Revelations from Patch 4.4

[Nalien]

MSQ thoughts

So I'm guessing ElZeno is going to end up saving us from our favorite Emissary, after that whole "Let me at them!" line he gave... Sure seems eager to off us now... I look forward to the true Zenos getting his scheduled heroic redemption and/or sacrifice when we face off against Elidiboo...

Solus was an Ascian all along? Yeah OK. Varis certainly got a whole lot more interesting, and it puts his sparse appearances in Heavensward in a new light, as well as Regulas' parting words.

I don't buy Alphi's new friend being Gaius though... He probably is, but I'd be more interested in a friend/sibling/relation to Gaius... House Baelsar (and associates) probably didn't fare too well after Gaius went rogue and failed... I could see a brother or son being forced out of country and ending up wandering... Going to Praetorium to get that mask fragment, maybe learning the truth behind what happened to Gaius (Ascians dun it) and resolving to hunt them... It would hit the same reasons for why it has to be Gaius IMO... Then again we've already had the "It's their sibling!" card played with Livia/Lucia...

Speaking of Gaius though... When exactly does Solus mean when he comments that Lahabrea messed up? My first assumption was when he literally got himself killed (or not! #LahabreaStillLives), but thinking back on it... Since the beginning? IIRC Solus was against Gaius going back to Eorzea after Project Meteor, and its Lahabrea that was backing Gaius during that time...

Jokes aside (or not, you be the judge), Lahabrea still lives! He was absorbed by the Eye of Nidhogg, the Eye was used to summon Shinryu, Shinryu was body-jacked by Zenos, faint Lahabrea-ness now in Zenos. Elidibus now gets in Zenos, Lahabrea starts to merge with him as he did with Igeyorhm! Elidibus now starting to show more aggression towards the Warrior of Light to boot! I've been gone for over a year, but I'll be damned if I'll ever stop believing that Lahabrea lives!

[Keever]

Shadowhunter...

I'll paste my spiel on Shadowhunter's identity here:

Shadowhunter is Gaius beyond any reasonable doubt.

• He has Gaius' mask
• He uses Gaius' moves Quickstep and Terminus Est from the Praetorium (though these have been used by others also)
• He wears his long gunblade across his back (which is less common)
• He recognises Alphinaud and says he has “history” with the Scions
• He is a racial Garlean who looks to be in his fifties (like Gaius)
• He has reason to have a vendetta against Ascians
• He has his arm bandaged as though burned
• And even his colour scheme is reminiscent of Gaius.

Natsuko Ishikawa, a main scenario writer, when asked about the possibility of Gaius’s survival prior to patch 4.3, said that they would “depict a resolution” to this unanswered question in the near future. (Source)

In a Dengeki E3 interview, Naoki Yoshida responded to a question regarding Shadowhunter’s identity by saying that they intentionally made the hints clear, and that they don’t intend to betray our expectations. He said that he also explicitly asked for the final zoom in on the mask to be made really obvious. (Source)

Aaaand then Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, when being asked about how they write big lore revelations, had this to say:

I did not retcon. I did naaaht. Oh hai, Gaius.

(Source)