Garuda Story Mode Question

[Grayve]

So, I was replaying the MSQ with a friend that just started, ad we just got to this fight. When Garuda tries to temper the WoL, we seem to throw some sort of energy back at her which sends Garuda reeling. It reminded me of the Lakshima shield we raised to protect our allies. My question is was that the WoL or was it Hydalean interfering directly?

Also, I found it interesting that Garuda also says "What Are You?" To the WoL, exactly the same as Thordan does.

[Enkidoh]

Funny, I don't recall us knocking her back when her tempering failed, we just kind of no sold it and she then ranted and raved that it didn't work. I'll check my screenshots of the scene in question to verify this.

EDIT: okay, looking at my screenshots, the 'knockback' we cause is clearly coming specifically from the Blessing - after knocking her back it pulls a Crystal of Light out of her. So it was the Blessing of Light that caused that.

As for what she says, this is the dialogue she says specifically when she tries (and fails) to temper the player:

Garuda: "You, landwalker-you who dared to raise your hand against me-you shall be the first to pay for your sins! Not with your death-but with your LIFE!!"
Garuda: "You will serve me, landwalker... to your last breath!!"
(She then gathers up tempering energy and hurls it at the player's character, the energy dissipates harmlessly)
Garuda (seeing the player is immune to tempering): "No! NO!! I claimed you! You should be MINE!!"
(A light brightens suddenly from the player character's chest, it then bursts forth and hits Garuda, knocking her back and drawing forth a green Crystal of Light from out of Garuda's chest, the Crystal then floating into the player character's hands. After the Crystal appears on the Blessing's mandala, Garuda comes to, weakened and trembling)
Garuda: "What... what are you? What have you done to me!?"
Garuda: "No mortal should possess such power! This... this is impossible!"

Basically like Thordan much later, it was cognitive dissonance on her part, she was extremely arrogant and simply could not reconcile that she was defeated by a 'mere mortal', let alone discover that everything she had thrown at us had been for nought - not even tempering could lay us low, and she simply could not wrap her head around it.

[Grayve]

Yeah, she shoots a bit of like... green energy at us. We respond with a white or silver return. It's hard to describe.

[Cilia]

I figured it was some kind of feedback phenomenon from the Blessing of Light. No in-story explanation is given.

[Belhi]

In light of the revelations at the end of SB I wouldn't rule out the possibility it was a subconscious backlash using the echo rather than the Blessing of Light. The WoL almost always uses their echo instinctively or passively and barely taps into its potential power.

A lot of the time it's hard to tell what is the echo and what is the blessing. Curiously, in the intro to the Omega raid Midgardsormr seems to refer to the echo as our 'Mistress's gift' since he uses it in reference to us being able to understand Alpha.

[Anonymoose]

It would probably sound silly if I just said it no build-up, so apologies in advance for the rambling.

Hydaelyn's gift has different levels. It's possible to be granted the Echo and have nothing come of it; you wander around lost and confused and never know of your connection to Her. Some who heed Her call are gifted with slivers of Her power to carry out their tasks: a Crystal of Light. In times of unprecedented need, the blessing of Light might manifest through the crystal's power and protect Her chosen, as well.

But the Warrior of Light is a tier above all of these; this is Her champion.

Crystals of Light are drawn to the champion; it's possible for them to interfere with the aetherial realm itself to manifest them. This is why you only received one from Hydaelyn, and why the rest just appeared. (Fire from Ifrit, Wind from Garuda, Earth from Titan, Lightning as a gift from the Sylphs, Ice from Isgebind). It's a positive feedback loop; strength leads to being chosen, the Crystal leads to more strength, that strength in turn draws the Light.

In Toto-Rak, depending on your client language, Lahabrea's words are varying degrees of cryptic. In some languages, he goes full on Bond Villain and explains that you are a threat to him and why, lol.

Je dois dire que ton cas me fascine. Je suis particulièrement intrigué par l'être qui t'habite...
I must say that your case fascinates me. I am particularly intrigued by the existence which inhabits you...

Il y avait bien longtemps que je n'avais pas vu un “Guerrier de la Lumière”, ce mal insidieux qui ronge la planète.
It has been a long time since I last saw a "Warrior of Light", that insidious evil which gnaws at this planet.

En plus de l'Écho, tu as le pouvoir d'interférer dans le monde de l'éther et de matérialiser des cristaux de lumière.
In addition to the Echo, you have the power to interfere with the aetherial world and materialize the Crystals of Light.

That flash when you strike Garuda is literally shearing the aether from her and forging a Crystal of Light with it, though you don't seem to be doing so consciously. Of course, it might be Hydaelyn Herself doing it, though the interaction between us and the crystals seemed to manifest even when Midgardsormr severed our connection to Her.

[CaesarCV]

The Echo allows one to ignore the effects of tempering. That is part of why the Scions rely on the Warrior of Light to deal with primal threats. It is possible to defeat primals without fighters who have the Echo, but it tends to be rather messy. For example, the Company of Heroes had to rely on a three wave system, the first getting tempered, the second killing the tempered, and the third defeating the primal. Similarly, Immortal Flames expeditions to fight Ifrit are said to lead to large amounts of tempered Casualties. In 1.0, all of the members of the Path of the Twelve had the echo. In 2.0 onwards, but it can be assumed that your companions are adventurers with the echo.

Several characters with the echo (it's artificial form) have used it more creatively though. Ysale and Zenos managed to use their echo-given resistance to control primals. When Garuda, Shinryu, Ifrit, and Lakshmi all attempt to temper the player character, they are shocked by it not working.

[Kyran-Varlsen]

It is possible to defeat primals without fighters who have the Echo, but it tends to be rather messy. For example, the Company of Heroes had to rely on a three wave system, the first getting tempered, the second killing the tempered, and the third defeating the primal.

That is ridiculously brutal.

I mean, that was what always hit me about FF14. Sure it has the anime tropes and the cat ladies, but when push comes to shove the story writers don't hold back on reminding you of what real sacrifice means. It ain't clean and it ain't romantic.

This really hit home after the initial encounter with Ifrit when we were told that all those people we had "saved" had been summarily massacred when we left. And then during the Warring Triad story-line, Yshtola reminded us that it would have been our duty to euthanize the servants of primals that were stuck defenseless in Allagan preservation pods if given the chance.

It would be nothing short of a miracle, or a sure sign of benign psychopathy, if our Warrior of Light didn't end up with PTSD after all the stuff we put him or her through.

[Belhi]

That is ridiculously brutal.

I mean, that was what always hit me about FF14. Sure it has the anime tropes and the cat ladies, but when push comes to shove the story writers don't hold back on reminding you of what real sacrifice means. It ain't clean and it ain't romantic.

This really hit home after the initial encounter with Ifrit when we were told that all those people we had "saved" had been summarily massacred when we left. And then during the Warring Triad story-line, Yshtola reminded us that it would have been our duty to euthanize the servants of primals that were stuck defenseless in Allagan preservation pods if given the chance.

It would be nothing short of a miracle, or a sure sign of benign psychopathy, if our Warrior of Light didn't end up with PTSD after all the stuff we put him or her through.

You sir, should level DRK.....

[Kyran-Varlsen]

You sir, should level DRK.....

As long as it's more interesting than Paladin, I will look into it.

On another story mode question for Garuda: Why does she look like a hyur/elezan woman with wings when her followers are Ixalis? her followers call her beautiful, but is this a sign that they consider themselves ugly? It's the same with Zurvan, he has the face of a handsome hyur yet his followers are reptilian creatures with more teeth than good skin on their faces.

Maybe these gods were created by Kith races (such as Hyur or Elezan) and then adopted or were forced upon the Ixal and the followers of Zurvan who then just ran with it.

When it comes to the Primals like Ifrit, Titan, Leviathan, Ravana, Bismark and even Susano there is no disconnect from follower to gods due to appearance because these primals represent a manifestation of power or a cultural point of reverence. But with Primals like Garuda and Ramuh, it seems a developer blurp to just design them to look so alien to their followers that they could be Hyur gods. Lakshmi also kinda falls into this despite the fact she looks far more like her followers than Garuda, and I say this because she has no snake features (fangs, scales) upon her that we can see (though she may have a tail under her billowy dress).