Revelations from Patch 4.4

**Guiballad** · 09-22-2018 03:14 AM

I'm really happy with this patch!

MSQ

Damn i can't believe they killed Magnai. Amazing. But seriously the whole Steppe thing was such a nice distraction. Specially since we get hit with a lot of heavy stuff next.
Oh boy. It was Ascians all along.
While we all expected they to be involved with the Empire to a high degreem Solus being one them left me quite shocked. Also is just me or does Solus kinda makes it sound like he was personally responsible for Allag?
The voice is the biggest mistery rn tho. I personally don't enjoy time travel being throw into a plot like this but if i'm not mistaken FFXI also had a time travelling expansion so maybe we are getting one too. But i have other expectations for 5.0. I don't think we are heading straight to Garlemald anymore either.
Overral very excited about what's happening. Just wish these story sequences were a bit longer

Four Lords

I kinda wish it was a bit more serious of a side quest? Specially because their humor is not really that good. Suzaku was a nice fight but personality wise i think her persona taken over by her "rage" was kinda annoying? Looking forward for the next fight but not really for plot reasons.

Omega

I... didn't expect to be so involved in this. Omega's final moments were straight up heartbreaking. Also all the new lore on Middy is really appreciated! Kinda sad it turned out the whole "Adam & Eve" was more a concept than a Nier reference but still a great fight with a great aesthetic. I'm obssessed.
I'm also sooooo happy little Alpha is alive and traveling the world! I know this type of stuff tends to not go anywhere but i would love for him to reappear in the future (outside of you randomly meeting him).
Overall a great ending to a nice raid. Let's hope Ivalice catches up.

**Remedi** · 09-22-2018 06:01 AM

Frankly it's quite obvious that he used that word to tick him off

**Fenral** · 09-22-2018 06:45 AM

MSQ:

Garlemald's militarization and quest for global domination was Ascians all along. Of course it was. It manages to both be completely stupid and make perfect sense, all at once.

Oh! Mega:

Really liked the ending. Haters gonna hate, but I liked getting confirmation that the long-awaited Omega storyline was Chocobo Tales: The Raid all along, warm fuzzies included.

Seeing G'raha in-game again (albeit very indirectly) after almost four years as a complete non-entity feels, well, complicated. I'll leave it at that for now.

And that leads us to...

Allagans, though:

More Allagan ruins, more Allagan descendants (Sadu, in case you missed her copying from the Royal Allagan Spellbook), and yet another new discovery that makes a certain defanged solar power plant feel, well, completely harmless on the sliding scale.

Currently on the table we have:

The Binding Coil: AKA Dalamud bits everywhere. Deactivated, destroyed, and sealed by the Scions.
Syrcus Tower, sanitized and then (suddenly) sealed on (an interpretation of) Salina's orders that it might provide "hope" at some unspecified time in the future.
Azys Lla, everyone's favorite research facility/gift shop, still just sort of there, even without the Triad. Active and airship-accessible. Even to Garleans.
Omega. Apparently a more direct instigator of Allag's rise to technological dominance, in addition to killing/sealing Bahamut. And wrapping Shinryu up with a bow on top for Zenos to find.
Heaven-on-High, a completely useless training ground that was important enough to die for. Also built on Salina (and/or Desh)'s orders, though it hasn't stopped a Calamity yet.
Za Baan, which we didn't even know had anything to do with them until this patch, because sure, why not? Azys Lla came from here, not Meracydia.
The House of the Crooked Coin, that other giant Allagan power source that basically nobody knew about until now, because sure, why not? Used to power the launch of both Azys Lla and Dalamud, and possibly the real cause of The Burn.

And the bonus round:

Boulder Downs, an Allagan Ruin unearthed in the calamity that isn't a part of Dalamud, but hasn't really been brought up by anyone (besides Yoshida), in spite of being right there, with a (badly) sealed entrance and everything, since 2.0.

In a vacuum, free from meta concerns about "required" versus "side" content, something has to tie it all together.

And we still don't know what happened to Nero's modded scanner. It could have been what led him to Omega, which would have been a feeble but valid payoff for Unei's last moments, but it's very specifically discarded before Nero makes his way to Omega and reactivates it. It found something very close to the Tower, and it's just been sitting there beeping for ages. Actually, it's probably out of batteries by now.

No need to remind me that none of it means anything, and none of it is going anywhere. I mean, of course not. But come on.

**Iscah** · 09-22-2018 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by Rocl

To be fair, while he may not exactly be fond of the work, we have to assume Solus has done the mundane business of rulership before and is capable of doing so again. He founded, and to the best of our knowledge, ruled the Garlean Empire for over fifty years.

Solus has previous experience running the empire, but he can't be the face of it again. That has to be Varis's role - the recognised, living emperor - or 'Zenos' if the Ascians decide Varis has outlived his usefulness. (As much as anything, maybe that's why they haven't just killed him and replaced him - they'd rather leave the mundane work to him while they... I don't know, sit around scheming and looking dramatic.)

Originally Posted by Fenral

Allagans, though:

More Allagan ruins, more Allagan descendants (Sadu, in case you missed her copying from the Royal Allagan Spellbook)

[...]

And the bonus round:

Boulder Downs, an Allagan Ruin unearthed in the calamity that isn't a part of Dalamud, but hasn't really been brought up by anyone (besides Yoshida), in spite of being right there, with a (badly) sealed entrance and everything, since 2.0.

What Royal Allagan Spellbook?

Although I saw a theory somewhere that the original Garuda might have been an Au Ra, and if they were indeed involved with the original Ixal who are confirmed to be Allagan creations.... hmm.

Also if I remember correctly, the Boulder Downs ruins were being used by the heretics as part of the same tunnel network as Snowcloak?

(Anyway, yet another reason for the eventual Back To Ishgard story arc. Right, Square Enix? Right??? please?

Originally Posted by Remedi

so I was wondering considering what happened

if someone completes 4.4 MSQ without ever unlocking coil or EX primals in ARR....... is he locked out of them until 4.5?

This got brought up in another thread the other day.

Urianger is now absent from the Waking Sands UNLESS you still have quests to collect from him.

But that reminds me of something else I noticed and wondered about - one of the Omega cutscenes shows...

characters from the Crystal Tower and Alexander raids. I wonder what happens if you haven't cleared those?

**Fenral** · 09-23-2018 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by Iscah

What Royal Allagan Spellbook?

I didn't mean it literally,

just that Sadu uses multiple spells first seen used by either Scylla (the donut staves) or Xande (the meteor countdown). Probably just meant as a shorthand way of showing that at least some Allagan magic has survived on the outside since then. Which makes sense, given the connection between Nhaama and a certain Allagan artifact.

**Remedi** · 09-23-2018 06:57 AM

Originally Posted by Iscah

This got brought up in another thread the other day.

Urianger is now absent from the Waking Sands UNLESS you still have quests to collect from him.

Thank you, I imagined something like that, but it's good to have a confirmation anyway

It also means that they have a technology that makes them free of killing ppl around with minimal problems

**Torquil** · 09-22-2018 08:58 AM

MSQ:

What’s interesting is how Solus seems to defy our understanding of Ascian physicality. He doesn’t appear to have possessed the body we see as he can reproduce it on demand.

(bunch of extra typing cause it's not letting me make this edit otherwise)

**Lauront** · 09-22-2018 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by Torquil

What’s interesting is how Solus seems to defy our understanding of Ascian physicality. He doesn’t appear to have possessed the body we see as he can reproduce it on demand.

Yes, it's almost like the Overlords can store an "image" of the body and create new simulacra for as long as they control it. It could be that they require a particular length or style of possession to do so.

**Remedi** · 09-22-2018 09:01 AM

About Omega itself

It was shown many times that the moment it was on the point of making a breaktrough or understanding the core programming was forcing it to the course which he was programmed to go. It's a bit tragic because you can see that Omega has a certain degree of sentience but is still bound by the core programming it was created for as such it would've never been able to understand what it was seeking for.

**Cilia** · 09-22-2018 12:47 PM

OK, sorry, like I said on the first page my internet (cable) was down so I had to wait until yesterday to hit it, and since I've been traipsing about Azeroth more as of late had to wait a day to log back in to the forums.

Anyway, I've only managed to hit the MSQ (and the Arboretum Redux)... I'll get to Omega over the weekend (err Sunday, only day I have off).

MSQ

Well... this was interesting.

So, as I guessed may have been the case, the Burn wasn't the result of primal summons... it was more Allagan shenanigans. Probably / kind of / mostly. Again, without evidence...

So... the voice. The big question I have lingering is why was it just the Scions? I was trying to connect it to Arbert, since the whole talk of a Flood of Light was kind of a big deal with him... but I don't think Y'shtola was with us when we went up against the Warriors of Darkness, and I'm almost certain Alphinaud was and he wasn't affected (as far as we know). It's a very curious phenomenon, and to leave the remaining Archons comatose... hmm.

Now... the big reveal.

Solus zos Galvus was... is an Ascian! Garlemald was raised up to bring chaos to the world while maintaining the balance between Light and Dark! Its mission to eradicate eikons... "civilize the savages"... the racist superiority BS... taking revenge for their natural weakness being exploited... it's all nothing but a bunch of lies!!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

I know some people may take offense to that, but I find it darkly funny. So many innocent people oppressed, tortured, and killed... in service to a lie! Holy flippin' space tacos... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...

A-anyway... I suppose this does explain a lot. I always had a hunch that the Ascians were behind Garlemald, despite what we were told in interviews. A country does not go from a struggling backwater to a global superpower virtually overnight without something fishy being involved. That said I didn't think Ascian corruption struck it down to the core - never would have guessed the first Emperor was actually an Ascian himself! It's too crazy to guess! Does explain a lot, though... like the contradiction between its stated mission and the consequences the Empire seems so fond of ignoring... and Solus' patronage of theater...

This actually puts Varis in a very interesting (and difficult) position. I'm not of the mind he'd just be a "good guy" if it weren't for the Ascian manipulation, though it does give him a teensy bit of sympathy. His own will has essentially been reduced to nothing - if he doesn't attack the Ascians can easily kill and replace him with someone more favorable to their goals (most likely Elidibus-as-Zenos), but if he does he's just playing into the Ascians' plans. I'm curious as to what he'll do, and even more curious as to when he learned the truth about his grandfather.

"Solus" seems like a very entertaining villain. I'm also curious as to what he'll do - while Lahabrea did screw up something fierce, two Ascians pulling Garlemald's strings seems excessive.

Another glaringly obvious hint that the "Shadowhunter" is totally Gaius. I foresee allying with him, as he seems to have learned his lesson after Legacy and ARR. Garlemald has also begun using the Black Rose poison; chemical weapons are not acceptable. There is no honor in that.

Let's just see where this goes...

Thread: Revelations from Patch 4.4

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