Dragonsong Shiva altar!

[MercuryD]

When i first watched the DS trailer i was surprised to see Ysayle in a cathedral but after rewatching that scene I noticed that the statue behind her is the same woman-dragon motif as those in Akh Afah. I can't wait for this expansion! Being a Shiva fanboy who happens to love XIV's take on her, I am glad that she is going to remain, at least in some parts and speculatively, a large part of the story.

[Fenral]

You did see her standing with the WoL and crew, too, right? Looks like they aren't even keeping it a secret that she's the Ahab to our Ishmael this coming expansion.

[Alberel]

The new main theme 'Dragonsong' appears to be mostly about Shiva and her draconic lover as well, based on the lyrics. I think we'll be finding out quite a bit about the real Saint Shiva over the course of the 3.0 story. I wonder if Ysayle too has fallen in love with a dragon; some of her comments during the fight with Shiva imply as much and it would be a nice parallel between past and present in the story.

[MercuryD]

Well as far as the fight is concerned, it always seemed like post diamond dust was the real Shiva in place of Ysayle.

[Alberel]

Well as far as the fight is concerned, it always seemed like post diamond dust was the real Shiva in place of Ysayle.

I honestly think it unlikely we saw anything of the 'real' Shiva beyond her physical form. It was made pretty clear that the Echo allowed Ysayle to remain in complete control the whole time. For the 'real' Shiva to take control Ysayle would have to be tempered, which she is immune to just like the WoL. Anything said during that fight should have been Ysayle speaking based on what we understand of channeling a primal into your own body. It's for this same reason that Summoners can safely channel Bahamut into their own body in Heavensward.

[Viridiana]

I honestly think it unlikely we saw anything of the 'real' Shiva beyond her physical form. It was made pretty clear that the Echo allowed Ysayle to remain in complete control the whole time. For the 'real' Shiva to take control Ysayle would have to be tempered, which she is immune to just like the WoL. Anything said during that fight should have been Ysayle speaking based on what we understand of channeling a primal into your own body. It's for this same reason that Summoners can safely channel Bahamut into their own body in Heavensward.

Worse than that, even.

One, we know the Shiva we see doesn't have the body of a normal Elezen woman, so it can't be Shiva's body. And I've pointed out in a different thread that any being summoned by another will have their minds distorted by the summoner, so the Shiva we hear during the fights is Iceheart's vision of her, not her true self. Basically, even if Iceheart didn't have the Echo, the odds of her summoning the true Shiva are so low as to be basically preposterous.

[DracotheDragon]

Worse than that, even.

One, we know the Shiva we see doesn't have the body of a normal Elezen woman,

you have to remember that primals are created by the thoughts and prayers of the living, and this in turn can warp the image about them, to use Ifrit, a 1.0 friend told me the lore of him was he was a strong amal'jaa caster with a 'fiery horn' but the creator we see, although you can see the aml'jaa references in him, is vastly different
Using the t12 boss phoenix also backs this up where

The living elezen Louisoux is transformed into a giant bird of fire, all due to the phrase of rebirth and recreation

not only that but the primal illusion of Odin changes on zantetsukin's will and zantetsukin changes it's shape to fit, so when it comes to primals it is a safe bet to say that what the primal looks like is down to the imagination of the summoners, (which is why our egi's vaguely look like the primals as well as them being a small part of there power) and that the living forms of the creatures (if they had one) would look a lot different.

with bahamut, i feel the dragon shown at the end of the HW dungeon trailer was a living mercydian, showing in contrast what bahamut looked like to it.