Tales From the Shadows Updated (SPOILERS ABOUND)

[ShadowMeowth]

Well yeah, I know what an encore is - and it's pretty clearly referring to his reappearance in 5.3.

So he's had his encore already, and is that supposed to mean we won't be seeing him another time from here on?

(I merely wanted to expose the whole thread of reasoning, forgive me if I came across as patronizing, it was not my intention.) ;;

My guess is that the purpose of Azem's crystal is, as Hyth says, "summon the stars to our side in times of greatest need". This, coupled with the implication Emet voices in the poem, means that if the audience wills so, he would gift us an encore. To wit, it is up to us to call upon him and let the show go on, even if it is the way encores work: snippets of the show.

Whatever the case, Emet makes it clear that /he/ is the one who will take the stage, so if there was any doubt left about if it was a shade or a memory of Hades what saved us, I think it is confirmed now that it was Hades himself who did it. He speaks of his death as a time to drift and dream of the past lost and the future to come, so I also believe that yes, he is indeed napping in the Lifestream and just like Elidibus interrupted his (intended) nap for a century or so, we can do the same. Which is heartwarming and amusing both, that Hades is willing to grant us an encore even if it means we wake him up from his nap. xD

[Mieck]

I think this might be point to something Elidibus said when he mentioned why he originally approached us at the waking sands about how the Seventh Calamity had pushed the realm too much towards darkness and certain events could potentially push it over the brink. After the Calamity happens, keeping it going probably doesn't actually do much once the Rejoining occurs, it sounds like Lahabrea may have been getting carried away in his general madness.

With this in mind, Lahabrea (and his companion/teammate Nabriales) keep the pressure on the Source with primal summonings throughout 2.1-2.4. Nabriales questions Elidibus's presence and actions at the end of (from memory) 2.1, so I think this might be a reference to this thread.

[RyuDragnier]

To expand on the French differences:

- Like in german, Emet's mask suddenly appear on his face
- The people living on the island are called "natives" which seems to imply they are
at least less advanced than the people of Amaurot.
- Emet also say that since we are a hero we shouldn't be Elidibus' enemy.
- The new lives are also called "ces jeunes pousses" meaning "those young sprouts"
- Also Elidibus is described as a young man with a small height so while he may have not be an actual child, he was still younger than the rest of the convocation.

Also did anyone get any Pompeii vibes from the first part ? I mean a village near the sea surrounded by wine cultures frightened by a volcano...

It should give you a different vibe. What island do we currently have in game that has a volcano and grape vines? La Noscea. Everything is starting to come full circle.

Because that means we created the hollowed out caves that the Kobolds now call home when we stopped the lava flow, and we essentially did the first summoning of Ifrit/Ifreeta. We ironically have been dealing with the side effects of our own past adventures so many millenia later.

[Enkidoh]

It should give you a different vibe. What island do we currently have in game that has a volcano and grape vines? La Noscea. Everything is starting to come full circle.

Because that means we created the hollowed out caves that the Kobolds now call home when we stopped the lava flow, we essentially did the first summoning of Ifrit/Ifreeta, and that primals were always this dangerous, even back then if we had to lead it elsewhere and take it out away from the people.

I don't think there's any correlation between the

geography of the Source/Shards as they are now and the geography of the original Star (remember, the ruins of Amaurot are well under the ocean a fair but indetermined distance away offshore from Kohlusia's coastline, so there has definetely been some continental changes to the world as a result of the Terminus and the Sundering (also, some of the Ancients ruins in The Tempest are encased in rock, suggesting the planet's crust underwent some major geographical upheaval after the Terminus).

Also, the story states the island with the volcano Azem went to was "isolated", suggesting it was not near Amaurot at least, possibly on the other side of the world, so it kind of makes that theory less likely, as nice as it was.

[ShadowMeowth]

It should give you a different vibe. What island do we currently have in game that has a volcano and grape vines? La Noscea. Everything is starting to come full circle.

Because that means we created the hollowed out caves that the Kobolds now call home when we stopped the lava flow, and we essentially did the first summoning of Ifrit/Ifreeta. We ironically have been dealing with the side effects of our own past adventures so many millenia later.

Kholusia, too, has Mt. Gulg and a tradition of farming and harvesting in Wright, which happens to produce a very valued and high-quality mead; not wine, but close. And it is the First version of Vylbrand. So I would say yes, it is proto-La Noscea-Kholusia they are referring to.

Also still cackling at the fact that Azem's plan essentially is what we are doing with Eden: summon the thing, destroy it, scatter its aether. Which by association Hyth would be Urianger and his encouragement about summoning primals For Science™️ and Emet would be Thancred and his "did-you-just-suggest-we-summon-two-primals-at-once" stance. Double funny because if Thancred knew he was not so different from Emet his brain would enter Blue Screen of Death mode.

[Rokke]

Oh gosh, this is the story I was dying for post 5.3~

I love that this confirms the Hythlodeus/Hades/Azem friendship trio. That Azem got written up for running off to do their own thing without being given the ok from the rest of the convocation is hilarious.

The ending poem is nice. Hades bidding the curtain from dropping fully for encores... He is easily my fav character this game has had, so Im hoping for more dramatic cameos from our olde theater nerd friend

A note from my FCmate-
in JP it describes Elidibus as 小柄な青年. So, kinda a fresh faced young man vs. a child. They said to think along the lines of a youth just entering the professional workforce. When I think about it choosing him as the heart makes sense - a starry eyed jr team member (that fell for an older members white lies lol) would totally be the one to offer himself up for sacrifice.

[Altbion]

A note from my FCmate-
in JP it describes Elidibus as 小柄な青年. So, kinda a fresh faced young man vs. a child. They said to think along the lines of a youth just entering the professional workforce. When I think about it choosing him as the heart makes sense - a starry eyed jr team member (that fell for an older members white lies lol) would totally be the one to offer himself up for sacrifice.

Pretty much this. While "seinen" in the most literal sense concerns an age range of 18-25, in practice it's mostly used for people in their 20s. That, and Elidibus is mentioned to already have had his very much adult voice back in Amaurot, plus him returning to his human appearance is refered to as a "man", so he was absolutely a young adult and most likely in his 20s (in current human comparison).

But yes, he was short.

[Snugglez]

This makes me wonder what happens when an unsundered soul reincarnates from the life stream. Is there going to be another fully-abled-ancient child born at some point in the future? Do souls get sundered as they filter through the aetherial sea?

[tarifu]

Well yeah, I know what an encore is - and it's pretty clearly referring to his reappearance in 5.3.

So he's had his encore already, and is that supposed to mean we won't be seeing him another time from here on?

Yes, I think this is his final farewell. His poem quotes Prospero's epilogue soliloquy from The Tempest:

Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint. Now, ’tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell,
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free.

Prospero asks the audience to set him free with applause since he's done with his entertainment. This soliloquy has also been interpreted as being Shakespeare's farewell from the stage. The Tempest is believed to be the last play he wrote before his death. Now, whether Emet-Selch comes back in memories and things is another story... :P

[Brightamethyst]

This makes me wonder what happens when an unsundered soul reincarnates from the life stream.

Do they return to the reincarnation cycle? I thought the point was that an Ascian's soul had to be destroyed, otherwise they just retreat/be forced back to the rift and come back later.