A primal halted the Empire's advance after Ala Mhigo?

[Kyan]

I'm sorry if this has been talked about in another thread, I did try searching but was unsuccessful. I was just rereading the official website for information on Othard, when I read this:

In subjugating Ala Mhigo, van Baelsar employed subterfuge to stoke the fires of civil unrest, a masterstroke which led to the nation’s capture without the need for a protracted siege. However, the unanticipated appearance of a primal shortly thereafter prompted the Empire to halt the legion’s advance. The legatus has since remained in Ala Mhigo, where he rules as an imperial viceroy.

Source: World, threats, The Black Wolf.

Is this misinformation referencing Midgardsormr? I don't think so, as the website also states this:

In the Year 1562 of the Sixth Astral Era, five years after the invasion of Ala Mhigo, the Garlean Empire finally rose from apparent inactivity to resume its attack on Eorzea. A fleet of airships was deployed to Mor Dhona, led by the massive flagship Agrius.
As the imperial fleet advanced into the skies above Silvertear Lake, the largest inland body of water in Aldenard, it was met with a wholly unexpected sight. Midgardsormr, the dragon deity of the lake, had arisen, summoned by a hand unknown.

Do we know what primal was summoned near Ala Mhigo?

[Falen_Nadleeh]

Was Ramuh summoned by Sylphes.

It's the only known summoning of Ramuh.

[Myranda]

Midgardsormr is most definitely NOT the primal, as Fernehawles once said that it's not even a primal to begin with but a dragon king. And as you note in your 2nd quote, Silvertear Skies took place 5 years later. It was when the attack was resumed, not what caused it's halt in the first place.

I don't believe it's Ramuh either. I think the sylph's summoned him in response to the Calamity, not back in 1557. To my knowledge, no existing source has given us any good answers and it remains open question as to which primal it was.

[Kyan]

Yeah, I'm not saying Midgardsormr is a primal, my first chain of thought was that it was an error of some kind.

[saber_alter]

well....ala mhigo is in close proximity to the black shroud.

due to the sylphs being ruled out, the ixal are also beastmen near the black shroud. I'm not versed into ixali history, but they might have summoned garuda because they felt threatened by the garleans.

though its likely that a native beast tribe summoned their own patron demi-god...or a bunch of ala mhigans summoned rhalgr.

[Zohar_Lahar]

well....ala mhigo is in close proximity to the black shroud.

due to the sylphs being ruled out, the ixal are also beastmen near the black shroud. I'm not versed into ixali history, but they might have summoned garuda because they felt threatened by the garleans.

though its likely that a native beast tribe summoned their own patron demi-god...or a bunch of ala mhigans summoned rhalgr.

I'm thinking it was located in Gyr Abania. If it isnt' Rhalgr, maybe it is something like Griever or Ixion. They've kinda used the most of the recurring FF summons already....

[Anonymoose]

That sentence of Gaius' / the Empire's backstory has caused confusion since 2010.

We know that, in 1557, the Garleans took Ala Mhigo. We know that the Garleans spent the next few years solidifying this position, as it was the only foothold they had over the land bridge separating our continents. We know that they deciphered some of the truth behind the legends of Mor Dhona and planned to take it in a preemptive strike, and we know that this was to prevent the beast tribes from learning to summon primals, which would likely both hamper the invasion of the Eorzea and embolden the nations of Othard to summon primals in renewed resistance. And, finally, we know that upon the retreat from the Battle of Silvertear Skies, they sensed something powerful that terrified them.

The Age of Calm was due to futility. Garlemald already needed some time to gather the strength to counter this something, but after the primals began to appear, why bother? There was no hope of victory without a concrete plan of action against the primals (who will just be summoned over and over again utilizing Eorzea's bountiful aetheric resources). They didn't have that plan until Nael promised them Meteor, and after that fell though, they didn't have a plan again until the Ultima weapon as discovered and the Ascians got involved.

If you look at all of that information together, it's possible that the quote you mentioned in the OP was simply crunching all of that into too succinct of a background story. They took Ala Mhigo, then some other stuff important happened, then primals appeared, then some other important stuff happened, then they waited in Ala Mhigo for a while. It's possible that there's nothing strange in that sentence at all. They didn't expect to see primals, they expected to take Mor Dhona's superflow without incident. Or it could be specifically referring to a mysterious anomaly primal appearance. I don't know.

All I know is that when I had the chance to ask about it, the primal's identity was please look forward to it.

I still have no idea. If we were given the answer in 2.0, I overlooked the connection.

[Mattlex]

Shiva has been seen in quite a bit of the artwork - The art book that came with the collectors edition shows her...


If I was to speculate - and this is purely speculation, because I don't know enough about the history to say with any factual information, but with their proximity to Silvertear I would bet the Ishgardians have been keeping secrets behind their gates, maybe its not just beast tribes who summon primals?

It may explain where all that snow came from too

[Kyan]

Shiva has been seen in quite a bit of the artwork - The art book that came with the collectors edition shows her...If I was to speculate - and this is purely speculation, because I don't know enough about the history to say with any factual information, but with their proximity to Silvertear I would bet the Ishgardians have been keeping secrets behind their gates, maybe its not just beast tribes who summon primals?

It may explain where all that snow came from too

This has been a crack theory I've been harbouring in my mind, but reluctant to share considering the Yoshi-P statement, mentioned by others, of an "unseen beastman tribe". Then again, with Y'shtola's "private" conversation with the Admiral at the end of 2.2, I question "what is a beast man, and how are they different to the five races?" A beastmen race could simply be in the eyes of the beholder... I am certain that the Amalj'aa or Kobolds might consider us beasts for what we do to their kin. And consider Yugiri - we can clearly see she fears the prejudice her physical appearance inspires from the other races, yet we do not consider her a beastmen while she is clothed and masked, because she behaves like us. Would it be a different reaction from the Scions if she was unmasked during the story?

For now, I am going to assume that it is possibly the gigas. However, if it were Ishgardians trying to summon Halone... It could explain Shiva's Elezen appearance...

[Melinia]

Then again, with Y'shtola's "private" conversation with the Admiral at the end of 2.2, I question "what is a beast man, and how are they different to the five races?" A beastmen race could simply be in the eyes of the beholder... I am certain that the Amalj'aa or Kobolds might consider us beasts for what we do to their kin.

And then there are the goblins and mamool'ja, both of which have cooperated freely with the three city-states in the past (and in fact, that's the reason why the mamool'ja are in the region - they came because employment was offered). The mamool'ja are mercenaries who appear to be willing to work for anyone, while the goblins don't understand why anyone would need a special word for "black market".