Gamer Escape: In the launch trailer, The Warrior of Light is talking to an NPC when he arrives on The First who looks like the NPC that we encounter when we first started A Realm Reborn (Brendt, Brennan, and Bremondt). Is this an Easter egg? Or is this something more?

Naoki Yoshida: This NPC doesn’t tie in closely to the narrative per se, but it is something that is in there to maintain a sense of consistency in your adventures. As you know, the world was shattered into 14 different shards, including The Source, about 10,000 years ago. When the world split into the different shards, because it was based off the same ether, each is a similar realm. So there may be a possibility that certain people, while not exactly replicated, will look similar on the different realms. We wanted to depict that in a easily recognizable form. So, as we’re starting this new adventure in Shadowbringers, we had this NPC show up. This was something that we wanted to incorporate as a reminder that while, yes, we are starting this new important quest, also, “hey look”, there they are again. So it was deliberate in that way.

So, while they may look similar, they are not exactly the same person who follows the same path. Their fate may be different in the different realms. We wanted to depict that aspect of it as well. You will probably encounter other similar situations with other characters that you come in contact with throughout the story.
So. Ten thousand years and Brendt, Brennan, and Bremondt's parents still conveniently get together to have at least one kid because "aether".