Please don't just cut off Garlean Empire trope or take too long with it.

Remember that feeling when you realized the Empire technological superiority, its enourmous recources and vastness as you climb Big Freaking Great Wall which they built just to devide continents as well as every time you see capital warships in lead of entire fleets.

As in narative shown in Endwalker trailer (if you watch before playthrough) I was hoping to see streets still being torn between survived military and their own ambitious war projects ("Skynet" automated robot army and production, omega replicas, clones, mutants, various machine prototypes, resonance supersoldiers, etc). With surviving leadership (Nerva?) hiding in "Enclave" bunker commanding soldiers in struggle to return control over empire defense and supply systems. I was hoping to see the Empire societal collapse with all its scientific and industrious superiority turning agaisnt it which was probably the end Allagans met which is a bit poetic and by the way become popular depiction of real world end.

I still see how it can be shown in other "industrial capitals" of the empire which can even be larger then the political one. Where empire remnants and fanatics are still trying to restore order.

Fanfiction besides, if I see various magitek tech in hands of mercenaries or emprie legions becoming merceneries themselves (with custom paint over its magitek machinery as future mounts; ) - that will make me very happy already.

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Originally Posted by Boys

Remember that feeling when you realized the Empire technological superiority, its enourmous recources and vastness as you climb Big Freaking Great Wall which they built just to devide continents as well as every time you see capital warships in lead of entire fleets.

As in narative shown in Endwalker trailer (if you watch before playthrough) I was hoping to see streets still being torn between survived military and their own ambitious war projects ("Skynet" automated robot army and production, omega replicas, clones, mutants, various machine prototypes, resonance supersoldiers, etc). With surviving leadership (Nerva?) hiding in "Enclave" bunker commanding soldiers in struggle to return control over empire defense and supply systems. I was hoping to see the Empire societal collapse with all its scientific and industrious superiority turning agaisnt it which was probably the end Allagans met which is a bit poetic and by the way become popular depiction of real world end.

I still see how it can be shown in other "industrial capitals" of the empire which can even be larger then the political one. Where empire remnants and fanatics are still trying to restore order.

Fanfiction besides, if I see various magitek tech in hands of mercenaries or emprie legions becoming merceneries themselves (with custom paint over its magitek machinery as future mounts; ) - that will make me very happy already.

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We may not start seeing these aspects until we reach the regions where remnents of the Garlean Empire were left stranded after they lost contact with the Garlean Empire. Anyone in the Garlean Empire who would want to cause such issues in their current situation are most likely dead at this point due to the horde of monsters since they let their Garlean Pride make them take actions that guarantee their deaths.

It has been mentioned before the Garlean Empire has stationed themselves in places beyond Eorzea and once the Empire fell, their status remain unknown for now. How these remnents are handling their situation may vary but from many different types of stories dealing with such situations from other series, it may vary from becoming Warlords, adapting to their new home, trying to keep tradition, or using this opportunity for a fresh start based on the type of leader who is stationed in those locations.

We seen a bit of this with Gabranth and his faction as they plan to start fresh in a certain regions but that story will take time to be continued though people are hoping it maybe a new Expansion when it finally does.

Apart from a number of Imperial provinces we haven't yet visited or seen in Ilsabard, there isn't actually "lost remnants" stationed beyond Eorzea, because the Empire never got beyond Aldernard due to Gaius continuously failing to subjugate the realm (the only other Imperial provinces were in Othard and, well, we've liberated those). There has been lots of headcanons about some being in Tural, but that is just based on vague assumptions with no basis in fact (until SE proves otherwise).

I know it's a bitter pill to swallow, but it's clear the Empire is now dead - slain by it's own hand and now lying in state in it's black ashen shroud - just like it's creator wanted, ironically. Certainly Garlemald will rebuild as the survivors of the civil war and the Telephori's tempering come together with the Alliance's assistance, but with a new non Imperial government decided by it's people.

Garlemald was half undone by internal strife, half by an outside manipulator (Fandaniel played both sides of the latest Garlean Civil War against each other).

... but yeah, as far as we know the Empire never extended beyond the Three Great Continents and so is unlikely to have any presence in Tural based on that. We may return for some ancillary stories and there's almost certainly going to be an Ishgard-style restoration project at some point, but the Empire's story largely concluded in Endwalker.

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

Apart from a number of Imperial provinces we haven't yet visited or seen in Ilsabard, there isn't actually "lost remnants" stationed beyond Eorzea, because the Empire never got beyond Aldernard due to Gaius continuously failing to subjugate the realm (the only other Imperial provinces were in Othard and, well, we've liberated those). There has been lots of headcanons about some being in Tural, but that is just based on vague assumptions with no basis in fact (until SE proves otherwise).

I know it's a bitter pill to swallow, but it's clear the Empire is now dead - slain by it's own hand and now lying in state in it's black ashen shroud - just like it's creator wanted, ironically. Certainly Garlemald will rebuild as the survivors of the civil war and the Telephori's tempering come together with the Alliance's assistance, but with a new non Imperial government decided by it's people.

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Either way, the development team already said they wanted to step away from this type of plot for a while so they can focus on newer plots so we are still in for a long wait until they finally decide to start exploring what became of the Garlean Remnents outside of the known regions we can currently explore.

We just have to be patient and pray they do not forget it during the process of making their new storyline. The Gabranth faction is still the one largest plot point they left unfinished intentionally and even with his "rumored death" it is uncertain if it is what really happens or just some ploy to keep people from knowing his real plans.

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Originally Posted by Boys

Remember that feeling when you realized the Empire technological superiority, its enourmous recources and vastness as you climb Big Freaking Great Wall which they built just to devide continents as well as every time you see capital warships in lead of entire fleets.

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I don't, actually. 'Evil empire with fancy tech in an otherwise fantasy setting' is such a well-worn RPG trope that it no longer registers to me unless you do something interesting with it; I legitimately don't remember any responses I had to Empire stuff (outside of them shooting down Shiva but that's for different reasons) until Yotsuyu turned up. FFXIV took until Endwalker to find that 'something interesting', and that something happened to be to blow it up and check out the ruins. Hell, it kinda hurts them that they're not even the most advanced tech force in the game; Allag has been leaving Garlemald in its shadow ever since Azys Lla for me, and Allag isn't even alive anymore.

Yes, the Garleans deserve a nice, fuller wrapup of their story; it'll be interesting to see how they pick back up and rebuild, provided that their answer is not 'more caestrums'. Anyone trying to rebuild the Empire as it was is the worst thing they could do.

But on the other hand, we deserve a break from the Garleans. The Garleans have been a significant part of the MSQ for every single part of it, and the focus of at least one piece of tentpole side content for every single expansion until Endwalker. They're the most pervasive part of the game world by far; at least the Ascians and Scions skipped out a few times. One of the most exciting parts about Dawntrail to me is seeing what this game can be without the overarching story and villains it's had all this time, and the Garleans are a part of that.

It may not be in the MSQ but they're hinting at Garlean restoration / reclamation in 6.5. Jullus Custom Delivery in 7.1 maybe?

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Originally Posted by Boys

... as well as every time you see capital warships in lead of entire fleets.

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I can count "every time" on zero hands. They never had a strong ocean-going presence; that's why we could shut them down so effectively by building a single (albeit high-tech) fence across their airship route.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

I can count "every time" on zero hands. They never had a strong ocean-going presence; that's why we could shut them down so effectively by building a single (albeit high-tech) fence across their airship route.

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There's the Dalriada turning up after Delubrum Reginae, I guess? That's not really what's happening in that scene, that's basically just the Dalriada, but it does sort of have the same feel.

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Originally Posted by Yuella

It may not be in the MSQ but they're hinting at Garlean restoration / reclamation in 6.5. Jullus Custom Delivery in 7.1 maybe?

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It would have to be some place away from the existing zone though like with Doma.

Sidequests, mob placement, and hunts depend on the part of Garlemald we have access to remaining a smoking ruin filled with mobs.

I just wish completing the role capstone quest would finally shut off the evil aura on the Tower of Babil or better yet make it collapse.

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

It would have to be some place away from the existing zone though like with Doma.

Sidequests, mob placement, and hunts depend on the part of Garlemald we have access to remaining a smoking ruin filled with mobs.

I just wish completing the role capstone quest would finally shut off the evil aura on the Tower of Babil or better yet make it collapse.

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I doubt they will remove it since they established it is now permanently part of the area and acting as the local Space Teleporter to the moon. However, they may eventually learn how to redesign the thing to make it less scary looking in the distant future that FF14 will never reach.

It may even become a tourist attraction in the distant future for New Garlemald.

I'd really like a Garlean Restoration crafter/gatherer thingy. The civillians of Garlemald need help. I really wish the whole region wasn't just a footnote in Endwalker.

A part of me does yearn for the cut expansion idea Square Enix had for them. While condensing the next two expansions into one was a decent idea, I can't help but long for the idea of travelling through all the provinces from the South all the way up to the homeland, seeing how the war has affected the people and what life was like in magitek-prevalent nations. Travelling to Werlyt for the first time in Shadowbringers and seeing just how different everything felt, along with the somber music, felt like a glorious teaser into what we could have gotten.

The further the map zooms out, the more the clouds over Ilsabard become prevalent since they're essentially right in the center of the world space. Hopefully the expansion to explore that region comes sooner rather than later.

I wonder what a 6.0 Ilsabard expansion would look like.

- The moon could be the sixth area with Zodiark being the final boss. Or they could have Zenos/Fandaniel be the 6.0 boss and Zodiark be the 6.3 boss.
- Another idea could be they do the Golbez storyline for 6.1-6.3, making Zodiark be the 6.0 boss and Zeromus be the 6.3 boss.
- Anima would be the second trial with Tower of Babil being the level 89 dungeon.
- No Old Sharlayan. A Garlemald city friendly to the alliance would be the second city.
- Corvos would certainly be an area. Maybe Nhalmasque and Landis too.

7.0 could feature an expanded unsundered world, maybe even the original Amaurot as the second city with Old Sharlayan.

The struggle with trying to figure out what Theoretical Split Endwalker would've looked like is always the 6.x stretch. What do you have in that slot, that makes sense for being the lower-pressure, long-term 'holding pattern' story for the couple years between 6.0 and 7.0?

We've been told that the final trail of Theoretical Endwalker Expansion would've been Anima; that makes sense, he's definitely the 'big scary final boss' of the Garlemald story, but... well, what do you do in the patch stories? Is Zodiark the 6.3 trial and has to somehow get moved off the moon? Do we just go off and do an entirely different thing in Corvos or something, while the axe of 'Zenos and Fandaniel are like five minutes away from taking Zodiark' hangs over us for several years?

Instead shifting the 'cutting point' slightly later and making Zodiark the final trial theoretically makes more sense on the structural level: there's less unknowns here, I know what we'd do with the 6.x story, where we'd pick up afterwards... but the problem there is that all the things that fill those slots are bad at filling those slots. The Loporrits are theoretically perfect for the falling action, 'now what happens' vibe of the .x storylines, but that would be the worst thing to leave us on for an extended period, you'd never be able to escape the feeling of 'we should be doing something else' while the Loporrits' whimsical strangeness and mystery just wouldn't be able to hold up for that long.

It also screws over Thavnair and Sharlayan, which I think do well in Endwalker chiefly because they actually do, in different ways, bridge the gap between 'the Garlemald/Telophoroi story' and 'the End of Days' story, making sure they don't stand in complete isolation. You'd have to pick where either of them goes, while knowing that either way you lose something really strong:

• If Thavnair is in the Garlemald expansion, you lose the events around Vanaspati where they get hit by the End of Days; if you leave them for the End of Days, then you miss seeing them in the events around the Tower of Babil where we see them in uncertain times but still as a generally peaceful, friendly lot. I think Thavnair needs both, because it's our window into how hard the End of Days hits and how harrowing it truly is, because we already know these people.
• If Sharlayan is in the Garlemald expansion, you miss their heroic turn in the Labyrinthos revisit; if they're only in the End of Days expansion, you lose the paranoia and intrigue of 'they're working on something but refuse to tell anyone what'. I think Sharlayan needs both, too, because only having one of those Sharlayan/Labyrinthos visits leaves them as a one-dimensional figure as far as the world goes.

While I get the curiosity about 'what would these split expansions have been like', I actually can't imagine them being better than what we got in terms of being a cohesive, compelling, well-paced story. Sure, the result feels a bit like it's rushing at times, but that at least feels intentional, like it recognizes the ticking clock you're under.

A 5.x Northern Ilsabard expansion ending on a fight with Zodiark could have worked as a natural extension to Stormblood. It wouldn't have worked out very well after Emet-Selch showed up to take credit for everything.

You could drag Endwalker out across two expansions if you really wanted to if the first 'half' ended on Zodiark, but it would require a lot of filler. I think people who had built themselves up with false hopes of an Archadia-style city replete with political intrigue would have still been disappointed either way, however. There's much more potential scope for that in Southern Ilsabard with Corvos.