6.0 Predictions: Will it be Garlemald, Sharlayan, or Meracydia?

[BrianMatty]

I'm banking my money on Meracydia. We got some dragon-like creature created by Fandaniel. We got a GameSpot interview by Yoshi-P in 09/02/2020 mentioning that if we want to look forward to the next expansion we should get a refresher on Heavensward lore. Now, what area has heavy ties to Heavensward that we haven't explored yet? Meracydia. Meracydia is where the dragons settled on Hydaelyn where Bahamut and Tiamat had their first brood. Meracydia is where the Warring Triad originated.

And the supposedly "leaked" concept art looks late allagan to me, like the pvp gearset. And Meracydia happened to be the last continent the Allagans attempted to colonize.

[FrightfulNight]

I'm banking my money on Meracydia. We got some dragon-like creature created by Fandaniel. We got a GameSpot interview by Yoshi-P in 09/02/2020 mentioning that if we want to look forward to the next expansion we should get a refresher on Heavensward lore. Now, what area has heavy ties to Heavensward that we haven't explored yet? Meracydia. Meracydia is where the dragons settled on Hydaelyn where Bahamut and Tiamat had their first brood. Meracydia is where the Warring Triad originated.

And the supposedly "leaked" concept art looks late allagan to me, like the pvp gearset. And Meracydia happened to be the last continent the Allagans attempted to colonize.

Except there has been no hints at Meracydia in the recent patches, in fact of the three main locations discussed on this forum I think it is a place we can rule out since we got major hints at Islabard, a few hints at Sharlyan but no hints at Meracydia beside the guy talking about the effects of tempering and using Sephirot as an example, and even that felt more like okay here is a primal we fought and know of to use as an example for this discussion.

Lunar Bahamut is heavily implied to be a creation of Fandaniel not an actual dragon and i am still of the mind that the Aetherytes look more Garlean, there is a Allagan design in the top left corner but I get the impression that is more implying that they were inspired by Allagan designs, also keep in mind both Empires were the creation of Emet Selch but unlike the Allagans who could not only manipulate aether and whose royal family even had an affinty to it allowing them to reach further heights with their magiteck by having a symbiosis of magics and technology, the Garleans cant so thus they are more limited then the Allagans, also the Allagans were around much longer and also had access to an Alien craft.

Finally Meracydia is not even on the current world map where the Islabard is and is covered in mist, it would make more sense to finish the current world map instead of adding the southern hemisphere while the three continents remain unfinished.

[Hank_Hotspur]

Everyone is ignoring the most simplest explanation for there being Garlean aetherytes: so players can use them.

[Veloran]

The origin of design is less important than the, "Why?" and then the, "Who is maintaining this network?"

The "why" would be that they have probably millions of citizens that would benefit from the network and the empire as a whole could well make use of it. The "who" would just be Garlean engineers.
Also I would presume that most states in Ilsabard had aetherytes prior to the empire's expansion anyway.

I'm sorry. I didn't realize that when Emet says that the Final Days were the Ancient's hubris that I couldn't use that as evidence to claim the Final Days were the Ancient's fault...

The Final Days encompasses the end of Amaurot, and undoubtedly the conflict between Hydaelyn and Zodiark and subsequent Sundering was of the Amaurotine's own making. If you want to extend their "hubris" to the cataclysm of the Sound, the only argument on that front with any support would be that they failed to act when they otherwise could have. It's possible that they had already conceived of the Zodiark plan well in advance, but due to the sacrifices required held off until the very last moment out of a hope that surely they could find a better solution. Of course this would ultimately mean that the second sacrifice to begin rejuvenating the world may have been avoided if they'd made the choice sooner, and the fallout from that sacrifice was what led to the Sundering to begin with.

And this is in no way a Garlemald expansion confirmation. If what you've shown is Garlean, and since the expansion is at least 7 to 8 months out, what you've shown is something that will most likely be in Werlyt or Bozja (which I guess could also include Landis and Dalmasca too).

It could very well be an aetheryte linked to Bozja or Werlyt, but as of yet neither of those locations has really had a need for any sort of dedicated aetherytes.

And in the event it is for the unannounced expansion, I really looks more Allagan than Garlean.

It certainly looks Garlean, the art even compares the similarities and differences to Allagan aetherytes.

[Cilia]

There's always going to be the Doylist answer "Because players need them" for explaining the presence of aetherytes in a given location. The Watsonian answer is much less clear.

Ehem. Said leaked art doesn't necessarily mean we're going to Garlemald proper, though it does weigh the scales in favor of regions with Imperial (or former Imperial) presence; what little we've seen of intact liberated regions shows the Empire is fond of layering its black magitek over what's already there (Dairyu Moon Gates, Terncliff).

The only thing I can say with relative certainty is that Meracydia does not appear to be on the table (other than Yoshi-P telling us to review Heavensward and a tenuous link to dragons therein there's nothing suggesting it), and based on the New Years' hint both a subterranean and extraterrestrial location appear to be. (Am I finally gonna get that eldritch location I've been wanting forever?!)

[BasicBlake]

Has anyone thought the datamined aetherite might just be a Garlean Bozja assets coming?

[Hank_Hotspur]

Has anyone thought the datamined aetherite might just be a Garlean Bozja assets coming?

We currently use the small aetheryte models to port around Bozja and I don't think we'll be getting another map for the Southern Front. We're only getting a new "raid" in Delubrum Reginae (that can also be queued from Duty finder unlike Baldesion Arsenal) and I doubt they'll trot out one new map for when the storyline finishes up in the next patch.

I gather the feeling that Delubrum Reginae and whatever the 5.55 content will be for Bozja will be located in The Last Trace and Firelight Coffin areas of the map, much like Castrum Lacus Litore is placed beyond the boundaries of the map. We already had a cutscene linger on the sealed door at The Last Trace which seemed to imply its importance in the ongoing story.

[YianKutku]

I'm sorry. I didn't realize that when Emet says that the Final Days were the Ancient's hubris that I couldn't use that as evidence to claim the Final Days were the Ancient's fault...

One frequent issue with trying to glean evidence from dialogue is that Ascians lie. They lie often when they don't even need to, and they lie in ways that are less obvious than "two plus two equals five". They use half-truths and lies of omission and lies of implication, and then they treat it like it's our fault for trying to make sense of their lies.

Ascians in general like to use metaphor and allusions in their speech, rather than stating anything directly (even if they seem like they're stating something directly), and the obvious interpretation is only the one that they want us to believe, rather than the actual truth. And sometimes there doesn't even seem to be any reason or benefit for them to lie, but they do it anyway. It's on the level of "Vader killed your father".

The Doylist explanation is that the Ascians, and other characters who are allegedly In The Know for the greater mysteries of the setting, use flowery speech because it's easier to be vague about it in case the writing needs to be retconned in future plot developments. And also probably because the game writers like using flowery speech anyway.

[Ramesses]

What do you all think? Where do you believe we're heading to next and what do you think will be waiting for us there? I'd love to bounce some ideas around.

Personally, I like to tinker with the speculation--and investigative guesswork-- that one of the areas we will eventually access in 6.0 are the mysterious Isles floating above the Garlean capital--



I remember asking about this a couple years back-- I'm still amusingly surprised that many more players haven't been discussing this and I've blatantly asked Koji about it a couple times on the forums. For me, that area continues to be an intriguing factor for the future. Next location on my speculative list is that we'll finally head to Old Sharlayan-- or Sharlayan proper.



No doubt Meracydia is still another candidate on the list --it's actually third on my list and visiting "The Thirteenth" is fourth on my list; however, Yoshi's quibble about us revisiting Heavensward gave me pause for thought-- I reckon we will need the knowledge of the Sharlayans in order to be really effective as we head into Meracydia. Besides, there's always the possibility we will have access to both. Why?

When one examines the full map (see below) that was generated by some keen-eyed players on the Blue gartr forums --extracted from the 3.0 cutscene back in 2015-- (source and credit to Kage)-- Sharlayan's location offers a perfect gateway to the suspected "New World" located far west. Meracydia on the other hand offers a potential locale (in the far south) as a place to gain extra knowledge, resources and insight into understanding where this strange lunar Bahamut might have originated. Maybe-- just maybe. If not, we'll possibly go there in 7.0 which might focus on taking us back in time to the Allagan Empire.

I just remembered something else-- Will we ever see a quest that lets us help Tiamat move on from her grief in Azys La?




Other elements to look forward to? Ishgard.

Could the rebuilding of Ishgard also lead to the rebuilding of the Heavenward knights as well? I still think it'll be exciting to continue rebuilding the other socio-cultural fabrics that make up Ishgard and see it become a bastion of strength against Fandaniel's machinations.




What could be the "theme"' job for 6.0?

I'm going with either Astrologian or Summoner-- both hold equal sway in my personal speculations, either one could be the choice or I could be completely off the mark-- that's the fun of making these lore speculations.



Additional 6.0 speculations to think about?

How about really expanding the tale of Dalmasca-- the Save The Queen tale being interwoven into Gabranth's ambitions make a perfect segway into establishing this story arc for 6.0. I'd also really like to see the theme of the Dalmascan culture reflected in future gear designs-- I've been asking for Rasler's armour for years



The ark in the Peaks area of Ala Mhigo-- named "Nyunkrepf's Hope" is apparently one of the relics of the Sixth Umbral era. Nyunkrepf Nyunkrepfsyn was one of the twelve Archons from Sharlayan who worked to prevent the Sixth Umbral Calamity around 1500 years ago. What really inspired him to construct this-- more importantly, how did he develop the technology to make this innovative vessel? This is yet another provoking element that leads me to speculate that we could be looking at more focus on Sharlayan and it's mysteries.



The politics of Garlemald and the imperial family-- I recall that Varis made clones of Solus but would it be far fetched to assume he also made clones of himself? Even though I half-heartedly predicted back in 2018 that Zenos would eventually commit regicide, I'm still disappointed that we didn't get to see Varis have more screen time-- his work seemed--- unfinished. I'm still looking forward to understanding the backstory which lead to Gaius killing off nine aspirants to the Crown

Other random stuff that came to mind-- I've been suspecting that the goblins' new workshop home at Idyllshire is still going to be a crucial sub-story to the main plot. I'm still eager to see how their their battles with the Illuminati will evolve-- and perhaps they will form a new alliance with Cid's ironworks to develop more "Gundams"-- I would love more Gundams battles in the game-- still waiting for the Gundam weapon we used in 5.3 to officially become a personal mount.



What else can we hope could be waiting for us? Perhaps free company sized airships and personal residential type airships for people who haven't been able to purchase houses? I'm speculating that this could prove to be a possible alternative to the continued mess that is the housing process. It'll be great to also have more focus on using our personal GC squadrons and trusts in open-world battles and fates-- the events of patch 5.4 have set the stage for this opportunity to be explored in 6.0. Maybe it'll happen-- maybe not.

In conclusion, Natsuko Ishikawa's work on Shadowbringers was absolutely phenomenal but lets not also forget Kazutoyo Maehiro and Banri Oda's ability to exponentially support her storylines with excellent nuances, character progressions and exceptional lore development-- that's what I really want to see unleashed in 6.0.

[Kesey]

One frequent issue with trying to glean evidence from dialogue is that Ascians lie. They lie often when they don't even need to, and they lie in ways that are less obvious than "two plus two equals five". They use half-truths and lies of omission and lies of implication, and then they treat it like it's our fault for trying to make sense of their lies.

Ascians in general like to use metaphor and allusions in their speech, rather than stating anything directly (even if they seem like they're stating something directly), and the obvious interpretation is only the one that they want us to believe, rather than the actual truth. And sometimes there doesn't even seem to be any reason or benefit for them to lie, but they do it anyway. It's on the level of "Vader killed your father".

The Doylist explanation is that the Ascians, and other characters who are allegedly In The Know for the greater mysteries of the setting, use flowery speech because it's easier to be vague about it in case the writing needs to be retconned in future plot developments. And also probably because the game writers like using flowery speech anyway.

But does Emet and other Ascians have a reason to lie about the origin of the Sound and the Final Days? They're in the business of selling Zodiark as a solution to the Final Days, not the cause of the Final Days. Furthermore, the fact he wants to call it Ancient's hubris, by definition of the word hubris, has admitted the wrong and sees the punishment as justifiable--because the end result is the tempered convocation gets Zodiark.

I admit there is a chance "the sound" may be picked up in the future, but I don't think it will factor into this expansion. But I'm willing to be proved wrong.