No Garleans on the first?

[Vyrerus]

I lean towards Garleans being aliens unique to The Source or a post Sundering race unique to the planet that cannot manipulate aether because they are not tied to the planet as it originally had been. They could also be genetically engineered by the Ascians to eventually be suitable host bodies for the Ancients upon the revival of their souls, though that's quite a stretch on my part.

There's a lot to answer and speculate on regarding Garleans, because they're shown to have wildly fantastic technology, swords capable of summoning tigers/performing aetherial geometry, dreadnaughts capable of killing primals, and basically anything the plot needs them to do. Most recently with the Ruby Weapon they did something really crazy, and the hint at how they did it means they've gotten a big tech boost from the spaceship that is The Ragnarok.

Of course, it's easy to say they were wiped away in The Flood of Light, but we can't tie that to a geographical location on The Source, because where races are/were differs shard to shard. Like how so many Au Ra are in Norvrandt. How the Lalafell are in what I'd consider Vylbrand(Kholusia). I think I could speculate about Garleans all day.

[LineageRazor]

I lean towards Garleans being aliens unique to The Source or a post Sundering race unique to the planet that cannot manipulate aether because they are not tied to the planet as it originally had been. They could also be genetically engineered by the Ascians to eventually be suitable host bodies for the Ancients upon the revival of their souls, though that's quite a stretch on my part.

There's a lot to answer and speculate on regarding Garleans, because they're shown to have wildly fantastic technology, swords capable of summoning tigers/performing aetherial geometry, dreadnaughts capable of killing primals, and basically anything the plot needs them to do. Most recently with the Ruby Weapon they did something really crazy, and the hint at how they did it means they've gotten a big tech boost from the spaceship that is The Ragnarok.

Of course, it's easy to say they were wiped away in The Flood of Light, but we can't tie that to a geographical location on The Source, because where races are/were differs shard to shard. Like how so many Au Ra are in Norvrandt. How the Lalafell are in what I'd consider Vylbrand(Kholusia). I think I could speculate about Garleans all day.

I tend to lean away from the notion that they're aliens, for two main reasons. First off, they look very human. While this is a standard trope in live-action Sci-fi shows (largely because it's a LOT CHEAPER to put pointy ears on a human actor and call them an alien than it is to make a TRULY alien alien), it seems pretty hokey for two different planets to wind up producing essentially identical species. The second reason is not only are they essentially identical, but they're even cross-fertile with the natives (Arenvald being one such result). THAT requires a ludicrous amount of handwavium.

I do think they could be unique to the source. Perhaps side effects from one of the Calamities, led to their unique traits, or maybe they were the results of Allagan experimentation.

As for the amazing technology, take that with a grain of salt. There's evidence that the Ascians have been helping them in this regard (just as they did the Allagans) - and unlike most races on the Source, they have the MOTIVE to explore amazing technology, since they need it to stand on equal (or even superior) footing with the magic-using races. I mean, a non-Garlean COULD put the research into making a laser cannon, but why bother when you can just huck a fireball?

Anyway, unique to the source, or one of the many unlucky races wiped out by not being in Norvrandt at the time of the Flood - it could go either way.