A thought about Zenos as we move in to Endwalker

[Kesey]

Maybe it isn't as complicated as posted above.

Since we know that Azem has friends and followers based on the all the ancient history of the cultures on the source, it stands to reason that the soul of Zenos could just be one of those followers--giving them the connection.

Also SE is drawing pretty heavily on FFIV lore for this coming expansion so Zenos might be connected by being Azem's brother and rival like Golbez was to Cecil.

[Embran]

Maybe it isn't as complicated as posted above.

Since we know that Azem has friends and followers based on the all the ancient history of the cultures on the source, it stands to reason that the soul of Zenos could just be one of those followers--giving them the connection.

Also SE is drawing pretty heavily on FFIV lore for this coming expansion so Zenos might be connected by being Azem's brother and rival like Golbez was to Cecil.

I agree, and the easiest answer is usually the actual one. As fun as I think the theory is, I'm not really banking on it being true. Too many "what ifs" need to line up for that. Whatever the case may be, I only hope that Zenos has some sort of connection to the WOL that makes their relationship a bit more interesting.

[Enkidoh]

I just chalked it down to Zenos, being now a Resonant and having had to body-surf Ascian style for an extended period before being able to regain his body, is now becoming like an Ascian himself (it's also possible Elidibus left some lingering 'Ascian aether' behind when he had to hurridly vacate the premises due to Zenos-in-a-Centurion's-skin showing up and forcing him out of it, aether Zenos was then able to draw on via his Resonance - remember, the whole point of the Resonant Project was to give Garleans the ability to manipulate aether/use magic).

It could also just be "this attack looks cool, impressive and evil" and has no actual lore connection, which is often the case during many scenes and battles - rule of cool definetely applies.

[Fenral]

Enkidoh, linking out to TV Tropes is Chaotic Good, at best, but Lawful Evil at worst.

That aside, I do wonder if there's something to the Golbez parallels. Friendly reminder: while the whole Zemus thing was kind of a cop-out as far as agency goes, Golbez lived.

This largely depends on who is used as a sacrifice to get there, but it would be amazing if we somehow landed in a Zenos redemption arc.

[Erendis]

This largely depends on who is used as a sacrifice to get there, but it would be amazing if we somehow landed in a Zenos redemption arc.

I'd rather we kill him in the first dungeon, or better yet, have Fandaniel get him killed instead so that we never need to see him ever again.