6.0 Story Speculations

[Theodric]

I don't think the Garleans that remain are going to be picky about the help that they receive and they're likely already holding down whatever fortifications they still control only to lean on the Warrior of Light when he shows up to deal with Zenos and Fandaniel. There's a good chance a lot of soldiers and civilians will take the Regula approach and put aside any grudges for the sake of mutual benefit. We've already seen it established in the lorebook that Garleans are a pragmatic people and they're based largely off of the Romans who also adjusted their society as required of the circumstances.

I'm not sure how I feel about Garlemald having access to highly advanced cars, though. It fits nicely with the apocalyptic vibe with abandoned vehicles sitting around but it feels very 'tacked on' when Cid already questioned Noctis about their existence. It also feels a little cheap, since one of the plot devices established was that Garlemald could not transport supplies to the defiant provinces to keep a hold over them. If roads had been established between them, though...

I guess 'rule of cool' is the intention for the story moving forward on many fronts.

[RyuDragnier]

I'm not sure how I feel about Garlemald having access to highly advanced cars, though. It fits nicely with the apocalyptic vibe with abandoned vehicles sitting around but it feels very 'tacked on' when Cid already questioned Noctis about their existence. It also feels a little cheap, since one of the plot devices established was that Garlemald could not transport supplies to the defiant provinces to keep a hold over them. If roads had been established between them, though...

I guess 'rule of cool' is the intention for the story moving forward on many fronts.

It has also been...if we ignore the time bubble, 8-9 years since Cid left Garlemald? Remember how fast technology advanced in the real world in that time frame? We went from 32MB floppy disks in the mid to late 90s to 1-2 GB flash drives in the mid 00s. Technology moves fast, and depending on how smart the people who were moving it, seeing cars is very possible. Plus they WERE reverse engineering Allagan tech (who had spaceships), and created the Weapons, cloning tech, etc. Garlemald's tech has been quickly upgrading over the years, it's no surprise to me that they have actual cars.

[Beddict]

It has also been...if we ignore the time bubble, 8-9 years since Cid left Garlemald?

Been longer than that. According to page 195 of Encyclopedia Eorzea Vol. I:

Cid Garlond established the Ironworks in 1562, so that magitek technology might spread throughout Eorzea, lessening the Garlean Empire's dangerous monopoly on the science.

In addition, the timeline on page 53 has the following:

1563 - Highwind Skyways announces a partnership with Garlond Ironworks, a collaboration which soon bears fruit in the form of a lightweight airship model fueled by a ceruleum propulsion engine. With this new technology, Highwind Skyways begins offering regular passenger service connecting the three major city-states.

So, Cid left Garlemald and founded the Garlond Ironworks in 1562, began actively working with the Eorzean city-states in 1563, the Seventh Umbral Calamity happens in 1572, and ARR starts in 1577. By that time, Cid hasn't been to Garlemald in 15 years and that's completely ignoring time bubble shenanigans that start happening once ARR kicks off so it could be even longer by now. Cars being invented in the 15+ years since he left seems fair.

[ReynTime]

It has also been...if we ignore the time bubble, 8-9 years since Cid left Garlemald? Remember how fast technology advanced in the real world in that time frame? We went from 32MB floppy disks in the mid to late 90s to 1-2 GB flash drives in the mid 00s. Technology moves fast, and depending on how smart the people who were moving it, seeing cars is very possible. Plus they WERE reverse engineering Allagan tech (who had spaceships), and created the Weapons, cloning tech, etc. Garlemald's tech has been quickly upgrading over the years, it's no surprise to me that they have actual cars.

This is a huge stretch.

[Vyrerus]

This is a huge stretch.

Is it, though? A nation with the ability to build literal floating fortresses in the form of their imperial dreadnaughts in a land full of magical possibilities, and you don't think they could develop something like an automobile? Something that mere mortals in the real world developed prior to the invention of flight in 1886? Get real.

[Enkidoh]

Is it, though? A nation with the ability to build literal floating fortresses in the form of their imperial dreadnaughts in a land full of magical possibilities, and you don't think they could develop something like an automobile? Something that mere mortals in the real world developed prior to the invention of flight in 1886? Get real.

Except we've never really seen anything like mechanized road transport used widely anywhere in the game made by the Empire, for ground transport they've always gone for bipedal vehicles like the magitek armour (even the Juggernaut air fighters have legs that can walk on the ground as well).

The closest we've ever seen of powered wheeled vehicular transportation made by Garlemald is that they have built and operated railways (which apparently is how we are going to be entering what's left of the Garlean capital in EW), and the flavour text for Cloud's SDS Fenrir motorcycle in an attempt to graft FFXIV lore to it (basically making it not actually Cloud's motorcycle from FFVIIAC, but rather a Garlean made vehicle that happens to resemble Cloud's bike and thus FFXIV lore correct). Cid did also help repair Noctis's Regalia car in the FFXV event (and in fact, reverse engineered it to the point he built his own cereleum-powered version, which of course the Ironworks then markets to the WoL themself), so he seemed to have some knowledge of such technology. Wedge also built a motorcycle/airship vehicle as a side project as well (the Falcon).

So maybe there is some limited powered road transport in Garlemald, but like everything about the Empire, I doubt it's quite as widespread as it's claimed to be, probably restricted to the elites of society while the majority of the Empire's citizens still have to use chocobo transportation or walk everywhere (also don't forget the Empire preferred to fly rather than travel by land, as a very visible and effective expression of their power - better to have a huge floating behemoth cruise slowly right above the heads of your enemies and vassals both to threaten them into submission than having a bunch of vulnerable road vehicles take far longer to travel anywhere and potentially run afoul of a lack of sealed permenant roads and monsters.

[Vyrerus]

Except we've never really seen anything like mechanized road transport used widely anywhere in the game made by the Empire, for ground transport they've always gone for bipedal vehicles like the magitek armour (even the Juggernaut air fighters have legs that can walk on the ground as well).

The closest we've ever seen of powered wheeled vehicular transportation made by Garlemald is that they have built and operated railways (which apparently is how we are going to be entering what's left of the Garlean capital in EW), and the flavour text for Cloud's SDS Fenrir motorcycle in an attempt to graft FFXIV lore to it (basically making it not actually Cloud's motorcycle from FFVIIAC, but rather a Garlean made vehicle that happens to resemble Cloud's bike and thus FFXIV lore correct). Cid did also help repair Noctis's Regalia car in the FFXV event (and in fact, reverse engineered it to the point he built his own cereleum-powered version, which of course the Ironworks then markets to the WoL themself), so he seemed to have some knowledge of such technology. Wedge also built a motorcycle/airship vehicle as a side project as well (the Falcon).

So maybe there is some limited powered road transport in Garlemald, but like everything about the Empire, I doubt it's quite as widespread as it's claimed to be, probably restricted to the elites of society while the majority of the Empire's citizens still have to use chocobo transportation or walk everywhere (also don't forget the Empire preferred to fly rather than travel by land, as a very visible and effective expression of their power - better to have a huge floating behemoth cruise slowly right above the heads of your enemies and vassals both to threaten them into submission than having a bunch of vulnerable road vehicles take far longer to travel anywhere and potentially run afoul of a lack of sealed permenant roads and monsters.

Oh, nothing with wheels? Are you sure?



Granted it's a tank. But I mean, its locomotion is still on those razor blender wheels as an crazy fantasy sci-fi all terrain sort of deal.

Also granted, I don't think hexadrones have pilots, but they could if the Garleans wanted them to be piloted.

[YianKutku]

Granted it's a tank. But I mean, its locomotion is still on those razor blender wheels as an crazy fantasy sci-fi all terrain sort of deal.

Also granted, I don't think hexadrones have pilots, but they could if the Garleans wanted them to be piloted.

Something I've been pondering is how, by the nature of the story, the Garlean vehicles we see are all machines of war. (I'm putting aside stuff like the Prima Vista, which is a civilian airship, but apparently built on a standard military chassis.) We only see them when we're fighting them, or when we steal the blueprints for one and make our own, or in the case of the Phantom Train when it's idle.

Whereas from the benchmark trailer scenes of Garlemald, we see what basically looks like a burned-out Fiat. Hatchback coupe shape, not very large comparatively, and the implication from its sheer mundanity is that this is a mid-range civilian car. Meaning that the "average middle-class" citizen of Garlemald would at least have the opportunity to get one, but also that there's enough infrastructure built into Garlean cities to provide for these vehicles, in enough numbers to allow for economical sense.

I'd imagine high-class elite civilian transport to be rather more ostentatious, because from what we've seen of Garlean war vehicles, ostentation is kind of the default. So maybe a limousine or such, rather than the workhorse shape of that Garlean Fiat.

So from there, we can speculate on the rest of Garlean civilian life. How's their public transport? Do they have buses and trams? Maybe trolley cars? Taxis? A subway? It would be hilarious if there's some Garlean magitek version of the Yamanote Circle delineating the boundaries of the part of Garlemald we can actually interact with in-game.

[Beddict]

Except we've never really seen anything like mechanized road transport used widely anywhere in the game made by the Empire, for ground transport they've always gone for bipedal vehicles like the magitek armour (even the Juggernaut air fighters have legs that can walk on the ground as well).

We've also never actually been to Garlemald, or even the continent of Ilsabard itself. Think of the places we've been to that the Garleans have conquered in the past. Ala Mhigo, which is way very far away from the capital of Garlemald on a completely different continent; the Bozjan Southern Front and Zadnor which are battlefields and not cities that might have paved roadways since they are very far away from the capital of Garlemald on a completely different continent; Doma which most recently got burnt to the ground during King Kaien's rebellion and again, is super far away from the capital of Garlemald on a completely different continent; and Terncliff where we see what, a super tiny area sectioned off from the rest of the city? In fact, we've only recently gotten our first proper look at Garlemald since cutscenes usually take place inside of buildings like the throne room or the labs where they were cooking up Black Rose. If motor vehicles are a rather recent technology then yeah, can't imagine the Empire has gone out of their way to slap down a highway system from Garlemald to Eorzea, especially when they've already got railroads set up which are far more efficient. Also, to add on to what Vyrerus said, another example of Garlean wheeled vehicles is the second boss of the Ghimlyt Dark, the Prometheus:



That's actually the Epimetheus mount from Season 14 of The Feast, but it's the exact same design as Prometheus and recreated by Cid using blueprints stolen from Garlemald so I'm just using that image because it's better than trying to grab a picture of the boss from some Youtube video. Anyways, point is, Garlemald does have vehicles with wheels, they just aren't widespread from what we've seen which makes sense if it's newer technology. Personal motor vehicles especially since maybe only Garlemald has a paved road system in place for them, and if it has spread then maybe a few of the nations that got conquered early on before the Republic declared itself an Empire. Either way, we're talking about places on a different continent so far to the north we've gotten nowhere near it.