Predictions for 5.3?

[Vyrerus]

The quest after Minfilia merges with Ryne is called Crossroads. Roads are meant to be walked. Look to those who walked before, to lead those who walk after... The Road that we walked is lost in the flood...
We went one way, she went another in an alternate timeline. Same for every action we did or did not take.

Every time we log into the game what do we hear? The Shadowbringers theme song. It tells us that we will want for nothing, nothing denied. Wandering ended, Futures aligned.

In the lyrics to A Long Fall from The Twinning, a selection of lyrics from eScape is played remixed. eScape was and is stupidly prophetic. Locus being the boss theme needs to be examined closely as well, but that's another point.

Here's what i'm talking about in particular:

Time
Stellar stories starward bestrewn, slipping sidewise; see, they're snakes. <---- Elidibus is the snake (Serpentarius), Us travelling to the First by "slipping sideways"
Twixt the leaves you'll find naught amiss—missing aughts and crossing fates. <--- Ronka and and the true meaning behind the echo. We go to the Tomb of Tiuna, finding more questions than answers.
Freedom surgent shifting ahead, comets dancing in her wake. <--- Hydaelyn awakening the echo using comets to do so.
To the cosmic clarion's accord, along the path not taken. <--- Exarch changing events etched in time by forcing us to take a path we never would have.


Try, dare the dead tread ahead on a road that was borrowed design. (Design) <--- We died in the canonical history. We are the dead treading ahead
Through the sum of their suns do they seek tomorrow. (Tomorrow) <--- The Ironworks sons literally finish what their forefathers started.
Tonight, witness then as the end shall begin what was final. <---- Amaurot's fall.
Their lies, folding back, further back, ever back to the primal. <--- Hydaelyn and Zodiark tempering mortals in an endless proxy war.


Hmmm.

So what does that mean though, in regards to Atomos? Or is it just something that's really neat that you had to put out here? hehe

[Riastrad]

So what does that mean though, in regards to Atomos? Or is it just something that's really neat that you had to put out here? hehe

Oh sorry, I forgot to add the link.

I'm implying that Atomos may act like it does in XI. In that game it operated by means of devouring items and events and placing them into a void like area called the Threshold, an inter-dimensional void that allowed access to other timelines.

eScape, in my own opinion was lyrically talking about alternate timelines and roads left untraveled.


I had been sitting on my own interpretation of eScape for awhile it's true. I was taking a look at older FF titles to see other links to time manipulations within the series when it hit me that Atomos was a key part of Wings of the Goddess.

Seeing as how it appeared shortly before Dalamud fell, is a recurring entity within the Crystal Tower Raids which are now required to progress in the story, I figured why not toss out the idea that it may have been staring us in the face for awhile now. It obviously is important enough to reoccur three times, why not a fourth?

[AnimaAnimus]

I hope they don't delve any more deeper into alternative timelines than they already have. That is always messy, seldom done well and a bit of an overused plot device.

I hope, if they use Atomos, its as it already has been used, as a way to travel between shards. That way we can keep a connection with the first and Ryne could travel between and it could keep Thancred and Urianger in the Eden questline. This also opens the potential for us to travel to the 13th to help purge it of darkness. However at the same time I would much rather see more of our own world before we go galavanting between shards again.

Creating a stable portal between the source and the first is a way to keep the first in the picture in a much more meaningful way. It's already a shame we have no reason to visit the zones we were given in previous expacs, so this would make it easy for the writers to connect the two.

[RyuDragnier]

In the latter's case, I could also see it being someone/something that either represents the timeline his actions were meant to erase or is actually from that timeline and is making a final spit of defiance to try to reverse it.

So what you're saying is that the possibility of us fighting the Emet-Selch from that future is on the table. If they do...man they'd be sucker punching us hard.

[KageTokage]

So what you're saying is that the possibility of us fighting the Emet-Selch from that future is on the table. If they do...man they'd be sucker punching us hard.

Not so sure about that specifically, but they've mentioned all the manner of strange creatures in Lakeland and surrounding areas that only started showing up after the Crystal Tower arrived, such as the gremlins and the S rank chimera.

I suppose it's possible they could've all just been locked under the tower and only escaped after the time travel process restarted previously inactive functions, but there could be some residual interdimensional/timey wimey weirdness going on.

Creating a stable portal between the source and the first is a way to keep the first in the picture in a much more meaningful way. It's already a shame we have no reason to visit the zones we were given in previous expacs, so this would make it easy for the writers to connect the two.

I think that seems about as probable as them finding a way to keep the WoL and the Scions on speed dial so they can come over whenever something interesting happens. We're already going to be heading back there after the ShB story is resolved to tie up the loose ends with Eden and the Nier raids, and I'd kind of like if they had another Firmament-like project for lower Eulmore further in the future.

[Riastrad]

Not so sure about that specifically, but they've mentioned all the manner of strange creatures in Lakeland and surrounding areas that only started showing up after the Crystal Tower arrived, such as the gremlins and the S rank chimera.

I suppose it's possible they could've all just been locked under the tower and only escaped after the time travel process restarted previously dormant functions, but there could be some residual interdimensional weirdness going on.

If you dive into the source (the lake) you can see crystals growing out of the water just off the Horn of the Isle of Ken. They look like the ones in Mor Dhona to me. Some kind of bleeding effect maybe?

[Rosenstrauch]

On the subject of timelines, convergences, and the plot threads therein, I had a bit of a shower thought this morning in regards to the Exarch's timeline. There are four factors to my hypothesis. Spoilers, natch.

1. The Exarch either awoke, or was sent back through time and space, two hundred years after the Eighth Umbral Calamity. I might be wrong on that number, so feel free to correct me if I am.
2. Emet-Selch seems convinced that the eighth Rejoining will free Zodiark and allow him to fulfill his goal of sacrificing the life on the Source to bring back the sacrificed Amaurotine people.
3. Despite the above, in the occasions where it is brought up, there is no apparent Ascian or Zodiark presence in the Exarch's timeline. Combined with 2, this presents something of a puzzle. Where the heck are they?
4. In 5.2, it is confirmed that Elidibus sacrificed himself to serve as the heart of Zodiark. Despite this, there is an Ascian calling himself Elidibus. Urianger suspects the title changed hands, but the unspoken suggestion here seems to be that Elibidus continued to serve his duty even after his sacrifice.

So, that hypothesis:

The reason Zodiark and the Ascians have no apparent presence in the Exarch's timeline is because there was no cross-world soul summoning business to interfere with the Scions' work during the war with Garlemald. As such, we were able to deploy the means to kill Elidibus during our confrontation in the Ghimlyt Dark and actually succeeded. And without even realizing it, we had dealt a mortal blow to Zodiark in the process. Thus, when the Eighth Umbral Calamity rolled around, Zodiark was already dead.

Regardless of how well my hypothesis pans out, as I'm not entirely convinced we'll ever touch on the Exarch's timeline again, I find myself a little more interested in seeing where 5.3 goes with Elidibus's plot now that I've had this thought.

[Kuroka]

Or they saw it as a success and went to another shard, not knowing of Cids plans to change the future - remember time isnt consistent so it might be that they speant a year in another shard, but are gone for more then a 100 years here.

[RyuDragnier]

That does make me wonder though, and you could dismiss this or not...who is the shoebill that's following us? It seems to like following us places, and shows up quite a bit. While it could be a joke from the devs, the fact that it keeps showing up, even after the end of 5.0, leads me to believe that it may be a certain Ascian from a certain future, watching to see what we do. Considering it has not interfered with us at all despite it being in the best interests of one Elidibus to, I'm suspecting future Emet-Selch. Though, that may be reading too far into the presence of an animal the devs like putting everywhere.

[MrThinker]

On the subject of timelines, convergences, and the plot threads therein, I had a bit of a shower thought this morning in regards to the Exarch's timeline. There are four factors to my hypothesis. Spoilers, natch.

1. The Exarch either awoke, or was sent back through time and space, two hundred years after the Eighth Umbral Calamity. I might be wrong on that number, so feel free to correct me if I am.
2. Emet-Selch seems convinced that the eighth Rejoining will free Zodiark and allow him to fulfill his goal of sacrificing the life on the Source to bring back the sacrificed Amaurotine people.
3. Despite the above, in the occasions where it is brought up, there is no apparent Ascian or Zodiark presence in the Exarch's timeline. Combined with 2, this presents something of a puzzle. Where the heck are they?
4. In 5.2, it is confirmed that Elidibus sacrificed himself to serve as the heart of Zodiark. Despite this, there is an Ascian calling himself Elidibus. Urianger suspects the title changed hands, but the unspoken suggestion here seems to be that Elibidus continued to serve his duty even after his sacrifice.

Firstly, yes that number of years is correct.
Secondly

I don't remember Emet ever claiming specifically that the Eigth Rejoining would free Zodiark, rather that the Ascians would continue to attempt Rejoinings until there was no worlds left to rejoin, and the fully powered Zodiark would then use the lives of the survivng non-Ascians to ressurect the lives of those who sacrficed themselves to him

As for the hypothesis, it is perfectly plausible

With Urianger on the Source, he could have created another white Auracite for us to use, and the only thing left would be getting a Blade of Light ready. Considering we also have Moenbryda's research notes, he might have even made another aetheric siphon