Prelude in Violet impressions and what I expect from the transition from 4.5 to 5.0

So recently I finally decided to finish the MSQs I had left for patch 4.4 Prelude in Violet.And contrasting that with the recent trailer for Shadowbringers and 4.5 details,there is quite a lot to unpack.


First off:The Call

Part of me is thinking that the voice calling to the scions and the Warrior of Light has to be Arbert. The voice sounds somewhat similar and it would make sense considering that his world was destroyed by a flood of light and he'd warn the WoL of a similar calamity coming to their realm.The consequence of this call however is that Thancred,Yshtola and Urianger fell unconcious into a slumber due to their souls seemingly being taken into a different plain of existence..........which would explain why The scions are considered dead by others once the story wraps up in 4.5


Secondly:Solus Zos Galvus.

Turns out that Solus is not only alive,but he was an ascian all along which means the reason Garlemald even exist was due to the Ascians' plans to use the empire as a tool to sow strife and conflict and keep the balance between light and darkness in check.

Now it makes sense why he'd allow Nael to proceed with the meteor project and cause the calamity to happen in the first place.

I kinda pity Varis for the situation he's in now as he's surrounded by not one but two ascians,one of which possesses the corpse of his son and is ready to march on Ala Mhigo and Doma once again,and the other is his ascian grandfather who turns out to still be alive and has been ruling the empire from the shadows with the war of succession through which Varis became an emperor was nothing but a ploy to create conflict within Garlemald. He knows he's a pawn in their schemes but he can't do anything about it at the moment.

The patch finally ends on a resistence camp within a land around the empire where we see Alphinaud and Shadowhunter/Gaius examining the corpses of dead soldiers who seemed to be killed by a type of poison that the empire was producing in Ala Mhigo thanks to the Ascians.Is it safe to assume the recent concept art for the new areas are the same ones Alphinaud and the Shadowhunters visited?If so that'll probably mean we're gonna explore them as we fight our way into the capital city.

I'm gonna theorize for a bit on how the progress from 4.5 to 5.0 might go through but my theory will probably have some holes in it(tho forgive me if I said something that kinda seems obvious).

4.5 is probably gonna be the last stand for Garlemald's military campaign as the destruction Elidibus-Zenos will wrought is most likely have more severe negative effects on the empire itself more than the other nations.Which would give Hydaelyn the opportunity to finally fully ascertain her authority and send down her avatars to reclaim the rest of the world and get rid of the warrior of light. We'll definitely make some contact with Zodiark but I doubt we'll be fighting him.But rather, much like Midgardsormr when he severed our connection with Hydaelyn in ARR, he'll be the medium through which we become the warrior of darkness and be able to fight Hydaelyn's forces while getting rid of the ascians that Zodiark deems as an obstacle.I can imagine Varis in one way or another would try to seek whatever is left of the scions and the Warrior of Darkness to form an unlikely alliance to kill Solus. He was in favor of having a peace treaty with Doma before Elidibus sent Asahi to botch the attempt completely so this isn't too farfetched.Although how much of the battle with Solus and his forces would be in 4.5 compared to 5.0 is still a mystery since we have to wait for both parts of 4.5 to find out.

I wanna say more but some ideas need a little more fleshing out so maybe i'll do that in a reply

Actually I forgot to mention something. We've yet to see what is the real Zenos(now possessing an elezen's body) is up to as this was never brought up so far in 4.4. If he doesn't play a part in 4.5 then I'm sure we'll run into him in 5.0 at someone point.

Ya think Elezenos (that is, the guy real zenos possessed) has family wondering about where he is?

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Originally Posted by Kallera

Ya think Elezenos (that is, the guy real zenos possessed) has family wondering about where he is?

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Unless it's someone from Gridania or Ishgard....not sure since the number of Elezens in Ala Mhigo seems almost non-existent

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Originally Posted by MetalSnakeXI1

4.5 is probably gonna be the last stand for Garlemald's military campaign as the destruction Elidibus-Zenos will wrought is most likely have more severe negative effects on the empire itself more than the other nations.Which would give Hydaelyn the opportunity to finally fully ascertain her authority and send down her avatars to reclaim the rest of the world and get rid of the warrior of light.

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Er.... wait what now? Reclaim the world... by killing Her champion?

I'm sorry, but that just sounds too far out of left field, even if Hydaelyn isn't really the "all-loving goddess" we've been shown thus far.

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Originally Posted by Kallera

Ya think Elezenos (that is, the guy real zenos possessed) has family wondering about where he is?

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Wait, is confirmed that elezen is Zenos? Did I miss something, how that even happened, lol?

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Originally Posted by Raikai

Wait, is confirmed that elezen is Zenos? Did I miss something, how that even happened, lol?

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It hasn't been 100% confirmed verbatim, but his weapon and dialogue both heavily imply that it's Zenos possessing the body (corpse?) of some Elezen Resistance member.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Er.... wait what now? Reclaim the world... by killing Her champion?

I'm sorry, but that just sounds too far out of left field, even if Hydaelyn isn't really the "all-loving goddess" we've been shown thus far.

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From what it seems from the 5.0 Trailer....the Forces of Light are attacking us and I doubt becoming a Warrior of Darkness would involve any more contact with Hydaelyn.

She's getting rid of her Champion since he's no longer necessary as the WoL is leaning towards the darkness which is an element associated with darkness.

Ok to make it simpler I'm gonna draw a comparison to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise(sry if SMT is a bit obscure of an example to most people here but I'll try to simplify it)

In that series YHVH( a.k.a God) and the angels are associated with Light/Law&order while Lucifer and the demons are associated with darkness/chaos. The moment they notice you being tempered into the other side of the conflict even if ever so slightly they won't hesitate to dispose of you.In that series while YHVH appears benevolent to his followers his actions are depicted to be extreme like flooding the world in SMT1 or killing everyone on the planet with the light of the Megiddo canon except those the angels chose in SMT 2 during the Law route for example

if we think of Hydaelyn and Zodiark as a God Vs Lucifer situations things will start making more sense a bit....heck she literally banished Zodiark in a not so subtle manner of symbolism now that I think about it xD

Arbert witnessed something similar on his world firsthand though he had no idea if Hydaelyn was behind it or not....all he knew and thought of is that she never answered his prayers.It wouldn't be too farfetched that once Zodiark and the ascians are out of the picture that Hydaelyn would flood the world with light cleansing it from all but those who recieved her blessing

Now I highly doubt the Final Fantasy series would ever delve deeply into it the same way the SMT franchise did(in terms of the religious theming),but it's something that is certainly possible to happen even if it isn't that likely.

Where was Hydaelyn to protect us from Zenos who bodied us twice or when we fought Shinryu,a primal capable of inciting a calamity if left unchecked?Yes she was weakened before and in Heavensward it makes sense cuz of Midgardsormr,but in Stormblood she was absolutely absent from all of the WoL's conflicts in both Ala Mhigo and Doma?

The voice from the Call referred to Twin Dooms....and considering that Arbert's world was destroyed by a flood of light,it makes sense that Hydaelyn would be one of them,it is possible that she foresaw the WoL's transformation into the Warrior of Darkness and sought to dispose of us in our weakest moment which is would be right after the fight with Elidibus-Zenos and the invading Garlean forces.

Again all of this is just my speculation........it lacks details in some areas which is why I couldn't refine my theory of what's gonna happen. Most likely mine would end up being complete nonsense but I felt like I should share what I was thinking about it all

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Originally Posted by MetalSnakeXI1

Arbert witnessed something similar on his world firsthand though he had no idea if Hydaelyn was behind it or not....all he knew and thought of is that she never answered his prayers.It wouldn't be too farfetched that once Zodiark and the ascians are out of the picture that Hydaelyn would flood the world with light cleansing it from all but those who recieved her blessing

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It would indeed be farfetched, given that Hydaelyn specifically sent Minfilia back with Arbert and the other First Shard Warriors of Darkness in order to stop the Flood of Light.

The only thing pointing to Hydaelyn not being entirely on the up-and-up is the circumstances that led to Minfilia becoming Her sock puppet. What happened there is... rather suspect.

Beyond that, I am wary of pathways the story could take, but not yet willing to bet on a "Tyranny of the Light" scenario just yet. There are too many possibilities and unknowns to take that conclusion right now, though I honestly can't really think of anything else that would maintain the Warrior of Light's moral stance while allowing them to take up the power of Darkness.

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Originally Posted by YianKutku

It would indeed be farfetched, given that Hydaelyn specifically sent Minfilia back with Arbert and the other First Shard Warriors of Darkness in order to stop the Flood of Light.

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True but we have no idea what happened next or if their effort to stop it beared any fruit.

Not to mention the way Minfillia was taken still wasn't elaborated on and leaves a room for suspicion even if a little bit.

Yes Hydaelyn is weakened but was minfillia the ideal echo user to take?And as I said before.......why didn't she do anything with Zenos and Shinryu the same way she did with Ultima Weapon?

I know that the easy answer is because no one wanna see constant use of Deus Ex machina in plots but it's still rather suspicious.

I won't be surprised either if most or all of what I'm speculating on was wrong considering how Final Fantasy stories go in comparison to Xenogears,Xenoblade or even SMT but it's fun to talk about nonetheless

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Originally Posted by MetalSnakeXI1

From what it seems from the 5.0 Trailer....the Forces of Light are attacking us and I doubt becoming a Warrior of Darkness would involve any more contact with Hydaelyn.

She's getting rid of her Champion since he's no longer necessary as the WoL is leaning towards the darkness which is an element associated with darkness.

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I kinda doubt that. First we dont even know if those Light Forces are sent from her, it could just be something that already existed (and seemingly the second lore book seems to hint that the ones in the dungeon are built in memories of such creatures?) that can now pass into our world (if its even our world and not a shard). That does not mean that it was done by Hydaelyn. She barely could talk to us and was only able to help in the other shard by using Minfilia. So she really had to lie a lot to us and at least until now nothing she has done was bad. She has shown fear for us, her children and lets not forget that the song Answers seems to be from her perspective too which hints again at a good god.

I am not saying that things cant change or that there are some moral aspects on her that could turn bad but that would come quite out of the left.

Who knows maybe the little girl in the trailer who is also seen being protected by our character in the art will be her? Maybe she wants to protect this world at all costs thus choses a human appearance for the first time?

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Originally Posted by Alleo

I kinda doubt that. First we dont even know if those Light Forces are sent from her, it could just be something that already existed (and seemingly the second lore book seems to hint that the ones in the dungeon are built in memories of such creatures?) that can now pass into our world (if its even our world and not a shard). That does not mean that it was done by Hydaelyn. She barely could talk to us and was only able to help in the other shard by using Minfilia. So she really had to lie a lot to us and at least until now nothing she has done was bad. She has shown fear for us, her children and lets not forget that the song Answers seems to be from her perspective too which hints again at a good god.

I am not saying that things cant change or that there are some moral aspects on her that could turn bad but that would come quite out of the left.

Who knows maybe the little girl in the trailer who is also seen being protected by our character in the art will be her? Maybe she wants to protect this world at all costs thus choses a human appearance for the first time?

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Thinking about it....yyyeah I think I went a little too wild and forgot about Answers's relation to Hydaelyn.Then again that's what happens when I play too much ShinMegamiTensei xD

But will she still be with us if it happened that we need Zodiark to become the warrior of darkness

I have this distinct impression that a lot of players are actually perfectly fine with what we are doing as such as the Warrior of Light, but for some reason chafe at the idea that it's Hydaelyn indirectly telling us to do these things.

I'd say it is some form of anti-theism, but I suspect it's broader than that, into some form of "you're not the boss of me" backlash, and would also apply to any mortal authority issuing the same general commands.

The question I keep asking (and have yet to see answered) is: what would we do differently as the Warrior of Darkness that we would not do as the Warrior of Light? In terms of practical effects, rather than motivations. To elaborate, what would we do differently (and what should we have done differently) as the Warrior of Darkness that would not also clash with our established moral and ethical belief systems?

I'm sitting on the extremely-tentative hunch that becoming the Warrior of Darkness is, as the keynote slide and the trailer dialogue state, something we MUST do. The part that's super tentative in my hunch is that we'll be put into a situation where we are unambiguously doomed without intervention, and with Hydaelyn seemingly too weakened to take the impact for us, we're forced into drawing that power from somewhere else. Our ethics/morals/goals/hearts could still be in the same place, but desperate situations gave us no leeway with the decision. ...if we actively decide at all, for that matter, and it isn't just foisted on us.

Or, if the flood-of-light thing that the trailer looks like it's showing is any indication, we've somehow wound up being hunted by the Light we used to walk in, for which I've legitimately no hypothesis.

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Originally Posted by YianKutku

The question I keep asking (and have yet to see answered) is: what would we do differently as the Warrior of Darkness that we would not do as the Warrior of Light? In terms of practical effects, rather than motivations. To elaborate, what would we do differently (and what should we have done differently) as the Warrior of Darkness that would not also clash with our established moral and ethical belief systems?

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I really hope that they soon will answer this and that the answer makes sense. Because if its just a name switch or maybe taking away our crystals then wouldnt it be kinda easy to keep the balance? One task done as WoL the next one as WoD. (I know its probably not that simple) I will have a hard time accepting the change if we truly have to let people suffer because that would probably go against the view of many players and at the same time would kinda point into the direction of "Dark = bad" which they are saying is not. But if its not bad deeds and we are kinda just doing the same thing we always do...it would feel a bit strange.

(Also having something against the gods seems to be a bit of a FF trope..I really hope this one is not going down the path of her being bad or that we have to destroy her to live on..do something different in that regards please SE. I got enough when one game had the "we wont need gods, but still need someone to become the new god because otherwise we are messed up" plot..)

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Originally Posted by Arbert

We were blind to the truth once. So I tell you this, as one fool to another. Light, Dark, it doesn't matter. What matters is how you choose to use them.

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Probably relevant.

Maybe doing good things as a Warrior of Light results in too much light, so doing good things as a Warrior of Darkness would balance things out a bit. :V

There is also the possibility Hydaelyn isn't in control of the light at this point. The god-crystals and the elements they are associated with seem to be separate things. So light monsters hunting us doesn't have to be *Hydaelyn* hunting us. The crystals aren't omni-potent.

do you think going into 5.0 we will still have our crystals of light or now that we are going WOD they will loose their light and end up being crystals of darkness?

They probably won't. We know what Crystals of Darkness are and that it's the Ascians that have them. One of their uses is to enable high-ranking Ascians to posses living people and escape to the Rift when they're not in a body anymore.

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Originally Posted by MetalSnakeXI1

The patch finally ends on a resistence camp within a land around the empire where we see Alphinaud and Shadowhunter/Gaius examining the corpses of dead soldiers who seemed to be killed by a type of poison that the empire was producing in Ala Mhigo thanks to the Ascians.Is it safe to assume the recent concept art for the new areas are the same ones Alphinaud and the Shadowhunters visited?If so that'll probably mean we're gonna explore them as we fight our way into the capital city.

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The poison is known as "The Black Rose", there is a side-quest in the early part of 4.0 where you have to go find this scientist who continued to work on the Black Rose after Gaius gave the orders to end all production of it and destroy all evidence of its creation. Gaius refused to use such a thing to win battles, as he really, really dislikes pointless slaughter and mass-wiping out people.

This scientist however when you find him, really has no memory, but since he was still working on it after the order was given... and thanks to his memory loss, we don't know who he was doing the work still for-- well-- until 4.4

As for 4.5 leading into 5.0, Oh yeah. We are gonna have a massive battle with the Empire, I've seen that coming for a bit myself. I'm also under the belief that we have kicked the hornets nest hard and given the Empire, thanks to Solus and the Ascians, with their puppeting, they have the Black Rose fully operational. I am fairly sure that camp was just an experiment, maybe in hopes to clean up the mess they left behind with Gaius still being alive.

So, I can see the Black Rose actually being deployed on the battlefield when the nations come knocking... and thus why there is seeming a field of death and things are so... foggy. Given from what I remember about the Black Rose as well-- it works /extremely/ fast. Like, you don't even have time to realize you been poisoned fast. It hits the body and bam, your dead. Which also seems to be the implications too on the camp.

Though if it is used in 4.5 to bring in 5.0...
That would be a terrifying cutscene to witness.