How exactly do Calamities and Rejoinings relate to each other?

[soliquidsnake]

8 out of 13 calamities would mean that the source is more than halfway "rejoined," which might be all the tipping point that Zodiark needs to resurrect.

I don't see 6 more calamities happening any time soon. So this being a possibility is actually very possible as well as us having lore reasons as to why we are still able to go to and from the First even after Zodiark is resurrected.

[gorezilla1]

Really sorry if someone already posted my reply. Technically, only 6 shards have rejoined because the 13th was lost and became the void. So even if this will be the 8th calamity, it would be the 7th to rejoin. This will be the first majority.

[MrThinker]

Really sorry if someone already posted my reply. Technically, only 6 shards have rejoined because the 13th was lost and became the void. So even if this will be the 8th calamity, it would be the 7th to rejoin. This will be the first majority.

Just so we are clear, the 13th being lost to to darkness and becoming the Void is not (as far as we know) associated with any of the umbral calamities. The calamities themselves were all (according to the Ascians) successful in causing the Ardor, with the 7th Calamity being referred to as the '7th Ardor' by them. As such, it is indeed more likely that 7 shards have been rejoined, while 1 is the Void, another is being flooded by Light and 4 more are currently 'fine'.

[Jyera]

My understanding was that rendering a Shard voidal, be it Light or Dark-flooded in nature, renders it un-Rejoinable.

[athisvolume]

I hope it's ok if I ask a couple of questions about things I don't understand; if Hydaelyn is reabsorbing the aether from the rejoined shards why is she getting weaker? Doesn't Matoya say that the crystals of light given to prior WoL were stronger because Hydaelyn herself was more powerful in the past? Unless the aether is going to the aetherial sea and not to Hydaelyn directly? Or does Zodiark get all of it somehow? Do we know how Hydaelyn and Zodiark get their power? If they absorb aether from the aetherial sea and the aether from a rejoined world goes to the aetherial sea wouldn't a rejoining increase the available "pool" of energy for both of them?

[LineageRazor]

I hope it's ok if I ask a couple of questions about things I don't understand; if Hydaelyn is reabsorbing the aether from the rejoined shards why is she getting weaker? Doesn't Matoya say that the crystals of light given to prior WoL were stronger because Hydaelyn herself was more powerful in the past? Unless the aether is going to the aetherial sea and not to Hydaelyn directly? Or does Zodiark get all of it somehow? Do we know how Hydaelyn and Zodiark get their power? If they absorb aether from the aetherial sea and the aether from a rejoined world goes to the aetherial sea wouldn't a rejoining increase the available "pool" of energy for both of them?

I'm pretty sure that a Rejoining doesn't cause Hydaelyn to grow weaker. Rather, the energy she expends trying to STOP the Rejoinings is what's taxing her resources. Empowering WoLs is a big one, but also PROTECTING her champions seems to take a lot out of her. Shielding the WoL from Ultima Weapon's casting of the Ultima spell pretty much spent what little she had left.

It's also not obviously clear that returning Aether to the source directly strengthens Hydaelyn OR Zodiark. We know it's necessary for Zodiark's release, but it could well be more complex than Rejoining = Zodiark gets stronger.

[MrThinker]

My understanding was that rendering a Shard voidal, be it Light or Dark-flooded in nature, renders it un-Rejoinable.

Yes, that is correct. I think it's specifically mentioned in the Encyclopaedia Eorzea Vol1 when talking about the 13th/the Void, but I could be wrong.

[Iscah]

Hey guys, sorry for crossing the streams, but I'm not sure that everyone is following the other topic about Il Mheg and mirrored worlds, and I need lore backup...

Does someone have a direct quote from the game saying that the other shards are destroyed without a remnant when Rejoined? Apparently "reduced to ruin" is too ambiguous and quoting the lorebook on dimensional compression is not sufficient proof, and I'm sure better quotes exist but I don't know where they are (and Moose can probably recite them from memory). Or do we only understand a lot of this from supporting information?