[SPOILERS] No one seems to be talking about that OTHER huge event

[Iscah]

Just a thought - we're assuming that Zenos is going to absorb Zodiark now and be the final boss, but what if it went the other way? Zenos is so confident he can do this, somehow unseals Zodiark, goes to do whatever it was he did to Shinryu.... and Zodiark says "hah, puny mortal, you seriously thought that was going to work?" and overwhelms him. And now we suddenly have a uncontrolled Zodiark incarnate on our hands.

[Alleo]

The monologue from Elidibus on the moon made it seem like he's just given up. Everything's gone completely off the rails, he's lost his last two real companions, and he can't predict where things will go from here. Might as well spill the beans to Zenos, hope that he screws up the Source as badly as possible, and try to kill the WoL purely out of spite towards Hydaelyn.

And dont forget his new genius plan! We are called the WoD now, so what to do? Of course, sent WoLs after them...that did not fail before. >_>

I would be laughing so hard if the WoLs he uses will turn on him and we find out that one even has another part of our soul, that one dies and we get that soulpart back. :'D Getting even stronger thanks to his plan..

[SaberMaxwell]

But all of this happened on it's own without any interference from us or the Scions. If Zenos stopped Black Lotus, then how did the dark timeline that lead to Gra'ha Tia becoming the Exarch materialize?

In the timeline we (the WoL) remained on the field, Eorzea (probably) pushed Garlemald too far, too fast. If we defeated Elidizenos (we were more or less winning the fight before G'raha made another strong pull for us), Varis might have panicked. They probably employed Black Rose before Zenos could interfere in this timeline. As well, with us on the front lines, Krile and Tataru never went to Estinien who then never ran into Gaius, and then they never ran around destroying Black Rose production facilities.

It's a butterfly effect, but it did cause changes when we were plucked from events even if temporarily.

[Alleo]

But all of this happened on it's own without any interference from us or the Scions. If Zenos stopped Black Lotus, then how did the dark timeline that lead to Gra'ha Tia becoming the Exarch materialize?

Because without the Exarch we would not have needed saving from Estinien thus we would have probably either defeated Elidibus in Zenos body or at least made it a stalemate. Emet then would have continued to mess up the first even further thus making it possible to rejoin it, which then would have been the signal for the release of Black Rose.

Also the scions in generel would not have been called into the first thus they would also had a hand in changing some stuff.

And with us being on the battle field, Zenos would have no reason to go to Garlemald.

Just a thought - we're assuming that Zenos is going to absorb Zodiark now and be the final boss, but what if it went the other way? Zenos is so confident he can do this, somehow unseals Zodiark, goes to do whatever it was he did to Shinryu.... and Zodiark says "hah, puny mortal, you seriously thought that was going to work?" and overwhelms him. And now we suddenly have a uncontrolled Zodiark incarnate on our hands.

Or this plot is just a tease anyway and we stop Zenos before he can do anything like that anyway. And seeing how Zodiark is still asleep right now they would need to wake him up first for that. Which means at least one more calamity, right? I am also quite sure that Elidibus would not be that stupid and trust Zenos and bring him to Zodiark himself..

[EdwinLi]

Or this plot is just a tease anyway and we stop Zenos before he can do anything like that anyway. And seeing how Zodiark is still asleep right now they would need to wake him up first for that. Which means at least one more calamity, right? I am also quite sure that Elidibus would not be that stupid and trust Zenos and bring him to Zodiark himself..

I have a feeling we will still get that 8th Calamaity but the differences is that we will be fighting during it (aka a Story DUngeon or Story Trial) against Zenos or something else which would then result in Zodiark awakening after the Story Dungeon or Trial is finished then PLOT stuff happens for the Finale of Season 1 story to finally end the Hydaelyn vs Zodiark Story Arc we been stuck in since 1.0 to make way for Season 2 storyline in 7.0 and it's set up during 6.1 to 6.5.

Or Zenos pulls a Kefka and causes the 8th Calamity anyways and the story Dungeon and Trial is a Post-8th Calamaity stage. However, this would fit more if they plan to "create a New World" plot ending for Season 1 storyline that restores the lands we know back to its original self pre-8th Calamity in addition to combining the lands of all remaining shards (even the FIrst) into a single larger and complete world.

[AceOfCakez]

I think most of us expected Zenos would be back. Out of all the XIV villains, I find him to be quite a one-dimensional character. I hope that Zodiark is the final boss for the next expac, though I also think that fighting Hydaelen as a final boss would be a nice twist.

[Lium]

I think most of us expected Zenos would be back. Out of all the XIV villains, I find him to be quite a one-dimensional character. I hope that Zodiark is the final boss for the next expac, though I also think that fighting Hydaelen as a final boss would be a nice twist.

At this point it would have to either be Zodiark or Hydaelyn because Elidibus doesn't really seem all that imposing now after Emet-Selch. If the WoL can kill un-sundered "pure" Ascians then there isn't much else in the mortal realm that can threaten them. Although, I suppose the writers can just create new superpowerful bad guys. They just run the risk of creating giant plotholes in the process. Like players asking "Wait, where has this guy been all this time? Someone that powerful just shows up out of nowhere?"

The wildcard here is Midgardsormr. He seems to have had some kind of close friendship with Hydaelyn, so the revelations of this expansion create some interesting questions about the relationship between him and the WoL going forward. Does Midgardormr know about Hydaelyn's true origin? Does he know She's a primal? Does he know that the WoL was an Ancient? If the WoL regains all of their memories and realizes that Hydaelyn is the true threat, does Midgardsormr jump to Her defense and try to kill the WoL?

Intriguing times ahead.

[Alleluia]

Am I the only one who thinks the next story arc is actually going to be trying to figure out what was causing the calamity that the Ascians summoned Zodiark to combat in the first place? Cus if we neutralize zodiark, chances are that that is going to be the threat lurking behind him. Of course, to research the threat, we'd need more ancient Ascian resources. You can't get them around Eorzea on the Source, but maybe it can be an excuse to go "across the pond" to the "New World" in the west (or south to Meracydia, maybe). Far enough away from the calamities' immediate effects, so there might still be intact ruins of the city that was mentioned by the ghosts in Amaurot. Not to mention the Crystal Tower and its Keeper are available to us, so we might be able to travel to areas of the other remaining shards to research there, too. And we'll probably end up on the moon at some point since that seems to be Elidibus' preferred haunt (plus the ancient calamity wasn't only some screeching sound that emanated from the ground, but ALSO meteors falling from space???)

I don't think Zenos is the final boss. At least, not how he's currently thinking he's gonna be.

[Iscah]

Not to mention the Crystal Tower and its Keeper are available to us, so we might be able to travel to areas of the other remaining shards to research there, too.

We seem to have broken its spacetime-travel core in the Twinning though.

[Lium]

Am I the only one who thinks the next story arc is actually going to be trying to figure out what was causing the calamity that the Ascians summoned Zodiark to combat in the first place? Cus if we neutralize zodiark, chances are that that is going to be the threat lurking behind him. Of course, to research the threat, we'd need more ancient Ascian resources. You can't get them around Eorzea on the Source, but maybe it can be an excuse to go "across the pond" to the "New World" in the west (or south to Meracydia, maybe). Far enough away from the calamities' immediate effects, so there might still be intact ruins of the city that was mentioned by the ghosts in Amaurot. Not to mention the Crystal Tower and its Keeper are available to us, so we might be able to travel to areas of the other remaining shards to research there, too. And we'll probably end up on the moon at some point since that seems to be Elidibus' preferred haunt (plus the ancient calamity wasn't only some screeching sound that emanated from the ground, but ALSO meteors falling from space???)

I don't think Zenos is the final boss. At least, not how he's currently thinking he's gonna be.

From what I understand, it was the Ancients themselves that caused the first Calamity by continuously tapping into the aether to create things. I can't remember the exact explanation given by Emet-Selch, just that the constant creation eventually did something to the elements. Someone with a better understanding of this can explain it better than me.