Revelations from SHADOWBRINGERS

[Zohar_Lahar]

Heck, how did he even know there would be an Ascian there, considering the known Ascians on the First were dead?

Urianger pretty much said he was expecting Ascian interference, considering the entire reason the Exarch summoned them to the First was to stop the 8th Rejoining.

[Alleo]

Well, we have no evidence that Ryne or anyone else in our circle is an original Amaurotine soul. In fact it stands that there can't be that many full 1/14th souls around. Plus Ryne doesn't have our full plethora of Blessings that help shore up the strength of our soul.

Well she herself said that she would have dealt with the Lightwardens if we did not come. That makes only sense if she has the Blessing. Also as I pointed out she rejoined with Minfilia, who is from the source so thats at least 2/14 of the souls and it was never really stated that only those with Amaurotine background would have more parts of their souls back, just that the calamities and their rejoinings brought us to 8/14 before Shadowbringers. Which gives it a high chance that anyone on the source has already more parts of the souls back because we got no evidence that only certain people can combine their souls back together. (Also Minfilia was one of the few who also had the echo)

[Ilenya]

Urianger pretty much said he was expecting Ascian interference, considering the entire reason the Exarch summoned them to the First was to stop the 8th Rejoining.

While I can agree with the mentioned comment that it could take too long to make the Auracite to risk spending it on something that may not work, unless that was specifically the case (It may be. We've only seen three of them, and with a seemingly long period of time between), there's no reason it couldn't have been tested, specifically on Titania (Post gaining Auracite, pre-Emet Selch introduction).

Granted, if it turns out either it takes a long time to make or Urianger was in Il Mheg for a lot less time than I initially thought (It's possible, I suppose) and there just wouldn't have been enough time to make a second Auracite, then the train of thought doesn't matter much. I still wonder if it could have absorbed the Light from the Lightwardens. Even taking one out that way and tossing the Auracite into the Void would have been interesting if it could have been spared.

[Iscah]

While I can agree with the mentioned comment that it could take too long to make the Auracite to risk spending it on something that may not work, unless that was specifically the case (It may be. We've only seen three of them, and with a seemingly long period of time between), there's no reason it couldn't have been tested, specifically on Titania (Post gaining Auracite, pre-Emet Selch introduction).

The thing is, the testing on the limits of white auracite has already been done - by Moenbryda back in post-ARR, who was an expert in the field. It's a temporary holding mechanism, not a seal. And if you did successfully "take one out and toss the auracite into the void" then what are you going to do about the other four?

[Zackneifein]

Well she herself said that she would have dealt with the Lightwardens if we did not come. That makes only sense if she has the Blessing. Also as I pointed out she rejoined with Minfilia, who is from the source so thats at least 2/14 of the souls and it was never really stated that only those with Amaurotine background would have more parts of their souls back, just that the calamities and their rejoinings brought us to 8/14 before Shadowbringers. Which gives it a high chance that anyone on the source has already more parts of the souls back because we got no evidence that only certain people can combine their souls back together. (Also Minfilia was one of the few who also had the echo)

Well, if she effectively joined with Minfillia, she is like us, 9/14, since Minfillia is from the Source, so 8/14 herself.

[Ilenya]

The thing is, the testing on the limits of white auracite has already been done - by Moenbryda back in post-ARR, who was an expert in the field. It's a temporary holding mechanism, not a seal. And if you did successfully "take one out and toss the auracite into the void" then what are you going to do about the other four?

Note that until we actually took in Innocence/Vauthry's Light, we were at the time more or less in control of the Light we had inside us. There may have still been a risk of losing control, but if we only had 4 Lightwarden's worth instead of 5, it is altogether possible that, between the lesser Light and Ryne's skills, we could have planned for something more permanent. We'd have time.

Potentially, anyways.

I'm not sure if testing it on the scale of holding the Light, even for a little, was ever done or could have been done, and it rightfully could have been too weak to hold it. We'll never know, but that won't stop me from being curious about it.

[Alleo]

Well, if she effectively joined with Minfillia, she is like us, 9/14, since Minfillia is from the Source, so 8/14 herself.

Which I too believe that is what happens thus I wonder why she could not have been the one to take in at least one Lightwarden.

[Deusteele]

Again, we have no evidence that anyone other then the WoL is an Original Amaurotine. I do believe that there are possibly some other Original's running around the Source, but they would few and far between. The Ancients population was far more then decimated during then End of Days. They lost not only the rest of the world's population, but also three-quarters of the only city remaining.


Regarding Ryne absorbing the Warden's light, our best evidence comes from the game itself.

Ryne
Extinguishing it is out of the question. Even at her strongest, Minfilia could only hold back the Light.
I might be able to suppress it...but I don't know for how long.

MSQ: More then a Hunch


In that even after this conversation, when we fight Innocence she doesn't attempt to absorb his light. So it appears that for whatever reasons she couldn't. Why? Unknown at present.

Also still trying to find any confirmation that she actually reunited with Minfilia's, then seperate and distinct, soul. The only dialogue I could find was Minfilia giving her the last remnants of her power, the last bit she uses to ensure her reincarnation. This suggests to me, that Ryne, rather then being a seperate person that can fuse with Minfilia's aether, is Minfilia's soul. Similar in nature to Ascian/WoL's, passing through the Lifestream with out merging with it, or even entering the Void, allowing propagation through the ages.

Personal questions remaining:
Why didn't they use the White Auracite to absorb the Warden's aether? Thoughts range towards "like repeling like". Maybe the auracite traps the aether in a stasis that is too similar to the Wardens aetherial state?

How many Amaurotine's where left before the Sundering? We know that they lost 75% of the remaining residents to Zodiark's summoning and then to refilling the Lifestream. Then an unknown number after that to Hydaelyn's summoning. How many were left after the summonings? After the Sundering? Could it have been down to the last four?

[swiss_Momo]

OK, wow, this is interesting. So I just finished the final conclusive role quest playing in German, and there is a whole plot point missing in the English version.

As we know, Cylva groomed each member in Ardbert's party into becoming a WoL by having them sacrifice a part of their soul. Now what is missing in English is how Cylva secretly absorbed these parts to power up herself. This is most notably during the echo flashback were she confronts the party as the Shadowkeeper. In English she basically just repeats the "By his/her sacrifice, a warrior born!" line while going over all the party member, but in German she says this:

Die Sehnsucht die Nyelbert fortwarf. Durch seine Kraft wurde es mir möglich, Frieden mit der Dunkelheit zu schließen.

The yearning Nylebert threw away. Trough its power I was able to make peace with the darkness

Die Freiheit die Renda-Rae von sich stieß. Sie befreite mich von der Fessel, die das Leben einer Sterblichen bedeutet.

The freedom Renda-Rae discarded. It freed me of the shackles life as a mortal brings

Die Mildtätigkeit die Branden aufgab. Ihre Zärtlichkeit gab meinem zerborstenen Leben einen Teil seiner Form zurück.

The charity Branden gave up. Its caress gave my shattered life back a part of its shape

Die Tradition, die Lamitt von sich schleuderte, stärkte meine Bindung zu dieser Welt und war der Schlüssel zu den Kräften von Gestern.

The tradition Lamitt rejected, strengthened my bonds to this world and was to key to the powers of the past

Und du, Ardbert? Du wirst nun selbst einen Teil deines Herzens aufgeben: die Freundschaft!

And you Ardbert? You too will now give up a part of your heart: friendship!

If everything would've gone as planned, this final power-up from Ardbert would've given Cylva the strength to defeat the whole party and thus keep the first in a state ready to be rejoined. But as we all know Ardbert held onto his friendship by sparing her life. Another notably different line in her dialogue after the echo scene is:

Meine Heimat ist die dreizehnte Splitterwelt. Sie wurde von einer Flut der Dunkelheit verschlungen... weil ich und meine Freunde sie nicht retten konnten. Weil wir keine wahren Helden waren

My home is the 13th shard. Destroyed by a flood of darkness... because I and my friends couldn't save it. Because we were no 'true' heroes

note: she calls Ardbert's friends true heroes after they obtain their crystals and become Warriors of Light, and also refers to the player as such, so this could imply that she and the other heroes of the 13th shard failed since they never had the time/chance to obtain their own crystals of light.

[Ardox]

Thank you for sharing and translating this.

It cast an interesting light on what happened, but it's still not clear how it would have worked. From what I understand, by striking the mortal blow on Cylva, Ardbert would have gotten his Light Crystal. Wouldn't that tipped the balance toward Light even further? How can Cylva win by being killed and lose by being alive? How and when did Ardbert got his Light Crystal? What triggered the flood if Cylva's plan failed?