Patch 5.4 Trailer, Predictions, and Hints

[Iscah]

But its not an all or nothing deal. It was explicitly stated that 1 more rejoining will put enough aether into the source to awaken Zodiark.

Explicitly stated where?

Also, early-game quotes about the Ascians' plans are shaky at best - for all the writers try to look like they planned things all along, I would say there has clearly been a shift in the Ascians' intended goals (if indeed the writers had a plan beyond "say ominous things about being close to it and we'll work out the details later") and they've done their best to smooth over the join, but the cracks still show.

Also, the fact that G'raha says nothing about Zodiark's reawakening having happened in the post-eighth-Calamity timeline makes it even less likely to be true. He's been working with a group that knows about Hydaelyn and Zodiark and has done research into the cause of the Calamity to the point of identifying the rejoined shard. I don't think Zodiark's awakening would escape their notice, and I don't think the writers would want to not mention it happening because it would be a great way to raise the stakes even higher. Even more so with the "hopeful epilogue" to the other timeline's story in Tales From the Shadows.

[Kesey]

The 8th rejoining world was apocalyptic because there had just been a rejoining. They do tend to be rather calamitous events.

I don't think we can really be sure that Zodiark passively consumes aether like current primals do either. Hydaelyn was created using much the same method and has been knocking about for several thousand years seemingly without causing any aether related issues.

Although this is a conjecture, Venat specifically states that she must be the one to become The Heart of Hydaelyn, I assume, if my theory is correct, it is to make sure Hydaelyn doesn't have the desire to siphon aether like we see other primals. And possibly not temper people either.

Zodiark, on the other hand, could have had this aspect overlooked. I say this because what we know states that Convocation didn't see that summoning Zodiark would only delay the end days instead of adverting them. Meaning, so how any change that Zodiark makes to stop the end days, extends, but also sets up the problem leading to the end days anyway. So what makes Zodiark different from Hydaelyn that it brings the end of the world anyway?

So facts we know are: the sound(s) come from the planet, the planet is the source of aether, all primals (Hydaelyn as the only possible exception) consume the aether of their environment (among other sources), Zodiark is summoned to stop end days but is completely connected to the planet, but the process of changing the laws of reality to stop the final days sets off the process again to restart the final days. No evidence is given that Zodiark would function differently that any other normal primal, other than he is an elder primal so his scope of power is just well beyond normal primals.

This is how I came to believe that aether consumption is the key triggering the final days. And to continue the logic, it had to be creation magic and the abuse of aether caused by casting it that leads to the final days in the first place. And, until patch 5.5 gives us a better explanation, the towers Fandaniel placed are possibly siphoning planet aether to Zodiark on the moon.

So given what we do know, has informed my answers for what we don't know.

[Veloran]

Although this is a conjecture, Venat specifically states that she must be the one to become The Heart of Hydaelyn, I assume, if my theory is correct, it is to make sure Hydaelyn doesn't have the desire to siphon aether like we see other primals. And possibly not temper people either.

Why exactly would Venat specifically mantling Hydaelyn prevent that?

I say this because what we know states that Convocation didn't see that summoning Zodiark would only delay the end days instead of adverting them.

We have no idea why the Anyder posit this.

but the process of changing the laws of reality to stop the final days sets off the process again to restart the final days.

We have nothing at all stating this, that what Zodiark did would somehow cause the Final Days again, based on his actions.

No evidence is given that Zodiark would function differently that any other normal primal, other than he is an elder primal so his scope of power is just well beyond normal primals.

No evidence is given that Hydaelyn functions any differently from Zodiark. The idea that she doesn't maintain herself through consuming aether comes about purely due to the fact that she's been getting weaker over time, which is only a contradiction on it's face and ignores that we have instances of her consuming aether to empower herself anyway.

This is how I came to believe that aether consumption is the key triggering the final days. And to continue the logic, it had to be creation magic and the abuse of aether caused by casting it that leads to the final days in the first place. And, until patch 5.5 gives us a better explanation, the towers Fandaniel placed are possibly siphoning planet aether to Zodiark on the moon.

So aether consumption was the cause of the Final Days, which the planet sought to rectify by eliminating huge quantities of aether by leaving the world a barren wasteland, which the Convocation halted by sacrificing huge amounts of aether, which they also contributed to by sacrificing huge amounts of aether, which was solved by Hydaelyn consuming a huge amount of aether to be summoned, which has somehow never reappeared again despite entire Umbral Eras being caused by the mass siphoning of aether from the land?

And this is all ignoring that the Ancients used their own personal aether for creation magic to begin with, not the planet's aether. Also, a better explanation for the towers already exists, namely that instead of them beaming aether from the planet to Zodiark, they're beaming aether from Zodiark to the planet, hence the tempering (I don't think this is exactly correct, but it's more mechanically sound based on what we've seen them do than the opposite).

[Kesey]

No evidence is given that Hydaelyn functions any differently from Zodiark. The idea that she doesn't maintain herself through consuming aether comes about purely due to the fact that she's been getting weaker over time, which is only a contradiction on it's face and ignores that we have instances of her consuming aether to empower herself anyway.

Hydaelyn only consumes the aether of those willing to give it up. She is weakening over time because she isn't absorbing the aether from the world around them like every other primal is. This clearly sets her apart. No such evidence exists for Zodiark, other than it is clear that his power is defined by how many worlds have been rejoined.

So aether consumption was the cause of the Final Days, which the planet sought to rectify by eliminating huge quantities of aether by leaving the world a barren wasteland, which the Convocation halted by sacrificing huge amounts of aether, which they also contributed to by sacrificing huge amounts of aether, which was solved by Hydaelyn consuming a huge amount of aether to be summoned, which has somehow never reappeared again despite entire Umbral Eras being caused by the mass siphoning of aether from the land?

And this is all ignoring that the Ancients used their own personal aether for creation magic to begin with, not the planet's aether. Also, a better explanation for the towers already exists, namely that instead of them beaming aether from the planet to Zodiark, they're beaming aether from Zodiark to the planet, hence the tempering (I don't think this is exactly correct, but it's more mechanically sound based on what we've seen them do than the opposite).

The aether consumed to summon Hydaelyn and Zodiark comes at the expense of the people--that uses their aether. This is the tragic sacrifice both were required to make to get their solutions to save world via elder primals. Also the planet could have just been cutting off access to aether, to idk, stop the abuse of it--instead of destroying it. And the Umbral eras although were massive aether drains, were in comparison to what would have happened in Ancient times, just 1/14 to scale.

And the towers are clearly pulsing to the sky. Zodiark isn't passing aether down, it is going up. Wouldn't you want the prayers and aether of the tempered to go to the primal not away from him?

[RyuDragnier]

Hydaelyn only consumes the aether of those willing to give it up. She is weakening over time because she isn't absorbing the aether from the world around them like every other primal is. This clearly sets her apart. No such evidence exists for Zodiark, other than it is clear that his power is defined by how many worlds have been rejoined.

Off tangent completely, but this brought to mind something...perhaps Sharlayan is so similar to Amaurot because it was made by Venat, or by people given visions of Amaurot itself?

[Iscah]

Repeating a question that you seem to have missed the first time because it went up while you were in the middle of writing a post.

But its not an all or nothing deal. It was explicitly stated that 1 more rejoining will put enough aether into the source to awaken Zodiark.

Where was this explicitly stated?

[Kesey]

Off tangent completely, but this brought to mind something...perhaps Sharlayan is so similar to Amaurot because it was made by Venat, or by people given visions of Amaurot itself?

I'm willing to bet Sharlayan is either a legacy civilization of the Ancients, or they did the research and know what the Ancients know. This could have very well come to pass with help by Venat. I'm hoping we hit Sharlayan in the expansion, as this gives us the set up to get these answers.

[Kesey]

Repeating a question that you seem to have missed the first time because it went up while you were in the middle of writing a post.



Where was this explicitly stated?

This is implicitly stated by the Ascians in ARR. If they can accomplish 1 more rejoining with 1 more calamity, they will be able to free Zodiark. This why the plot constantly has us stopping their 8th calamity plans. First with the ultima weapon. Then with their meddling with the dragonsong war. Then giving Nidhog's eyes to summon Shinryu to complicate the liberation of Ala Mhigo. Then the black rose set up with the first's flood of light. Then Elidibus and his warriors of light. Now onto Fandaniel and his towers.

[Cilia]

Well, the Bad Future apparently continued onward as per Tales from the Shadow's An Umpromised Tomorrow.

An Eighth Umbral Calamity would not actually be the an instant win for the Ascians' grand plans; it would just (probably) kill us and leave the world we know in ruin. "Just."

[Iscah]

This is implicitly stated by the Ascians in ARR.

Implicitly is not explicitly - by definition it is the opposite.

You cannot claim it to be explicitly stated unless they have outright said it will happen, and to my knowledge, they have not.

And as I wrote the first time I asked, the Ascians' plans in ARR seem off compared to everything that has happened since.

I don't know if the quotes in ARR are re-interpretable or not, but I don't think there's been talk of Zodiark's imminent awakening since we started talking about shards and rejoinings.

And again, if not stopping the Eighth Calamity will directly allow Zodiark's revival, that's a stake worth mentioning above and beyond just preventing earthly destruction in the Source. Why the focus on the post-apocalypse being "man fighting his fellow man" as the worst thing that happened if the dark god is unleashed?