Thread: Predictions for 5.3?

I'm still trying to figure out the Elidibus thing, since I think that's what's going to make or break predictions.

To summarize, it was highlighted as the big mystery of Part A (5.2), as the Please Look Forward to It of Part B (5.3), that the Elidibus who saw on the Convocation became the core of Zodiark, while Venat became the core of Hydaelyn. This means that the Elidibus we've been dealing with since 2.1 is...who? Or what? The true nature of our alleged final unsundered foe must require this distinction to be true in order for the story to function, or they wouldn't have wasted time on it. What does this make possible? What makes it even more difficult is this:

Urianger
Perchance the Elidibus at Zodiark's heart and the emissary with whom we are acquainted be not one and the same, but predecessor and successor.
Y'shtola
It's possible. If the previous Elidibus perished before the Final Days, the one we know could still be a survivor of the sundering.
And yet...something in that explanation rings false.

That was our plausible assumption. What's left?

Perhaps it's hinting the other direction, that Elidibus is Elidibus even now, the Word of the Father.
That would serve the narrative how? Making possible the return of Venat in another form of her choosing?

So I think we've got that answer coming. Triple word score as soon as someone utters the name "Gerun".

And then there's the fallout of Elidibus making a bunch of Woken who think they're doing Hydaelyn's work and yet unknowingly lend Elidibus their ears. Clearly he's just trying to set them up to kill us in a moment of zealotry. Clearly we're not going to die. I can think of a few way both of those can be true; not sure how bad the game will let it get before we unravel the machination, though.

And if they close this uncertainty with the time shenanigans I'm declaring it a 10-outta-10.

Eli is inflating egos and will cause brash foolish actions, and willful ignorance while manipulating the first into summoning a primal or a sineater repeat of amarout.
And , afterwards we will sacrifice the 13th, 1rst, and a shard of Zodiark to create (using Eden) the flying continent of norvrant in the source with six terraformation crystals (one for each element), which will sit on a giant eden

Originally Posted by Theodric

- Elidibus' talk of balance will ring true and his role will shift back to that of a diplomat. We'll find some common ground and work with him in order to deal with a greater threat.

- The Crystal Exarch will die. Possibly at the hands of Zenos. There's no need to keep two versions of the same character around and The Crystal Tower story-line is going to be mandatory as of 5.3 according to a recent comment by Yoshi-P.

- The Sapphire Weapon will use combat data gained from Regula van Hydrus. We'll finally see what he looks like beneath his helmet.

- Someone will emerge victorious in Garlemald's latest civil war, sowing the seeds that will lead us to finally visit Garlemald in 6.0. It may be the 'Lord Nevra' mentioned briefly at the end of 5.0.

- We will learn more about the third party entity responsible for causing Amaurot's destruction, a being heavily inspired by Jenova from FF7. It will be set up as a threat to deal with in the future.

- At least one of the Scions will fail to arrive back in the Source unscathed.

Seem solid to me. I hope the first and fifth come to fruition, although on the first point he's been described more as an arbitrator/mediator than a diplomat in the truest sense. February interviews hint at the symbol of his office being on the crystal's top and his position in the middle as somehow significant for 5.3, rather than 5.2 per se. Right now we're seeing him cause a ruckus due to assuming the worst.

It will be revealed there is only one Elidibus - the one we're dealing with is both the "heart of Zodiark" and the original from the Final Days. Venat mentions before becoming the "heart of Hydaelyn" that she would not vanish from the world and retain a form of her choosing; if that's the case it's entirely plausible Elidibus simply chose to keep his current form, and being Zodiark's "heart" just means he is in direct communion with the primal.

If the Crystal Tower series is a requirement for doing 5.3, Source G'raha is going to return to the stage in lieu of Crystal Exarch G'raha, since the latter is confined to the First. Some sort of memory transference may take place so we don't have to explain everything to him.

All the Scions will return to the Source safe and sound. Thancred and Urianger's departure from the Eden raids post-Refulgence suggests they will return, being the game's iconic hero protagonist there's no way they'd leave Y'shtola to rot on the First, and Alphinaud and Alisae are the story's real protagonists (or they were before Shadowbringers).

We know the Sapphire Weapon is more than likely to be the next Weapon trial, and I concur that van Hydrus will likely be the combat data loaded into it.

The YoRHa raid will be based on the carnival area from Automata, featuring the opera singer Simone as a / the final boss. Stay away from the crucified gynoids, folks!

(And don't worry about being bored; everyone is. I finished VII:R in about four days, overcame my disdain for EX trials to beat Memoria Misera for the dye-enabled AF gear, and whenever I suggest a time for my D&D group to meet up again I just get rebuked as being overly ambitious and told it's going to be months still... even though we've not been hit very hard locally... and it's already been 3 months since we last met...)