Thread: Revelations from Patch 4.56

Enigmatic Figure;

I think I'll go so far as to rule out G'raha Tia, personally... Not that he wont be involved in Shadowbringers, I strongly suspect he might be the first ally to greet us in the First as we set about finding the other Scions/etc., but this hooded figure seems to be the one setting things in motion. G'raha should be in stasis. Now, time travel would appear to be involved, so it's entirely possible for future G'raha to send past G'raha somewhere, but I'm hesitant to think we'd go that route...

My current theory is;
We find this beacon, and Crystal Tower is removed from the Source, transported to the past of the First.
From there, a civilization is built up around it, with the goal of advancing to the point G'raha implied the gates could open again.
We are then transported to the First around the same time Crystarium reaches this milestone and the gates are thrown open.
We then work with G'raha to find the missing Scions and bring balance to the First and use Crystal Tower to set about usurping the Ascians as maintainers of equilibrium.
Hooded McCrystalFace may try to double cross us upon gaining control of the Tower. Plot twist, is was Lahabrea all along, and we just handed him the ultimate Rejoining Machine!

Of course, with time-travel involved it could still be a future G'raha, but that raises far too many questions for my liking... I much prefer the idea of working with the G'raha we already know, than a crystal-worn variant with a convoluted time-travel based backstory... Only thing that perhaps makes me lean towards G'raha at this point is in fact the crystalization... Same thing happened to Nero in the Void as I recall (although to a lesser, and more darkness/purple degree), which does lead me to believe it's someone from the Source who has spent a bit too long in a foreign world... Although if that's the case the Scions should end up the same, and don't seem to be...

Oh, and perhaps of note... Elidibus seemed to recognize that someone was Calling us... Going so far as to say it was too late, which does imply some understanding of what's going on? Perhaps I'm reading too much into that, but he is at least familiar with the phenomenon, so my off the wall crazy theory is that our Caller is a Unukalhai mirror; He was effectively a Warrior of Light of the Void-fallen Thirteenth, turned Ascian (then turned back upon joining the Scions, I guess) by Elidibus. We already know Arbert and friends "did everything right", what if they didn't just defeat the Ascians of their Shard, but also managed to convert one to their side? That would actually give them a huge advantage against the Ascians, and I think set up an interesting character for the 5.x series. As well as giving us an ally who is perhaps well versed enough in "Darkness" as to help guide us in being a Warrior of it...

Regarding the below...

Originally Posted by WhiteArchmage

Btw, did anyone take a screenshot of

where we met G'Rathe Enigmatic Figure? I noticed that the design on the floor had the Figure standing right where a bunch of lines intersected, said lines connected some (but not all) of the circles in the outer edge, unless I misscounted, there's 15 circles in all, and the WoL is standing inside the lines where 2 circles "connect" with each other... on the other side, with none of those lines touching the Figure...

It originally reminded me of a Solar system, given that the lines "inside" the structure seem to form the gravitational paths our planets make around the sun, but then the figure is standing at the intersection of... 7 of them?

May just be reading too much into it <.<

Here you go.

Originally Posted by Silivrin

(Main Scenario)
Since I have little to say that hasn't been said, here's some speculation on a possibly inconsequential plot point:

I think Artoirel has been set up to play a semi-significant role in the next expansion's plot (at least as a plot device).
Last patch, Emmanelain's dialogue mentioned that Artoirel would go to fight in the Alliance/Garlean conflict and the Artoirel instance in the Last Vigil disappeared. I think a mention like this would be sufficient for the purposes of making the world seem alive. So the fact that it was mentioned in MSQ dialogue (Edmont) leads me to believe that the setup is being made for a later development involving Artoirel. His voice actor was also at the JP FanFest, but this alone may not mean anything, as other VAs not relevant to the current plot have been guests as well iirc.
The other plot thread that remains in that area is Elezenos, who still wants to fight the WoL at their full power. It seemed to be implied that the WoL/D's involvement in the Alliance/Garlean fighting is largely over, and they are unaware of Elezenos' existence, so it seems likely that something involving Artoirel will be key to bringing us back to the area and facilitate our meeting with Elezenos. (And if we assume that something is going to happen with Artoirel, it would be strange to have two plot threads in the same area stay unconnected.)
As for the nature of that development, I have no idea. It seems a hostage situation would be unlikely, since Zenos would know nothing of the Fortemps family or their relation to the WoL (as far as I know) unless a plot device reveals something. I also don't think Artoirel is significant enough to many players to give something like that the appropriate tension. Perhaps Zenos will body hop into Artoirel's body, though the requirements of that seem still unclear (as well as what happens to the soul of the body). Since Elezenos still seems too weak to take on Elidibus and his old body alone, and since the emperor and ElidiZenos are being drawn away from the area, he might try to force an alliance with us or try to manipulate us into assisting him.
There's very little to go on with this, though, so it's largely speculation.

I agree that he is too weak to face Elidibus, and my feeling on how that may play out is through Solus offering him some help, if he truly means to betray Elidibus. Still, he's not the sanest guy around, so it doesn't mean he won't try. I'm not sure about an Artoirel body hop as he already has a body he could use to meet you in. The only body I would think he really wants is his own. The thing about the Resonance is that his body hop was accidental, he never intended it to happen. I don't think he has a plan yet as to how he would hop back into his old body, other than to wing it. The Resonance is essentially a high powered form of Echo, but even so, without knowing how to hone it, hopping bodies at will is probably not straightforward. I'm curious, too, whether Artoirel will play a greater role, or whether it was just filler, as he's one of my favourites from Ishgard.

Originally Posted by Iscah

Also, what's up with Tataru's choice of outfit design for us?

That girl is (not so) secretly very twisted. But I love the outfit.

Re. unhelpful messages

From the first "calling" we heard in this patch - the frustrated voice saying "why won't you open?" I got the impression that it may not be a deliberate calling at all.

And when we first meet Enigma, he says that this isn't where he intended to meet us. Suggesting that whatever exactly happened, it wasn't planned to happen like it did.

Perhaps we're simply 'overhearing' his not-quite-successful attempts at some kind of portal-opening spell. The calling of the Scions could even be an accidental side-effect - imagine if every time he tries the incantation and "nothing happens", actually someone else is affected and he has no idea!

Good point. I wonder if it's true, then, that whatever is powering the Crystal Tower to enable such a spell could be causing the aetheric dissipation observed on the two continents - I think it's a bit odd that it would be so dispersed, but given that it all started after Y'shtola used the aetheric diverter in the Steppes, maybe accidentally plugging into the aether being used to power it, opened the channels of communication. Still, that could just be the build up of an imbalance of light, but we've yet to receive any solid confirmation of it. He intended to communicate with you but the other Scions may have been caught in the signal by accident. The question to me, then, is how come it's gripped their souls? Maybe some of it was intentionally directed at you but other parts are being unintentionally overheard. Once the channels were opened, they could not be shut.

There's also Minfilia's previously-stated mission to rid the First of its excess Light.... which presumably has gone askew. (Or is she still just outsourcing all her work to us?)

A possibility, given the presence of Sin Eaters in Eulmore, is that the city is in fact run by one of them - maybe even this "Innocence". Whether they feed off sins quite literally, or aether, the city will offer both in ready supply. You'd think they wouldn't mind Minfilia absorbing the excess light, because it would prolong the time they could feed on souls for, but I suspect it's not that simple, i.e. they require the high build up of light to remain present, and she is likely to be a wellspring of aether due to her link to Hydaelyn, anyway. Nevermind that, from our experience of their darkness corrupted analogues, Voidsent, we know such beings have rather twisted minds.

Originally Posted by LineageRazor

Forewarning that my utter disappointment with the MSQ might have negatively colored my feelings on the other new content. But here we go!

MSQ:

Ugh, MSQ was such a letdown. We didn't resolve ANYTHING. The Garleans are still menacing our doorstep. The Scions are still soulless. Elezenos is still skulking around behind the scenes. That last is particularly irksome. I seriously think that Zenos's story should have been resolved within the scope of this expansion. They either should have left him dead after 4.0, or orchestrated his swan song by now. I'll confess that I hadn't considered Iscah's point, that perhaps part of the reason this was a letdown was because we were already spoiled on a lot of the "shocking developments", like the fact that we'd be going to the First Shard. (Though, in fairness, I'd guessed that ages ago, back when Scions first started collapsing.)

Varis's crazyfase was probably the most interesting tidbit I got out of this segment of the MSQ. I strongly suspect that he's been taken over by Solus, given that the expression occurred just after he received the update on the Black Rose, and we know that Solus was keenly interested in the stuff. If it is Solus, he's playing an interesting game, since he clearly wants Elidibus to think that Varis is still his own agent, what with all the talk about man deciding man's destiny. It makes me wonder, too, if Solus might not have already been in control when Varis met with the Alliance leaders... Or, it might have nothing to do with Solus at all, and Varis has just plain lost it. Time will tell!

I'm kind of irritated that not a word was mentioned of Lyse, Yugiri, or Hien after we recovered, like we're just supposed to assume they're fine. Hien was the only one we actually saw moving after their clash with Zenos. Did Estinien rescue them as well? If not, why didn't Zenos polish them off? And speaking of which, I really do not like the developing trend of using Estinien as a deux ex machina. This is the second time now, with the first being his disabling of the big cannon in the Peaks.

The battle with Zenos was okay, but like all our clashes with Zenos didn't really feel all that epic. I would have liked to see a full-on 8-man trial with the guy, possibly with an Extreme version to really do the supposedly invincible Garlean justice.

Agreed with you on all points. I really would have preferred a trial with an ex mode for the fight, even if it served a narrative purpose primarily, since is not intended to be wiped out at this point in time. As I said, I genuinely think they were pressed for time with this one, what with having Eureka, the crossover, and of course 5.0 (including two races, neither of which finished) on their plate. As a result, the interaction with Elizenos suffered. At least they did not kill him off, so hopefully there can be a more satisfying encounter with him later. With Estinien I presume he simply used some manner of dragon magic to distract Elizenos and zipped in and out with the WoL that fast. It's something that could have been handled better on screen, even through means other than Estinien. I'm now more eager to see what they do with Solus than anything else.

Regarding the part 2 in general

I think that if they want to have part 2 of x.5 patches of this lenght they need to accompany them with a trial or something and not a solo trial. The story wasn't long enough and honestly the setup from the part 1 warranted a bigger and more meaningful fight, I know that most mechanics in the actual solo fight are repeat of nabriales+zenos but if they can recycle greg mechanics and put a new spin on it (which I believe it's something they are capable off now thanks to ultimate as a training) I think they can find the time to do it for MSQ.
Also we got to play with 3 losers which I believe they'll be sitting for this expansion to recover for their defeat, while the real fight Estinien vs Zenos was done offscreen -.-
As for the content of the story.
When they mentioned the first at fanfest I wasn't sold on it, the story was verging towards Garlemand and the first felt very random, this is reflected in what the MSQ tells us (which moose made a funny joke that I think fits very well)the reason for us to go to the first comes out of nowhere and it's not even nearly a reason, nothing was explained and it's essentially a tease for the story of the expansion. Granted Othard was also just as random but I feel that Gosetsu helped the transition much better since you know it gave a hint, we can argue that the voice have been an hint but a little window to this future, to this ineluttable fate which makes the result of the fight pointless unless we fix the first, it would've at least gave us some kind of stakes to the fight

As for the miscellanea

Not much to say execpt 1 thing the fact that both quest had in common Kugane castle as a story point, it made in my opinion the stories much more grounded in the world giving more hooks to the world, which is a good thing in my opinion.
However Yet again nothing of value for the anantas, which is extremely sad for me, they've been the most undervalued beast tribe in the whole game, their reputation wasn't even theirs and the rapresentative of them was captive for 2/3 of the quest. Oh well

Enigmatic Figure:

Considering where he appears to live, it could always be a clone? Assuming he wasn't really in stasis, he could have just been cloning himself endlessly to stay alive that long, which might explain the fairly radical personality drift.

MSQ spoilers

While I liked the bits of story we got,the conclusion is weaker than how Heavensward handled it and the tension of Illberd summoning Shinryu up until our activation of Omega

I don't think splitting 4.5 into two parts was a good idea when it had less meat than what 3.5 had.Also as good as the ElidiZenos solo instance was(minus the Hien part),I wished it was a trial as we already fought Zenos in solo instances 4 times before this.And I hate how the Estinien Vs Zenos fight was off-screen

It's not bad,it was still exciting but just not enough meat to worth seperating the patch into two parts.....tho I legit am digging what they're cooking up for Zenos as a villain.I was fearing he'd face Thordan's fate and unceremoniously vanish from the plot to pave the way for a different villain(Thordan was good but it's so clear it was nidhogg we're seeking to defeat not so much Thordan himself who also used nidhogg's eye) but the fact that his presence is still felt around u as both Elidibus possessing his old body and EleZenos working his way through the alliance+garlean armies to get his body back and catch up with the warrior of light.
So yeah while lacking in content I was satisfied with the story bits we got even if it wasn't executed as gracefully as heavensward's 3.5 or ARR's 2.5 were and I can't wait to see what Zenos's role will be in Shadowbringers