5.0 Story & Zone speculation.

[Burningskull]

So... I still think the Warrior of Light is going to get sent forward in time a few years. There is some things that hint at it while those things could mean other things. For example in the trailer a voice says, "how long have I waited for the one that stood alone against the storm, the one they called the Warrior of Light." Y'stola says "till our friend returns she will stand against the darkness." That friend could be us or it could be Thancred / Minfillia or it could be someone else.

Anyway as I was trying to sleep last night a new theory hit me. What if due to a Calamity or the Flood of Light that they have been hinting at, some of the new zones in ShB are stuck in their own Time Bubble. Many some zones may be stuck in the past allowing for long dead races to be reborn, such as Nu Moh or Dwarves. Or some zones could be stuck several 100s of years into the future, allowing for the new 24 man raid.

What do you guys think?

[Nora_of_Mira]

I'm speculating we're actually going to the First World where everything is all screwed up. My theory is that all the scions are being zapped out of their current bodies and being summoned/downloaded into vessels living in the first world and we're going to somehow be the bridge between the 2. o_O

[Seraphor]

I'm speculating we're actually going to the First World where everything is all screwed up. My theory is that all the scions are being zapped out of their current bodies and being summoned/downloaded into vessels living in the first world and we're going to somehow be the bridge between the 2. o_O

Second this.

Consider this:
HW gave us flying.
SB gave us swimming.
ShB gives us travel between worlds. (World visit system)
This is tied into the lore via travel between shards.

Of the two 'zones' we get in ShB (Like Gyr Abania and Othard) one will be in our shard, the source, the other will be in the first shard.

I think Thancred and Minfilia in the trailer, are in fact in the first shard, a world overrun by beings of light (stone lion, Kuribu, etc.)
While Uriangier and Y'shtola in our shard, but inhabited by the souls of others (Matoya and an as-of-yet unknown character, potentially Louisoix?)

[Iscah]

While Uriangier and Y'shtola in our shard, but inhabited by the souls of others (Matoya and an as-of-yet unknown character, potentially Louisoix?)

It's an interesting theory, but that's either genuinely Urianger or someone using his archaic speech patterns. ("What sayest thou?" instead of "what say you?")

[Seraphor]

It's an interesting theory, but that's either genuinely Urianger or someone using his archaic speech patterns. ("What sayest thou?" instead of "what say you?")

Do we know how Louisoix talked?
Another potential candidate... Midgardsormr?

[Jandor]

Do we know how Louisoix talked?
Another potential candidate... Midgardsormr?

It's probably just Urianger, no one else really talks like him because it's not a real accent.

IIRC the explanation for his archaic speech was basically 'lol it's because he's a big nerd.'

[Riardon]

I'm pretty sure we aren't going to Garlemald yet.
Which means the Garlean threat will be around for more expansions.
I suspect some areas will be in Ivalice area like the RakTika greatwood home to the Vieras and some areas in the First Shard.
Definitely not Garlemald yet.

[Corue]

We get gassed at the end of 4.55 and 5.0 is just a dream we have while dying.

[Bright-Flower]

I'm thinking a 'two region' thing like Stormblood.

1. Southern Othard.
2. Something weird be it another shard or time travel.
3. Main city Radz-at-han as the Ishgard/Kugane of the expansion with Dancer tied to its lore. May or may not have a leveling zone to itself unlike Kugane.

[Lauront]

I think a minor time skip ahead is reasonable to infer from Arbert's (?) words in the cinematic. Now, whether any genuine time travel is involved, in addition to this, that's harder to say. The time travel aspect is ambiguous. There's room for it, for sure, and it was present in 1.0->2.0 as well as in Alexander, but given that the floods are spread over two worlds, they may reserve it for the First, which is farther gone. So I definitely agree with you that, barring any twists like you mentioned, it will be back into the past, and not the future, as the references are all to rewriting the past. 4.5 will no doubt provide firmer clues in this regard.

Regarding the cinematic, as there's some comments on it here, I think the Scions are in the right bodies. Urianger certainly seems to be. Thancred appears to be. Y'shtola is a mystery but she is different to the others in that she has already been taxed through extended use of aether, and also through the use of spells like Flow and the spell she performed in the Steppes, so there is at least the possibility that her soul is more depleted and her body being used by Matoya (or as some speculate, it's just a title.)

I wouldn't stretch the parallel worlds thing too far. The other reflections were once identical copies of the Source, but their histories have diverged since they split up, so it is incredibly unlikely that these worlds will have characters who just happen to be like those we know, with just a few details changed. Even the WoDs were possessing corpses when visiting the Source, but their world's history is fundamentally different to the Source's, as is the case with the other reflections, including the Void. Which makes the young Minfilila thing all the more curious but given the glow in her eyes I'm suspecting that some manner of rebirth as opposed to time travel is attributable for that.

I'm thinking a 'two region' thing like Stormblood.

1. Southern Othard.
2. Something weird be it another shard or time travel.
3. Main city Radz-at-han as the Ishgard/Kugane of the expansion with Dancer tied to its lore. May or may not have a leveling zone to itself unlike Kugane.

I think you're correct. There's been very few hints that we're actually going to see Garlemald. IMO, they've teased Dalmasca via Orbonne, and it ties in with the region we're currently in and also involves conflict with the Empire, so I strongly expect a zone at the least devoted to it as we aid the insurgents there. If the story then switches to the two floods taking priority (which it will, as this is the whole reason for becoming the WoD), this creates room for travel to zones that potentially lie elsewhere (e.g. the First.) Radz-at-Han is not far from Dalmasca, so it could be tied in. The war will play a role but an actual trip to Garlemald - provided they don't resort to the unfortunate decision to destroy it off screen - and the rest of Ilsabard, and probably Sharlayan, I can see being left to 6.0, especially if Garlemald and the other provinces in Ilsabard can be salvaged. Certainly, Gaius and Maxima (and probably Cid) will want their homeland to survive.