6.0 Story Speculations

[Rosenstrauch]

A thought occurred to me (immediately contradicted by what we know of post-EW content but...) what if they're tying up a lot of loose ends (the Garlean Empire is in a sorry state, the city states are cleaning up their various messes with their "beast" tribes, a cure for tempering exists etc.) because EW will involve either us leaving the Source for good, or something about it changing fundamentally to the point of basically creating an entirely new world somehow maybe we end up completing the rejoining?

One possibility I've been considering lately is that we're still within a stable time loop. That, by the end of Endwalker, the Source will be in such horrid condition that the only way to save it from annihilation is to deliberately trigger the Eighth Umbral Calamity via unleashing some heretofore unseen stock of Black Rose. The WoL will survive, but be thrown forward in time over two hundred years, winding up in the Eighth Era shortly after Syrcus Tower was sent back in time.

The three biggest obstacles to that idea, afaik, are as follows:

1. Even if there was some way to keep all the old world content accessible, perhaps through a Zidormi-esque character or device, I doubt the developers would be willing to do this. This is probably the biggest obstacle.

2. We came back to the Source and presumably shared our exploits on the First with enough people that they couldn't reasonably forget it after Black Rose-ing the world half to death. Especially since Cid and Nero both survived Black Rose according to one of the Tales from the Shadows short stories. On the other hand, maybe the entire reason they began working on the possibility of time travel is because they knew it would be perfected by their successors in the future. And now I have a headache. I hate time travel.

3. Even discounting the above, we also woke up G'raha Tia, took him out of the tower, and dumped the Exarch's soul and memories into him. A lot would have to happen to him to justify shoving him back into the tower alone and without the Exarch's memories.

So, overall... I doubt what I suggested would ever happen. But it is a thought I keep returning to.

[KageTokage]

I'm not buying into them trying to jump into a new story arc immediately after 6.0 ends, because stuff like the sorry state of the Garleans doesn't seem like something that can comfortably be resolved within the base MSQ.

I'm expecting more of an extended epilogue to 6.0 that ties up remaining loose ends (With the two raids series being part of that) with the focus again only really shifting towards the next expansion in the .4/5 patch. The world is likely going to be a mess in the wake of the Final Days, and while it may have given a chance for major new problems to spring up in lands yet unexplored, I don't feel like that's going to be a pressing concern until after we've helped things stabilize in the places we're familiar with and perhaps given some closure to the key players of the original story.

[FrightfulNight]

I'm not buying into them trying to jump into a new story arc immediately after 6.0 ends, because stuff like the sorry state of the Garleans doesn't seem like something that can comfortably be resolved within the base MSQ.

I'm expecting more of an extended epilogue to 6.0 that ties up remaining loose ends (With the two raids series being part of that) with the focus again only really shifting towards the next expansion in the .4/5 patch. The world is likely going to be a mess in the wake of the Final Days, and while it may have given a chance for major new problems to spring up in lands yet unexplored, I don't feel like that's going to be a pressing concern until after we've helped things stabilize in the places we're familiar with and perhaps given some closure to the key players of the original story.

It feels like there is honestly to much story to wrap up in the new zones in 6.0, i am of the like mind that 6.0 will just conclude the Hydalyn/Zodiark story arch and have us save the world, while following patches may deal with stories focused in the new zone such as Garlean reconstruction.

As for speculation time i find it strange that Gaius hasn't been featured in the promotional and find it hard to believe that he has been written out of the story with Werlyt as I have felt his story has been building building toward this expansion since his return in 4.3. I mean we are finally going to Garlemald and his country is in such a sorry state and i find it hard to believe that he will not try and help the Scions restore order there. There is also the fact that Lahabrea is possibly coming back with the Pandemonium raids and Gaius stated in our interaction back in 4.5 that he had hoped Lahabrea would be his final adversary. It just feels like it would be like such a missed opportunity and a disappointing conclusion to Gaius's storyline to just anticlimactically write him out of the story in a side arch story right before the expansion that makes the most sense for his conclusion.

[Rosenstrauch]

Another strange thought from me, but was the Resonance Chamber in Ala Mhigo ever destroyed or dismantled? I recall it being present as far back as 4.1, but can't recall if we actually got rid of it. The reason I'm bringing this up is because, off the top of my head, we never actually came up with a solution for the Towers. And it occurred to me that one option for taking them out might be to use a Resonance Chamber to copy the WoL or Arenvald's Echo onto a selection of individuals with the prowess to tackle the Towers head on, such as the Scions.

Now from what I recall, there were also a ton of body bags present when we discovered the chamber. And I also remember there being a lot of offscreen death involved in using the chambers to copy Krile's Echo onto Fordola, and the same was probably true for Zenos as well. But I don't recall there being any such thing when Misija had the operation performed on her using Mikoto as her donor, and unlike the other two Misija never had the kaleidoscope eye effect. I think. I might be wrong. So it's possible that we might be able to use the Resonance Chamber without having to sacrifice people in the process.

[KageTokage]

I feel finding a way to prevent tempering from happening in the first place would be easier then curing it, so perhaps some simple reverse-engineering of the tempering cure and some Sharlayan knowhow will provide us with a device or magick to ward it off.

Artificial echos really don't come across as something the Scions or anyone else would be very keen on messing with.

[WhiteArchmage]

Considering one of the Towers is a dungeon, and surely we can run it with trusts, and of the Scions only Krile has the Echo... It does point to finding a way to ward off the tower's tempering powers, if not prevent tempering completely.

I'm not... COMPLETELY fond of the idea, since it takes out a lot of the danger of primals: Yes, they can still bleed the land dry of aether, but the most horrific implications of tempering are gone if it can be cured or prevented. The cure is still kind of prohibitive, so it's not too bad, but would still need a rethinking of Primals in 6.1+

[RyuDragnier]

Considering one of the Towers is a dungeon, and surely we can run it with trusts, and of the Scions only Krile has the Echo... It does point to finding a way to ward off the tower's tempering powers, if not prevent tempering completely.

I'm not... COMPLETELY fond of the idea, since it takes out a lot of the danger of primals: Yes, they can still bleed the land dry of aether, but the most horrific implications of tempering are gone if it can be cured or prevented. The cure is still kind of prohibitive, so it's not too bad, but would still need a rethinking of Primals in 6.1+

Well, it's been quite a while since we've had a primal. Since the end of 4.0 with Shinryu, the only primals since then have been Tsukuyomi and Elidibus. It's likely primals may simply not show up as often, so when they do they completely blindside us so we can't protect others.

For example, we go to a town, deal with its problems, etc. Somebody shows up, claims to have been told by the divine how to solve more problems. Said individual then summons a primal. We have no time to protect anybody from being tempered except for a few people, and are chased out of town. The danger is back, there's no guarantee we'll get one of the pigs over there to cure the tempering in time, nor is there a guarantee that the primal won't start wandering around. It keeps the horrific implications by making them show up at moments where there's no time to prepare for it to happen.

[Cygnia]

Since we are heading to the moon, I thought to post an image of what appears to be a 'summoning' of the two moons, and the void-esque eclipse inside Mephina's moon when using Astrologian's Gravity. Paired with the mention within the encylopedia of Zodiark's 'warping' effect on space, that Final Fantasy's XII Zodiark is said to warp and press things into oblivion etc...well, it is probably is old news here. I simply wanted to share what seemed like a nifty detail.

Some sources/quotes of (mild) interest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUx3BXdHdJo Zodiarks Final Eclipse attack in XII

“Strongest of the scions created by the gods, they feared his growth, and so kept him a child. So indomitable is his strength that all things are by him twisted and pressed into oblivion.

He alone fashions the laws governing all things, and administers punishment in place of the gods. So is he Keeper of Precepts, and his authority is absolute.”
- Bestiary Description (XII)

https://cdn-prod.scalefast.com/publi...c614377760.jpg 'Dimensional Compression' section, page freely available. May need to magnify a bit to read.

'The nocturnal sect contains those celestial bodies ruled by the two moons. I say two, because since the dawn of astrology, disciples of our field have used Dalamud in their readings. Now, even after the false moon's fall, its position...or should I say, its absence, yet has influence over our fates.' Astrologian job quest

[Bright-Flower]

Considering one of the Towers is a dungeon, and surely we can run it with trusts, and of the Scions only Krile has the Echo... It does point to finding a way to ward off the tower's tempering powers, if not prevent tempering completely.

I'm not... COMPLETELY fond of the idea, since it takes out a lot of the danger of primals: Yes, they can still bleed the land dry of aether, but the most horrific implications of tempering are gone if it can be cured or prevented. The cure is still kind of prohibitive, so it's not too bad, but would still need a rethinking of Primals in 6.1+

I get where you're coming from but tempering in general feels pretty played out to me. I don't feel like there's really anything more to take the concept that hasn't been explored already. I'd honestly be fine with primals no longer really being a thing and coming up with other origins for trials etc we fight in the future, or just having a way to shield from tempering found so that the main scions don't have to worry about it.

[aveyond-dreams]

Here's the predictions I received in a dream vision from the prophet Yoship himself:

Alphinaud will battle his father while piloting his evangelion against his father's mech.

The magus sisters are the 3 rulers of Thavnair, but choose to involve themselves with the Telophoroi because they are nihilists who are fed up with life. Their forms after their ultimate attack will resemble their insectoid forms from FFX.

Varis is Anima, and the remains of his body will be the lower half of the monster in the second half of the battle.

In the final battle Venat and Zenos will transform into Hydaelyn and Zodiark and we will have to deal damage to both while evading their attacks in order to prevent them from destroying the world again in their fight.

Lastly, Zenos and Venat will both die and Y'shtola will ascend to become the literal catgirl goddess of the planet, removing her as a scion.

A+ writing, if I do say so myself