seen.
Yet they hoped its spires would again dominate the land, and prayed that the Crystal Tower would be a beacon of hope to people everywhere.
Word of this soon reached the only member of Allag's royalty to outlive the empire: the princess Salina.
Salina was moved by the people's dearest wish. She used the very best of Allag's technology to give her blood and memories to he whom she trusted most. That man was my forebearer.
For millennia, we waited. Allag's art and ingenuity faded. Our royal blood grew thin. But before the last drop could vanish from the realm, the memory of all this returned to me.
And now, I must fulfill the wish of the ancients. The tower will shine forth as a new beacon of hope.

CID
G'raha, the Crystal Tower's strength poses too great a threat to Eorzea now.
We would need technology as advanced as Allag's to use it correctly. As things stand, we barely understand the tower's workings. Hells, we may never fully comprehend them.

G'RAHA TIA
'Tis as you say, Cid. We could wait for someone, someday, to reach the same heights as Allag, but by then we will have lost the royal blood and the means to control the tower.
But what if I do as Amon did, and put the tower into a deep sleep?

CID
What!? You cannot mean that!

G'RAHA TIA
I am deadly serious, Cid. The tower may only be used once men rival the Allagans in knowledge. I will slumber within Syrcus Tower until then, to greet those with the means to open the gates.
Then, I will guide them. And thus will the tower shine forth as the beacon of hope it was meant to be. 'Tis the only way to make the wishes of the ancients come true.
The future is where my destiny awaits.
But yours lies outside of these doors. Go. Create a future where hope reigns, and the tragedies of the past are but memories. No one but you can accomplish such things.

CID
Nothing we say will make you change your mind, will it?
Onwards to a brighter future... It won't be easy, of course. But that's exactly why we'll do it!

WEDGE
W-We'll catch up with Allag, just you wait! We'll cover all that lost ground before you even know it!

BIGGS
Well said, Wedge! It'll only be a few years before we come knocking, G'raha. Then you're in for a rude awakening!

RAMMBROES
You shall be witness to NOAH's accomplishments. Pray keep alive our successes, and forgive us our failures. And may we meet again, my friend.

G'RAHA TIA
The Twelve keep you till then, Rammbroes. I look forward to learning of your exploits. And you, Forename─I know history will remember you. No doubt your heroism will be the star by which I chart my course when I awake.
Well, now I must rest. Recalling so much has put me in the mood for sleep.
Farewell, my friends. I eagerly await a future born of your courage and the ancients' wish.

Also worth noting, he makes his first entrance into the Crystal Tower storyline as a mysterious, somewhat antagonistic disembodied voice giving us instructions!

[Seraphor]

Oh and they also mentioned that the white markings on his skin that sort of look like Au Ra scales (and coincidentally cover his scion tattoos) also resemble the 'corruption' that Nero suffered when he was in the void.

[Iscah]

Personal theory, to work in the whole 'rewriting history' angle:

What if the calamities happen, everything goes to crap, and G'raha Tia wakes up in the future after his slumber, to a dead or dying world. In desperation, he enacts some kind of Allagan technology to trigger 'Time Compression' sending himself back in time to his former body, and picking up other Scions along the way via the echo to warn them. 'Let eons become instants' is him enacting this process, and while he does time is all jumbled up for him. Our 'called' scions are caught in this Time Compression with him, until he reaches his 'destination' and joins up with us in the main plot.

The history being rewritten, is only history to him, we never actually witness it, be we know it's what will happen if we don't act on it.

I'm pretty sure it's "eon become instant", singular, all compressed into one tiny instant of time, rather than "instants", fragmented into a series of them.

But semantics aside, it's based on a warp spell from Final Fantasy Tactics - I also thought it would be a time travel spell, but (it came up in another thread) that it's more like instant travel across space, so I guess compressing space-time and moving to a different point, or something? I haven't played the game myself so I don't have the full context.

I do think it's likely that he's going to be let out "in the future" and then either goes back in time, or pulls us forward. (It's worth keeping in mind that whatever happens, someone else probably has to do the letting-out, as it sounds like he's basically in stasis at this point.) It would sidestep the issue of whether or not the player has personally done the Lv50 raid yet.

Whatever happens, I don't think he'd be going back into his former body though - if he does come back to our time it would be more likely 'future-him', while 'current-him' is still sealed in the tower.

There are things in the trailer that could point towards time travel, or towards dimensional travel, but it's all up in the air at the moment (and possibly about to hit the fan)...

Oh and they also mentioned that the white markings on his skin that sort of look like Au Ra scales (and coincidentally cover his scion tattoos) also resemble the 'corruption' that Nero suffered when he was in the void.

Another reason to figure that it would be a future version of him, possibly with some kind of long-term exposure effects from the tower's magic. It looks like it might be crystal.

Lore states that below the crystal Tower there is another great Labyrinth (more than what we see in the first 24 man) that houses secret Allagan Weapons.

I'm not sure where this is coming from though - I haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere, and don't remember reading it in the lorebook.

[Nightsword]

I'm not sure where this is coming from though - I haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere, and don't remember reading it in the lorebook.

It is the original Eureka, the Eureka Scholar, in game, in any of the Eureka zones has the lore.

[Jaywalker]

But guys. His hood, it lacks ear pockets! How could it be G'raha without ear pockets?!!?

XD I kid. This is a really fun theory though and I seriously hope you guys are right.

[Astarotha]

that sounds more like a setup for a mor dhona public dungeon akin to eureka than anything else, but based on the current lore ct blew its load back in arr and with the current state of the world shouldnt have enough aether coming in to do much of anything, and yeah eon become instant is from tictacs, so i think the hooded one is a new character were gonna meet soon, plus theres no ears on the hood

[MistakeNot]

Interesting theory, but probably not true - mainly for meta reasons.

Crystal Tower and the associated raids is completely optional content. So far SE has made sure that events in optional content don't have any real impact on the main story line, and I don't see them changing that policy any time soon.