[5.55 Bozja spoilers] Additional post-ending Bozja story hidden in the field record

[RyuDragnier]

Hence why I believe he'd sit back and judge them, fitting for him being the Judge Gabranth reference from FF12. Dalmasca has already been hinted at to be the one with potential problems in the future. Additionally those two weapons are very much wild cards in this since we have no idea what they are or what effects they could have on the user that could alter their views. To me, with the setup they've put the effort into making, it's a matter of 'when' they bring Gabranth back and not 'if'.

Not to mention that if Lea Monde (which is in Dalmasca) shares any kind of history with the one from Vagrant Story, there's probably more than a few dangerous ancient magicks that could be hidden there. Magicks that Noah may have found before the staged death. On a different note though...the sword at the end of the story that is shown to Noah...I feel like I've seen that design before. I don't know where, but it feels oddly familiar to me.

EDIT: I think I found it. It looks and feels similar to the Diamond Sword from FF12, as shown below.

[Tanker4444]

OP, I think something happened internally at SE? As in, sometime during development a decision was made that this was it for the Empire, there was to be no viable traces of the Garlean Empire left after 5.55. In Endwalker all we might see are tempered and twisted remnants of the Empire. Rather, the few Castrums with what remains of the fourteenth might be all that's left, if there are any.

I was really excited about going to Dalmasca sometime after 6.0. Gabranth was built up as one of the more reasonable types of Legatus so it was entirely possible we might not get to liberate it. After the new End of Days, and the effective end of the Garlean Empire; the Eorzean alliance might very well not have the heart to keep going after surviving faraway Imperial Provinces. Maybe the people of Dalmasca, while not happy with being conquered, find Gabranth and his ways to be palatable enough that the resistance never seems to get anywhere. It was even possible we might have a new stable nation. An Imperial province outliving the empire and thriving, how great would that be for the setting? And then I read the note.... wow.. what happened? Its abrupt nature is what made the think that their plans for Dalmasca post 5.55 were changed but after the cutscenes and dialog were done, so they were forced to cram it all into a note.

[Raikai]

Maybe there's an angle I'm missing here. Let me know your thoughts.

I agree! I was hyped with the "cliffhanger" in the unearthed relics in the last cutscene... Wondering if they would explore Dalmasca or Gabaranth in EW somehow, since EW's Raid and Alliance Raids won't likely explore that area. Maybe something like EW's version of "Eureka/Bozja"?

But then I got really confused when I saw this note. I think it would be a much more sensible to just present it as "epilogue text" on screen with nice illustrations on the background, instead of how they went for.

The only explanation is if this whole 'mutiny' plot and Gabaranth death is fake... Since Lyon's whereabouts are unkown... So when this plot reappears in the future we'll get the actual true version of what happened.

[ICountFrom0]

I would love if Vagrant story crossed over somehow, it's one of my favorite Square games, ever, but I feel it would best be done with a few quests and a deep dungeon.

I've read the notes, I've looked at things... Lyon would have gladly gone into the gaul as his price for speaking up for the friend that saved him, but given the opportunity to grab two weapons like that, and run... I feel he probably did.
I also suspect the weapons were delivered at that moment ON PURPOSE....


Anyway, maybe there's one more part of the plot, but likely we won't see it until 6.1.

[WhiteArchmage]

Hmmm crazy darksteelfoil-hat theory time.
The auracite weapons being Bad News(tm), Gabranth going into hiding (ALLEGEDLY), and the legend of the "ghost of Gabranth", would probably involve a run around on Vagrant Story.

The Church of Iocus is mentioned in the Field Notes, as the old State Religion in Dalmasca. The Priesthood of St. Iocus is the Corrupt Church(tm) from Vagrant Story, and tried to take Lea Monde's power for themselves.

Lea Monde, which is a literal ghost town (because of all the ghosts) in Vagrant Story, but in XIV it's the capital of Dalmasca Inferior.

It COULD be, that in 6.1 (or further), something terrible happens in Lea Monde, and the tragedy can be linked to... some Auracite Weapons that somehow made it to the Catacombs and the mysterious legend of the "Ghost of Gabranth"

[JeanneOrnitier]

Lea Monde catacombs deep dungeon.

[Theodric]

I'm of the tentative belief that Gabranth isn't dead and that there's more story to come. It was probably written in such a manner for a number of reasons. For starters, a character being assumed dead but actually being still alive and in hiding is a classic Matsuno trope. It was the case in Final Fantasy Tactics and also the case in Final Fantasy XII. Matsuno himself is also a guest writer, so if for whatever reason he could not be brought on board in the future then there's at least an 'out' for the development team to lean on by considering the current events to be the finale.

Perhaps most importantly, however, is the fact that this is likely to be the last liberation storyline within the game itself - at least when it comes to Garlean territory. The situation with Bozja was bittersweet and nuanced. It wasn't a case of a good guy versus a bad guy - just two opposing armies each with their loved ones, ideals and dreams. It's pretty much everything I wanted Stormblood to be and thankfully it even gave us some neat bits of lore to retroactively flesh out the likes of Varis.

There's also a few plot hooks that still need to be addressed. Mikoto mentioned having a twin sister, though we haven't seen or heard anything from her. There's the 'ghost of Gabranth', the situation with a supposedly liberated Dalmasca and Nagxia, Fran and Ashe...as well as a number of other locations such as Landis and Valnain that may or not show up in-game someday.

If a third act is indeed planned, I wouldn't be surprised to see it revolve around something completely different. Ultima was sealed away rather than slain, if I recall correctly...and if Gabranth did survive, he still has an illness to contend with. I could see him seeking out a volatile power to aid in realising his dream/avenge his comrades. Or perhaps he'll end up siding with the Warrior of Darkness against some bigger, more dangerous threat. Personally, I'd like to see Lea Monde as an in-game location to explore. Vagrant Story is still one of my favourite RPG's to this very day and even a fraction of the atmosphere of that game could be captured then I would be very happy.

[LystAP]

Everything else is great, but I'm just glad we got to meet Pagaga Quo Vochstein.

[FrightfulNight]

I was really excited about going to Dalmasca sometime after 6.0. Gabranth was built up as one of the more reasonable types of Legatus so it was entirely possible we might not get to liberate it. After the new End of Days, and the effective end of the Garlean Empire; the Eorzean alliance might very well not have the heart to keep going after surviving faraway Imperial Provinces. Maybe the people of Dalmasca, while not happy with being conquered, find Gabranth and his ways to be palatable enough that the resistance never seems to get anywhere. It was even possible we might have a new stable nation. An Imperial province outliving the empire and thriving, how great would that be for the setting? And then I read the note.... wow.. what happened? Its abrupt nature is what made the think that their plans for Dalmasca post 5.55 were changed but after the cutscenes and dialog were done, so they were forced to cram it all into a note.

As a history buff I really wish SE had taken this route with the 4th. Since the Garlean Empire takes some inspirations from Rome, then Noahs new nation which outlasts it could have taken some inspiration from the Byzantine Empire, or the Eastern Roman Empire which not only survived the Western half falling and the Capitol being ruined but thrived from Constantinople, they even went on to continue ruling for around 1000 after Western Romes collapse. With Dalmascus's position on the map at this crossroads between continents, and being located east of the Garlean capitol the parallels continue. Bozja itself has several Persian parallels and the Sassanian Dynasty who also considered themselves a revival of the Persian Empire and were regular rivals of the Byzantine Empire often fighting for control of the middle east. They also already set up hints that they could continue holding power after Garlemald fell throughout practically the whole of the Bozjan storyline. And while yes at this point i am getting tired of fighting the Empire and the same enemies the 4th did enough to distinguish themselves in skills that did not make them feel like the same old enemies we have been fighting for over 10 years now, in a way kind of similar to how the Banished were designed in Halo being somewhat familiar enemies but different enough to stand on their own and not just feel like reskins.

I also just really wanted a modern Dalmascan storyline with XII being one of my favorite FF games and right now it does not feel like there is much to do with it as all these plot points that have been built up get resolved offscreen. If this was always going to be the case then i would have much preferred the Relic storyline take place in Dalmascus then Bozja as there were several offscreen moments of interest i would have liked to see there.

[EdwinLi]

Doubt he is dead since they left off with a very big cliffhanger involving the mysterious weapons found.

They most likely did this type of "epilogue" notes as a way to setup lore for the next part in the FFT/FFXII story so that players know in advance the mind set of NPCs assuming Gabranth is dead since reactions with learning that later in maybe 6.X maybe harsher than revealing this information now and giving players time to process it.

I fully expect to see Lyon and Gabranth in maybe 6.X for the next part of the FFT/FFXII story since most likely Gabranth faked his death and have Lyon act as the person in the open so people won't suspect his own plans with these unknown weapons.

Speaking of which, if Gabranth is still alive in the next part of the FFT/FFXII story, why do I get the feeling he will take up the identity of Basch and act as a mysterious companion for WoL in the next FFT/FFXII story since the WoL does not know what Gabranth looks like under his helmet.