8.0 speculation

[Cilia]

The Key works, albeit unreliably, without Azem's crystal and has done so at least twice before (and up to as many as five times, depending on how much you want to read into Queen Eternal's "worlds beyond"). Having said that, Preservation (Calyx) was evidently able to figure out how to make it work more reliably, or otherwise had inside knowledge on the thing that the Key's original Milallan handlers did not.

Besides which the Key's interdimensional bridging is nothing like Azem's magick. On the other hand it's essentially a massively upscaled variation on Halmarut's ability to punch holes in the dimensions, suggesting (to me) it may be more closely related to her than Azem. Even then though, we have no clear information on how the Lalafell / Milalla got it to work in the first place, let alone where it came from and if anyone else got it to work beforehand. Perhaps it responds only to a need and not a desire, or the dimensional bridging is only part of it's capabilities (that is to say, it could be a wish-granting device with limited capabilities). The fact the Ascians never bothered to scoop it up and exploit it tells us either they didn't know about it, didn't know how to make it function, or didn't think it worth the effort, and only the last of those raises fewer questions than it answers.

Regardless, according to Miyali the Key chooses its owner, not the other way around; while that sort of mysticism is rarely attached to nonsentient artifacts, if anyone would know it would be the descendants of Aloalo's Speaker.

All of which is to say we still have virtually no information on the Key other than "It can make bridges between the Source and reflections, sometimes," so "Azem created it for their future incarnation 12,000+ years ago to resolve the post-Endsinger crisis showing up now, which they knew about because of precognition; their symbol showing up when the Key was invoked proves it" is seriously jumping the gun.


And the fact Enuo has apparently been cast as a Voidsent lord means we still don't know where the plot is going, other than Halmarut's ominous "If you try to save [all of] the reflections, everything will be annihilated" Big Doomer Energy speech (which we still don't have the full context for, either).

[Voidmage]

The Key works, albeit unreliably, without Azem's crystal and has done so at least twice before (and up to as many as five times, depending on how much you want to read into Queen Eternal's "worlds beyond"). Having said that, Preservation (Calyx) was evidently able to figure out how to make it work more reliably, or otherwise had inside knowledge on the thing that the Key's original Milallan handlers did not.

Tbf, basically everything in that world is build on Aether, so I wouldn't be surprised if you can partially manipulate the key with it.
Azems magic is probably nothing else than teleportation magic turned up to eleven to some extent.

Another contenter is that the Key and it's function is one thing (maybe even something else entirely) and the Milalla plus others kinda "hijacked" it's function through Dynamis.
I guess they desperately wanted to be safed back then, which is a good starting point for using it.


My theory is still that the whole interdimensional travel is just a side effect and not the original purpose of the key.
I think the whole Azem thing could also simply be a bait and switch in the form of "using up" our crystal for the keys original purpose to unlock, kinda to really start anew elsewhere (the rebirth part basically).
At least I hope they don't dive too deeply into Azems past because the whole mystery is what makes them interesting.
We aren't Azem, only their reincarnation after all.
Them having planned everything would completely diminish our accomplishments imo.

Nevertheless, I have no idea what they are planning given this time all Shards seem to be in danger instead of just one.

[Cleretic]

And the fact Enuo has apparently been cast as a Voidsent lord means we still don't know where the plot is going, other than Halmarut's ominous "If you try to save [all of] the reflections, everything will be annihilated" Big Doomer Energy speech (which we still don't have the full context for, either).

Enuo could be interesting, because my thought is that he might not be a Voidsent lord, but rather a lord of Voidsent, if that makes sense. I actually suspect he might be a corrupted human, like Calofisteri--appropriately, another FFV reference boss that got tied to the Thirteenth.

It might be because I had the idea once before and am still attached to it, but I like the idea that Enuo is from Mhach, and is accidentally getting turned out in the present day, long after the fight he was invested in is over; he's a relic of a conflict nobody still alive has any stake in, but now he's our problem (as opposed to 'I'm technically from some ancient world but I mostly don't care and have my own goals', like Athena and Amon). Especially interesting because, to my knowledge, there's a very fitting part of the game's history that he could fit in: while we know Mhach got into voidsent and void magic later, with Shatotto and the birth of black magic being several centuries before then, we still don't know who introduced them to that. Given that was literally Enuo's FFV role, it makes sense for him to be the guy that did it.

[Pimsan20]

Enuo could be interesting, because my thought is that he might not be a Voidsent lord, but rather a lord of Voidsent, if that makes sense. I actually suspect he might be a corrupted human, like Calofisteri--appropriately, another FFV reference boss that got tied to the Thirteenth.

It might be because I had the idea once before and am still attached to it, but I like the idea that Enuo is from Mhach, and is accidentally getting turned out in the present day, long after the fight he was invested in is over; he's a relic of a conflict nobody still alive has any stake in, but now he's our problem (as opposed to 'I'm technically from some ancient world but I mostly don't care and have my own goals', like Athena and Amon). Especially interesting because, to my knowledge, there's a very fitting part of the game's history that he could fit in: while we know Mhach got into voidsent and void magic later, with Shatotto and the birth of black magic being several centuries before then, we still don't know who introduced them to that. Given that was literally Enuo's FFV role, it makes sense for him to be the guy that did it.

Maybe we'll learn more about 14th's Enuo on the occult island. And if i'm bean honest, i thought the tomberry we met was Enuo.

[Kranel_San]

Maybe we'll learn more about 14th's Enuo on the occult island. And if i'm bean honest, i thought the tomberry we met was Enuo.

Archive (The tonberry) is speculated to be Omniscient from FF5, since both wear similar robes with similar patterns.

The name Omniscient also carries a similar meaning to Archive's knowledge and role in the Occult Island story. So it's definitely not a coincidence.

[Cleretic]

Archive (The tonberry) is speculated to be Omniscient from FF5, since both wear similar robes with similar patterns.

The name Omniscient also carries a similar meaning to Archive's knowledge and role in the Occult Island story. So it's definitely not a coincidence.

And of course, Omniscient is the boss of the other side of the Forked Tower in FFV.

We are rapidly running out of FFV things to reference, to be honest.

[Cilia]

Enuo could be interesting, because my thought is that he might not be a Voidsent lord, but rather a lord of Voidsent, if that makes sense. I actually suspect he might be a corrupted human, like Calofisteri--appropriately, another FFV reference boss that got tied to the Thirteenth.

I mean, unless voidsent can be created from beast souls as well as human(oid) souls, all voidsent are technically corrupted humans. Otherwise the delineation between "human" souls and beast souls is pointless.

I agree Enuo probably has some connection to the Thirteenth's past, since "random Voidsent warlord" is not a very interesting character and they already did that with the Cloud of Darkness (who could get away with it since, even in III, it didn't have much of a backstory and wasn't even hinted to exist until you defeated Xande). Mhachi progenitor of void arts does sound like a plausible backstory for him in this context.

And of course, Omniscient is the boss of the other side of the Forked Tower in FFV.

We are rapidly running out of FFV things to reference, to be honest.

Just off the top of my head we have:

Krile (blended a bit with IX's Zidane in 7.4)
Galuf and the Students of Baldesion
Gilgamesh
Calofisteri
Omega
Shinryu
Sirensong Sea's Ghido minion
Deltascape (Alte Roite, Catastrophe, Halicarnassus, [Neo] Exdeath)
Forbidden Land Eureka (name references III, but is overall more V coded)
Ronka
The Tycoon (references Alexander Highwind Tycoon)
Proto-Carbuncle
Occult Crescent (The Archive / Omniscient, V character cosplay outfits, mount, minions, Forked Tower: Blood / Magic, etc.)
Enuo

So yeah, they've mined V pretty good, which is why I don't think the next expansion is going to be V themed even if all we've got to go on right now is a V reference in Enuo and Halmarut saying all of the reflections can't survive (and the Source may be stripped of life if we try to do so).

[Prometeo]

a bit Ancient-y

It's a little more than "a bit" (deadass 1:1).

Also, no serious person argues that Azem has perfect precog. In fact, the strongest evidence for Azem having precog is itself the other canon Echo Precog we have in the game — Mikoto Jinba's — whose precog is limited to specific events, lacking the surrounding contexts, and often causing more problems than solutions.

To that end, would it not make sense that instead of Azem planning every little thing out, it's more simply Azem planning for one specific thing (the Reflections collapsing sans Hydaelyn and Zodiark)? And no, the Reflections need not exist for the Ancients to make something that affects them. Azem's Signature Spell manipulates the Interdimensional Rift. We literally call Hades' and Hythlodaeus' Souls from Etheirys' Aetherial Sea all the way to the edge of the universe, we call on heroes from beyond the Rift to other places beyond the Rift.

A Key that looks "a bit" Ancient, that responds to Azem's Crystal/Essence (or Hades'!), that can project a symbol which should only be known by Azem and Hades, that manipulates the Rift (which Azem and the Ancients WERE familiar with), and that is connected to two of Hades' Bucket-List Locales, of which, Alzadaal's Legacy also has Azem's Sun?

I mean, come on. It's hardly conclusive, but it's not bare-bones as you've painted it out to be. Maybe Azem made it, maybe a reincarnation did. Maybe a Reflection's Civilization found Amaurotine Ruins and studied Concept Crystals to make it; incidentally ensuring its power can only be plumbed by those with the Echo, which we happen to have because we are the Sundered Soul of an Ancient (as Preservation were also after Krile for her Echo).

There's no shortage of possible reasons behind the Key's existence, but when the story has intentionally put all of this connective tissue there — whether it ends up substantial or not in the end — it's asking you to examine them by establishing what kind of person Azem was; as a character and as a force of nature within this story affecting those lives they pass through, lives like Hades', Hythlodaeus', Venat's, Themis', and the WoL's.

And for one to acknowledge Azem as a character with agency in this story requires entertaining what the story has put forth in its main and side content since ARR (and especially since 5.0/5.x); engaging with the notion that the story has always been — and will continue to be — about the Ancients and how their legacies affect contemporary Etheirys and its myriad peoples and cultures. Azem is as much their own character in CS3's Lore Bible as the WoL is, and if the writers intend to pursue that path for the Key, it's not all of a sudden "bad writing".

"It’s a secret! We have an idea of what they were up to… but we’re not sure if we’ll have a chance to talk about that in the future."

[Cleretic]

And for one to acknowledge Azem as a character with agency in this story requires entertaining what the story has put forth in its main and side content since ARR (and especially since 5.0/5.x); engaging with the notion that the story has always been — and will continue to be — about the Ancients and how their legacies affect contemporary Etheirys and its myriad peoples and cultures. Azem is as much their own character in CS3's Lore Bible as the WoL is, and if the writers intend to pursue that path for the Key, it's not all of a sudden "bad writing".

The Ancients did not exist until 5.0. The reason the early Ascians were all over the place, vague as hell, and were saying things that only kinda make sense according to later canon (Lahabrea's Praetorium speech is full of 'not completely off-base but NOWHERE NEAR how it turned out') until Emet-Selch comes along is because, by admission of the developers themselves, they did not have a plan. The Ancients were a lingering thread from 1.0 that they had no real ideas for but kept stringing through for whatever reason (I suspect because they wanted a unified antagonist for the parts of the story that weren't the Garlean Empire), and they just sorta hoped that someone would eventually come up with something that let them do what they do best at: pretending that's what they meant the whole time.

This is not speculation or aspersion; this has all been said in interviews. This isn't even unique, or a negative: every ongoing story you've ever watched, read or played has been full of people improvising what comes next while making it look like they planned the whole thing, and XIV's dev team is exceptionally good at it! But it does mean that the Ancients are a johnny-come-lately plot beat and you shouldn't be acting like they've been here the whole time.

Also, the WoL is barely a character, and Azem is even less of one. But that's not the point I want to discuss here:

Yes, theoretically, Azem's future sight is not 'perfect precog'. So far they've guessed one thing right on-screen, and it seemed to be a pretty short-term one. But if it's suddenly revealed that they also had a vision that a tool that is unusuable in their world would be used twelve thousand years later, and they got enough information from that premonition to make that tool and have it be perfectly usable while being literally incapable of testing it (and in a story where testing this exact thing was let in as an actual story beat)? That is such a perfect bullseye of a shot that I don't think people are going to believe that it was the only one fired.

But mainly I think that any answer that centers the Ancients on this is dreadfully dull. If the key comes from the one society in the game's setting that could not and would not possibly use it, I'm sorely disappointed because it's the answer that doesn't possibly have an interesting 'why' for it. You tell me that Allag, Ivalice, or hell, that Baron made this? I'm interested, those guys would have a motive and a plan worth hearing about! But the Ancients? Nah, to them it's a paperweight.

[Pimsan20]

Also, there is something that i was wondering about. Does the withering also exist in the 8th umbral calamity era?