[5.55 Bozja spoilers] Additional post-ending Bozja story hidden in the field record

In hindsight, when considering the absurd variety of different Garlean technologies Sicinius had access to, if Gabranth and Lyon opted to seize those from him they could feasibly build a new IVth legion by simply creating an army of autonomous magitek and super-powered clone soldiers provided they had the requisite manpower.

It did feel a little underwhelming that the Garlean empire conveniently collapsed right after they had started dabble in new technology that would've made them a horrific threat to the Eorzean Alliance, so I'm kind of hoping it ends up resurfacing in significant capacity, whether in the MSQ or sidequests.

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Originally Posted by Garnix

I think we won't see those forum posts because we will meet with Lyon again, and we will see the event in an echo flashback.
I also think that the two weapons will be used by Lyon and Pagaga and we will see those again.
The only part that really bothers me about all of it is the 'resistance wins' part...

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Remember Menenius II field notes...it's implied by Menenius in them that Noah already has a puppet high up in the Dalmascan Resistance that he can manipulate to make his idealistic country. It's very likely that they only won because he wanted them to win at this juncture. And depending on how they play his puppet...it's very possible that it could even be the princess herself since she's suffering from memory issues currently.

The only thing I'm curious about is... Isn't that axe literally just the Second-tier Omega axe? You also see bozjans wielding it on multiple occasions...

But all in all this thread is PHENOMENAL and gives me so much hope for the future of Hydaelyn's rendition of Ivalice.
Other things that make me hopeful aside from literally anything mentioned are..
-Well, we're still missing Vayne's, Ashe's, Al-Cid's, and Cid's outfits. I can totally see some of those being a thing we get down the line.
-Also the fact that so many different conclusion skirmishes resulted in the foes being like "Til we meet again" or something to that effect. Pagaga and Daguza stand out here.
-Then Meryall's text in the camp, as well as Fran's parting words.
-The Nagxians/Oboro&Tsubame's surprise inclusions.
-AND Hien's notes kind of alluding to this being a continuation.

I honestly feel like each of the field notes are pieces of a grander puzzle.

I wonder if they will continue with the Ivalice stuff?
https://i.imgur.com/vI6Y6Ou.png

If this is to be believed then Matsuno might no longer be working with FFXIV team any more and it might explain why we got those Field Records by the end.

That said, it could still be continued up by a different writer in the team maybe?

Well crap. Why do I suspect the higher-ups at SE tried to interfere since he has worked with 2 storylines for the MMO already without being an employee? Matsuno isn't really a fan of them after the executive meddling of FF12.

I have a feeling if it continues in the future, it may become MSQ without us having to do Bozja (considering the reported death and all that). As for the writer...perhaps the HW writer since he did a real good job with the Dragonsong War?

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Originally Posted by myahele

I wonder if they will continue with the Ivalice stuff?
https://i.imgur.com/vI6Y6Ou.png

If this is to be believed then Matsuno might no longer be working with FFXIV team any more and it might explain why we got those Field Records by the end.

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I'd say this is a pretty convincing argument for why the Field Notes randomly wrap up most of the story, if not all of it, via offscreen future events. That's a damn shame if true—I was more hooked on the plot for Return to Ivalice and Save the Queen than I was for certain parts of Shadowbringers' story. To say nothing of the YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse plotline, which is the first time I've ever felt crossover content came at the expense of the game itself.

Between this and the festival teased during Eden's Promise (5.4) never materializing, I have to admit to feeling a little let down. Then again, I haven't felt like logging on the past few weeks anyways, so perhaps that's just me trying to justify my lack of interest in playing until Endwalker (or an event, if there's glamour to be had).

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Well crap. Why do I suspect the higher-ups at SE tried to interfere since he has worked with 2 storylines for the MMO already without being an employee? Matsuno isn't really a fan of them after the executive meddling of FF12.

I have a feeling if it continues in the future, it may become MSQ without us having to do Bozja (considering the reported death and all that). As for the writer...perhaps the HW writer since he did a real good job with the Dragonsong War?

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Maehiro is most likely (not confirmed) working on FFXVI... So maybe after he's done there?

All I will mention at this time is this--

My immense disappointment in not being able to battle Noah at the end remains unabated-- that was a missed opportunity to develop an epic closure to the tale. I'll make the excuse for the Dev team that they were too busy with 6.0 to give this story arc the ending it deserved.

However-- I reckon we will see him in Endwalker.

The way I'd interpreted the field notes on Gabranth with Lyon "assassinating" him was that Gabranth really did fall sick. He couldn't see his dream through, and Lyon gave him a merciful euthanization. I'm welcome to see more of this storyline, but I do think that it was concluded. At least as a war time/full blown area type of content.

I suspect we may meet Lyon in the future.

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Originally Posted by Vyrerus

The way I'd interpreted the field notes on Gabranth with Lyon "assassinating" him was that Gabranth really did fall sick. He couldn't see his dream through, and Lyon gave him a merciful euthanization. I'm welcome to see more of this storyline, but I do think that it was concluded. At least as a war time/full blown area type of content.

I suspect we may meet Lyon in the future.

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Agreed, I understood it that way too. Actually I view it as a possible future, but the last cutscene they gave, still showing Gabranth around Dalmasca, I hope that we'll go there again soon, maybe starting at 6.1+ as some said or for another eureka/relic-like content (though it would be repetitive to have 2 relic contents in the same region)
However, there's something that bothered me, if someone can explain...
In Lyon's note it's said that he's 68 year old, but in the same time he was not even 20 year old when he got command over a legion when Bozja was invaded but the Bozja citadel accident happened barely 10 years prior to the 7th Calamity so let's say about 15 years prior to present events (at most 20 years if we take 1 expansion = 1 year),
So how can he possibly be this aged in 20 years max only... either the field notes describe some futures for some characters and in that case the age mentioned is for the future mentioned or the age mentioned is at present regardless what is said in the said note...

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Originally Posted by Astralia

Agreed, I understood it that way too. Actually I view it as a possible future, but the last cutscene they gave, still showing Gabranth around Dalmasca, I hope that we'll go there again soon, maybe starting at 6.1+ as some said or for another eureka/relic-like content (though it would be repetitive to have 2 relic contents in the same region)
However, there's something that bothered me, if someone can explain...
In Lyon's note it's said that he's 68 year old, but in the same time he was not even 20 year old when he got command over a legion when Bozja was invaded but the Bozja citadel accident happened barely 10 years prior to the 7th Calamity so let's say about 15 years prior to present events (at most 20 years if we take 1 expansion = 1 year),
So how can he possibly be this aged in 20 years max only... either the field notes describe some futures for some characters and in that case the age mentioned is for the future mentioned or the age mentioned is at present regardless what is said in the said note...

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Bozja was invaded, "over 30 years ago." Not sure how long it took Garlemald to subjugate completely, but that's, "over 30 years" prior to the events of 1.0, as I understand things. So that's a minimum of, "over 35 years" and, "well before his twentieth nameday" could mean as late as the year he turned 20. That'd bring him up to 55, going as a baseline by the start of 2.0. 13 years missing somewhere...

Of course, it could also be talking about, "well before his twentieth nameday" in so far as, 20 years of service required to gain Garlean citizenship, leaving just exactly how long he's been in imperial service not exact.

Ah yes, you're right ! Didn't have pay attention enough to this, I... had understood that Bozja was invaded at most a few years ago before the citadel explodes... well, even if some years are missing surely there's an explanation or that's not so wrong for him to be 68 already indeed, thanks !

To further back up the claims of 30 years, Sartauvoir's Field Notes state that he's been with the IVth Legion for almost 30 years and was recruited by Basch after the invasion of Bozja in order to build up a mage cadre capable of taking on Dalmasca. Although hilariously, the timeline on Page 51 of Encyclopedia Eorzea Vol. I states that Dalmasca was conquered in 1517 which is a whopping 60 years ago. Gotta admit, the thought of an eight year old Lyon running into battle with a beard and an Ifrit Axe is amazing.

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Originally Posted by myahele

I wonder if they will continue with the Ivalice stuff?
https://i.imgur.com/vI6Y6Ou.png

If this is to be believed then Matsuno might no longer be working with FFXIV team any more and it might explain why we got those Field Records by the end.

That said, it could still be continued up by a different writer in the team maybe?

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He’s come out with a few more posts since then. Basically saying Dalmasca was already liberated and he left fragments in the field notes to give us the ending of the story. This is so sad honestly. It’s sad that the shitty nier story took up resources on what could’ve been put towards this story. This was one of the few side stories i was extremely engaged in, and i was excited to finally meet and have a fight against Gabranth after they’ve hyped him for two expansions now and then this happens. Another piece of cut content to add to the long list of this expansion i suppose...jesus

Frankly disappointing that Matsuno is no longer working with the XIV team, I've really enjoyed the ongoing IV legion storyline. Also I'm Bozja was planned to have 3 regions cos compared to Eureka it felt relatively unfinished

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Originally Posted by waifugenerator

Frankly disappointing that Matsuno is no longer working with the XIV team, I've really enjoyed the ongoing IV legion storyline. Also I'm Bozja was planned to have 3 regions cos compared to Eureka it felt relatively unfinished

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I'm fairly certain that Delebrum was supposed to be connected to the 2nd region, and it felt like Castrum was supposed to have a solo instance or something considering there's a path down into the sewers you can see that we never take.

Yeah, it's disappointing to me as well - and it doesn't fill me with confidence that 6.0 will wrap up the existing plot threads in a satisfying manner. I thought that the writing in the Save the Queen storyline was some of the strongest in the game to date, with plenty of nuance and a very likable cast of characters on both sides of the conflict. I would've liked to see Matsuno do further work on FFXIV, even if it were limited to side content.

We'll see what 6.1+ brings, I suppose. Hopefully it has some depth and reasonably high stakes to it. Though if it doesn't, at least there's a few upcoming MMO's on the horizon that appeal to me in the form of Blue Protocol, Ashes of Creation and Pantheon. I'm hoping at least one of them does very well for itself and moves forward taking itself seriously where its story is concerned. Both for the sake of providing FFXIV with some healthy competition and also for the sake of providing people with an option that isn't WoW or FFXIV.

I'm willing to give the development team a chance to see what they have in store, though if the story is going to build things up only to discard them abruptly - as has been the case for a while now - then all I'll say on the matter is that it's the same approach that led me to giving up on WoW after years of investment. If need be, I'll do the same with FFXIV.

I've had a lot of people messaging me in-game expressing similar concerns, though for now my best advice has been to wait and see how 6.0 chooses to conduct itself. Which means we have to play the waiting game until late November, unfortunately!

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

I'm fairly certain that Delebrum was supposed to be connected to the 2nd region, and it felt like Castrum was supposed to have a solo instance or something considering there's a path down into the sewers you can see that we never take.

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I was going to say this as well. Castrum itself just feels so insignificant and out of place imo as the main instance of the zone. I felt like castrum was supposed to be a solo instance and Delubrum perhaps the actual instance of zone 1. With zadnor being zone 2 and then Gabranth zone 3. They wasted story elements on castrum imo, because they could’ve merged both the DR plot and castrum plot into one as opposed to spreading them out. I guess that’s a consequence of rushed writing though. Honestly this isn’t giving me good hope for Endwalkers, considering the time for that too was cut short. From what was supposed to be 7.0 is now 6.0 and they aren’t using the post patches to continue the story for that. It’s all just going to end in 6.0 and with all of the plot threads i feel like we’re going to have another bozja situation where 90% of it is resolved off screen.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

We'll see what 6.1+ brings, I suppose. Hopefully it has some depth and reasonably high stakes to it. Though if it doesn't, at least there's a few upcoming MMO's on the horizon that appeal to me in the form of Blue Protocol, Ashes of Creation and Pantheon. I'm hoping at least one of them does very well for itself and moves forward taking itself seriously where its story is concerned. Both for the sake of providing FFXIV with some healthy competition and also for the sake of providing people with an option that isn't WoW or FFXIV.

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Hate to tell you, but Yoshi-P confirmed that 6.0 is the last time we'll have a world ending stake in things. After this, it'll likely be us exploring new parts of the world and dealing with lesser world changing events, such as wars, sealed magicks, and well-intentioned extremists who feel the only way to change things in a place is to burn it all to the ground.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Hate to tell you, but Yoshi-P confirmed that 6.0 is the last time we'll have a world ending stake in things. After this, it'll likely be us exploring new parts of the world and dealing with lesser world changing events, such as wars, sealed magicks, and well-intentioned extremists who feel the only way to change things in a place is to burn it all to the ground.

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He didn’t necessarily confirm that. The only thing he said regarding that is future stories will be more enclosed and less stemming from previous arcs. They’ll be their own self contained stories. Morning about this being the last world ending stake in things. Or lesser world changing events. Dunno where you even got that last point from lmao.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Hate to tell you, but Yoshi-P confirmed that 6.0 is the last time we'll have a world ending stake in things. After this, it'll likely be us exploring new parts of the world and dealing with lesser world changing events, such as wars, sealed magicks, and well-intentioned extremists who feel the only way to change things in a place is to burn it all to the ground.

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I don't think that stakes need to necessarily be 'world ending' to be successful. Though out of curiosity where did Yoshi-P say as much?

A move towards more self contained stories, provided that they're genuinely engaging, is probably for the best at this point.

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Originally Posted by KizuyaKatogami

He didn’t necessarily confirm that. The only thing he said regarding that is future stories will be more enclosed and less stemming from previous arcs. They’ll be their own self contained stories. Morning about this being the last world ending stake in things. Or lesser world changing events. Dunno where you even got that last point from lmao.

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That makes sense from a practical game-running standpoint. More opportunity to invite new people to boost to the current expansion if they prefer and not feel like they have to play everything else to understand what's going on, plus inevitably at some stage there will be a final expansion and they don't want to get caught mid-story-arc if the plug gets pulled unexpectedly.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

That makes sense from a practical game-running standpoint. More opportunity to invite new people to boost to the current expansion if they prefer and not feel like they have to play everything else to understand what's going on, plus inevitably at some stage there will be a final expansion and they don't want to get caught mid-story-arc if the plug gets pulled unexpectedly.

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I agree. The self contained stories remark is most certainly true. Only thing i was saying he didn’t confirm was the whole there won’t be anymore huge world changing events. Afaik he never even mentioned anything of that sort.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

I don't think that stakes need to necessarily be 'world ending' to be successful. Though out of curiosity where did Yoshi-P say as much?

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Originally Posted by KizuyaKatogami

I agree. The self contained stories remark is most certainly true. Only thing i was saying he didn’t confirm was the whole there won’t be anymore huge world changing events. Afaik he never even mentioned anything of that sort.

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I was looking for the answer to you both, and apparently I had misread one of the interviews he did. It was mostly on how they weren't going to do anything that would change up the world or invalidate your previous efforts, meaning no amnesia or Dalamud type world changes again.

Honestly if this is how Save the Queen really does end it's a lot of wasted potential. The story wasn't without gripes from me, a little too much introducing character only for them to die a short while later, but things like the Field Guide did a lot to make me personally connect with the story. It was a war story, through and through, with all the victories and uncompromising loss that comes with war. I just hope that we can get something in the future that lets us visit Bozja and Dalmasca after liberation even if it doesn't directly continue the story of Save the Queen.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

I was looking for the answer to you both, and apparently I had misread one of the interviews he did. It was mostly on how they weren't going to do anything that would change up the world or invalidate your previous efforts, meaning no amnesia or Dalamud type world changes again.

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The understanding I got was they'll begin a new arc that is going to build up over a few expansions like the Zodiark/Hydaelyn story did and while that builds we'll get the more self contained stories in each expansion until this new major arc is ready to take center stage.

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Originally Posted by Ronald_Bloodwings

The understanding I got was they'll begin a new arc that is going to build up over a few expansions like the Zodiark/Hydaelyn story did and while that builds we'll get the more self contained stories in each expansion until this new major arc is ready to take center stage.

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I really hope this is what was truly meant.

The reality is a story built over multiple expansions is more satisficing then anything that is self contained. This is the same difference between a novel and shorty story, or a movie and tv show. We can see the artistic merit in both, but the commercial reality shows that novels and movies make way more money because they are enjoyed more often for the LENGTH of storytelling.

In fact this whole thread is lamenting how making Bozja a self-contained tale has damaged it's potential and what the community wanted out of it.

Pairing expansions down to one self-contained story will damage the game. I hope Yoshi-p and SE understand that.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

In fact this whole thread is lamenting how making Bozja a self-contained tale has damaged it's potential and what the community wanted out of it.

Pairing expansions down to one self-contained story will damage the game. I hope Yoshi-p and SE understand that.

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I feel like it has more to do with them rushing things and where their priorities were this expansion. I don’t think it being a self-contained tale is what caused that nor do i think it will damage the game. Yoshi himself said the long arc-ing stories take a toll and are harder to develop and they can be harder for new players to get into.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

In fact this whole thread is lamenting how making Bozja a self-contained tale has damaged it's potential and what the community wanted out of it.

Pairing expansions down to one self-contained story will damage the game. I hope Yoshi-p and SE understand that.

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I'm hoping they take a page out of ESO and make it so it starts off seeming like the stories are standalone, only for you to slowly notice a pattern or overarching thread linking them together. Example, ESO had a number of side content and an expansion that seemed stand alone, but you started noticing threads linking them...and then they're all pieced together in the next expansion, leading to the end of that story arc. It kinda floored me that there was basically 5 storylines that seemed to have nothing to do together, only to suddenly link together and converge into the finale. After doing that, you start noticing the threads a hell of a lot easier in the earlier content that led up to it. Though if they were to do this, I would prefer 2 expansion story arcs. Meaning all the side content in one expansion starts hinting to it, just for the next expansion to confirm and move things towards the finale of it.

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Originally Posted by KizuyaKatogami

I feel like it has more to do with them rushing things and where their priorities were this expansion. I don’t think it being a self-contained tale is what caused that nor do i think it will damage the game. Yoshi himself said the long arc-ing stories take a toll and are harder to develop and they can be harder for new players to get into.

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There's also the fact that Bozja's storyline directly ties with the main game's storyline. It's literally about the Garlean Empire, but it stands in a weird place as 6.0 suggests the end of Garlemald.

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Originally Posted by Raikai

There's also the fact that Bozja's storyline directly ties with the main game's storyline. It's literally about the Garlean Empire, but it stands in a weird place as 6.0 suggests the end of Garlemald.

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Well that isn’t *too* jarring because they do acknowledge the fact that Gabranth’s legion is moreso separated from Garlemald, so much so he doesn’t request troops from them iirc. So he’s moreso detached from Garlemald itself and that’s what made it even more interesting to me. I do think though, Garlemald wasn’t originally supposed to be the destroyed. It just seems like an extremely lazy way to cut off multiple plot points that they don’t want to write.

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Originally Posted by KizuyaKatogami

Well that isn’t *too* jarring because they do acknowledge the fact that Gabranth’s legion is moreso separated from Garlemald, so much so he doesn’t request troops from them iirc. So he’s moreso detached from Garlemald itself and that’s what made it even more interesting to me. I do think though, Garlemald wasn’t originally supposed to be the destroyed. It just seems like an extremely lazy way to cut off multiple plot points that they don’t want to write.

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Garlemald was always going to be destroyed. Every empire or corporate empire falls in every Final Fantasy. The question was just going to be by what means.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

Garlemald was always going to be destroyed. Every empire or corporate empire falls in every Final Fantasy. The question was just going to be by what means.

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I mean, the empire doesn’t fall in ff12. So that’s not really true. You don’t know if it was going to fall or not, but my main point anyway was it most likely wasn’t going to happen this soon if at all, considering the hydy zodi arc was supposed to end in 7.0 not 6.0, and considering most of the destruction of it happens off screen well, pretty self explanatory.

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Originally Posted by KizuyaKatogami

I mean, the empire doesn’t fall in ff12. So that’s not really true. You don’t know if it was going to fall or not, but my main point anyway was it most likely wasn’t going to happen this soon if at all, considering the hydy zodi arc was supposed to end in 7.0 not 6.0, and considering most of the destruction of it happens off screen well, pretty self explanatory.

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I still don't think it's going to completely fall. I think it's going to be another FF12 where a new heir takes the reins. I still think Nerva may end up being the "Larsa" of Garlemald.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

I still don't think it's going to completely fall. I think it's going to be another FF12 where a new heir takes the reins. I still think Nerva may end up being the "Larsa" of Garlemald.

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That's an interesting thought. In my mind Gaius would have been the one to take over. Idk, guess we'll see in November.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

I still don't think it's going to completely fall. I think it's going to be another FF12 where a new heir takes the reins. I still think Nerva may end up being the "Larsa" of Garlemald.

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Originally Posted by Kesey

That's an interesting thought. In my mind Gaius would have been the one to take over. Idk, guess we'll see in November.

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Honestly I'd be very wary of having any single character "take over", in a way that matters within the setting, rather than just having a single character be the "face" of the nation for marketing purposes. I'd be perfectly fine with Garlemald reforming to have a Parliament/Forum/Senate, and maybe Nerva or Gaius or Maxima will happen to be the representative, the way Aymeric is for Ishgard, or Lyse is for Ala Mhigo. (And yes, I'm still really uncomfortable with Merlwyb and Limsa Lominsa's political situation.)

My stance has always been that the Empire must die, or at least be turned into "Empire in name only". Garlemald should choose another form of government that does not involve conquest (whether violent or otherwise), which is what imperialism inherently is. So in that sense, I do not see the Garlean Empire surviving. (I'm cautiously betting on the Garlean Republic rising again, but it could be any number of other political systems that serve the same ends.)

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Originally Posted by YianKutku

Honestly I'd be very wary of having any single character "take over", in a way that matters within the setting, rather than just having a single character be the "face" of the nation for marketing purposes. I'd be perfectly fine with Garlemald reforming to have a Parliament/Forum/Senate, and maybe Nerva or Gaius or Maxima will happen to be the representative, the way Aymeric is for Ishgard, or Lyse is for Ala Mhigo. (And yes, I'm still really uncomfortable with Merlwyb and Limsa Lominsa's political situation.)

My stance has always been that the Empire must die, or at least be turned into "Empire in name only". Garlemald should choose another form of government that does not involve conquest (whether violent or otherwise), which is what imperialism inherently is. So in that sense, I do not see the Garlean Empire surviving. (I'm cautiously betting on the Garlean Republic rising again, but it could be any number of other political systems that serve the same ends.)

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I don’t think they really need to change much. Like other’s have mentioned, i think Nerva will be a Larsa-like figure who keeps the Empire’s core ideals and simply keeps friendly ties with the other nations. I’d rather that and they get to have their own provinces than the Alliance try to alliance-fy them. That would be extremely boring.I’m curious what you mean on being extremely careful of having a single character take over? It worked very well in 12 which is a game they take heavy inspiration from. Also i don’t think conquest is bad, necessarily. It’s just natural with the way things are in the setting. Just like irl where we wouldn’t be where we are today with conquest.

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Originally Posted by KizuyaKatogami

Also i don’t think conquest is bad, necessarily. It’s just natural with the way things are in the setting. Just like irl where we wouldn’t be where we are today with conquest.

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I mean cool thoughts but it is. There's no reason for the subjugation of others. Even from your perspective, scientific advancement can be achieved much faster and much better with collaboration than conquest.

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Originally Posted by GoldStarz

I mean cool thoughts but it is. There's no reason for the subjugation of others. Even from your perspective, scientific advancement can be achieved much faster and much better with collaboration than conquest.

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Except in the Garlean case, it was literally a matter of either attempt to conquer or become literally extinct. Our history has been full of and involved with conquest. It isn’t any different in the games story.Conquest is a major part in both the history of our world and the history in the setting of the game. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing whatsoever, in many cases conquest led to people leading more free lives and safety under the law of others.Conquering brings benefits, it doesnt just not bring anyting.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

I'm hoping they take a page out of ESO and make it so it starts off seeming like the stories are standalone, only for you to slowly notice a pattern or overarching thread linking them together. Example, ESO had a number of side content and an expansion that seemed stand alone, but you started noticing threads linking them...and then they're all pieced together in the next expansion, leading to the end of that story arc. It kinda floored me that there was basically 5 storylines that seemed to have nothing to do together, only to suddenly link together and converge into the finale. After doing that, you start noticing the threads a hell of a lot easier in the earlier content that led up to it. Though if they were to do this, I would prefer 2 expansion story arcs. Meaning all the side content in one expansion starts hinting to it, just for the next expansion to confirm and move things towards the finale of it.

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I agree and I like this sort of approach. I think XIV leans very heavily on one singular common thread in its MSQ, but I also wouldn't want to go to the opposite end of no connection between stories. A subtler, overarching connecting thread that is gradually pulled apart would be ideal. That said, I'd like to see that achieved without the baggage of the whole WoL role.