The Omega Protocol

Is there any lore we can go over from the newest Ultimate with a fine toothed comb? For those who don't know how the fight unfolds I'll go over a very generalized of what happens.

Opening phase we have beatle form Omega that has level checker towers, panacrator and wave cannons? After defeating it Omega goes into M and F and does attacks from that phase. The fight still not changing much from their normal and or savage versions. Once you beat M and F it goes into the form you only got to see in O12s in its 2nd phase. This form opens up with Hello World and Patch. You must kill it without any lingering debuffs on or you die. This phase also is where what used to be a double tank buster is now placed on certain party members and you have to aim it properly. I'm not sure if it's phase 3 or phase 4 where it uses the phase code smell as part of a debuff description.

By this time Omega's kind of fighting itself as part of it is trying to force a shutdown and reboot. While the other half doesn't want to and is going about dropping all of its inhibitors. You mechanics wise must get its HP down to or below 20% or it will kill you with Blue Screen. That's right folks it will literally give you a Blue Screen of death. For some reason it looks like a small nuclear explosion. This is also where in the fight Dynamis is used as right after this we go back to Omega M and F but they now have a golden glow of Dynamis surrounding them.

Phase 5 starts out like the 2nd phase only to have Omega F go away and have the fight go into its first trio phase where you need to bait some arms, break tethers at appropriate times, dodge the Big Eye in the background and dodge either a Larboard or Starboard that's been renamed at least in the English localization. All the while needing to have a Dynamis buff be passed amongst the group. If at any time said buff wears off you die.

The whole fight really is too far away up to phase 5 is too close or too far away from someone you die. All the while you're needing to dodge things even during transitions where Omega is still throwing out mechanics as it tries to figure out why you just won't die and how can it gain more strength to try and succeed in killing you. Anyway Omega F comes back and thinks oh well what if I give them the tiniest of safe spots will they be able to dodge it while collecting three stacks of Dynamis.

At some point during phase 5 we get to see the nuclear explosion go off again. Being another check point. Same with the monitors. At the end of phase 5 Omega F does a beam attack that sends your group to the edge of the arena. Afterwards you get the first real breather in the form of the start of the Cutscene that plays out at the end of O12. Where best boy and possibly 3rd highest on the fluffy hierarchy Alpha pops out and makes their way over to Omega F and Alpha Kwehs starts glowing with the golden color of Dynamis and combines with Omega. Omega is in its M form with a small Alpha in their chest, grows four more arms and gains a divinity halo. I guess Omega due to joining with Alpha is able to re-account its journey across the rift and space. As it opens up with an attack that looks like Giga Flare. Then tries to kill you with the power of a thousand sun's. Omega then tries to kill you with Exojoels er I mean Exo Flares and Dragoon LB3. The opening attack you need to use a tank LB3 that changes your Dynamis buff to a different names Dynamis buff.

Again if you somehow have a person die or loose the buff in any manner you wipe. After Omega tries to kill you with another round of the semi cross hatch and Exo Flare attacks he whips out meteors. Where the insta fill due to Dynamis LB vomit phase starts along with the enrage. You need to use a caster and physical range LB3s back to back to deal with all the meteors while the group deals with the other two flares and other minor attacks. Omega then needs you to tank LB into a Healer LB as the attack they unleash gives you a debuff that if not quickly cleansed will automatically kill you. The group then needs to also spend a physical LB3 as just the same in earlier phases you need to get the sucker's HP down pretty fast as the enrage has already started. It's just you don't know it has.

Omega then does the same attack that gave you that one debuff from a bit earlier which eats the other tank and healer LB3s. Then the final physical LB3 gets used up. All the while your group loses its Dynamis buff. This is the only time Omega doesn't automatically kill you for losing it. With Omega seemingly understanding how you can push past your limits for a species it never thought would have been worthwhile to even bother attacking chooses to try and claim victory with one last Ultimate attack. Only to be defeated and be left a little confused as it quickly transfers itself into the OMG "toy" chassie. Choosing to say goodbye to you and to go on what it does now post O12. Which is to go roaming with Alpha. While still not fully understanding what the heck Dynamis is or how it works.

It's just a what if Omega was able to harness "heart" aka dynamis. This is impossible given dyanmis does not lend itself to scientific understanding and the entire point is you can't manipulate it to do what you want when you want.

But forget all that what if it was possible. That's it.

I feel like the concept of Dynamis kinda ruins the Omega raid's plot insofar as it changes the underlying implication from "traumatized robot numbed from millennia of unspeakable loneliness has forgotten the strength of will that comes from defending something you love" to "extremely powerful interstellar civilization somehow fails to discover that dark matter exists".

That's just me, though.

I guess we get the info that if Omega could access Dynamis, it could become god-like.

Doesn't really mean much in the lore scheme of things though, imo, since we kill what normal people consider gods on the daily.

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Originally Posted by Lurina

I feel like the concept of Dynamis kinda ruins the Omega raid's plot insofar as it changes the underlying implication from "traumatized robot numbed from millennia of unspeakable loneliness has forgotten the strength of will that comes from defending something you love" to "extremely powerful interstellar civilization somehow fails to discover that dark matter exists".

That's just me, though.

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But Dynamis is strength of will and emotions.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

But Dynamis is strength of will and emotions.

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Yeah, but it's also space energy that you can detect using science.

In my opinion, the more you construct a mechanical worldbuilding framework around something primarily thematic, the more it dilutes the actual meaning and authenticity that is the whole point in the first place.

Like, it's the same issue as midi-chlorians in Star Wars. The message and moral philosophy of that universe is grounded in Lucas's interpretation of Dharmic philosophy, and in the original movies, the nature of the Force is ambiguous, so it's relationship to those ideas can be less complicatedly centered by the narrative. Luke becomes powerful and prevails because he learns to let go of selfish desire, his fear of loss and death, and embrace unconditional compassion. His strength within the setting is directly tied with his realization of its themes.

How does the revelation that this was also because he had an unusual amount of special space bugs in his bloodstream further the message? It doesn't. It doesn't ruin it, but at best it's just confusing and muddying.

Likewise, if we assume the core message of the Omega story is "strength comes from finding things you love", the introduction of Dynamis as a quantifiable friendship energy just adds an extra layer of fluff between what we see in the story and the core truth it's trying to present. It's pointless and distracting.

It's the opposite, actually. We're moving away from a more well defined entity that follows fixed 'rules' to a more nebulous one based off of emotions and spiritualism.

Aether is the 'hard science' of Etheirys. The word itself is rooted in western Greco-Roman tradition, the word meaning 'sky'. They've quite deliberately chosen the Vedic word 'Akasha', which also means 'sky', to represent Aether's mystical and spiritual counterpart. It's really refreshing that every scholarly type we've run into in game so far has managed to handle the concept's introduction in a non-dogmatic and non-ethnocentric way.

'Hannish mystical theories that directly contradict my Archon's thesis? I never liked the old paperweight anyway. Please, teach me more!'

The important thing to remember about every single ultimate raid:

They are in-universe fiction written by a bard. I don't know what kind of education the Wandering Minstrel has, but I'm guessing he ain't a scientist or historian. It was why we couldn't read much of anything into DSR's alt-universe, and it's probably why TOP makes relatively little sense from a 'scientific' perspective; it's not supposed to. It'd be like complaining that Gurren Lagann doesn't adhere to real-world physics.

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Originally Posted by Lyth

It's the opposite, actually. We're moving away from a more well defined entity that follows fixed 'rules' to a more nebulous one based off of emotions and spiritualism.

Aether is the 'hard science' of Etheirys. The word itself is rooted in western Greco-Roman tradition, the word meaning 'sky'. They've quite deliberately chosen the Vedic word 'Akasha', which also means 'sky', to represent Aether's mystical and spiritual counterpart. It's really refreshing that every scholarly type we've run into in game so far has managed to handle the concept's introduction in a non-dogmatic and non-ethnocentric way.

'Hannish mystical theories that directly contradict my Archon's thesis? I never liked the old paperweight anyway. Please, teach me more!'

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That's not really relevant to what I'm saying. I'm not talking about the concept of dynamis as a whole and its importance in the narrative vs. aether, I'm talking specifically about its implications on the Omega raid storyline. Even if its nature is less explicitly defined than aether (though we'll see if that lasts - aether also started off as largely enigmatic) its existence changes the tone. "You find inner strength and willpower because you want to protect your world" becomes "you get powered up by space energy because your strong emotions about wanting to protect your world magnetically attract it".

Also, I'm pretty sure the fact that they used 'dynamis' in this instance means that it's probably the word we're going to get going forward.

It's not that Dynamis is 100% emotional. It's how it's manipulated that's the question.

No one taught us how to manipulate it.

No one explained how Hermes manipulated it to create an entity that could manipulate it at will...

The most nebulous thing surrounding Dynamis is the writing for it. It was literally a means to an end to up the power of Meteion to be greater than that of Zodiark or Hydaelyn. While also basically letting the writers be like, "Why did this work out that way? DYNAMIS BABY!"

God, I miss when it was Diabolos's dark dream.

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Originally Posted by Lurina

Midi-chlorians

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To be fair, at least the Midi-chlorians have the angle of, "Showcasing that the contemporary Jedi Order had lost its way with what was truly important."

Neither in the Prequel nor original trilogy do the M-counts actually matter in the most important bits. In the prequels, Obi-wan defeats Anakin by knowing Anakin intimately as a person and playing against his faults. In the OT, Luke doesn't defeat Vader and the Emperor because he's simply more powerful than them. He defeats them by committing to his training and personal belief and his love for his father.

By comparison, Dynamis is now interlocked with gameplay as well as the narrative, so it's always going to directly impact everything. At scriptwriter's discretion. Especially since almost all of the beings in the current events of the setting do not have the information that it makes up the majority of the energy in the universe as stated by Hermes (who coulda been wrong, because I mean, real world reference aside, how has he observed the entirety of the universe and all its inherent energy?). Omega does, of course, but does Omega have the capacity to directly manipulate it forever and for always? Or is it dependent on his platform? It shouldn't be, he should just be able to roid out his OMG toy body with sheer emotion. It's all malarkey.

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Originally Posted by Lyth

a more well defined entity that follows fixed 'rules' to a more nebulous one based off of emotions and spiritualism.

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It's not based off of spiritualism in its base form. Our manipulation of it currently is, though. Lurina's point stands.

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Originally Posted by Vyrerus

No one taught us how to manipulate it.

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Actually, somebody did in a sense...Fray, in the level 30-50 DRK questline. Which by how the devs like to make every questline canon, means that's the canon answer of how we learned how to manipulate it. And I know, that sounds really weird considering Fray is really just the WoL's self-esteem given physical form. But considering how Sundered members of the Convocation still possess some incredibly powerful forms of magic despite being Sundered (see Gaia for examples), it's not a stretch to think that we were able teach it to ourselves. It wouldn't surprise me if Azem was able to manipulate Dynamis on some level seeing as how they were seemingly (or at least other Ancients give the impression) more in tune with their emotions than most Ancients.

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

The important thing to remember about every single ultimate raid:

They are in-universe fiction written by a bard. I don't know what kind of education the Wandering Minstrel has, but I'm guessing he ain't a scientist or historian. It was why we couldn't read much of anything into DSR's alt-universe, and it's probably why TOP makes relatively little sense from a 'scientific' perspective; it's not supposed to. It'd be like complaining that Gurren Lagann doesn't adhere to real-world physics.

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I've realized people might've thought I was just being snarky here, and I'm sorry if people did. But I earnestly think this is the most interesting part of the Ultimates, including TOP. For one big reason:

We actually don't see a whole lot of in-universe fiction, probably because it's very hard to make interesting. We know of in-universe fiction, but very rarely with more than a couple sentences of actual text, and I think the only time we've seen an actual performance was in SAM's level 80 quest, which was a dramatic spoken-word piece. We've got enough to extrapolate from, particularly around the Far East (the fact a kabuki theater even exists is very helpful), but we don't know much.

I think the Ultimates give us something very important in that sector: I think they're what escapist fantasy action looks like in a universe that's ALREADY escapist fantasy action. This is Eorzea's equivalent of an Avengers movie.

To me it makes sense that the Omnicrons and thus Omega wouldn't know or if they did not use Dynamis. As it's not an efficient tool. They started out as a very weak organic race that sought out ways to make them stronger than their opponents. This led them to slowly turning into what we see in Ultima Thule. Where we get Sir who when asked if they have an idea for a weed killer tells the Killian to just burn the entire crop area the weeds are in. Why? Because it's the most efficient way to get rid of the weeds. It's why that by the time they came across the Dragon Star they had come up with the plan of total destruction of a planet's natural resources. All because it's the fastest and most efficient way to demoralize your enemy. So even if Dynamis can help you be stronger needing to rely on an energy source that is so far only usable via emotions isn't going to be very effective. That and emotions by the time the Omnicrons became the machines we know them as now they dumped that part of them.

Dynamis might feel like midi-chlorians and yet the game even if there wasn't a name for it at the time or the devs even having a solid idea about it has been hinted at for some time. We have been asked on many an occasion by our foes how are we able to be so powerful? To the point where Omega got so mad at us messing up their math calculations that they slapped us into a goal and started to crush us inside said goal in hopes that we'd somehow just show him and the others the hidden power we tend to tap into. Only for Midgardsormr to bust in and free us while basically saying "how about we don't go and do that and just agree that they're capable of doing so? Cause it's not time for that." before taking a bow and telling us he's going for his 200 year nap. Sure it's a retroactive retcon of the lore as now we can point and say oh look they've hinted at this for awhile.

Is there a proper showcase of the cutscenes?

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Originally Posted by ICountFrom0

Is there a proper showcase of the cutscenes?

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Which cutscenes?

I think he means the cutscenes from TOP.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

I think he means the cutscenes from TOP.

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Oh well I don't think someone has done just clips of the things Omega says throughout the fight and the one cutscene going into the final phase or after you clear the fight. I do know the post fight can be seen via the unending journal but only by those who've cleared the fight. The other information comes the description of the buffs/debuffs you gain during the fight. If they're asking about what is said during the regular Omega raids then I think it is either between O9 & O10 or between O10 & O11.

I'm hoping for the big transition bit, and the end of fight bit, but I seem to be searching the wrong things as it just isn't turning up.
The unlock one is not too hard to find, and a bit thought provoking.
Until somebody does get around to releasing the cutscenes, I'll just have to glean what I can from various clear vids and attempt vids.

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

[…]But I earnestly think this is the most interesting part of the Ultimates, including TOP. For one big reason:

We actually don't see a whole lot of in-universe fiction, probably because it's very hard to make interesting. […] I think the Ultimates give us something very important in that sector: I think they're what escapist fantasy action looks like in a universe that's ALREADY escapist fantasy action.

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Hear, hear!

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

[…] I think the only time we've seen an actual performance was in SAM's level 80 quest, which was a dramatic spoken-word piece.

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The Dancer questline has many performances, but unbeknownst to the audiences, every one the Warrior of Light participated in was actually a battle. Even the first one by Ranaa was hardly a form of storytelling. We can say the same for gladiatorial or blue magic exhibitions.

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Originally Posted by Cleretic

We know of in-universe fiction, but very rarely with more than a couple sentences of actual text, […] We've got enough to extrapolate from, particularly around the Far East (the fact a kabuki theater even exists is very helpful), but we don't know much.

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That does remind me that at the end of Return to Ivalice, we attend the Lexentales' dress rehearsal of Zodiac Brave Story, but of the whole play we only see the revised ending.

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Originally Posted by Lurina

I feel like the concept of Dynamis kinda ruins the Omega raid's plot insofar as it changes the underlying implication from "traumatized robot numbed from millennia of unspeakable loneliness has forgotten the strength of will that comes from defending something you love" to "extremely powerful interstellar civilization somehow fails to discover that dark matter exists".

That's just me, though.

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I mean robot never had that to begin with and is trying to understand that, only to find out that it wouldn't have helped it anyway.

It's left...debatable whether or not Omega actually has a heart, considering that the Omicrons do eventually realize that (In spite of their cold machine logic trying to insist otherwise) that they do still harbor enough emotion to influence the dynamis in Ultima Thule.

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Originally Posted by Lurina

"extremely powerful interstellar civilization somehow fails to discover that dark matter exists".

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Dark energy. Different from dark matter.

It's called "dark" because nobody knows what it actually is, and it doesn't appear to interact with the rest of the observable universe in any way consistent with known physical laws. Dark energy in particular does not seem to have a source or point of origin: it's just presumably there, causing the expansion of the universe, and apparently evenly and consistently suffused throughout the entire universe.

Which matches the concepts of both the Sanskrit "akasha", and the classical idea of "aether". Since "aether" is already used in FFXIV's setting to mean something specific, I can understand the writing team using "akasha" to refer to the non-aether dynamis.

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Originally Posted by KageTokage

It's left...debatable whether or not Omega actually has a heart, considering that the Omicrons do eventually realize that (In spite of their cold machine logic trying to insist otherwise) that they do still harbor enough emotion to influence the dynamis in Ultima Thule.

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Omgea was created by the Omicrons, it didn't have a heart but from what we now know and what we saw with Alpha is that it is capable of getting one. Which it does in the bad timeline

Omega's current body was created, but it mentions in some optional dialogue during the Radz-at-Han part of the Beyond the Rift that it originally was using a production model like all the other Omicrons.

I find the business surrounding the Chi unit curious because its card mentions it possesses a quality that could be essential for the future of the Omicrons and its behavior is described as "irrational" due to it seeking out conflict in disregard of orders. Its death quote about "feeling alive" suggests the thing also had a heart, so perhaps that's what they sought to learn from it.