Help me understand the concept of "worlds" and "source"

So I have recently come back from taking a break for a long while. I have caught up the MSQ up to defeating the Warriors of Darkness (which I just did a few mins ago).

Can someone clear up the concept of worlds and such for me cause I am having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

This is my understanding:

Hydaelyn and Zodiark once existed in Harmony until Zodiark decided he wanted more

Hydaelyn sealed Zodiark up in the moon (or what I assume to be a moon given the whole "lunar body" thing")

This action caused the "Source" (which is...something?) To be split into thirteen worlds.

Ascians seek to destroy the worlds to cause the pieces to return to the Source and make Zodiark whole, and have done so seven times.

Now here is my confusion

What is a world exactly? Is it like another planet? Another dimension/plane of existence?

What is the Source exactly? I thought it was Hydaelyn at first but it seems to be something different.

When the Ascians cause a rejoining it appears they destroy a world in doing so, it is also said that this is marked by calamities of the Umbral eras. However Eorzia is not destroyed by the Umbral...it suffers them and moves onto astral eras until the next one. Is this a case where when one world is destroyed all the others feel its effect in this Umbral Era's?

The first world (the one the warriors of darkness said is being destroyed by light)...what exactly...happened? I know that they have said it is being consumed by light and thus being destroyed but what caused it to be consumed by light (were they just defeating too many asicans?) and what do they mean turning into a void?

A lot of it is pure guesswork, but...

Other "reflections" are, indeed, alternate planes of existence that are likely similar to our own but due to the fracture at an unknown time in the distant past have radically different cultures and histories.

The "Source" is what would be termed the "prime" world in most other stories running on this sort of thing - in other words, the original world all the others are derived from.

Whether reflections suffer the effects of Umbral Eras is unknown.

We don't have exact details on what was happening on the First Reflection. Arbert mentions that it was being "erased" into "blank white perfection" - my personal interpretation of this is that it was being, well, literally erased from existence. Voidsent could not be spawned because there would be absolute nothingness. Not even the fragments of barely hospitable terrain we know to be in the void (World of Darkness) would exist. Even if a voidsent were spawned from such nothingness, it would exist in complete contradiction to those from the destroyed Thirteenth Reflection - start out enormously powerful, but have a very short "lifespan" and degrade into nothingness over time.

This came about because the Warriors of Darkness had banished all Darkness - all traces of Zodiark's influence - from their world. This tipped the cosmic scale too close to Light, causing a runaway effect that began to drain the aether from the world (instead of compressing it into a singularity as happened on the Thirteenth).

More or less we have the details straightened out here; but to add another phrasing...

As far as we know:

Hydealyn and Zodiark once shared the aetherial sea. As existence crept along, Light and Dark drifted apart, creating a binary. Zodiark (The Will of the Dark) lusted for more power and in taking it threatened the balance, so we are told. An act of self-preservation, Hydaelyn (The Will of the Light) exiled Him away from the planet and bound Him within the moon.

This act was so extreme that it stressed the fabric of the universe so hard that it cracked. Like a broken mirror, reflections of the original world (new dimensions), or shards, fanned out in all directions, carrying with them varying balances of Light and Dark of their own. Each of these dimensions is now a world of its own. Our fourteen total dimensions started identically but have been developing independently ever since.

They are other dimensions, we just don't know how big they are. Are there really entire universes? No idea. The Source is the original world - the mirror that all the shards were broken from. It is the dimension that we live on, the dimension where Hydaelyn still resides.

This status quo leaves Zodiark powerless and alone; he has been quarantined for his alleged transgressions. The Ascians are loyal to the Will of the Dark and seek to see him resurrected. They see the fractured universe as an aberration of nature - an abomination.

To "heal" the universe, they cause a great deal of chaos on the Source and one of the reflected dimensions to weaken the boundaries between them. If that wall comes down, everything on the reflected universe is annihilated and its aether is returned to the Source in a great deluge of chaos and imbalance (a Calamity). They believe that this aether can be funneled to Zodiark to help his resurrection.

It's implied, but not confirmed, that the Source experiences repeated Calamities, but the reflected worlds (shards) only experience the one that destroys their world and returns all aether to the Source.

The great disasters that the people of the Source remember as "Calamities" are such events. Seven worlds have been rejoined. However, one world has also been completely lost. The Ascians in black don't have any concept of moderation, they play to win. Unfortunately for everyone involved, if either side wins too hard, the world is annihilated by a Flood of Light or Flood of Darkness that completely eradicates all aether and leaves a void in its wake. The Thirteenth was lost in this manner and is the home of all the monstrous entities we know and love.

This is one place Cilia and I have divergent theories, or rather, he jumps farther ahead than I do. Light and Darkness have always acted similarly, from Floods to sprites. The "blank white perfection" (EN only) refers to events that are happening; the world hasn't fallen yet, isn't devoid of aether, the denizens aren't yet starving souls battling over scraps, etc. Urianger says that the denizens of the First, like the denizens of the Thirteenth, would never again know life or death; he makes it sound like Arbert is worried about more than simple extinction. It's possible that light- and dark-born voids behave differently, of course, I'm just playing it safe until further information. With all the similarities on both sides of the binary, perhaps the emptiness left in the wake of a flood might be the same regardless of whether it was Light or Dark's fault.

As far as we know, Elidibus is the arbitrator. He stops the Ascians in black from winning to hard, he stops the Warriors of Light from winning too hard. He keeps wars ever escalating in perfect balance so that the calamities will rejoin the aether to Zodiark and, upon his resurrection, the Source will still be here for Him to claim.

I theorize that if the Ascians were made impotent, and Zodiark rendered silent, the rest of the dimensions could co-exist for all time if Hydaelyn, too, sat out and let Her children thrive. But we'll see. Hints do seem to say that both Light and Dark need to gtfo, but there's more than one way to go about that. We could cause them to re-merge and annihilate each other, as well ... we're just not sure mortal life would fare well in that case, so I'm sticking with the former, for now, lol.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

To "heal" the universe, they cause a great deal of chaos on the Source and one of the reflected dimensions to weaken the boundaries between them. If that wall comes down, everything on the reflected universe is annihilated and its aether is returned to the Source in a great deluge of chaos and imbalance (a Calamity). They believe that this aether can be funneled to Zodiark to help his resurrection.

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Apologies if I'm just misunderstanding the semantics, but this actually runs contrary to my own understanding - I thought that the calamities were deliberately engineered by the Ascians to make Hydaelyn desperate enough to absorb a Shard; ie, the Calamities cause Rejoinings, not the other way around (at least, not on the Source).

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Originally Posted by Hinoto-no-Ryuji

Apologies if I'm just misunderstanding the semantics

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I'm not sure if a why has been made explicitly clear, but the precise phrasing the game uses across several languages is that The Ardor / The Calamity "blows out the dimensional barrier and causes the dimensions to be merged", and at such a time "every living thing on the reflected world is reduced to aether, and that aether is rejoined to our world".

Different people have understood this in different ways, and I believe you are referencing the theory that a vacuum is created in our world that sucks the shard in, either incidentally (by loss of aether) or by desperation (Hydaelyn choosees to do so to survive). For my own part, I've tried not to interpret it as anything more specific anywhere it isn't needed to build the next tier on a theory's house of cards, lol.

I will grab you an example in just a moment; just need to finish translating something else.
EDIT: WHEW. Done. Apologies for the wait, I'd lost stuff and there was more PVP and excuses excuses excuses.

Word of the Mother / Warrior of Darkness explanations in each language:

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Originally Posted by The Word of the Mother (EN)

Zodiark longeth to be made whole. For His restoration, for His resurrection, His servants labor without cease. They seek to tear down the barriers which surround the Source. Thus do they rejoice in their Ardor─in your calamities─for each marks a Rejoining.

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Originally Posted by The Word of the Mother (JP)

月に追放されたゾディアークは、使徒たるアシエンを使わし、世界を統合しようとしています。
Zodairk, exiled to the moon, is using his Ascian apostles to try to re-integrate the world.

闇の力をより合わせ、完全なる復活を成そうというのです。
By amassing the power of the Darkness, they aim for a complete resurrection.

そのためには、ここ「原初世界」の側から、「世界を分かつ壁」を破壊しなければならない。
To accomplish this, from the side of the "original world" (Source), they must destroy "world-dividing wall".

これこそが「次元圧壊」であり、アシエンたちが「アーダー」と呼ぶ現象なのです。
This is the "Dimensional Crush" (Rejoining), a phenomenon known to the Ascians as "The Ardor".

そして、人の歴史では、これに伴う災厄を「霊災」と呼ぶ。
And, throughout human history, the disaster that accompanies this is called "The Calamity".

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Originally Posted by Word of the Mother (FR)

Cloîtré sur la lune et bouillonnant de colère, Zordiarche résolut d'accomplir sa vengeance envers Hydaelyn. Il décida d'employer ses fidèles serviteurs, les Asciens, à coaliser les puissances des Ténèbres afin de permettre sa renaissance.
Cloistered within the moon and seething with wrath, Zodiark resolved to accomplish his vengeance upon Hydaelyn. He decided to employ his faithful servants, the Ascians, to unite the power of Darkness and allow for his rebirth.

Pour ce faire, il a principalement besoin d'une chose: détruire la barrière qui sépare le monde primitif des autres.
For this task, he principally requires one thing: to destroy the barrier that separates the original world with others.

Voilà l'Ardor que les Asciens appellent de leurs vœux. Quant aux êtres humains, les nombreuses souffrances qu'ils ont dû endurer les ont poussés à donner un autre nom à ce phénomène: le Fléau...
This is the Ardor for which the Ascians rejoice in welcoming. As for the humans, the numerous sufferings that they had to endure pressed them to don another name upon this phenomenon: The Calamity...

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Originally Posted by Word of the Mother (DE)

Zodiark versucht, mit Hilfe seiner Jünger, der Ascians, die Dimensionen aufs Neue zu verschmelzen, um wieder zu vollen Kräften zu gelangen.
Zodiark, with the help of his disciples, the Ascians, seeks to fuse the dimensions anew that he might once again attain his full power.

Wenn die Verschmelzung vollbracht ist und alle Welten in ihre Urgestalt einer einzigen Welt zurückgeführt sind, vermag Zodiark mich mit Sicherheit zu überwinden.
When the fusion is complete and all the worlds are in their original unity and returned to a single world, Zodiark will certainly overcome me.

„Nova“ nennen die Ascians die Löschung einer Dimension, das Einreißen der Mauern zwischen unserer Welt und einer anderen. Dramatische Ereignisse, die wir als „Katastrophen“ kennen.
"Nova" (Ardor) is what the Ascians call the extinction of a dimension, the tearing down of the wall between our world and another. Dramatic events that are known as "Calamities".

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Originally Posted by Warrior of Darkness (EN)

And so we joined hands with our former enemies, and with their aid came here...to the Source. For there is but one way to restore the balance and save our home: the Ardor. Calamitous destruction with the power to break down the barriers between planes, and see our worlds rejoined.

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Originally Posted by Warrior of Darkness (JP)

俺たちの故郷を救う唯一の方法は、この世界でアーダー、つまり「霊災」を起こすこと……そうして次元の壁を壊し、第一世界を原初世界に統合する。
The only way to save our home is to render the Ardor - that is, a Calamity - in this world... This will destroy the dimensional walls and integrete the First to the Original.

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Originally Posted by Warrior of Darkness (FR)

Il n'existe qu'une seule manière de sauver notre dimension: nous devons provoquer l'Ardor dans la vôtre. Lorsque ce nouveau “Fléau” sera survenu, il fera sauter la barrière interdimensionnelle et nos deux mondes fusionneront.
There exists only one way to save our dimension: we must provoke the Ardor within yours. When this new Calamity occurs, the interdimensional barrier will be blown out and our worlds will be fused.

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Originally Posted by Warrior of Darkness (DE)

Und der einzige Weg zur Rettung ist, eine Katastrophe herbeizuführen, um unsere Welt mit der euren zu vereinigen.
The one path to salvation is a catastrophe that will unite our world with yours.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

They are other dimensions, we just don't know how big they are. Are there really entire universes? No idea. The Source is the original world - the mirror that all the shards were broken from. It is the dimension that we live on, the dimension where Hydaelyn still resides.

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Ok so wait....the game and the heroes (us) take place on the source world, not a reflection or fragment world?

Also a few people have mentioned the "thirteenth world". I may not be remembering the cutscene (or maybe it wasnt stated in the MSQ line) but it seems to be that people are saying this is the world where the voidsent come from. How do we know this?

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Originally Posted by Timat

Ok so wait....the game and the heroes (us) take place on the source world, not a reflection or fragment world?

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Correct!

Hydaelyn refers to it as the Source, and in other languages it's sometimes called the "Primordial" or "Original" world, especially by the Warriors of Darkness. Lahabrea was from this world, which is why he wielded so much power here and had fewer limitations. Elidibus (the emissary of Zodiark) is also from this dimension, as one might expect if it's where Hydaelyn and Zodiark originated.

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Originally Posted by Timat

I may not be remembering the cutscene <...> but it seems to be that people are saying this is the world where the voidsent come from. How do we know this?

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The Warrior of Darkness states the jist of it in the cutscene after Xelphatol (Shadows of the First) and then Unukalhai really drives the point home and explains it during the Warring Triad scenario after returning from Zurvan.