One small worrying issue I have with Dawntrail (Ending Spoilers)

[CottonC]

Despite my detest for the DT, we have quite a few things set up and yes it seems we will be traveling a lot outside of the Source.

While we can assume that the device is most likely Azem's, at this point we cannot be sure and I believe this will be important, we can by now assume who will want to use it asap just to get back to the first. We know it does two things:

1. It allows for travel between the shards
2. Modification by the Milala (lala) allows for interdimensional fusion

This said, neither of those seem to be core functionalities of the device (key) since most likely it was created before sundering, although if it was it seems rather small for Ascian device.

1. Either it was crafter before sundering by Azem to be used by the sundered, which to be fair would make it a macguffin and I do hope it's not the case
2. It's part of much larger device and the purpose of it was not travel between the shards, it's just a biproduct of a sundering that happened after, in which case, we may be opening something that should have remained locked.

So yea, at this point we do not have any antagonist before us...

But we do have Zodiark leftovers in other shards and clearly some civilizations in the other shards pushed the advancement well beyond what is know in the Source and may be a threat as well. At this point at least until we will have new antagonist or a specific problem on the horizon its hard to speculate, what we know is that there sure will be an attempt at opening permanent gate between Source and First, and it can lead to complications.

[Voidmage]

This said, neither of those seem to be core functionalities of the device (key) since most likely it was created before sundering, although if it was it seems rather small for Ascian device.

This is also my opinion. DT, as bad as Wuk Lamat was, had actually a solid story ground with the other shard that was lost to lightning and Azem's hourglass (I call it this now).
Did I get it right that Sphenes world was actually rejoined in the past and only the small bubble and living memory remained?

It can be used for the future because we don't know what the actual function is and one thing they did right is to make it so it can be linked to Azem without going so much into it to give them any deeper character to damage headcanons of the players.

For me personally with it's shape it seems more like a device linked to time then dimensional travel and that the later thing is more a simple form of it's use.

I don't want them to ignore DT for the future but to build on the best parts of it. Ignore Wuk Lamat and Tulliyolal and embrace the deeper lore. Let us go adventuring while maintaining the curiosity of stuff like this key. Make it less about one single character and allready perfect harmony cultures but about us exploring the world being part in the change in it.

You know now that I think about it this is probably the biggest fail of the story.
It was so badly executed that the only topic is Wuk Lamat. Even here she overshadows all. xD
In other expansions you would see lore threads about the key and the path forward but not this time.
That is for me the biggest telling of how the MSQ failed.

[KisaiTenshi]

I'm pretty sure that Doma and Zodiark were the only new elements that ARR added over 1.0. Plus nothing stops them from taking 1 existing element and extrapolating it, the few that were added actually have bigger consequences than any older one.

Nope. 1.0 opening movie. The Keeper of the Lake (Midgardsormr) crushes the Garlean airship it hits lake Silvertear, and from this we see a bunch of primals being released. What we learned from post-HW, Shadowbringers and Endwalker is that the "1.0" opening is "the first" before the light consumed it. That might be a "retcon" but we know as early as Stormblood that the "1.0 cutscene map" had to still exist because they used it for the Red Mage marketing with the 1.0 Miqo'te character from that cutscene.


1.0 had Ishgard in it (or at least you could get up to the loading tunnel.) Mostly. we actually lost all but a small part of Coretheas between 1.0 and 2.0, so HW was pretty much re-incorporating it proper. But all Corethas definitely was in it. You can see the "broken" aetheryte camp in one of the areas that is from 1.0. Just like the broken 1.0 tents just outside Mor Dohna's walls.


There is a lot of "unresolved" things about 1.0/2.0 that are still in the game
- Who founded Gridania /Gelmorra
- Who founded Ul'dah (and no the variant dungeon is just a one-off story)
- Who founded Limsa Lominsa

There were entire dungeons built in 1.0 that no longer exist because they were "outdoor" dungeons

The entire "storyline" for both Limsa Lominsa and Gridanaia if you started in those cities haven't been mentioned except in passing. "I saw a Treant eat a wolf" is a reference to starting in Gridanaia.

I would accept a story where we use the key to other worlds to visit one that is very much like the source, except the three city states of Eorzea are actually at each others throats instead. The leaders we know, do not exist.

Because that is something we never really "did ourselves", that was something that happened because of the Garleans, so what if there was a reflection where the Garleans didn't invade, there is no Dalamud, and no Midgardsormr. What would it look like.

[Daralii]

The Battle of Silvertear Skies cinematic isn't the one with the proto-Crystarium(it was from a much earlier tech demo of what eventually became 1.0, before it was even called FF14), and the Crystarium wasn't built until after the Flood.

[Kreyd]

One small detail about the Azem hourglas I haven't seen mentioned anywhere. It seems to not only allow for dimensional travel but also for time travel. The Lalafell used it to escape from the ice calamaty on the Source to whatever shard the lightning calamaty happened on. However the calamity of ice was the fifth umbral calamity, while the calamity of lightning was the second. So the Lalafell not only crossed dimensions, but also travelled into a world that actually shouldn't exist anymore.

The entire "storyline" for both Limsa Lominsa and Gridanaia if you started in those cities haven't been mentioned except in passing. "I saw a Treant eat a wolf" is a reference to starting in Gridanaia.

Wait, that happened when you started in Gridania? Is that why we could tell Cauhciua that treant eat wolves? x'D

[Sephi_Ravour]

Did I get it right that Sphenes world was actually rejoined in the past and only the small bubble and living memory remained?

It isn't explained in game and Y'shtola even says that there is no way of knowing which shard it is. Personally I doubt that this is the last remnant of a rejoined world. The ascians wanted to rejoin the whole star, they wouldn't let a small bubble remain. Also the calamity of ice that made the milalafell leave the source was the 5th, whereas the calamity of lightning was the 2nd. Kind hard to imagine how they would flee to a shard that had already rejoined at that time.

[Voidmage]

It isn't explained in game and Y'shtola even says that there is no way of knowing which shard it is. Personally I doubt that this is the last remnant of a rejoined world. The ascians wanted to rejoin the whole star, they wouldn't let a small bubble remain. Also the calamity of ice that made the milalafell leave the source was the 5th, whereas the calamity of lightning was the 2nd. Kind hard to imagine how they would flee to a shard that had already rejoined at that time.

Hmm I forogot about the Milalla.
Regarding the calamity order. Imo we don't know yet how exactly the time stuff between shards and source works. It could be that it gets so bad that a destroyed shard may still exist in the "past" and that's how the Milalla got there.
That would give us also quite a potential on future stories like getting to a shard while it is rejoined (would also be bad for us while being there).

At least to me everything screamed calamity of lightning there. Not explaining this (or better said no interest from the scions) is just another bad writing issue.
Or they just forgot their own oder of calamities.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Did I miss where the hourglass was associated with Azem? Because I don't remember that ever coming up. Mostly I've just been wondering why the core of it looks like a spiraled piece of white auracite.

[Tunda]

I would like them rebuilding more military like imperials or some sort of ascians but stronger with actual deep story linked to azem

[NegativeS]

Did I miss where the hourglass was associated with Azem? Because I don't remember that ever coming up. Mostly I've just been wondering why the core of it looks like a spiraled piece of white auracite.

Ending spoilers:

When we pull out Azem's Crystal right before The Interphos, we are shown that the key/chalice lights up with the same symbol, in the same color as the crystal. I think this is meant to imply that the key/chalice is also a creation of Azem, or at least invokes the same magic.