Sundering and specific character questions. [Spoilers]

[Tsiron]

I wouldn't be able to tell you where it's stated exactly, but I'm pretty sure the Sundering affected only the area around their Star, yeah. Midgardsormr and his brood are that strong because they're unsundered beings. As for your other questions we... don't really know, though there's a chance it might pop up in Endwalker (what with us going to the Moon and all)

[Brightamethyst]

So it appears to be the general consensus that the Sundering would not have affected beings from other planets like Midgardsormr (and thus his descendants), Omega, and Nybeth Obdilord (the Floor 100 boss of the Palace of the Dead). Has that been stated/confirmed by any official sources, or is that just the most common agreed upon viewpoint?

It's an educated guess based on what we know about the universe, aether, how magic and summoning works, etc.

First, the unsundered. How did they remain unsundered? "They were off-planet at the time" is the simplest and most reasonable answer. By extension this also explains why there are no dragons on the first and why aliens are so much more powerful than natives, not having split souls and aether.

Second, based on what we know about aether there's no way Hydaelyn was powerful enough, even in her prime, to split the entire universe. The bigger your spell or effect the more aether you need to power it. Even if you drained all the aether from the entire planet (which the Ancients did not, not even close) you couldn't summon something powerful enough to affect the entire universe.

Basically, the Sundering being a localized phenomenon just makes more sense in the lore. Maybe we'll find out we're wrong in EW. Who knows? But for now this is our best theory.

[MikkoAkure]

Koji said in an interview 3 years ago that the Sundering was isolated to just our planet and the Dragonstar was not affected.

[Vyrerus]

Resurrecting this thread

Not necessarily. Whenever we're shown the Source and the Shards in the Aetherial Sea, they seem to be floating in a ring orbiting nothing in outer space. My theory is that this ring of shards and Source has actual spatial coordinates, as that is something that the 200 years in the future Ironworks had to divine in order to make their time traveling tower work. This weak point in plot is hidden behind the bulwark of the setting, that being that the races on Hydaelyn aren't capable of long range space flight as far as we know.

Of course, because of the Aetherial Sea there is also an Aetherial Plane, basically a 5th dimension, and it's entirely possible that denizens of each shard perceive space the same way from the same spatial coordinates as the original planet, but they are unwittingly stuck in that 5th dimension due to their aetherial coordinates. Basically what I propose is that if any of the shard peoples did discover spaceflight they would leave their shard into the same space that's all around the Source/original planet, but they wouldn't be tangible unless they also crossed onto the same aetherial plane.

It could be that spaceflight is impossible for people on the shards, that once they start to break orbit, they hit aetherial interference, and are unable to break atmosphere. I feel though, that if they did fly into outer space, and then turned back, they would land back on their same shard planet, because that is their aetherial coordinate.

And we can apply that to every planet and star in the setting too. They all have aetherial seas, coordinates, lifestreams etc. It's just, most planets have just one. "Hydaelyn" has, as of now, seven total aetherial planes.

Of course, if we take it as explained in game by the Exarch, he says they are physically separate but aetherially connected. I think that was a layman's explanation though, as thinking about this too hard makes everything messy.

Of course, it's already messy by the nature of the fact that it is fantasy. Keep in mind that sufficiently strong foes have been shown to be entirely capable of opening pocket rifts, interdimensional or otherwise, allowing them to exist on an entirely separate dimensional plane from the whole mess.

[Tsiron]

First, the unsundered. How did they remain unsundered? "They were off-planet at the time" is the simplest and most reasonable answer.

On the Moon, perhaps..?

[RyuDragnier]

On the Moon, perhaps..?

Considering the fact there are actual Amaurotine ruins up there, this is the most likely scenario. Now, why there was no moon present during The Final Days however...that's the big question. Unless of course it was created after them.

[thegreatonemal]

Omega and Midgardsormr are not sundered because they came to the planet after and it seems (keyword seems, but going by what we know of the cause, this appears to be the case) to be restricted only to the planet.

Which, in retrospect, makes me wonder if Omega's aether-crafting abilities aren't really all that special. It's pretty much the same thing the Ancients did. Are all unsundered beings across the universe able to use summoning that way, and rather than Omega being super powerful, it's more that Hydaelyn-ians are weak?

You got that backwards it makes the ancients not special. Whoever made omega was able to put the ancient's claim to fame into a robot as a side function.

[Theozilla]

Koji said in an interview 3 years ago that the Sundering was isolated to just our planet and the Dragonstar was not affected.

Oh that’s interesting to hear, does anyone have a think to said interview out of curiosity/ for posterity’s sake?

Considering the fact there are actual Amaurotine ruins up there, this is the most likely scenario. Now, why there was no moon present during The Final Days however...that's the big question. Unless of course it was created after them.

I mean the current moon we know was formed after the Sundering, as Hydaelyn stated that Zodiark got “banished to the heavens”, i.e. got turned into the moon (and moons of the Shards?).


If the Sundering being localized to just the original planet (and local orbit) of the Source is indeed explicity stated canon, I guess Vyrerus’ theorizing of how hypothetical space travel would work makes the most sense (even with the Gordian of trying to figure out the time differential would affect stuff too, like different night skies).

If the Source and Shards are basically a local space-time singularity/aberration, would that mean only the Source can receive meteorites and asteroids falling onto to it, or would any meteorites falling into the local space the Source and Shards are located in, essentially be duplicated and the “same” meteorite falls into both the Source and the Shards? But then I suppose any “duplication” would only apply to non-living beings or else Midgardsormr and other “alien” beings would have been “duplicated” as well?

(to be clear I am fully aware that part of these inconsistencies/reconciliation issues, are just an inherent aspect of the suspension of disbelief for fantasy stories, but it is still fun/interesting to theorize how the metaphysics of the FFXIV universe works with its “alien” characters)

[KageTokage]

The thing that makes me question when the moon came into being are the buildings we see at Mare Lamentorum.

Perhaps Hydaelyn's summoners created it originally as a safe haven in case the Final Days returned and ended up completely destroying the world, but had it used as Zodiark's prison further down the line?

[Vyrerus]

The thing that makes me question when the moon came into being are the buildings we see at Mare Lamentorum.

Perhaps Hydaelyn's summoners created it originally as a safe haven in case the Final Days returned and ended up completely destroying the world, but had it used as Zodiark's prison further down the line?

I think it's pretty much a research outpost turned memorial. If the Ancients were as invested in studying and stewarding the planet as Emet-selch says, then it makes sense that they'd want a full view of their planet. I actually kind of wonder if there was more than one moon before.

Of course, I can't help but think of our own moon's incidental function... it soaks up many many meteors, asteroids, and other celestial bodies that would otherwise touch down on Earth. Both small and large. Hence why it's covered in craters.

Perhaps the moon with Mare Lamentorum was made after the Final Days, but before Hydaelyn's creation. Perhaps as both a planetary observatory, and a meteor aegis.