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

[Kesey]

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 thought that floating island above the map was Azys Lla. I might be wrong, but the map is 2d and technically if they mapped Azys Lla onto a 2d map it would sit above everything as shown, but on a 3d map would be in the space over top the map because it's floating above everything.

[Seraphor]

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.

Meracydia was my first guess, but HW also gave us a load of Sharlayan lore, and ShB suggested a link between Sharlayan and Amaurot in some capacity. So if we're going to be ending the Hydaelyn/Zodiark arc, I think Sharlayan is inevitable.

That concept art is clearly Garlean, and the annotation says as much. So a split between Sharlayan and Islabard is the most likely scenario.

As for why Garleans need aetherytes:
Not everyone in Ilsabard is pure blooded, many parts of Ilsabard are nations subjugated by the Garlean Empire, just like Bozja and Dalmasca. So there's still plenty of need for aetherytes, but being that they are subjugated by Garlemald, those aetherytes would be heavily controlled by the empire. Thus, Garlean Aetherytes.

[YianKutku]

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.

As mentioned, the Ascians lie even when they have no reason to. Or at least no reason known to players, and given how they refuse to explain themselves even unto Final Death, we'll never know any alleged reason either.

An example would be Emet-Selch praising our character for making friends, and saying that this is what Empires should do. Which is trivially disproven by both how Empires work in RL and in-game history, and how Emet-Selch deliberately engineered his empires to be as hostile and anti-integration as he could get away with. And yet, he gave us that non-sequitur, implying that it's relevant to his own experiences, but never outright saying so, thus maintaining plausible deniability. All this, when he had no reason to bring up empire-building in the first place, since he could just talk about how "an old friend" (or however he wanted to refer to Azem) also made friends wherever they went, among other possible examples.

And with the Ascians, being contradictory with their lies is the norm, since their response is usually a variation on "so what".

I'm not ruling out that Emet-Selch is actually telling the truth when he says the Final Days was a result of the "hubris" of the Ancients, or even the possibility that it was a direct result of that hubris. But without any other corroborating evidence, I cannot take his (or any Ascians') word at face value.

[Veloran]

No doubt Meracydia is still another candidate on the list --it's actually third 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.

Could the rebuilding of Ishgard also lead to the rebuilding of the Heavenward knights as well?

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.

Going to say there is an extremely low chance for all of this. As far as relevance from Heavensward goes, Meracydia is way down the list, and unless Lunar Bahamut was spawned from there rather than from the moon somehow, I can't see how it has any import for the story currently.
With Ishgard's effective renaissance, there's not much of a reason to rebuild the Heaven's Ward. Their reputation is pretty tainted anyway.
As for the poster job, it's most likely not any pure caster. If it would be any of them I'd bet on RDM because it's melee/magic aspect would work well for a trailer, and other than that the top contender is PLD.

Sharlayan is extremely likely though.

As mentioned, the Ascians lie even when they have no reason to. Or at least no reason known to players, and given how they refuse to explain themselves even unto Final Death, we'll never know any alleged reason either.

An example would be Emet-Selch praising our character for making friends, and saying that this is what Empires should do. Which is trivially disproven by both how Empires work in RL and in-game history, and how Emet-Selch deliberately engineered his empires to be as hostile and anti-integration as he could get away with. And yet, he gave us that non-sequitur, implying that it's relevant to his own experiences, but never outright saying so, thus maintaining plausible deniability. All this, when he had no reason to bring up empire-building in the first place, since he could just talk about how "an old friend" (or however he wanted to refer to Azem) also made friends wherever they went, among other possible examples.

And with the Ascians, being contradictory with their lies is the norm, since their response is usually a variation on "so what".

I'm not ruling out that Emet-Selch is actually telling the truth when he says the Final Days was a result of the "hubris" of the Ancients, or even the possibility that it was a direct result of that hubris. But without any other corroborating evidence, I cannot take his (or any Ascians') word at face value.

But none of what he said about empires is a lie? He just engineered Allag and Garlemald to be the opposite of that in order to foment chaos. In fact it's arguable to what degree he even did so, given that the early conquests of both Allag and Garlemald appear to have been completely integrated, while the later you get in their histories the less so that becomes the case.

Yes the Ascians are wont to speak in vagaries, but frankly anything they've ever said up to at least late Stormblood has to be taken with a grain of salt because it's kind of obvious they were completely rewritten (Or at least were WAY fleshed out behind the scenes) after Heavensward. But rather than just assume every single thing they say is some form of a lie, it's probably better to just consider what they mean from their perspective.

[RyuDragnier]

Meracydia was my first guess, but HW also gave us a load of Sharlayan lore, and ShB suggested a link between Sharlayan and Amaurot in some capacity. So if we're going to be ending the Hydaelyn/Zodiark arc, I think Sharlayan is inevitable.

That concept art is clearly Garlean, and the annotation says as much. So a split between Sharlayan and Islabard is the most likely scenario.

As for why Garleans need aetherytes:
Not everyone in Ilsabard is pure blooded, many parts of Ilsabard are nations subjugated by the Garlean Empire, just like Bozja and Dalmasca. So there's still plenty of need for aetherytes, but being that they are subjugated by Garlemald, those aetherytes would be heavily controlled by the empire. Thus, Garlean Aetherytes.

I'm still placing bets on that theory posted a while back, where we may end up all over the world using teleportation magicks from Sharlayan. If so, then SE may try to throw a curveball and have us go all over with various regions being us destroying the towers at key locations across the world to weaken whatever plans Fandango has created with Zenos. Of which I don't doubt 1 is in Garlemald. Assuming 6 zones, and they are all in different locales, we may see a zone in Meracydia, Thauvnaria, Garlemald, possibly the New World, a singular zone in Sharlayan that is not the hub, and then the bonus 6th zone (possibly the moon).

[FrightfulNight]

I know some people think it will still be Meracydia but at this point i think it can be ruled out and the list narrowed down to Sharlyan and Garlemald, probably both. There just has not been any major mentions of Meracydia recently or even within the last expansion SB which is usually when they start setting up the expansion after, Doma in 2.X and the First in 3.X.

For the refresh your HW lore once again Sharlyan also plays a major role in the HW story with Idylshire being the site of their former colony and many of the dungeons around there being Sharlyan themed. It could also be a look at the story structure of HW where maybe we help some holdouts of the Populares party in Garlemald establish themselves and beat back Zenos's corruption.

Either way it does not mean Dragons or Meracydia, yes Lunar Bahamut is a thing but it is set up as being more of a creation of Fandaniel then an actual dragon, by that same logic the Bahamut we faced was not a real dragon either but simply a primal in the image of the OG Bahamut. There is also the fact that Meracydia is not even on the current map where as Sharlyan and Islabard are, which along with the fact that there is a certain mystery around it in modern day and the fact that the current world map of the great three continents is not complete most likely means it is being saved for season 2

[WhiteArchmage]

Let's see... the elements of Heavensward that MIGHT impact on 6.0, from what I consider most likely to least:

The Sharlayan ruins in the Hinterlands could be a hint to Old Sharlayan.
Matoya and the Antitower, to communicate with Hydaelin.
Azys La and Tiamat. While I doubt Tiamat will be free from her bounds, she's still a source of information on Allag, the Ascians, and Meracydia.
Ishgard proper and the reformation of the Eorzean Alliance, although if this were THAT relevant the clue would have been Stormblood with Ala Mhigo's Independence and subsequent joining the Alliance.
The Imperial League still stuck in Azys La. While they can't get back, it's likely they've still got means of communications with the Empire.
The Void Ark quests with their ties to the Thirteenth, and Sky Pirates.
Alexander? Yeah, grasping at straws here.
Castrum Aquilanus? Maybe? I mean, it was never a part of Heavensward but it's still a Castrum in Eorzean lands...

[RyuDragnier]

Let's see... the elements of Heavensward that MIGHT impact on 6.0, from what I consider most likely to least:

The Sharlayan ruins in the Hinterlands could be a hint to Old Sharlayan.
Matoya and the Antitower, to communicate with Hydaelin.
Azys La and Tiamat. While I doubt Tiamat will be free from her bounds, she's still a source of information on Allag, the Ascians, and Meracydia.
Ishgard proper and the reformation of the Eorzean Alliance, although if this were THAT relevant the clue would have been Stormblood with Ala Mhigo's Independence and subsequent joining the Alliance.
The Imperial League still stuck in Azys La. While they can't get back, it's likely they've still got means of communications with the Empire.
The Void Ark quests with their ties to the Thirteenth, and Sky Pirates.
Alexander? Yeah, grasping at straws here.
Castrum Aquilanus? Maybe? I mean, it was never a part of Heavensward but it's still a Castrum in Eorzean lands...

Void Ark MAY become mandatory for a future trial/raid/weapon/story patch, yeah. It's the only set of Alliance Raids that is not mandatory for something, and making them mandatory (while also preventing people from gaming the system) would do well for getting rid of the Crystal Tower roulette problems. Or in my case, World of Darkness roulette. I see that place like 5-6 times a week.

[Ramesses]

I thought that floating island above the map was Azys Lla. I might be wrong, but the map is 2d and technically if they mapped Azys Lla onto a 2d map it would sit above everything as shown, but on a 3d map would be in the space over top the map because it's floating above everything.

No-- that is wholly incorrect-- Azys lla is located above Abalathia Spine mountains, north west of Ishgard

[Ramesses]

Going to say there is an extremely low chance for all of this.

There is no extremely low chance of almost anything in the lore of FFXIV.

Yoshi just needs to snap his fingers and anything is possible --



Allow me to correct you on a couple of things-- the Heavenswards Knights have existed since the time of the first archbishop and is modelled after Thordan the First and his Knights Twelve-- essentially maintaining the tradition established by King Thordan I.

The circumstances of their actions-- and subsequent defeat-- might have tainted the ideals of the Heavensward but these chosen knights remain a cornerstone symbol of Ishgard. A few years ago, I mentioned on the forums that I would really love to see Estinien become the new leader of a new Heavensward. However, given his thirst for adventure -- and the change in Ishgard's system of government-- it's plausible if that will ever happen but I reckon its worth a thought that the current Templar Knights should be given a renewed ideal to strive towards.