Thread: Revelations from Patch 4.4

Traditions traditions traditions.

For anybody who's new to this process, we've organically fallen into this habit of always making a Patch Day freak-out thread where we give our knee-jerk feedback and trade a few points so we don't just go spoiler-bombing the rest of our open threads in the first 24 hours.

By discussing each story arc in its own collapsible spoiler box, we ensure that people can take part in the thread without fear even before they've finished everything.

EXAMPLE

Like so.

MAIN SCENARIO

So, let's go in order.

Everything started out more or less as expected, just in the opposite order. We look for Alphinaud, no dice. We check out the Burn and figure out it might just be void of life because Allagans (...lol...) then head off to House of the Crooked Coin, that was Allagans (...LOL...). So already there's this sense of, "Wait, was the Empire's mission started under a false pretense?"

Aside, I got a hearty laugh out of the Xaela bit. The Steppe stuff in general usually isn't really my cup of thematic tea (worldbuilding and storytelling are great, just not my cup of tea). That said, I think Magnai and Sadu nailed it this patch. Moreover, derailing [Will Magnai finally notice Sadu is his Nhaama?] to have him strike out with Y'shtola was excellent. This is Carvallain and Rhoswen all over again. (Even though I'm pretty sure those two have had a secret on-again, off-again fling for years based on some of their interactions, but I digress.) Anyroad, well played. Little Sun...

So the voice hits and people start getting "called away" from their bodies. We can rule out Alphinaud, it looks like. And I still think it sounds like Arbert but... The only thing we've EVER seen call soul from body is Hydaelyn, and it looked like we were in nothingness. C-Crystal Dad? Is that you? Zodiark was like #3 or #4 on my list of possible voices, in the "I don't see how, but maybe." category. I could see how, now, lol.

This would explain pretty much everything else. Our soul would have been called into the rift instead of the sea. Zodiark would be speaking the "royal we" since He's all into the soul merging thing. Nabriales alleged that Zodiark held dominion over time ("Let eon become instant...") and it fits with the whole time compression thing. Twin Dooms... Calamity... Flood of Light... Time Compression... But is He just desperate enough to lie to us Himself now?

Meanwhile if it's Arbert ... not really much of that makes sense, yet. Pretty much just the twin dooms part.

Alright. The big enchilada...

...

LOL WHAT? "What if even Solus zos Galvus was guided by Ascian whispers?" has always been a background hum with little evidence either way. But Solus zos Galvus was either raised unto the status of or merely possessed by an Ascian the entire time, and the sole purpose of the Garlean Empire as he built it was to cause problems? That is going to be a wrecking ball through so many headcanons and roleplays. Holy sugar-frosted hells am I glad I never committed to anything more specific than, "A lot of the people are going to be workable, but the leadership has got to go."

So Varis believes in "reins of history in the hands of man" and his position is quite instantly almost-sympathizing for all the "He's irredeemable." crap I gave him earlier. And yet Solus believes that Varis believes that, in spite of not being an Ascian, in spite of his disdain for Ascians, the world and mankind itself should be restored to its "original form". Fascinating. And Ascolus believes that Elidibus is an insufferable worrywart but an impeccable mediator between Light and Darkness. So the Ascians, the Mediator, and Zodiark all claim to want to want balance and the restoration of the "original" everything...?



(Aside: Did anyone else get Ardyn vibes off of Solus? Not plot-wise, just mannerisms.)


I admit that the prospect of who to trust is muddy, and I admit that not every path leads to "Elidibus is a snake.", and I admit that Zodiark might be more complex than He seems. However, I've been Team Hydaelyn, Team World as We Know It, Team Reins of History in the Hands of Man too long to not assume Zodiark is just about to pull a Palpatine, clear the table, and take everything for Himself.

Stinger: Still yay it's Gaius, not much else happened. Though we're getting a foreshadow of Black Rose used on a more massive scale perhaps.

HAPPY PATCH DAY!