Thread: Patch 4.4 (Prelude in Violet) Speculation Thread! (Possible spoilers [NO LEAKS])

It sounds like we're going to be getting a lot more information about the Ascians in 4.4 as per an interview. The only thing was disclosed was that they exist in two distinct states Yoshi referred to as "original" and "reincarnated" and that there's never been very many of them.

Also, we're apparently getting the business with the Burn out of the way extremely early in the MSQ as the dungeon is made available after the first quest according to the patch notes. I assume that means whatever brings us to the Azim Steppe is likely going to tie into the bigger picture somehow...whatever it is.

Yeah, not long now until we find out. Personally, what I want is for them to save a few Overlords, so that we encounter them in their true form and not through possessed hosts or Echo-created manifestations, like the Ascian Prime. I remember thinking that was their true form, but it is just one of many they can take on.

When they cease being a major antagonist - at least in their mortal shells - I'd love to see caster sets inspired by their robes and masks. They look amazing. And if we see some SMN or BLM spells inspired by them, like Megiddo Flame, so much the better.

Thinking slightly ahead, if we do get a trial against EleZenos in 4.5, or any kind of trial, I wonder if they'll use Revolutions as a battle theme for one of the phases. After all, we had Answers with Bahamut Prime, and Dragonsong with Nidhogg. While Revolutions may be my least favorite of the three expansion themes, I still think it would be a shame for it to not get the same kind of treatment. And while I'm on the subject of music, if the last story quests for Alexander are anything to go off of, I'm looking forward to all the nice Orchestrion rolls we'll likely get completing the Alphascape story.

Originally Posted by LineageRazor

While there are never any guarantees when it comes to Ascians (they can basically do whatever the writers decide they can do), there hasn't been the slightest bit of evidence to suggest that Lahabrea is still kicking around in any form. If we accept that Nabriales is dead, well, I consider what happened to Lahabrea to be, if anything even more thorough. XD

There's ALWAYS room for an ass-pull, though. Like, Elidibus has some kind of mystic back-up drive that records Ascians and weaves them anew from tattered scraps adrift in the lifestream. Surprise, WoL, guess who's back? I sincerely hope they do not go this route, and that the Ascians that are said to have been destroyed truly are, but the writers are the ones who ultimately call the shots.

Yeah, personally I think Lahabrea's comeuppance at Thordan's hands is far more fitting an end to him than bringing him back for a cheap revenge ploy for Gai- er, I mean the Shadowhunter. Even Elidibus seemed to feel he was a bit reckless and impulsive. When it comes down to it, everything after Ultima Weapon was pretty much a denouement to Lahabrea's story arc, and he ended up repeating his mistakes and biting off more than he could chew, which led up to his ultimate downfall. There would be little substance to his return if they decided to bring him back yet again after all that.

Originally Posted by KageTokage

The only thing was disclosed was that they exist in two distinct states Yoshi referred to as "original" and "reincarnated" and that there's never been very many of them.

I might be able to shed some light on this one. The words used to refer to the two groups are オリジナル and 転生組. The former is the actual English word "Original" in katakana. The latter says "Tensei-gumi" and "gumi" is just "group". Tensei refers to a transmigration of the soul, and thus it is one of the main words linked to reincarnation. However, I don't think it's necessarily linked to reincarnation, and might also mean any transmigration from where you are from to dwell somewhere you are not from.

i.e. (If this is correct,) Lahabrea and Elidibus would be "Originals", beings of the Source, whereas the rest would be the "Transmigrationists", coming from the other dimensions.

This term was actually the entire basis for my theory that the council of fourteen consisted of one entity from each dimension, tasked with interacting with and raising soldiers within that dimension - hence why Lahabrea's loss was so catastrophic: he was the overlord of the Source, the only dimension they need to hit repeatedly. Now Elidibus has to pick up his slack.

The fact that tensei evokes thoughts of reincarnation while Ascians possess other bodies, and that it is a homophone for words referring to one's core nature, one's true calling, a heavenly voice, and transformation might just be a" happy coincidence", lol.

I also noticed Yoshida wanted us to pay attention to the word "Spirit Disaster" (Japanese for Calamity).

I'm excited for that one. There's always been a weird basket of terms in the mix there. The word Japanese uses for "Umbral" and "Calamity" is 霊 (rei; spirit, soul, sometimes ghost). What was the significance of those connections? "Soul" was somehow opposite "Star" (Astral), so is Zodiark aligned with soul? Or is this more about the spirits of all who lived on the deleted reflection rushing into our world? More importantly ... does this connect to Elidibus suggesting that after seven calamities the souls of man have "grown weak and wan"?

I was distracted by how in the Seven Hells they're going to explain Elezenos and stumbled upon something (I think) that might be a nice answer.

We know the Echo allows for body hopping post death; but there's no reason why Zenos should actively utilise this ability. Furthermore, I find it unlikely he even KNEW of such an ability. After all, he learned of the Echo and its powers from van Baelsar's reports, and the Scions themselves didn't end up with the knowledge until after his "death," all the way in 2.2.

Zenos' reincarnation just makes no sense to me. It's sort of a poetic/karmic thing in denying him his last wish (death by his own hand, in his greatest ecstasy), but it doesn't mesh nicely with what we know. How do you accidentally soulhop into another body? I was rewatching cutscenes on youtube and the like during this maintenance to freshen up and try to find some clue in the final cutscenes of 4.0 and ....

I had forgotten, entirely, by this point in time he had been using a Kojin treasure as his weapon of choice, the Ame-no-Habakiri. We know pretty much nothing about this sword, but it's got a name, the Kojin think it's special/is kami, and it seemed to greatly amplify his fighting abilities in Yanxia when we fought him alongside Yugiri. Those little bits and bobs got me thinking that maybe, perhaps, the sword acted as a sort of vessel for his soul--we already know of a sword that functions similarly, and hell it's Othardian too. Zantetsuken.

So Zenos' artificial Echo, the Resonant, keeps his soul from being immediately shredded into constituent parts and the Ame-no-Habakiri drinks/stores it away. Then, in the clean up of the Menagerie or something, some random Resistance picks up the sword, swings it about, and bam possession. We can glean from his end text in 4.3 he hadn't exactly planned this turn of events--so him consciously seeking to reincarnate seems unlikely. Furthermore, like I said above, whenever someone used the Echo to reincarnate themselves; Nabriales, the Sahagin Priest, the Warriors of Darkness, all of them knew what to do and what was happening. If someone with the Echo could "accidentally" jump into a [dead] body... wouldn't history be littered with cases like this? Wouldn't a lot more Warriors of Light have survived the Seventh Umbral Era? There's a factor in Zenos' transmigration that's missing for sure, and I think the sword is a good fit.

It seemed, to me at least, have some sort of importance in the Stormblood MSQ but it quickly got covered up by everything else. Lingering shots, random increases in fighting ability, cool fancy red-black particle effects (which I actually thought might tie Zenos to getting Ascian help when I saw it in the Stormblood launch trailer! lol), the sword seemed to be so important and so woefully overlooked and underdeveloped.