The questions I want EW to answer the most: WHY and HOW was the world sundered?

[Yuella]

This is essentially my bet. If I'm wrong I will stop playing FFXIV (After finishing 6.0 with my main and my alt). I will post a video of me uninstalling FFXIV from my laptop. I will not delete my account though because I still want to read and post in the forums.

[Darkstride]

This is essentially my bet. If I'm wrong I will stop playing FFXIV (After finishing 6.0 with my main and my alt). I will post a video of me uninstalling FFXIV from my laptop. I will not delete my account though because I still want to read and post in the forums.

Not to sidetrack the thread, but you can't log in to post unless you actively play.

[Kesey]

Emet was wrong (unreliable narrator). Darkness refers to the Sound, not Zodiark.

Minfilia could've said "With every rejoining, Zodiark has grown stronger" but she didn't. She said "with every rejoining, Darkness has grown stronger"
(in the same cutscene, she referred to Zodiark as Zodiark)

Venat could've said "Let's summon the light that keeps Zodiark in check" but she didn't. She said "let's summon the light that keeps Darkness in check"
And Assumed-to-be-Venat at the end of 5.55 could've said "Zodiark is coming" but she didn't. She said "Darkness is coming"

Elidibus, the heart of Zodiark, manifests himself as the Warrior of Light. Why would that be if Zodiark is Darkness? Zodiark is actually Light that was summoned to balance Darkness (the Sound)

Also Minfilia in 3.2 said "Light and Darkness was one but Darkness covets power"
Light is actually Zodiark and Darkness is the Sound

"So I sundered the world into 13"
She did this because Light (Zodiark) couldn't contain Darkness (Sound) forever (as confirmed by Venat in 5.2).

However, it is in Hydaelyn's best interest to keep Zodiark and the Shards sundered to keep Darkness from coming back.

But in Endwalker, we are going to let Darkness come so we can beat it and there will be no need for Zodiark and Hydaelyn. And the ancients can rest.

So Remember the scene in Shadowbringers where you meet up with Urianger and he tries to explain the etymological origins of Light and Dark on The First? And how they are polar opposites on the Source? Most players just gloss over that scene and then were upset they were mislead by SE and the Warrior of Darkness on The First is the equivalent of the Warrior of Light on the Source.

Now an etymological differentiated understanding of Light and Dark and Zodiark and Hydaelyn as the central crux of the plot? I think the idea is to entertain the players, not confuse them.

Wouldn't it just make way more sense for Zodiark to remain evil and The Sound just be some other threat not that's not the summon an Elder God evil crazy?

[Iscah]

Emet was wrong (unreliable narrator). Darkness refers to the Sound, not Zodiark.

Only if your theory is correct, and not according to the commonly accepted set of facts that every other person in this thread is basing their discussion on.

Minfilia could've said "With every rejoining, Zodiark has grown stronger" but she didn't. She said "with every rejoining, Darkness has grown stronger"
(in the same cutscene, she referred to Zodiark as Zodiark)

Because Darkness is the observable phenomenon that is increasing, which holds equally true whether it originates with Zodiark or the Sound. This proves nothing about the source.

Venat could've said "Let's summon the light that keeps Zodiark in check" but she didn't. She said "let's summon the light that keeps Darkness in check"
And Assumed-to-be-Venat at the end of 5.55 could've said "Zodiark is coming" but she didn't. She said "Darkness is coming"

By the same logic, why say "Light" instead of "Hydaelyn"? If Darkness and Zodiark are separate, that should imply that they summoned two separate beings called Light and Hydaelyn, or they would have said so.

That is clearly not the case.

She said "the Light to keep Darkness in check" because it's poetic and invokes the two opposing forces that Hydaelyn and Zodiark represent.

Elidibus, the heart of Zodiark, manifests himself as the Warrior of Light. Why would that be if Zodiark is Darkness? Zodiark is actually Light that was summoned to balance Darkness (the Sound)

It's explained within the story that Elidibus is taking on the Warrior of Light persona to intercept and draw strength from people's ongoing reverence for the historical figure.

Also Minfilia in 3.2 said "Light and Darkness was one but Darkness covets power"
Light is actually Zodiark and Darkness is the Sound

"So I sundered the world into 13"
She did this because Light (Zodiark) couldn't contain Darkness (Sound) forever (as confirmed by Venat in 5.2).

This is not proof. These statements make perfect sense in the context of Zodiark as Darkness. You're just reframing these things into your narrative.

This is essentially my bet. If I'm wrong I will stop playing FFXIV (After finishing 6.0 with my main and my alt). I will post a video of me uninstalling FFXIV from my laptop. I will not delete my account though because I still want to read and post in the forums.

This is, quite frankly, a silly thing to wager your account on, and your degree of resolve doesn't make your argument any more convincing or factual.

[Rosenstrauch]

As far as the WoL being tempered is concerned, I can imagine two scenarios where that would prove to be a source of conflict. For example:


1. The Blessing of Light is the source of the WoL's tempering, and removing the latter will necessarily remove the former. In this scenario, some of the Scions (namely Alisaie and Alphinaud) might advocate for the removal of the WoL's tempering, while the more pragmatic members (Urianger, Estinien, and Y'shtola) might argue against it, or at the very least struggle to reconcile their respective friendships with the WoL and their natures as pragmatic individuals. Thancred might be torn between wanting to ensure Minfilia's dreams are realized at any cost versus the implications of the WoL's tempering for Minfilia herself—that even unto her last moments, Minfilia's will might have been compromised. To say nothing of Ryne, the inheritor of Minfilia's own Blessing. And G'raha... well, maybe this would be the reality check he desperately needs.

Speaking of Ryne, if she returns during the events of 6.0 Endwalker, then she too could contribute to this scenario. As I've gone over time and again, Ryne is strongly implied to not possess the Echo. Unlike the WoL, she may not have any way to separate Hydaelyn's will from her own or protect herself from it. So even if the WoL can't be controlled, Ryne probably can.

I think the thing that makes this compelling to me, more so than the current crop of de-tempered characters, is that while past Tempered have always been characterized as opposed to the Scions' efforts, the WoL has been supportive of them from the beginning. This is a situation where they absolutely do not stand to benefit from removing the WoL's tempering, and may actually stand to lose something from doing so: The WoL's loyalty (should their tempering prove to be the source of their heroic nature) or the WoL's capability to succeed in the face of insurmountable odds. Obviously neither will ever prove true, but the Scions don't know that.


2. Instead of interparty conflict with the Scions, we could instead have conflict with Venat and/or Hydaelyn. Perhaps their end goal is something partially or completely at odds with the Scions'. For example, if the Scions' end goal is to defeat or awaken Zodiark, V+H might instead wish to rebuild the seal keeping him in check. They might also take umbrage with the Scions' newfound goal of remembering Amaurot, and instead wish to erase all traces of the Ancients from history. And, as above, they can compel the WoL and/or Ryne to do their bidding, necessitating the removal of the WoL's tempering (and possibly Ryne's as well).

This trades away what I like most about the above scenario for one I'm not terribly fond of, but could still be interesting. You could easily get a solo duty out of this, wherein we have to fight a Hydaelyn-empowered Ryne, or control the Scions in a multistage fight against a Hydaelyn-empowered WoL. Or both. Or something more esoteric, like a fight within the WoL's mind. Or Ryne's. Hell, if Gaia came along too, we could even play as her, or fight alongside her, or... I can go on forever like this, believe me.

Not to sidetrack the thread, but you can't log in to post unless you actively play.

Technically speaking, you can do so for an indeterminate amount of time after your subscription expires. I was able to do so for around two weeks the last time I let my sub lapse. This is offset by having to wait a similar amount of time after resubbing to have forum access again. It's really weird.

[Yuella]

Well, you can still click on my name and my character though. It will always be level 90 forever.

[kaynide]

There isn’t really solid evidence that “darkness” is the Sound. Any time the entity we call the sound is spoken of, it’s either as “a sound”, “keening” or quite possibly just the “End of Days” with caps.

But that would be like saying the biblical Revelation itself was an entity. While I personally am on Team Lavos for the Sound, there actually is t any hard facts that it is even an entity at all.

For all we know, the “sound” could just be the planet’s aether being thrown out of wack due to the ancients drawing on too much of it, and something akin to an aetheric “solar flare” making magic go out of control.

Again, for all we know the primals are a mechanism by which concentrated/crystallized aether is absorbed and redistributed back into the planet. Or that Zodiark’s constant hunger for aether was in fact to replenish the aether expended by the ancients in a slow drip as opposed to all at once/annihilating all life.

[Lyth]

Zodiark was summoned at great cost to Amaurot to avert disaster. So even if Zodiark is a problem now because he started working towards his own selfish ends or was somehow corrupted by whatever he fought against, he's probably not the original evil here. Likewise, even if Hydaelyn was brought in to contain and sunder Zodiark, she's probably sealed away whatever caused that original Calamity as well. So as Zodiark regains strength and becomes whole again, we're probably also unsealing whatever caused those original final days. It's probably waiting for us now at the very bottom of Pandaemonium. Let's hope that Emet's wandering spectre is our tour guide this time around for our descent into the inferno. A wisecracking Hyth would be a workable substitute as well.

I would like to see a Hydaelyn fight where she uses Gravity magic to sunder your HP. 'Who ever said that I was a light elemental?'

[MikkoAkure]

Personally, I mostly come from the second, because frankly I don't buy that Amaurot is as perfect as claimed. FFXIV isn't the type of game to do a flat, perfectly innocent society; there has to be some shadows being cast somewhere. At the same time, I'm also aware of the possibility that they might be responsible for the event itself, just by virtue of 'we don't know what did it, so maybe they did it'.

Fun fact: Amaurot and Hythlodeus originally come from a 500 year old story called “Utopia”, meaning “no place” or “nowhere” and is actually the origin of the modern use of the word “utopia”.

Amaurot is the capital of the fictional land of Utopia: a supposedly ideal place led by philosopher-kings and there’s no greed and crime, but their society and culture is extremely strict. They have no privacy, and they have slaves.

It’s not a coincidence that they used names from this story, but how deep of a meaning that holds will remain to be seen. What is known is that they’re still a society where everyone dresses exactly the same, boring way, they do nothing but debate each other, and they don’t interfere with outside affairs despite their power.

Emet was wrong (unreliable narrator). Darkness refers to the Sound, not Zodiark.

We see Zodiark and he’s a legit dark-colored mothercrystal. His disciples teleport around and use dark magic. He’s portrayed in cave art as a dark version of the elementals from 1.0. In FFXII, Zodiark is a dark-aspected esper.

Hydaelyn isn't a god. She's a Primal construct invented by fallible "human" beings and by them given her directives and ideals, flawed or biased as they may be.

Zodiark isn’t a god either but that doesn’t stop the Ascians from constantly referring to him as the “One true god” despite the fact they should know better.

[Mansion]

(I do hope the cause of the Sound and Final days isn't completely unknown from us either... I don't want some kind of FF9 Necron flying up like "Henlo" as the 90 trial.)