KABOOM! Baseless Head-Canons [SPOILERS]

[Lego3400]

Snip for space

Issue is she doesn't even address the female form in Japanese and actully refers to herself as "A little girl" during her childhood.

[Soldowner]

Zodiark and Hydaelyn are married, but they're having a falling out. The more they argue, the more imbalances it causes. Their impending divorce is the irreparable damage Elidibus is seeking to prevent.

[Anonymoose]

Issue is she doesn't even address the female form in Japanese and actully refers to herself as "A little girl" during her childhood.

I think those gave pause to even some of the Japanese players who were well-versed in lore, though, didn't they? For example, this confused blog pointing out that there are direct references to male-ness going all the way back to the Japanese versions Nael's Lodestone bio and Gaius' 1.0 dialogue.

My Japanese is horrible, but I'm pretty sure the relevant parts translate to...

流石に２年ほど前の話なので記憶も薄いんですが、どうやらネール討伐後のシーンのようですね。
The old version ended about 2 years ago, so I don't remember very well, but this scene appears to be after Nael's death.

そして４枚目にご注目。死した「男」とハッキリ言っています。
Pay attention to the 4th [IMAGE]. [Gaius] clearly says the "man" who died.

また、以前日記でも紹介した通り、初期のロドストの紹介文では「彼」と書かれています。
In addition, when introduced in the early Lodestone diary, it was written as "him".

なんで・・
Why...

When people originally jumped on this like "lol english", I dug into everything I could find trying to suss out "the truth" about Nael and where the confusion might have come from. It looks to me like a consistent in-world canon wasn't cemented until all of this was already released and over with. The quotes from Yoshida, for instance, are placed at Fan Fest 2014 (Vegas) right before Final Coil dropped. I suspect things about Nael were made specific later that were easier for JP to clean up than others, and that nobody anticipated needing to present a unified four-language front that leaves one interpretation and zero doubts for The Forums.

Sometimes things change mid-development and they have to clean it up the best they can.
You ever wonder why Hraesvelgr is attacking Ishgard in the Heavensward trailer?

[Enkidoh]

Not to mention the lyrics to Rise of the White Raven (Nael's theme), directly refer to Nael as HE. But that is derailing the thread too much, so I'll leave it there.

Getting back on topic, although certain revelations in Azys Lla seem to contradict this, another theory I've been toying with more and more is that the beast tribes are actually the original tribes who originally lived in harmony with the Gods during the Age of the Gods, and it was the spoken races who precipitated the fall and resulting First Umbral Era (after all, the First Astral Era was called 'The Age of Man'). But, with the signs that the Ixal at least might have had some kind of genetic manipulation by the Allag, I'm not so sure now. But it's still a fun theory to toy with.

[CyrilLucifer]

I guess my most baseless crackpot is that we got our Blessing from Hydaelyn and our Echo from Zodiark, hence our Echo not waning when our Blessing did (and Middy's lack of influence over it), despite Krile claiming them to be the same thing. For her, they might well be the same, yet we experienced differently.

I feel like this would fit in with the older comments about the truth of the Echo being shameful. Basically, Zodiark gives some people the Echo, Hydaelyn gives it to others.

[Wadoka]

Gerolt is really Rhalgr, or at least, an avatar of Rhalgr.

I haven't decided on the "story" that has him in Hyrstmill re-forging Relics for the Warrior of Light, but I'm sure it's a good one, involving a masterful plot to liberate Ala Mhigo.

It would fit the classic mold of narrative causality, the wandering smith who's there precisely when the Hero needs a smith - like Brigid of the Tuatha, or Wayland...

[Kallera]

The Chocobo carriage man from the intro? Not human.

One day, when ffxiv is nigh unprofitable, we will meet the toymaker of the minions, and the cutscene will be such that not a dry eye will be in the room.

[myahele]

Ardor

passion, fervor, zeal, vehemence, intensity, verve, fire, emotion; enthusiasm, eagerness, avidity, gusto, keenness, dedication

Ir sounds alike the symptoms of tempering, right? I believe that Asciens plan on having a mass tempering of the world which is required to awaken Zodiark

[Fenral]

The "missing" male Roe Thaumaturge from the Circle of Knowing currently lives in Mor Dhona and now goes by the name Ramnbroes. He never uses it, but that's definitely a (unique) THM cudgel on his hip...

[Mysteltain]

After blasting off to space, Hildibrand eventually crashed into the moon and interrupted Elidibus and WoD's conversation. As the Ascians were down three members, they made Hildibrand an honorary Ascian. That's why we haven't seen him lately: he's too busy making them into gentlemen and women. But Elidibus ain't having any of that, which is why he's never around the others for long,