Is The World of Darkness the Void? [3.4 spoilers]

[Chewy2nd]

So, I realised the name of the World of Darkness that we visited in the Crystal Tower took on a whole new meaning, given that it is the 13th reflection, and it was destroyed by darkness.



Is this the Void? Or is this just the remains of the 13th reflection that the Cloud of Darkness now has dominion over? Is the void bigger than the one world?

[Anonymoose]

This is something I've been trying to dig into with little success.

Did the Thirteenth become a void, as void, or the (entire) void?

It sure sounds like the latter. The Ascians and the Cloud spoke of [perfect darkness] as if it's what came before and lies beyond the Source (or so it seemed to me). In some cases they even claimed that "the void" would consume our Light and our world. But the void is what now occupies a world-shaped hole where one reflection used to be? Something about this feels very strange to me. Am I the only one who viscerally senses something amiss there?

I'm mulling possibilities trying to find a pleasing headcanon. I've always assumed that the [Perfect Darkness / Chaos] and the [World of Darkness / voidsent origin] were essentially one and the same. Perhaps the former was introduced to the Thirteenth via the flood of Darkness and transformed it into the latter. My understanding of the cosmology just took one step forward and two leaps sideways.

The one thing that feels right is that Arbert's interpretation explains the voidsent and their variance - they could be the former life of the Thirteenth, trapped in an eternal state of ... other-ness.

Yet the World of Darkness, to me, felt like a small corner of the void (whatever it is) where specifically the things sacrificed to the Cloud by Xande ended up. Perhaps the buildings, as well, perhaps not. I'm unsure.

I'll probably have to dig pretty deep to get these answers. This is one of the background themes of which I have a very tenuous grasp.
I could be talking about it in ways that don't apply at all.

Any ideas in the meantime?

[Cilia]

In all fairness, if I recall correctly it was said the World of Darkness is only on the precipice of the Void, not in the depths. So a little... "normal" stuff, hospitable terrain, is to be expected.

However, knowing what we know now about the Void... could it be hypothetical remnants of the Thirteenth? Maybe...

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

Wait, wasn't it explicitly said by the WoD that the 13th was swallowed by Darkness and thus became what we know as "the Void"? I'm a bit confused as to what the debate here is; it seemed pretty plainly stated.

[myahele]

Yeah, the 13th shard was consumed by darkness and became the void.

Interesting how he said "you" rather than "we" could that mean that Voidal rifts/ Voidsent could not get into the 1st world due to it having much more light. Or was the "void" called something else in their world? Or am I simply over thinking that part?

[Yuella]

FF13's world was swallowed by Darkness and Lightning had to escape it at the end of Lightning Returns. hmm....

[Cilia]

FF13's world was swallowed by Darkness and Lightning had to escape it at the end of Lightning Returns. hmm....

Separate universes. It's been iterated time and again that there is no connection between Eorzea / Hydaelyn and any other Final Fantasy world except names used as homage (well, beyond the normal "it's possible to traverse the Interdimensional Rift and visit other worlds," which holds true in all FF games).

[Belhi]

I suspect that the 13th shard is the void as we know it. Its possible there could be a 'pure' darkness metaphysically that exists in a space outside the 14 worlds still. However since the 13th has fallen to darkness, it would make sense that that shard is also closest to the form of that 'pure' darkness. Perhaps 'pure' darkness doesn't exist in a physical space we can go to in a real sense or maybe its a literal void rather than a space consumed by darkness but that still houses creatures.

Another possibility is that the 13th is close enough to the nature of the void that there is enough overlap that our scholars have simply mistaken it for the true void. After all we have no physical 'realm of light' in the same sense of the void. The Lifestream is probably the closest we get to that and even then that doesn't share the same properties. In this situation its a case of seeing something that screams 'void' and calling it that. In truth its not far from the reality since the 13th world is a void of darkness now. We see a place consumed by darkness and assume its the source when in truth that might simply be a misunderstanding of the nature of Darkness.

I do find it curious that its the furthest from the source. I wonder if that is significant. Is Hydealyn as closely linked to the other reflections as she is to the Source? Are the 13 reflections perhaps a buffer and Zodiark is held off beyond the 13th. Its interesting that its literally on the opposite extreme to the source itself.

[Anonymoose]

Alright; I've had some time with my knee-jerk reactions and first impressions and I've gotten nowhere.

But my moosey-sense is tingling...

I think the answer may lie in the difference between darkness and Darkness, whereby darkness (lower-case) is always associated with the void (an aether-barren nothing left where the Thirteenth was overrun by Darkness) and actual Darkness (upper-case) is always associated with the power personified in Zodiark (the force opposite Light personified by Hydaelyn).

The entities within the void snack on aether to manifest corporeally and otherwise seem to just spread more darkness. The World of Darkness and the Cloud of Darkness seem as though the d's would be lower-case if not for their being proper names.

Darkness often has aetherial form ... magicks ... sprites ... Chrysalis ... crystals ... the "Fathercrystal".

Something else that's bugging me: Arbert says in no uncertain terms that the First is closest to the Source and that the Thirteenth is far removed from the First. How, then, does the void rub up against the Source at all times in such a way that gates constantly open by accident and design? Are we all talking about distance in different terms, here?


EDIT
This is already panning out awkwardly; the sprites and aethers are named with a lower-case d. Then again, there are a few "lights" and "darknesses" that looks as though they should have been capitalized, as well. And let's not even to mention astral and umbral being equated to light and darkness (lower-case) on occasion.

[swiss_Momo]

there is no connection between Eorzea / Hydaelyn and any other Final Fantasy world.

But do the 13 shards technically still count as Hydaelyn?

/darkstelfoilhat