3.56 Spoilers: The reason to go to Othard

[Balipu]

Unmarked spoilers by the dozens after this point.

Ooookay. The end of Heavensward left us with many question, like:
Where the hell is Thancred?
Who will represent the Scions in Gridania now?
How did Lyse hide her actual cup size?
And Why is almost everyone calling poor Gosetsu, Gotetsu?

But the biggest one is why are we going to go to Othard. At present we have a pretty good reason to go to Gyr Abania. Three in fact:
1. Retrieve Omega before Zenos gets it.
2. Find Shinryu and make sure he is dead.
3. Help Lyse in her efforts to liberate Ala Mhigo.

But what of Othard? Gosetsu and Yugiri have a reason, but not us. Except we might actually have it.
If you remember, the name Shinryu comes from a Doman legend. He, or at least his primal version, is stronger than Bahamut. That's pretty much everything we know about him.
Did Ilberd know the legend?
Was the legendary Shinryu summoned for some reason because it fit Ilberd's wishes?
Was there ever a real Shinryu?
Is Shinryu simply the Doman name for Midgardsormr?
Is he even a he?


Too many questions, and there is no beast tribe to talk to, nor Students of Baldesion to consult.
So what if we go to Othard to research the Shinryu legend? We go to Hingashi, we go to mainland Othard, we talk to the beast tribes, the various Xaela tribes and kick out the Garleans from Doma to get to the library with all the info about the new primal.

[Frizze]

Valid theory. It could also be as simple as Yugiri asking us to come help. Gosetsu said she was needed back because of some trouble, but not what it was. Its entirely possible that the problem will end up being bigger then she can manage and we get dragged in since we end up solving all the worlds problems, one at a time. Lazy plot for sure, but plausible.

[Unholychinchilla]

One theory that has been mentioned before is we will face some problem liberating Ala Mihgo. Perhaps we lack the strength to take on the Empire in Gyr Abania or, as I believe has been hinted, the Ala Mighans don't buy into the idea that liberation is that good an idea.

Oh so conveniently, it's around this time we receive a message from Yugiri asking for help. We go because 1) we have to play the waiting game before going to Ala Mihgo anyway (like the whole "it'll take a while until we can make these ships to get you into the Aery so why don't you check in on the Ul'dah storyline" bit), 2) Having allies in the east could help fight the Empire /draw some of their attention from Gyr Abania and/or 3) If we can point at how the Domans are fighting back maybe it'll convince more Ala Mighans to fight back.

[thegreatonemal]

Domans are going to help with freeing Ala Aigo the alliance grateful in their help of taking back their territory and with the wind of their first major victory against the empire will swoop in and free Othard.

[Balipu]

Valid theory. It could also be as simple as Yugiri asking us to come help. Gosetsu said she was needed back because of some trouble, but not what it was. Its entirely possible that the problem will end up being bigger then she can manage and we get dragged in since we end up solving all the worlds problems, one at a time. Lazy plot for sure, but plausible.

Also possible. But I hope for something less lazy. If we are already in Othard we can have Gosetsu bumping into us and revealing that fecal matter has hit the fan, Yugiri got captured and is scheduled for a very public execution. So we do a reverse of HW where Yugiri helped free Raubahn. Now he returns the favour. Ohh daaaamn this writes itself.

[Tracewood]

I get the impression from the very vague and cryptic message from Gosetsu that "war" is coming, a war that Yugiri kept secret from the Scions and WoL not to burden them with her problems (at least not now). Perhaps she fled Doma to ask the WoL for assistance, but we had our own conflicts to deal with in Eorzea maybe it just never came up, and Yugiri is now forced to go back home without so much as a goodbye.

Personally I don't see us even come close to recovering Shinryu until we locate it near Othard, at the bottom of the sea (theory). Which may be taken by the Garleans, or perhaps the Ascians, or perhaps some unforeseen villain that will make all of them seem tame.

I base all this because Heavensward gave us King Thordan.

Like, I know there are plenty of plot threads in this game that still need to be explored. WoD felt a bit rushed and not much else, I'd like to see a bigger bad that would put Garleans to shame. Perhaps that "war" that will rage in Othard will give us that. The domans already know who Shinryu IS, it's only a matter of someone actually using it for their purposes and considering it's a primal, that will prompt the Scions to head there (still a theory).

[Kallera]

Something that im honestly wondering is Elidibus's play. Maybe the threat the empire poses may prompt the non garlean nations to use omega, shinryu, or other primals as assets of war? At the end of the day, the Ascians are truly their own faction of immortal chessmasters, with few(if any) ties to mortal factions and allegiance. This is not as true with the Scions, and definitely not true with our character. what if our allies start justifying primal usage, like how it was feared with Phoenix? What if the resulting stance against such usage start showing the character as "in the way of victory"?

[Ageofwar]

well since the 8 man raid is about Omega, finding it is not the issue but as to what has happened to it is a diffrent question (damaged?)
MSQ will more than likely be spilt between helpping Yugirl (Doma), Lyse (Ala Mhigo) and Alphinaud (ARR + HW)

[Balipu]

Personally I don't see us even come close to recovering Shinryu until we locate it near Othard, at the bottom of the sea (theory). Which may be taken by the Garleans, or perhaps the Ascians, or perhaps some unforeseen villain that will make all of them seem tame.

Both landed in Gyr Abania. Shinryu may go to Othard, but as of 3.56 he/she/it is definitely in Gyr Abania. Assuming Shinryu is in fact alive.

Something that im honestly wondering is Elidibus's play.

Well you can be sure that whatever is going on plays into the hands of at least one masked freak. After all it was Elidibus who gave Ilberd the eyes. And his plan was to create another calamity. Something the Ascians very much want. Not sure if Omega was part of their plans, but much like the Ultima Weapon, they can probably find use for it.

[Belhi]

I think I have said this before but I think the answer to why we go to Othard is Zenos. They said we would learn about why he is and what he wants and how to fight him. My guess is we are going to run into Zenos and discover he has a power of some type that we cant counter. We will find out that he was once governor in Doma and then go to Doma trying to learn what the source of Zenos's power is. That would explain why Zenos would be the main antagonist in two completely different zones. One is where he is now and the other is where he has been.