No Garleans on the first?

[Nalien]

One possible thought:
Considering that Emet-Selch claimed to also be behind the Ronkan Empire, it's not out of the question that the ancient Ronkans were the First's Garlean-equivalents, who died out (naturally?) a few thousand years back. Their constructs even kinda look like stone-age magitek.

I actually figured the Ronkan were a pre-Omega Allagan equivalent. Those cube enemies are basically rocky ADS units, for example. We know the Allagan used to work a whole lot more with stone based on their ruins, it was only after they discovered Omega and aetherochemical research exploded that they adopted the more dull metal aesthetic more associated with them these days, since the First had no Omega, it stands to reason they'd never go down that technological route. They'd stick with the magical stoneworks.

[MikkoAkure]

I think when he said that he was talking about in the Source. Each of the shards had their own ascian assigned to it when it was time to rejoin so I don’t think they’d really waste their time on a shard when it’s not going to be rejoined for another 5000 years.

[LineageRazor]

It's also worth noting that the Ronkan Empire seemed to have been fairly benevolent. At least, the game hasn't gone to any lengths to describe them as warlike or expansionistic. Voeburt, too, seemed to keep to itself. If the Ascians had their fingers in creating these places to sow chaos, the efforts seem halfhearted at best.

The Ascians' MO on the Shards seems to be different from theirs on the Source. On the Source, it's CHAOS, FOREVERMORE!!! And once there's enough Chaos, they work on flooding one of the Shards with an element. What, exactly, they do to cause this flooding, is unclear. We're getting hints of how they did it on the First (manipulation of the Warriors of Light, use of Eden, etc), but Light isn't exactly an element. Whatever they do to get the ball rolling on a Shard, it may not require the cooperation of a powerful empire as is often the case on the Source. And without that need, they likely just let kingdoms rise and fall on their own. (Voeburt, of course, was an exception, given that it factored into the manipulation of the Warriors of Light.)

[Vyrerus]

I lean towards Garleans being aliens unique to The Source or a post Sundering race unique to the planet that cannot manipulate aether because they are not tied to the planet as it originally had been. They could also be genetically engineered by the Ascians to eventually be suitable host bodies for the Ancients upon the revival of their souls, though that's quite a stretch on my part.

There's a lot to answer and speculate on regarding Garleans, because they're shown to have wildly fantastic technology, swords capable of summoning tigers/performing aetherial geometry, dreadnaughts capable of killing primals, and basically anything the plot needs them to do. Most recently with the Ruby Weapon they did something really crazy, and the hint at how they did it means they've gotten a big tech boost from the spaceship that is The Ragnarok.

Of course, it's easy to say they were wiped away in The Flood of Light, but we can't tie that to a geographical location on The Source, because where races are/were differs shard to shard. Like how so many Au Ra are in Norvrandt. How the Lalafell are in what I'd consider Vylbrand(Kholusia). I think I could speculate about Garleans all day.

[LineageRazor]

I lean towards Garleans being aliens unique to The Source or a post Sundering race unique to the planet that cannot manipulate aether because they are not tied to the planet as it originally had been. They could also be genetically engineered by the Ascians to eventually be suitable host bodies for the Ancients upon the revival of their souls, though that's quite a stretch on my part.

There's a lot to answer and speculate on regarding Garleans, because they're shown to have wildly fantastic technology, swords capable of summoning tigers/performing aetherial geometry, dreadnaughts capable of killing primals, and basically anything the plot needs them to do. Most recently with the Ruby Weapon they did something really crazy, and the hint at how they did it means they've gotten a big tech boost from the spaceship that is The Ragnarok.

Of course, it's easy to say they were wiped away in The Flood of Light, but we can't tie that to a geographical location on The Source, because where races are/were differs shard to shard. Like how so many Au Ra are in Norvrandt. How the Lalafell are in what I'd consider Vylbrand(Kholusia). I think I could speculate about Garleans all day.

I tend to lean away from the notion that they're aliens, for two main reasons. First off, they look very human. While this is a standard trope in live-action Sci-fi shows (largely because it's a LOT CHEAPER to put pointy ears on a human actor and call them an alien than it is to make a TRULY alien alien), it seems pretty hokey for two different planets to wind up producing essentially identical species. The second reason is not only are they essentially identical, but they're even cross-fertile with the natives (Arenvald being one such result). THAT requires a ludicrous amount of handwavium.

I do think they could be unique to the source. Perhaps side effects from one of the Calamities, led to their unique traits, or maybe they were the results of Allagan experimentation.

As for the amazing technology, take that with a grain of salt. There's evidence that the Ascians have been helping them in this regard (just as they did the Allagans) - and unlike most races on the Source, they have the MOTIVE to explore amazing technology, since they need it to stand on equal (or even superior) footing with the magic-using races. I mean, a non-Garlean COULD put the research into making a laser cannon, but why bother when you can just huck a fireball?

Anyway, unique to the source, or one of the many unlucky races wiped out by not being in Norvrandt at the time of the Flood - it could go either way.

[QT_Melon]

One thing due to recent revelations

Theories:
That Hydaelyn's sundering may have been intentional on depriving one group of their ability to use aether. It may not be malicious? It may have been part of the "suffering" not just talking about our mortality. Have there any Garleans with echo? As I've seen it/remember it - anyone who had Echo was labeled a beastman. This might be a great setup of the significance of the Garlean Empire if there's a deeper correlation.

Especially since people were upset that the empire wasn't as much of a focus and that the stories only seem a bit in tandem with Zenos running as the headliner as an "agent of Chaos" so to speak

[Alaeacus]

A Garlean race may or may not have happened. Garlean history is them fleeing and isolating themselves from the other races because they were majorly discriminated against and persecuted for being non-magical. That kind of history could very well have not happened in the First. The First may have caused them to go extinct, or turned them magical, well-before the Flood. Hell, non-magical race of people may not have existed on the first to begin with. Is there even a single Hrothgar on the Source? I've only seen one Viera on the Source, and that was Fran.

[Nightsword]

A Garlean race may or may not have happened. Garlean history is them fleeing and isolating themselves from the other races because they were majorly discriminated against and persecuted for being non-magical. That kind of history could very well have not happened in the First. The First may have caused them to go extinct, or turned them magical, well-before the Flood. Hell, non-magical race of people may not have existed on the first to begin with. Is there even a single Hrothgar on the Source? I've only seen one Viera on the Source, and that was Fran.

The Gunbreaker Job NPC

[MrThinker]

The Gunbreaker Job NPC

Also in that quest line is another Hrothgar.

On another note, the Hrothgar homeland of Bozja is to play a major part in the story of the lvl 80 relic questline. So we will definitely see more Hrithgar soon.

[Cilia]

It's unclear as to whether there simply were no Garleans on the First, or they were wiped out in the Flood. We have no evidence either way.

If we assume they did exist, with the same limitation as their Source counterparts, their holdings would likely have been small. Without Solus (Emet-Selch) introducing them to / weaponizing the ceruleum engine, the Garleans would likely still be limited to their small corner of northeastern Ilsabard given they settled there several hundred years ago and to our knowledge did not expand very far if at all. Hell, between the apparent lack of Ascian meddling and the First's accelerated time compared to the Source, any First equivalent Garleans may have naturally died out.

/shrug