Re-examining "Answers" and the nature of Ascians

[Naria]

Lots of spoilers in this post!

Ifrit made a similar remark along the lines of us being already tempered in 1.0 (although that term didn't exist at the time). I'm not sure how it is for new ARR characters but starting in 1.0 you never really ever see a non-echo/"tempered" version of your character. You do see one of Minfilia, but I'm not can't really say if there are any noticeable changes as I'm not too familiar with Ul'dah's 1.0 starting storyline.

One thing to consider is just because the primals say you've been tempered doesn't mean you are, the echo may be exactly as advertised and just provide a form of protection against tempering. If it is a form of tempering then its different than others we've seen as the PC is not outwardly as obsessive as those tempered by the primals. Although if we've been tempered by a crystal then the Ascians likely have been as well--wouldn't that just make everything ironic considering then Gaius at that point really would have been the only one fighting for free will, even though he is a catspaw for the Asicans.

EDIT: On topic it seems to me that the lyrics of the second verse "Feel what? Learn what? See what? Hear what?" seems like more like it would be a response to the the chorus, or in this case an Ascian response to Hydaelyn.

[Rensumas30]

Who is Zodiark ?

[Mysteltain]

Zodiark is the 'One True God' according to the Ascians. He's presumably that he's the Dark Crystal we see in the Echo during the final cutscenes, but outside of that that we really don't know anything concrete.

That being said, I don't know how much of FFXII lore they plan on incorporating with the inclusion of Zodiark and possibly the other Espers, but this is what they say about him in FFXII:

“Strongest of the scions created by the gods, they feared his growth, and so kept him a child. So indomitable is his strength that all things are by him twisted and pressed into oblivion. He alone fashions the laws governing all things, and administers punishment in place of the gods. So is he Keeper of Precepts, and his authority is absolute.”
—Clan Primer Bio

I know that they in no way are going to do a straight port of him because that would be both incredibly lazy and not work with the story at all, but maybe this holds some clues to his true purpose? For example, if Lahabrea is telling the truth and that Hydaelyn is some sort of parasite--something foreign to the world--and Zodiark is, in fact, the 'One True God', then one could easily assume that Zodiark controlled the world much more differently than Hydaelyn. Hydaelyn is very laissez-faire about Eorzea, barring anything that may directly harm her survival or that of the planet itself. We see her protecting her champions in our fight against the Ultima Weapon, much like the primals will defend their followers, but that's about it. She isn't actively affecting anything else. such as killing giant monsters, or performing divine interventions for the every-day person. She lets the people live their lives and choose their own paths.

But what if Zodiark was different. What if he actively controlled the world? What if he decided who lived and who died, whether the land would be bountiful or barren? Perhaps the Ascians (echoing Gaius' words, no less) are fed up with this 'silent god' and wish to bring order back to the land. At that point, well, they're no different than the Garleans, but unlike our armor-clad adversaries, they potentially have the absolute power to do so.

Now, as I said, this is all conjecture based on a text-snippet from a different game, but I don't think they'd have name-dropped Zodiark and not intended for us to remember just what he is, and capable of.

[Rannie]

mmm i don't know if I can agree with that about the song or not... However I will say one thing. Good and Evil are determined by actions. With the way the ascians are going at it. Lying.. manipulating...possession, ushering in chaos and power weapons for destruction's sake and not caring whether the rest of Eorzea lives or dies, That sounds pretty evil. Where as with Hydaelyn, she's for preserving the land, it's freedom and it's people. She also wants as little casualities as possible, why else would she chose just "one" to be the champion of her cause, and it pains me to say this but it includes the Garleans. (excuse me while I go wash my mouth out with soap for saying that) I would say it's more of a fight like Cosmos Vrs Chaos from Dissidia... we are her champions who fight the battle against the evil macho ugly (some not so ugly) bad guys. This storyline is a very classic fantasy storyline that I've read in sooooo many books (Ie: Wheel of Time, the Belgariad, The Mallorean, The Tamuli the Elenium)

[Silentio-Gigorious]

Id like to think that the "echo" plays a part in Hydaelyn's "corruption" if you will.
Its strange that only a few people (besides yourself) possess Echo and the works of the Scions are quite remote. If its a gift from Hydaelyn, then what is its true purpose.

[Enkidoh]

Id like to think that the "echo" plays a part in Hydaelyn's "corruption" if you will.
Its strange that only a few people (besides yourself) possess Echo and the works of the Scions are quite remote. If its a gift from Hydaelyn, then what is its true purpose.

Actually, 1.0 clearly showed the player character is not the only with the Echo - there were plenty of Echo users shown, but with varying degrees of potency - it's how Minfilia was able to run a large organization, the Path of the Twelve, consisting totally of Echo users (some were shown to only have mastery of languages, such as a lalafell who boasted it was quite profitable for him, while others could view other peoples' memories clearly yet have no understanding of foreign languages - Minfilia specifically was shown in 1.0 to not understand beastman languages and instead have to call on the player to translate). Specifically, in both 1.0 and ARR it was stated the player's ability in the Echo was unusually strong though, so it's obvious then that the narrative would refer more to the player's ability instead of other people though.

The reason why it doesn't seem there's a lot of other Echo users is because Minfilia actually explained in 1.0 that Echo-users tend to experience a lot of contempt and persecution from 'normal' people and hence usually hide their abilities (for instance, in 1.0 there was shown a little lafafell girl from a noble Ul'dah family who had literally been thrown out on the street by her parents when she started having Echo visions), hence why the Path of the Twelve existed, it was not just a research guild to try and understand the Echo's nature, but also provide a sanctuary for those newly 'waken' to the Echo.

I was somewhat disappointed the new ARR story somewhat shoves the Echo aside after only giving it a cursory explanation (and the Path being re-purposed and reorganized into the Scions of the Seventh Dawn), as Minfilia went into major detail about it in 1.0.

[mr_wazzabi]

What language do the ascians sing in the song? How do you know these lyrics if it's not english?

[Alenore]

The whole song is in English.

[Silentio-Gigorious]

*Amazing 1.0 Information on Echo*

Wow, these are the kind of details i miss being a new ARR player - To be honest im a little disappointed in the lack of finer details in the main scenario of ARR, but its find finding this stuff out in my own time outide of the game.

[Catapult]

What language do the ascians sing in the song? How do you know these lyrics if it's not english?

The echo offers comprehension of languages. But then that is slightly beside the point.
This is a titular song setting world-context, not something our character directly experiences in-game.