6.0 Predictions: Will it be Garlemald, Sharlayan, or Meracydia?

[Kesey]

In regards to Lahabrea coming back to menace us once again -

Bear in mind that he was one of the few Ascians we did not personally kill. Rather his physical form was annihilated and his aether absorbed into the Eye of Nidhogg to fuel King Thordan, then used as fuel sources for Shinryu. While it's... highly implausible Lahabrea's soul could have survived all that, it's not impossible... and gods only know what exactly is going on with Pandemonium in XIV, since all we know so far is that Lahabrea is going to show up there (and that it uses the same architecture as the Void Ark, maybe).

What are the odds that Lahbrea is just dead and this is part of the legacy of plans he left behind?

[Calixis]

Sharlayan could still fit as the big city, though it takes more stretching. In Stormblood, we went to Rhalgr's Fist first then to Kugane very early on, and then had to return to Rhalgr's. In this case, however, we'd go to Thavnair early on, cut through an entire continent, cross the sea to Sharlayan, then do the same thing the other way around towards the Empire.

It COULD be done, and I still want to see Sharlayan. Guess we'll find out in May.

On the map at the start of the trailer's narration Radz-at-Han and Sharlayan both have map symbols animated, as well as Eorzea and Garlemald. Whilst Sharlayan could've just been included in the trailer because of it's proxity, it is tucked away at the edge of the screen which seems more of a deliberate hint to me - they could very easily have cropped the map a bit more to cut it out and keep the nations shown to the 'relevant' ones.

[Slatersev]

In regards to Lahabrea coming back to menace us once again -

Bear in mind that he was one of the few Ascians we did not personally kill. Rather his physical form was annihilated and his aether absorbed into the Eye of Nidhogg to fuel King Thordan, then used as fuel sources for Shinryu. While it's... highly implausible Lahabrea's soul could have survived all that, it's not impossible... and gods only know what exactly is going on with Pandemonium in XIV, since all we know so far is that Lahabrea is going to show up there (and that it uses the same architecture as the Void Ark, maybe).

Further, as a roundabout reference to II (Lahabrea the Abyssal Celebrant is the Scion of Light counterpart to Mateus, the Corrupt in Ivalician mythos, who is a reference to Emperor Mateus Palamecia of II, who famously comes back from Hell as the Dark Emperor after being killed and drags Pandemonium up with him) it does make a bit of meta sense to have Lahabrea show up there.

What I find curious is how he's only got half of his Ascian glyph.

The half that's missing is the half that was taking up by Igeyorhm's Glyph when they fused into a Prime. I bet that has at least somthing to do with it.

It's been a theory for years that those two were connected/close. something 5.3 seemed to hint at as well with them being the ones to talk to Elidibus in his flashback as well as being the two Convocation crystals he picks up at the end.

Were probably going to get some expansion on that. Which is nice, because considering how important her actions were to the backstory narratively Ige has easily has gotten the shortest stick among Ascians with VA's up to this point.

[Cilia]

He's a fragment of the soul once called Lahabrea. That would be my guess.

Not so sure. Death erases conscious memory, and as we know from both ourselves (Azem) and Gaia (Mitron) Ascians do not retain their memory between deaths. Assuming he's still the Lahabrea we know and loathe, my best guess would be that his time stuck in Nidhogg's Eye burned away some of his soul but not all of it, leaving him even crazier than before.

Assuming there's any significance to his mask only being half-there, anyway.

What are the odds that Lahbrea is just dead and this is part of the legacy of plans he left behind?

Not so sure on that one given the Mateus references. Mateus is famous for dying like a chump, only to come back from Hell after taking it over and dragging up Pandemonium as his new base in so doing.

While Lahabrea is implied to have fallen far from his days as one of Amaurot's foremost scholars, with the II reference in play I'm doubtful it's just a posthumous plan of his. Plus the Hydaelyn / Zodiark arc is ending with 6.0's MSQ, and Pandemonium's story will chronologically take place after that, so having one of Zodiark's chief agents continuing to meddle after that point would be, ahh... counterproductive to setting up the new meta arc.

[Veloran]

Killing an Ascian technically just dissolves their aether back into the aetherial sea. No aether is destroyed in the process. This means that we are just killing their current forms and priming them to be reborn across all shards as sundered individuals. Lahabrea coming back once more is just a shard of his soul lashing out once more.

Why would an Unsundered Ascian dying mean that their soul becomes sundered and is spread across all the shards...?

Not so sure. Death erases conscious memory, and as we know from both ourselves (Azem) and Gaia (Mitron) Ascians do not retain their memory between deaths. Assuming he's still the Lahabrea we know and loathe, my best guess would be that his time stuck in Nidhogg's Eye burned away some of his soul but not all of it, leaving him even crazier than before.

Sundered Ascians don't retain their memories, we don't know if that's the case for the Unsundered.

[Riastrad]

Why would an Unsundered Ascian dying mean that their soul becomes sundered and is spread across all the shards...?

Why wouldn't it? Ascians are just like any other soul, just more condensed. Any time someone or something dies, it's aether is supplied back into the aetherial sea. This allows it to be reused as fuel for new life. At no point is aether destroyed and made to be rendered useless. If that is what the "heroes" of the game have been doing all this time, well there's your problem. The source gets the lion's share, while the rest is seeded back into the reflections that have yet to be rejoined. I doubt the process discriminates just because "I was unsundered!". The one exception we can see firsthand in the game is Elidibus. His soul isn't even destroyed, it's absorbed be the Crystal Tower and safely locked away. Which by the by, should be able to still be used if needed. Which would then be fed back into the cycle of rebirth...


"O hero of rebirth traversing,♪ Soar you the azure skies.♪ Upon your breast a crimson crest,♪ Shine Light down from on high.♪"

"O hero of rebirth transcending,♪ Weave you an azure lie.♪ By your deeds doth crimson bleed,♪ And Darkness quench the fire.♪"

"All things change, drawn to the flame
To rise from the ashes.
To begin
We first must see the end"


No one is special. That's the point.

[Veloran]

This allows it to be reused as fuel for new life.

The source gets the lion's share, while the rest is seeded back into the reflections that have yet to be rejoined. I doubt the process discriminates just because "I was unsundered!".

Except that's not the way it works, not at all.
First, souls don't get "reused as fuel for new life", they're reborn into new bodies. Second and more importantly, souls became sundered because Hydaelyn sundered them all along with the world to begin with. She doesn't resunder souls that die, as evidenced by the fact that everyone on the Source is 8/14 parts rejoined. Therefore if one of the Unsundered Ascians were to be reborn, it would presumably be as an Unsundered individual. Lastly, no, souls are not seeded across the shards. There's a dimensional barrier separating the shards and the Source, and the Lifestreams of each shard are self-contained and don't bleed into those of the other reflections, as shown by the fact that everyone is still sundered rather than having rejoined of their own accord millenniums ago.

[EdwinLi]

So on topic of Pandaemonium being a place.

What if Pandaemonium was the place where the ancients from the time before the Final Days go if they died?

We know the ancient races were immortal so they can live forever but they were not truely immortal since they can still die from serious injuries or other forms of harm to themselves.

That does bring up the question where their soul will go if being reborn was not part of their life and death system.

[Vyrerus]

Sharlayan could still fit as the big city, though it takes more stretching. In Stormblood, we went to Rhalgr's Fist first then to Kugane very early on, and then had to return to Rhalgr's. In this case, however, we'd go to Thavnair early on, cut through an entire continent, cross the sea to Sharlayan, then do the same thing the other way around towards the Empire.

It COULD be done, and I still want to see Sharlayan. Guess we'll find out in May.

We have no idea what order we will go to places in. My guess would be something like... we go to Garlemald, but find there's no direct entrance to the keep. We have to find out how to get in. Then we go to Sharlayan.

In Sharlayan, we gain access to their forbidden knowledge. In order to enter Pandaemonium, we have to traverse the Jade Passage, just as in FFII. The Jade Passage will be located in Thavnair, and it is a subterranean passage that comes up directly in the bottom of Pandaemonium.

I think it'll be sort of chopped up like so...

Garlemald Zone > Sharlayan Zone > Sharlayan city > Thavnair > Radz-at-han > Underground/Jade Passage > Pandaemonium/Tower > Moon. Where the overworld zones are Garlemald, Sharlayan, Thavnair, Underground, and the Moon. We either get one less because they will be larger than our usual expansion zones, or there's a sixth one that I can't predict. Maybe Sharlayan gets two zones nearby its city.

[KageTokage]

I feel like we're going to be re-treading Estinien's steps in getting to Garlemald, which is likely part of why he's tagging along. He started from Radz-at-han then worked his way north from there to avoid the Garlean presence at Gyr Abania and Othard's borders.

The Thravnair dungeon being a settlement razed by the second coming of the Final Days further makes me think we're going there early on, as it gives a bigger sense of urgency if we experience the destruction first-hand (And I kind of doubt things are going to get too bad by the end of 5.5)