Disappointed in the turn the Garlean Empire has taken

[Anonymoose]

Imho, it's already really strange that they opened with, "It's time, once and for all, to take down the Garlean Empire!" and then showed us 0 zones of Garlean territory and mentioned Ilsabard precisely 0 times, lol. Then again we just had a whole Ala Mhigan expansion where we never actually went to Ala Mhigo and experienced very little of their culture beyond the impoverished fringes and refugees.

[EdwinLi]

Anyone remember Vegas fanfast?



It would be really strange to give us that and then take it away.

Imho, it's already really strange that they opened with, "It's time, once and for all, to take down the Garlean Empire!" and then showed us 0 zones of Garlean territory and mentioned Ilsabard precisely 0 times, lol. Then again we just had a whole Ala Mhigan expansion where we never actually went to Ala Mhigo and experienced very little of their culture beyond the impoverished fringes and refugees.

It is why I think garlemald is going to be the final half or last 20% of the 5.0 Main Storyline.

Yes, we can assume majority of the storyline is in the 1st Shard but they built up this whole "finally defeat Garlean Empire" with the 1st Shard Storyline so it would be rather strange if nothing happened while we are in the 1st shard.

Even if it is only for Storyline Dungeons only in 5.0, it will still allow Garlemald to be part of 6.0 story but in a different note from what people expect being focus more on the change in Garlemald after the defeat of the Garlean Empire in 5.0.

[Mansion]

I think there's two approaches (at least, but maybe more) to the Garlean problem.

- Solus. We assume this is what we are going to be dealing with in 5.0, because he went to the First too (I believe that he says something about the disbalance of light is a fertile ground for the use of Black Rose on the Source, so he might want to push that on the First to strenghthen it on the Source). Whatever we do on the First would be a way to weaken Garlemald on the Source. (Here, add everything Ascian related, Elidibus, Elezenos to some degree).
HOWEVER
- Varis, since 4.4 he seems to be getting more and more unstable. Fed up with Solus, Ascian meddling (I'm not sure he was happy to see his son's body possessed by Elidibus). Plus his ideal of prime humans we saw in the parley. He's something to watch over because if we manage to wreck Solus' plans on the First, it's not given that the situation will be solved definitely. There's also the whole Populares plotline, the rumours spread to shake the Empire from the inside.

Remember that "while we do our things on the First" can be a matter of days in the game's timeline, this can fit into the Status Quo context on Ghimlyt.

[Jyera]

I mean, Solus outright says "The founding father was an Ascian!" Whether that means Solus was always an Ascian, or was a mortal man inducted into their ranks, is ambiguous, but it's clear that in the English localization at least, the Ascians are actively involved in the Garlean Empire from the beginning.

He also says that he's grateful for the cloned bodies specifically because, while he can use any host and mold it 'into his own image', having bodies that are already specced out in that image is way, way more convenient, so I'm fairly strongly disinclined to feel like he was just a sockpuppet. I'm with Renewal that he's either always been an Ascian, or was mortal and became one.

[Bright-Flower]

Which fanfest was the 'take down the garlean empire' card from again? It could have been a misdirection since they didn't want to spoil what we're doing in SHB.

While we 'could' pivit towards fighting them, we know 5 zones are on the first and suddenly going there for a sixth zone could end up being very jarring and rushed if we actually managed to take the empire down in that time. Though I do think the empire will be involved in the story to some degree, perhaps even coming after us tot he First or something somehow. But I don't think we'll actually be going there in 5.0 or its patches.

I think there's two approaches (at least, but maybe more) to the Garlean problem.

- Solus. We assume this is what we are going to be dealing with in 5.0, because he went to the First too (I believe that he says something about the disbalance of light is a fertile ground for the use of Black Rose on the Source, so he might want to push that on the First to strenghthen it on the Source). Whatever we do on the First would be a way to weaken Garlemald on the Source. (Here, add everything Ascian related, Elidibus, Elezenos to some degree).
HOWEVER
- Varis, since 4.4 he seems to be getting more and more unstable. Fed up with Solus, Ascian meddling (I'm not sure he was happy to see his son's body possessed by Elidibus). Plus his ideal of prime humans we saw in the parley. He's something to watch over because if we manage to wreck Solus' plans on the First, it's not given that the situation will be solved definitely. There's also the whole Populares plotline, the rumours spread to shake the Empire from the inside.

Remember that "while we do our things on the First" can be a matter of days in the game's timeline, this can fit into the Status Quo context on Ghimlyt.

Personally I think Solus is possessing Varis right now, probably tired of Varis dragging his heels with the war. I could end up being wrong in 5.0 but that grin and the black background leads me to believe this, as well as Elidibus not knowing where Solus is and what he's doing makes me think this is something Solus recently decided to do.

I could be wrong though, but that's my take on that scene.

[EdwinLi]

Remember that "while we do our things on the First" can be a matter of days in the game's timeline, this can fit into the Status Quo context on Ghimlyt.

I think the amount of time in the 1st may actually be within months instead of days.

We have to consider the actual travel time of going to place by foot and the length a ship would take to reach certain areas because we do not have access to their Teleport Crystal yet. Not to mention the moments when our character actually has to rest for a day due to story reasons.

That should be enough time for actual events happening in our absense rather than returning to "Oh hi! Nothing has changed since you were gone except for some minor things that has no effect on the Plot."

[Bright-Flower]

I think the amount of time in the 1st may actually be within months instead of days.

We have to consider the actual travel time of going to place by foot and the length a ship would take to reach certain areas because we do not have access to their Teleport Crystal yet. Not to mention the moments when our character actually has to rest for a day due to story reasons.

That should be enough time for actual events happening in our absense rather than returning to "Oh hi! Nothing has changed since you were gone except for some minor things that has no effect on the Plot."

Maybe but the story has never really played up travel time before that I can recall. The doman reinforcements to Gyr Abania that explicitly had to travel by sea got there pretty quick in 4.5 for example.

[Cilia]

It depends on how severely the Flood of Light is affecting the flow of time on the First (if at all).

As others have said, though, time doesn't seem to be a huge issue narrative-wise. We've gone through 3 major story arcs with mini-arcs sprinkled in there, yet the year hasn't advanced canonically. Best not to think about this too hard - everything happens when it happens, mmkay?

[Koti]

Considering all the time passing talk. I agree that things are gonna be happening while we are on the 1st Shard, only because of this line on the main Shadowbringers page:

"Ala Mhigo is at last free from imperial rule, but that liberty may prove fleeting as the Empire moves to both reclaim this bloodied nation and subjugate all of Eorzea.

In their hour of need, however, they cannot turn to the Warrior of Light. Nor to the Scions, who yet slumber, their souls adrift. The realm is left to struggle without its saviors, "

This gives the idea that while we are, in fact, over in the 1st, Garlemald is going to make a push and everyone in the Source is going to have to deal with it, without us.

After all, what better way to make use of the RP Mechanic (aka NPC control) that we already used a few times in Stormblood, as a means for us to keep a tabs on what is going on back home.

[Bright-Flower]

Considering all the time passing talk. I agree that things are gonna be happening while we are on the 1st Shard, only because of this line on the main Shadowbringers page:

"Ala Mhigo is at last free from imperial rule, but that liberty may prove fleeting as the Empire moves to both reclaim this bloodied nation and subjugate all of Eorzea.

In their hour of need, however, they cannot turn to the Warrior of Light. Nor to the Scions, who yet slumber, their souls adrift. The realm is left to struggle without its saviors, "

This gives the idea that while we are, in fact, over in the 1st, Garlemald is going to make a push and everyone in the Source is going to have to deal with it, without us.

After all, what better way to make use of the RP Mechanic (aka NPC control) that we already used a few times in Stormblood, as a means for us to keep a tabs on what is going on back home.

This would be a good way to use them.

I wasn't much a fan of how some of them were used so far. We were right there with Y'shtola, and we were on the way with Hien, so they felt a little moot. But maybe these will be more interesting if they're battling on the Source while we're on the First. They just kind of bug me because they're caught in a sort of catch 22 with these quests.

Because they're one off quests they can't make full rotations that people need to memorize to get through one battle, but because they're so simple they can get boring fast.