Wait, so why did the Archbishop... (SPOILERS)

[Anonymoose]

I wonder if the 7th Astral era is light and benefits Hydaelyn, while the 8th Umbral era is Dark and benefits Zodiark?

That's a specific I've pondered in the past, as well. People thought that, as the Divine Chronicles predicted, there would be six cycles, one for each element. Throughout the Sixth Astral Era, they figured it was finally over... until a huntsman stumbled upon a tablet containing the Seventh Verse of the prophecy. Some dismissed this new addition, and 1,500 years out from the last Calamity, some dismissed the entire thing as superstition... until Dalamud fell.

But if there's a seventh cycle, one might wonder if we're following the same cycle as the week (which has eight days, six elements + two polarities). In that cycle, Astral comes first (so too with months), but umbral eras precede astral ones. One might ask, "Is this then the Umbral Era of Astral (Light) and we need to end this before the Umbral Era of Umbral (Darkness)?"

As possible as that is, I've been thinking (for now) that this is instead akin to the religious scripture of the Seven Hells, whereby one must pass through the six elemental hells before arriving before the Black Warden at the Seventh Gate and that this is the final era, win or lose. I think if the next Calamity hits, it's not the eighth cycle, it's just over. Perhaps that's what the mythology of the Seven Hells has foreshadowed the entire time. Perhaps Zodiark is the Black Warden, in a way.