[Spoilers] The Patch 4.5 Lore Discussion Thread!

[ObsidianFire]

I think it depends on how much how Gaius survived matters to the story. If it involves something like... taking the Heart of Sabik with him, then they'd better tell it.

The other thing to consider is how Gaius got to Ilsabard afterwards. Lore Book 2 has finally revealed what happened in Gyr Abania between Operation Archon and Stormblood. Shortly after Operation Archon, the XIIth Legion invaded Gyr Abania and took over the remaining XIth Legion members there including the Skulls. So Gaius would have had to make it through a region where everyone would hate him if he was discovered...

[Anonymoose]

Even if he had to go alone, and by land, he would have only had to make it from northern Thanalan to western Thanalan, I think, right? Vesper Bay? From there, he could get anywhere (especially by way of Limsa Lominsa and Thavnair). F'lhaminn made it to Raz-at-Han after the Red Banquet. If he made it out on a juggernaut or assault craft, even easier (so long as he ditched that at the right place).

I still really like the option that Nero doubled back to see what was going down with Ultima Weapon, pulled Gaius literally out of the fire, and never brought it up. Hell, if they went for Vesper Bay, that's one one chocobo caravan to buy into and Nero's at Revenant's Toll in time to meet us for Crystal Tower, where he opens with...

Do I know you? ...Ah! Unless I am very much mistaken, you are the famed adventurer who bested the Garlean Empire's general, are you not?

"...bested..."

[Swilly]

Amusingly, in the German text, Nero says basically "Hey, aren't you the one who tamed the Garlean wolf?" But none of the localizations use the word "killed" specifically—bested, defeated, vanquished. Just vague enough to leave that door open for a Days of Our Lives-style comeback. Also amusingly, Nero really makes zero attempt to conceal his identity, save for the mask; he has a very distinctive mode of speaking in the Japanese version and should be immediately recognizable unless the player skipped all the cutscenes.

Y'know, a part of me is not sure if Nero would save Gaius? Not after what he overheard during the Praetorium battles, and some of his earlier dialogue suggests that he wasn't really all that interested in the Legate's cause in the first place. To him, Ultima Weapon was, for the most part, just another bullet point on his "my future's so bright I gotta wear shades" CV (and he does, he literally does). He was angling to outshine everyone—Garlond, Baelsar, the Allagans, Timbuk3... And you know, Ultima Weapon did make a hell of an explosion...

On the other hand, he desperately wanted to be noticed by Gaius (which is a bit of a contradiction to the earlier point? TBH I think the Garlean scenes and characterization in ARR could use a little TLC and workshopping) and what better way to endear yourself to your soon-to-be-ex-boss than by literally pulling the guy out of said hell of an explosion? Anyway, we've seen that not even Nero is immune to the rare surge of altruistic energy.

So I dunno! I know nobody asked but I'm only 50/50 on whether Shadowhunter is actually even Gaius at all. I have my own theories but I guess we'll find out soon enough! My plot sense tends to be...bad. Really bad. So, grain of salt I guess.

(Also in re the Alliance raid... The whole magicite thing gives me super dodgy vibes but I can't quite put my finger on 'em. It reeks of something what oughta not be there. Garleans maybe. I dunno. Again, we'll see!)

[Anonymoose]

I know nobody asked but I'm only 50/50 on whether Shadowhunter is actually even Gaius at all.

For whatever it's worth...

I said, "No, you have to end it by zooming right in on the white mask." I gave them precise orders to fix that part of the scene. I wanted to be sure that the final zoom emphasized who that character is, because I want players to theorize why he is there and why he is collecting masks.

I did not retcon! I did NAAAHT! Oh hai, Gaius.

[KageTokage]

He also has the same voice actor as Gaius, at least in the JP trailer (He's the one saying all that stuff about purging the Ascians in the 4.5 trailer).

[Lieha]

He also has the same voice actor as Gaius, at least in the JP trailer (He's the one saying all that stuff about purging the Ascians in the 4.5 trailer).

While it's not easy to hear because of the music it's definitely sounds like Gaius's voice in the french trailer too.

[AmemeAmeklin]

I expect English will have a new VA for him due to switching acting companies...kind of a pity, I've gotten used to hearing his original VA ground out his monologue in Praetorium.

[Cilia]

If they hadn't replaced 99% of the EN cast from 2.x - 3.0, I'd be able to tell in an instant if the voice was Gaius. Alas. (Kind of a shame, too - even before 2.x gave much better direction, Richard Epcar was one of the better actors in the EN version.)

Anyway, if the voice really is Gaius, that makes things very interesting... and leaves me at a complete loss as to what could be happening.

[CaesarCV]

Well, I thought it was pretty clear that Gaius was speaking about killing the Ascians. It did show Shadowhunter right after the line after all. And we've already established that he's most likely out to kill the Ascians given that he's lugging around Ascian masks and talks about getting rid of an infestation and everything. We don't know where exactly he'll land on the good guy to bad guy scale, although given they made his reign over Ala Migho seem a little nicer in Stormblood I wouldn't be surprised if it's the former.

[uvuvwevwevweonyetenyevweugwemu]

Gaius strike me as revengeful, ambitious. He's not out to get random people, but he might rechallenge us for another duel or fight. I don't think Gaius carries around heart of Sabik to kill Ascians. Lahabrea showed he could manipulate it, so I don't think it will work. Is that possible to have its counterpart? I imagined it's that something that can push the WoL to cause the flood, and there's nowhere else to get the heart of Sabik other than the past or another dimension. But first things first, he would need to shutdown the black rose operation.