Spoilers: Theory for Pandaemonium Story

[Kesey]

None of them are confirmed to be dead or alive, but given the First's story is (for all intents and purposes) finished at the moment, I doubt it'll come up as an issue in the near future.

Idk, I feel like with the recent quests added to the First, it's story telling isn't finished. The First is just out of the focus of the main story. I can't be the only one who sees that side story content is being set up for 6.0?

Even an above poster hopes to go to Ryne and Gaia's festival.

[MrThinker]

Idk, I feel like with the recent quests added to the First, it's story telling isn't finished. The First is just out of the focus of the main story. I can't be the only one who sees that side story content is being set up for 6.0?

Even an above poster hopes to go to Ryne and Gaia's festival.

Eden ended awkwardly. Not only did we not get a "farewell" type scene the other stories had, we also didn't get to see the festival (as noted before), nor did we get to tell Thancred and Urianger about what the heck happened. (It's also not in NG+ yet, which is weird since Void quests are)
Which is all to say that once Thancred and Urianger come back in 5.5 I believe we'll get a true Eden Finale. And maybe some more Void quests.

[Deusteele]

Pandemonium may well be Lahabrea's personal research laboratory. We know from dialogue and the short stories that Lahabrea was an "create first, ask questions later" style scientist. The bosses within will probably be drawn from FF 2 and 9. We may find either a clone of Lababrea or some other created being that carries his memories, in part or in whole.

The festival that comes up at the end of Eden may be the "farewell" to the first. They could also run parallel quests with it as the Beast Tribe series final quests.

[MrThinker]

Pandemonium may well be Lahabrea's personal research laboratory. We know from dialogue and the short stories that Lahabrea was an "create first, ask questions later" style scientist. The bosses within will probably be drawn from FF 2 and 9. We may find either a clone of Lababrea or some other created being that carries his memories, in part or in whole.

The festival that comes up at the end of Eden may be the "farewell" to the first. They could also run parallel quests with it as the Beast Tribe series final quests.

...So what you are saying is that the true finale of the First will require completion of Eden, ShB role quests, Warring Triad and ShB Allied tribe quests?

Oh, and no Nier.

[Steelbreaker25]

I like this theory! I had been focused on the idea of Pandaemonium being Hell, since that's pretty much what it was in FFII - but it had completely slipped my notice that Pandaemonium is also a SOUND. Given the game's ongoing references to audible things as things of importance (the Echo, the Resonance, the Sound), perhaps its this other definition we should be paying more attention to! Indeed, the Sound that triggered the End of Days in the time of the Ancients pretty much could be described as Pandaemonium all on its own.

This is essentially what I was getting at. Though, to be accurate, pandemonium doesn't refer to a sound but a chaotic event. Essentially, the keening from the earth caused a massive pandemonium that brought about the End of Days. If this were the case, not only would the raid series be a solid callback to past FF games, which FF14 loves, but the double-meaning of "pandemonium" would also be good wordplay.

Unless they really change how they release the raids going forward, we'll likely still get the 8-man raids released at the 6.01/2, 6.2, and 6.4 patches, all after the current MSQ is supposed to conclude. I feel like addressing what caused the keening is a significant plot thread, but not important enough to overshadow the current Hydaelyn-Zodiark arc; in other words, perfect for a raid series. If Fandaniel's plot is really to start a second End of Days with the black towers or whatever, the story could easily start from tying up those loose ends, then progress onward as we discover more and more about the keening.

The only iffy part of my theory is that the End of Days was because the keening caused the Ancients' powers of creation to run wild--which isn't something that exists among the common people anymore. But it's still doable, with as many unknowns as we have right now.