Song Lyrics in FFXIV: Compilation, Discussion, and Interpretation

[neila_nuruodo]

At the mercy, of those who drive the sword

Further listening and thinking of the meaning leads me to say that this should be as follows:

At the mercy of those who grab our sword

This would thematically evoke the way the Ancients' own creation magics were warped and turned against them for their own destruction.

[Mance1462]

after listening to the song for like a month straight and paying attention to this the entire time I thought I'd try my own hand at this, although knowing SE's track record I believe we're due for the lyrics tomorrow or so

One brings shadow, one brings the light
Two-toned echos tumbling through time
Threescore wasted, ten cast aside
Four-fold knowing no end in sight
x2

All remember, in blackened silence
Our surrender, a somber reverie
Slowly drifting down in the twilight
Ever sifting through fading memories

Now I'm thinking "Well, was it worth this?"
Ever present writing on the wall
Represents this descent to madness
Come and save us, yeah just before we fall

Riding home
Riding home
Finding hope
Don't lose hope

Like broken angels, wingless, cast from heaven's gaze (Our slumbering demons await)
???can fly when falling, falling far from grace (Hell take us with broken wings)
And like a message in a bottle cast to sea (Disgraced, untouched, and unseen)
Unto their ends our candles burn, until we're free

In monochrome melodies,
Our tales are painted in red (Leading to the edge)
Deep inside we're nothing more than scions of sinners
In the rain, tonight our time is made!
Oh!

Yes, time circles endlessly
The hands of fate trained ahead (Pointing to the edge)
All things change, drawn to the flame
To rise from the ashes
To begin, we first must see the end!
Ooh!

[One brings shadow]

Under witness, we cast the first stone
In our cages, we know not what we do
Indecision, here at the crossroads
Recognition, tomorrow's come too soon

And we're bloodied, like lambs to slaughter
At the mercy of those who grab their sword
As the star wept, hid underwater
We're forgotten, for now and evermore

[Riding home]

Without a compass, wandering, lost in lies of faith (Then ??? rescue my friend)
Are we alive in fighting death's amber embrace? (Our hearts beat, hang on my friend)
On hands and knees we pray to gods we never see (Come, shadow, come follow me)
The final hour upon us, no more time to grieve

In monochrome melodies,
Our tales are painted in red. (Leading to the edge)
Deep inside we're nothing more than scions of sinners
In the rain, tonight our time is made!
Ooooh!

Yes, time circles endlessly
The hands of fate trained ahead (Pointing to the edge)
All things change, drawn to the flame
To rise from the ashes
To begin, we first must see the end!
Ooh!

[RicaRuin]

Official Lyrics revealed!

All our splendour bathed black in silence
Our surrender a sombre reverie

Slowly drifting down into twilight
Left to sifting through faded memories

Know our places, for worth is wordless
Evanescent, this writing on the wall

Brother stay this descent to madness
Come and save us. Catch us before we fall

Like broken angels, wingless, cast from heavens' gates
(Our slumb'ring demons awake)

We only fly when falling, falling far from grace
(Hell take us, heaven can wait)

Our lives a message in a bottle cast to sea
(Disgrace untold and unseen)

Quick to their ends, our candles burn until we're free

In monochrome melodies
Our tears are painted in red
(Bleeding to the edge)
Deep inside we're nothing more
Than scions and sinners
In the rain
Do light and darkness fade

Yes, time circles endlessly
The hands of fate trained ahead
(Pointing to the edge)
All things change, drawn to the flame
To rise from the ashes.
To begin
We first must see the end

Rock of ages, we cast the first stone
In our cages, we know not what we do

Indecision here at the crossroads
Recognition, tomorrow's come too soon

Follow blindly like lambs to slaughter
At the mercy of those who ply the sword

As our song wends dead underwater
We're forgotten for now and evermore

Without a compass wand'ring lost in lies of faith
(Faith slowly wasting away)

Only alive in fighting Death's amber embrace
(Our hearts beat loud, unafraid)

On Hands and knees we pray to gods we've never seen
(Come shadow, come follow me)

The final hour upon us, no more time to breathe

[Telvanni_Guard]

Ya'll got pretty close. Proud of you.

[Riastrad]

So It's from the Ascians point of view, begging Azem to save them from what they believe they need to do. Put them out of their misery.



Brother stay this descent to madness
Come and save us. Catch us before we fall

That is truly tragic and seriously is sending me into a depression spiral.

[MrThinker]

So It's from the Ascians point of view, begging Azem to save them from what they believe they need to do. Put them out of their misery.



Brother stay this descent to madness
Come and save us. Catch us before we fall

That is truly tragic and seriously is sending me into a depression spiral.

I agree, this is a big OOF if I've ever seen one.

[Bluemagedood]

So It's from the Ascians point of view, begging Azem to save them from what they believe they need to do. Put them out of their misery.



Brother stay this descent to madness
Come and save us. Catch us before we fall

That is truly tragic and seriously is sending me into a depression spiral.

If so, this could be portentous of future plot turns going forward. Considering how they've humanised both Elidibus and Emet Selch as both doom driven and tragic figures despite their capacity for mosterous action, this would line up their characterisation of Amurotines as a whole and set them up to be understood in terms of their end and their current state amongst those who remain as parts of primals.

We may be looking at a MSQ that will devote more emotional weight to saving Amurotine souls from their own actions, beyond what was already guessed. Which is cool, because it also opens the doors for storytelling involving the influx of so much more soul(s?)/anima(?) being unleashed on Eorzia which could have potentially huge implications if the writers focus on it. Like, will we free the souls that compose Hydalin in the way we're presumably going to attempt to do so with Zodiark?

[Veloran]

"Stay this descent to madness" and "Catch us before we fall" implies he wanted Azem to save them in the past, not in the current time.

[Trunks]

"Stay this descent to madness" and "Catch us before we fall" implies he wanted Azem to save them in the past, not in the current time.

I'm not sure that's right. The song has four segments, two before and two after the first chorus, which form a chronological timeline of the conflict between Light and Dark:

The first segment retells the decline, division, and fall of Amaurotine civilization between Zodiark's summoning and the Sundering. "Brother stay this descent to madness / Come and save us. Catch us before we fall". This recounts the separation of Elidibus from Zodiark: "Reconciliation. Elidibus. I was needed."

The second segment describes the Sundering: "Like broken angels, wingless, cast from heavens' gates". The key here is the final line: "Quick to their ends our candles burn until we're free" - a clear description of the newfound mortality of the Sundered.

The third segment tells of the three surviving Unsundered. "...we cast the first stone" - the Great Rejoining. "In our cages..." - duty / tempering - "...we know not what we do" - which drove once-decent souls to commit genocide. The subsequent verses describe each in turn:

"Indecision here at the crossroads / Recognition, tomorrow's come too soon"

As Emet-Selch watched "duty" wear away at his brothers, he made preparations for the mission's failure. In the end, he asked his sworn enemies to remember them - "wavered" as Elidibus put it.

"Follow blindly like lambs to slaughter / At the mercy of those who ply the sword"

Lahabrea manipulated, and was manipulated. His journey could be accurately described as "live by the sword, die by the sword".

"As our song wends dead underwater / We're forgotten for now and evermore"

Elidibus. This speaks for itself.

The final segment is from Azem's POV. "Without a compass wand'ring lost in lies of faith / (Faith slowly wasting away)" - dead giveaway, this is us being deceived by, and losing faith in, Hydaelyn. The rest is straightforward. We live to fight. We lament the cyclical desperation and summoning. "The final hour upon us"... oh, I could cry.

Truly a masterpiece. It's up there with "Answers" in my book.

[Veloran]

Setting aside the overall accuracy of that interpretation (I think every line is from Elidibus' perspective even if many sentiments are applicable to others, it's his theme song after all), doesn't that match what I was saying about those lines referring to the PAST, not the present?