fate of emperor varis at the end

[Absimiliard]

I for one welcome our new sociopathic overlord.

[Bright-Flower]

I'm leaning toward he's dead, and maybe Gaius or someone will become a garlean leader in 6.0 for us to work with.

However, I'm not entirely discounting the possibility that Gaius and Estinien somehow save him.

I hope he's just dead though, let Zenos actually kill SOMEONE in the story that isn't a faceless grunt. With Zenos uninterested in ruling the fallout of having no heir to the empire there makes for a more interesting scenario to me than Varis being wounded and taken off somewhere to recover.

[Cilia]

My predictions?

Varis: Dead.

Zenos: Won't take the throne.

Gaius: Critically wounded by Zenos; fighting days will be behind him. Will pull Garlemald back together after Zenos is dealt with.

Estinien: Will aid Gaius in getting away from Zenos, then return to Eorzea with news of this development. (He's there because while he does work for Eorzea / Ishgard's benefit, Estinien is very much a lone wolf.)

Going forward: Zenos will absorb the aether of one of the two "gods" of the world, and we will be forced to call on the other for the power necessary to defeat him. Afterwards, 6.0's story arc (so 5.4 - 6.3) will focus on pulling the Empire back together by helping Gaius reforge the nation from its fractured state, defeating the Legatuses-cum-warlords who will probably be ruling their individual territories after the fall of the Imperial government. There will also be the moral question of whether we should be doing so or not, as the former provinces may or may not want independence (with or without their Legatus/warlord at the head of the government).

Also, the Sound that devastated the planet in the days of Amaurot may return. Lahabrea's pre-Praetorium battle dialogue suggests he believes this will happen if Zodiark is not restored, and I'd like for all of his dialogue to finally make sense...

(Why does anyone like Varis, anyway? Sure his position is complex and unenviable, but he had the arrogance to think he could outplay 12,000+ year old nigh-immortal sorcerers by doing exactly what they wanted, made some tough but flawed arguments against the Alliance, and actually used Black Rose in the Bad Future. Other than his patriotism (which is closer to ultranationalism than anything), what about him is there to like?)

[Myvar]

he had the arrogance to think he could outplay 12,000+ year old nigh-immortal sorcerers by doing exactly what they wanted

Well, Archbishop Thordan kind of did.

[Absimiliard]

he had the arrogance to think he could outplay 12,000+ year old nigh-immortal sorcerers by doing exactly what they wanted

Well, Archbishop Thordan kind of did.

Thordan outsmarted *two* Ascians, no less. Zenos, meanwhile, managed to completely destroy Elidibus's plans just by being a lunatic.

[kidalutz]

My predictions?

Varis: Dead.

Zenos: Won't take the throne.

Gaius: Critically wounded by Zenos; fighting days will be behind him. Will pull Garlemald back together after Zenos is dealt with.

Estinien: Will aid Gaius in getting away from Zenos, then return to Eorzea with news of this development. (He's there because while he does work for Eorzea / Ishgard's benefit, Estinien is very much a lone wolf.)

Going forward: Zenos will absorb the aether of one of the two "gods" of the world, and we will be forced to call on the other for the power necessary to defeat him. Afterwards, 6.0's story arc (so 5.4 - 6.3) will focus on pulling the Empire back together by helping Gaius reforge the nation from its fractured state, defeating the Legatuses-cum-warlords who will probably be ruling their individual territories after the fall of the Imperial government. There will also be the moral question of whether we should be doing so or not, as the former provinces may or may not want independence (with or without their Legatus/warlord at the head of the government).

Also, the Sound that devastated the planet in the days of Amaurot may return. Lahabrea's pre-Praetorium battle dialogue suggests he believes this will happen if Zodiark is not restored, and I'd like for all of his dialogue to finally make sense...

(Why does anyone like Varis, anyway? Sure his position is complex and unenviable, but he had the arrogance to think he could outplay 12,000+ year old nigh-immortal sorcerers by doing exactly what they wanted, made some tough but flawed arguments against the Alliance, and actually used Black Rose in the Bad Future. Other than his patriotism (which is closer to ultranationalism than anything), what about him is there to like?)

highly doubt Gaius fighting days will be behind him. but I dont doubt a critical wounding.. sadly would be so beyond happy seeing zeno dead at Gaius' feet and Gaius and Estinien looking at each other and going.. well uh that happened..

[kidalutz]

Thordan outsmarted *two* Ascians, no less. Zenos, meanwhile, managed to completely destroy Elidibus's plans just by being a lunatic.

Somewhat intelligent people are easier to read than the terminally stupid and psychotic.

[Cilia]

Thordan outsmarted *two* Ascians, no less. Zenos, meanwhile, managed to completely destroy Elidibus's plans just by being a lunatic.

Two complacent Ascians, a trait Elidibus and Emet-Selch have to a far lesser degree.

In the Bad Future, everything played out perfectly according to Emet-Selch's plans. It was only due to Crystal Exarch G'raha warping through spacetime that their plans were derailed, and Varis' "original perfect master race" is essentially the Ancients - his plan is doomed to fail because it uses the exact same means to the exact same ends as the Ascians.

[ObsidianFire]

The only person who has successfully outsmarted an Ascian is Uriagner with the WoD and stopping the 8th Calamity long enough for the WoD and Minfilia to go back to the 1st Shard and stop the Flood of Light in it's tracks. That opened up the door for the Calamity with Black Rose which led to G'raha Tia and the Ironworks upending the Ascian's plans with time-travel shenanigans.

It's worth noting that Urianger is a student of prophecy, history and cosmology in general while most of the people the Ascians successfully manipulate don't have anywhere near as thorough a grounding in those subjects. G'raha Tia and the Ironworks did something that not even the Ascians thought was possible and so never bothered to ever plan for.

[Iscah]

[Varis] actually used Black Rose in the Bad Future.

He certainly seemed willing to use it, but we can't be sure that he did.

It came up in another discussion that the events in the palace probably would play out the same regardless of what happened to us on the First.

Varis's death (or apparent death) would be a likely catalyst for disarray in the Garlean forces, either under Zenos' careless rule or due to another war of succession breaking out.

The Eorzeans would gain the upper hand on the battlefield... and that would create the exact circumstances that led the cornered Garlean army to resort to unleashing Black Rose.

So while it doesn't necessarily excuse his intent, we can't say for sure that he's the one who went through with it.

Now that we're forewarned, it also should inform future Eorzean strategy. Unless they're certain all stock of the gas is destroyed, pressing the Garleans too hard may cause them to use it - still a serious concern even if it isn't going to be Calamity-inducing.