AntiTower Speculation

[Fenral]

I agree, but counter with perhaps there's a possibility of accepting death too readily, and Hydaelin's master plan may involve giving all life as we know it the meaningful death we long for with the very fiber of our being. Just because this game's handling of death and fate is pretty Glurge-y, and I want my discomfort to be a sign that things are going to get shaken up, not that the director is an out-of-his-gourd nihilist.

Also, everything that's going on seems to indicate that Hydaelin's aiming for a decisive victory for the Light, meaning an end to suffering and death. If acknowledging suffering and death as a part of life is the end goal, we are doing a terrible job at it. My guess (hope?) is that Gerun's apocrypha predicts a victory for the light, but that it will in turn lead to the end of everything. I suspect our choices are to embrace the oncoming end of everything as inevitable (all things end, and it sucks, but our world's time is up), or somehow reboot the conflict of light and dark so that life as we know it can continue.

[Under-Archon]

A possible location for the Antitower is in the Sea of Clouds. You know how when you log in to a region, you see beautiful artwork? When you log in to any zone in Abalathia's Spine, You see a picture of a large upside down castle on the underside of one of the islands, which is currently not accessible in game. If it isn't going to be used in game, why would they not only make the artwork, but put it in so prominet a viewing location anytime someone logs in?

[Belhi]

A possible location for the Antitower is in the Sea of Clouds. You know how when you log in to a region, you see beautiful artwork? When you log in to any zone in Abalathia's Spine, You see a picture of a large upside down castle on the underside of one of the islands, which is currently not accessible in game. If it isn't going to be used in game, why would they not only make the artwork, but put it in so prominet a viewing location anytime someone logs in?

Actually I was wondering if possibly it was that ruined structure high above the Sea of Clouds with all the banners hanging off. I originally assumed it was part of the Vanu Vanu story but it hasn't been mentioned at all.

[Kallera]

Why do i have the feeling this locale is going to lead us to find out what's below the sea of clouds?

At any rate, I am hoping for significantly more Derplander beatdowns than the 0 provided in 3.1.

[PArcher]

At any rate, I am hoping for significantly more Derplander beatdowns than the 0 provided in 3.1.

I'm expecting the opposite; meeting the WoDs somewhere and losing badly.

[Kallera]

I'm expecting the opposite; meeting the WoDs somewhere and losing badly.

I'll also take that.

[Nalien]

Wonder if the AntiTower is just the development name for the place, and we could instead finally be visiting that Amalj'aa tower that has been mocking me since day one... Would be kind of interesting to see the story come full circle like that, I mean Ifrit was the start of our God-Slaying journey...

Alternatively, we've got the complete wrong end of the stick, and it isn't an AntiTower in the sense of being the opposite or whatever, it's an AntiTower in the sense that it destroys Towers... Like Antibiotics, or Anti-Aircraft... Fun fact; Crystal Towers story gave us a pretty good idea of the state of the Allagan Empire before its fall... Crystal Tower was the seat of Xandes Empire and the Allagan Warriors of Lights advance is what pushed him to dump all of Dalamuds energy into the tower and usher in a new Umbral Era... What if the Allagan Warriors of Light had an Anti-Crystal Tower weapon ready to utilize? Wonder if there are any parallels to be drawn there with the current state of affairs... The Allagan Warriors of Light grew too powerful, now we're growing too powerful...

[myahele]

snip

That's a pretty good theory. An Anti (Crystal) Tower. I can see that happening since the Allagan Empire seemed to have been on the verge of Civil War.

Then again, where does that leave Selina? She was a good Allagan royal that wanted to preserve the Crystal tower since it was a "beacon of hope" for everyone within the Empire.

Of course, if the Antitower was the answer to Crystal tower then maybe the project was abandoned and sealed?

[Morningstar1337]

snip

This might support the Lahabrea-is-still-alive-in-Nidhogg theory. To Nidhogg, we're probably colateral damage for his revengance, but he would probably not consider attacking us unless we defend Ishgard from him, to Lahabrea, we would be the object(s) of his revenge instead of Ishgard. At the very least, I can see them working together due to theoir interest coinciding and Lahabrea telling Nidhogg about this AntiTower, but this would be more of an Enemy Mine of anything since if Nidhogg was willing to destroy Ishgard to avange Ratatoskr, then I think he would had felt rather angry at what the Ascians and Allagins did to Bahamut.

Of course it is that reason why I suspect that Nidhogg is being controlled by Lahabrea in some capacity, rather than willingly working with him

[Fenral]

Yup, he's weighing in. This is good stuff, though, I swear.

You can say Salina was a "good" Allagan royal, but all the signs indicate she was ineffectual as well: the last of a bloodline that was slowly but surely running Allag into the ground. However well she meant, the exposition made it seem like Doga and Unei had pretty good reasons to place their bets with the Amon and Xande camp at the time. They were missing presumed dead after the calamity until their clones emerged (with their knowledge and personalities) 5000 years later, so any insight they might have been able to give the survivors as the last of the Archmagi never made it that far. Left to her own devices, I can imagine Salina simply leaving everything to "hope" and writing off the decline and fall as Xande's fault, for lack of wise counsel.

There's also nothing connecting her to the revolution aside from knowing about it in some capacity. It's telling that Doga and Unei, who were inside when the Tower fell, clearly state that Amon triggered the time-stop, but G'raha, recounting secondhand information from inherited memories, says it was Xande. In a mystery novel, that would flag his entire testimony as suspect. He knows what Salina thought she knew, and nothing more.

Whether or not it's meant to be there, there's a pretty solid and realistic foundation for human drama there in the backstory.