Revelations from the Announcement Showcase

[Erendis]

Children of Bodom featured on the second shirt got songs like "Follow the Reaper" and "Taste of My Scythe". But I don't know, seems too obvious...

[Vyrerus]

Dark Knight in FFXI used scythes... but obviously we already have Dark Knight with great swords...

My money would be on... well... Terror Knight. It's a class from Ogre Battle, and while its concept art depicts it as sword and board, in the Tactics Ogre and other stuff, it uses two handed axes and swords to great effect.

In Ogre Battle 64 they dubbed the class that took its place simply, "Black Knight." They are aesthetically similar though, wearing full face covered helmets with horns or spikes adorning it, along with capes/cloaks/skirts/drapes. Black Knight in Ogre Battle 64 used Scythes, and by default, casted a Bane elemental spell from the back row, even if their Scythe was physical element.

Maybe they'll get freaky with the name, something like Terror Fighter or Terror Trooper. Maybe a synonym for Terror? Horror Knight or Horror Soldier?

Their armor is already in the game too, coming from Neverreap/Fractal Continuum. Might be worth a look.

[Lauront]

There's been some guesses that the t-shirt may have been a subtle tie in to Templar (as the director of The Filth and the Fury is Julien Temple), which is incidentally a job based on the mystic knight archetype. It's a sword user, so whether they'd really want sword user #6, or instead to bring in some other weapon (like a scythe, or similar) is anyone's guess. I still think they'll tie it to Zenos in some capacity what with the "new weapon", and the fact that he's trained in a similar style with his sword arts, albeit using katanas to draw out the aether from them for now. Maybe the WoL/D will jump to it as well in the rest of the trailer? Who knows. I'm not particularly expecting any ties to Necromancer for the time being. I'm still hoping they'll touch on that or some other darkness-using caster in a future expansion.

Back to Lahabrea, it's hard to say what to expect, but he went through hell and back, having been trapped in Nidhogg's Eye, then wandering the Aetherial Sea. As the raid will set in motion after the MSQ of 6.0, which is set to conclude by then, my guess is the war between the two primals might have some effect on him. He was already worn down before and struggling to retain his sense of identity, unlike Emet, so who's to say, if he's out there, what kind of memories triggered by witnessing this all might do to him. If there's some hidden entity or place behind the Final Days, or some other-dimensional monstrosity, it could all tie to that too. The French language version puts his title as "President", which is another way the term Speaker can be construed, and there's frequent references to Amaurot as the heaven where the angels resided, so there's already a slight Light Emperor theme running through him. Were he to take on the Light Emperor/Emperor of Hell guise it'd have superficial similarities to the one he knows as their saviour (Zodiark) and the one who damned them (Hydaelyn), even if the symbolic references are switched (angel - damnation, demon - salvation.) At least my hope is we'll get to learn a bit more of Lahabrea, that the writing will be good and that we'll see him back at his full power, and then some. Fire was his preferred element and his sigil burns bright with it.

It's like what the Word of the Mother once said: "Before there was life, in the depths of the aetherial sea, Light and Dark did once dwell as one. But the Darkness coveted power, and the balance was broken. Thus was I forced to banish Him unto the distant heavens, to forever remain apart. A moon bound. In sundering the star did we cry out, and the barriers 'twixt planes chance to falter."

Now granted, she failed to mention the part about the Final Days and them both being summoned as eldest primals by the ancients. Seeing as the new Terminus beasts once again resemble voidsent, there must be a connection between the Final Days and the Flood of Darkness that befell the Thirteenth, and the Flood of Light that almost claimed the First.

The alternative explanation is that the Voidsent are beings corrupted by darkness. We see this process replicated in the tank role quests. We also know the beasts of Terminus were the product of creation magicks and the dread fears of the Amaurotines, after the sound triggered the loss of control over their powers. The DNC quests also have a similar phenomenon where anxiety yields creatures of nightmarish aspect, but in this case something emanating from the earth (in which the Underworld aka the Aetherial Sea is to be found) in the form of a sound preceded the phenomenon and then led to loss of control over their powers. My guess is darkness has a lot to do with an active state of aether, and any heightened emotional state may be more prone to yielding it (also suggested in the DRK lore I believe), thus the form is more the same end product but from a different process, created from uncontrolled creation magicks impelled by dread. The 13th only became that way after Igeyorhm rushed a calamity there without the Source being in a "receiving" mode at the time, when the Ascians were still figuring out the whole process. So I do think there's a connection but specifically in the process (overload of darkness) that yields such "demonic" forms.

I'm somewhat dubious of Hydaelyn's explanation at present, as we don't know how much she truly understands or knows as a Primal. Venat may be privy to this knowledge in detail, but the Primal itself may just be operating on what it believes to be the case. We saw from both Ryne as Hydaelyn and Elidibus as WoL that they can take on a fanatical urge to drive out darkness - and two primals going to war with one another would be a very good catalyst for that sort of behaviour - so to what extent her explanation is conditioned by that, is anyone's guess. Whether Venat - if in there (after all, Elidibus was able to jump ship) - herself even remembers is an interesting question.

I'm on the fence about how they'll employ Anima, especially if it's tied to the origin of the sound, or whether it'll just be a bound up monstrous form of the two primals (albeit they don't tend to reveal the final trial like this), but the art of the two of them flowing from one another - presumably at a time when they both occupied the Aetherial Sea and were vying for supremacy, each seeking to protect the star from their perspective - is suggestive of it. For now I'm betting on it having to do with Fandaniel, given that he has an expressed self-destructive desire along with his urge to take the world with him, and his allusion to "pain", a concept tied intimately to Anima. He's barely an Ascian in the usual sense, given his very different aims to them, and he is intimated to have a more complex story, so I'm expecting/hoping it'll tie to the Final Days' ultimate origin. So far they seem to be going for some Kuja vibes with him, but maybe they'll throw in some Seymour, too.

As to whether Fandaniel will in any sense be the final boss, it all comes down to how you interpret "Fandaniel". Much as Elidibus-WoL was a "new, never before seen foe" or something to that effect, if he were to somehow take on some other form it would subvert expectations a bit. They placed some significance on Zenos's one-sided view of the WoL as a "friend". Yotsuyu struggled to retain her form as Tsukuyomi when she lacked the emotional impetus for it, and Zodiark is a primal far more powerful - so maintaining and controlling that form will take even more sheer willpower, and I wonder if this "friendship" might weaken that resolve and create an opening for Fandaniel, or the Primal itself, to exploit. Perhaps we'll see a scenario like Necron from IX, where Kuja's self-destructive urges shaped Necron's view of humanity - and so with whichever Primal Zenos ultimately tries to devour. A strong reason I believe as to why Elidibus was chosen to be the original Zodiark was his sheer determination and dedication. On the other hand, it might precipitate an urge to merge the two primals, given that the WoL - for now - draws on Hydaelyn's power.

It's interesting that they're jumping straight into the new story after 6.0, but I guess they really do want this arc wrapped up now.

Regarding the title? Meh. At this point Forspoken sounded much better. I wonder what it and the other trademarked IP relate to then.

[Darkstride]

It is a bit more than just a Cecil reference.

the WoL began his journey in 1.0 as a Gladiator and now he is finishing the story as a Paladin in 6.0 that he began back in 1.0. They even gone so far as to recreate the WoL original pose back in 1.0 when he was just a gladiator for Endwalker's art.

It is in a way going full circle to how WoL started his journey and ending his journey.

I don't recall WoL being a Gladiator at the start of 1.0, although that was a long time ago so correct me if I'm wrong. He was an Archer in the trailer/opening for 1.0. That's why he started as an Archer in the Shadowbringers trailer. His job changes cycled through the original, ARR and the expansions.

[Vyrerus]

I don't recall WoL being a Gladiator at the start of 1.0, although that was a long time ago so correct me if I'm wrong. He was an Archer in the trailer/opening for 1.0. That's why he started as an Archer in the Shadowbringers trailer. His job changes cycled through the original, ARR and the expansions.

That's what I thought too, but maybe the gameplay for 1.0 was different?

[Darkstride]

That's what I thought too, but maybe the gameplay for 1.0 was different?

I played 1.0, and I don't recall WoL being a Gladiator by default. That's why I brought it up. He was an Archer.

[Vyrerus]

Templar.

Hmm, that sounds pretty robust and spot on. I could also see them calling it Zealot, maybe?

[Lauront]

Something along these lines.

[Vyrerus]

Something along these lines.

Maybe a mix o that with this.

[Cilia]

Just because I've not seen anyone else make the connection:

The New Years' hint suggested something subterranean. After dying in II, Emperor Mateus Palamecia returns from Hell as the Dark Emperor, dragging Pandemonium with him... from under the ground.

Hmm.

Perhaps the better question is: are the "voidsent" we've encountered since the beginning actually Terminus beasts that befell the Thirteenth?

Theoretically it's possible, but given several Sin Eaters were also reskinned voidsent enemies, I'm not putting stock in the idea.

If we operate under the assumption Emet-Selch was telling the truth about what happened to the Thirteenth, and in good faith that he never lies...