Lore Book Revelations

[TinyRedLeaf]

Well, to be sure, Alexander's "Gordian knot" — his time paradox which, in this case, allows him to remove himself from the timeline — is possible if one accepts there's only a single timeline. From there comes the assumption that everything in the future must have been caused by something in the past.

If this were a reality that allows multiple, tangential timelines to exist, who knows how many alternative realities are possible?

After all, we now know there used to have been as many 13 Shards of the Source. Technically speaking, we do have a multiverse within the reality that is FFXIV. And, technically, that would also mean that as many as 13 different space-time realities are possible.

Thankfully, we don't have to deal with that mind-exploding possibility, because it seems time flows in a single direction and at the same pace for all 13 shards and the source.

[LineageRazor]

Thankfully, we don't have to deal with that mind-exploding possibility, because it seems time flows in a single direction and at the same pace for all 13 shards and the source.

Well, I'm not so certain that this is true. Dialog from the closing cutscenes from Alexander indicate that he examined many different timelines before deciding that the best one was one in which he sealed himself away. The implication is that he had the ability to NOT choose the timeline we know, if he had deemed another one superior - that he had the means to set us upon whatever track he deemed best, and could, essentially, decide which future is going to be the "real" future.

Of course, Alexander DID make a decision, and the timeline we witnessed reflected that decision, so it's impossible to know whether Alexander ACTUALLY changed anything in the past, or instead simply fulfilled his predetermined role in it. It's seriously implied, however, that Alexander had a choice in the matter. Things turned out the way they did because he willed them to, and that he COULD have willed otherwise.

From a logical standpoint, it doesn't make much sense, to be sure. But, hey, this is Final Fantasy - logic doesn't have to play a role!