Thread: Revelations from Patch 3.5

More Triad stuff:

In my case whilst I'm disappointed that Regula died and would prefer him to stick around or show up again in the future I'll be fine with it if and only if his death isn't meaningless in the long term. If word spreads to Varis that his best friend was willing to work alongside the Warrior of Light/Scions then that could very well allow us to compromise with him in the future. Given that we're now seeing the Scions work directly with a servant of Elidibus I think we can safely state that them working with the Emperor of Garlemald isn't really that far-fetched.

We also know that Varis genuinely believes in merit and pragmatism. This suggests to me that Regula won't be the only heroic Garlean working closely with the Emperor. Or at least I'd hope not. Regula showing immense concern for the well-being of his troops was very refreshing - as was his desire to turn his back upon Allagan technology that was proven to be flawed. I'm very pleased that he wasn't Tempered or corrupted and that the FF6 references were less about Kefka and more about 'General Leo'. I do agree with Fenral, though, about 'sacrifices' as a trope.

I guess some other character will have to fill the niche of someone who is fiercely loyal to Garlemald but willing to work alongside the Scions/Warriors of Light when it becomes a necessity or the more pragmatic and efficient approach.

MSQ:

It's not surprising to me that Ilberd was behind the mask. Despite how unhinged he turned out to be I have to give him credit for a rather cunning plan on his part. It's interesting that if a fresh war breaks out with Garlemald it won't be because Garlemald is the 'big evil aggressor' but rather because they will literally be on the defensive and working with misinformation after Ilberd's stunt. That he was willing to sacrifice his own people and his own life makes it clear that he was too far gone though after everything he did so far that was already rather apparent. We still have his two lackeys to deal with though.

The stakes are pretty high. It's clear that things will escalate further than they already have and that a lot of lives will be lost. Papalymo may be dead, or he may go the way of Nanamo. We'll have to wait and see. Yda may do something very reckless. Omega and Nero will play into it all somehow though we don't know the circumstances surrounding that as of yet. Zenos will factor into it all and we're told that we will be unlikely to sympathise with him...so he's probably not going to be similar to Regula. If Zenos is more the sort to cause or exploit turmoil than this may pit Varis against him as well as various other Garleans.

We know that the good Garleans have deep respect for their fallen the lives of their people. The events of 3.5 and the lore book's description of the meaning behind the Garlean flag support this. Perhaps there will be a 'power shift' between Garleans loyal to the Emperor and measured, cautious pragmatism combined with a desire to see the Primals/Eikons destroyed and then there will be opportunists/outright bad guys who simply want to throw lives away in favour of exploring Allagan's secrets recklessly? Something like that gives us a more plausible reason to head deeper into Garlean territory without reducing them to 'generic villains' and it also allows the plot/setting to continue to embrace the whole 'morally complicated' nuances that are pretty much expected at this point.

@Cyril:

If you happen to be lurking, I'd love to read your reaction to the revelations in the Triad storyline. I've missed reading your posts.

MSQ

I wished it WASN'T Ilberd. Motives and modus and everything, I agree he fit perfectly to be Griffin though I'm still disappointed. But as Moose said there may be higher hands plotting around here, since he apparently got more than enough coin from a certain lalafell to sway that many people. I'm also bothered with Laurentius and Yuyuhase. If those two know that Ilberd was going to kill himself, that means Ilberd isn't a mastermind but simply another pawn. Whose pawn, however, is anybody's guess at the moment.

Can I say I kind of want to hug Laurentius? That boy seems to be so broken I just can't stand it .

Warring Triad

Dissapointed. Zufran doesn't get much lore told in game other than he's an eikon, summoned by Meracydian we have to beat it blablabla. Even Unukalhai's journal didn't mention him! The only known thing about him is that he's apparently allied with Sophia,which kind of jarring for me. If we go with their original depictions in previous game, they're supposed to be fighting each other. But here, they seem to be all lovely trinity. Yeah... I don't buy that...

Maybe it's just me, but Regula's death doesn't strike me as anything impactful. All they did just killed off our potential Larsa whom we never really know from the beginning except for some tidbits. At least his last moments show us the person underneath as someone reasonable and caring to his men. Good enough.... Yeah... Maybe...

The focus here is about Unukalhai's origin, color me surprised. All I'm curious about is that he mentions that there were many like him, too young and gifted they were unable to stop the inevitable because of their circumstance. And while it seems he's now part of Scions, will he still answer to Elidibus? I don't know where his story is going but I doubt it will intersect with main story.

Allied Beasts

Fangirls and boys, rejoice, for Nhaza'a Jaab IS BACK!

Didn't bother with the Garlean... He only lasts 3min anyway and his name's too funny to remember. But considering he managed to unearth the method to enslave not only dragons but practically any beings bothers me. What more the Garleans have discovered from the facility?

No comments for Tiamat cameo. I feel it an insult to include her in this segment. Maybe they'll add her for more serious business next time, so she can finally let go of her sorrow?

MSQ I mostly agree to everyone's thoughts about the story, but the one part that really had me wondering..

I'm super curious as to why Tataru and her buddies did measurements on the WoL (our character) o.o

Originally Posted by Blueyes

I know I'm reallyyy late with this reply, but I have my own speculation.

She's not making us an outfit. She's preparing our coffin.

LOL!! I didn't see that answer coming! XDDD....o_o well sh*t, we better keep both eyes open and watch our backs >.> <.<

Hmm... I think I need more time to digest everything but for now...

Triad

While I am pretty sad to see him dead, I think they finally gave Regulos some justice as a character. I also didn't find it particularly out of character but my viewpoint might be colored from knowing stuff from the lore book about him. Regardless he walked a good middle ground with a solid sense of pragmatism.

I think its value mainly is that it sets up the potential for working with Garlemald in the future. Plus he did kind of go out like a boss. Honestly Zurvan was almost like a background feature that the real story was built around. A minor character who's purpose was mainly setting the stage for other character's development.

I don't think anyone on this forum was shocked by the Unikalhai stuff but its good he will stick around and how he is involved in the future will be curious. We allied with the Garleans and a Ascian effectively this patch. I wonder how far his loyalty to Elidibus will go in the end as I expect a conflict with that Ascian is inevitable in the long run.

MSQ

Well a lot of the points so far were predicted but there was some stuff that was unexpected. The Griffin's tactics were very clever and almost certainly will spark a war, only more so with Omega being thrown into the mix. I didn't expect him to die. I kind of feel a bit unsatisfied with it cause Ilberd was such a jerk. I kind of wanted to see him brought down a peg before he died. I wonder how his lackies will tie into the story later on?

I felt Papalymo was likely going to die. Glad to have some solid explanation on why the ritual kills the caster. As sad as I am to see him die I will be extremely peeved if they bring him back. This makes me feel about 98% confident that the woman in the trailer was Yda. Why she specifically is important is something I think is still missing. Papalymo seemed to suggest it was something only she was capable of.

Funfact: I had a look of the edge of the Wall while doing the raid and spotted the Garlean building on the bridge from the Stormblood area screenshots. No mountains with holes in them though. Feel pretty sure Omega is going to blow a hole in Ala Mhigo now:P They have strongly suggested we don't have many options for taking down that primal without resorting to Omega. Looks like the 8 man raid will be us cleaning up our own mess this time round.

Speculation for 3.55/Stormblood:

I think war is inevitable and the fight over control of Omega will fan it into a necessity. At this point I think we will start out trying to draw together the resistance groups while learning who we are fighting and discover what Zenos is up to. I think Varis will appear on the scene and we might even see the chance to come to an agreement with him. However I suspect Zenos will kill his father and blame us for it allowing him to justify resorting to some ridiculously crazy measure to take us out.

One interesting aspect in this will be the viewpoint of the Domans. They will be observers with a particular dislike of Garleans. How they view any attempt to negotiate with the Garleans will be interesting. I wonder if they will stay loyal friends in the long run. Alternately they might see the fact that in the long run they might have to accept a middle ground if they truly want their homeland back. You know, coming to understand that sometimes you have to go forward rather than pursuing the past.

On the flipside I think that we will deal with Zenos in 4.0 and 4.x will be us trying to stablise Ala Mhigo and get everyone to stop trying to kill each other. There will be a major power vacuum with the lose of Garlean rule and I doubt everyone will be in agreement on how to fill that gap.

The long reaching ramifications going into 5.0 I'm guessing will be the fallout from the death of the emperor and his heir. War of Succession time, this time perhaps without a clear claimant and the potential to send halg the world into turmoil. I expect 5.0 to be us allying with Moderate elements within Garlemald to try and claim the throne and keep the world from descending into chaos, which of course would be very fertile soil for the Ascians to sow potential Calamities.