Creepy possibility... [4.3 spoilers]

[Cilia]

All of his lines strongly hint that it's Zenos, he has the same eye color, and the move he uses to KO / kill the Resistance captain is the very first move we see Zenos use on-screen.

It's Zenos.

[Iscah]

... if he wanted to be part of the Garlean machine, he could have laid low, hidden his identity, and played along with the other Garleans. Instead, he slaughtered a soldier, and stole an airship. I'd say his Garlean bridges are burned at this point.

I think you're getting the armies muddled - are you thinking Zenos('s body) is a Garlean soldier? He's dressed as an Ala Mhigan Resistance fighter, as is the other soldier that tried to stop him from stealing the airship. They're in a Garlean facility but it seems to be the captured Castrum Abania.

It was probably a Doman soldier that was conscripted to fight for the Empire, we fight tons of them through the various dungeons and they use katanas.

I don't think there's any need for the person to have been a katana user previously. Zenos is now in control of the body, and he fights with a katana so he acquired one. (And I think you're also thinking he's a Garlean not Ala Mhigan soldier?)

Also, while it doesn't guarantee anything, I don't think we've seen any native Doman Elezen.

All of his lines strongly hint that it's Zenos, he has the same eye color, and the move he uses to KO / kill the Resistance captain is the very first move we see Zenos use on-screen.

It's Zenos.

He also smirks at the end of the scene and it's very much Zenos's expression.

[LineageRazor]

I think you're getting the armies muddled - are you thinking Zenos('s body) is a Garlean soldier? He's dressed as an Ala Mhigan Resistance fighter, as is the other soldier that tried to stop him from stealing the airship. They're in a Garlean facility but it seems to be the captured Castrum Abania.

Yes, I may be. I certainly thought they were supposed to be Garlean while I was watching that scene, but that was likely due to the surroundings, and I wasn't paying much attention to the uniforms. However, that makes it even less likely that a solo assault by Soul!Zenos on an allied base would cause the Alliance to renew war with the Garleans.

It's possible that Zenos could have taken that airship to head home to Garlemand - but I find it unlikely. He's no fool, and he knows that it would be quite a struggle to prove that he's the real Zenos, even if he's unaware that there's an imposter using his body - and even if he's able, he's likely aware of his father's distain for him. His father might very well prefer his son stay dead, especially considering the considerable mismanagement Zenos displayed in his "defense" of Ala Mhigo (aka, laying out the red carpet for his destined foe). He'd most likely have to slay his father, somehow convince the Garleans to accept himself as the new ruler, etc, etc, etc. All of that hassle would be a dreadful waste of time when he COULD be using that time to track down his one true love for a rematch.

[Mimilu]

I personally like the theory that...

Spoiler

...it's Haurchefant's body. >w>

[Quor]

I would love to say that this was my theory, but I'm just relaying something I read on an anonymous forum. RE: Elezenos

It's Estinien.

The reasoning here is that he was the one who destroyed Nidhogg's eyes, releasing the last bit of aether they had back into the world. Zenos used the power of the eyes and his own Resonance to control - and literally become - a primal. We know from the Sahagin priest that it's possible for a soul with the echo to "hop" from one body to the next, and given the power of Zenos and his Resonance combined with the timing of everything, Estinien makes the most sense from a purely FF14 standpoint.

Next we have the historical allusions, cause we all know SE and Yoshi love to slip in references to previous FF games. Estinien is basically Kain from FF4 in a lot of ways. His iconic armor, the DRG AF1 set, is a very faithful recreation of Kain's armor from FF4. Kain was "mind controlled" twice over the course of FF4 while Estinien has been "mind controlled" (or possessed if you will) once, during Heavensward. This would mark the second time, and given Estiniens past was filled with loss and suffering, it makes sense Zenos would be especially drawn to it. Plus there's the side benefit of Estinien being a battle-hardened veteran of hundreds of battles, so Zenos can more or less pick right up where he left off as far as physical combat ability goes.

In sum, it's a combination of larger "meta plot" reference and allusion coupled with the time and place of Zenos' death along with whoever was in proximity at the time.

[Iscah]

Since this topic started, I've been intending to put together a comparative chart of different characters using the 'Elezen face #2' and their exact settings, and I finally got around to it. Please forgive my Microsoft Paint editing skills.


(click for a larger version)

I think they do a good job of making characters look individual despite the limitations of the character creator.

I was intending to stick to 'general' characters but the one on the right (Guydelot) is from the HW/SB bard quests - I did those just recently, after playing 4.3, and he particularly reminded me of Elezenos so I'm including him. Turns out they have the same eye colour so perhaps it's that. Also while rewatching the quest cutscenes to get a screenshot of him I realised that Nourval also uses the same face but looks quite different.

(There are more characters, of course, but this is enough to get the idea - and also I couldn't fit any more without the image uploader resizing the image.)

[Iscah]

Kain was "mind controlled" twice over the course of FF4 while Estinien has been "mind controlled" (or possessed if you will) once, during Heavensward.

Actually.....

Estinien has already been possessed twice - the first time being during the (honestly rather confusing) climax to the ARR dragoon quests. So he doesn't need to be possessed again by Zenos to fulfil that historical allusion.

Also I'm not sure about him destroying Nidhogg's eyes being an opportunity for Zenos to posess him. Zenos's soul would have most likely been still in his body until it transferred to the Elezen soldier? Since he dies *after* we beat Shinryu, and his body doesn't seem to be in the vicinity of the Eyes when Estinien turns up. Although that's a different kind of plothole if they already cleared the bodies and left the Eyes there - but perhaps they simply weren't looking for them, and Estinien was.

[Yamimarik]

Well apparently according to Yoshi, this NPC (the Elezen) we have never seen the actual Elezen(model) before. At least according to this source:

The Elezen from the Ala mhigan registance in patch 4.3 is a totally new character we haven't seen before. (note: We all assume he isn't, but Yoshida probably meant the "body" was a new character we've never seen before)

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme..._bad_news_for/

[Quor]

Actually.....

Estinien has already been possessed twice - the first time being during the (honestly rather confusing) climax to the ARR dragoon quests. So he doesn't need to be possessed again by Zenos to fulfil that historical allusion.

Also I'm not sure about him destroying Nidhogg's eyes being an opportunity for Zenos to posess him. Zenos's soul would have most likely been still in his body until it transferred to the Elezen soldier? Since he dies *after* we beat Shinryu, and his body doesn't seem to be in the vicinity of the Eyes when Estinien turns up. Although that's a different kind of plothole if they already cleared the bodies and left the Eyes there - but perhaps they simply weren't looking for them, and Estinien was.

Come to think of it you're right. That punches a hole in that theory then. I had forgotten about the ending to the ARR DRG quests.

[BlakeWolfe]

Garland database's use of Face 2 for Estinien is due to the the place holder face he had prior to 3.3's unmasking of him. His new model no longer uses face 2.