[SPOILERS] Revelations from Patch 3.3

[Phyllo]

Weeeeeeeeeelll...

While the whole aether battery thing makes sense, it wouldn't surprise me if the reason Eldy and the Edges were keeping an eye out was because of this possibility. Which if everything is going according to plan currently is fact rather then possibility.

Elidibus be like

[Laili]

Weeeeeeeeeelll...

While the whole aether battery thing makes sense, it wouldn't surprise me if the reason Eldy and the Edges were keeping an eye out was because of this possibility. Which if everything is going according to plan currently is fact rather then possibility.

My take on it:

Eli doesn't seem particularly attached to Lahabrea (or any of the other Ascians for that matter). Feels like he sees them as a means to an end and that the other Ascians are all being really shortsighted in how they approach resurrecting Zodiark.

[Naria]

MSQ Question

Is this the first that Midgardsomerr has appeared before our allies? That seems like kind of a big deal. For some reason I thought he'd appear after the others had left the room, previously.

Actually no:

We rode on his back into Ishgard at the end of 3.0, and he introduced himself to Aymeric (and everyone in the Pillars). Presumably we explained our connection to him at some point off-screen as neither Aymeric or Alphinaud seemed overly surprised at mini-Midgardsomr showing up.

[Alice_89th]

There was also something that I did not understand so well. Is Aymeric a new Azure Dragoon or did they mean that, because of the bonds that Ishgardians and the dragons now have this bond makes them a new kind of Azure Dragoon (in name only.) Maybe someone could explain this part to me.

I understood it as

His riding a dragon makes him a new kind of Azure Dragoon, one who forged peace with the dragons instead of killing them. So it is more figure of speech. It even sort of fits as his clothes are blue. (Though I would call the colour he is wearing "cobalt", but eh). Now that they have forged peace with the dragons there is (hopefully) no more need for dragon-killing-dragoons. (And maybe we'll even see dragon-riding-dragoons??).

Also, was Aymeric his full name mentioned before?

Aymeric de Borel.

But whether that means anything is beyond me. Sounds a bit fancy for a bastard name though, at least a lot fancier than Graystone.

[Cilia]

MSQ

About the Eyes and ideas floating around about them...

I'm fairly confident the close-up on Nidhogg's inert Eyes as we tossed them off of the Steps of Faith was meant as a visual cue that "the Dragonsong War is over, and its perpetuator gone forever." We tossed the Eyes from so high up we can't even see the bottom; while I can't say anything about how damaged or otherwise they may be (given Estinien gouged Hraesvelgr's loaned Eye out of Nidhogg's socket, then its owner put it back in half an hour later and was totes fine), the chasm seems nearly bottomless. They're probably beyond the reach of any mortal, at least... but back to the point. They're gone from the narrative, probably forever, and Nidhogg's spirit departed before we threw them, so even if someone did get them both, he's gone. Probably definitely. So there will be no Nidhogg-possessed rats coming up to menace Ishgard.

So too is any plot thread dangling from said Eyes. Probably. So Lahabrea is gone for good. Probably. And the "but he could still be alive in the Eye!" argument is now a moot point because regardless of whether or not he is, the Eye(s) are gone. Probably.

As for Blanhaerz' observation, he didn't seem to be acting at all - just observing, as the Warriors of Darkness have been shown doing aside from their scuffle with Ravana and us. I can't check if he was looking down before / while making his call because of maintenance, but right now I'm going to put my gil on him looking down to make sure we threw the Eyes off of the Steps... according to plan. Nothing about retrieving them, just making sure things are playing out according to Elidibus' script. (In fact, Lahabrea getting offed was probably beneficial to Elidibus' plan, since a chaotic element like him isn't conducive to a complex scheme like Elidibus seems to be setting up.)

As an aside, I'm now looking forward to being that chaotic element that destroys Elidibus' well-orchestrated plot.

As for Omega, it was mentioned what, once, back in 2.3? I'm not betting on it showing up again until someone says something about it, and besides, it's still a scrap heap buried in Cartenau as far as we know. Unless someone excavates it and gets a master machinist to refurbish the thing, plus a nice aether / ceruleum supply to fuel it, it's still useless... and that's a lot of conditionals. It's certainly beyond the means of Ilberd.

Warring Triad

You know, Unukalhai's exposition on Auracite reminds me a lot of VI Magicite upon further thought... makes sense with the Triad as a backdrop... but anyway.

The idea that our use of Auracite will corrupt us over time, and thus that we should stop using it, seems baseless. We only use Auracite to trap an Ascian before blowing them to smithereens; Unukalhai's story exposits that people held onto the Auracite with a trapped Primal so they could use it for power / war. Besides, Moenbryda outright stated that the White Auracite we use can't hold aether for very long - not exactly what happened in the story. Whatever sort of Auracite the people from Unukalhai's story were using, it certainly wasn't the White kind we use. (There are other kinds of Auracite?! This is also news!)

[Laili]

My speculation on the fate of Nidhogg's Eyes:

The WoD are going to give them to Ilberd to use as batteries for Omega to drive the Garleans out of Ala Mhigo. That particular plot thread has been conspicuously absent since 3.0 and surprise surprise we find our boy Eli and friends skulking about the East Shroud around the same time.

Building on this from earlier:

Nidhogg's eyes being used in this manner to power Omega is what pulls Shinryu in to oppose him. He's not about to let this madman use his deceased brother's power in this manner after all (going on the assumption that if Shinryu is in XIV and that he'd be of the First Brood of course)

[Cilia]

Building on this from earlier:

Nidhogg's eyes being used in this manner to power Omega is what pulls Shinryu in to oppose him. He's not about to let this madman use his deceased brother's power in this manner after all (going on the assumption that if Shinryu is in XIV and that he'd be of the First Brood of course)

Well, this is just my personal speculation, but...

As I explained above Omega is still a scrap heap buried in Cartenau; excavating, refurbishing, and fueling it are all beyond the means of Ilberd.

I'm also quite confident the Eyes are gone from the narrative, along with any potential uses and plot threads tied to them.

Either way, I'm pretty sure we're done with dragons for now (I know I'm sick of them; the Magic block that came out around the same time as Heavensward was dragons too, and it's been nothing but dragons aside from resolving 2.55 since...) and going to move on to, more likely than not, the Garleans.

[Laili]

Well, this is just my personal speculation, but...

As I explained above Omega is still a scrap heap buried in Cartenau; excavating, refurbishing, and fueling it are all beyond the means of Ilberd.

I'm also quite confident the Eyes are gone from the narrative, along with any potential uses and plot threads tied to them.

Either way, I'm pretty sure we're done with dragons for now (I know I'm sick of them; the Magic block that came out around the same time as Heavensward was dragons too, and it's been nothing but dragons aside from resolving 2.55 since...) and going to move on to, more likely than not, the Garleans.

And in response to that...

Such a thing is certainly beyond Ilberd's means alone, but with Ascian backing? And did you not see the stinger at the end of 3.3? Paladin of Darkness certainly isn't reporting to Elidybus about the depth of the chasm around Ishgard that's for sure.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

Do we really need spoiler boxes for a thread that's clearly marked spoilers?

[CyrilLucifer]

Do we really need spoiler boxes for a thread that's clearly marked spoilers?

Just do it for the first few days. It's being respectful to people who have finished one part of the story quests but not the other. It's not like typing HB takes effort. You can even click a button in Advanced options for even less typing.