Spoilers - plus help I don't understand the warriors of darkness storyline

[TinyRedLeaf]

If I'm reading it correctly, an imbalance in the shard worlds leads to the aether being out-and-out destroyed, whereas keeping equilibrium until the Ardor ensures that the aether will be transferred (rejoined) rather than lost.

My question is ... why does the Ardor empower Zodiark now and leave Hydaelyn weak now?

Indeed. Something is off here, but I can't quite put a finger on it. It just seems odd that an entity that's actively working towards undermining Light on the one hand is also working hard, on the other hand, to maintain a delicate balance of Light and Dark. Thematically, it doesn't gel.

It's also somewhat difficult, I feel, to wrap my head around the idea that a balance of polarities somehow produces the greatest amount of raw aether. I mean, intuitively, one would imagine full Light to be maximum positivity, while full Dark gives you maximum negativity. Light and Dark in perfect balance gives you... er... net zero?

Ah well, I suppose I am over-thinking this as well. Maybe it'll be easier to recall how over-aspected aether in Eorzea leads to highly unstable crystals that aren't just dangerous to life, but also practically useless.

So, maybe what matters it isn't the amount of raw aether per se, but rather the maximum amount of usable aether that Zodiark can get from a Rejoining.

In any case, I'll put my speculation to rest for now. But I still strongly suspect that whatever comes out of a full Rejoining wouldn't be a full-blown Zodiark, but a return to an original state that's something else altogether. Not a Zodiark-Hydaelyn hybrid, but another completely different concept that transcends Light and Dark, and in which mortal life has no place.

[Belhi]

Does the Ardor weaken Hydaelyn? Or is that what all the primals are for? The Ardor could simply be to return Zodiark. Ascians have used primals a lot and we know their summoning weakens her.

[myahele]

It makes sense why there are Umbral eras: it's when the source world reabsorbs a shard world into itself in order to recover. Though it does seem like the Rejoining between the Source and Shard world is not something that'll happen automatically since it's the Asciens that do it.

So since the Rejoining for the 6th Umbral Era has not yet occurred, does that mean that we're still in the 6th Umbral era? Or is Hydaelyn recovering without the aid of absorbing the shard worlds for the 1st time?

[Aivi_lo]

Are we the source world or a reflection? Are the reflections destroyed upon absorption by the source world? I've been reading through all the posts and this info and insights are great

[Kallera]

Are we the source world or a reflection? Are the reflections destroyed upon absorption by the source world? I've been reading through all the posts and this info and insights are great

It seems this world is the source world, but this has me thinking, if we are the source world, is the 7th umbral era then a reflection and demonstration into how the rejoining smooshes the events of the destroyed world into the history of the source? As in, though we were on the source world where historically bahamut had a destructive fling and was stopped, but the reflection's history was bahamut destroying everything?

[Cilia]

Just going to compile the hypothesis (maybe theory) and try to answer any other questions here...

The Ardor
-A calamitous event on the Source that Rejoins a Reflection to it. By creating a massive aetheric disturbance or deficit on the Source, the dimensional barriers separating a Reflection from the Source are broken down, converting that Reflection into raw aether intended to fill the deficit and repair the aetheric flow. This aetheric flow is redirected to Zodiark, while Hydaelyn needs time to recuperate and civilization needs time to rebuild, creating the cycle of Astral and Umbral Eras. (Most recent Umbral Era very short because the disturbance was undone by Louisoix returning the aether from the summoning of the Twelve to the land, and civilization survived to continue creating the chaotic conditions that support Ardor.)

Balance
-Needs to be maintained on Reflections or they will be drowned in a Flood of Light or Flood of Dark. Neither is beneficial to the Ascians, as an imbalance does not produce an optimal amount of aether. There may also be the matter of a Reflection being superimposed on the Source during a Rejoining in the style of Terra and Gaia in IX, and a Void superimposing itself on the Source would make for less than ideal circumstances to initiate another Rejoining (possibly ever). Light and Dark in a certain balance produces the greatest amount of raw aether upon a Rejoining, which is then directed to Zodiark.

Primals
-Thoughtforms given physical manifestations by aether. Exist solely to drain Hydaelyn of aether, thus weakening her and making it ever more difficult to prevent further Rejoinings. Primals warp the flow of and devour aether, preventing it from being returned to the land, which slowly kills Hydaelyn and weakens her until then. This makes it much easier for the Ascians to initiate Rejoinings.

Zodiark and Hydaelyn
-God and Goddess of Dark and Light, respectively. Though associated with those elements, the elements themselves are not inherently good or evil. Heavensward has beat into our heads that it doesn't matter whether it's Light or Dark, it's how you use it that's important. Dark Knights use the power of darkness, but are still good people at heart. The Knights of the Round used the power of light, but intended to put the world under their heel. The Warriors of Darkness vanquished all the Ascians on the First Shard, only to have it start getting erased in a Flood of Light. The Thirteenth Reflection was drowned by Darkness, but that isn't beneficial to the Ascians' goals.

It's not so much that "Light and order are good because they are Hydaelyn's domain" or that "Darkness and chaos are bad because they are Zodiark's domain," but that "Hydaelyn is a benevolent goddess whose domain happens to be Light and Order" and "Zodiark is a covetous god whose domain happens to be Darkness and Chaos." (This would explain the Ascians' association with the Void despite it being useless for the purposes of a Rejoining.) Hypothetically one could reverse the roles with Zodiark as the benevolent Fathercrystal whose domain is still Darkness and Chaos and Hydaelyn as a tyrannical, banished goddess whose domain is still Light and Order... but I digress.

... well, that's the best hypothesis I can hash out with what information we currently have. I'm going to jump off the crazy train and wait for it to plow into my house of cards when we get another piece of information that contradicts it, lol. (And Zodiark is totes the moon! I called it a long time ago!)

[Anonymoose]

It's pretty simple, actually: a proper balance produces the greatest amount of raw aether when a Reflection is Rejoined, and the Ascians are going for an optimal amount.

It's also somewhat difficult, I feel, to wrap my head around the idea that a balance of polarities somehow produces the greatest amount of raw aether. I mean, intuitively, one would imagine full Light to be maximum positivity, while full Dark gives you maximum negativity. Light and Dark in perfect balance gives you... er... net zero?

I actually don't yet understand where the [Optimal Amount of Aether] hypothesis comes from. Wasn't Elidibus speaking in pretty black-and-white, all-or-nothing terms? That the aether is entirely lost if a flood of Light or Darkness creates a void, and a void is entirely useless to Zodiark? Does perfect equilibrium matter? Or just enough to ensure that the boat isn't in danger of capsizing. What if you maintain enough equilibrium so that the boat (world) is leaning pretty far, but no water is coming in (no flood is annihilating the aether)? I don't recall anything that points to that being "sub-optimal". Could you help me out?

Does the Ardor weaken Hydaelyn? Or is that what all the primals are for? The Ardor could simply be to return Zodiark. Ascians have used primals a lot and we know their summoning weakens her.

To be over-technical, I suppose it depends on whether the [Calamity / Ardor / Rejoining] are different events happening in rapid succession or just all names for the same event. The Calamity (chaotic confluence on the Source) definitely weakens Hydaelyn. The Ardor / Rejoining (fusion of a shard world) definitely empowers Zodiark. Assuming there's a pedantic difference between even these two events - are they correlated or does one cause the other? I'm less than confident in assuming, lol.

So since the Rejoining for the 6th Umbral Era has not yet occurred, does that mean that we're still in the 6th Umbral era? Or is Hydaelyn recovering without the aid of absorbing the shard worlds for the 1st time?

What do you mean? The Great Flood looked like a Calamity and Rejoining both, no? Or do you mean the 7th, where Louisoix half-stopped the events? Hydaelyn says that "seven times has the Dark grown stronger", which I take to be seven successful Rejoinings for seven Calamities, the last just didn't destroy as much life on the Source. The plights of the First and the Thirteenth seem to be separate from this... I think? Urianger confirms that six worlds remain, but does the Thirteenth count as a Calamity-lost that didn't get Rejoined, or as a reflection whose space technically still exists but is now void? I suspected the latter but there is room for doubt, I suppose.

Are we the source world or a reflection? Are the reflections destroyed upon absorption by the source world? I've been reading through all the posts and this info and insights are great

We're definitely on the Source now, according to Hydaelyn, Elidibus, and the Warriors of Darkness. There are some darksteelfoil hat (fun-but-unproven fringe) theories that Version 1.0 took place on a Reflection, but that's about it. The worlds would have to be remarkably similar for that to be true, and the Warriors of Light would have had to travel between worlds without dying and without crystals via Louisoix's spell. It needs the narrative to jump it over a lot of hurdles to be true.

Granted, it could be that the same thing happened there and the Rejoining is more about timeline compression than anything - that the works are nigh identical and progress relatively the same until singled out for their Calamities and Rejoinings, but we're still workin' out on the fringe there.

Just going to compile the hypothesis (maybe theory) and try to answer any other questions here...

The idea that a Calamity creates an aetherial vacuum resulting in a Rejoining is definitely something I'd file in the Possible Theories box. I'm still struggling to archive properly, though, so I'm going to keep my hand out of the prediction jar as much as possible for now and just take the Powers that Be at their word that a Calamity "blows out the barrier" between the Source and a Reflection. I'm also quite curious if and/or how the Ascians plan which shard will be absorbed. Perhaps that's why the relic scenario pointed out that Calamities threatened other areas of the world.

[Cilia]

Muh... muh brain was farting a bit last night. Not working for a short while and getting depressed about the consequences of such will do that.

According to the Word of the Mother, Zodiark was split into a baker's dozen Shards that are scattered across the Reflections of the Source. Thus a Rejoining would not convert a Reflection to aether Zodiark can be absorbed, but simply erase that Reflection (or convert it to aether that is absorbed by Hydaelyn / Zodiark, or superimpose it on the Source... or something) in the process of restoring the Shard to Zodiark. A Void of either type is not beneficial to this plan; a Dark Void would consume the Shard itself and make it difficult if not impossible to salvage, while a Light Void could eventually erode and erase the Shard itself. (Therefore sending Minfilia to halt the Flood of Light in the First Reflection is beneficial to the Ascians' plans.)

A Rejoining breaks down the dimensional barriers separating the Source and a Reflection, thus giving Zodiark a Shard of his power / self back. Get all thirteen (somehow) and he will be reborn. Rejoinings in mortal terms are massive aetheric disturbances, "Calamities" for lack of a better term.

Okay, really stopping this time before I turn into this guy.

He's got a mouth growing out of his ear. Don't wanna end up like that.

[myahele]

I am abit confused now.

Elidibus says that people have survived the Rejoining 7 times now. Is he referring to the people from the Source world? Or the souls of the people in the destroyed world that have Rejoined

[Anonymoose]

Elidibus says that people have survived the Rejoining 7 times now. Is he referring to the people from the Source world?

This is one of the lines that I've studied backwards and forwards trying to make sense of it. Until this point in the story, the Ascians had been using their standard MO of teaching mortals the art of summoning and hoping that it would inspire greater wars - whether it be primal vs. primal, or summoners vs. empires, or whatever conflict they could escalate (they could adjust as time went on, as they did with Allag).

Igeyorhm, Nabriales, Emmerololth, and Altima are discussing how all five beast tribe primals have fallen, and the last one accepted the Warrior of Light after being defeated. The context is the implication that they haven't been taking Elidibus as seriously has they should have when he claimed that mankind's potential was limitless and they should be keeping a much closer eye on the chosen.

Elidibus claims that this is Hydaelyn's doing, and that souls are degrading and becoming more spiritual. In Japanese he uses the phrase 人ならざる者, which I have no idea how to translate. Something more than human? Something not entirely human? I'm not sure. Anyway - he sees this as the final key. Those with the Echo have to be fully awakened to it's potential to forge the final key in their plan. It may be as simple as trying to understand and manipulate those with Echo, it may be as complex as that the creation of mortals was part of what keeps Zodiark's rebirth in check (a la Promathia; recall: "Come mortals! Render up your souls that Lord Zodiark might be reborn!").

Now, he also speaks of leading mortals towards a "New God". At the time it felt obvious that this was Shiva - a manufactured fusion of a mortal raised to the position of saint and a single Echo user's interpretation of Halone. But that might not be the whole of it at all. It's easy to forget (being two unresolved lines in a patch full of conclusions), but the Warriors of Darkness had a secondary mission.

They were to defeat the beastmen gods so utterly, to humble them so completely, that they would be abandoned by their patrons in favor of something more powerful. They used the same phrase: the "New God". Remember, Urianger himself moved them off of this path and convinced them to make a direct attack on the Warrior of Light. He even launched into the suggestion after pointing out that Titan was so weak and unstable when summoned that it will to little to convince the Kobolds to think beyond the Great Father.

All of the Ascian plans are tributaries to the same great river, so to speak. This is Zodiark's will.