Midgarsormr and his children

[Nalien]

(also,it may be possible that the "7 sons" refer only to living 7 sons, as Bahamut is dead since a long time.)

I had a similar thought, but then I remembered that we initially got "seven sons" directly from the horses mouth; When we met Midgardsormr he said he sired seven sons. Were one or more deceased, he'd still have sired seven. Although seven strikes me as an odd number, since if I remember my Final Fantasy VI correctly, there were eight legendary dragons. Perhaps Bahamut was just disowned to the point he is no longer counted, perhaps an eighth will be born as a result of current events. I would like to connect each of the Celestial Dragons to an Era... The first Era, I believe, was Wind-aspected. Tiamat should be Wind-aspected, considering she was historically the Elemental Fiend of Wind...

Personally I like to theorize that Midgardsormr isn't some all powerful being, but instead the lone survivor of Meracydia, perhaps experimented on by the Allag, or just gifted with power from Hydaelyn. Bahamut is related to Middy, but not as a son, instead as an ancient ancestor. Primal Bahamut gets sent up into space, Xandes causes a Calamity, world lies in ruins. Allag Warriors of Light (See: Crystal Tower dialog) survive and and become legends, today being remembered as the Twelve. They discover Middy and, regretting what happened to Meracydia and the events that follow, strike a deal; Midgardsormr will guard Crystal Tower and prevent its misuse and they will not harm dragons again. Perhaps Middy had seven sons in order for them to fill a similar role, we certainly have Allag structures in the sky that I imagine we'd want to avoid falling into the wrong hands, sit Nidhogg up there to defend it. Fast forward a few Eras and Ishgard turns up, decides to settle next to the Sea of Clouds where they could perhaps access these Allag ruins (note: the promotional page mentions that Ishgard is embracing Airship technology and building a new frontier in the Sea of Clouds, Middy mentioned they were about to make a "second sin"...). Nidhogg takes note of this and decides to check it out, loses and eye and starts a war (another thing to note, Ishgard followed Halone, Halone was a warrior (why do the Twelve have such mundane occupations again? Hint Hint, they were real people once), an Allagan warrior who fought in Meracydia and perhaps resents dragons somewhat as a result?). Probably didn't happen over night, perhaps they were fairly neutral at first, Shiva eventually falls for a dragon/Nidhogg, maybe Thordan I got jelly. Throw in some Ascians and you've got a war. Fast forward nearly 1,000 years, Cids father in Garlemald has completed construction of Bozja Citadel, which houses a device with the intention of accessing Dalamud, dubbed "The Meteor Project", effectively a remake of Crystal Tower. Midgardsormr takes note of this, and then the Agrius start flying towards Mor Dhona, the resting place of Crystal Tower, queue aggression from Middy, Garlean intend would seem pretty clear if you connect the dots... Interesting fact; Mor Dhona was, in legend, described as the center of the world and source of all Aether. Crystal Tower became the center of the Allagan Empire (which spanned the entire globe) and was the source of all their power. Coincidence? I think not!

Seven Celestial Dragons though... I'm going to guess they're all tied to the Seven Umbral/Astral Eras in some way... Seventh Astral Era was believed to be the last, since each was tied to one of the six elements (in order, Wind, Lightning, Fire, Earth, Ice, Water). In actuality there should be eight (add Dark and Light to the list). Seventh Era is thus Darkness aspected, Nidhogg is the seventh son, certainly gives off a dark vibe (Hraesvelgr Ice? Perhaps a Shiva connection there? For the full picture of all of them, top right Lightning? Tiamat in green being Wind. That middle one being Earth. Two left somehow Fire and Water, Water seems really hard to figure out...). We save the day in Heavesnward, restore Hydaelyns power somewhat, Midgardsormr has his eighth and final child, marking the start of the eighth Era and giving us a full set of eight legendary/Celestial Dragons.

[SuzakuCMX]

Snip

Midgardsomr is the first dragon though.

[Kuwagami]

snip

According to himself. Or rather, according to texts written AFTER it and using the cult of the Twelves.

though this :

Allag Warriors of Light (See: Crystal Tower dialog) survive and and become legends, today being remembered as the Twelve. They discover Middy and, regretting what happened to Meracydia and the events that follow, strike a deal; Midgardsormr will guard Crystal Tower and prevent its misuse and they will not harm dragons again.

Is actually quite hard to believe, as there would have been traces of this throughout Eorzean history. Mid could have lied to the entire world the whole time, with some sort of mass mind-confusing magic to create the myth, but it becomes really hard to justify it in the lore we already have.

Also, Bahamut is definitively not the first dragon ever (being of the first brood) so even if Midgarsormr wasn't his father, he would be his brother logically, as Mid is the earliest dragon known to existence in the lore.

It's also still possible that Midgarsormr doesn't recognize Bahamut as a child of him altogether, for whatever he might have done before perishing. We don't even know the date and circumstances of Bahamut's death. Maybe Mid killed him in a ferocious battle at some point

According to everything we know so far, and given that he's the largest dragon in the world and the oldest and also apparently immortal and also able to strip Hydaelyn's blessing from us, it's a safe bet that he's probably the first dragon.

Oh yeah, I was just pointing out that the lore is very shady about that for now. Though pointing out that Midgarsormr is the very first dragon Eorzea came to know, thus effectively making him the first dragon as far as we know.

[SuzakuCMX]

snip

According to everything we know so far, and given that he's the largest dragon in the world and the oldest and also apparently immortal and also able to strip Hydaelyn's blessing from us, it's a safe bet that he's probably the first dragon.