No Garleans on the first?

[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.

[QT_Melon]

One thing due to recent revelations

Theories:
That Hydaelyn's sundering may have been intentional on depriving one group of their ability to use aether. It may not be malicious? It may have been part of the "suffering" not just talking about our mortality. Have there any Garleans with echo? As I've seen it/remember it - anyone who had Echo was labeled a beastman. This might be a great setup of the significance of the Garlean Empire if there's a deeper correlation.

Especially since people were upset that the empire wasn't as much of a focus and that the stories only seem a bit in tandem with Zenos running as the headliner as an "agent of Chaos" so to speak

[Nightsword]

Spoiler /10char

The pure-blooded Garlean people existed before the Empire and go all the way back to at least Goug, which was where they lived before moving to Ilsabard. Just because the Empire was created by the Ascians doesn’t necessarily mean the people were too.

We have one example of ancient Goug "human" that appears in the game.

Mustadio in his "human" form, doesn't have the 3rd eye. So that had to have come about after Ultima was sealed away.

[Alaeacus]

A Garlean race may or may not have happened. Garlean history is them fleeing and isolating themselves from the other races because they were majorly discriminated against and persecuted for being non-magical. That kind of history could very well have not happened in the First. The First may have caused them to go extinct, or turned them magical, well-before the Flood. Hell, non-magical race of people may not have existed on the first to begin with. Is there even a single Hrothgar on the Source? I've only seen one Viera on the Source, and that was Fran.

[Nightsword]

A Garlean race may or may not have happened. Garlean history is them fleeing and isolating themselves from the other races because they were majorly discriminated against and persecuted for being non-magical. That kind of history could very well have not happened in the First. The First may have caused them to go extinct, or turned them magical, well-before the Flood. Hell, non-magical race of people may not have existed on the first to begin with. Is there even a single Hrothgar on the Source? I've only seen one Viera on the Source, and that was Fran.

The Gunbreaker Job NPC

[MrThinker]

The Gunbreaker Job NPC

Also in that quest line is another Hrothgar.

On another note, the Hrothgar homeland of Bozja is to play a major part in the story of the lvl 80 relic questline. So we will definitely see more Hrithgar soon.

[MikkoAkure]

We have one example of ancient Goug "human" that appears in the game.

Mustadio in his "human" form, doesn't have the 3rd eye. So that had to have come about after Ultima was sealed away.

Practically speaking, I don't believe a character that's on screen for 5 seconds would have warranted the development team to create a unique head for that character just to justify the lore. Also, it's already stated in-game that the people of Goug didn't have magic either. Why would the eye suddenly appear in the bloodline between Goug and now yet the limitations associated with it pre-existed Goug? It's more likely with said character that the developers were lazy/didn't care

[Nightsword]

Practically speaking, I don't believe a character that's on screen for 5 seconds would have warranted the development team to create a unique head for that character just to justify the lore. Also, it's already stated in-game that the people of Goug didn't have magic either. Why would the eye suddenly appear in the bloodline between Goug and now yet the limitations associated with it pre-existed Goug? It's more likely with said character that the developers were lazy/didn't care

The Lexentales are full blooded Garleans, yet their ancestors were not a part of the Goug race from that time frame meaning the surviving one must have went into hiding with them and if they could pass as a Goug that means the 3rd eye would have been an augmentation either given to the Ancestor or their child. Which would mean not every member of the Goug had the 3rd eye and only part of them did and eventually the non-3rd eye members of the race were bred out. Also where in the game did it state the Goug didn't have magic since many of the creations employ it, specifically Time Magic and Math Magic.

[Cilia]

It's unclear as to whether there simply were no Garleans on the First, or they were wiped out in the Flood. We have no evidence either way.

If we assume they did exist, with the same limitation as their Source counterparts, their holdings would likely have been small. Without Solus (Emet-Selch) introducing them to / weaponizing the ceruleum engine, the Garleans would likely still be limited to their small corner of northeastern Ilsabard given they settled there several hundred years ago and to our knowledge did not expand very far if at all. Hell, between the apparent lack of Ascian meddling and the First's accelerated time compared to the Source, any First equivalent Garleans may have naturally died out.

/shrug

[MikkoAkure]

The Lexentales are full blooded Garleans, yet their ancestors were not a part of the Goug race from that time frame meaning the surviving one must have went into hiding with them and if they could pass as a Goug that means the 3rd eye would have been an augmentation either given to the Ancestor or their child. Which would mean not every member of the Goug had the 3rd eye and only part of them did and eventually the non-3rd eye members of the race were bred out. Also where in the game did it state the Goug didn't have magic since many of the creations employ it, specifically Time Magic and Math Magic.

Considering the third eye disappears after a single generation, I don't think there's non-third eye garleans being bred out. Talk to the node on the Prima Vista and select Jenomis and inquire about Goug and you'll get this conversation:

Ivalician legend tells of Goug─a city forged from iron and brass, and teeming with fantastical creations, from steam-powered airships to machinoservitors. The people who populated this “modren” metropolis were not unlike us Garleans, in that it was their lack of magical aptitude which spurred them to embrace technology.

I would like to think they traveled north and west to Ilsabard, settling in the land that would one day become Garlemald, yet while traits such as an affinity for machina and a lack of magical prowess align, I must admit, my theory is still mostly conjecture.