Thread: The 2.5 (Part 1 & 2) speculation thread

So I had a thought about the mystery trial in another thread, more appropriate to ask here though;

Was the Primal that revealed itself at the end of 2.0 ever actually revealed? I do recall mention that it "generated a distinctive wave pattern in the aether", which had only ever been observed five years ago as Bahamut showed up, and it certainly did seem like foreshadowing for the Binding Coil of Bahamut, but right after the roar a guard comes running and says;

Dread tidings! Chaos and carnage...
It is an abomination-! A... Primal! A primal has awakened.

It does sound an awful lot like this guy saw the Primal... So... He got the world first clearing Binding Coil? He didn't recognize Bahamut as Bahamut? Seems odd to me and suggests a different Primal... One which is an abomination... Heck, the fact that he refers to it as an abomination at the very least suggests he saw it... If he simply heard the roar and had a PTSD flash back to Carteneau and started ranting that Bahamut was back, I could understand it, but instead he simply makes mention of a Primal, suggesting a Primal we've yet to encounter. Heck, what chaos and carnage? Bahamut didn't cause any problems outside Coil... I really get the feeling this was a new Primal that was swiftly forgotten about...

Now, right after that cutscene follows Lahabrea introducing us to a whole cast of Ascians;

Pashtarot>> Bahamut stirs.

OK, so the roar was Bahamut and it was a simply allusion to the Binding Coil? Still doesn't explain the guard... Perhaps it's a localization issue and this makes more sense in other languages...

Igeyorhm>> As will the others ere long.

The "others"? Other Elder Primals? What if instead it was the roar of another Elder Primal? That could explain similar reading to Carteneau, the Scions have only ever observed one Elder Primal in Bahamut, so the assumption is that the same wave pattern means it's the same Primal, but if all Elder Primals have the same wave pattern, it could be any Elder Primal. She could just have been referring to the other Primals of course, 2.1 through to 2.4 introduced "new" Primals.

Still, what Elder Primals do we have then? Bahamut and Odin, and Belias is mentioned. Interestingly the location of the roar appeared to be coming from Singing Shards (which could also indicate Bahamut, since a piece of Dalamud is right there), where the Summoner questline introduces us to Belias-Egi. Coincidence? Belias himself also gives us an idea of who the other Elder Primals could be. Can you think of one of the Espers/Scions of Darkness from Final Fantasy XII whom you'd describe as an "abomination"? Three words - Cúchulainn the Impure. Want more? Which new Ascians were we introduced to in 2.1? Elidibus in white, and another Ascian who seemed a bit annoyed as Elidibus - Nabriales. Why is that name familiar? Oh right, Nabriales the Majestic, Scion of Light in opposition to Cúchulainn the Impure. Hmm... I wonder if the two could be in anyway related in this game...

How does this relate to 2.5? Well, assuming the roar wasn't Bahamut and the guard really saw a new Primal, the mystery of who that Primal is should be resolved with the conclusion of 2.0, no? If it's Cúchulainn (or any XII Esper for that matter), then we have a connection to an Ascian, and we know the trial in some way relates to the Ascians. A fight with an Ascian seems like a dull note to end on (if you consider part 1 the end and part 2 the start of 3.0), but our first real Elder Primal? That is how you end a chapter. Perhaps the guard was just a troll though, and the ending to 2.0 was just setting up for the Binding Coil of Bahamut and our mystery trial wont be an epic encounter and just another face roll fight listening to an idiot go "Mwhahaha! Begon! Hydaelyn cannot save you! Mwhahahaha!"...

Hmmm, looking at early Coil dialog, it does seem like the roar is Bahamuts. That really begs the question what the guard was talking about then... Poor localization? Always the possibility that he saw the chaos and carnage of a new Primal, but Bahamut yawning distracted everyone. I'd be interested in knowing what the other languages have him saying.