Minfillia Speculation

[Cilia]

I don't believe Minfilia has gone evil. However, there are a number of factors that lead me to believe she may have been possessed by Hydaelyn...

1. Crystal chains. In the artwork for the patch, Minfilia is shown chained to the Mothercrystal. Chains typically represent being forced to do something - be it slavery or prison.
2. White clothing. Associated with Light, Hydaelyn's element, and also giving off an air of intrigue and mystery. Simple, but not unexpected of a goddess like Hydaelyn, who doesn't make a big deal out of herself.
3. Closed eyes. In both the artwork and the model, Minfilia's eyes are closed. Even Y'shtola, who is physically blind, keeps hers open. As the eyes are considered the "windows to the soul," I believe this has significance.

Hence, I have a really, really bad feeling about this. Either Hydaelyn's in there with her, or Hydaelyn has subsumed Minfilia's soul and is using her body as a vessel.

... can I beat the shit out of some sense into her? That usually works in these kinds of stories, right?

[Mjollnir]

why after talking with Hydaelyn does she run back along the tunnel to were Y'shtola has collapsed the tunnel and has used a forbidden teleportation spell

Conjecture: Y'shtola's spell caused a rift to the lifestream that Hydaelyn was able to maintain long enough for Minfilia to return back to at her command.

[Remus]

This is very interesting and i believe it might just be Hydaelyn using Minfilia as a vessel mainly because of the image they put for the main scenario preview.




Also they recently released the dungeon preview and the antitower description really got me thinking what we may find there...

The Anti Tower

In all of creation, what greater mystery could there be than the fate of this very star? To sound the deepest depths, to study the aetherial sea itself─for these purposes and more was the Antitower built. Abandoned by her Sharlayan caretakers following the exodus, it has since been overrun by the magical guardians they left behind. Yet were one blessed with Her gift to brave these dangers and descend to the furthest reaches─to hear, feel, and think at the heart of this world─what would they find?

[Ageofwar]

This is very interesting and i believe it might just be Hydaelyn using Minfilia as a vessel mainly because of the image they put for the main scenario preview.



Also they recently released the dungeon preview and the antitower description really got me thinking what we may find there...

just seen the lodestone updates

hmmm crystal looks darker? and Minfilia has a white glow to her.

is the crystal zodiak and Hydaelyn is using Minfilia

[Chewy2nd]

It looks to be Hydaelyn, Zodiark is much darker, and purpler, lol.



Hydaelyn is definately using Minfilia, and I can't get behind Hydaelyn doing that, even if Minfilia is one of the laziest Scions, she's still one of 'the party'

[CyrilLucifer]

I still want to know what particular traits the WoL's echo has. Really the character's own echo and use of it is one of the least developed parts of the WoL's story. What specifically is it that made Hydaelyn single out the WoL? I have to think the WoL's particular echo is part of it if every echo user's echo is a little different.

Honestly, this is really what I'm most interested at this point. I'm repeating things we've all argued a million times at this point, but what's once more for good measure?
The scene with Lahabrea at the very start of 2.0 for non-Legacy characters is a bit of a wrench for me in preventing hard theories. You see and interact with Lahabrea before you know of him, so it appears you're seeing the future events, yet in all other times we've been shown to use it to see the past cough unless it was our character's past somehow cough, which leads to more questions cough.

And we can also exert it outside our bodies, as shown in 2.5 in the form of the Blade of Light. Also, being able to manifest in Thancred's mindspace in Prae to physically kick out Lahabrea, that didn't seem to be normal resonance.

So we seem kind of like a jack-of-all-trades, a lot less specific than someone like Krile. What we can do with it just doesn't seem to have a hard limitation, since we literally will the Blade of Light into existence - hence, breaking the barriers of existence. It just might be different than what Krile and the Students consider "normal," which seems to be direct specialties, being limited outside of them. It seems doubtful that Elidibus is just approaching Echo users at random, he does seem to have better things to do with his time than come bug us. So why? On that subject, he seemed to take great pleasure at watching our battle with the voidsent. Again, why? We're not the only person who can whack level 50 Voidsent in Eorzea.

I guess just saying "we seem to have a variety of skills with the Echo" is not a very satisfying answer for me.

[Mjollnir]

I guess just saying "we seem to have a variety of skills with the Echo" is just not a very satisfying answer for me.

Yeah, the Echo went from being a time-travel superhero power (1.0) to the kind of limitless 'powers' displayed by Neo in The Matrix in ARR and beyond. Looking forward to that explanation, but presumably we'll get it come patch 5.5.

[Belhi]

It looks to be Hydaelyn, Zodiark is much darker, and purpler, lol.



Hydaelyn is definately using Minfilia, and I can't get behind Hydaelyn doing that, even if Minfilia is one of the laziest Scions, she's still one of 'the party'

Its not beyond possibility that Minfilia willingly took on this role.

[CyrilLucifer]

Upon further, late-night, benadryl-induced consideration, I'm actually hoping that Minfilia is bound to the aetherial realm somehow, manifesting in the mortal realm becoming difficult for her - but not because I want her out of the story. Quite the opposite.

It leads to an immense sense of tragedy for Thancred. Poor, dear, Thancred he was better when Lahabrea was in charge, who can no longer sense aether.

Would he be able to see Minfilia at all? Would he be able to interact with her? He seems so very desperate to find with her right now, at the end of 3.1, that I can't help but feel that whatever happens, 3.2 is not going to end well for him.

[Erudito]

Oh, wait a minute. There was one particular line about Minfillia that struck a cord with me. It was when Elidibus was in the Antecedent Chamber being all smug. He mentioned something along the lines of "Was it also by Her hand that you survived the Ardor, I wonder?"

I am reminded that each persons gift of the Echo is different. Though some share similar traits like communing with others seamlessly, others show different, more unique traits. This might hint at Minfillias unique gift being a key note in all this.