Midgardsomr and the Sundering (Spoilers)

[Wayback]

So I actually set up my account on this forum to ask this question.

The question boils down to what a 'Star' actually entails, and how the Sundering may have affected it.

Midgardsomr and the Greatwyrms he sired are such terrible and powerful beings that have influenced the world since they arrived from a distant Star. They are an explicitly alien form of life, granted sanctuary by Hydealyn.

The reveal of the Sundering and how all people of the planet used to be capable of powerful creation magic also established that as a person's soul is rejoined with its shards, it grows denser and more powerful. An unsundered soul such as Emet Selch has near unrivaled power one-on-one, and appropriately need the co-operation of many weaker souls to do battle with.

So... is that part of the secret of the dragon's might? Did Hydaelyn only sunder *the planet itself* into the Source and the 13 reflections, and Midgardsomr's power is in part due to his arrival from an unsundered Star? This could well apply to Omega too, having arrived from the same planet. Their souls could be at their true 'density' and might, and it's only now that multiple rejoinings have occured that humanity can actually hold against them without outside assistance.

Altenrativly, the Sundering could have shattered the entire universe and there's a version of Midgardsomr's planet out there. There's little evidence the dragons made their pilgramage to the first, aside from I think one dragon enemy type which seems unique to the first.

Personally, I think the Sundering was localized onto just the Star of Hydaelyn and shunted the reflections into alternate timelines/dimensions, saving the world from destruction but unwittingly leaving it vunerable to invasion?

Does this also imply that a planet weilding that much raw power is doomed to destroy itself? I'm going to be closely watching for the truth of the Final Days in the future, that's for certain.

[SilverArrow20XX]

I would think "Star" in this case, simply means "another heavenly body".
Most likely from a nearby solar system. If it's like our universe, even the closest neighboring star is outrageously far away.

I believe the sundering did indeed only sunder Hydaelyn. This is why we only see dragons on the Source, and definitely lends an explanation to the first brood's might compared to most other life forms.
I also posit that broods born after the first tend to be weaker for the same reason. They were born of the Source's sundered aether.

[Enkidoh]

In the context of the game, when someone refers to 'this star', it actually means planet or world, not a sun/ball of gaseous plasma undergoing nuclear fusion reactions (this pops up quite commonly in manga and anime, which I understand is due to the Japanese language not having a specific word for 'planet', instead using a word commonly translated as 'star', but I dropped out of my Japanese language class so someone far more knowledgable on the subject would be better able to clarify or deny that).

Either way, the Sundering only resulted in Hydaelyn the world being split into the Source and 13 shards. The dragons were not sundered because they are not native to Hydaelyn and arrived on the Source long after the Sundering occurred.

[Eloah]

In the context of the game, when someone refers to 'this star', it actually means planet or world, not a sun/ball of gaseous plasma undergoing nuclear fusion reactions (this pops up quite commonly in manga and anime, which I understand is due to the Japanese language not having a specific word for 'planet', instead using a word commonly translated as 'star', but I dropped out of my Japanese language class so someone far more knowledgable on the subject would be better able to clarify or deny that).

Either way, the Sundering only resulted in Hydaelyn the world being split into the Source and 13 shards. The dragons were not sundered because they are not native to Hydaelyn and arrived on the Source long after the Sundering occurred.

I can confirm that, yes, the Kanji used for star (星) also means planet, or more specifically a light emitting/reflecting heavenly body. The main distinction would be that the word for star is the Kanji by itself, and is pronounced as ho-shi (ほし). But when the Kanji is combined with others to create a myriad of celestial objects it is often pronounced as se-i (せい) as in the actual word for planet (惑星) wa-ku-se-i (わくせい).

The English word Star is actually very similar but is actually a homonym. It comes from the Ancient Greeks who first discovered the concept of planets, noticing that they moved across the night sky. The term used to describe them was, planētes asteres, which means wandering stars, or simply planētai, wanderers, for short. It isn't used as often today, but it still sounds "old timey" so that's probably why it's being used in FFXIV.

[Brightamethyst]

Did Hydaelyn only sunder *the planet itself* into the Source and the 13 reflections

Yes. The Sundering is a localized phenomenon. It only affects Hydaelyn and its immediate surroundings (the moon.) Beings that came from other planets or realities post-Sundering (the dragons, Omega, Gilgamesh, etc) are unaffected by it.

[GoldStarz]

Have we ever gotten explicit confirmation that the Sundering was only a localized phenomenon? I don't really remember any evidence that suggest that it wasn't a universe-spanning event.

[Rongway]

Either way, the Sundering only resulted in Hydaelyn the world being split into the Source and 13 shards. The dragons were not sundered because they are not native to Hydaelyn and arrived on the Source long after the Sundering occurred.

Yes. The Sundering is a localized phenomenon. It only affects Hydaelyn and its immediate surroundings (the moon.) Beings that came from other planets or realities post-Sundering (the dragons, Omega, Gilgamesh, etc) are unaffected by it.

Have we ever gotten explicit confirmation that the Sundering was only a localized phenomenon? I don't really remember any evidence that suggest that it wasn't a universe-spanning event.

We do not know that, and neither does the story team. We have been told that the answer to "Was the Sundering localized or universal?" is "The story team has not needed to have an answer to that question yet, so we do not have an official answer."

[Enkidoh]

We do not know that, and neither does the story team. We have been told that the answer to "Was the Sundering localized or universal?" is "The story team has not needed to have an answer to that question yet, so we do not have an official answer."

Isn't that just splitting hairs though? Yes the development team basically shrugged and said that, but the devil is, as always, in the detail. If the Sundering was universal it would have affected everything, including the dragons and Omega (which are both aliens and come from completely different planets). But the dragons and Omega are not - neither are seen in the First and came to the Source long after the Sundering, Middy after all even had permission from Hydaelyn Herself to settle on it. As SilverArrow said, as the dragons are clearly unsundered, it definetely explains their immense strength compared to 'native' creatures of the Source.

Either way, you are right the development team haven't confirmed or denied anything, but by taking note of what is explained in-game, it's pretty clear that the Sundering was localized to Hydaelyn and it's moon only, and thus I will stand by that until such time SE say otherwise.

I do admit though that there are flying lizard creatures called dracos in the First that although look a lot like dragons, are however just non-sentinent animals, and Omega did have the power to travel across different dimensions - which is after all how the Crystal Tower got there, but again neither prove the Sundering was universal - the draco probably just evolved on the First independently like the dinosaurs on the Source, and Omega is only seen on the Source - so my case still stands.

[Rosenstrauch]

I do admit though that there are flying lizard creatures called dracos in the First that although look a lot like dragons, are however just non-sentinent animals, and Omega did have the power to travel across different dimensions - which is after all how the Crystal Tower got there, but again neither prove the Sundering was universal - the draco probably just evolved on the First independently like the dinosaurs on the Source, and Omega is only seen on the Source - so my case still stands.

There are similar enemies in the northernmost section of the Bozjan Southern Front, and they do seem to be normal animals rather than sapient lifeforms.

[Seraphor]

The explanation for that is of course, the reflections of Midgardzormr and Omega never travelled to Hydaelyn. Their worlds developed differently, maybe they didn't travel between worlds at all, and if they did, space is BIG.