Thread: The Road to 5.0

Originally Posted by Alleo

Oh well must have read that somewhere and thought it was the case, sorry. x_x

A number of redditors and streamers present this theory as fact to the exclusion of others, so that's my first suspect, lol.

Originally Posted by Alleo

Is her power Aether? Or is her power a special kind of one and thus seemingly the Light. (Or is Aether the Light and too much Aether in a world is bad for its people too?) She did get stronger when we gave her some crystals of Light back. And she was able to take back in the Light that was threatening the first shard, which imo should only be possible if she uses this as her power.

This is a little less clear, at the moment (as far as I know, anyway). To give you the best impression I possibly can will require essentially giving my own version of one of Minfilia or Urianger's PowerPoint presentations, lol.

I posit that there are sub-types of aether governing its behavior and capabilities, and that how aether might be converted from one "energy spectrum" to another is unclear, but that they are not compatible with one another. A number of phenomena suggest this to be true, even if the specifics are unclear.

Take, for example, the Eorzean belief that mortal death triggers a division of a living being's body (their corporeal form) and soul (their spiritual form). However, let's only consider this superficially. Eorzeans have a habit of being thematically accurate at best. They also believe that while the body breaks down into aether to nourish the Land, the spirit moves on to the afterlife to dwell in the halls of the Twelve, when as far as we know it moves through the corporeal rivers and out into the empyrean realm (the aetherial sea) to be shorn apart into uncountable pieces to flow back into the world and be reborn as life anew.

At the risk of digressing too far, this seems to explain how we are able to defeat Ascians. They transcend death and maintain their spiritual integrity without a corporeal frame, resisting the return to the Sea. Therefore, we bring a mimicry of Sea to them - a profusion of aetherial energy that shears their souls apart. But moving on.

When one casts magicks, they deplete an aetherial wellspring connected to their physical form. Alchemical potions called "ethers" (which can be made from elemental crystals) can restore this, or it will regenerate naturally with one's physical vitality as they consume food and rest. However, there are also magicks which tap a spiritual energy called "anima," (such as forging soulkin quasi-souls or teleportation) which can only regenerate with time (or the spiritual high from successfully defending a hamlet <ribs Legacy players>).

Take, for example, a primal summoning, which necessarily requires [corporeal aetherial energy] (land; often, but not exclusively, crystals) and [spiritual aetherial energy] (spirit; faith, prayer, willpower, desire). This forges a temporary physical-world housing for an "essence" drawn forth and materialized from the Sea. Suggestions so far point to the idea that most, if not all, summonings of this nature are actually creating a beacon to which are drawn all the uncountable pieces of a once-living thing whose soul has already been shattered, re-manifesting them as, at best, a shade; an overpowered elemental presenting itself as the thing it is believed to be. Disrupt the integrity of this being, and it simply dissolves into mist, its physical body flowing back into the land, the rest back into the Sea.

But back to the point.

We have confirmation that the "elemental" energy spectrum (the six elements + two polarities) is distinct from the (upper-case) "Light-Dark" energy spectrum. It's entirely possible that the souls of the great crystals are composed of aether that is incompatible with simply drawing elemental energies from the land, or pure life-force from the Sea.

Perhaps they must necessarily reclaim Light and Dark energy from the "reflected" dimensions into which they were scattered. Perhaps the "Crystals of Light" are unique because they are manifestations of the land's energies with a fragment of Her power at their core, allowing Her to empower Her champions beyond mortal limits and manifest "divine intervention" in the physical world, albeit at catastrophic cost.

Those that believe Hydaelyn is knowingly "consuming" the worlds to survive might even disagree on how She re-generates from this. Is it the aether of their planet, destroyed when the dimension was deleted, that allows Her to retain Her form without compromising the physical integrity of the planet in the Source dimension? Is it the pure life-force of all the souls who perished in the process? Or did She simply re-claim what Light was trapped there?

Do the Ascians require Dark energy to resurrect Zodiark? Are they targeting Dark-heavy worlds and only went for the First out of necessity because it was collapsing? Why does a rush of aether into the Sea make Hydaelyn - living in the Sea - weaker, but empower Zodiark, who, as far as we know, is trapped in a rift in the moon? Are the Ascians preparing to circumvent his imprisonment by consolidating Dark energies and summoning his reincarnation? How is Elidibus going to use the Warrior of Light to ensure that this happens? (to "forge the final key"?)

Please look forward to it.