Revolutions Hype Thread

[Cilia]

OK, I'm going to throw into the morality debate again. I'm going to hide-box it for discretion, however, so there's no need for the "stop posting walls of text."

Going to war should never be done lightly, but this war was foisted on us by a madman. That should not be forgot.

If you would ask what the Scions would do to those who took up arms in self-defense, ask the same of the Garleans. People lose non-combatant status when they take up arms and try to kill you; if they violently disagree with your course of action and attempt to kill you, it's do or die. Which would you choose?

Nobody said being a hero was fun or easy or clean, but there are lines we do not cross. Self-aware "heroes" do not proclaim themselves as such; they do what is necessary with minimal casualties, no more. However, there is a very clear distinction between the heroes and the villains if you look closely enough.

The Garleans will stop at nothing to bring the world to heel. They attempt to achieve peace through tyranny, and those who would forsake liberty for security deserve neither.
We, the Scions at least, will sacrifice everything - our friendships, our innocence, and even our very lives - to prevent that, because freedom is the right of all sentient beings.

Thancred said it best: "You make your choice and live with the consequences." We could choose not to attack, to engage Garlemald in a preemptive counterattack for the retaliation we know is coming for Baelsar's Wall. They could also choose not to attack, and simply relinquish control of Gyr Abania and/or Doma. They could have chosen not to attack and conquer either region at all, which to our knowledge was completely unprovoked. They made their choices, and now we must make some as well - but always keep that line in mind, and never cross it.

I acknowledge that being a "hero" sometimes means doing unheroic things. Suffice to say there is a reason I play the "vigilante class."

"They were abused before magitek" doesn't justify Garlemald's actions - that was 50+ years ago, and to our knowledge none of the territories they've put to heel (and we are subsequently going to try and liberate) had anything to do with that. "Ala Mhigo deserved it for their belligerency" - nobody deserves what happened to them, and what about Doma? "They're trying to save the world in their own extreme way;" sure they are, but it just so happens Garlemald is the only nation that benefits from that course. Everyone else is killed or put to heel. Even if we agreed with their genocidal plans, Garlemald would still throw their war machine at us to conquer Eorzea - it's what they do, not purely an act of well-intentioned extremism or self-defense. "You can't apply conventional morality to fantasy characters" - in some cases, sure, but by and large XIV runs on conventional morality, portraying kindness and self-sacrifice as good things (the latter gets to be excessive sometimes, but I digress), and selfishness and cruelty as bad things. The Stormblood site itself calls the Garleans "curs;" obviously they are not meant to be viewed in a positive light overall.

Revolutions, to me, sounds like a denunciation of the Garlean method, as well as a warning to the Eorzeans not to lose themselves and be blinded by their "justice" during the quest to liberate the two nations. A reminder not to cross the line and allow vengeance to cloud our minds, or try and use the Garleans' actions as an excuse to commit war crimes against them. (Or just that sort of thing in general, you know?)

That's what separates us from the Garleans. There is a line that we will not cross, while they have no compunctions about doing so.

Really, besides Zenos, the character that intrigues me most is Fordola. As someone split between the two sides yet accepted by neither, I'm very interested to see what she does. She also seems to be quite the formidable opponent - I hope we get to test our mettle against her.

I'd wager Revolutions will indeed play against Zenos, if he is the final boss of the 4.x story arc. (Nidhogg, despite not being finished until 3.3, was the main antagonist and final boss from very late 2.3 until 3.3. Zenos... well, it remains to be seen if he survives 4.0, or if our final confrontation with him is at the end of 4.0. Assuming we ever engage him personally, though I get the feeling that's inevitable.)

Need to stop wasting Orbs trying to get Effie... especially if swimsuit Lucina is a real thing...

... aaaaand rambling over.

P.S. I decided I'm gonna do 4.0 in my now-iconic red plate mail. I want them to come for me.

[LystAP]

I'd wager Revolutions will indeed play against Zenos, if he is the final boss of the 4.x story arc. (Nidhogg, despite not being finished until 3.3, was the main antagonist and final boss from very late 2.3 until 3.3. Zenos... well, it remains to be seen if he survives 4.0, or if our final confrontation with him is at the end of 4.0. Assuming we ever engage him personally, though I get the feeling that's inevitable.
0 in my now-iconic red plate mail. I want them to come for me.

There is a possibility he's just a bait-and-switch. Dragonsong didn't hint at Thordan and the Knights of the Round being the final boss, but they popped in at the end. There's good odds that Zenos isn't going to be the final boss of 4.0, but we will probably fight him eventually (especially since it is noted he loves fighting on the field.)

Zenos is still a vague character, the brief preview of him we have is him just sitting there and we don't know what the centurion interpreted Zenos' silence as. It is said his subjugation of Doma was brutal, but it could have been possible that the brutality was carried out by others, and all he cared about was jumping into the fight and beating up the rebels personally.

[Remus]

The Ascians must be feasting right now on the amount of wars happening right now. They love this kind of thing.

[VargasVermillion]

One thing I'm interested in seeing with zenos is his relationship with his father. Varis is apparently a tactical genius so it would seem odd that he would allow zenos, his firstborn and an apparent loose cannon obsessed with bloodshed to have command of the imperial army. Whether it's a tradition he was forced to stick with, respect for his son's abilities or even a greater plan we are unaware of yet remains to be seen.

Also I expect Zenos to represent a younger generation of garleans who are spoiled by the successes of the older generations, seeing as he sees being bored as more of a problem than any potential threat to their kin or country.

[Rocl]

Also I expect Zenos to represent a younger generation of garleans who are spoiled by the successes of the older generations, seeing as he sees being bored as more of a problem than any potential threat to their kin or country.

Honestly I wouldn't even just attribute this to Zenos alone. I don't recall Zenos' age (if we even know?) but even his father has no knowledge of Garlemald as anything but the Empire. The only Garleans who were born during the Garlean Republic were Solus and Gaius--both dead, and Gaius was a scant two when the Solus crowned himself Emperor. Their conquering of Ilsabard was complete at this time, which means even Gaius never knew a Garlemald at the mercy of other nations.

[JenofWildfire]

And oh gosh, the clips of the Steppe. I've got a Kha, a Himaa & an Ejinn, and cannot wait to learn more about all of my lizards. Devs already said we'd see little Au Ra and now we got a peek at a grandma too!

That's what I'm hyped for, too. I have a couple of Xaela(male and female), myself, one of which I'm taking through Heavensward, and they're both Kha(I figured that's the perfect tribe for Xaela adventurers to come from). So, I'm definitely interested in learning more about the Xaela. I'm thinking the Xaela girl sitting with WoL and company by the campfire might be from the Kha due to apparently being open to apparently traveling with outsiders. Plus, the Steppes looks so pretty in a way. We saw less than a minute of them and I already want to explore them!

[VargasVermillion]

I don't recall Zenos' age.

I guess he is in his 20s give or take based on how old regula is in the lore book (44) and he was a childhood friend of varis

[Vexander]

In regards to Zenos, it seems he goes up against Lyse, Y'shtola and Yugiri directly. Here's hoping at least one of them dies at his hands because we really need to see the major antagonist of the expansion shown to be a considerable threat.

I hope otherwise to be honest. The Worf Effort is a very overplayed trope. I also suspect Zenos will stick around even after we're done with Stormblood. There's no reason he couldn't pull a strategical withdrawal. He's been compared to Kefka a few times I believe, so really, the threat he'll pose will probably be as a double-bladed sword; he won't care about Garleans or Eorzeans, he'll gladly see them all die just because it amuses him.

As for sympathetic Garleans, I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually (probably not in 4.0) come to a conquered territory that's actually thriving because it has a benevolent Ruler/Governor/Viceroy/Whatever. Someone who maintains trade with neutral ports like Kugane, who institutes public programs for education, health care, housing and food, etc... Probably someone with no stomach for violence or brutality. Some noble's young son or something. Wouldn't be surprised if they'd even cooperate with the Scions/Eorzeans/Resistance due to extreme distaste for how Zenos/Yotsuyu govern their territories.

Also wouldn't be surprised if they were brutally killed in front of us just to push Zenos/Yotsuyu as villains.

[Cilia]

The official Stormblood site has this to say about Zenos:

"Leader of the XIIth Legion and crown prince of the Garlean Empire, Zenos is possessed of but a single passion: to stand on the front lines, blade in hand, and dance with death. He regards friend and foe alike with contempt, and tales of his brutality against both have spread far and wide. While crushing the rebellion of yesteryear in Doma, he took a liking to Far Eastern katana, which have since become his weapons of choice."

Zenos was also shown to be rather intelligent, or at least possessed of a thorough spy network, as he correctly identifies Shinryu by name presumably mere hours after its appearance. That he enjoys standing on the front line suggests he is also a formidable opponent, and the trailer strongly hints that he indeed is - Zenos is seen fighting Lyse, who is saved only by a timely intervention by Y'shtola, as well as Yugiri, capable fighters all.

That said I don't believe Zenos is malevolent towards his people - he's apathetic, if anything, towards others in general. He fights not for conquest or survival, but for sport. I do hope there is more to him than that, but based on his actions in the past and the response doing nothing elicited from his adjutant, I think he's established himself as a credible threat.

[KageTokage]

I'm curious as to what the final boss of the 4.0 MSQ is going to be like, because compared to Ultima Weapon and King Thordan, an imperial legatus wouldn't seem all that impressive when we've already canonically taken on several primals solo.

I'm expecting Zenos to break out some kind of superweapon they'd been developing in Ala Mhigo as a last resort, personally, though I'd like it if we got to have a one-on-one duel with him in a duty prior to that.