Thread: [spoilers]3.2 MSQ Discussion/Reaction thread

I would assume a 3.5, though I guess they could finish up the Shadow of Mhach saga in 3.3... Even if it is a three parter, they could also just stick it in 4.x... Patch naming only has to follow the story, update 4.0 could include "[3.0] New Shadow of Mhach quests have been added", for example... Wish they'd do that, actually... I like Heavensward in general, but all the new content is very much Heavensward focused... I don't want Ifrit (Savage), but something similar as 2.0 content in a 3.x patch would be nice...

The number of dungeons also points towards a 3.5, now that I think about it... 3.1 Pharos Sirius (Hard), 3.2 Lost City of Amdapor (Hard), 3.3 Hullbreaker Isle (Hard), 3.4 Snowcloak (Hard) (please let us save Ysalye somehow!), 3.5 Keeper of the Lake (Hard). That perhaps correlates nicely with some of the story elements they've hinted at, aside from ending the Dragonsong War, we're also meant to be stopping the Ascians and finding out the truth about Silvertear Falls, and with WotM mentioning a Source, I can't help but wonder if there is something to the old myths surrounding it...

Originally Posted by CyrilLucifer

To me 3.3 will have a pure Dragonsong focus, and then, like 2.X, we may start building on the next expansion's events with 3.4.

Agreed, although Yoshida has made some comments that make it seem like 4.0 will not be following on from 3.x, so I expect 3.4 onwards to just be concluding the current plot with the Ascians/Zodiark/Hydaelyn rather than pushing us towards some new area like 2.55 did.

Then 4.0 can either be a grand old Treasure of Aht Urhgan style adventure to some new land (Thavnairia would seem to be our Aht Urhgan, complete with a few hints towards Blue Mages...), or it can be a push into Ala Mhigo and conflicts with Garlemald independent from our interactions at Azys Lla (since the Gration is stuck there thanks to the Sightseeing Log), though that might not make much sense (3.0 has Illberd complaining about the fate of Ala Mhigo, would seem even more stupid if he is doing that while we're liberating if 4.0 is independent from 3.0...), unless we don't actually side with Ala Mhigo in such a scenario. Personally I'm still hoping for a Beast Tribe/Grand Company expansion to flesh out Eorzea with all the other regions that are sitting so close like Paglth'an...

Thinking about this a bit, looking for any opinions because I might be overthinking this.

Hydaelyn claims (and let's assume for the moment it's true, because we don't know otherwise) that Zodiark became power hungry and had to be banished.

But taking a step back, this makes me what?

I'm working on the following assumptions:
1. This occurred before creation.
2. Zodiark embodies the moon, which implies he's a crystal like Hydaelyn.
3. There was once balance between light and darkness, equal and opposite, rising and falling.

This might be a bit of a stretch here, but: He's a crystal. They're floating rocks - sentient rocks, but floating rocks. A rock just doesn't go take a float down the galaxy and decides he wants some extra power for breakfast.

How and why does a crystal become power hungry?

My guess would be that, perhaps, they weren't crystals all along and there might be more shared with the XI creation mythos than we originally expected - eg, it was the event of splitting the mothercrystal, among other things dealing with the Twilight God, in XI that eventually led to creation; alternatively, in XIV, it may have been the change to mothercrystal that allowed for creation.

The crystallization may actually be a side effect of the split. These Gods were not always crystals.

Or am I just totally crazy and have been thinking too much about XIV at work?

I don't remember her glowing red at a particular time, but we did see a black and purple crystal that was either an empty Hydaelyn (which is honestly seeming less likely at this point, considering she's just as empty now and she was still blue) or Zodiark at the very end of 2.0.

That we potentially saw Zodiark through the Echo was never followed up on. Yet.

Though I agree. I don't think we know enough about Zodiark to make a value judgement on his mortality and "evilness" either way. We have a lot of questions and no answers - in the end, Hydaelyn (and SE) didn't really tell us anything at all. Though this is my bias speaking, I'm inclined to believe Lahabrea is in the right though and that Zodiark and Hydaelyn potentially shouldn't have ever been separated, as they were intended to be together. It's obviously causing some problems with reality, much like Altana in XI almost collapsed the multiverse in Her love for Her children.

But it's just so hard to say for sure because, as I said, what if it was the split in the first place that caused the crystallization that allowed for creation?