Revelations from Patch 7.2: Seekers of Eternity

[mallleable]

A thought as to why there might have not been any Ascian interference on The Ninth. The Ascians didn't actually need it. 8 shards, 8 rejoinings would have been enough for Zodiark to be strong enough finish completing himself had the rejoining of The First actually succeeded. The thought of this makes the doomed 8th Calamity timeline all the more sadder. The Stormsurge super weapon seems like it would have been the catalyst for a flood of lightning on The Ninth, but it just wrecked the environment, and seems to be more akin to what happened on The Thirteenth without turning everyone into 'Levensent.' Plus, rejoining The First would have completed the elemental roster, all 6 elemental calamities would have happened, and both polarities. No need for more lightning.

I actually think the people of The Ninth might have ruined their world on their own which would be a great cautionary tale to introduce environmentalist themes for an ff7 inspired story (8.0 maybe).

(edit) Refreshing myself with the Unending Codex, it says that they discovered Electrope after things became stormy. Their overuse of Electrope did make things worse. My theory about them causing global warming in their world is still possible however.

[MicahZerrshia]

and seems to be more akin to what happened on The Thirteenth without turning everyone into 'Levensent.'

Ok, now I want that. Levinsent? Hells yeah! Gimme gimme gimme. Imagine how amazing those designs would look

[Iscah]

8 shards, 8 rejoinings would have been enough for Zodiark to be strong enough finish completing himself had the rejoining of The First actually succeeded.

This has never been true. It was pure speculation in the lead-up to Shadowbringers from fans trying to make sense of a dev remark about the "Eighth and final Calamity". In hindsight it's just about preventing the catastrophic Black Rose timeline.

[Cleretic]

This has never been true. It was pure speculation in the lead-up to Shadowbringers from fans trying to make sense of a dev remark about the "Eighth and final Calamity". In hindsight it's just about preventing the catastrophic Black Rose timeline.

Minor clarification, it's never been established.

We can reasonably assume that they could run a Zodiark without all the shards rejoined; we know that because the Thirteenth is currently an inoperable level of screwed-over, and the Ascians didn't give up. So there is an open question of 'how together did Zodiark have to be before Phase Two'. Eight's probably not right, because they didn't seem to be moving towards that in the 8UC timeline, but who's to say they couldn't go 'close enough, next step' at, like, ten? Maybe they could wear a few more Ls than they were letting on.

I don't actually believe this, because my honest read is simply that the Ascians might've been involved over there, but it was too long ago or too distant to be all that relevant to any story being told; by the time our camera is pointing at the Ninth, any of their machinations just don't matter. They also might've been a lot less competent than they were letting on, and the Ninth was just them going 'okay we'll just hope that sorts itself out and come back later'.

[mallleable]

I think the assumption was that Zodiark just needed to be strong enough to break his shackles on The Source as Hydaelyn's strength was already waning, and then after that it's just a matter of ferrying him around to the rest of the shards, including The Thirteenth so he can get the rest of his guts. Or even just bringing the rest of his guts to him from across the rift. After that he would be fully formed, and strong enough to rejoin the rest of the shards himself.

[Cleretic]

I think the assumption was that Zodiark just needed to be strong enough to break his shackles on The Source as Hydaelyn's strength was already waning,

That was actually fairly confirmably not the limitation. When we look around the Watcher's sanctum we can find a record where he outright notices that the Ascians aren't even bothering to approach the confinement; whatever the internal details of their plan were, the barrier was never the holding cell, which they seemed to have no interest in focusing on.

Especially because that cell was quite breakable from the outside; on our scale the Tower of Babil was a pretty big deal, but it was no bigger than stuff the Ascians had successfully managed before. If they wanted to break it, they could've, so whatever their plan entailed, 'break Zodiark out' wasn't a primary step.

All of this is largely unrealted to the question of 'what were the Ascians doing/not doing on the Ninth', for which the answer is 'nobody knows', and my personal answer is 'this is the least compelling question open about the Ninth, whose story has so far succeeded entirely independent from that lot'. But those are the answers to those questions; the intricacies of the Zodiark plan were never divulged and will likely never be important, but we can say certain things weren't part of it.

[Iscah]

We can reasonably assume that they could run a Zodiark without all the shards rejoined; we know that because the Thirteenth is currently an inoperable level of screwed-over, and the Ascians didn't give up.

I don't think we can be certain that it would work, only that the Ascians weren't willing to give up on it.

Maybe they hoped 13 parts would be enough, or they would have worked out how to fix it by then, or they're just so deep in denial about the fact it won't work that they're going to try anyway because how else are they going to fill in eternity?

[Rannie]

So i just got back in the game and finished the story quest... which was definitely better than 7.0 and 7.1 (granted still had too much of Wuk Lamat for my taste but blessedly we did get to go away from her for periods of time) a few things i had issues with but, I won't get into a huge gripe about it.


on a side note with the whole recombinations of souls especially with Ardbert and the WoL the first time it happened was when we came back from Malika's well when the third warden started cracking our Soul. we're in the Crystarium's inn room talking to Ardbert while sitting at the table and telling him what heppened in Ahm Arang and how Minfillia was now gone, we start to hear the glass cracking we fall to our knees in pain and ardbert comes over and pretty much gets with in touching distance and the white light appears between us. The second time it shows up is when we fist bump after Vaulthry in the quest called In his garden or something to that extent. (both scenes are re watchable in the Journal in the inn rooms and or your apartment or house if you have the desk)

added in for extra

in heavensward post quests the Warriors of darkness had bodies similiar to what the Scions did after G'raha Tia came to the first. The only difference between the two was Elidibus talked the Warriors of Darkness into killing themselves since G'raha hadn't found a way to teleport people across the rift and there wasn't void gates like the Void has to connect to the source. So it was easier for a body less soul like ardbert when he went back to the first to merge with the WoL since ya know dead and no physical body and no one being able to see him. There was also an attraction between the two souls since Ardbert did mention that he felt pulled to where our character was in the beginning after wandering unseen and unheard for almost 100 years, but it did still take touching and merging for the two to become one. Atleast in that scenario.

[mallleable]

Revisiting some speculation, but something has just occurred to me about Calyx's plan

It's actually quite simple. The chaos he's causing with all the mechanical malfunctions, and attacking people with soldiers is a means to put Everkeep's systems into a state of emergency so he can process his 5000 new Endless en mass.

From Origenics

Information Terminal: All instructions in the processing manual must be strictly observed. As we have charge of the realm's most vital resource, actions resulting in damage or loss constitute a serious crime.
First Stage: Extraction
Mixed aether comprised of both memory and soul is extracted from regulators and transferred into the stabilizing tank. As hastening extraction increases the risk of damage, the rate must not be adjusted except in the event of an emergency.

I think the 5000 number might be Everkeep's upper limit of what can be processed in a short amount of time. However, just because something can be done, doesn't mean it should, and I still think he's not accounting for everyone's emotional state.

"I, for one, have no wish to employ the fruits of my research in this manner. It is a waste of time and effort." After being confronted by Sphene for 'not being fit to be entrusted with the cherished memories of Alexandrians.'

All that soul, and memory aether plus the existential dread of a nation being concentrated into one place is bound to have unforeseen consequences.

[Cleretic]

Revisiting some speculation, but something has just occurred to me about Calyx's plan

It's actually quite simple. The chaos he's causing with all the mechanical malfunctions, and attacking people with soldiers is a means to put Everkeep's systems into a state of emergency so he can process his 5000 new Endless en mass.

From Origenics

Information Terminal: All instructions in the processing manual must be strictly observed. As we have charge of the realm's most vital resource, actions resulting in damage or loss constitute a serious crime.
First Stage: Extraction
Mixed aether comprised of both memory and soul is extracted from regulators and transferred into the stabilizing tank. As hastening extraction increases the risk of damage, the rate must not be adjusted except in the event of an emergency.

I think the 5000 number might be Everkeep's upper limit of what can be processed in a short amount of time. However, just because something can be done, doesn't mean it should, and I still think he's not accounting for everyone's emotional state.

"I, for one, have no wish to employ the fruits of my research in this manner. It is a waste of time and effort." After being confronted by Sphene for 'not being fit to be entrusted with the cherished memories of Alexandrians.'

All that soul, and memory aether plus the existential dread of a nation being concentrated into one place is bound to have unforeseen consequences.

...oh, damn, that actually tracks. I'm a believer in this one now.