Seal Rock Returns

[Keres]

That's true, 2.0 does generally follow a similar trajectory to 1.0, just in a more straightforward way. I wouldn't have been surprised if the Ala Mhigo subplot was supposed to be fleshed out earlier (that whole thread has felt pretty neglected up until very recently), but the direction they've taken things in 3.0 has been very good in its own right.

Some of the finer details of 1.0 still leave me wondering, though; why did the Primals appear when the Agrius exploded? What were the Starshowers? (I seem to recall it was assumed at one point long ago that observing the Starshower was what bestowed you with the Echo, but...) I assume that those things won't lead to earth-shattering revelations, but I'm still a bit curious after all this time.

[Anonymoose]

why did the Primals appear when the Agrius exploded?

This is confirmed to be part of the Version 3 patch cycle. 3.X - Please look forward to it!™

What were the Starshowers? <...> assumed at one point long ago that observing the Starshower was what bestowed you with the Echo

I'm not sure the starshower will be covered, but I hope so. We even saw it a few times in 2.0! There are two places people have seen it, [1] as their first vision from Hydaelyn, and [2] in-person when it actually happened in 1562. Though some people have connected it to the fall of Dalamud, we saw it long before Dalamud was even a thing, which would make it a rather large retcon (not impossible, of course). My assumption has been that it was the opening of the Voidgate after the Fall of the Keeper, but maybe we'll get some answers once we know more about what exactly Midgardsormr was protecting.

[Viridiana]

(I seem to recall it was assumed at one point long ago that observing the Starshower was what bestowed you with the Echo, but...)

I think the… not "consensus," but the "shared maybe," so to speak, is that it's an event that happened in 1562 at the same time that the Ascians entered Eorzea and that a generation of people awakened to the Echo. Our characters also seem to have it as our first visions upon awakening to the Echo, though this connection is as yet unexplained.