Revelations from Patch 5.2

[LineageRazor]

I'm still scratching my head over how they failed to see the link between the Red Kyojin and Asahi back in Stormblood - though the obvious answer is that the plot demands that they be kept in the dark for the sake of a potential 'gotcha' moment.

They DID see the link. The dialog after the Red Kojin encounter mentions how suspicious it is that the ambush conveniently happened when it did. They then go on to say that regardless, they need to treat Asahi like the ambassador he is, as the success of the hostage release depends on the negotiations. As long as Asahi continues to play ball, they're willing to go along with it - but are keeping their eyes open for deception. His eventual betrayal came as an actual surprise to no one, in game or out. The form the betrayal took was the only thing unexpected. (And, in fairness, a Garlean summoning a Primal is rightfully pretty low on the list of expectations, I'd say.)

Err. The big question I have, other than who is the VIIth's new Legatus spearheading the project, is how the kupo did they get combat data on deus Darnus? She only appeared in her winged, facemarked form in the Binding Coils... and the only people who saw her down there were Alisae and the WoL, so what the kupo is going on?!

My suspicion is that...

Giant, naked Darnus was never the intention. Whatever happened there, something went terribly wrong. While I don't doubt the Garleans would be willing to sacrifice their pilots, I'm guessing that whatever techniques they used to "record battle data" wound up ensnaring a piece of Nael's soul in the process. Instead of just giving the pilot Nael's battle skills, their souls wound up fused together, with very unpleasant results. One can only hope that in death, the souls were able to separate again.

The worst part is, the Garleans may not even be aware of what happened. Depending on what means they had to monitor the fight, it could be the only info they have is that the WoL beat their creation. They may not know how, or what happened over the course of the battle. In which case, they may bull on ahead with Sapphire and Diamond without taking any steps to prevent the tragedy from repeating...

So anyone else notice about Gaia...

She's also just as moody and introverted!

If I can say, first time I saw Estinien in Heavensward with so much hate for the Dragons without knowing them, I couldn't stand with him. Really. But we helped to open his eyes as well.

Ah, but Estinien doesn't hate dragons. He hates Nidhogg. Dragons in general, he mistrusts, but is willing to leave them be as long as they don't attack him. It's one of the things I admired about his character throughout Heavensward - he was driven by hatred and revenge, but he kept that desire trained on the true culprit, with laser focus. We encountered many, many dragons while traveling with Estinien and Ysayle, and it was rare for him to even speak rudely to them.

My thoughts on this patch's story content:

MSQ:

They mostly just teased us this time around - and even had the audacity to say as much through the characters in-game, with the comment that the recordings of the ancients had raised more questions than they answered.

Still, there was some very interesting stuff. Venat's discussion of Hydaelyn and of becoming her heart is a blow against my theory that Hydaelyn is not a primal in the same way that Zodiark is - but not a fatal one. It's still possible that Hydaelyn served to grant agency to the will of the star, while Zodiark was created to supplant it.

The bit about Elidibus being the heart of Zodiark was very, very interesting, and goes a long way toward explaining why he has a special place in the Ascian hierarchy. If they're Tempered to Zodiark, obviously they can't directly oppose Zodiark's heart!

Interesting that we can apparently call upon Bismarck at will, and that he seems to be almost puppyishly eager to help. Doubtless, that's a resource we'll continually forget about at times where it could really come in handy. XD

Still don't really have any idea what's going on with that white-robed guy talking with Zenos. Folks have postulated Asahi. Sure, why not?

And Elidibert's plan to create a ton of Warriors of Light? I think it's evident that he'll be somehow turning them against us - or, perhaps, we'll become aware that their actions are stirring up the Flood of Light again, and it will be US that turns against THEM. That'd be a pretty dark angle to take, though, and while we may wear the mantle of Warrior of Darkness, the WoL really isn't very dark. Like, at all.

All in all much more satisfied with this batch than the 5.1 MSQ!

Ruby Weapon:

Bit annoyed with how easily Gaius's "family" turned their backs on him. Gaius, whatever his crimes, whatever his faults is EXTREMELY stubborn, loyal, and devoted to his cause. His "children", if they know him at all, really ought to know that for someone like him to turn his back on Garlemald, it's time to ask some serious questions. Not just stalk off all butthurt that daddy abandoned them. In fairness to them, I suppose, he WAS standing as a comrade-in-arms to the one who just killed their sister - but that death was in the combat of warfare, in a sortie initiated by their sister no less. It wasn't like the WoL cornered her in a back alley or something.

It really felt like drama for drama's sake, and not very organic at all.

The fight with Ruby Weapon and the Evangelionesque emergence of Nael was pretty darned cool, to be sure. I wonder how much the family of pilots know about what happened to their sister, beyond the fact that the WoL killed her...

Eden:

Ugh, this storyline feels so poorly written. There just wasn't enough time to properly build up the Romantic Two-Girl Friendship angle they seem to be gunning for between Ryne and Gaia. It doesn't help that, to me at least, Gaia looks MUCH older than Ryne. I'd have pegged her as eighteen or older, while Ryne looks to be between twelve and fourteen.

Then there was Ryne's hilariously bad idea to be a host for Shiva. I mean, the fight we got out of all that was wonderful, but the contrived explanation we got (she wants to practice wielding aether to earn Eden's respect? Or something?) felt really inadequate for the kind of risks she'd be taking. I'd have been a lot more comfortable with it, if Ryne had somehow been transformed into Shiva unexpectedly. Like maybe some accident throws her onto the battlefield just as we're summoning Shiva, and she got caught up in it. Or something. I really enjoyed the interplay of Ryne as Shiva and Ryne as Oracle throughout the fight, and the observation that Ice is the element closest to Light was an interesting one. (I suppose Lightning would be closest to Darkness, given their respective places in the Elemental Wheel? Ironic, if so, considering that Lightning is notable for being extremely bright. Definitely has the chaos angle down, though!)

I was also kind of astonished that we finished the restoration project in this patch. All six elements have been unsealed, and the slow restoration of the world is underway. Mission accomplished! I guess the last tier of the raid is going to focus exclusively on Gaia in her role as Oracle of Darkness?

Neir:

I was happy to see some intermission quests, given how many questions the 5.1 Neir story opened up, and how few they answered - but none were answered here, either, really. Just, yep, the Dwarf siblings are still working on the problem, and whoops, they need to take a break to help out with the carnival. Basically just filler. Oh, well!