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

[Zohar_Lahar]

The Ascians also seemed pretty sure the Warrior of Light would also perish here. Instead, Igeyorhm gets trapped in White Auracite and shattered by Nidhogg's left eye, and Lahabrea was left easy pickings to get his soul eaten by a cunning God-King primal that he helped created.

It seems pretty clear that for all their swagger, the Ascians are not as indestructible as they first appeared, and do not have have things under control as much as they think they do.

[lololink]

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)?"

That's what I was thinking about but Bahamut isn't really related to astral and is usually a non elemental summon, well he do have shiny skills with Tera Flare and Akh Morn but nothing in the game really points that way. It could be that non elemental can also be considered as an element or a combination of all elements and once all elemental calamities are unleashed, then the only thing remaining to be unleashed on the land of Hydaelyn's light is the Zodiark's darkness.

There is still a lot we don't know about these calamities, except that the mortals are awakening more easily to their spiritual parts and possibly to the echo, maybe the last calamity will completely break the separation between the aetherial realm and the physical realm.

[Beckett]

(though I'm still sure Lahabrea will find a way back.)

Agreed. The fact that Thordan's blade didn't disappear along with the rest of him is pretty ominous.

[Lethorian]

Astral this, Umbral that. Light, Dark.

I think this is on the right track, but I think light has it's own cycle. We are astral now, the WoL is on the rise, everything seems to be going our way when we get our hands in things, but the scales are tipping. As with each elemental cycle, the Light's cycle will one way or another be brought down by light and we will go through a light umbral phase (as backwards as that sounds, astral and umbral are kind of just words to throw around meaning positive and negative). I am thinkthing Zodiark comes into play around the end of this era, ushering in the final phase of the cycle- the Dark era. There will then be a dark astral phase, followed by a dark calamity. If the dark umbral phase comes about then it is the end.

Pure speculation at this point, but before the servers shut down (hopefully not for a long time) we will see a calamity and maybe see a whole new world wrapped in darkness where Zodiark is in charge.