Gaius's Intentions

[Enkidoh]

The trouble is, no matter how lofty or noble his ideals or goals were at first, Gaius lost all credibility the moment he allied with Lahabrea - he zealously hated the Primals and wanted to conquer Eorzea to destroy the Primals. So, what did he then go and do? Team up with the very force responsible for giving the beast tribes the ability to summon the Primals in the first place.

Personally I felt this actually cheapened his character, in that his drive and goals were no longer his own, but simply the machinations of the Ascians. Which is a shame, as I actually liked him as a character, even though I hated him as well (as a result of role-playing my character and her back story involving Ala Mhigo).

[Melinia]

The trouble is, no matter how lofty or noble his ideals or goals were at first, Gaius lost all credibility the moment he allied with Lahabrea - he zealously hated the Primals and wanted to conquer Eorzea to destroy the Primals. So, what did he then go and do? Team up with the very force responsible for giving the beast tribes the ability to summon the Primals in the first place.

Gaius appears to have been ignorant of that little detail - and I don't exactly blame him for that (after all, the Ascians provided him with the solution to the primal problem as well).

But overall, I'm rather disappointed in the way that the Imperial foursome have been handled to date.

[PArcher]

So, what did he then go and do? Team up with the very force responsible for giving the beast tribes the ability to summon the Primals in the first place.

I actually don't think he knew about that until Lahabrea activated Ultima. Gaius did show shock at that revelation after all.

[Anonymoose]

I actually don't think he knew about that until Lahabrea activated Ultima. Gaius did show shock at that revelation after all.

It was actually kind of ironic watching Judge Vader get the ol' "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further" treatment.

[Nama]

Gaius had Alot of reasons for doing what he's did. While hating primals and deities is a major factor it always seemed like his endgame was not just taking but earning the throne. He was the leader behind the failed attempt at erozea and on sure that failure not only hurt his pride but damaged his reputation dispite how well he took ala mhingo. The emperor is a conqueror building garlemald as we know it just in his lifetime. Gaius conquering erozea would not only bring new power and resources to the empire but also inspire confidence along his peers when he makes his play for the throne when the emperor expires. Everything else just seemed like a means to an end.

[Viridiana]

One thing I just noticed when re-watching the Ultima scene. At the end, as Lahabrea is leaving Gaius to handle us, there's a green ball of aether just floating around. Any idea what that's supposed to be?

[Enkidoh]

I just looked through the screenshots I took of that scene when I first ran the Praetorium, and you're right, there actually does seem to be a small green ball of aetheric energy that just floated around the party while Lahabrea does his big 'the reason you suck' speech before leaving Gaius to renew his assault on the party.

Considering when the dust clears after he unleashed Ultima, he directly mentions Hydaelyn as having exhausted Her energy to protect the player's party, and given the fact Hydaelyn clearly helps the player during the Ultima Weapon fight (by drawing out the Primals' essences each time Gaius tried using them)... could it be an aspect of Hydaelyn Herself? I'm not saying it is, as there's no evidence other than what I just mentioned, but it does seem very suspicious.

Damnit, now I'm going to be thinking of this for days...

[Nahara]

could it be an aspect of Hydaelyn Herself?

Doubtful. The particle effect is off to the side, clipping through our view of the landscape as the scene takes place. Think of it like the particle effect of a lamp appearing over the wire frame of the lamp, as if the light was outside of the lamp, rather than inside shining out.

From a game-design standpoint, it also doesn't make much sense to have it there. Sure, Hydaelyn talks to us during the fight and the following one, but if SE really didn't have a way for those text boxes to appear on screen without the use of some in-game model for it to come from, it's much easier to make said object some invisible and/or textureless ball off to the side or in the floor, rather than create something AND give it a particle effect, just so a few lines of dialog can come from it.

On top of that, the color of the orb itself looks like the same teal particle effects of the Ultima spell, so it could be glitched particle effects of that, too.

[PArcher]

On top of that, the color of the orb itself looks like the same teal particle effects of the Ultima spell, so it could be glitched particle effects of that, too.

I can't remember if its the same in the Praetorium fight, but I'm pretty sure in Ultima HM the green orbs (not purple tethered ones) and Defractive Laser are the same color as the green particle in the CS. So maybe its just aetherplasm floating around as a result of Ultima going off.

[Viridiana]

Considering when the dust clears after he unleashed Ultima, he directly mentions Hydaelyn as having exhausted Her energy to protect the player's party, and given the fact Hydaelyn clearly helps the player during the Ultima Weapon fight (by drawing out the Primals' essences each time Gaius tried using them)... could it be an aspect of Hydaelyn Herself? I'm not saying it is, as there's no evidence other than what I just mentioned, but it does seem very suspicious.

I did consider that, but I reasoned that an Ascian standing right there would probably notice something amiss if Hydaelyn were floating around. And yet, everyone just ignores the floaty green ball of light. . .