[Spoilers] Is Hydaelyn a primal?

[Daralii]

There could just be another method with which the first primals came into being, that doesn't necessarily make them not primals. When it comes to things dealing with the origins of existence, either in science or religion, you'll oftentimes reach a point where the simpler rules stop applying, and you just have to accept that something existed at the start, without anything else having made it.

I don't think prayer is a necessary aspect of a primal, it's just the method through which mortals are able to force their creation, I think it could be as simple as "a primal is aether given form via any method". It's kind of like scientists nowadays who can make artificial DNA in lab settings, just because we can make DNA ourselves doesn't mean it was intelligently designed the first time it came into existence. Hydaelyn+Zodiark could have arisen out of the primordial aether from happenstance, and they'd still be primals.


I'd be willing to believe this is just Solus being a tricksy Ascian more if it wasn't used as the end stinger of the launch trailer for the game at E3, but since it was, I'm pretty willing to believe it.

Except Solus specifically said "Through prayer and sacrifice", which I assume means the aether was acquired through blood sacrifice, like what the people of Eulmore are doing to feed the Sin Eaters.

[Akonyl]

Except Solus specifically said "Through prayer and sacrifice", which I assume means the aether was acquired through blood sacrifice, like what the people of Eulmore are doing to feed the Sin Eaters.

Hm, that's fair then, guess I don't remember the trailer all that well. In that case though, Rosie's point of "it's hard to think of a logical explanation for their existence as primals" doesn't seem very sturdy anyway, because we're told for a fact that beings existed prior, so what's there to be confused about? A piece of lore not being filled out's a lot different than an actual plothole, us not knowing who summoned them doesn't mean it's a reason for them to not be primals.

[StarRosie]

Hm, that's fair then, guess I don't remember the trailer all that well. In that case though, Rosie's point of "it's hard to think of a logical explanation for their existence as primals" doesn't seem very sturdy anyway, because we're told for a fact that beings existed prior, so what's there to be confused about? A piece of lore not being filled out's a lot different than an actual plothole, us not knowing who summoned them doesn't mean it's a reason for them to not be primals.

Eeehhh, to be fair, I'm likely over thinking things. My biggest question in regards to them being 'primals' is, why would you summon Zodiark? But, that feels like a downward spiral of a question. So, while I still think Solus is messing with us, I will wait to see what we get.

[Sigiria]

Eeehhh, to be fair, I'm likely over thinking things. My biggest question in regards to them being 'primals' is, why would you summon Zodiark? But, that feels like a downward spiral of a question. So, while I still think Solus is messing with us, I will wait to see what we get.

For the same reasons a group of ascians would want him to overtake hydaelyn I guess. Also we know Zodiark and Hydealyn used to be a single entity and we don't really know what caused them to split yet. That entity is most likely what was summoned in the first place.

[Apriconi]

Eeehhh, to be fair, I'm likely over thinking things. My biggest question in regards to them being 'primals' is, why would you summon Zodiark? But, that feels like a downward spiral of a question. So, while I still think Solus is messing with us, I will wait to see what we get.

I think we have to stop thinking of Zodiark as evil or the bad guy. We don't really know his story aside from what little ascians have told us. This expansion really can help answer a lot of questions that the playerbase might have about both Hydaelyn and Zodiark. There has to be more than just a good vs. evil narrative. Hydaelyn clearly has her own agenda and us WoLs have been blindly following it. There has to be a reason why Hydaelyn went apeshit and sealed away Zodiark, weakening herself and throwing everything out of balance.

[Melichoir]

I think we have to stop thinking of Zodiark as evil or the bad guy. We don't really know his story aside from what little ascians have told us. This expansion really can help answer a lot of questions that the playerbase might have about both Hydaelyn and Zodiark. There has to be more than just a good vs. evil narrative. Hydaelyn clearly has her own agenda and us WoLs have been blindly following it. There has to be a reason why Hydaelyn went apeshit and sealed away Zodiark, weakening herself and throwing everything out of balance.

This pretty much. We shouldnt have been thinking of Zodiark as evil from the beginning. A lot of information we have on Zodiark is pretty limited and second hand. We're told hes the god of the Ascians, and cause we think Ascians suck, so must Zodiark. Zodiark is said to have tried to grab more power which resulted in the split, but that necessarily isnt true or that it wasnt justified. What if Hydaelin was become to strong and Zodiark wanted to pull power.

More broadly (as this xpac will probably push), we shouldnt be thinking of Light as Good and Dark as bad. Intent is the key point and balance between the two is necessary. To much of either proves disastrous. I think elidibus kind of leans on this point - he wants to restore the balance because he sees the current state of things as bad. But maybe his methods are crap.

Also could be that Hydaelin made a pigs ear of everything, realized she done goofed but cant fix the situation, so she kinda 'recruited' us to fix the issue. That or shes paranoid the Ascians are gonna flip the switch and turn life to death forever like a Fifth Element plot point. Im still personally partial that the WoL is, in its most simplest explaination, a new primal of sorts, and that perhaps Hydaelin is pumping us full of Aether (essentially what the Blessing of Hydaelin/Echo is) to sort the issue out. Prayer aspect is just coming from everyone who wishes for our success in bringing more stability and hope to the people. Remember, not all primals have to temper people to exist - Thordan, Shiva, Alex, and a few others didnt do this. They were just super poweful probably because wishes/prayers came to them of freewill rather then by force.



Screw you SE. That trailer raised to many damn questions and Im pretty damned hyped for the xpac. Just crossing my fingers that this wont be a let down.