6.0 Story Speculations

[Rosenstrauch]

Two neat things I've noticed now that the embargo on job actions was lifted. Spoilers for Endwalker, natch.

Firstly, the presence of "Zot Hypertuned" enemies, sharing the same model as "Inferno" from Castrum Abania. Suggesting to me that Zenos's pet projects, Hypertuning and the Resonance Chambers, may show up again in Endwalker.

Also of note is the presence of "Zot Armored Fiend" enemies, which are modeled after FFIV's take on a series staple, the Iron Giant. This version has a cannon and claw hand instead of a gigantic sword. Though I may be slightly mistaken in this claim, as while both the original FFII Iron Giant and the FFIV Iron Giant have the same name in English and Japanese (Iron Giant and Tetsukyojin), the spelling for their names uses entirely different lettering (FFII: テツキョジン, FFIV: てつきょじん). Still, I think it's neat to see this enemy.

Secondly, confirmation that the Magus Sisters are the final boss for the Tower of Zot dungeon. This means that only one of Endwalker's Trial bosses is known at this moment: Anima. The rest are a mystery. Given that their usual placement in the story is levels X3, X7/X9, and X0, I can't help but wonder when and where they'll be fought.

[waifugenerator]

Wake up Lore Forum! New Yoshi-P interviews just dropped!

https://www.nme.com/features/gaming-...oshida-3068707

and in this interview when asked about if Zenos picking up Reaper had any narrative weight he responded with

“It’s not really the case that we wanted Reaper to have a big role in the story, or have a big impact in the story, but it might be that there is some reason why Zenos has gone down that path,” Yoshida said.

“So of course, since Zenos is a Reaper, he would obviously be using an avatar. Zeno’s only friend is the Warrior of Light so in that respect maybe his avatar is some sort of variation of our Warrior of Light. (Laughing) But please be sure to, I haven’t put it clearly here, look forward to seeing what happens with Zenos.”

I think it would be incredibly interesting and something I never contemplated but Zenos being a true captial "R" Reaper and using the WoL's thirteenth shard would be METAL!

Maybe defeating Zenos is how we get that fragment of soul back, after all it's still technically us even if it's aether has been Astrally charged right?

[KageTokage]

Random observations from the media tour stuff.

The Scions are utilizing some kind of talisman to resist the tempering from the Tower of Zot, as Estinien mentions it straining against the corruption towards the end of the dungeon.

Garlemald is rather early in the story judging from there being level 83 enemies, though it seems like we return to Thavnair not long after with there being level 85 enemies present in the northeastern section. This makes me feel like the threat of the towers is going to get snuffed out fairly quickly once we raid the imperial palace and destroy the dreamer/Anima, but the onset of the Final Days triggered by the "gate of the gods" is going to become and remain the focus of the story from there on out.

There are both Oronir and Mol tribesfolk at the camp the Eorzean Alliance has set up on the outskirts of Garlemald, so I assume that means we'll be seeing more of Magnai, Sadu, and Cirina, too.

[Theodric]

Media Tour - Dungeon:

Some of the Tempered Imperial enemies appear to have what look to be tentacles or wings extending from their bodies, suggesting a large degree of mutation. Parts of the walls appear to also be pulsing and have the texture of a living being, so it looks like we'll be getting plenty of body horror during the course of the expansion!

Media Tour - Garlemald:

A rather fascinating insight into the writing process surrounding Garlemald and its people can be read here:

https://www.nme.com/features/gaming-...oshida-3068707

I suspect that Endwalker will do to the Garleans what Shadowbringers did for the Ascians and portray them in a much more sympathetic and nuanced light in the eyes of the protagonists.

[Yuella]

What is this mount?

Is it given as part of the MSQ? Azdaja maybe?

[KageTokage]

Two neat things I've noticed now that the embargo on job actions was lifted. Spoilers for Endwalker, natch.

Firstly, the presence of "Zot Hypertuned" enemies, sharing the same model as "Inferno" from Castrum Abania. Suggesting to me that Zenos's pet projects, Hypertuning and the Resonance Chambers, may show up again in Endwalker.

Also of note is the presence of "Zot Armored Fiend" enemies, which are modeled after FFIV's take on a series staple, the Iron Giant. This version has a cannon and claw hand instead of a gigantic sword. Though I may be slightly mistaken in this claim, as while both the original FFII Iron Giant and the FFIV Iron Giant have the same name in English and Japanese (Iron Giant and Tetsukyojin), the spelling for their names uses entirely different lettering (FFII: テツキョジン, FFIV: てつきょじん). Still, I think it's neat to see this enemy.

Secondly, confirmation that the Magus Sisters are the final boss for the Tower of Zot dungeon. This means that only one of Endwalker's Trial bosses is known at this moment: Anima. The rest are a mystery. Given that their usual placement in the story is levels X3, X7/X9, and X0, I can't help but wonder when and where they'll be fought.

Safety spoilers

Going off of the official artwork for the Tower of Zot, I was thinking we were going to fight the lunar Magus Sisters first (Moreso with it being suggested that the other primals were having their appearances warped by the abnormal circumstances of their summoning) and that SE was using their standard versions as placeholders for the media tour.

However, the level ranges of the enemies suggest we're going back to Thavnair right after we're done with the Garlemald business (Where we're almost certainly going to fight Anima), so having another trial right after seems a bit too soon.

[Beddict]

What is this mount?

Is it given as part of the MSQ? Azdaja maybe?

The Digital Collector's Edition Mount.

[GoldStarz]

Random observations from the media tour stuff.

There are both Oronir and Mol tribesfolk at the camp the Eorzean Alliance has set up on the outskirts of Garlemald, so I assume that means we'll be seeing more of Magnai, Sadu, and Cirina, too.

Do we know they're from the Azim Steppe clans and not just natives of Thavnair? We know that Au Ra have been native to Thavnair since the founding of Radz-at-Han.

10 characters

[KageTokage]

Do we know they're from the Azim Steppe clans and not just natives of Thavnair? We know that Au Ra have been native to Thavnair since the founding of Radz-at-Han.

10 characters

response spoiler

They're wearing the distinctive yellow/red colors of the respective tribes, plus the Au Ra in Thavnair are strictly Raen as far as I've observed.

They did formally agree to be part of the Othardian alliance Hien put together, so I'm not terribly surprised they decided to show up, and while the Mol are normally adverse to fighting I'd assume they had another premonition from their gods urging them to take part in the conflict. The Oronir and Dotharl were probably similarly motivated by their egos/battlelust respectively.

[Turethir]

Would love to hear people's thoughts on Ryne being a parallel of sorts to Rydia, as I think it's a really interesting theory and definitely not outside the bounds of possibility.

I think the idea of a young adult Ryne showing up in Endwalker to save us - possibly wielding Thancred's gunblade - would be so interesting. I always felt that Ryne was a bit underused in the MSQ and didn't have many moments to shine on her own, but maybe that's just me!

To quickly summarise:

• She's a "child" character that is currently separated from us in a world where time can theoretically move faster than ours, just like Rydia.
• We know there are going to be FFIV references in Endwalker, and this would fit in nicely.
• Ryne cannot currently be found anywhere in the overworld, even after Eden. If we were never going to see her again I'd find it strange that we couldn't interact with her, and if she were going to appear again as an adult, she'd have to be hidden at present (to prevent a player from talking to her current model, then doing one MSQ and she's suddenly grown).
• There are some interesting lines from Gaia at the end of Eden about Gaia potentially being able to cross to the Source. Since Minfilia had the power to cross between worlds as the Oracle, could Ryne have a similar power?
• This might just be me, but I'd also find it a bit odd that Ryne, one of the characters *most* connected with Hydaelyn through Minfilia (and possibly Venat, if the emote similarities hold any weight), would not appear in the expansion where the Hydaelyn story concludes.
• I find the focus on the gunblade in Eden interesting - I love how it's symbolic of Thancred still being there even though he's not physically present, but it got a lot of focus and Ryne briefly uses it at the end. It would be interesting if this was a potential hint, although it might not be.
• Their names are suspiciously similar (maybe just a small thing, but still!)

Would be interested to hear your thoughts!