[SPOILERS] Revelations from Patch 4.01

[Jonnycbad]

Something to note: Exdeath doesn't die the same as O1-O3. He gets sucked into the void. That hints towards him being the ACTUAL Exdeath and not a simulacrum like the others. Means we might see Neo Exdeath later.

Also how does this tie in with WoD, since Cloud of Darkness is supposed to be the personification of the Void itself. The Rift from FF5 was just a fancy name for the Void, wasn't it?

[Mysteltain]

Something to note: Exdeath doesn't die the same as O1-O3. He gets sucked into the void. That hints towards him being the ACTUAL Exdeath and not a simulacrum like the others. Means we might see Neo Exdeath later.

Also how does this tie in with WoD, since Cloud of Darkness is supposed to be the personification of the Void itself. The Rift from FF5 was just a fancy name for the Void, wasn't it?

But is it the actual Void from FFV? Since Omega quite literally imagined this whole damn thing up in the Rift (the FFXIV Rift that exists between Shards, which we have no confirmation of being the Rift from the rest of the series), for all we know his imagined Exdeath is drawing his power from an imagined Void that only grants him powers because that is how Omega perceives Exdeath powering himself up. Also, according to Yoshi-P, there will be a "Brute Justice like moment" in O4 Savage, so likely in that version of the fight Exdeath gets sucked into the Void and then gets spit out as Neo-Exdeath (or we get pulled in with him, who knows).

That's essentially the crux of this storyline: we are, quite literally, in a world created by a being that cannot distinguish between reality and imagination. He's taking legends, faerie tales, myths, etc. from previous civilizations (many of which are references to older FF titles) and making them manifest. So I'll throw my hat in with Moose, Cilia, Alleo, Nerisu, and Fenral and say that all of the bosses we encounter in Omega's Rift are of his own creation--which we know that he can do--and not ripped directly from the actual worlds of other FF.

I'm not a fan of the multiverse theory, because thinking rationally, since there hasn't been a consistent hand at the wheel since 2001, there's no way all these teams were thinking about anything beyond the current work. Some writers like Nojima feel differently, and try to link their worlds together (see the X-2->VII retcon), but those should be considered exceptions, and not the rule.

I think it's better to think of it as each game has its own multiverse containing the other games' worlds in some form, but those multiverses do not connect with each other. You have to consider the lore of the source game as well as XIV to determine the validity of the connection. For example, while it may be tempting to think of the fallen thirteenth shard as "the FFIII world" because of the Cloud of Darkness, her presence there in a different form of existence than she had in FFIII is what actually rules out the possibility of a direct link.

Another funny thing about our Void is that, when you talk to Unukalhai at the end of the Warring Triad questline and he reveals his origins, the story of how the 13th fell draws far more from the Ivalice Alliance games than anything in FFIII, what with the usage of auracite turning the heroes into aether-starved demons. So does that mean that FFIII and Ivalice are in the same world because of information in FFXIV!? *DUN DUN~*

[Daralii]

But is it the actual Void from FFV? Since Omega quite literally imagined this whole damn thing up in the Rift (the FFXIV Rift that exists between Shards, which we have no confirmation of being the Rift from the rest of the series), for all we know his imagined Exdeath is drawing his power from an imagined Void that only grants him powers because that is how Omega perceives Exdeath powering himself up. Also, according to Yoshi-P, there will be a "Brute Justice like moment" in O4 Savage, so likely in that version of the fight Exdeath gets sucked into the Void and then gets spit out as Neo-Exdeath (or we get pulled in with him, who knows).

A Soken-ized version of Neo-Exdeath's theme is also sitting in the files unused. He's 100% showing up as a savage-only phase.

[Remedi]

eh I thought that neo ex-death as savage only is a possibility considering what yoshida said

[EdwinLi]

Is anyone here familiar with the Digimon franchise and its multiverse lore? I feel like what's happening with Omega is pretty similar.

In Digimon Tamers, the characters and events of the preceding series (Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02) were known by the characters because they existed in that world as a television show, yet were 100% real in another universe.

Playing through the content today, my interpretation wasn't that Omega was directly copying fairy tales. Fairy tales are merely Nero and Cid's rationalization of what's happening, as the events of FFV (and other titles) are known stories in the world of XIV. Omega's alien origin suggests that its data was indeed obtained from visiting other worlds in the Final Fantasy multiverse, but characters in XIV have no reason to suspect that that's what's happening.

Basically how I see things that is going on in Omega Raid so far.

What we know so far from 1st Omega Raid is just the point of view of what Cid and Nero can best explain what is going on through their logic but we all should know by now what we "believe" is often just a "certain point of view" when it comes to FF14 Storylines.

[Jonnycbad]

A Soken-ized version of Neo-Exdeath's theme is also sitting in the files unused. He's 100% showing up as a savage-only phase.

Could also be O8 or something. Unless they nerf O4 Exdeath's health by 50% and make the second 50% into the Neo fight.

[Cilia]

Think about it this way: lightsabers and phasers are fictional weapons from Star Wars and Star Trek, respectively. If someone were able to create one such weapon in reality, it wouldn't mean that series' cosmology has any more truth to it than before - it just means someone was able to take a fictional thing and make it real. Inventing a lightsaber wouldn't make the Force real, and developing a phaser wouldn't mean Vulcans would come from on high.

Same concept. Omega creating a simulacrum of Exdeath, explicitly stated to be a fictional being, proves nothing but that Omega is capable of creating simulacra of fictional beings - and that there is a legend of a being fitting FFV's Exdeath that exists on Hydaelyn.

As for Omega's goal with the test? Ehh... I'd wager it's figure out what allows us to overcome such impossible odds. It's a soulless machine that lacks creativity or self-determination - Omega is driven solely by its pre-programmed protocol, which is to find the most powerful being nearby, fight it, and grow stronger from the experience. As Midgardsormr notes, Omega's near omnipotence blinds people to the fact it cannot create anything original or imbue its creations with things it cannot understand - such as self-determination, the will to live, etc. Keeping it simple, the soulless machine seeks to understand the concept of heart / soul, since it believes acquiring one will make it more powerful. It puts us under emotional stress by harming Biggs and Wedge because it believes that will make us more powerful - which it does, suggesting Omega seeks to gain this power for itself since it allows us to overcome the odds being stacked against us. However Omega fails to grasp why, which is much more important. That's my hypothesis, at any rate.

It can't summon heroes because it doesn't understand what drives them - the will to live, devotion, love, friendship, etc.

Note that I am not saying all mechanical lifeforms in fiction are soulless. Omega clearly is though, with its lack of creativity and self-determination. Nor am I saying Omega's creations are incapable of obtaining independent will or self-determination, but that is likely not something Omega intends.

[PArcher]

Could also be O8 or something. Unless they nerf O4 Exdeath's health by 50% and make the second 50% into the Neo fight.

V1-V4 normal are all easy for raiders. Very easy.

Its entirely conceivable that the Savage bosses will have 2-5 times more HP (and hit at least twice as hard) as the Normal versions, as well as an extra phase or two

[Alleo]

@Cilia: I really believe that their hints that the bosses are fictional characters is their way of telling us that they are not the real enemies. So I really liked your examples. Also if they would be the true thing, this would just mean way more work to make sure that there is no plot hole for this and the other games. Using their appearance as a nod towards the other games but letting them be fictional destroys any problem with canon facts.

Omega did talk about her not understanding how heroes could defeat nearly impossible enemies so she probably wants to find out what makes a hero stronger thus she hopes to get that power too. This is probably our purpose in the whole fight. Making us overcome our boundaries and with that show her how its done. But I believe that at the end, Omega would not be able to do that, simply because she is no true living being.

[Vayanne]

Until we receive a concrete statement from Square Enix, all theories are considered possible.

Using Cilia’s light sabers and phasers example and combining it with the multiverse theory, for the Real World (Earth) we have the following possibilities:
- Star Wars and Star Trek are absolute works of fiction, if we create light sabers and phasers they will be just fictional objects made real. The Force does not exist, there are no Vulcans.
- Star Wars and Star Treck are works of fiction on Earth but there exist other universes where the Force and Vulcans (or a concept/species similar to them) are real (objective truth). This still does not change the fact that for us earthlings the Force and Vulcans are fiction (subjective truth).
- And here come visitors from another universe (Omega), who have seen both those other universes and ours and start selling phasers. Which universe’s phasers are their products based upon?

From a lore perspective, is there any connection between the Exdeath we face in Omega and the Exdeath from FFV? Only Omega (and Square Enix) know. Maybe the latter still don’t know? Or want to keep the question open?

The only reason we know for sure that the hero Lightning who appeared in Eorzea is the Lightning from FFXIII is because Yoshida himself confirmed it.