Gaius's Intentions

[PArcher]

So, what did he then go and do? Team up with the very force responsible for giving the beast tribes the ability to summon the Primals in the first place.

I actually don't think he knew about that until Lahabrea activated Ultima. Gaius did show shock at that revelation after all.

[Anonymoose]

I actually don't think he knew about that until Lahabrea activated Ultima. Gaius did show shock at that revelation after all.

It was actually kind of ironic watching Judge Vader get the ol' "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further" treatment.

[Magis]

As for Gaius' intentions? I do not believe he sought the Throne. If he did, he'd be back in Garlemald right now, jostling with all the other contenders.
I believe what he wants is to see a world unified, and led by man, free from the influence of religions and deities. A world led by the power of its own people and rulers, not blind faith. And if he can steer the world to achieve that, he will do everything he can.

I believe nothing pisses him off more than finding out that the Weapon he uses contains an Ascian god's relic and that the ascians themselves worship a god. You can feel the fury in his voice.
He wants a world free of primal influence and he believes Garlemald is the optimal utility to achieve that.

Hmm, kinda reminds me of FFVI. All magic was basically snuffed out, and the empire relied heavily on technology (Magitek).

It was actually kind of ironic watching Judge Vader get the ol' "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further" treatment.

Yet even after Ultima is fired, he keeps fighting =\.

[Skies]

Yet even after Ultima is fired, he keeps fighting =\.

Truth to be told, if you were in his place and had the party trying to kill you in the meantime (I mean eight men on foot against goddamn tank, and they ARE handing you your ass, those guys ARE dangerous) I'm sure as hell you'd keep fighting.
He WAS given no choice there

[PArcher]

Truth to be told, if you were in his place and had the party trying to kill you in the meantime (I mean eight men on foot against goddamn tank, and they ARE handing you your ass, those guys ARE dangerous) I'm sure as hell you'd keep fighting.
He WAS given no choice there

I'm guessing that's about it. Yeah, you've just found out you've been used by something to do something you absolutely HATE. You've just been beaten around by 8 people with seemingly nothing that should be able to defeat you. They're likely extremely angry at you, so very unlikely that they'll let you go...

He's probably fighting as much for his own life as revenge or a need to prove something; these 8 just survived Ultima...they're nothing to laugh at, and have a VERY real chance to beat him. He may even just be fighting to try to take down one or two before he goes.

[Viridiana]

One thing I just noticed when re-watching the Ultima scene. At the end, as Lahabrea is leaving Gaius to handle us, there's a green ball of aether just floating around. Any idea what that's supposed to be?

[Enkidoh]

I just looked through the screenshots I took of that scene when I first ran the Praetorium, and you're right, there actually does seem to be a small green ball of aetheric energy that just floated around the party while Lahabrea does his big 'the reason you suck' speech before leaving Gaius to renew his assault on the party.

Considering when the dust clears after he unleashed Ultima, he directly mentions Hydaelyn as having exhausted Her energy to protect the player's party, and given the fact Hydaelyn clearly helps the player during the Ultima Weapon fight (by drawing out the Primals' essences each time Gaius tried using them)... could it be an aspect of Hydaelyn Herself? I'm not saying it is, as there's no evidence other than what I just mentioned, but it does seem very suspicious.

Damnit, now I'm going to be thinking of this for days...

[Toranja]

The Primals do speak of her as a leech.

[Nahara]

could it be an aspect of Hydaelyn Herself?

Doubtful. The particle effect is off to the side, clipping through our view of the landscape as the scene takes place. Think of it like the particle effect of a lamp appearing over the wire frame of the lamp, as if the light was outside of the lamp, rather than inside shining out.

From a game-design standpoint, it also doesn't make much sense to have it there. Sure, Hydaelyn talks to us during the fight and the following one, but if SE really didn't have a way for those text boxes to appear on screen without the use of some in-game model for it to come from, it's much easier to make said object some invisible and/or textureless ball off to the side or in the floor, rather than create something AND give it a particle effect, just so a few lines of dialog can come from it.

On top of that, the color of the orb itself looks like the same teal particle effects of the Ultima spell, so it could be glitched particle effects of that, too.

[Viridiana]

Considering when the dust clears after he unleashed Ultima, he directly mentions Hydaelyn as having exhausted Her energy to protect the player's party, and given the fact Hydaelyn clearly helps the player during the Ultima Weapon fight (by drawing out the Primals' essences each time Gaius tried using them)... could it be an aspect of Hydaelyn Herself? I'm not saying it is, as there's no evidence other than what I just mentioned, but it does seem very suspicious.

I did consider that, but I reasoned that an Ascian standing right there would probably notice something amiss if Hydaelyn were floating around. And yet, everyone just ignores the floaty green ball of light. . .