7.5 MSQ [SPOILERS]

[freshavocado]

And my final point is that I do not like the Warrior of Light being compared to Zenos and hate/don't understand why they keep bringing up this plot point. If it’s just Halmarut trying to manipulate us by getting under our skin, I’m on board. But if the writers are trying to force a thematic parallel between us and Zenos again, it feels repetitive and honestly just misses the mark on who the Warrior of Light is (or at least who my Warrior of Light is).

Like it or not the wol is a zenos foil. Without the scions and minfilia the wol could have been down a very different path. He even calls you his mirror. The Wol shows evidence of being a fiend for battle repeatedly in msq and side content. From elidibus unnerving you by slaughtering his specters, zenos final fight dialogue, and even the fight with gulool ja ja showing your eagerness for a battle. The extent of wols bloodthirst stops at whether they want to sacrifice innocent life or not. And the bonds they hold show that they want to maintain benevolence.

[Turtledeluxe]

Not "Lots of people" only a small handful of people, and they were only able to use it once and got stuck in the area they ported to. We literally just had a patch that explained Preservation trying to use it and failing to do so......

I mean, this is not accurate, but let's say it is. Zoraal Ja used it for reflection fusing. And he is about as Azem oriented as Tataru. So.

And to be honest I would love for them to be more mindful of things like this but their workflow apparently makes this hard (10 different writers including Yoshi P editing in he wants). I am sure they set this precedent with absolutely no regard. Thankfully we can at least say our connection to Azem does appear to give us a unique portal.

Remember when it answered to fervent Lala prayers? Pepperidge farm remembers.

[Divinemights]

I mean, this is not accurate, but let's say it is. Zoraal Ja used it for reflection fusing. And he is about as Azem oriented as Tataru. So.
And to be honest I would love for them to be more mindful of things like this but their workflow apparently makes this hard (10 different writers including Yoshi P editing in he wants). I am sure they set this precedent with absolutely no regard. Thankfully we can at least say our connection to Azem does appear to give us a unique portal.
Remember when it answered to fervent Lala prayers? Pepperidge farm remembers.

It’s not that bad.
Preservation didn’t actually control the key and they simply figured out a way to trigger it.
I doubt they were able to choose the destination, much like those Lalafell from the Fifth.
And if that still feels insufficient as an explanation, then we could even assume that one of the members of Preservation was a shard of Azem on the 9th

[Supersnow845]

It’s not that bad.
Preservation didn’t actually control the key and they simply figured out a way to trigger it.
I doubt they were able to choose the destination, much like those Lalafell from the Fifth.
And if that still feels insufficient as an explanation, then we could even assume that one of the members of Preservation was a shard of Azem on the 9th

That doesn’t match either because Sphene was able to perfectly use the key to cut living memory away and send it back to the 9th right when we fought zarool ja

If only Azem shards can properly control the key then how did Sphene have such accuracy using it at that point

I will buy the millala potentially only managed to get it to work because it wanted to find its way into the hands of an Azem shard and the 9th Azem at the time was working with preservation but Sphene should not have had that much control over the key in base 7.0

[Turtledeluxe]

That doesn’t match either because Sphene was able to perfectly use the key to cut living memory away and send it back to the 9th right when we fought zarool ja

If only Azem shards can properly control the key then how did Sphene have such accuracy using it at that point

Right and also, as I alluded to, in 7.4 and even in core DT we are told over and over again its been used since time immemorial. Putting that aside, Emet and Venat both modified our Azem crystal. Many Ascians were on the Convocation and knew Azem. Are we going to argue Preservation can do it but not them? Fair enough, I think the story has sufficiently proven the key possibly could have served Ascians in some capacity beyond simple teleportation.

Halmarut is also supporting Calyx yet he desperately sought it so. Not a huge deal I just think.they need to slow down with the lore.

[Garruss]

I enjoyed the 7.5 MSQ. I love that the Scions are back together, that we revisited Mor'dhona, and that our villain has a clear objective but that there is a possibility of infighting between their group. That's a setup for some interesting storytelling.

That being said I still feel that there is a lack of nuance and depth on display, especially in regards to politics, compared to previous entries in the story. For example, the Garleans seemed a little too cheery upon hearing some pretty basic platitudes from the twins trip to Tural. We also defeated what appeared to be a major player in the void and then convinced him to return home and start rebuilding the void with just a few words. Hopefully this flattening is just to move the story forward quickly and set up story points that will be explored in further detail later.

Also, I felt they need to do a better job explaining how Halmurat knows the Solstice will happen and why no other Ascian brought this up as a possibility. It feels like a massive oversight if Emet-Selch knew about this and didn't weaponize that info to demotivate us during the Rejoining explanations. If Halmarut kept it a secret even from her own kind, the 'why' and 'how' of that secrecy really needs some heavy lifting in the writing.

And my final point is that I do not like the Warrior of Light being compared to Zenos and hate/don't understand why they keep bringing up this plot point. If it’s just Halmarut trying to manipulate us by getting under our skin, I’m on board. But if the writers are trying to force a thematic parallel between us and Zenos again, it feels repetitive and honestly just misses the mark on who the Warrior of Light is (or at least who my Warrior of Light is).

I honestly would not be surprised if, in part 2 of the MSQ we make it official to the world. The Scions have reformed.

[Aidorouge]

I actually was thinking that shed want the wol to become the next hydaelyn.. what else for the champion to do that to uphold the mothers legacy... good food here i love the theories

It would certainly be an effective way of getting rid of us for good by forcing us to become the new Mothercrystal (or Fathercrystal). Though it obviously won't actually happen, there's no telling what might happen to bring us to the brink of that decision.

[eloralora]

Right and also, as I alluded to, in 7.4 and even in core DT we are told over and over again its been used since time immemorial. Putting that aside, Emet and Venat both modified our Azem crystal. Many Ascians were on the Convocation and knew Azem. Are we going to argue Preservation can do it but not them? Fair enough, I think the story has sufficiently proven the key possibly could have served Ascians in some capacity beyond simple teleportation.

The Ascians were on the Convocation and knew Azem, but the only remaining Ascians are sundered, and should only have the memories from their constellation crystals (which are not supposed to contain any information about Azem, having been deemed unworthy of commemoration). Not to say it's impossible for a current Ascian to have gained deep knowledge of Azem, but the story would have to explain how the Ascian acquired it.

But we know they were baffled that the Exarch managed to transport someone across the rift with a physical body, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Ascians are physically incapable of using the key the same way they can't maintain a physical form while traversing the rift. The sundered ones possess corpses and don't inhabit living bodies. Calyx can't use the key himself either — once Preservation loses the key, the living researchers are exterminated because they have no use anymore:

Draft Document: The only reason we retained our flesh was to serve Master Calyx as physical instruments to conduct his experiments.
Draft Document: Deprived of the object of our research, our existence serves no further purpose. I dare not imagine the depths of his disappointment in me.
Draft Document: The complex is to be shut down. All personnel will have their bodies reduced to aether, which will be allocated for further experimentation.
Draft Document: Memory data will be archived. Any Endless conversions will be subject to Master Calyx's discretion. If he does not deem us fit, then we are not deserving of eternal life.

[Turtledeluxe]

My question is how does new lore not conflict with old lore. Why for example was Emet not aware of or using this tech. Why don't they know about the Solstice. Unless its all misdirection, the writers have made zero effort to resolve or even show awareness outside Hydaelyn, which wasn't solved, despite a cutscene and updating like 4 related npcs dialogue.

And really you can go further because they were also desaturating souls. With plans to harvest more. Why was he not all over this.

[HammAndCheese]

My question is how does new lore not conflict with old lore. Why for example was Emet not aware of or using this tech. Why don't they know about the Solstice. Unless its all misdirection, the writers have made zero effort to resolve or even show awareness outside Hydaelyn, which wasn't solved, despite a cutscene and updating like 4 related npcs dialogue.

And really you can go further because they were also desaturating souls. With plans to harvest more. Why was he not all over this.

They'll probably explain a lot of this later but it could easily be written off as he didn't care, he was planning on obliterating everyone anyway and offering up everything as a sacrifice to Zodiark to bring back all the ancients. If that all actually happened as planned the knowledge of the solstice wouldn't have mattered to him in the long run because it wouldn't have happened. With the events of DT one could make the assumption that the 9th was primed for a rejoining, similar to the 1st, but after Emet's defeat we truly don't know how time flowed on the 9th, so for all we know he was already dead by the time most of the soul stuff happened. The question of if Hydaelyn knew will probably be answered by Livingway in the .55 patch, they planted that question and they are very deliberate in their storytelling, so it'll likely get answered sooner rather than later. I also predict that most will be explained over the course of multiple expansions, they are just setting up a lot of questions at this point.