Final Boss of "The Twinning" Hunting for lore (Spoilers)

[Iscah]

In the boss chamber of the tycoon, there's alexander style viewing portals, one is a constant stream of Wedge the 3rd, one seems to be inside the omegascape, one seems to be part of the sycrus tower, does anybody recognize any of the others?

I had a look at them tonight and they seem to correspond to the datalogs - the things they would have drawn on to work out the technology:

1. Nero at the Syrcus Tower lookout - when he throws his magitek compass into the trench and it detects... something. If it's the beacon, that must have been sent back through time separately to the tower itself, or it shouldn't be there yet.

2. The voidgate at Xande's throne - this reminds me that the Ironworks have already successfully built technology for opening some kind of dimensional rift - and used Syrcus Tower as a power source for it!

3. Biggs and Wedge on Alexander's head-platform - this would be from our first time-travel trip to three years ago that set off the main time loop.

4. (can't take credit for recognising this but) The point in Alexander where we time-travel to save our past self.

5. Omega's dimensional rift.

---

Also for the record - there is no "Wedge the Third" (that we know of), it's Biggs the Third from the recording after the Twinning, and presumably seen accompanying G'raha in that first-person-dream-Echo. We don't know if Wedge survived the calamity, although you could take it as a roundabout shipping nod that Tataru's death would be the reason we don't have a purple-haired Wedge as part of the future team....

[Anonymoose]

The phrase "Wings of Time" is specifically invoked when calling Alexander to move through time.

The mathematical ability to calculate possible futures is separate, and seems to be referred to as "Alexander's dream".

That works. I was going by this, but that distinction fits here, too.

Dayan
How best to put it? We stand inside a mathematical simulation, calculated and projected by the device at the heart of the colossus. One might equally say it is the dream that Alexander dreams...

Mide
And what of our companions? Are they...?

Dayan
...Their fate was not mine to change, Mide. All that came to pass did so for a reason. History is as it was─as it should be─free of the paradoxes that spelled its undoing.

From this place─unfettered by the mortal construct of time─Alexander looks out upon past, present, and future, seeing infinite possibilities. I see what it sees, and feel what it feels─this perfect machine, born from yearnings for an ideal world.

Oh, if you could see the worlds we have seen! A world in which the Illuminati rule history with an iron fist, every nation brought under their yoke. A world in which Alexander spread wide the wings of time and swept the lesser moon from the heavens, averting the Calamity...

Alexander dreamed all the realities imaginable─all the realities mathematically computable─and in the end, reached a single, logical conclusion. It would change nothing, and erase itself from existence.

Mide
But...why?

Dayan
Alexander possesses the power to travel through time and space, and reshape history for the better─but such power comes at great cost. The sheer quantity of aether consumed in the process means that Alexander itself would─mayhap not immediately, but inevitably─bring ruin to this world. This perfect machine, this supreme manifestation of logic and science, deemed its own existence a threat.

And so it chose to do nothing. To leave history untouched, and the future in the hands of man, with all his imperfections. Such was Alexander's divine judgment.

A time will come when the fate of this world is placed in the hands of one warrior. For reasons hidden to me, the future from that day forth remains shrouded in mystery─beyond even the colossus's ability to calculate. And yet Alexander chose to believe in that [person], and the light within [them].

Though it does raise some questions about the completely different category of time shenanigans we're dealing with in 5.0

[Swilly]

I had a look at them tonight and they seem to correspond to the datalogs - the things they would have drawn on to work out the technology:

1. Syrcus Tower from the lookout - I want to say it's a shot of G'raha Tia looking at the tower, but between the graphic overlay and having to dodge lasers in the boss battle, it was a bit hard to tell whether there was a figure there or not. But from memory I think we had a non-cutscene conversation with him there just before entering the World of Darkness.

It's Nero Scaeva (remember him?), from the end of the CT raid series when he throws his aether detector into the Syrcus Trench (which, I believe you retrieve later in the 5.0 sidequest "You Had One Jobb").

I tried to get a good picture of it but it is at a strange angle.

Still, I'd recognize that guy, that cutscene, and that hobo trenchcoat anywhere.

[Iscah]

It's Nero Scaeva (remember him?), from the end of the CT raid series when he throws his aether detector into the Syrcus Trench (which, I believe you retrieve later in the 5.0 sidequest "You Had One Jobb").

I tried to get a good picture of it but it is at a strange angle.

Still, I'd recognize that guy, that cutscene, and that hobo trenchcoat anywhere.

Thanks for the correction - I did realise it on a closer look when I was going through screenshots the other night, and have been meaning to come back to fix it.

And yes. It's a bit hard to forget him.

Not sure about the quest though (script here).

UNGAINLY GUARDSMAN
What exactly are the contents, you ask? Among other things, there happens to be a remarkable device that's been entrusted to us in the guard by the Crystal Exarch himself, who is said to have exhumed it from the Crystal Tower!
Though it simply looks like a pretty round gemstone, it somehow has the ability to measure the concentration of aether in the air and matter around us. Needless to say, it's not something that anyone─not even the artisans at the Mean─can just toss together. If I had lost it for good...

I'm not sure if the physical description of "a pretty round gemstone" fits - and we know from the ending, and can assume from his general inability to move far from the tower, that G'raha Tia can't travel to the Source through the portal. So how then could he "exhume it from the tower" or otherwise acquire it - or what else might it be? It could be a hook for something important, or is it just another "the Exarch has access to mysterious artifacts" thing for world building...?

Something to ponder.

(Of course he did get the other beacon device into the trench somehow, but I can only assume he tossed it through the portal.)

...

...what it does make me think of is Koh Rabntah/Noah.

SYELE
I am sorry to trouble you so soon after your trials in the Crystal Tower, but my colleague Koh Rabntah has gone missing.
She discovered the oddest orb deep within the tower, and said she was returning here to analyze it.

KOH RABNTAH
You are speaking with none other than Noah, archmagus of Allag! My scholarly works are legend, my treatises of the cosmos priceless, and my very name known throughout the world!
...Or 'twas so once. My soul has whiled away the millennia within an orb. Koh awoke me from my slumber, and... Well, how could I pass up a chance to walk the world again? So I allowed my spirit to flow into her body, and here we are.

And having just redone the first part of the Ridorana unlock quest... hmm.

MIKOTO
Simpler... Right... Um... Aether is not only the building block of all things material, but those immaterial as well. Thoughts, memories, feelings, one's very will are all understood to be aetherial phenomena, and can be measured as such. Unlike most crystals, which only can emit elemental energies, auracite is tuned not only to absorb aether, but aether specific to the immaterial. That aether is then stored and multiplied within its crystalline confines until external stimuli precipitate release.

CID
Try again.

MIKOTO
Uh... Ahem. Under appropriate conditions, a strong will or desire can become imprinted upon the auracite and stored until fomentation, at which time the desire becomes manifest─

RAMZA
Fomen...tation?

CID
What my studious young friend is trying to say is that the Otius takes one's deepest fantasies and makes them reality.

The final conclusion doesn't quite match, but middle of the description certainly does - and I have a sudden suspicion as to what Noah's "oneiromantic pearls" might be made from...

[YianKutku]

'Locus' is definitely more generic (by chance or design?) but 'Rise' is specifically linked to the events of Alexander.

To be fair, "Rise" is also somewhat present in the Twinning theme "A Long Fall". Specifically, it's the bassline.

The Alexander theme which I don't think made it in was "Metal", which is definitely Goblin-specific.

(Of course he did get the other beacon device into the trench somehow, but I can only assume he tossed it through the portal.)

I just (as in, upon reading this post) realized that given everything we've seen of the First's Crystal Tower via the Twinning, it's highly likely that this beacon device shaped like a gear isn't just a random object imbued with the ability to call forth the Warrior of Light, but is specifically a gear from the Tycoon.

[AmemeAmeklin]

(Of course he did get the other beacon device into the trench somehow, but I can only assume he tossed it through the portal.)

I'm not sure how canon this is, but part of The Rising actually includes a message from Biggs III.

(-Large Bottle, Letter V-)I snuck this letter on board a certain apparatus before it was sent hurtling backwards through time and space. As it wasn't accounted for on the storage log, I could begin to calculate where─and when─it will eventually arrive.
(-Large Bottle, Letter V-)Even if I were to succeed in sending it two centuries in the past, the odds that it will safely reach the hands of that hero of legend are infinitesimal at best. And yet, the chance is not zero, and it is in remote possibility that I place my hopes.
(-Large Bottle, Letter V-)My ancestor─the first of the name I now proudly bear─once told me that the hero he befriended was, for all of her many talents, above all a woman possessed of great fortune. Fortune that suggested that the Twelve themselves truly did smile upon her.
(-Large Bottle, Letter V-)In that sense, it's not unreasonable to expect that it is indeed you who is reading my words today. And so, I say: thank you, my friend. Thank you for saving our past, and giving us hope for a brighter future. And above all, please look after him, won't you?
Yours,
Biggs, Third of His Name
Eighteenth President of Garlond Ironworks

Sentimental bits aside, he mentions 'a certain apparatus' and a storage log. Personally I find it kind of odd to refer to the tower as an apparatus but maybe that's just me...

[Ardox]

To be fair, "Rise" is also somewhat present in the Twinning theme "A Long Fall". Specifically, it's the bassline.

The Alexander theme which I don't think made it in was "Metal", which is definitely Goblin-specific.

I just (as in, upon reading this post) realized that given everything we've seen of the First's Crystal Tower via the Twinning, it's highly likely that this beacon device shaped like a gear isn't just a random object imbued with the ability to call forth the Warrior of Light, but is specifically a gear from the Tycoon.

Interesting supposition.. I wonder if it even can relate to this:

I'm not sure how canon this is, but part of The Rising actually includes a message from Biggs III.

Sentimental bits aside, he mentions 'a certain apparatus' and a storage log. Personally I find it kind of odd to refer to the tower as an apparatus but maybe that's just me...

I also wonder if people that haven't finished ShB would see that letter

[Iscah]

I got the final Alexander battle in raid roulette the other night, and was thinking... Rise is a strange thing, even at the time. This is essentially the point where Alexander says "sorry Quickthinx, im not going with your plan any more" and is testing that we're worthy.

(Interestingly, Alexander only seems to rebel after our time-travel trip to three years ago somewhere around A10 - which is actually the point at which Dayan's soul has just been pulled into the core, from Alexander's perspective...)

Separate lore-ish observation: Alexander uses the same kind of attack as Storge's laser blasts, and acquires angelic wings...

I'm not sure how canon this is, but part of The Rising actually includes a message from Biggs III.

Sentimental bits aside, he mentions 'a certain apparatus' and a storage log. Personally I find it kind of odd to refer to the tower as an apparatus but maybe that's just me...

I've been wondering about that too. I think it's definitely canon - unlike the other vague "anonymous observer" letters, this one is from an established character.

I also thought "apparatus" seems an odd term to refer to the tower by, and suggests something smaller... but still large enough to sneak a bottle aboard, apparently, so if the beacon was sent back separately, where's the rest of it...?

Though having a "storage log" suggests there's someone who's going to use it, which makes it more likely to be a deliberately vague reference to the tower.

Even though you can only see the story messages reflecting your current progress, they do just seem to be phrasing it as un-spoilery as possible - no mention of dying futures or changing timelines. If someone who'd just played ARR and didn't know any spoilers read this, they'd probably think "cool, the Ironworks eventually worked out time travel and sent a thankyou note back to us for being heroes".

(Never mind the G'raha Tia minion, anyway... but they're not going to see that if they just found the text.)

Then again, it makes sense in-universe too. He can't guarantee when we'll read it if it gets to us, and warning our ARR-self to expect a time-travelling Crystal Tower is probably not a great way to keep their plan of secrecy on track.

I also wonder if people that haven't finished ShB would see that letter

They won't - it's restricted by your current story progress.

[ICountFrom0]

I also thought "apparatus" seems an odd term to refer to the tower by, and suggests something smaller... but still large enough to sneak a bottle aboard, apparently, so if the beacon was sent back separately, where's the rest of it...?

Though having a "storage log" suggests there's someone who's going to use it, which makes it more likely to be a deliberately vague reference to the tower.

It's the strange "talking device" that you interact with at the end of SB2. It has complete logs of all things in the tower.

[Iscah]

It's the strange "talking device" that you interact with at the end of SB2. It has complete logs of all things in the tower.

By "talking device" do you mean the one with the recorded message after completing the Twinning? I can't think what else you'd be referring to, but it isn't there after completing the quest.

In any case, that device was recovered from the tower, implying it was sent back within it - doubly so since the message was meant for G'raha as he was departing - and it ended up in the First, not the Source, so is unlikely to have been dropping beacons or bottled messages for us along the way.