Thread: The Patch 5.2 Discussion Thread! (Spoilers)

Originally Posted by Lauront

TThe clouds coalescing over the Crystarium look like regular dense clouds but at the same time there's light bursting through them, so not sure what to make of it... but maybe the early stages of a resurgent flood?

Those clouds rolling in is the same visual animation used when the Starshower appeared over Eorzea in 1562 after the Battle of Silvertear Skies. The clouds roll in, then burst open into the Starshower. Which implies that it's perhaps being seen OUT-OF-ECHO for the first time in 15 years. And on the First to boot...

In 1.0 it was almost certainly tied into the derailed Presence of Silvertear Lake storyline, but the Final Days is a great opportunity to tie it all together in a clean way that will easily pass for totally-planned-all-along. Ever since the story changed trajectory, the Starshower has awkwardly just been "that thing that appeared in the sky when the Echo sounded and then now people see it in a vision when they're chosen for the Echo". Leaving it at that was fine, but admittedly awkward and anticlimactic. Attaching it to the Final Days tidies things up a bit. Can you see the stitches? Yes. Is it better? Also yes.

This lore / writing team is too good, lol. I half expect them to go back and use the Presence of Silvertear Lake when all of this is over just to bring it all full circle with no loose ends and do a victory dance on the apex of this story for all the trouble it's given them.

Originally Posted by Anonymoose

Those clouds rolling in is the same visual animation used when the Starshower appeared over Eorzea in 1562 after the Battle of Silvertear Skies. The clouds roll in, then burst open into the Starshower. Which implies that it's perhaps being seen OUT-OF-ECHO for the first time in 15 years. And on the First to boot...

In 1.0 it was almost certainly tied into the derailed Presence of Silvertear Lake storyline, but the Final Days is a great opportunity to tie it all together in a clean way that will easily pass for totally-planned-all-along. Ever since the story changed trajectory, the Starshower has awkwardly just been "that thing that appeared in the sky when the Echo sounded and then now people see it in a vision when they're chosen for the Echo". Leaving it at that was fine, but admittedly awkward and anticlimactic. Attaching it to the Final Days tidies things up a bit. Can you see the stitches? Yes. Is it better? Also yes.

This lore / writing team is too good, lol. I half expect them to go back and use the Presence of Silvertear Lake when all of this is over just to bring it all full circle with no loose ends and do a victory dance on the apex of this story for all the trouble it's given them.

Pretty cool that they're going back and tying in plenty of the newer scenes to the older lore and doing it so seamlessly.

And yes, the presence is something I'm also hoping/expecting them to make use of. Even Koji, when asked, didn't have much of an idea of how they plan to use it, or at least he wouldn't be drawn out to answer, so it'd be a shame not to put that to use in a future plot thread!

Originally Posted by Noitems

That raises a really interesting question. Could the Scions (and those we see in that cutscene) potentially unlock some form of the echo from that sight? I'd assume since the Scions are still stuck and while the Exarch has made some progress on what to do about getting them back to the Source, I feel this could be the same. Also if Zenos is pictured in Amaurot we know that even an artificial echo could allow you to travel to different shards as well.

He's effectively like an Ascian Overlord, but with the Scions un-tethered from their true bodies, it should be possible for them to accomplish something similar to get re-attached to their actual bodies - the thing is they simply pop up in the cutscene in the First bodies, based on the outfits, so it looks like a summoning act. I'm also wondering whether Zenos is possessing a host or there in his actual body (assuming he's actually there), because normally such Rift travel can't bring the body with with the exception of the summoning the Exarch performed on the WoL/D and subsequent summons.

Originally Posted by MrThinker

Or a Viis with the Echo, since everyone we know who awoke to the Echo sees the Starshower, and that mural is depicting it.

Makes a lot of sense, and could explain the the white influx behind her behind her.