[SPOILERS] Revelations from Patch 3.3

[Fenral]

snip

On the MSQ's resolution:

I'm surprised that Moose's theory about just ripping the eyes off and walking away with Estinien intact was correct, but not disappointed. Ysayle and Haurchefant showing up made an Advent Children reference with them walking off together into the light, but I consider the whole experience symbolic more than being actual divine intervention.

On The Wiping City:

That was more my theory I was thinking about as we approached the temple proper. Like, "oh, this hasn't happened before." Had a lot of time to think about it while lying on Forgall's floorgall.

[Grayve]

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.

Yes, I remembered about 10 minutes after I posted..... *sigh* this is what happens to my memory with 3 months between story.

[Nalien]

MSQ

Was entertaining, but I'm glad we're done with dragons... I don't think I could stand them much longer... I'm sick of their blatant hypocrisy and extreme racism, Tiamat is perhaps the only one I like but she's condemned herself to plot-irrelevance, at least she doesn't lump us together with the Allag and/or act like we're somehow the arrogant ones... I like Hraesvelgr after he got the OK from daddy and essentially switched sides faster than you can say "Potato", but I have a hard time believing that even happened... They make this massive point about how time is perceived differently for dragons, how Nidhoggs actions are OK because to them the betrayal is still fresh, but then... Hraesvelgr goes from "Piss off" to "Take my eye!" in moments... The way he goes from "I understand Nidhoggs rage but want nothing to do with this", to "This war is totally pointless!" just left a bad taste in my mouth... I liked the irony in us using the eye that sustained Nidhogg for 1,000 years to end this, but meh... His whole attempt to talk Nidhogg down just had me going "THESE ARE THINGS I'VE BEEN CALLING YOUR KIND OUT ON SINCE BEFORE 3.0!", I find the fact that he has the nerve to call Aymeric arrogant hilarious, they're essentially children throwing a 1,000 year tantrum and he claims we have an incurable arrogance... I think Estinien put is best; He had us to save him from his rage, Nidhogg had no one. You suck, Hraesvelgr! For an expansion focused on dragons, they sure were the weakest element... At least the children dragon know their place, and their "You can't even wait one hundred years?" is cute, rather than irritating...

I'm very interested to know what Midgardsormr is/has been up to... Since he randomly remembered he exists again and is stalking us, obviously he isn't busy defending anything, so... Yeah... Could have used his help a bit more, as usual he shows up and I have a thousand questions, but all the characters have none... No one even questions him appearing... Was kinda disappointed by his interaction with Hraesvelgr, did Hraesvelgr even say hello? His interaction with Tiamat was sorrowful, but with Hraesvelgr it was basically just "It's OK to kill this shade", "Oh, these mortals are right? DUNGEON TIME!", I'd really like to know more about their little family, given Midgardsormr strikes me as the worst father ever... Would have liked to see Midgardsormr show up when we finished Nidhogg off, too... His spirit just flew up and disappeared, would have been nice if Midgardsormr had something to say, but once again it seems he really didn't care about Nidhogg at all... Worst father ever... Hopefully Keeper of the Lake (Hard) can get me some answers out of him though, he has a lot to answer for IMO, at least he came off a whole lot less arrogant this patch...

My biggest worry now, is Derplander... With them being the focus now and they actually get some development as antagonists, but I wont hold my breath... Not even sure they'll become the focus, I expect we'll finally finish up finding Y&P and Ilberd (who was probably the mask guy from 3.2), with Elidibus and Derplander continuing to stand in the background being cryptic and, IMO, incredibly boring... Obviously someone will be entering the plot again and informing us that something is going on with Derplander, but I don't see what we can do with that information... Probably same thing we did with news on Minfilia; Instantly forget it and go back to Ishgard... You'd think Midgardsormr might have something to say on the subject of Warriors of Darkness, actually...

Oh, and absolutely nothing came ouf of that one 3.1 line; Where did Nidhogg go? They made a point to tell us that he and his hoard had flown to skies unknown, yet we get nothing on that... No where, no why... It's just something that happened and we're apparently meant to forget about it... That strikes me as foreshadowing... I'll regret repeating this, given the response I usually get, but I still think he went off to Garlemald... Having him inform (not create a BFF alliance with) Garlemald that Ishgard summoned a Primal confirms reports from the Gration and reignites the Garlemald/Eorzean conflict for 4.0, and it's fitting with his character IMO... When we survived his ultimate, he claims if he is doomed he'll take everyone down with him, which was an empty threat in the fight, but if he set it up so Garlemald has reason to attack Ishgard? Success, the Dragonsong War might be over, but Ishgard gets pulled into a whole new conflict. That strikes me as something Nidhogg would want to happen as a Plan B...

Complaints aside, 3.3 is best patch IMO, and I still haven't touched Regula/Mhach... Dragons being stupid is a small complain honestly, everything else about the patch has been blowing me away so far...

Those eyes are totally coming back to haunt us, I'll get my Shinryu out of them yet! I mean really, Nabriales wanted Tupsimati for a Rejoining, and Nidhoggs eye was shown to be functionally the same... Elidibus would be a fool not to retrieve them, and some how I don't think a "bottomless" abyss would phase an immortal jerk-spirit and his painfully transparent friends... They can breath on the moon FFS! Fall damage has nothing on the endless void of space...

I'm incline to think Yoshida commenting that Estinien picking up the eyes wont seem so stuipd now was a jab at us/Alphinaud/Aymeric... Yeah, Estinien picking up the eyes to take them out of reach of man and dragon seems a whole lot less stupid than tossing them into the hands of the enemy...

[Fenral]

More on the Eyes:

Part of me was thinking he meant Ysayle and Haurchefant, but the way he forces his mind to happier things, and how forthcoming he is about having seen them later on, tells me he was sensing something that he didn't want to think about.

I'm not saying it's Lahabrea, but I'm not saying it's not Lahabrea, either.

[CyrilLucifer]

I hate you all.

So much.

Don't let my hope be reborn. Don't do it.

Also, unrelated to anything, it seems a bit odd that Unukalhai's instance got its own unique background music, but still no voice acting? All of the voiced battle lines were reused from the ARF.

Even more convincing that he's not surviving, IMO. Regula probably isn't, either.

[Berethos]

Don't let my hope be reborn. Don't do it.

I don' think there's much there to get your hopes up, at least not based on what was shown in the scene.

The something sensed was, without a doubt, meant to refer to Ysale and Haurchefant's presence (whether it was the memory of said presence that served to inspire, or the literal presence of their spirits to provide inspiration or moral support). In the moment, it makes sense that Alphinaud would want to not think about it, since the pain of losing them would be fairly recent for the characters (certainly not the nearly a year it's been for us), and he feels more comfortable bringing it up later. It also plays to that particular common cliche - wondering if they sensed the soul/spirit of someone/thing lost that shows up to support at just the right moment (bet we could come up with a dozen anime that use this trope between us inside of an hour).

Were it a darker, more sinister something he sensed...given everything we've been through, that's probably not something he would have hidden when talking later. At this point, he doesn't strike me as the type that would go "Oh, I almost felt like I sensed something evil, possibly even Lahabrea, when trying to yank the eye off Estinien, but I definitely shouldn't mention this to the Warrior of Light under any circumstances."

If Laha is coming back, it wasn't hinted at here.

[Cilia]

I hate you all.

So much.

Don't let my hope be reborn. Don't do it.

Also, unrelated to anything, it seems a bit odd that Unukalhai's instance got its own unique background music, but still no voice acting? All of the voiced battle lines were reused from the ARF.

Even more convincing that he's not surviving, IMO. Regula probably isn't, either.

If it's despair you want, then I shall... provide.

All jesting aside, Lahabrea is GONE gone. As in there's almost no way in Hell he is still relevant to the unfolding tale. Alphinaud's above comment was, more likely than not, a reminder to himself not to live in the past and grieve endlessly for those we have lost, but to look to the future their sacrifices bought us with hope. It would be easy to mire ourselves in grief, loss, and despair, but we have all decided to continue down this path despite the pain and sorrow it has caused (and will continue to cause) us.

We do what we must because we can. For the good of all of us. Except for the ones who are dead.

The Eyes are gone unless someone retrieves them, which seems unlikely. Even if Lahabrea was absorbed into the Eye and wasn't burned during King Thordan's Ultimate End or while Nidhogg was possessing Estinien (as fuel for his Final Chorus or Bloodrage supers, f'ex), the chances of him now escaping and returning to the narrative ever are slim, at best.

As for Matoya commenting on Alphinaud's research in her cave, it was likely a product of his desperate wish to save Estinien. Minfilia's fate is... unfortunate, especially given the dubious conditions surrounding her sacrifice. Yet what's done is done - we cannot change the past, but we can shape the future and make her sacrifice meaningful. That much we can still do, at least.

Unukalhai and Regula's fates are still up in the air. I doubt the lil' guy is gonna bite it, but Regula I'm not sure of. He remains a very enigmatic figure, defined only by his desire to acquire Allagan tech (chiefly the means to bind primals) and his loyalty to the Emperor (plus a little bit of battle lust during your first encounter with him). There's no telling what side of the fence he'll end up on, but the chances of him turning his back on Garlemald now seem rather low.

[Frederick22]

Omg... Lahabrea again....

You know what is the funny thing? That if Edibudus ends dieing at 3.5 ( or that what is what ppl is speculating ) all this will start again xD
A lot of players will whinny and a crying that he is not dead and tat he will come back by a miracuolus way

[Dualblade]

I hate you all.

So much.

Don't let my hope be reborn. Don't do it.

Also, unrelated to anything, it seems a bit odd that Unukalhai's instance got its own unique background music, but still no voice acting? All of the voiced battle lines were reused from the ARF.

Even more convincing that he's not surviving, IMO. Regula probably isn't, either.

Yes, yeeeeeeeeees, let the hope in, burn in your blooooooooooooooooooooood.

Keep the dream aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiveeeeeeeeeeee.

Omg... Lahabrea again....

You know what is the funny thing? That if Edibudus ends dieing at 3.5 ( or that what is what ppl is speculating ) all this will start again xD
A lot of players will whinny and a crying that he is not dead and tat he will come back by a miracuolus way

Way too soon for Elidibus to die, AT BEST he'll get his ass handed to him but we won't have a means to kill him. He's gonna survive until atleast 5.0 patch series.

[Cilia]

More on the Eyes:

They're gone. Forever. Get over it.

While there is the possibility of someone retrieving them, I seriously doubt that is going to happen. The problem with the Eyes is that they are such powerful artifacts, as long as someone holds onto them the opposing side has to try and gain control of them. We can use the Eyes as fuel for Blades of Light, while the Ascians can use them for myriad ends (none of them good). The entire story would become a contest to see who can control the Eyes - aside from the Garleans busting out new superweapons, little else would matter.

That is why they are gone. Forever.

And with them, any lingering possibility of Lahabrea still crawling around in there and breaking out.

Omega is a scrap heap buried in Cartenau until the story moves to excavate, refurbish, and fuel it. Shinryu showing up as a result of its activation is a mere possibility, and seeing as the former has yet to happen, the latter has a low chance of happening based on current circumstances.

Elidibus will probably survive until 4.0. Past that I can't make any kind of guess, given we have no details on 4.0 beyond that it is implicitly going to take us to Ala Mhigo.