Quote Originally Posted by Anonymoose View Post
The imitation being the aetherial Bradamante from Turn 9? If one were going to try to keep the theory alive despite the things Ferne's said about it, pointing to a future conspiracy on the subject, that'd be the route I'd take it. Turn 9 and Battle on the Big Bridge both came out in 2.2, though, so the timeline would be wonky. You'd have to take it for granted that Turn 9 not only happens independent of Hildibrand's story (probably true), but happens before it (risky speculation). And then you'd need to find a way to explain how it got from the Holocharts 3.6 miles underground to somewhere it could be found.
Or perhaps some one else along the way could have made a fake. I would figure the Aetherial one would actually be stronger than the original since it would be enhanced by Bahamut's power. He lost the original in Thanalan. How did it make its way to Coerthas? Perhaps some traveling merchant made a fake and it fell off a cart? Who knows? I think it's a plot point to continue later on for the Gilgamesh Extreme fight, where Gilgamesh will have found the real one at last, and challenge you with other real weapons like The Ridill and Hauteclaire, the Morgenstern, and so many other weapons.