Thread: Revelations from Patch 3.4

UPDATES ON MSQ FROM A CLOSER READING:

The Worlds
The expulsion of Zodiark caused spatiotemporal rifts in the universe, fanning out 13 reflections of the Source.

The Rejoining
The destruction of a reflected world causes all Life seeded there to revert to aether and return to the Source.

The Importance of Equilibrium
If a reflected world becomes consumed by Light or Darkness, that aether is destroyed by the flood.
Zodiark wants the flow of aether from the Ardor to be his own; Equilibrium cannot be lost before the Rejoining.

The Flood of Light
Neither Hydaelyn nor Zodiark can directly control the balance of Light and Darkness; they are dependent on their chosen and cannot directly course-correct the outcomes of their decisions any better than they could have done without them in the first place.

Urianger's Plan
Urianger learned of two independent situations and brought them together. He'd been appraised of Minfilia's being taken unto the Lifestream and assumed that she had been given a sliver of Hydaelyn's strength. He'd also been informed by the Ascians of the true state of the cosmos, and through them became aware of the plight of the First World. He conspired to follow his interpretation of Louisoix's ideals.

To save as many as possible at the lowest cost, he manipulated Elidibus, the Warriors of Darkness, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn (and via those factions the remnants of the Ivy's network and even the Griffin) to bring a multitude of Crystals of Light to a single location. In doing so, he traded their power to Hydaelyn in exchange for Minfilia being restored and made Emissary. Urianger knew that Hydaelyn, having heard the prayers and suffering of the children of the First, would dispatch her to become their salvation. He knew that freeing Minfilia would likely cause her to never be able to return to us. (Correctly) assuming that Minfilia would consent were she given the choice, he made it for her, though not even he thinks he deserves forgiveness for it.

The Emissaries
Elidibus and Minfilia are now roughly the same, Emissary of ["The One True God" / "The Will of the Star"]

The War
Incidentally, Urianger sums up the war best in his final line at the Rising Stones. The Ascians view the state of things as a cosmological aberration. The thirteen reflections should be reunited and the universe made whole. Elidibus came to Urianger because he believed him to be a man of raw reason. The Truth would overcome all other considerations, especially if presented it as a black and white scenario.

What he didn't expect was that Urianger already knows otherwise. Or perhaps it is better to say that he has faith otherwise. Who in this war wants the worlds to be rejoined for the sake of that alone? None. The Warrior of Light as proven time and time again: there is always another way. History will not belong to the Dark's greed or the Light's fear; Life will not be suffered to fail.

The reins of history belong to man, now, and only one force (so far) seems to care anything about our plight.