Revelations from Fan Festival Around the World 2021

[HiraishinNoJutsu]

Ishikawa-san what do you mean by "say goodbye"? We talkin' retirement? DEATH!?!?!

[MoofiaBossVal]

Ishikawa-san what do you mean by "say goodbye"? We talkin' retirement? DEATH!?!?!

Hope this means the Scions will buy the farm and the others will retire.

[KageTokage]

The Scions came together mostly to deal with the primal and Ascian issues, so I'd assume with those being resolved at the end of 6.0 they might decide to go their separate ways.

I still expect they'll probably be involved in the 6.x raid stories, though. We need somebody to drive the exposition for our mute selves, after all.

[Theodric]

I'd expect it to be a combination of retirement, parting ways and character death.

Although it isn't the finale of the story overall, it's the finale for many of the key plot threads from the days of 1.0, 2.0 and beyond. Furthermore, it's also supposed to be a return of the literal apocalypse and the destruction wrought appears to be global.

If we end up going to the lifestream and/or underworld, I could see it also referring to a second chance to meet and interact with deceased characters for a final time to say goodbye. If they take that route, hopefully it's a broad mix and includes the likes of Yotsuyu and Regula in addition to the likes of Haurchefant.

[Anonymoose]

I'm hoping that it'll be a hierarchy-shift, myself. We've got Hoary, Ochre, Coultenet, Aenor, Riol, etc. hanging around as the "JV Squad". What if we let our main roster retire and let them shine? Let them struggle and grow and learned about them for a while, all while we recruited a third tier to replace their "stand around and say neat stuff" positions and make it feel like our purpose was growing and evolving as we accomplished our main purpose and re-branded for whatever we'll be in 6.1+

That said, I don't expect 100% survival rate, either. We're constantly told that the odds are against us, that we're suffering losses, that the cost is such a burden to our conscience and spirit, and yet we preserve and push on. Sometimes that has to manifest in the story as actual, tangible losses or I personally start to feel like nothing's really at stake. You can't always tell and never show.

Also the OP might get wiggy as I add the Q&A stuff to it.

[JeanneOrnitier]

Retiring or sidelining some seems way more likely to me. Hasn't Ishikawa said before she doesn't like killing characters when it's just for the sake of shock value?

[Vyrerus]

Off the top of my head, so take this with a grain of salt...

The palace on the moon was a combination of several different functions. It served as a place to hold the Moon's Crystals—crystals in that game are essentially a repository of knowledge, history, and wisdom. It was also the resting place of the Lunarians, who entered a state of hibernation in the hopes of waking up to the day when humanity were their equals.

Furthermore, it was the entrance to the Lunar Subterrane, a massive underground cavern surrounding the Moon's core... basically, the Moon was actually a Moon-sized dyson sphere/spaceship, so to speak, and in that game's ending the Red Moon actually breaks away from the Blue Planet's orbit to travel into deep space for... uh, some reason. And finally, the Lunar Subterrane was also where Zemus was imprisoned in order to keep him from attacking the Blue Planet and trying to exterminate humanity.

This is all correct. Few things I'll add.

The Crystal Palace/Lunar Lair/Mansion of the Moon People acts as a protective housing for the teleporter to the moon's core. The moon's core also houses sealed weapons that are exceptionally harmful to Lunarians, namely the Ragnarok, Holy Lance, Masamune, and Murasame. In the events of FFIV, Zemus has mind controlled exceptionally powerful monsters, such as Dark Bahamut and Lunar Leviathan(Ogopogo) to guard these weapons. He's also riddled it with monsters.

It's also connected via a dimensional elevator to the Tower of Bab-il on Earth, which can directly teleport anyone from the Earth to the Lunar Core. It's not explained so well in the game imo, but the Giant of Bab-il also resides in the Lunar Core, sealed alongside Zemus. The main reason Golbez needed the crystals of the earth was to open the dimensional elevator to teleport the giant down.

Seeing the Amaurotine memory/concept crystals in Mare Lamentorium's crystal palace type place feels like a perfect tie in/reference without departing from FFXIV's world. I love it already.

Edit: Oh yeah, the reason the Red Moon leaves is because FuSoYa decides that the Lunarians would rather not risk endangering humanity again, just in case.

[HiraishinNoJutsu]

What if we let our main roster retire

I do think about what everyone would be doing on retirement and it brings a smile to my face.

-Alphinaud I think would end his character arc where it began maybe him working his way to changing Sharlayan from within and fulfilling Louisoix's dreams in that way

-Alisaie could resume where she left off after Coils travelling the world as a beacon of Hope. Eorzea's new "Sword in the Darkness"

-Estinien could Chill with the first brood till the end of his days

-Y'shtola is setup find a way back to the first and explore the truths of that world

-Urianger pegs me as the kind of guy who would educate future generations (or maybe hide away in some hole)

-and hell what if Thancred truly does become a bard and sings tales of his adventures beside the WoL and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn!

*this is all assuming none of em' bite the moon dust*

[Theodric]

Riol

Yes, please. I like Riol.

Although I started in Gridania, Vylbrand was my favourite of the ARR regions. I'm probably biased since I grew up next to the ocean, though. (Albeit one blessed by far colder weather...)

Riol always stood out to me whenever he showed up and although I can't begin to recall how often he has made an appearance, I want to say it's been a decent amount over the years but only ever in a fairly minor capacity. It'd be good to see him get the opportunity to step up properly.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Retiring or sidelining some seems way more likely to me. Hasn't Ishikawa said before she doesn't like killing characters when it's just for the sake of shock value?

I mean it wouldn’t really be shock value though. It’s an apocalypse. If there’s no death that’s pretty shoddy imo because then there’s nothing at stake. No sense of consequences or threat.