Inconsistencies with the sundering (Spoilers)

[R041]

THEN WHERE IN HYDALEN'S NAME IS MY CHILI YOU LALA MONSTER

The chili were the friends you made along the way.



she in it. she in the chili now. so is haurchefant.

[Ravenblade1979]

i think end of this. its players getting way too invested and noticing all the little things that build up and make the story or any aspect seem not as good. so they start to nitpick on every little thing. had i done this..i would have started back in arr to be quite honest lol. its a story set in a fantasy world. if something askew who cares. enjoy the content

[PeaTearGriffin]

Oh, for sure. My friends that played through MSQ are still under the impression that Venat just did the sundering all by herself and that it was not the result of the conflict between Hydaelyn and Zodiark. I had to link them to the Tales of the Dawn webpage which I didn't even know existed until someone else posted it in this thread.

Its funny to think how easy it could've been to avoid retconning the shadowbringers version of the sundering. Square could've just had venat say one more line in the sundering cutscene like the quote from Tales of the Dawn: "To have any chance at defeating the nigh-omnipotent Zodiark, however, the sacrifice must be absolute." But no... lets not make any mention of zodiark vs. hydaelyn in this very important cutscene.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Its funny to think how easy it could've been to avoid retconning the shadowbringers version of the sundering. Square could've just had venat say one more line in the sundering cutscene like the quote from Tales of the Dawn: "To have any chance at defeating the nigh-omnipotent Zodiark, however, the sacrifice must be absolute." But no... lets not make any mention of zodiark vs. hydaelyn in this very important cutscene.

again, what is this "magical" retcon of the sundering explained in shadowbringers?

[kpxmanifesto]

Its funny to think how easy it could've been to avoid retconning the shadowbringers version of the sundering. Square could've just had venat say one more line in the sundering cutscene like the quote from Tales of the Dawn: "To have any chance at defeating the nigh-omnipotent Zodiark, however, the sacrifice must be absolute." But no... lets not make any mention of zodiark vs. hydaelyn in this very important cutscene.

Yeah for real. SE was rushing to complete things so they could release the game without too much delay, and in their hurry they made an error. They had already delayed the release of the game for two weeks so they could edit the cutscenes on Ultima Thule.

[MikkoAkure]

Yeah for real. SE was rushing to complete things so they could release the game without too much delay, and in their hurry they made an error. They had already delayed the release of the game for two weeks so they could edit the cutscenes on Ultima Thule.

People refusing to admit they were confused by a dumb, overwrought cutscene and instead saying that there's actually a giant writing mistake where the writers of Shadowbringers somehow forgot their own story despite the fact the "Hydaelyn stomping Zodiark" cave art is basically the symbol of that whole expansion, so they awkwardly made a cover-up is still one of the silliest conspiracy theories I've heard about this game.

[PeaTearGriffin]

Yeah for real. SE was rushing to complete things so they could release the game without too much delay, and in their hurry they made an error. They had already delayed the release of the game for two weeks so they could edit the cutscenes on Ultima Thule.

It's a major oversight but not hard to imagine especially since I saw yoshi p in the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVIII that you linked. Wow that was a disaster...

[Iscah]

People refusing to admit they were confused by a dumb, overwrought cutscene and instead saying that there's actually a giant writing mistake where the writers of Shadowbringers somehow forgot their own story despite the fact the "Hydaelyn stomping Zodiark" cave art is basically the symbol of that whole expansion, so they awkwardly made a cover-up is still one of the silliest conspiracy theories I've heard about this game.

The problem is, that cutscene is confusing, even once you recognise that it has to be allegorical, and it's very hard to reconcile it as an allegory of a physical fight between the two beings. It does seem to be presenting an alternative narrative where Venat made a calculated decision to sunder the world herself, with Zodiark not present or involved, rather than it happening in the heat of battle.

Everything else up to that point seems to be a series of snapshots of "real" events, just merged into a single diorama instead of happening over time, so I'm left feeling that it doesn't line up with what we knew before.

[PeaTearGriffin]

People refusing to admit they were confused by a dumb, overwrought cutscene and instead saying that there's actually a giant writing mistake where the writers of Shadowbringers somehow forgot their own story despite the fact the "Hydaelyn stomping Zodiark" cave art is basically the symbol of that whole expansion, so they awkwardly made a cover-up is still one of the silliest conspiracy theories I've heard about this game.

I recall asking you before: in that cut scene, whats the metaphor for hydaelyn's battle with zodiark? You weren't able to answer it.

[MikkoAkure]

The problem is, that cutscene is confusing, even once you recognise that it has to be allegorical, and it's very hard to reconcile it as an allegory of a physical fight between the two beings. It does seem to be presenting an alternative narrative where Venat made a calculated decision to sunder the world herself, with Zodiark not present or involved, rather than it happening in the heat of battle.

Everything else up to that point seems to be a series of snapshots of "real" events, just merged into a single diorama instead of happening over time, so I'm left feeling that it doesn't line up with what we knew before.

I still think the cutscene is trash.

But I think the idea that the writers at that moment decided to randomly throw away a giant plot detail or just straight-up forgot it, RIGHT at the climax of a decade's worth of story, and then went back on it by publishing short stories and putting the stomp on merchandise to "hide their mistake" is a really dumb idea too.


I think it makes much more sense that the writers went overboard making a big cinematic scene, the stomp ended up on the cutting room floor for whatever reason, and the result was approved without any input from people outside of the dev/writing team.

I recall asking you before: in that cut scene, whats the metaphor for hydaelyn's battle with zodiark? You weren't able to answer it.

They just didn't put it in for whatever dumb reason. I'm not saying I agree with the way they did things, but I am saying that I think the idea of a conspiracy is stupid.

If the cutscene wasn't an allegory/metaphorical, then what's your answer to Hytholdeus walking calmly past a giant man-eating monster with neither of them caring about each other? Did Venat also literally walk down a smoky hallway covered in blood while seeing shades of sad and angry people?