Quote Originally Posted by myahele View Post
Aren't we still in the 7th Umbral Era though? Thus far all the Umbral Eras represented an element, except for the current/7th Umbral Era? I do know that the GC leaders all claimed that we're currently in a new Astral Era in the end of 2.0... but that seems to be more of a PR move.
Quote Originally Posted by Anonymoose View Post
The cycle of Calamities is surely concrete, but the cycle of the eras? Ehhh... Exactly where one starts and exactly where one ends seems up to the people of the time. In this cycle, the Seventh Umbral began with the Calamity itself, but would you have called B.S. if they'd called it in ten years earlier with the fall of the Keeper, appearance of the primals, arrival of the Reaper, and sounding of the Echo? Some knew then and there that Calamity was coming and moved to try to prevent / forestall it. Likewise, does it end when all foes are defeated? When the aether is in balance? When it has been X days without primal summonings or Ascian machinations?

The GC leaders seized momentum and claimed that the defeat of the XIVth Legion was proof that things weren't just going to get worse forever, that things weren't hopeless, and that any attempt to raise us up from Calamity wasn't just doomed to be undone by the next unfortunate event.
Thusly, it was a totally legit PR move.