Thread: [Spoilers] The Patch 4.5 Lore Discussion Thread!

Gaius surviving never really bothered me. We never saw a body and he's hardly the first character to survive a situation that appeared to be deadly. I feel a lot better about characters such as Nanamo, Gosetsu and Y'shtola being 'killed' and then returning later on when the same thing happens to the occasional antagonist.

There's been a lot of talk of character death. I think the only one I feel that's really slated for it is Maxima. He's poised to be the next Haurchefant in that he's one of the few relatable/likable Garleans in the main story that's also minor enough to become a plot sacrifice when the story gets too comfortable.

Also, it's obvious to me that Varis is fundamentally against Solus and to a lesser extent Elidibus. I feel like he'll use the battle as a cover to forge a secret pact with the other alliance leaders, or at the very least trade information on their ultimate goals. Varis seems like he's pretty straightforward and not the type for level of subterfuge that Solus and Elidibus are. He feels like the iron hammer of Garlemald. More for power and subjugation than subterfuge.

Maxima isn't really at much risk compared to a lot of other characters due to being a non-combative diplomat, and he hasn't had nearly as much screen time and influence as Haurchefant to leave much of an impression

The only threats I could see to his well-being are imperial assassins or Ascians interested in ending whatever influence the Populares have over the situation in Garlemald.

If there's anyone Gaius would be vengeful towards, it would be the Ascians, not us. We beat him fairly in combat and he even acknowledges that we did so after we leave at the end of the Praetorium. The Ascians though? They lied to him about what the purpose of Ultima Weapon was for and played him for a fool. If they had told him the truth about Ultima Weapon's purpose, he probably would never have used it. He hate their guts.

If anything, we see this playing out in 4.3 and 4.4. Gaius is essentially doing (or trying to do) what we were doing for all of 2.0. He's going after the Ascians which is what the Scions and us were doing back then. The Praetorium revealed to him who was right and who was stronger when it came to the Ascian conflict and that would be us. Gaius letting us do whatever we want while he goes off hunting down Ascians in places we can't easily get to (Ilsabard probably) fits in nicely with his philosophy of the strong ruling/leading the weak.

In the end i do believe Varis will side with us, as hes said to be close with Regula, how he talked with us in Abalatia, I do feel even if hes a bit of an extremest, he truly wanna save the world and do whats best, in his view... so siding with us to defeat the ascians would be logical...

I'm in agreement that I can definitely see Varis aiding the Scions and forging a sort of temporary alliance to defeat the Ascians. He claimed he had a desire to 'bring the reins of history back to humanity' or something like that after all. Between that and his outright disgust towards Solus he's implied to very much not be a fan of them and their manipulations. However...I don't honestly see him becoming a 'good guy'. He's still the leader of a genocidal evil empire, and he was seemingly with (possibly leading) the Optimate faction that sees the Garlean Empire as superior. He fought against his uncle, who wanted to cool the imperialistic ambitions and aim for friendlier foreign policy. Him being against the Ascians and against Eorzea are not mutually exclusive concepts. I would not be shocked if after dealing with the Ascian question he might then turn right back to the conquering. With characters like Fordola and seemingly Gaius heading towards opposing Garlemald and becoming better people, it would make sense if he took a very different stand on Garlemald. One guess is that he could end up something like Vayne from FFXII, who had noble aims but was still a villain in the end.

That being said, he's still something of a wild card. I don't know when or if he'll die, nor do I know exactly where he'll land in the grand scheme of things. He's definitely important, they wouldn't have given him the big reveal scene of the last patch or a prominent place in the 4.5 trailer if he wasn't. But other than that I can't be totally sure. I do have to admit they've piqued my interest in a character I had previously written off as boring though.

Originally Posted by CaesarCV

I'm in agreement that I can definitely see Varis aiding the Scions and forging a sort of temporary alliance to defeat the Ascians. He claimed he had a desire to 'bring the reins of history back to humanity' or something like that after all. Between that and his outright disgust towards Solus he's implied to very much not be a fan of them and their manipulations. However...I don't honestly see him becoming a 'good guy'. He's still the leader of a genocidal evil empire, and he was seemingly with (possibly leading) the Optimate faction that sees the Garlean Empire as superior. He fought against his uncle, who wanted to cool the imperialistic ambitions and aim for friendlier foreign policy. Him being against the Ascians and against Eorzea are not mutually exclusive concepts. I would not be shocked if after dealing with the Ascian question he might then turn right back to the conquering. With characters like Fordola and seemingly Gaius heading towards opposing Garlemald and becoming better people, it would make sense if he took a very different stand on Garlemald. One guess is that he could end up something like Vayne from FFXII, who had noble aims but was still a villain in the end.

That being said, he's still something of a wild card. I don't know when or if he'll die, nor do I know exactly where he'll land in the grand scheme of things. He's definitely important, they wouldn't have given him the big reveal scene of the last patch or a prominent place in the 4.5 trailer if he wasn't. But other than that I can't be totally sure. I do have to admit they've piqued my interest in a character I had previously written off as boring though.

I'm also wondering if the ascians might tire of Varis and try to just off him and have Elidibus, in Zenos' body, take the throne outright. But the 4.4 scene with him and Solus has me thinking maybe the writers have more plans for him than I thought in earlier patches.