Spoilers - plus help I don't understand the warriors of darkness storyline

[Aivi_lo]

I've done the msq and I just don't understand it really. I don't get what they were trying to accomplish or why their world was in danger, and if it was why hydaelyn didn't step in sooner to help - was that where all her power was going? Why didn't she notice? Sorry, I just find the story very thin at this point.

[Anonymoose]

This will probably require a thorough explanation of the cosmology as a whole, so bear with me here.

It is implied that when formless chaos was given order and existence came into being, the aetherial sea gave rise to Light and Darkness, personified by Hydaelyn and Zodiark. The story we've been told - which may or may not be complete or accurate - is that the Darkness is by nature lustful of power and dominance. When Zodiark tipped the balance and took power for himself, Hydaelyn grew fearful and expelled him.

Dividing the original cosmology into planet and moon stressed the fabric of the universe so severely that it caused spatiotemporal rifts (cracks in spacetime) that resulted in reflections of the world fanning out in all redirections - thirteen "copies" in total. How alike these worlds are is unknown.

In order for Zodiark to be made whole - to be reborn - the cracks must be healed; the reflected worlds need to be rejoined to the original dimension (aka The Source). The Ascians labor to accomplish this by creating Calamities, weakening the barriers between worlds with great acts of chaos and destruction in such a way that the reflected world is destroyed; all Life there is killed (reverted to aether), and rejoined to the Source (empowering Zodiark). Hydaelyn protects against this by empowering Warriors of Light to thwart their plans.

The reflected worlds all have shards of Light and Darkness, but in varying amounts. The catch is that if either becomes too dominant before a Rejoining occurs, the aether is destroyed by the flood of Light or Dark and leaves only a void in its wake. This is where Elidibus' mission deviates from the Ascians in black; his mission is to direct the chaos and prevent the rocking boat from capsizing, so to speak. Zodiark cannot be reborn from void.

One of the reflected worlds - known as The First - was inherently imbalanced towards Light. When the Ascians threatened it, Hydaelyn's champions prevailed with relative ease. However, just as Zodiark cannot directly act but through His chosen (the Ascians) and His Emissary (Elidibus), Hydaelyn could do nothing as the Light flooded their world as a result.

Elidibus convinced the Warriors of Light of The First that the only way to save their world was to aid in the Rejoining before it was too late. Everyone would die, but their aether would be transferred to the Source to be born again as something new rather than spend eternity in a void as ... something else. They took the bait; knowing what they knew, how could they not? So they came to the Source to work towards causing a Calamity. They did this by dying, maintaining "immortal" form via the Echo, and traveling through the dimensional barriers via crystal the same way the Ascians do.

Elidibus likewise tried to get Urianger on board with restoring the status quo of the universe, expecting him to believe that the "shattered" universe was an aberration - something that shouldn't be. But when Urianger learned of the First and the Warriors of Darkness, he undertook his own plan to save their world another way (inspired by his interpretation of Louisoix's creed and the Warrior of Light's penchant for blazing unforeseen alternative paths).

Minfilia had sacrificed herself to Hydaelyn to act as Her voice; She was too weak to speak otherwise. Urianger manipulated the Warriors of Darkness to attempt direct conflict with the Warrior of Light, knowing that they would be so sorely tested that they would need to call upon the power of their Crystals - five aspects of them. Urianger called on the Warrior of Light to manifest the sixth aspect, thus completing the set and momentarily unleashing the power of Light and creating a direct conduit to Hydaelyn.

By offering this power back to Hydaelyn, Urianger gave Her the strength to create a force to oppose Elidibus - Her own Emissary. Though Hyadelyn was powerless to directly affect anything, Her Emissary could - something Elidibus had willfully withheld from the Warriors of Darkness. Their world will be saved by Hydaelyn's Emissary in a way that no Calamity is required and the Ascians there are still defeated (for now...?)

What does it all mean? Perhaps, in the end, Light and Dark will be forced into stalemate and Life will inherit the worlds - broken, but beautifully so. As the Warriors of Darkness said - fight not for either, but be true to yourself. Still, being the mother of Life, Hydaelyn seems to be the only force so far with any interest in our continued survival. Even though, for all intents and purposes, the First was called to action and abandoned to the flood of Light, She longed to save them (almost) as much as she feared the empowering of Zodiark.

But this whole tale has been told from only one point of view. There's room for further gray.

To be clear - there's a lot more to this. The Light and Dark have different themes relative to the aetherial sea. For example, the Keeper of Precepts (Zodiark) is strongly associated with the soul despite Hydaelyn's creation of Life. In fact, from His point of view, She erects walls around it. This all plays into the nature of the Echo, the Ascians, the Warriors of Light, etc. But those are whole other chapters of this story, so I tried to stick to the parts relevant to your question.

[FJerome]

Hydaelyn didn't step in sooner because frankly she's kind of terrible at this whole Mother Goddess business; she screwed-up in the initial Sundering and it's just been a cavalcade of well-meaning but ditsy "woops!" moments ever since.

[Aivi_lo]

snippety snip

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain the story in depth. I remembered bits and pieces of it, but I don't have the best memory and the story being broken up as it is doesn't help me!
I had to read your explanation 3 times, but think I understand it now. I had thought that the Warriors of darkness were just better than we were at stopping the bad guys and that's why their world was flooded with light. I wonder if hydaelyn is so weak because her light is effectively dammed away in the first world? And if she already had warriors of light /emissaries there, why she didn't act sooner (not that I'm not thankful minfilia is gone for a while!)
What are the different aspects of the crystals? Are there only six? I'm vaguely remembering collecting those in a previous instalment, but cannot for the life of me remember what happened with them in the end and why I still have one but the other scions don't.

[Griffey]

We gathered the crystals through the 2.0 storyline, giving us the ability to use the blade of light against Ultima and Lahabrea amongst other things. Hydaelyns power starts waning and we seem to lose them by the time we meet Midgardsormr, then we spend the rest of the 3.0 storyline getting them back.

[Cilia]

The problem is ultimately that neither Hydaelyn nor Zodiark can directly intervene in the corporeal world, or at the very least that doing so places a great strain on them. Their will is imposed (for lack of a better term) by their agents, the Warrior(s) of Light and the Ascians, respectively, as well as their Emissaries (now Minfilia and Elidibus, respectively). The problem is the Shard Worlds are seemingly imbalanced toward Light or Darkness, and the Warriors of Darkness, having banished the Dark, inadvertently condemned their world (the First Shard) to a cessation of existence via a Flood of Light (because the First Shard is naturally tipped toward Light unlike our world, the Source). Thus they conspired with Elidibus to Rejoin the First Shard to the Source before everything was erased into, for lack of a better term, a "Light Void," leading to the Warriors of Darkness plot that played out over 3.1 - 3.4. They turned on Hydaelyn because following her (seeming) instructions was what damned the First Shard to begin with.

There are six elements: Water, Fire, Lightning, Earth, Ice, and Wind. We still have all six Crystals of Light - having them all is what marks us as Hydaelyn's chosen, the Warrior of Light. None of the Scions have one because they do not have the divine blessing we do; they chose that path entirely of their own volition. Krile has the Echo, but no Crystal(s) of Light.

[TinyRedLeaf]

I had thought that the Warriors of darkness were just better than we were at stopping the bad guys and that's why their world was flooded with light.

Yup, that's correct. Although, it may have been the case that the forces of Darkness were relatively weaker in the First, and that was why the WoD were so successful there.

I wonder if hydaelyn is so weak because her light is effectively dammed away in the first world?

My impression throughout the 2.x series is that Hydaelyn had spent too much of her Light empowering her champions in the Source, and that was why she was weakening, to the point where she could no longer directly communicate with her Chosen.

The Light/Dark encapsulated in the 13 shards were separated from the Source at the time of the sundering. While they are, in a sense, in a different place, I'm not sure if it's accurate to say they're being "dammed" away, because it's not like that was part of a deliberate plan. As Anonymoose described, it was an unavoidable consequence of Hydaelyn expelling Zodiark from the Source.

And if she already had warriors of light /emissaries there, why she didn't act sooner

It appears that Hydaelyn never created "emissaries" of the same nature as the Ascians — until now. She chose instead to directly empower "Warriors of Light", who, unlike Ascians, remain mortal and alive. Ascians, are, on the other hand, some kind of aetherial beings. They're immortal, but aren't alive the way the Warriors of Light are.

Having chosen to directly invest her power in the WoL, I assume Hydaelyn eventually passed the point of no return, where She no longer had the strength to create an emissary even if She wanted to. That was why She couldn't help the First, even though She heard the world's prayers.

What are the different aspects of the crystals? Are there only six? I'm vaguely remembering collecting those in a previous instalment, but cannot for the life of me remember what happened with them in the end and why I still have one but the other scions don't.

Each of the crystals of light represent one of the six elements of fire, water, wind, lightning, ice and earth.

Hydaelyn told the WoL at the very beginning of 2.0 to go forth and seek the crystals. And by the WoL's deeds, the crystals would reveal themselves to him.

The WoL is the only one among all those gifted with the Echo to have successfully collected all six crystals, which makes him by far the strongest champion that Hydaelyn ever empowered.

For some reason, Midgardsormr chose to strip the WoL of the blessings of light in 2.55, as a way perhaps to test his worth. And the WoL spent the rest of 3.0 re-igniting the crystals, and regaining their full blessing.

That's what makes him by far the most fearsome opponent that mortals and primals alike will ever face. In Elidibus' own words, the WoL's power is approaching that of the gods, and he feared the WoL is danger of upsetting the balance too much towards Light. That was why Elidibus decided to deploy the WoD to counter the WoL, at the end of 3.0.

[Aivi_lo]

Thank you for your breakdown and replies it does make much more sense now. I guess it was lucky we had the last element on us at the time! I am curious as to why hydaelyn treats each world differently (no WoL for them!)

[TinyRedLeaf]

What I'm left to wonder about, now that the cosmology of FFXIV has gone down such a completely different direction, is who or what exactly are the Twelve?

They aren't primals or eikons, and are apparently gods of a far greater magnitude of power, so much so that it would be absolutely life-threatening to summon even a mere fragment of them.

And, yet, throughout this time, the Twelve have been silent. Do they even exist, the way Hydaelyn or Zodiark do? Or are they just figments of prayers and faith, like any ordinary primal, except a lot stronger?

(Or, here's my very, very wild and totally unsupported hypothesis: Could the Twelve perhaps be the incarnations of the surviving 12 shards of the Source? Hmmm....)

[Ametrine]

Well, during Dalamud's fall, after Bahamut broke out and started whecking everything, Louisoix and the Circle of Knowing attempt to summon the Twelve to reseal Bahamut, but they appear only in symbol form and are almost immediately shattered.

There was a quest at the end of 1.0 that had players go on a pilgrimage to to all the spots in the world with the Twelve's symbols and pray to them. It clearly wasn't enough.

I think they are just local dieties that have just persisted through time.