6.0 Story Speculations

[Cilia]

The Hythlodaeus shade is deliberately left vague.

Personally I think it's acting on Emet-Selch's subconscious, all the things he wants to tell you but can't because it would compromise the rejoining and acknowledging the PC as "Azem" would make it that much harder for him to kill you if need be. At no point does Emet-Selch say or even suggest he can see Ardbert's soul - Hythlodaeus (shade) even says it's improbable anyone else was able to see him, an idea backed up by Through His Eyes (where Hades says Hythlodaeus could have taken the title, but chose not to).

He is (was?) very smart and very powerful, but neither omniscient nor omnipotent, and despite playing a great game was ultimately outplayed by Hydaelyn. While his character throughout Shadowbringers is much an act, by the time you reach Amaurot you've seen through his facade; and by the time you've actually come to blows he's outright discarded his title (a figurative and literal mask) and using his true name (something never before seen from an Ascian).

So, ahh... no, I can't agree that the events in phantom Amaurot were all purposefully and deliberately orchestrated to get "Azem" to defeat / kill Hades. They had already failed his test of "worthiness" by that point and there's nothing even suggesting he saw Ardbert's soul other than personal belief. And there's no profit in arguing against beliefs.

[Wiz33]

The Hythlodaeus shade is deliberately left vague.

Personally I think it's acting on Emet-Selch's subconscious, all the things he wants to tell you but can't because it would compromise the rejoining and acknowledging the PC as "Azem" would make it that much harder for him to kill you if need be. At no point does Emet-Selch say or even suggest he can see Ardbert's soul - Hythlodaeus (shade) even says it's improbable anyone else was able to see him, an idea backed up by Through His Eyes (where Hades says Hythlodaeus could have taken the title, but chose not to).

He is (was?) very smart and very powerful, but neither omniscient nor omnipotent, and despite playing a great game was ultimately outplayed by Hydaelyn. While his character throughout Shadowbringers is much an act, by the time you reach Amaurot you've seen through his facade; and by the time you've actually come to blows he's outright discarded his title (a figurative and literal mask) and using his true name (something never before seen from an Ascian).

So, ahh... no, I can't agree that the events in phantom Amaurot were all purposefully and deliberately orchestrated to get "Azem" to defeat / kill Hades. They had already failed his test of "worthiness" by that point and there's nothing even suggesting he saw Ardbert's soul other than personal belief. And there's no profit in arguing against beliefs.

If you have already failed. Why not leave you to your own device and let you eventually be consume by all the Aether. Why invite you to Amaurot and setup all the varies encounters in Amaurot to show you their history, their mistake?

[Kesey]

If you have already failed. Why not leave you to your own device and let you eventually be consume by all the Aether. Why invite you to Amaurot and setup all the varies encounters in Amaurot to show you their history, their mistake?

This was the core villain plot of Shadowbringers: Emet's plot was to have you become a lightwarden and rejoin The First to The Source or have you accept you are an Ancient, remember old Amaurot, and switch sides. In his mind he had plotted the perfect outcome because either one was bound to come to pass (in his opinion) and he wins either way. After you defeat Hades, Emet's shock comes when your WOL flashes as an Ancient for a brief moment and he recognizes you as Azem. Since Azem and Emet were friends and he knows that Azem would have sided with the 'lesser races" anyway, he realizes that his plan wasn't full proof, that the WOL was always going to seek a 3rd solution to his plot. And now he was beat at his own game, or his strength, which was plotting and planning.

So to answer your question, he shows you everything in Amaurot so you would take the option to remember your Ancient past. Remember either outcome was a win (in his opinion), plus he was immortal and has all the time in the world to rejoin The First if the WOL would have changed sides.

[KageTokage]

I'm really starting to feel like the moon is just a red herring and the actual climax of the story is going to take place back on the Source.

Mostly because of Emet's line about finding our truth in "the place where souls and stars slumber", which most likely is referring to the aetherial sea.

The "stars" could also be referring to the shards that were rejoined...which has interesting implications if it's suggesting that they didn't simply disappear and that they still exist within the aetherial sea in some form or fashion.

I'd like to think there's some third party that's actually responsible for the Final Days that we're going to have to snuff out, but if such a thing really was lurking in the aetherial sea, I feel Hydaelyn would've told us about it long ago...unless knowing of its existence would somehow be counter to her agenda.

Considering that the terminus beasts are born from fear and other negative emotions, if there was some kind of "original" beast that was responsible for the sound, perhaps telling everyone about it and creating the dread of a slumbering apocalypse might've simply served to hasten its awakening.

[Vyrerus]

Feel like Hydaelyn would have told us long ago

Why do you feel like she would have told us that? Except for when she spoke to us as Word of the Mother, she only ever speaks to us using imperative statements. Issuing commands.

I don't think the moon is a red herring, necessarily. It just won't be the location for the climax. I think it's basically going to include one of the challenging trials or dungeons followed by the big twists and exposition dumps about the Ancient's past.

[HiraishinNoJutsu]

I'm really starting to feel like the moon is just a red herring and the actual climax of the story is going to take place back on the Source.

Mostly because of Emet's line about finding our truth in "the place where souls and stars slumber", which most likely is referring to the aetherial sea.

The "stars" could also be referring to the shards that were rejoined...which has interesting implications if it's suggesting that they didn't simply disappear and that they still exist within the aetherial sea in some form or fashion.

I'd like to think there's some third party that's actually responsible for the Final Days that we're going to have to snuff out, but if such a thing really was lurking in the aetherial sea, I feel Hydaelyn would've told us about it long ago...unless knowing of its existence would somehow be counter to her agenda.

Considering that the terminus beasts are born from fear and other negative emotions, if there was some kind of "original" beast that was responsible for the sound, perhaps telling everyone about it and creating the dread of a slumbering apocalypse might've simply served to hasten its awakening.

I'm gonna go out on a massive limb here and assume the stars referenced have already been talked about. Edit complete!

"Treasure every moment, every step of your descent, and there in the depths where souls and stars rest, find your truth" - Emet-Selch Endwalker Launch trailer

Hythlodeaus during "Etched in the stars"

"Heh heh... I see you have been collecting stars.

I speak of those crystals. They have constellations etched upon them, yes?

High in the heavens, those stars shine their guiding light down upon the lives below. Fitting symbols for the Convocation of Fourteen, would you not agree?

As you will have gathered, each crystal bears an account of the life of a member of the Convocation as remembered by the unsundered.

Lest you worry, they aren't concepts; they are far too incomplete to be so. But they suffice for imbuing memories within sundered souls, that they might be restored to their office.

Keep them. I am sure Emet-Selch wouldn't mind."

Continued:

Among all the offices, the Fourteenth was most unusual. For while the rest sat in Amaurot, its holder was charged with gaining an intimate knowledge of the wider world.

In the course of his duty, he traveled the length and breadth of every land, and befriended countless folk.

He encountered troubles too, of course. Matters which he could simply have referred to the Convocation. But that was not his way.

Nay, more often than not, he would call upon his comrades, and together resolve matters themselves.

Such is the magick sealed within that crystal─the magick to summon the stars to your side.

In time of greatest need, should you wish upon it with all your heart, it will surely answer your call."



My guess is that the truth Emet-Selch is implying that we must find is the truth of the ancient world and the final wish of the ancients that Yoshida teased back in the fanfest. The launch trailer blessed us with quite a bit Meteor interacting with Amaurot as well which could be a clue to what EW holds.


Gripping the Azem Crystal:


Wishing Upon the Crystal:


Surrounded by Ascian masks:


Surrounded by Ancients:


Maybe we're supposed to take the Seat of Sacrifice lines:
"Herein I commit the chronicle of the traveler. Shepherd to the stars in the dark. Though the world be sundered and our souls set adrift, where you walk, my dearest friend, fate shall surely follow. For yours is the Fourteenth seat—the seat of Azem." literally. As the inheritor of the crystal we will sheperd the souls, memories and dreams of the departed convocation personally.

But that's just my long winded and personal interpretation

[KageTokage]

Why do you feel like she would have told us that? Except for when she spoke to us as Word of the Mother, she only every speaks to us using imperative statements. Issuing commands.

I don't think the moon is a red herring, necessarily. It just won't be the location for the climax. I think it's basically going to include one of the challenging trials or dungeons followed by the big twists and exposition dumps about the Ancient's past.

The moon's been getting tons of emphasis both in-game and in the pre-release material, but I don't feel like it's where we're going to lay bare the biggest/ugliest truths about the world and the Final Days, mostly (Though perhaps "red herring" wasn't the right term for that).

That one zone they've been adamant about showing basically nothing of past the concept art feels like where the lore bombs are getting dropped, though going to the moon and hearing Zodiark's side of the story (Assuming he's even functional enough to do so) is going to be important to things as well.

[Cleretic]

The moon's been getting tons of emphasis both in-game and in the pre-release material, but I don't feel like it's where we're going to lay bare the biggest/ugliest truths about the world and the Final Days, mostly (Though perhaps "red herring" wasn't the right term for that).

That one zone they've been adamant about showing basically nothing of past the concept art feels like where the lore bombs are getting dropped, though going to the moon and hearing Zodiark's side of the story (Assuming he's even functional enough to do so) is going to be important to things as well.

The main reason I'm against this, although I admit it's weird that the zone they've been hiding isn't the literal moon... I mean, it'd be very weird to set up the 'Go To The Moon' expansion only for the ending to end up down planetside again. You bring in the moon as a setting, you end on the moon, right?

...then again, they did end their 'Fight angelic horror-monsters in a fantasy post-apocalypse' expansion by sending us to a war criminal's underwater love letter to the Art Deco aesthetic. So maybe I shouldn't expect something that linear.

[kaynide]

My guess on the Moon is it will be something akin to 4.0’s Yanxia. Not the final zone, but somewhere in the middle, and probably visited back and forth (like the interior).

We already have a good idea what the 6 new zones are:
Garlemald
The Moon
Moon Interior
Thavnair
“Zeal”
???

My guess for the final zone will be whatever comes after “Zeal” (floating Azem island chain thing)

I also guess this to be the interior of Hydaelyn itself, possibly going into a Hollow Earth kinda thing.

[RicaRuin]

My guess on the Moon is it will be something akin to 4.0’s Yanxia. Not the final zone, but somewhere in the middle, and probably visited back and forth (like the interior).

We already have a good idea what the 6 new zones are:
Garlemald
The Moon
Moon Interior
Thavnair
“Zeal”
???

My guess for the final zone will be whatever comes after “Zeal” (floating Azem island chain thing)

I also guess this to be the interior of Hydaelyn itself, possibly going into a Hollow Earth kinda thing.

You are missing Labyrinthos, though.