6.0 Story Speculations

[Kesey]

I'd agree the Sound was just a MacGuffin to precipitate the fall from paradise, but considering how detailed this game tends to be about the smallest things, and in the Announcement Showcase one of the questions posed was specifically "What [caused] the Final Days?", I don't think that's the case. (And, being inquisitive by nature, I'd be super disappointed if it were.)

I felt the sound was purposely not detailed so it could be expanded upon later; but if it was just going to be a MacGuffin did it really need to be shrouded in mystery as to how it came about?

And also being inquisitive myself, I want to know what the heck Azem was doing while all the summon Zodiark then summon Hydaelyn drama is going on because we clearly only know he/she wasn't apart of the drama? It feels like we know more and can discuss more about other Anceint's lives and not our own player character's past life (I'm sure also on purpose).

[BlitzAceRush]

Given that they left before it arrived but didn't seem to be there on the Eve, I'd guess they were out trying to either understand the sound or stop it, then Zodiark get's summoned, things calm down for a moment, Azem might even have returned during this, found the Convocation as unwilling to listen to reason as before, likely more so given the tempering, left again only to be asked by Hydaelyn's group to join them, not liking the idea of another super weapon to deal with the first, left again, perhaps to resume the work they were doing into the sound prior to Zodiark's summoning.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we learn that Azem actually found the answer, only to arrived back too late and get sundered along with the rest of the world, the irony being we'll have had the answer to the final days all along, we just don't remember and given we never had a chance to tell anyone, the unsundered had no reason to ever try and restore us when they had the chance.

[Vyrerus]

I disagree, on the basis that the very event that lead to Azem stepping down was the decision to summon Zodiark. I'm of the mind that this decision wasn't made before the disaster spread to Amaurot, but after.

It was definitely made before. It takes time to have half your population draw straws/volunteer.

Something that goes somewhat unnoticed is that the monsters Emet-selch pits you against in the Amaurot dungeon are the same monsters he and the Convocation members with him at the time, faced.

"But between us and our goal loomed a final misbegotten fiend..."

Why did they need to be in the upper atmosphere in order to perform the summoning, and why then, was there opposition specifically there? Must have been part of something planned, with its opposition knowing that plan's details. After all, why would misbegotten fiends leave the planet's surface at all, in a small formation to a specific place?

Let's look at the word choice, "misbegotten." That word has a few meanings:

1) unlawfully or irregularly born/caused (as in a child born out of wedlock)
2) badly conceived, made, or carried out
3) contemptible

Given what we know about Amaurot society from the, "museum wing" as you call it, we know that all of their creations were made under the guidance of a strict and formal bureaucracy. You see Therion(s) throughout the dungeon, torching Amaurot with lasers and flying about ominously. In the end cutscene, the boss flies up from the planet. There are also monsters in the form of people, similar to Lamashtu in appearance, called, "Terminus Idolizer." I reckon there were other creators doing clandestine things that are ultimately responsible for The Sound.

There was a lot of the story of those times that we weren't told. I for one think that just as there are the Telophoroi now, there were their ancient counterparts then, seeking to usher in doomsday. You also notice, and this is widely noticed, that the bosses in Amaurot all have humanoid faces. As if they were monsters that people became. Therion has four. I suspect since the Convocation succeeded, that whoever was behind the Terminus Cult back then played to both sides, hoping that a war between gods would end the world. For as mighty as Azem was and is, they may not have had any of the answers, but if they did, I suspect their hands were tied by the cult.

[RyuDragnier]

Though that raises another question, if they came up with the plan so far ahead, but Emet shows us Amaurot burning, why'd they wait so long? Hesitation perhaps?

I suspect their usual debating. From the story about Azem and the island with the grapes, it seems the Convocation was known for taking its sweet time in responding to things because they went about it in a logical fashion, often resulting in them responding too late.

Which is likely why Azem constantly broke protocols and rules in order to protect people. I wouldn't be surprised if Azem wasn't originally from Amaurot but from elsewhere, and was merely chosen by the previous Azem while they were out dealing with a threat to the star.

And also being inquisitive myself, I want to know what the heck Azem was doing while all the summon Zodiark then summon Hydaelyn drama is going on because we clearly only know he/she wasn't apart of the drama? It feels like we know more and can discuss more about other Anceint's lives and not our own player character's past life (I'm sure also on purpose).

It's likely Azem was hunting down the possible cause for the Sound and trying to deal with it at its Source. I think it would be pure irony if right before Azem was about to finish off (in one way or another) the source of it, the Sundering happened.

[symbiote129]

Following the recent patch, reading all the speculations here in this thread and trying to keep them in my head to give my thoughts, here are my next batch of list of what could happen/be revealed in Endwalker MSQ and another sidelist related to things outside the main story.

Could happen/be revealed:

• We may encounter a similar scene in the MSQ in which the Sharlayan higher-ups are perhaps divided on what to do with the cataclysmic event involving the whole world, mirroring the Amaurotians themselves with the Last Days
• The aforementioned scene might provoke an upset reaction on the WOL, for them to be a repeat of the Convocation, who were too idle until it involved their city at last.
• The Sharlayan existence might not be coincidental that they might be the Amaurot of today
• Say, did somebody ever tried to explore the possibility that some sundered Ascians like Fandaniel was fooling the Unsundered all along and they may have been an Unsundered as well in a sense that they actually remember everything what happened in the past or is it too far fetched and I missed some fact?

The sidelist:

• Since some people speculate that Ranjit is a preview of the second job that will be announced in the Online Fanfest, if it is true, it's pretty likely that the job just like the Sage will have some relation to Sharlayan. I read it somewhere here in the forums but I don't know where anymore that the familiars of Ranjit's lineage might have some connections to Ronkan civilization. Ronkan civilization is associated with owls and the boss in Lamitt's quest for acquiring the healing spell for the stone sickness happened to looked similar to the owl boss in the Gubal Library. Perhaps the Source version of Ronkan civilization is the origin of the second Endwalker job?
• Will the Lambs of Dalamud perhaps get second wind in this expansion?

[WhiteArchmage]

[*]Will the Lambs of Dalamud perhaps get second wind in this expansion?[/LIST]

Oooh, I vaguely remember Koji Fox mentioned he wanted to use the Lambs of Dalamud again. Though we supposedly killed them all in Amdapor Keep. There's a few lore points here and there about them that could be pretty cool to come back to.

[MoofiaBossVal]

Could happen/be revealed:

• We may encounter a similar scene in the MSQ in which the Sharlayan higher-ups are perhaps divided on what to do with the cataclysmic event involving the whole world, mirroring the Amaurotians themselves with the Last Days
• The aforementioned scene might provoke an upset reaction on the WOL, for them to be a repeat of the Convocation, who were too idle until it involved their city at last.

I'm not sure how that would affect the Sharlayan Forum, though. Unlike with Amaurot, in which Azem was a member of the Convocation, the WoL in the present day has no Sharlayan citizenship, let alone being a member of the Forum. At most, the WoL is an honorary archon (if you played 1.0 and got the tatoo)... which means nothing.

[BlitzAceRush]

I never played 1.0, so no idea how much this would mess with things, but the only way I could see them giving us any weight in Sharlayan quickly is if it's revealed somehow we're from there, in the 2.0 intro it's kind vague where you're from, you're only really able to say if this is your first time to X city state or not and during the DRK quests Fray (Us) has a super longing to go back over the sea to somewhere distant. Given them being willing to nail down the WoL a bit more recently (though with an identity from 12000 years ago) they could swing a surprise twist like that if Sharlayan is to rein-act the final days split and we're to play our part in that again, or just as a means to explain how we get things done so quickly, depending on who exactly we are/were.

[Vyrerus]

Say, did somebody ever tried to explore the possibility that some sundered Ascians like Fandaniel was fooling the Unsundered all along and they may have been an Unsundered as well in a sense that they actually remember everything what happened in the past or is it too far fetched and I missed some fact?

That's not far-fetched at all, actually, at least until they 100% reveal/nail down exactly how the Unsundered escaped the Sundering. I think it was mentioned somewhere that they escaped to the/a rift between dimensions to escape it. It could be possible that other Ancients escaped the Sundering, somehow. Though if he were unsundered, it might open a can of worms that's better left sealed/conflict with the weight of our prior encounter.

The Source's version of Ronka is Allag, but the Sharlayans are all super versed in Allagan tech and likely have it completely unlocked. Which is why Sage has the funnels. I'd say you're on a good thought train though, since in Gubal HM the final boss is an Owl just the same as the owl in Ronka. Though I think the new job will be from/related to Radz-at-han or somewhere we've already been... or perhaps just a person and not a place.

[Kesey]

I'm not sure how that would affect the Sharlayan Forum, though. Unlike with Amaurot, in which Azem was a member of the Convocation, the WoL in the present day has no Sharlayan citizenship, let alone being a member of the Forum. At most, the WoL is an honorary archon (if you played 1.0 and got the tatoo)... which means nothing.

For Sharlayan to learn from Amaurot is not so far fetched of a concept. It doesn't matter if the WOL is or is not an Archon. It comes down to them characteristically not getting involved when clearly things are so out of control it will engulf them and if they wait till the last moment they will make a mistake trying to save themselves that echos through time for generations. It's a pretty astute observation on the part of symbiote129.