Did anyone ever figure out the "spoilers" in the Zodiark/Hydaelyn artwork?

So a few days ago someone brought up the promotional Zodiark/Hydaelyn artwork for Endwalker. And while I was looking at it again, I was reminded that Yoshi-P said there was a "story spoiler" hidden in the artwork. Now I've played through Endwalker, but I don't seen any subtle, or not so subtle, hints.

I mean I could make guesses and generalize some of what I see, but by the way Yoshi-P said it, the spoiler would be obvious once we realized; like if there was a blue bird in the artwork. But I don't see anything. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Maybe it's a metaphor? The descent and end of the era in which Zodiark stood watch, and a representation of the freedom Hydaelyn desired for Etheirys ascending.

You could consider it a spoiler just in the sense that it accurately depicted how the two gods looked in advance when that otherwise was a total enigma until we met them in person.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KageTokage

You could consider it a spoiler just in the sense that it accurately depicted how the two gods looked in advance when that otherwise was a total enigma until we met them in person.

---

I mean Hydaelyn looks similar, but Zodiark looks a lot more, uh, human, than what we actually see in game.

Didnt know if there was a spoiler without context in that poster, since its just Hydaelyn and Zodiark in the entire image.

I suppose if we try to bs guess what in the hells he was talking about would be how Hydaelyn bears a similar semblence to Endsinger???

Looking at it again, I see some parts of Ultima Thule in the top right. There are probably a few more easter eggs.
Flip the image and you can see a black bird in Zodiark's wing.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/...1MzI@._V1_.jpg

I still get the feeling that the artwork was commissioned before they'd completely ironed out the story. So maybe whatever spoiler would've been there ended up not relevant to the final product. Might also explain why neither of them really looks much like they do in-game (although that could just be stylistic choice, too).

Even the reveal of the artwork made no sense at the time.

"We want to tell a story where there is no good side and no bad side!" they say as they show off a picture of angelic Hydaelyn and first-ever representation of Zodiark as a monstrous demon.

Zodiark absolutely should have had a human form to match Hydaelyn.

Well, now that I'm looking more closely, it almost seems as if a blue bird is laying on top of Hydaelyn's head. So there's the spoiler I guess.

Why the bird is on her side instead of Zodiark's might be a bit confusing but it could just be acting as a foreshadow of sorts.

Speaking as a fan of Yoshitaka Amano (who was the artist who did the artwork) you can't really take much out of his art at face value as his art is purely symbolic or metaphorical - also he tends to embelish artwork with his own unique flourishes, and that is pretty much the case with the EW cover of Hydaelyn and Zodiark. Also Amano seemed to have portrayed Zodiark as looking more like Chaos from FFI,

rather than the weird tentacled thing wearing a toilet seat lid for a mask with bits missing from him as he ended up as.

And remember, as we found out Zodiark wasn't even a conscious entity anymore but just an empty shell - really all we did in the Dark Inside was fight Fannyboy wearing him as a suit - so that artwork clearly doesn't give that vibe off either.

It's best to just take what Yoshi said as a red herring designed to throw players off the scent so that they will completely unexpect plot twists (which, after all, makes the story better anyway, or at least theoretically).