Launch Trailer Hype Thread

[EdwinLi]

Just because nobody's brought it up... if we're gonna bandy about XII references... maybe the source of Zenos' monstrous power is something akin​ to Judge Bergan's nethicite augmentation?

Just an idea. Might explain some of his mental instability too.

I doubt Zenos is actuallyinfluenced by some magic to make him this Warmonger. It is stated that before he got his katana weapons was already like this from the very beginning.

Besides the "standard" for being "mentally ill"/"Insane" has always been bound to a person's standard to what is considered "normal" for them even if that "Normal" is just society's expectations.

Zenos is probably one of the most sane person we will ever meet in this game that accepts the reality of "human nature"

[LineageRazor]

Zenos is probably one of the most sane person we will ever meet in this game that accepts the reality of "human nature"

It always amuses me when cynics in real life accept this kind of thing as a serious observation of human nature. It pretty much flies in the face of, well, just about all of recorded history. At any point in time, the number of individuals performing violent acts against other humans is hilariously outnumbered by the number of people just living their lives and not intending harm to anyone - and yet we're expected to believe that this tiny minority are the "natural" ones? It's like a real-life variant of the "toxic players" epidemic players rant about in General Discussion. Sure, they're out there - but hardly an epidemic.

Thankfully, the game itself seems to be taking Zenos's observations for what they are: the psychopathic ravings of a monster in human skin.

I tend to not believe that we did a whole hell of a lot solo. After all, one of the big themes of the game is "strength through unity," so for us to slay Primals and the like on our own goes completely against that. Plus, there are more than a few times that NPCs will outright tell us to gather up some friends before we take on threat-X, Y, or Z (Void Ark and Alexander series comes to mind), and as infrequent and inconsistant as that is, it still makes more sense that we teamed up to take on most major threats.

Indeed, the game's storyline is pretty inconsistent when it comes to whether or not we took on these threats solo. (And the actual gameplay, of course, does not support the "solo" theory one iota.) As I've mentioned in other threads, until the game explicitly states otherwise, I get credit for victories over these threats not because I beat them down with my own two hands, but because I lead a team of champions to victory over them. The ability to lead is just as heroic - if not moreso - than pure martial prowess.

Alleo's disbelief that a single Garlean, no matter how powerful, could overcome a hero who single-handedly defeated Nidhogg, Thordan, and the like is a valid one - and because it is valid I take it as further evidence that these victories were NOT single-handed.

[EdwinLi]

Thankfully, the game itself seems to be taking Zenos's observations for what they are: the psychopathic ravings of a monster in human skin.
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I am not talking about "Natural selection" bull **** kind of stuff. I am saying that Zenos is probably the most self aware of what people will do for the sake of things only.

We always get the question from NPCs and to other NPCs "Why are you doing this?" and expecting always some complex backstory to build sympathy or reasoning behind the actions but sometimes the reason is a simple "just for the sake of it."

Some people enjoy making others suffer for the sake of making others suffer while others make others happy for the sake of making others happy. It is like certain NPCs we meet who chosen to save the life of others for the sake of saving a life. Then there is certain other NPCs we know that have killed hundreds for the sake of it such as certain NPC in 3.5 MSQ that unleash Garlean Drones to kill all the Ala Mhigo resistance members.

Others choose to live there life the way they want without disturbing others for that sake alone.

Zenos statement of "only man has the wisdom and clearity to embrace violence for its own sake" is more to "man's" abiltiy to be self aware of their own actions to act out just for the sake of it.

It is like when a person has to choose to save a person's life or choose to save himself instead. No matter the choice they make their choice at the core is for their own sake either to save a life and feel the satisfaction that they feel they did the right thing or to save himself for self preservation.

Yet it was also paired with the line "therein lies hope". While the paired "therein lies freedom" might imply something like finding peace in enslavement, "therein lies hope" almost seems to imply waiting for the opportune moment to strike back against your oppressors.

The dialogue probably reflects on what Yotsuyu went through when Doma was under Orthard old government. We know in the lore she does all the horrible things to people of Orthard because of a strong hatred she had for them under the old government rule before the Garlean Empire took over which has been stated to be quite bad before the Garlean Empire took over.

[Cilia]

-snip-

You kind of missed my point there... I was trying to discern the source of Zenos' overwhelming power, not necessarily comment on his mental state. I would nonetheless argue that anyone who considers everyone weaker than him mere fodder for killing as he wishes, and thinks anyone who doesn't embrace violence for its own sake is less than human, is not of entirely sound mind. I admit that is just my opinion, though I don't think Eorzea (and going by his reputation even Garlemald) really disagrees.

Anyway... nethicite is a special magic stone from Ivalice. It functions by absorbing magical energy (Mist / aether), then releasing it for power, and comes in two flavors: deifacted and manufacted (god made and man made). Deifacted nethicite functions mostly as a nuclear weapon and takes a long time to charge. Manufacted nethicite has a wider array of uses and charges faster.

The specific use I'm looking at is its ability to augment the power of a fighter. One of the five Judge Magisters, Bergan, had implanted manufacted nethicite into his body to raise his power - but it eroded his sanity to a degree as well. I can't help but wonder if Zenos did not do something similar, given how he's able to shatter Y'shtola's thus-unbreakable barrier with one hand and apparently kick our ass even though we've taken on Regula van Hydrus, one of his peers. (That one nobody can argue - we had no Blessing of Light active and canonically defeated van Hydrus in single combat.) Granted [manufacted] nethicite is not known to be extant on Hydaelyn, but I admit I am only hypothesizing.

I'm not saying we should be the greatest fighter on Hydaelyn... but given what we've fought, there must be something behind Zenos' power that lets him toss us around as he does.

(See, Theodric? I'm actually pretty knowledgeable on Ivalice. I just don't like the already-myriad references being compounded with a name drop for the 4.1 24-man.)