Garleans and the ancients. (Spoilers)

[Deusteele]

I posited a theory about this awhile ago.

After the second set of Sacrifices to restore the Planet's Lifestream, the remaining Amaurotines set about tending to the recovered world. This "gardening" of sorts would require intensive labor on a massive scale. While they may have been immortal or nearly so, having all the time in world doesn't do much on the micro-scale. They would have needed assistants to help with their labors. After a brief period of discussion, the Bureau could have set forth a template or templates regarding how these assistants would be designed. Symmetrical Bipeds, at least one set of matching forearms, single headed with forward facing optical cavity. And perhaps the ability to procreate naturally? Within these guidelines freedom was allowed, thus creating what we now call the Spoken races and Beast tribes. After a period of time it's possible that the lesser races started to be born with natural souls and that's what caused the schism around Hydaelyn.

Garleans are an oddball race that they as a race are aetherically underwhelming, rather then like the rest of the races where it's an individual that is an outlier.

[VargasVermillion]

On garleans in the first, one of my friends suggested that he thought the 2 jesters in the first were the firsts equivalent of the two garlean twins that acted as bodyguards to varis. Could just be some coincidence but if it does hold any weight then that could provide some clue as to the true nature of their existence, but then again sundered pieces of a former individual don't seem to be consistently one race either so it's all up in the air till we get some more lore on them. We still know little about their overall history.

[Veloran]

If they came after the Sundering then it would be frankly unbelievable that all the same species just coincidentally evolved separately on all the shards.

Hydaelyn calls the mortal races "her children", so I kind of take it as a given that she is directly responsible for the creation of the races we see across both the Source and the shards.

Edit: Also, didn't the Sundering "only" happen like 12,000 years ago? That's not time enough for life to naturally evolve to begin with.

[Kesey]

My personal theory is this: Garleans were obviously created by the Ascians (Ancients) probably in response to how events played out with the fall of the Allagan empire.

Emet and the other unsundered would have the foresight to see where they may have gone astray with the Allagans and course adjusted for Allagan empire 2.0. Remember Ancient's whole civilization was centered on creation magic.

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but Azys Lla was shown to be creation point for all of the beast tribes. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say the Ascians when creating the Garlean empire decided to cut them off from aether to prevent the new civilization they were building from aspiring to attain what the Ancients were (which is what the Allagans were probably close to achieving).

The Ascians obviously want an empire in place to use as pawn to create calamities and rejoinings. But its no good when that pawn seeks to take the place of your old civilization and/or follows down a path that will make the same mistakes as your ancient civilization.

To further this thought process and looking ahead to the story, I see a lot of people hoping we get echoed to past events involving our characters back story as Azim. What I think we'll see and, this will most likely be major plot point of 6.0, that we have been reincarnated numerous times corresponding to all the calamities. I would expect a reveal of us, in someone else's body, trying and failing the stop the war between Allagans and Mercaydia, essentially filling in our back story and giving a better explanation of history in general.

[MrThinker]

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but Azys Lla was shown to be creation point for all of the beast tribes.

Not all tribes, just the Ixal, who are descended from the Allagan chimeras known as the Iksalion. Other tribes are still believed to be of natural evolution. The Amal'jaa, Kobolds and Sahagin all exist on the First under different names, so those 3 are definitely not man-made.

[Enkidoh]

The gigas/giants were also presumed to have been at least genetically manipulated by the Allag if not outright created by them, as very early lore stated (or hinted at least) that the gigas were used as slave labour to construct the Crystal Tower, hence their obssession with the place and why they're always attacking the Sharalyan researchers in Mor Dhona - they have a lingering cultural memory to this day of their part in building it and thus devotion to it that they no longer understand, just they have.. to... PROTECT IT.

[Veloran]

I think it was very heavily implied that one of your past lives was Tenzen, of Four Lords fame. I believe it was even said you "shared the color of his soul"? So a bit of an early hint there if so.

[Kesey]

I think it was very heavily implied that one of your past lives was Tenzen, of Four Lords fame. I believe it wad even said you "shared the color of his soul"? So a bit of an early hint there if so.

Yes, I believe Tenzen will be one of the past lives of ourselves/Azim.

[Kesey]

To add to my previous post; other past Azem lives:

Ramza (the ff14 version, from the past, who actually fought Ultima) from the Return to Ivalice raid.

During the Warring Triad, the machinery in Azys Lla recognize us as a citizen of the Allagan empire during the war with Mercaydia.

Finally, we were at the battle of Carteneau before Louisiox sent us away (to the beginning of the ARR). The cutscene from Coils even paint us as looking like Ardbert there (which is a nice nod from the devs).

[Rosenstrauch]

To add to my previous post; other past Azem lives:

Ramza (the ff14 version, from the past, who actually fought Ultima) from the Return to Ivalice raid.

This one is not necessarily true, as Past!Ramza possessed his present day counterpart at certain moments in the Return to Ivalice plotline, and also came to our aid alongside Mustadio, Agrias, and TG Cid. Unless time travel is involved, that would mean his soul was still lingering in the world up to that point and thus couldn't have reincarnated.