Revolutions Hype Thread

[RobinMalvin]

My hype goes to the shot where some Ala Mhigan Resistance fighters shown victorius alongside an Ananta!! Finally we can get an alliance between men and beast tribes (whatever this term refer to). Minfillia will be so proud. This also gives me some theory that we'll fight Lakhsmi to prove our righteousness and win her follower's approval. Can't expect any less from the wife of Rama.

[Theodric]

The lyrics intrigue me and paint a picture that things may not be so black and white after all, much like the Dragonsong War. My guess? The Eorzean Alliance - or some of its allies - will go too far in the quest for 'liberation'. Given what happened at Baelsar's Wall it seems very likely. Some of those murdered in the name of 'freedom' will be sympathetic, no doubt - perhaps unexpectedly so. I fully expect 4.0 to shed some light on the plight of the Garlean people, perhaps giving us the faction of Garleans that are loyal to their homeland and people but not necessarily loyal to Zenos and his aggression/indifference that a lot of us here are hoping for.

Very interesting that Doma appears to be...flooded?

I wonder who the 'lover lost' is and how that'll tie into the story?

[Belhi]

While I am hoping we see a different, more moderate side to Garlemald and we have some hard choices in this expansion, I am not sure if the Garleans themselves really have a plight. They have been the top of their society since they began their expansion.

That said I think they are going to have to start showing at least some benevolence to the Garleans because I fully expect to go to Garlemald in 5.0 and I expect it to be dealing with the political and social consequences of any damage we do in this expansion.

Don't worry, I got you:
*image*
(Quite literally standing with us. Hah! Wordplay!)

I just had the image enter my head of dragoons taking out Garlean flyers mid air ala the intro cinematic to HW.

[Theodric]

-snip-

It's confirmed in the lore book - and it's not as if they had the Warrior of Light to fall back on to solve all their problems, thus they had to resort to increasing desperate measures for the sake of their continued survival after being forced to carve out a living in a wasteland. Should they have rolled over and allowed themselves to be wiped out instead? Push people far enough and they start pushing back. Much like the Roman Empire, there's a lot of bad, yes, but they're hardly irredeemable and one only has to look at how many 'good' countries in the real world get involved in conflicts that they shouldn't but still have their own redeeming qualities.

We've already seen redeeming elements in regards to Regula and - to a lesser extent - Gaius. The latter more so in 1.0 than 2.0. Zenos is likely to be a straight up villain, though from what little we've seen of him so far it's clear he doesn't care all that much about his own allies which is likely to be his downfall, I believe.

As an aside, I wonder if the Doman Viceroy and Hien used to be lovers? Or if they're directly related - as siblings, perhaps. I could have sworn it said 'a family torn' as it panned to the Viceroy...but that may just be me.

As per usual, the trailer may be strategically cut in places to make us believe one thing is happening whilst something else is actually the case. It'll be very interesting to see how it all plays out...and as a fan of FFXII, I'm eager to see which elements of that game they bring into 4.0. FFIX, too, will get a lot of love and in-game references I hope!

[KingOfCheese]

Gods, so many things going on to be analyzed. I don't know where to start. Ishgardians among the Alliance, proper unification with the Beast Tribes, seeing Xaela Au Ra and their culture, drama between free and Garlean ruled Ala Mighans, Lyse looking different than her CG trailer self, the truth of how Doma is "no longer", and so, so much more.

Hold a moment. Doth my eyes spy a peculiar Doman Shinobi at 4:15? Why yes, the one who has yet learn the proper courtesy of Eorzean bowing (Or has that changed in the 50-60 quests).
Now I have reason to further level up my Xaela Au Ra Ninja.

[Rocl]

So, uh, in the opening scenes of the song we see a young blonde haired man in a Filibuster's set rally the troops and I can't but help but wonder--is this Arenvald? Our half-Garlean, half-Ala Mhigan Scion friend with the Echo?



I want it to be, but I can't tell if maybe I'm just mistaking things for what I want them to be instead of what they are.

[YianKutku]

Much like the Roman Empire, there's a lot of bad, yes, but they're hardly irredeemable and one only has to look at how many 'good' countries in the real world get involved in conflicts that they shouldn't but still have their own redeeming qualities.

I'm reminded of the historical tidbit of the Roman historian Livy, who claimed that Rome only responded to provocations, and therefore Rome conquered much of Europe in self-defense. (Yes, I know I'm simplifying.)

The lorebook also states how the cuisine of Garlemald has improved significantly since they started empire-building, with foods from all over their empire. It's not hard to see how the average Garlean citizen benefits from the expansionist policy, and they're not likely to be pleased if they're forced to go back to the old days of boring food.

(Technically they could also have reaped the same benefits through trade (eg Limsa and the Culinarian's Guild) rather than invasion, but that's another topic.)

So that's a case where Garlemald didn't need to conquer the land in order to survive, but it still led to an improvement in lifestyle, and now that they're on this path, they probably don't see the need to change. And if the game's story eventually leads to the Garlean Empire being humbled, that's a lot of people who won't see their sudden downgrade in living quality as fair, even if their current wealth is built on the suffering of the conquered lands.

Plenty of the policies (both official and unspoken) enacted by the Garleans are still evil, of course. And many more might not be as morally repugnant, but they are still unacceptable to us as the Warrior of Light from Eorzea. I'm curious if the alleged sympathetic Garleans we see will be people who have a high enough rank to effect policy changes, or if they'll just be random soldiers or civilians who can't help the world they live in.

[TinyRedLeaf]

First things first: I loved the song!

A quick glance at the reddit thread, however, confirmed what I expected to see: a number of people commenting that Revolutions didn't grab them the way Answers and Dragonsong did.

There's no accounting for taste, and I readily concede that whether or not one likes or dislikes a song is always a matter of subjective opinion not worth arguing about.

So, I'll just explain why this is easily my favourite of the three main themes we've had for the game so far: The lyrics to Revolutions have a certain poignancy that makes the song that much more grounded and personal.

Don't get me wrong; Answers and Dragonsong are amazing themes. Both songs evoked high drama with sweeping scores and operatic delivery and, as such, delivered an instant impact that few can ignore. Revolution, on the other hand, is quietly deliberate, and gives a listener the time and space to better absorb its message.

On one hand, it's a call to war. On the other, it's a heartfelt warning to 'ware the wages of war. It's the latter that stops the tune from developing into a full-blown march, and that is indeed the intent. It echoes the mood at the end of Patch 3.56, especially that of Yugiri; an awareness of a bloody battle on the horizon that has been long in coming, but dreaded in equal measure all the same.

No one should ever celebrate war. Not even if it's in the name of justice and liberty.

That's the message of Revolutions, which I hope to see play out in Stormblood.

========

It's worth remembering that for the conquered peoples of Othard and Ilsabard, their defining moment in recent history has not been the Calamity, but rather the arrival of Empire.

We're not just travelling to new lands, but also lands that are not as touched by aether as Eorzea; lands where the suffering of Eorzeans in the past five years (*yes, yes, I know, but I'm keeping with the canonical time bubble) pale in comparison to the social upheaval experienced by entire nations over the past 50 or so years.

Hence the timely warning: Rally the troops; believe in the cause, for it is just; but never be so self-righteous as to think that everyone would see us as saviours, for justice is a sword that cuts both ways.

In this sense, it builds on the most important lesson we learnt from Heavensward/Dragonsong: It's easy to preach balance, but quite another to put it to practice.

One kingdom's fall is another kingdom's freedom

One sovereign's war is another sovereign's peace

One mother's pride is another mother's sorrow

Their tears both soak the land that they love

[myahele]

I actually surprised to see that Lyse travels with us to Doma. I figured that she'll remain in Eorzea and we'll go to Doma with only Yugiri. I also wonder why Lyse is not wearing her iconic garb? I can see that it's practical for fighting, but I wonder the if devs decided to go with another outfit due to clipping or technical issues and her CG outfit will be more for "formal" events?

[Hainiryun]

I decided to try and match up the Xaela tribes that appear with those listed in the lore book, with mixed success.

I'm fairly confident about the white robed tribe being the Gharl.

Before each Migration, the Gharl will fill a sacred urn with the soil of the place they just camped. This soil is then dumped upon arriving at the next location

The tribe in yellow don't really have any distinctive traits beyond the clothing, but the book doesn't go into enough detail about individual tribal clothing for that to be an indicator. There seems to be another group alongside them but they fall into the same category.

My gut tells me the seeming ruler they're reporting to isn't of the same tribe though. If I had to guess the ruler is part of the Jhungid or Kharlu, two rival tribes who subjugate various smaller tribes to fight for them in an anual battle for teritory, with the yellow tribe being one such subjigated tribe.

The elder woman also has a distinctive style of dress from the others. Given her seeming willingness to open up to outsiders I'm inclined to think she may be one of the Kha.

Unlike most Xalea, the Kha live on the fringes of the Xaela lands, actively seeking contact with non Auri peoples