The Enterprise in the Calamity

[Mysterysword]

Can anyone provide a timeline of events detailing what happened to the Enterprise just before, during, and after the Calamity? How did it end up in Coerthas while Cid ended up in Thanalan?

For that matter, what happened to Cid that he got from watching Dalamud in "End of an Era" to an amnesiac in a church in ARR? Also, what was Garlond Ironworks doing between 1.0 and 2.0?

[Belhi]

My Guess is the Garlond Ironworks were still developing Magiteck for Eorzea under Jessie's control. She does effectively run the business for Cid who seems to spend most of his time off on side projects.

As for the rest of the details, I have no idea. I suspect that Cid suffered his memory lose during the death and destruction, possibly from being injured. He quite possibly ended up traveling a distance before arriving in Thanalan. He had 5 years to move around.

[lycropath]

Biggs and Wedge were creating airships for Eorzea at the time that we found them, so the company probably kept going in Cid's absence.

[Anonymoose]

The Enterprise was docked in Gridania before and after the flight to the Rivenroad to slay Nael van Darnus; that was its primary appearance in 1.0. Just before the Battle of Carteneau, it left Gridania bound for Coerthas (witnessed by Vortrefaurt), landed near the Stone Vigil (witnessed by the Observatorium), and was captured by the garrison there.

At the end of To Kill a Raven, Cid congratulates you on "stopping" Dalamud, only for Louisoix to let you know the moon still descends at the beginning of Living on a Prayer, which didn't feature Cid at all if I remember right.

What gets me is that I don't recall there being any explanation for why the Enterprise left Gridania on the eve of the Calamity, why it landed in Coerthas, where its occupants went while the Stone Vigil's garrison just ... freakin' took it ... and how Cid then ended up on the cliffs in Carteneau two regions away. They just kinda turned his airship into a plot coupon, didn't they?

That said, during Living on a Prayer, you did come across someone in Coerthas ... the Black Wolf. I'm almost entirely positive that's a coincidence, but of all the possible excuses I can imagine, a secret and momentary meeting between them is the most interesting. Their interactions in 1.0 were almost sad; a surrogate father struggling to accept that Cid wasn't rigidly committed to The Mission, Cid railing into him for following indefensible orders and being leashed to Nael van Darnus like a bad dog. Gaius even took a moment to wish the Warrior of Light luck in "leaving [him] something worth conquering"; kinda fun to imagine he had a chat with Cid.

It's also possible that Cid loaned the Enterprise to other Ironworks personnel, or that the phrasing the NPCs used is awkward and the timetable is different than they make it seem (some NPCs claim the final flight of the Enterprise was on the eve of the Calamity, some say it was some days before). I'll keep an eye out for any further hints.

EDIT: Maybe that's how Cid got to Carteneau, right? Gaius gave him a ride on his dreadnaught on his way back out to a safe distance. Trolololo~♪

[Mysterysword]

snip

Thanks! So, to summarise: The Enterprise went from Gridania to Coerthas, landed near the Stone Vigil (was it a crash/emergency landing or their destination?) and the knights there took it into custody (because... Who knows?) and then dragons happened with the Calamity and the whole place fell to ruin and so the Enterprise just sat there for the next 5 years?

And then Cid either went from Gridania or Coerthas to Carteneau, and then from there to Thanalan. I'm honestly more interested in finding out the details of the latter journey, because presumably by this point he'd lost his memories. An even better question is how he lost his memories and why meeting us unlocks them.

[Anonymoose]

So, to summarise: The Enterprise went from Gridania to Coerthas, landed near the Stone Vigil (was it a crash/emergency landing or their destination?) and the knights there took it into custody (because... Who knows?) and then dragons happened with the Calamity and the whole place fell to ruin and so the Enterprise just sat there for the next 5 years?

That's definitely the basics of it. I'm still digging into why it went to Coerthas and why it landed and how (if Cid was there) he was able to get two regions away so quickly. But the Enterprise definitely just sat there for 5 years after the Dravanian Horde took over the Vigil.

I'm honestly more interested in finding out the details of the latter journey, because presumably by this point he'd lost his memories. An even better question is how he lost his memories and why meeting us unlocks them.

The latter part is actually the easiest. The Calamity messed with everyone's memories, but Cid got hit particularly hard; he not only lost the Warriors of Light and the precise events of what happened when the bright light took Louisoix and Bahamut away, but he lost himself. He was taken in by the lichyard in Thanalan, who assumed he saw terrible things, broke from the trauma, and would have died in the desert if they hadn't taken him in (and named him Marques).

When you're flying towards Garuda, Cid's trying to scratch at the walls in his mind (because flying the Enterprise towards probably-certain-death for the greater good of the realm is just something he feels RIGHT doing and he can't identify WHY) and he's all he's getting for his efforts is angry. He pulls the goggles off of his forehead, which have been with him even through his time as Marques, and declares that he doesn't even remember where those came from. The Warrior of Light then hits Cid with the Echo, and whatever screwy effect the Calamity is unraveled. They go about untangling the memories, from his childhood through his estrangement from his father, designing magitek warmachines for the Empire, defection after the Bozja incident, and (if you progressed far enough in 1.0), flying you to the Rivenroad to slay Nael van Darnus.

It concludes with this weird little scene of a ghostly, floating Warrior of Light handing Cid's goggles to him. I've always taken it as kind of a fluffy, metaphorical scene where the Warrior of Light is literally handing him his memories in the shape of the object he was fixating on at the start. Maybe it was a symbolic scene, maybe it was what Cid saw through his third eye, who knows. But it was definitely the Echo that set him straight.

[Mysterysword]

The latter part is actually the easiest. The Calamity messed with everyone's memories, but Cid got hit particularly hard; he not only lost the Warriors of Light and the precise events of what happened when the bright light took Louisoix and Bahamut away, but he lost himself. He was taken in by the lichyard in Thanalan, who assumed he saw terrible things, broke from the trauma, and would have died in the desert if they hadn't taken him in (and named him Marques).

I think my biggest question is just how he got from Carteneau to Thanalan. I mean, that's a long way to wander, and presumably he didn't fly there.

[Belhi]

I think my biggest question is just how he got from Carteneau to Thanalan. I mean, that's a long way to wander, and presumably he didn't fly there.

He had 5 years and there was a lot of refugees moving about. A man without memories quite likely could have been caught up with one of those groups. Since a lot ended up heading towards Ul'dah, it wouldn't be that surprising for him to end up in Thanalan.

[CaesarCV]

Getting from Cartenau to Thanalan would actually be exceptionally easy for a variety of reasons. After the battle of Cartenau, there were a great many soldiers (the Immortal Flames in particular) which would have to be heading back to Thanalan. Considering they also had to deal with a great amount of wounded soldiers (they would probably count Cid among them), it's easy to say they just brought him back with them. On a darker note, the Lichyard was notable in the Calamity for handling many of the mass graves and bodies that didn't have money for proper funerals, it's easy to assume that he might have met the priests during their work at Cartenau. And even if he did not immediately head there, he had a full five years to eventually get there.