Revelations from Patch 2.55 [SPOILERS]

[PArcher]

I was considering the possibility that Hydaelyn may have drained a large amount of aether from Eorzea in order to recover her strength. It would coincide well with her sudden message to Minfillia.

I was thinking it may have to do with Middy; after all, he is "drinking of her body" to make a new one for himself.

[Applesnap]

Stayed up late to watch all the cutscenes last night and I'm still processing them really. That we're all talking about it and discussing the ramifications is an awesome achievement, so well done on the storytelling, Square-Enix.

There was one point I saw it began to unravel and then it just went downhill from there.

Raubahn entrusting Ul'dah's security to the Brass Blades. Talk about handing the lamb over to the wolves. What was he expecting to happen, really? I believe there must have been another force at work because surely he wouldn't have been so short-sighted; not where the sultana's safety is concerned. And the first thing I said when Nanamo told us she was abdicating, "Well, you're dead." Sure enough, that got fulfilled pretty quickly.

Certain characters' actions I am not surprised at whatsoever. Laurentius is one of them. But the person you really have to feel for is Alphinaud. He was so desperate to save Eorzea in his grandsire's honour, yet lost sight of the one irrefutable fact: people will always betray you. No matter what you do for them or how many chances at redemption you offer, there are some individuals for whom that is never enough. They will always take the easy or profitable way out. You can never counter-balance their flaws with your good intentions; no matter how pure your heart.

Pretty much everything Alphinaud did was to help the realm and it shattered into dust around him. He worked tirelessly to "fix" Eorzea and aid its people, but it backfired on him in spectacular fashion. Almost everyone had abandoned him towards the end; the alliances he'd forged, his Crystal Braves corrupted, Kan-E-Senna and Merlwyb bailed, avarice ruling benevolence and people he trusted had turned on him. We can only hope the betrayal will forge his spirit into something even stronger.

Alphinaud: "I wanted to save Eorzea but, in the end, it was I who needed saving."

It was interesting to see the story literally come full-circle too. Not so much for we legacy characters, but if you'd started in A Realm Reborn, you'd have entered your city in that same chocobo carriage with one of Brennan's siblings and the Levelliuer twins. By the cumulation of Ul'dah's events, that's how you exit, albeit it with a missing Alisae and new, unexpected ally. Time will tell what the future holds for us...

[VargasVermillion]

One thing I remembered was that Gridania technically owes a dept to Ishgard when Ala mhigo invaded them. seems they forgot about that when being asked to return the favor.

[FJerome]

Thal's Balls, Laurentius. Of all the people I want someone to hold down so I can repeatedly kick them in the head, it's him.

I really loved that they subverted the "good guy goes bad due to circumstances, he'll make good again given a second chance" trope. NOPE, he's just an arsehole.

I also really loved how badly Alphinaud's over-confidence crashes everything down around him. He is tactically brilliant but he's also, what, 17? I'm sure this will all be a godsdamned learning experience for him and he'll be far more cautious going forward, I just like that we're seeing him grow into the man who, in three or four patches, is going to lead us in taking the war to the Empire.

[Mieck]

So, I took about a year off and came back in January - got all caught up with the story before this patch landed and blitzed through 2.55 yesterday.

My feeling is that Roalie wasn't entirely a red herring. Is it possible that her betrayal was face value and that the Crystal Braves/Teledji made use of this convenience to get you and the scions on side? Being caught in the company of imperials and staging that battle within sight of Castrum Meridianum seems just a touch out of their league. Furthermore, Lolorito and Teledji look to have been in pretty obvious cahoots - appearing opposed in public, but Ilberd stood between Raubhan and Lolorito without question. Teledji's fall just altered his reporting line rather than shifting his allegiance.

[TheGrimace]

Yeah, I wanted give Laurentius the benefit of the doubt, but even after he joined the Crystal Braves, I never trusted him. Trust has to be earned.

I'm sad about Wilred, and I hope that Alianne is still alive and of sound mind. I have faith that Riol is still safe just because he's so independent.

All of this said, my #1 hope for Heavensward is just to be able to put the fallen Crystal Braves in their place. Lolorito should get his as well, if he was truly the mastermind. I want them to pay for what happened to Nanamo.

[FenHin]

That tea party..
I think it's only a ruse between the three woman

[KarstenS]

Also the Timing of the Dragon Attack, there is no way they could have planned that if they didn't know about it beforehand to get the Ishgardians out.

Hm. During some of the cuts I got the feeling

They are barely involved into the heretic activity

They needed the additional rights to get the key positions in Ul'Dah befora ll begins. And that was the way to get it done. I'm mostly shure, the dragon attack also was part of the big plan.

For what it's worth, FFXIV often uses the term star instead of the word planet because many on Hydaelyn don't really comprehend what a planet is in comparison to the lights in the sky. For all they know, each one is a world of Light holding against the Darkness.

In the german translation, they used planet as the word.

[Eisenhower]

Also...why did we get arrested so...quietly? I'm sure we would have known that we wouldn't be just sitting in a gaol waiting to be rescued, we'd be executed as soon as possible to make sure we couldn't let the truth get out or get rescued and really oppose them. Even the random Crystal Brave in Mor Dhona is terrified of you...why couldn't we have fought until subdued? We just killed an enormous dragon...what is a few random soldiers to me?

I think the reason is twofold. One part is probably because there's a difference between how the Warrior of Light (WoL) is depicted in the story and how the WoL acts as part of the game. In the story, the WoL is very agreeable most of the time (to facilitate accepting random quests etc) and seems to lean towards the archetypical good-guy/run-of-the-mill protagonist that are so very common in JRPGs. For such a character, going on a bloody rampage through the royal chambers against what is basically the police seems a bit... out of character in lack of a better description.

In the game, the player can pretend whatever fit their fancy. The WoL can in their eyes be some cute Dunesfolk potato that spends all her time in the garden or a grizzled warrior that takes no prisoners no matter what. But in the end that's not the character that acts in the MSQ.

Second I think is that fighting back would throw even more suspicion on the WoL in the eyes of a third party (such as the commoners). Especially if this third party is just fed the information the Monetarists want to leak out. At the same time, the WoL don't know what's going on with the rest of the Scions, so fighting might put the lot of them in more trouble. It's not like they called for an execution on the spot, so maybe the WoL decided that seeing how things turn out would be the best course of action.

Finally, about that dragon. As I recall the trial, most of the damage came from Ishgardian cannons, Dragonkiller rigs, magic snares and piles of explosive barrels. Without the help of other adventurers, magic tools and preparation the WoL would be ill suited to take on the entire castle.

That Crystal Brave in RT however - I'm pretty sure the WoL can punch that sucker to the ground with one hit.

[ruskie]

there really *was* a Dravanian attack going on at that point. I was so sure that those Temple Knights were just more traitors...and it turns out they really were there to get their commander back home.

I still doubt it. All we know is that the commander got back. We don't know if he had to slay the knights that were supposedly escorting him(my first insticts were these are from lady iceheart and that hasn't quieted down).

Other thing is... the moment I saw the handmaiden with the cup putting something away I knew what was about to happen.

While some people seem saddened/infuriated by the reactions of the other leaders the way I see it: you are a guest of another city state that is having it's own internal affairs - it is not your place to meddle in the affairs of their state. For me if anything the respect for both leaders grew at that point; their bodyguards understood that - which is why they got reminded about it.

But yeah I expected the Admiral to pull a gun on the 'lil bastards.

If as someone mentioned Pipin is revealed as an Ul'dan prince I expect they will lend him all the aid they can when needed.