Revelations from Patch 4.4

[Nalien]

MSQ thoughts

So I'm guessing ElZeno is going to end up saving us from our favorite Emissary, after that whole "Let me at them!" line he gave... Sure seems eager to off us now... I look forward to the true Zenos getting his scheduled heroic redemption and/or sacrifice when we face off against Elidiboo...

Solus was an Ascian all along? Yeah OK. Varis certainly got a whole lot more interesting, and it puts his sparse appearances in Heavensward in a new light, as well as Regulas' parting words.

I don't buy Alphi's new friend being Gaius though... He probably is, but I'd be more interested in a friend/sibling/relation to Gaius... House Baelsar (and associates) probably didn't fare too well after Gaius went rogue and failed... I could see a brother or son being forced out of country and ending up wandering... Going to Praetorium to get that mask fragment, maybe learning the truth behind what happened to Gaius (Ascians dun it) and resolving to hunt them... It would hit the same reasons for why it has to be Gaius IMO... Then again we've already had the "It's their sibling!" card played with Livia/Lucia...

Speaking of Gaius though... When exactly does Solus mean when he comments that Lahabrea messed up? My first assumption was when he literally got himself killed (or not! #LahabreaStillLives), but thinking back on it... Since the beginning? IIRC Solus was against Gaius going back to Eorzea after Project Meteor, and its Lahabrea that was backing Gaius during that time...

Jokes aside (or not, you be the judge), Lahabrea still lives! He was absorbed by the Eye of Nidhogg, the Eye was used to summon Shinryu, Shinryu was body-jacked by Zenos, faint Lahabrea-ness now in Zenos. Elidibus now gets in Zenos, Lahabrea starts to merge with him as he did with Igeyorhm! Elidibus now starting to show more aggression towards the Warrior of Light to boot! I've been gone for over a year, but I'll be damned if I'll ever stop believing that Lahabrea lives!

[Keever]

Shadowhunter...

I'll paste my spiel on Shadowhunter's identity here:

Shadowhunter is Gaius beyond any reasonable doubt.

• He has Gaius' mask
• He uses Gaius' moves Quickstep and Terminus Est from the Praetorium (though these have been used by others also)
• He wears his long gunblade across his back (which is less common)
• He recognises Alphinaud and says he has “history” with the Scions
• He is a racial Garlean who looks to be in his fifties (like Gaius)
• He has reason to have a vendetta against Ascians
• He has his arm bandaged as though burned
• And even his colour scheme is reminiscent of Gaius.

Natsuko Ishikawa, a main scenario writer, when asked about the possibility of Gaius’s survival prior to patch 4.3, said that they would “depict a resolution” to this unanswered question in the near future. (Source)

In a Dengeki E3 interview, Naoki Yoshida responded to a question regarding Shadowhunter’s identity by saying that they intentionally made the hints clear, and that they don’t intend to betray our expectations. He said that he also explicitly asked for the final zoom in on the mask to be made really obvious. (Source)

Aaaand then Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, when being asked about how they write big lore revelations, had this to say:

I did not retcon. I did naaaht. Oh hai, Gaius.

(Source)

[Cilia]

Shadowhunter

It's pretty certain he's Gaius. All evidence points to it, so it's safe to operate under the assumption this is true.

His clothing even appears to be Gaius', though you have to look hard since it's very tattered.

[Remedi]

Unless it's huge case of misdirection ofc. It would be awesome being bamboozled so

[Kallera]

Shadowhunter

It's pretty certain he's Gaius. All evidence points to it, so it's safe to operate under the assumption this is true.

His clothing even appears to be Gaius', though you have to look hard since it's very tattered.

Shadowhunter, and the Gridanian connection.

Its him, the reaction to the Black Rose victims seals it.


In the Black Rose questline, it was stated that it was Gaius that scrapped the project and saw to disposing the weapons and notes, under similar reasons he opposed the meteor project(he did not want the wanton slaughter of Gridanians, you cannot govern corpses). And Shadowhunter states that he did that with the chemical, notes and all. Given their ability to swipe weapons for use, it may be possible that the Black Rose chemical is being used by someone, to strike the populares.



It bears a mention that this tactic does seem to be something from Elidibus' playbook:It's similar to how the eyes of Nidhogg were used, and its implications were likely factored into Elidibus's plans. Shadowhunter's blame of the imperial government first is likely the reaction Elidibus was going for among the less imformed.(though he figures otherwise shortly thereafter).

[Alleo]

After playing through this myself, some more thoughts about it.

MSQ:

- Azim steppe: Sadly the scene did not feel that great in german, since the voices did not sound that great. Thankfully I already saw the reaction in english thus could enjoy it here. The fight against Sadu was fun, the other one not so much. It just feels a bit boring with only two DPS skills.
- Ysthola and her eyes: The fight showed me the problem that I have with the consequences of Ystohlas teleport spell. We know that she might die in the future if she keeps on using her own Aether to see but we might never see this thanks to the time bubble or might even change her fate. It just feels a bit unfair that she has no true impacts next to that while Thancred suffered greatly from it. He cant use magic anymore, has it harder with his job as a spy thanks to that and since he cant teleport anymore he needs more time to go from one place to the other which might be dangerous to his life or the lifes of others and which could mean that we get some information too late. Ysthola has none of that. It would have been nice if she either has problems with doing her job of aether readings or that she truly does not see normally anymore. This would have made the fight a bit interesting too (imo) because we would have fought more against her eye sight than fighting against the opponent and at the same time get to feel how its like for her...unlike the way its now where she might have problems in the future (if plot demands it) but at least can still do everything like she did in the past.

- The voice: Some JP players do say that it sounds similiar to Alphinaud, the english voice makes it sound more like the Arbert but at least for me, the german voice sounded nothing like them. I mean it could be that they simply did not get the voice actors they needed or that they want to create a red herring but its still strange. I dont say that it wont be Alphinaud or Arbert but I still doubt that. Alphinaud seemingly sounded older, which would mean that we would step outside of the time bubble and that some years had gone by. Also why would he not give them better warnings, its his sister and friends that he would be talking too. And where did he get the power to call souls from the future? I mean it could be that the actions changed him and that he would do everything to make sure that such a future wont happen but I really hope that its not him or any other person from the future..Arbert is also a bit strange because seemingly the WoL did not recognise the voice and wouldnt Hydaelyn tell us if the Flood of Light still happened? So my bet is still on Zodiark.

Four lords:

I am not sure if I really like the way they are going there, at least in the english version. I laughed at the Soroban joke with him as the turtle but I did find it a bit creepy how Su loves Tenzen (since she is still an animal) or the way they tried to play some of the jokes. We already have Hildibrand for that. (And that still is without all the meta jokes) In the english version Tataru is still angry at Genbu for calling her that name, while in the German version she accepts that he calls her that. No (imo) bad joke about running a joke into the ground, just accepting that people might have some nicknames for you. And he seemingly does like her thus its not done in a mean way. The english version also hits you over the head with the joke about what is flying there, making it canon to exist ingame. The german version just makes her question what is flying while still doing the joke (but without being over the top with it) It also just accepts the joke with Soroban being a big turtle instead of again saying that its running a joke into the ground.

Maybe I am a bit too grumpy for this but I dont find it often funny if writers are like "haha see we know that we use the joke a lot, we still use it but make fun of it too". It just comes off as a bit strange and makes me feel like Tataru is only there to fire them off or react to them.

The fight itself was nice and I do love the flashbacks. Still looking forward to the last part of it but I am a bit unhappy that they decide to go overboard with the jokes. Cant take the threat of it quite serious with that.

Omega:

I do wonder if they gave Omega a human form at the end to make us feel bad for it? I did feel bad but at the same time also quite happy that Alpha survived and that he started a new adventure on his own. (And he somehow gained a soul on his own) I also wonder if that Omega pet is truly just a machine...the way it reacts in the cutscenes of their adventure makes it feel like there is more to it and it would be quite nice if it could also learn more about being alive through that.

Having a son of Middy (I can never write is name..) just coming in to save us felt a bit like a deus ex machina and he was still quite a bit mean in his speech to us..still nice ending to a otherwise medicore story that was too much fanservice for my liking. Hopefully the next raid will be more about original monsters or at least give them more FF14 backround.

[YianKutku]

After 4.4, I admit I was wrong on my early doubts and assumptions regarding the longstanding fan theories about how the Garlean Legion number referenced the corresponding FF game story. I expected it to be part of the 4.0 MSQ, but it was more into the patch MSQ instead, like the VIth Legion and the Warring Triad.

I was skeptical of the link between Legion numbers and FF game titles, because the 4.0 MSQ had a lot more references to FFVI than the 3.x Warring Triad series, what with Doma, the Magitek Research Facility homage in Castrum Abania, and Fordola being pretty much Celes Chere. In comparison, there didn't seem to be very much about FFXII in 4.0, and it was a stretch far past disbelief to associate Zenos with Vayne Solidor.

Except with 4.4, it now becomes clear that it was never Zenos who was supposed to be the Vayne equivalent, but Varis. Complete with "history in the reins of man" and all that.

So now I'm back to being a believer in the "Legion numbers reference the game" theory.

[Rocl]

Eh, I'm still a little unsure about the Legion = Final Fantasy thing nowadays, if only because the Fourth Legion is headed by Noah van Gabranth and was the Legion in charge of conquering Dalmasca. There's definitely a grain of truth to be held in the comparisons across the board, but it doesn't seem to be as hard-and-fast dedication as people like to think.

[YianKutku]

Eh, I'm still a little unsure about the Legion = Final Fantasy thing nowadays, if only because the Fourth Legion is headed by Noah van Gabranth and was the Legion in charge of conquering Dalmasca. There's definitely a grain of truth to be held in the comparisons across the board, but it doesn't seem to be as hard-and-fast dedication as people like to think.

Yeah, it's not a case of the Legion number being a predictor of the plotline of the story arc they are involved in. It seems more like the Legion number means there will be (at least) one major theme from the corresponding game, but not necessarily the primary theme of that game.

In the case of the IVth, I assumed it was due to the pre-SB mentions that Dalmasca was conquered through the use of sheer air superiority via airships, which was more or less how Baron became a world power in FFIV with the Red Wings.

[Eloah]

I personally don't want it to be Gaius, though having him involved would be cool. But, that being said SE does tend to be heavy handed on the hints when it comes to big reveals. Although, what a Primal was still confused people until HW cleared it up: even though the hints were there since 2.1, and given again in 2.4. Also what an Eikon is compared to a Primal still confused some people... maybe those hints arent so heavy handed, lol.