Crazy yet somewhat plausible theories... Thread

[Cilia]

If I recall correctly, Crystals of Light are simply fragments (or in our case, slivers) of Hydaelyn's divine power. This is why ours are so much smaller and comparatively weaker than the old one Matoya has - Hydaelyn is much weaker now than when that one was made.

[RobinMalvin]

I dunno; I think there's a case to be made for plenty of connections between Azeyma and Sophia.

There's not mention in-game about Sophia being related to the sun, only equilibrium (and cunning, Kidibus said?). Furthermore, as has been stated,

As can be seen from existing Allagan artifacts (runestones (from 1.0) inscribed with the symbols of the Twelve), Twelve worship existed in the 3rd Astral Era (before eventually losing steam amongst the Allagans as their civilization became increasingly scientifically advanced). When the Allagans first visited Meracydia, they were surprised to find a symbol almost identical to that used for Azeyma, the Warden being prominently featured in various types of architecture. Further research, however, revealed that the Meracydians they encountered did not worship Azeyma, but instead a deity named Sephirot, the Fiend, and that the symbol was being used to mean something similar, but ultimately different.

Azeyma worship among the Allagans/Eorzeans may have existed around the same time Meracydians worshipped Sophia/Sephirot/Zurfan, if not earlier. While Azeyma was also considered as sun deity like today, her present aspects as goddess of justice holding a balance might be inspired by the image of Sophia.

'Twould seem the power of our crystals is all but spent. -Magus of Darkness

So yes, even Crystals of Light do not have infinite power. They're just like any crystal, aether given form. Their difference is the amount of aether they posses compared to regular crystals.

[Anonymoose]

There's not mention in-game about Sophia being related to the sun, only equilibrium (and cunning, Kidibus said?).

Nothing spoken, no - just the visual themes (red, gold, Azeyma, possible references to the sun disc). Taken to the extreme, though, would there need to be a single connection between Sophia and the sun for her to share themes with Azeyma?

A parallel: Thomas Edison invented an electric pen that punched holes into a stencil that could be used for making multiple copies of a single document. Modifying a few of the parts, Samuel O'Reilly invented a pen that introduced ink into the skin. There are no mentions of Thomas Edison's invention being related to tattoos, and no mentions of Samuel O'Reilly's invention being related to documents. Had the former invention survived, think of how different the two might be today.

I think we're saying similar things in different ways, as that includes the possibility of the complete loop: Allag had a sun goddess in Azeyma (which had already diffused around the world) which became conflated with imagery of Sophia later on, in the same fashion as the Sephirot temple and Qarn, which is also marked for Azeyma (maybe even using the same source materials).

To use one possible path as an illustration: The Balance could be based on depictions of Azeyma sourced from Belah'dia, who retained source materials on Meracydian nations from records surviving from the days of Allag, who had records of this and the Twelve in the same encyclopaedias (as Koji helpfully pointed out was the connection between the architecture used in both Sephirot's temple and Qarn, which the Belah'dians built upon and used to worship Azeyma).

[CyberGoblin]

My own theory is that the crystals of light can be drained of aether but over time can recharge themselves.

As for the origins of the Twelve and similar gods. Its probably the case that they are the original Warriors of Light/extremely powerful mages... or alternatively, us sent back to the distant past and causing yet another stable time loop.

[myahele]

I believe that the Faith in the 12 first started in the 2nd Umbral era and went full steam ahead in the 2nd Astral era when religion ruled most of the known world. This might also explain why some of the 12 are said to hate each other (Nophica and Halone are said to be rivals, ironically Ishgard and Gridania are on very good terms with e/o) since the city-state that worshipped either god(dess) warred or allied with each other.

That and the Umbral era that happened before the Allagan came to be was believed to be another punishment of the gods by via global warming because mankind grew too proud. So this might explain why the Sun (Azeyma) symbol is everywhere, yet have different meaning depending on the worshippers. In other words, Sun worship was popular in the 3rd Umbral/Astral era because the Sun scorched the land due to mankind's sin and it was still in their memories.

We atleast know what may have happened in each umbral/astral era thanks to the lore book preview

If it weren't made clear that it was the Elementals that caused the great flood then I am sure people would have attributed it to Nymaea or Thaliak

[Reptiletc]

[SPOILERS] At the end of the 3.4 story Papalymo made the remark about how he shouldn't have given Yda that mask. I'm guessing That Yda is Ala Mhigan royalty and that Papalymo gave her a mask to disguise her and helped her sneak out. He might regret this decision due to the amount of danger she has experienced since. Especially since becoming a member of the Circle of Knowing.

[Cilia]

I hate to rain on the parade, but Yda is not royalty. Probably.

Go have another chat with Gundobald - he says Yda's father was a prominent member of the insurgency against the King of Ruin, not the King himself, and seems to have died.

Papalymo seems to regret giving Yda her new mask because she's hiding behind anonymity instead of being true to herself. Either that or said anonymity is why she's even considering joining up with the Masks, given they are clearly bad news.

[LineageRazor]

One crazy-yet-plausible theory I've been knocking around is one that started with King Moggle Mog and was further confirmed with Shiva. It's been more or less established that the primal Moggle Mog was based on a real, historical figure (albeit one steeped in myth and legend). I'm thinking that others - perhaps ALL of the others - are also based on real people or creatures.

This, plus the fact that Allagans are able to preserve creatures alive for thousands of years, makes me wonder if we might actually MEET some of them. Garuda in particular, since the Ixali seem to be creations of the Allagans - perhaps whatever historical figure the Ixali came to associate with their mad god is still alive, preserved by the Garleans somewhere. The other Primals, as well, though the Allagan connection is much looser for them.

I hate to rain on the parade, but Yda is not royalty. Probably.

Yda doesn't have to be daughter of the king to be royalty. Historically, kings have had extended families, and those extended families have had a lot of political power and often were included in the line of succession to the throne. It's hardly out of the question to imagine that Yda's dad could have been the king's brother, for example, and ALSO a prominent member of the insurgency. The king was pretty much living full-time in crazytown by that point, after all, and even a close sibling might have to make the hard decision to put his brother down for the good of the realm. (And if not close? Hey, bumping the bastard off is a great way to get his own butt onto the throne while becoming a hero to the people, to boot!)

[RobinMalvin]

Yda doesn't have to be daughter of the king to be royalty. Historically, kings have had extended families, and those extended families have had a lot of political power and often were included in the line of succession to the throne. It's hardly out of the question to imagine that Yda's dad could have been the king's brother, for example, and ALSO a prominent member of the insurgency. The king was pretty much living full-time in crazytown by that point, after all, and even a close sibling might have to make the hard decision to put his brother down for the good of the realm. (And if not close? Hey, bumping the bastard off is a great way to get his own butt onto the throne while becoming a hero to the people, to boot!)

During his reign, the Mad King in his paranoia imprisoned and executed all members of royal bloodline. The only known survivor is Widargelt, who was smuggled to The Fist of Rhalgr.

Makes you wonder if the King disbanded the monks to try to kill Widargelt

While lore book is not absolute, the information we're given is that Widargelt is the last one with royal blood left.

[Cilia]

Yda doesn't have to be daughter of the king to be royalty.

Oh sure, I'm well aware. However there's never been talk of the King of Ruin's extended family, only "the lost heir," and nobody seems to know who it is. If Yda was the lost heir, I'd bet Gundobald would be a bit more excited when he learns she survives still. He'd also seriously mention something that important when you go speak to him now.

Making Yda the lost princess of Ala Mhigo would kind of defeat the purpose of the game if you ask me. Yes it would be cool and yes it's plausible, but I thought the point of the game was to show what a common adventurer like us can do with enough motivation (and a divine blessing doesn't hurt, but we don't need it - see Nabriales). Yda being just another person, albeit a knowledgeable and martially competent one, is a bit more meaningful...?