[SPOILERS] Revelations from Patch 3.3

[Theodric]

In regards to where the story goes next:

In Revenant's Toll the dialogue of the Scions there has been updated again and two of the NPC's specifically mention Thavanair in their dialogue. The two that fled there after 2.0's ill fated banquet. Ala Mhigo is of course mentioned by Yda and Papalymo in the earlier 'teaser' cutscenes at the end of 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2. We also see the Warrior of Darkness and Elidibus in the Shroud at the end of this patch. Since there isn't a whole lot of Eorzea left to explore I think it's likely that we'll be exploring those locations - and Ala Mhigo might not be an actual capital city that we visit but Thavnair will instead be our base for the next expansion. It's an island, after all - and it's been teased that the next expansion might revolve around water and swimming.

[Alberel]

In regards to where the story goes next:

In Revenant's Toll the dialogue of the Scions there has been updated again and two of the NPC's specifically mention Thavanair in their dialogue. The two that fled there after 2.0's ill fated banquet. Ala Mhigo is of course mentioned by Yda and Papalymo in the earlier 'teaser' cutscenes at the end of 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2. We also see the Warrior of Darkness and Elidibus in the Shroud at the end of this patch. Since there isn't a whole lot of Eorzea left to explore I think it's likely that we'll be exploring those locations - and Ala Mhigo might not be an actual capital city that we visit but Thavnair will instead be our base for the next expansion. It's an island, after all - and it's been teased that the next expansion might revolve around water and swimming.

Gotta wonder where the story is going to lead though... Given the Garlean presence in Dravania it's obvious that they are still an immediate threat that needs to be dealt with. With Ishgard reunited with the Eorzean Alliance the Grand Companies are finally in a position to strike back against the invaders, and the first step to doing that is retaking Ala Mhigo. Given all the unresolved plot hooks for Raubahn and Ilberd leading us there as well it just makes so much sense for Ala Mhigo to be our next destination.

Something really random and unexpected would have to happen in 3.4 and 3.5 to cause us to consider Thavnair a more pressing priority, unless it was somehow rolled into the same expansion.

Honestly Thavnair, Doma and all those exotic locations seem to me like post-story expansions in the same vein as Aht Urghan and Seekers from XI (i.e. they're self-contained stories for after we've dealt with Garlemald and Zodiark).

[Frederick22]

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.

My answer to that..

I totally agree. It was not so they could grab the eyes later, on the contrary. Could this be beacsue the eyes may had being our only resourse (for now) to destroy an Ascian?

[CyrilLucifer]

On the subject of "questions that will either never be answered or brought up again:"

Is it really healthy to be drenched with foreign dragon aether like we were? Like, essentially injected with it. Potentially permanently? Aether sickness is a thing, so we know too much foreign aether does have effects on someone's body.

[Dualblade]

On the subject of "questions that will either never be answered or brought up again:"

Is it really healthy to be drenched with foreign dragon aether like we were? Like, essentially injected with it. Potentially permanently? Aether sickness is a thing, so we know too much foreign aether does have effects on someone's body.

Personally I'd say

Having the Echo probably does wonders for keeping such things under control. As well, us willingly taking the power might actually keep anything dangerous from happening, in comparison to the Drowned who clearly (except maybe for Captain Madison) didn't want it. As well I'm pretty sure we DID give Hresvelgr his eye back so his aether has also probably already left us.

[Belhi]

So I finally did my MSQ:

Over all I enjoyed it. I admit I expected something more complicated in how we save Estinien but still, it worked even if it was a bit cheesy. I would point out that an event like that isn't entirely without president in FF14. Hell, in the lvl 50 WHM quest you have a guy who has been dead for a lot longer than that manifest and help. Interestingly he specifically mentioned that it was with Hydaelyn's permission and due to us being her champion that it allowed it to happen. I suspect it requires rather extraordinary conditions for it to happen.

On another note, I was disappointed Alberic didn't make a cameo (after all Estinien is his foster son) but the got major points from me for including Vedrfolnir. It's also nice to know Aymeric and Alphinaud were getting slapped around for a change as well. I kind of hope that if the Dravanians ever get involved in Eorzean Alliance stuff that Vedrfolnir makes another showing. After all, him and Aymeric seem to get on well enough.

I think this will wrap up Ishgard's story for a while. We will have a few side quest things but I doubt it will be the central focus. Estinien will almost certainly end up a Scion at some point I think though maybe not for now. He is a free agent though so we will almost certainly see him around. I am glad we will be moving away from Ishgard now. I have really enjoyed HW but I am getting a little over Ishgard, Alpine landscapes and dragons.

The hook at the end was probably the most disappointing part simply cause it really didn't give us much to go on. I think its highly likely we will see Nidhogg's eyes recovered as batteries. Yoshi P has said in the past that the Ascians will take more of a back seat after the end of the 3.x saga for a while so I think whatever is building will reach its pitch in 3.5. We also have the reveal of what Midgardsormr was guarding still to be revealed and the Heart of Sabik to make an appearance again, both which have been said will happen in this expansion cycle. Perhaps its not Omega itself which is the major threat but its power source. What if charging up the Heart of Sabik had an alternate purpose beyond just sowing chaos. 3.2 seemed to indicate that whatever the Source is, the Ascians don't have access too it. Perhaps that's what all this messing around with Ultima and Omega could be about. Destroying the seal that keeps them from the Source maybe?

Well Ill move on to the Warring Triad stuff next.

[InjaEdoux]

On the subject of "questions that will either never be answered or brought up again:"

Is it really healthy to be drenched with foreign dragon aether like we were? Like, essentially injected with it. Potentially permanently? Aether sickness is a thing, so we know too much foreign aether does have effects on someone's body.

Something like:

Well, our characters already were exposed to such aether before: in DRG story when WoL became second Azure Dragoon. So First Brood aether is not something new and entirely alien to WoL - we blasted Ascian while channeling it, too.
And Hresvelgr willingly gifted WoL with the power of his Eye, while channeling Nidhogg's aether required strong will to defend against madness and rage of it's real owner - we already freed Estinien from NIdhogg's control in lvl50 DRG quest through Echo-sort-of-thing, summoning spirit of first Azure Dragoon to guide our legs in Ultra Dragonfire Jump

And that brings another question: we tossed Niddy's Eyes into abyss (now it will stare at us for all eternity) and returned Eye to Hresvelgr. Is WoL STILL the Azure Dragoon? Or did he lost the ability to power up goony-things?

Also, in the post-MSQ quests, Middy talks to Tiamat and says about his hope that alliance between man and dragon will be the foundation of force against the coming darkness.

[Dualblade]

Something like:

And that brings another question: we tossed Niddy's Eyes into abyss (now it will stare at us for all eternity) and returned Eye to Hresvelgr. Is WoL STILL the Azure Dragoon? Or did he lost the ability to power up goony-things?

Also, in the post-MSQ quests, Middy talks to Tiamat and says about his hope that alliance between man and dragon will be the foundation of force against the coming darkness.

While I don't think what I say should be very spoilery I will put tags just not to give away context or something.

The WoL would still be the (a) Azure Dragoon. We never really channeled Nidhogg's power (which all the other ones do), but we DO channel Midgarsomr's, and that will never change since its part of our skills now. We might even get a bit of Hresvelger's aether still latched to us for new skills in the next xpac.

[Cilia]

Stupid uhh formatting stuff...

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.

While getting Omega operational again would almost certainly be a massive boon to the Ascians' goal, doing so is another matter. While they do possess vast, nebulous powers, there's still limitations to what they can do. Case in point: all they did was show Gaius where the Ultima Weapon was and tell him its capabilities. That's it. Nero refurbished it, and it didn't need too much fuel - ceruleum is something Garleans have plenty of no matter where we seem to go, and then it ate three primals in quick succession. So there we have it.

Omega, on the other hand, is likely far more massive than the Ultima Weapon was, given it was designed to contend with the likes of Bahamut. It's also still a scrap heap buried in Cartenau as far as we know. It would take a veritable army of workers to excavate it, along with numerous master machinists to refurbish it in a timely manner. Only two come to mind that could do so: Cid and Nero, the former of whom would never willingly do so and the latter of whom is unaccounted for at this time. There's no feasible way that could be done over 3.4 - 3.55 without anyone noticing and stopping it.

Now, I'm not saying Omega won't show up. Rather it won't be the impetus that leads us into Ala Mhigo. If it does show up, it'll be brought out during 4.0's MSQ or 4.x, I'd wager. I'm fairly certain after about a year and a half of nothing but dealing with dragons they're going to put said dragons on the back burner as well, so Shinryu making an appearance I'd bet on even less.

As a final note, Blanhaerz wasn't looking down into the chasm per sé, just tilting his head downward to make the call to Darklander. As far as I can tell, anyway.

My answer to that..

I totally agree. It was not so they could grab the eyes later, on the contrary. Could this be beacsue the eyes may had being our only resourse (for now) to destroy an Ascian?

Any exact reason remains open for speculation. The only important thing is that Blanhaerz was observing our battle and making sure everything played out in accordance with Elidibus' design. He may have intervened had events gone too far off of Elidibus' script, but the important thing is that events unfold as per Elidibus' foretold fate.

I'm just getting very Validar-ish vibes from Elidibus. Have been since 3.0's stinger. Anyone who knows who Validar is should know his catchphrase is "This was all written!," and, well, that's kind of what Elidibus has been spouting since said stinger.

[Theodric]

<Rambling ahead>

Are the Ascians even aware of Ilberd? I mean, they probably are but they've never mentioned him directly and as far as we know Teledji and Ilberd weren't acting due to Ascian manipulation - they did so due to greed, selfishness and misguided pride. If 4.0 is going to be light on Ascian activity then either we deal them a major blow before that point or the premise of 4.0 is based around them succeeding and we clean up after them. I'm hoping for the latter scenario, personally, since it'll feel rather cheap if Elidbus dies without succeeding after such a long build up.