About the Us After the Final Boss of Heavensward (Spoilers)

[Soul_Mythrim]

As the archbishop dies he looks at up at us and sees our face covered in shadow before asking who and what were we? So what exactly did he notice about us that scared him so much? Was it something that changed within us or something that was already there?

[Atreides]

I think it doesn't have any meaning for us but more for him.
I mean he turned into an all powerful being thinking he was invincible, when he then looked at us in his dying moments he was full of fear because a mere "mortal" bested him.
In his eyes we were the devil with ungodly powers.

[Cilia]

I suspect that's one of the major questions we'll be seeking answers for in the 3.x patch cycle.

It could just be his genuine disbelief that we were able to best his Primal Mode, considering the immense power King Thordan likely had ("a millennium of prayer and the power of the Eye!"). Even at minimum iLv my group absolutely demolished him.

We beat down two Ascians at once, where in 2.5 we had a lot of trouble with just one (Nabriales), took down their Fusion Dance form, and bested one immensely powerful Primal and twelve demi-Primals like it was child's play. I think he's right to be scared of us.

More elaborate theories? I could go all day bringing up more, but for simplicity's sake I'll leave it there.

[Bhearil]

Thats an scene totaly open to interpretation since we dont know if its a subjective vision or an objective one. It even might mean that the WoL is not as light oriented as he/she seems to be. Maybe even related to Zondiark

It might be a hook for later plots but only time will tell

[Raminax]

I interpreted it as Thordan being in disbelief over the fact that we were able to defeat him.

However, I also figured that we were cloaked in shadow because he saw us as evil incarnate, or something along the lines of that. In his mind, he was doing the world a favour, having the power to remove whatever was capable of causing chaos, war, strife and all kinds of unpleasant things. What's eternal peace against perpetuating some lies against silly dragons and bleeding the land dry on Aether? For Thordan, that was an acceptable compromise. At least that's what I think he was fearing; that someone of so immense power is doing things like preventing eternal peace. Thordan saw a god of evil in his last moments... and he knew that practically no one can stand against them now, letting us freely rampage around the countryside and terrorize the smallfolk.

Of course, this ignores the possibility of Thordan going off the deep end, as other stories with with fellows convinced of their divine mission tend to show. Would he really stop at troublemakers like the Ascians and Primals, or would he begin seeing everything as an enemy?

[Kaiser-Ace]

I saw that shadowy demon vision of us along the line's of Frollo's final moment in the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In his final moment of self righteousness he declared "And He shall smite the wicked, and plunge them into the fiery pit!!" before slipping off of the Gargoyle which, in his final display of insanity, turned into a Living Devil as it broke off the Church and sent him falling to his death.

Same with Thorden, in his final moments as his self righteousness lead to his doom, the person that had bested him (Us) mentally because "The Devil Within" thus his shock and horror as he dissipated. A fitting end for a crazy old man who wanted to be a god.

I'm just disappointed that it was so easy to curb stomp. If it turns out he drops Law tomes I may farm him instead of dungeons as easy as it is.

[PArcher]

My initial thoughts were that we were just absolutely ticked off, showing extreme hatred towards him for all the pain and sorrow he caused us and that was giving us a "dark" aura. He would have known that the fight was more than just us slaying a Primal, this was a very personal fight of vengeance.

After thinking, its hard to say. I do agree that he was thinking he was absolutely in the right, that any who opposed him were evil, so seeing us as this devil-god is a possibility. It could also have something to do with him dying as a Primal, who knows, maybe all the Primals see us like that as they fall (for some reason I recall at least one or two others questioning us as they die); after all, we are 100% against them and do what we can to keep them from bleeding the land dry.

And then there is the possibility that we just plain aren't what we think we are at all (one of my crazy 2.x theories was we were an Ascian who defected to the Mothercrystal;s side. I'm leaning towards us actually being an Eikon now, or maybe even one of the two still-unknown Celestial Dragons or a descendant of one of the 7)

[Balipu]

And then there is the possibility that we just plain aren't what we think we are at all (one of my crazy 2.x theories was we were an Ascian who defected to the Mothercrystal;s side. I'm leaning towards us actually being an Eikon now, or maybe even one of the two still-unknown Celestial Dragons or a descendant of one of the 7)

Maybe he saw the future. I posted the theory in another threat as well that the Echo might come from Zodiark and eventually every echo user becomes an Ascian if using the echo excessively.

Being a dragon might also work. We are from a foreign land after all.

[Juroko]

I think it's pretty simple in a way. We came to Ishgard a disgraced adventurer with a rich kid and Tataru in tow looking for sanctuary. We were strong, but that makes us a better pawn. So they go after our wards, perhaps to use them as a bargaining chip and failed. He then focused us on the Ascians, primals and dragons, hoping we'd take care of his problems so he could focus on his goals. That went too well once he killed Nidhogg.

The Heretics withdrew peacefully from Ishgard, they had to retreat from the Vault, and he had to work with the Ascians once more to get the drop on the WoL. This nobody continued to hunt him and even when his master plan was revealed, he STILL got beaten down.

We came on the breeze, solved many old issues, bested his strongest soldiers and strong holds, removed him from power in several ways, and destroyed him utterly. To him, the WoL was not the God of Destruction, but destruction itself and he stood right in it's path.

[Alberel]

I think this was foreshadowing that the WoL is essentially becoming a force for destruction.

The introduction of the WoD and Elidibus' mention of 'equilibrium' means that we're following FFIII's concept of the balance of light and dark. In this context the light and dark are not good and evil but merely two sides of the same coin that must remain in balance for existence to not fall apart. If we as the WoL become much more powerful we could potentially end up destroying everything we've been fighting to protect; we may be a champion of the light but we're becoming a threat to existence itself. I'm beginning to wonder if this may be what Elidibus was referring to when he said we might one day see eye to eye.