Ishgard questions

[Sapphic]

I'm sure theres a lot of questions regarding Ishgards war that many hope to get answered in 3.0.

Mine are:

Who is really "the bad guy" in this conflict?
Who was the initial aggressors?
Are the Dravanians really bad or just protecting their land?

I hope the story isn't just cut and dry good v bad but goes deeper, turns it into shades of grey instead of black and white.

There's always two sides for every story.

[JeniLinsky]

Yes; villains who are mustache-twirling evil for the sake of evil are boring. I'd rather see two groups whose differing motives are both understandable.

[Endemerrin]

There's a few quotes from Alberic, the previous Azure Dragoon, that I feel sheds a lot of light on the conflict.

Dragons long outlive men and do not soon forget the wrongs done them. What grudge they harbor burns as a fire in their hearts, over time swelling into an unquenchable inferno. You need only look back on history to see that Nidhogg grows stronger with each awakening.

Which ties into the following.

Being derived from our mortal enemies, the power of the Azure Dragoon is a double-edged sword. Even as it lends us the strength we need to smite dragons, it heightens our communion with the creatures, rendering our minds more susceptible to their seduction than ordinary men.

Even as I buried my lance in Nidhogg's flesh, our gazes locked, and mine eyes met then with a look that would fair impale a man. In that instant, I found myself assailed by a torrent of emotions not mine own...

Sorrow... Rancor... Pity... They threatened to drown the man in me and leave behind a dragon.

Obviously it's all just a load of speculation at this point, but I feel like the Dragonsong War is ultimately a thousand year vicious cycle. At this point, we know the dragons were wronged by the Allagan thousands of years ago. Both their supposed god and they themselves were enslaved and forced to bend to the Allagan Empire's will. (I.E Twintania, and her mind control device.) So the mortal races already set a precedent back during that era.

I feel like we're going to find out the Dragonsong War started because of a misunderstanding, and has simply escalated because of vengeance on both ends until it became a never-ending vicious cycle. As was mentioned earlier, a situation where both sides have justifiable means to their ends, however each side only serves to further the conflict.

It seems like, from Alberic's quote, the dragons themselves are suffering. I doubt they would willingly bring that on themselves. It's an interesting subject, but we really can only take shots in the dark at this point in regards to what started the war in the first place. Based off the lyrics from the Heavensward trailer, and those that Ferne teased us with from the Dravanian's perspective, I feel like it might have be something akin to the Ishgardians stumbling across the dragons at some point, which startled them as much as it did the Ishgardians, which then led to an initial conflict that spiraled out of control.

/tinfoil hat

If we want to go on a more colorful route of crazy theories that are pulled out of thin air and have next to no real basis, I'm partial to the idea of these floating islands that we'll be visiting in the expansion being either the "home" of the dragons, or a place of great significance to them. Maybe the Ishgardians saw these floating islands at some point, and thought they were the heavens (Heavensward?) where the twelve (Or Halone, specifically) dwelt, and decided they were going to reach them somehow. Maybe they eventually did, and sought to claim them as their own, only to realize they were home to the dragons, who had hid up there to avoid the mortal races after their less than awesome experience with the Allagan Empire. Possibly even a place to "slumber", as mentioned in the Heavensward lyrics. At least until the Ishgardian people barged in and ruined everything.

To take things one step further into the crazy, what if Heavensward is actually in reference to a "Heaven Sward", as opposed to a Heavens Ward. A sward being an expanse of short grass, or in this case, a large field on top of a floating island.

/tinfoil hat off

[Sapphic]

There's a few quotes from Alberic, the previous Azure Dragoon, that I feel sheds a lot of light on the conflict.

Interesting perspectives and read, thanks for posting that.

[RyuRoots]

I, as well, hope this ends up being a gray vs grey conflict and not a "dragons bad" kind of thing. Though I'm willing to give SE credit and assume it will be until given reason to believe otherwise. After all, Ishgard isn't exactly portrayed as open-minded or flexible in the main story, and I get the impression that, like Klingons in Star Trek: TNG, the sins of one person stain an entire family in their eyes. So it's easy to see how they could be half the problem. Though we've only really heard their half of the story. Part of me wonders if (at least briefly) we'll end up fighting *against* Ishgard in the main story, especially if there's some sympathetic Dravanian force that wants the war to end (though obviously both sides keep the war going in a larger sense).

[myahele]

Wasn't stated that Coerthas was originally dragon territory in the 1st place? And that ishgardians believe Coerthas (or at the very least Ishgard) believe that it was the promised land given to them by Halone?

Interestingly, ishgard is very close to Mor Dhona/ Silver Tear Lake and dragons were 1st to take garlean occupation seriously to the point of all out war.

Then there's also the fact that ishagardians are fanatics ruled by a pope that's being manipulated by Ascians

[Sapphic]

Then there's also the fact that ishagardians are fanatics ruled by a pope that's being manipulated by Ascians

I wonder for how long the Ascians have been manipulating the Ishgardians, it does explain why they didnt get involved in the 3 state mission to destroy Ultimate weapon. So obviously before that.

Where the Ascians pulling strings even as far back as 1.0? Even further?

We are dealing with a race that is, by all intents and purposes, immortal. They could have set plans in motion hundreds of years back.

Using Gaius to activate the ultimate weapon for Hydaelyn to directly interced so she became weakened allowing Zodiark to step forwards, so to speak.

But Ive a feeling 2.4 and moreso 2.5 main scenario will involve uncovering and dealing with the Ascian inside Ishgard which will open up access to Ishgard with 3.0.

[Astrid_Stormborn]

Following on from Endemerrin's last Alberic quote, I find that Alberic's last 3 lines in the final Dragoon quest to be quite telling as well, possibly for setting up future events in Heavensward and beyond. Emphasis mine.

When that darkness brushed against me, the selfsame torrent of emotions swept over me as those I experienced twenty summers past. But there was something else besides. There was a voice, and it lamented the rift that divides dragons and men. You will come to comprehend what I speak in due time. Till then, [Player], I pray that you will ever use your newfound strength in the name of justice.

[Cxplorer]

Very interesting...