Which Ascians are left? (Spoilers up to 5.4 obviously)

[Kesey]

I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them (Altima maybe?) just didn't bother with the whole thing and decided to live out a comfortable life elsewhere. With their powers, they could easily make by as court magicians, seers, shamans, etc. They'd be set for life if they found the right people willing to accept them.

Well, I'm not sure I'd guess that level of detail, but I'd assume the Ascians will continue to be a wild cards of the story, even when a new threat presents itself in the post 6.0 story.

[Shyron]

I think almost any of them could still be at large in some form. Even completely dead Emet-Selch still exists in enough of a coherent form in the lifestream for us to summon to rescue us during the Seat of Sacrifice. Any of the sundered could be raised up and replaced even as they were killed during the game. The only ones truly unlikely to have been are Mitron and Lohgrif, but there could be a new Nabriales, Igeyorhm, or Emmerloloth. Some form of Elidibus could still exist within Zodiark or sealed in the Crystal Tower, and something something Lahabrea Pandaemonium. And who knows, maybe we can figure out how to raise up new versions ourselves?

Looking back at the masks on Gaius' belt, it's generally acknowledged that one looks like a lion is possibly Fandaniel. Presumably Gaius could only kill the mortal body they were inhabiting and didn't possess some equivalent to white auracite. Was the other mask ever identified? I was looking at it the other day and noticed that the shape of the eyes look like libra scales, so could that be Halmarut's?

[Nightsword]

They may be one other shards, because the question we should ask is: Will the End of Days be considered a Calamity. If it does that answers where the remaining Ascians are currently, on a Shard, besides the first.

[LineageRazor]

They may be one other shards, because the question we should ask is: Will the End of Days be considered a Calamity. If it does that answers where the remaining Ascians are currently, on a Shard, besides the first.

It could be, but I doubt it. Setting up a proper Calamity requires preparation both on the Source and on whatever Shard is about to be Rejoined - and Fandaniel has more or less implied that he's working on his own agenda, now, rather than the Ascians'. If Fandaniel wants to just destroy everything and everyone, he probably doesn't care much about whether a Rejoining happens or not. I suppose another Ascian could independently see what he's doing and decide to take advantage of it - but that's an awfully short amount of time to prep a Shard.

[Recon1o6]

I've been wondering about Emmerelolth and the 2 extras and who the red masks on gaius' belt could be

First Gaius- there's two overlord masks and two unknown extras. Assuming he destroyed them properly, they could very well be our extras and the writers eliminated them offscreen. If they weren't the extras, then they will have been some of the ones we've yet to confront whether they were slain or merely incapacitated pending revival

Emmerololth- Given how Ascians restore their sundered to office, is it not possible for more than one of the sundered to be around? An example, we know the fragment of Mitron got stuck as Eden. So the unsundered uplift another shard of Mitron. If Mitron then fled to the chrysalis instead of sticking around for the last leg of eden, there'd be then two of him in play.

Extras- This may be a long shot, but Venat and possibly the Diplomatic ancient one could be one of them. Looking back at the Anyder cutscenes, there's three points that stuck out to me
1. Venat explicitly states that her form as hydaelyn will be her choosing and she was the only choice were she to be strong enough to bind Zodiark. Thus it stands to reason she could be out there like Elidibus
2. Hydaelyn had two purposes. We have only seen the first which is to bind Zodiark The second was to do something to actually stop the final days for good, as the laws Zodiark weaved according to the Diplomatic Ancient One "Serve only to forestall our doom" IE it delayed the end rather than prevented it.
3. The entire meetings make a point of how the factions disagreed on how to save their world, but the DAO at least misses Venat a lot and understands what they are trying to do. It is very possible that Hydaelyn was only supposed to bind Zodiark, not split him into pieces. Thus one or two members of Hydaelyn's faction could be working with the Zodiark faction in order to stop the end of days. Given the final days is explicitly restarting and Zodiark is still in pieces and Hydaelyn was considerably weakened atm, then the two factions working together so there's at least one Elder primal able to keep a lid on the final days is better than none.

[Rosenstrauch]

Regarding the possibility of Fandaniel bringing about a calamity, I can't help but wonder. What if the reason the Ascians went to such pains to set up the various reflections for the Rejoining was so they could control which world in particular was rejoined? If that was the case, then it's not unlikely that Fancy Dan's plan would cause a Rejoining, but without controlling for which reflection is rejoined. Or perhaps the devastation wrought by Final Days 2: Chaotic Boogaloo could result in multiple—or even all—remaining reflections being rejoined at the same time.

Heck, maybe he wants to rejoin the Thirteenth. Xande 2.0 wanted to open a permanent gateway between the World of Darkness and the Source so the voidsent could destroy everything. Maybe that was Fandaniel's doing, and it's the reason Elidibus had to keep him on a tight leash, and subsequently why he's happy the Unsundered are gone.

[Kesey]

It could be, but I doubt it. Setting up a proper Calamity requires preparation both on the Source and on whatever Shard is about to be Rejoined - and Fandaniel has more or less implied that he's working on his own agenda, now, rather than the Ascians'. If Fandaniel wants to just destroy everything and everyone, he probably doesn't care much about whether a Rejoining happens or not. I suppose another Ascian could independently see what he's doing and decide to take advantage of it - but that's an awfully short amount of time to prep a Shard.

Fandaniel's agenda is still a secret, this was confirmed at the announcement showcase. It's pretty obvious destroying everyone is either a front or a small part of his plan. He's been giving off betrayal vibes (he walking around in Asahi sas Brutus's body). Furthermore, as this thread has pointed out numerous times, the other unsundered Ascians are MIA and could be on the remaining shards setting up calamities. Lastly, the first moment Fandaniel walked into the story he promised Zenos access to Zodiark.

There is no reason to think that rejoinings/calamities are off the table.

[LineageRazor]

There is no reason to think that rejoinings/calamities are off the table.

At no point did I say they were.

The only evidence we have now (Fandaniel's speech), however, points to Fandaniel being an omnicidal maniac with no other goals. It's possible there's something deeper - in fact, I will be very disappointed with the writers if there is not - but anything else is pure speculation, with nothing in-game to support anything over anything else.

The question was asked whether Fandaniel is setting up for a Rejoining. My answer was that it's possible, but the evidence we have currently is against it. That's all.

[YianKutku]

The only evidence we have now (Fandaniel's speech), however, points to Fandaniel being an omnicidal maniac with no other goals. It's possible there's something deeper - in fact, I will be very disappointed with the writers if there is not - but anything else is pure speculation, with nothing in-game to support anything over anything else.

To be honest, I would probably be at least a little disappointed if Fandaniel's "true goals" (as hinted in the Endwalker reveal showcase) was something deep and meaningful and had absolutely nothing to do with his current declaration of wanting to kill everything and everyone.

Mainly because it would be kind of eye-rollingly exasperating if the reason he did all that was entirely because he had an overblown sense of drama and wanted to troll a reaction.

[Veloran]

but that's an awfully short amount of time to prep a Shard.

Considering the time distortion between shards, an Ascian on one learning about what's going on in the Source could in theory have an infinite amount of time to prepare it to be rejoined.