3.1 MSQ Reaction [SPOILERS]

I think it's been greatly over-thought.

Here's how I interpret the distinction. The Echo is just a naturally occurring phenomenon. That's all. Some people have it, some people don't. Now, the Echo allows one to do things beyond normal mortals, including being able to understand the lifeforce (Hydaelyn and Zodiark represent the duality). What this means is that Echo allows for Warriors to be chosen to fight on behalf of each duality. Not all Echo users are chosen though because not all are strong enough to fight. The ones chosen to act as Warriors are given the ability to see and collect Crystals. The more Crystals one collects, the stronger the bond between Warrior and Lifeforce. The ability to collect Crystals is strictly dependent on the skill of the individual. Nothing more. The most naturally skilled of the Crystal Bearers is the Chosen One, or Champion, as he/she will be able to collect the most Crystals and thus, have the strongest bond.

Thancred: Was ecstatic to see him come back. Out of all the Scions he and Y'shtola are my favorites, especially when they interact with each other. I'm a bit bummed that he's apparently lost the ability to use Aether, meaning the likelihood that he'll be able to help in the future will be slim, since he can't get to places in a swift way. Maybe he'll get a Flying Mount to compensate.

Krile: An interesting addition to the cast of the Sharlayans, and I hope she'll stick around as a Scion. I just hope she doesn't go the way of Moenbryda.

Warriors of Darkness: Like others, I cringed at the corny dialogue, and was disappointed by this reveal. However, it's just the seeds of what is to come. I'm willing to see this play out and hope they'll reveal themselves to be more than mere 2 dimensional cardboard cut outs. If they remain so, I hereby push my theory that they are Primals summoned and controlled by the Ascians.

Ishgard: Can't say I didn't see this coming. It's good to see the struggle given proper attention, and that we're even told this isn't going to end it either. A transition like this should take a long time for the people to adjust to.

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Originally Posted by Velox

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To add to this and to sum it up simply, we take a random sample of 100,000 people.
Of those, 10% will have the Echo.
Of those 10,000 people, 10% are Warriors of Light who can collect Crystals of Light.
Of those 1,000 people, the one with the most natural ability and the most Crystals is Hydaelyn's Champion.

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Originally Posted by Velox

The Echo is just a naturally occurring phenomenon. That's all. Some people have it, some people don't. Now, the Echo allows one to do things beyond normal mortals, including being able to understand the lifeforce (Hydaelyn and Zodiark represent the duality). What this means is that Echo allows for Warriors to be chosen to fight on behalf of each duality.

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I've gone back and forth between similar ideas, but I always end up moving away from them when a nugget like this pops up in a seemingly-unrelated discussion, lol.

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Originally Posted by Fernehalwes

When the Echo “translates” for someone, it is a joint effort between the listener’s mind and Hydaelyn’s gift. The gift is providing the knowledge, while the listener’s mind is using its previously compiled linguistic background to compile the data into something more familiar

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That said, I do think the general idea is at least more workable than what we had before:

Many "Woken" (Echo)
Few "Chosen" (Echo + Gifted Crystal of Light, perhaps allowing the manifestation of the blessing's protection)
One "Champion" (Echo + all six aspects of Hydaelyn's power as Crystals of Light and thus the blessing's protection)

I still miss Haurchefant, Ysayle and Estinien but seeing Thancred again was great and I actually do like his new design. Thancred is one of my favorite characters so I enjoy having him around.

Storywise I was NOT anticipating the update ending on the note that Edmont would be stepping down but this probably means Artoirel taking over for him and Emmanellain taking Dragonhead.

Theory about Thancred

He's aging at an accelerated rate because he lost his magick. Some clues that stick out is for one we don't know how long Thancred had been scurrying around for but I don't think his hair should be as long as it is considering the amount of time that might of passed. Another clue is Hilda calling Thancred "Old" even though he would preffer to think of himself as "gritty", just lends itself to the idea that maybe Thancred losing his magick effected him in more ways that just not being able to cast spells. If anything does carry from 1.0, Thancred saved a young Minfillia in the flashback/echo scene of an Uldah festival that took place, and yet when we see him in present day he still looks the same while Minfillia has aged into a woman. It does seem weird how Thancred appears to have no physical difference from the day he saved Minfilla when she was but a child and how he is now and now compared to how he looks now. That's my guess though I mean when you consider the witch Matoya, pretty certain she's an old relic, the whole magic thing keeping you alive idea, would anyone really doubt Thancred using it for the sake of vanity?

Is it just me or was there something extremely off putting about the Fortemps brothers in that last cutscene in the manor? And has anyone noticed that Artoriel is slowly putting on more Haurchefant-esque mannerisms throughout the different cutscenes in this patch? Could just be me, but he's directly quoting him, using his usual body language, and his cheery behavior when he adresses Emmanellain is odd.. at the very least Artoriel seems pretty out of character at certain parts.. Emmanellain's reaction to Artoriel was downright weird. And if you talk to Emmanellain at the jeweled crozier (he's at a new location at the top of the stairs looking out) he's being very moody, even Honoroit is freaking out.
I'm just wondering, cause there's obviously something fishy going on.. I have a feeling Artoriel becoming the count isn't a good thing.. Has anyone else noticed this?

We now have confirmation of the existence of religious fundamentalist extremists, and we know that a Primal need two things to manifest, crystals and faith. Im expecting the fury ti appear in her furious glory, as the manifestation of Ishgard's desire to be "frozen" in time (as in their desire to return to the time before the awful truth behind the war was revealed)

As for the Warriors of Darkness. I can see them (okay, Darklander) being Vegetaesque rivals, or willing to work with their Light counterpart in the fact of a bigger threat, or being ultimately tragic figure that we will have to destroy. I can also see Urianger joining them at any point.

On to Krile. So she was saved from Nabriales "rejoining" due to the Blessing of Light.

I believe in 1.0, Trevanchet (an ascien lackey?) wanted Ascillia (Minfillia) In 2.1 Elidibus mentioned how she survived the ardor/rejoining at such a young age. When/where was this ardor conducted? Clearly before 1.0 I think.

Saving the WoL from Ultima took its toll, and she was further drained due to saving Krile.

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Originally Posted by Emmanellain

Is it just me or was there something extremely off putting about the Fortemps brothers in that last cutscene in the manor? And has anyone noticed that Artoriel is slowly putting on more Haurchefant-esque mannerisms throughout the different cutscenes in this patch? Could just be me, but he's directly quoting him, using his usual body language, and his cheery behavior when he adresses Emmanellain is odd.. at the very least Artoriel seems pretty out of character at certain parts.. Emmanellain's reaction to Artoriel was downright weird. And if you talk to Emmanellain at the jeweled crozier (he's at a new location at the top of the stairs looking out) he's being very moody, even Honoroit is freaking out.
I'm just wondering, cause there's obviously something fishy going on.. I have a feeling Artoriel becoming the count isn't a good thing.. Has anyone else noticed this?

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I just checked out Emmellain's dialogue. There's some context that you might or might not be aware of: If you talked to Emmanellain after completing the 3.0 storyline, Honoroit mentions that Emmanellain had thrown himself back into martial training with unusual zeal, and speculated he intended to follow in Haurchefant's footsteps. If you talked to him after the update, Honoroit informs you that Emmanellain had, as usual, lost interest in his lessons at the first sign of difficulty. Which was disappointing to me, because I liked the idea of Emmanellain getting character development that way.

So, I can imagine seeing Artoriel making sufficient progress in leaving up to the legacy their half-brother left behind had an impact on Emmanellain. Maybe it will give him that badly needed kick in the pants that will actually stick.

Atoriel seemed less out of character to me, and more like he's undergone some character development. As he admits at the end of the Coerthas Western Highlands quest line, he harbored some resentment towards Haurchefant, and by extension was more then a little skeptical of the WoL at first. To quote:

ARTOIREL
...I would speak plain. From the first, I questioned your motives and your competence─unjustly, I now realize.
Rumors have a way of growing more fantastic as they spread, and quite frankly, those surrounding you beggar belief. But Haurchefant swore that all the stories were true. He championed your cause and begged Father to grant you patronage...
And he duly listened, because for all his wisdom, he has never been able to say no to my dear half-brother─the legacy of my father's sole indiscretion.
Mother hated him, of course. Even on her deathbed, she refused to acknowledge him. And...to be honest, she was not alone in her feelings.
But that is not the worst of it.
...At Camp Riversmeet, when we came upon the wounded knight, I knew immediately that one of us would have to pursue the heretics alone. An onerous task, fraught with danger...
And there you were─the savior of Eorzea and honored guest of House Fortemps. My new comrade-in-arms. Haurchefant's dear friend.
I told myself it was to be a test, but part of me...part of me hoped that you would fail.
Yet you accepted the task without a word of protest, nor any sign of fear. And you duly tracked the enemy down, faced him alone, and lived to tell the tale.
Plainly, Haurchefant had the right of it all along. That I doubted your strength bespeaks mine own weakness. But I will not doubt you again, on that you have my word.

Unlike Emmanellain, Artoriel became aware of his flaws, and has started working on them. He's been left with quite a lot to live up to, between Haurchefant and Count Fortemps, which is why he humbled himself enough to ask the WoL for support. And you also have to think, both Haurchefant and Emmanellain have shown traits of cheerful enthusiasm, albeit in different ways (The main difference is that Emmanellain's a coward, while Haurchefant was unflinchingly courageous). Its really not that much of a stretch to believe that its a family trait, and that Atoriel has simply kept it better hidden up until this point. And of course, its only natural that he start following Haurchefant's example to a degree, given the above dialogue.

The 3.x storyline is going to be very interesting for him, if nothing else.