Thoughts on how we might go from WoL to WoD

[Kallera]

Maybe we are going too far in the whole metaphysical concepts of light and darkness and chaos and order? Wouldn't there still be people killing each other without the gods' guidance?

[EdwinLi]

Maybe we are going too far in the whole metaphysical concepts of light and darkness and chaos and order? Wouldn't there still be people killing each other without the gods' guidance?

Order and Chaos is not always related to a higher being but a standard for Society as well.

Take FFMobius Season 2 storyline for example. With Season 1 ending the Chaos of Palamecia created by People's blind uncontrolled desire for Hope, the world of Palamecia is now ruled by a Society of absolute Order where everyone's lives are determined by a select few people being the Collective.

It is now Absolute Order where no aspect of Chaos is tolerated (such as freedom to choose your life and choose to cause harm to others out of free will) but people live under a artificial belief of happiness because they are told to be happy where they are in this society by the Collective. However, because of this those in the Collective abuse their power and harm others because by their Role in this Order Society they are the law of the land and only they are allowed to harm others in the name of keeping Order in society even if it is to flaunt their position of power towards people they have control over to keep them obedient or make a example for those who will choose to think for themselves or desire freedom to choose what they want to do with their lives beyond their given roles by the Collective.

[CaesarCV]

Hm...to be honest, I'm not sure that Order Versus Chaos is the strongest or primary theme in Final Fantasy XIV. It's there to some extent with the Garlean/Eorzeon conflict, but at the same time the Eorzeans battle against a more traditional 'chaos' faction, namely the Beastmen. Not to mention that the Garleans are shown to cause more chaos and struggles than their 'savage' counterparts, and they were created as a tool to do just that. Each of the Eorzean factions tend to have a mix of 'order' and 'chaos within them. The Lominsans are simultaneously pirates who favor freedom and the most dictatorial of the city states. Gridania has the order that comes from intensely religious societies ruled by immortals, but carry the trappings of chaos through their less directly organized nature, wearing furs, and having groups of random hunters and poachers around. Even Ishgard has a storyline about using the 'chaotic' militia to bring more order through the formation of the city watch.

Heavensward, which has an 'evil order' faction in the shape of Thordan and the corrupt elements of the Church still has our characters serving Ishgard for the most part, and trying to stop both sides. They aren't so much opposed due to their ideology as much as endless cycles for vengeance and desires for power. And there's really no evidence that light equals order or darkness fully equals chaos, even if the Ascians cause it and the heroes of light restore order. Namely because half the time those same heroes of light are instead tearing down corrupt order which kind of breaks that conflict a bit.

Unlike franchises such as Warhammer (whatever flavor) or the Shin Megami Tensei series, Order Versus Chaos does not appear to be the primary dichotomy of FFXIV. Catastrophes are caused by traditional 'chaotic' groups like the Heretics or the Ishgardian Rebellion and by traditional 'order' groups like Garlemald. It's more of a sub-theme if anything, and explored in various directions depending on the scenario. Light and Dark seem more like overwhelming physical forces, and Hydelyn herself seems to be more based around benevolence and free will than protecting some standard of order in the universe. The game tends to focus more on forgiveness, individual conflicts, and tolerance versus intolerance than grander themes of Chaos versus Order.

But that's just my opinion ha ha.

[KageTokage]

The stinger in the 4.5 trailer brought back my initial idea that the first shard had somehow become a threat to the source and we'd need to be doing something stop that.

I can't imagine that voice being anyone other then Zodiark or an Ascian with their perspective that the star (Whatever it is they're referring to by that) is a "fraudulent existence" coupled with them being capable of anchoring a shard to the source (Presumably so we can travel there more easily), so if we're having to work with an agent of the dark to prevent a greater disaster from happening, that would be an easy explanation for us being the WoD instead of the WoL.

[AdamuKun322]

I think after we fight Zenos-Elidibus, Solus will just waltz in and do something bad that'll force us to go to the dark side. I still can't decipher the meaning behind "Throw wide the gates, so that we may pass." Hopefully 4.5 Part 2 will answer that.

[Anonymoose]

I still can't decipher the meaning behind "Throw wide the gates, so that we may pass."

Probably a big hint:

[KageTokage]

It would be funny if those words the voice was saying weren't meant to be taken literally and were in fact just an incantation for a teleportation spell as they were in FFT.

Perhaps all that's needed is for someone to recite them...or that could be how the Scions are being spirited away and that our Echo-reinforced minds are too stubborn to be dragged off to who knows where.

[ObsidianFire]

I'm pretty sure it is a Teleportation Spell. Only from the sound of it, whoever is casting it has had to cast it many times. Maybe because they messed it up somehow? or keep going to the wrong places?

[Cilia]

If it were just the incantation to a teleportation spell, I can't fathom why the Scions (and only the Scions) are hearing it and it's leaving them comatose.

There's almost definitely some temporal shenanigans afoot, but I couldn't say what exactly just yet.

[KageTokage]

We already know that you can't travel to another shard without relinquishing your physical form (As far as we know, at least), so I'm thinking someone at the first shard needed to inform the Scions of something, but couldn't adequately explain things from a distance, so they instead opted to pry their minds away for a time (Thancred seems to get better at some point in 4.5 judging from the trailer, so I'd assume they'll all be back by the end of part 2 of the MSQ).

I'd assume that whatever spell or other aetherial shenanigans they're relying on isn't easy to pull off, which is why they're only nabbing a Scion or two each time.