Thread: Revelations from Patch 5.5 (Part 2)

Main scenario and some inconsistencies between the different languages (I'm native german but speak eng/jp):

In the second to last screenshot, Fandaniel is adressing to use That which can look into dreams. Zenos responds with this.

"...構わん。アレにとっては、むしろ本望だろう。"

Basically saying "I don't mind. As far as THAT is concerned, it would be rather pleased. (as in: on the contrary it would be satisfied)

The main thing to take away here is the use of あれ it does not imply that he was talking about himself but about something else.

In german it is:

"Ganz und gar nicht. Er scheint es zu genießen."

Meaning "Not at all. He seems to be enjoying it." applying masculine pronouns to whoever he is adressing.

and in english it is:

"So be it. The dreamer will not complain."

Many will come to the conclusion that dreaming is related to Zenos having dreams about the final days and it would make sense in context, however given how the sentence is delivered I think there must be more to it.


Another thing that i noticed is the whole last bit of this cutscene where Zenos is having a monologue. In english it is this:

"While I await you, I shall drink a sea of souls and gorge myself upon the darkened moon. Then you shall come to me, all roiling rage and rancor... And the stars shall bear witness to our final contest."

In german it is:

"Unzählige Leben werde ich verschlingen... Ja, den Mond höchstselbst vom Himmel fressen... in einer unendlichen Sehnsucht auf unser Wiedersehen. Mein eisiger Zorn, der das Blut in meinen Adern zum kochen bringt, soll der Brennstoff meines Hasses sein. Und dann... wird die ultimative Jagd ihr Ende finden."

Translated:
"I will devour countless lives. Yes even the moon I shall gobble up. In an endless longing for our reuinion. My icecold wrath that is boiling through my veins shall be the fuel of my hatred. And then the ultimate hunt shall find its end."

In Japanese he says this:
"数多の命も　闇夜の月も　喰らいつくして　お前を待とう。怒りを燃やせ　憎悪に滾れその果てに―　至極の―戦を果たそうぞ。”

Translated it would be:
"All the life, the moon, I will devour them all while I wait for you. Burn up with anger. Let your hatred boil over. And then... let's have our ultimate battle."

As you can see the german translation talks about Zenos hatred and anger, while english and japanese both adress the WoL (well in japanese it is implied) I sadly don't speak french but I would be interested to read the differences in text.

I'll take a look at what seems to be Venat/Hydaelyn later since that one was also a very intersting cutscene, albeit a bit short.

A decent patch to set up EW. Purely commenting on the MSQ for now as I’ll get round to Bozja later. Might have more thoughts on it later.

Daddy…

…Leveilleur. I expected his appearance based on the way they worded matters when describing him. The Forum’s utter unwillingness to listen to Krile does suggest, IMO, that G’raha is right, and there is a reason that the island is not showing all its cards yet, rather than genuinely ignoring the problem. That reason being it has its own plan. I got the impression Fourchenault was cutting ties in order to protect his children (remembering back to the New Year greeting), since his position is derived from the Forum and one which he must act on whether he wills it or not. Also if he were to try convince his children to return and did so successfully, their meddlesome friends would soon follow, too, potentially frustrating their pans. With that said, maybe he wants them free to act, away from prying eyes.

So this to me looks like a front. Sharlayan is the next destination, so we will find out in due course. IMO the change in policy must have coincided with the withdrawal from their colony – their isolationist stance was not always thus, as the island used to try convert others to its brand of astrology, as per this (quoting from EE2). Even though Fourchenault was in favour of an isolationist stance, the entire stance of the Bibliothecs seems concocted to withdraw Sharlayan from the whole affair. I enjoyed daddy Leveilleur’s voice acting.

As an aside, the similarities between this sight of the Pleroma (lore) from the Antitower and Sharlayan’s emblem and persistent spiral shapes, dating all the way to Amaurot (and in turn, their connection to the ones appearing within Fandaniel’s towers) have me intrigued.

Alphinaud

Well, as always he received more character exploration, having to confront once more his track record with the Crystal Braves and use the experience in a productive fashion, as he marches on his path to being the “hero” of the story. Looks like Arenvald was crippled from the experience, but nonetheless spurs Alphinaud on; the dialogue with Fordola suggests he has a role to play yet. By all appearances, he was even harder hit in a sense by their father’s decision, feeling inadequate to convince his father or the Forum to change tack, when his grandfather could not, then rallying after some convincing from Arenvald.

Dreamer…

So the way this was worded initially made me think it is Zenos, since he’s been having dreams of the Final Days. Yet judging from the dialogue translated from the French version, I think it is indeed the tower (or more precisely, something embedded/held in it), and it is a living organic thing, with a shriek at the end. I wonder if this is Fandaniel’s [redacted]. Certainly, the "you know what" that he wants Zenos to control.

My supposition is that Fandaniel is incapable of creating the Final Days in exactly the same way, since sundered mortals lack the ancients’ unique capacity for creation magicks. With the clear dreams Zenos has of the Final Days, perhaps that has been embedded into whatever the structure is and is allowing Fandaniel to exploit this. By dreaming more, it can gather more aether, probably siphoning it as the towers do. Possibly requiring an act of control from Zenos to do it. Although gathering more aether by dreaming would appear inconsistent with a Primal, mayhap it would not be if it’s draining the land to fuel this dreaming and start the inception of the Terminus beasts. Fandaniel refers to the “gateway of the gods” being complete. Maybe a bit of embellishment but perhaps it is in relation to whatever he truly serves. It calls to mind the floating Zealaurot zone, although that could also tie into Sharlayan's plans in some manner. With the dreams plus Anima, as others have noted (and some pointed out this as well) - the X refs do seem to be coming in thick and fast.)

The ability of his glyphs near the Confluences to sow chaos amongst the elements again reminds me of an aspect of the Final days, detailed by Hyth. Whether this is a different method to how it was achieved in ancient times or not remains to be seen, though the Walls of the Forgotten has long had me suspicious in its resemblance to a Telotower (top here and also here). Perhaps they hid any such structures better back then. Either way it does look like the ultimate plan was to route all the aether back to Garlemald. We’ll see what more the towers are hiding.

They continue to each operate based on their own obsession; Fandaniel, to bring the end of all life, and Zenos to get the fight he wants and bait the MC, roiling with rage. Finally, we saw the moon take on its ominous reddish hue.

Even with the cure for tempering, some soldiers in the fight remain too far gone to rescue.

Mysterious Lady

Almost certainly Venat. From the mask, with its ancient styling and symbols reminiscent of Hydaelyn’s winged form, to the way she beckons the MC with the “Hear”, it all points to her. Elidibus had the following line in the FR version and we’re probably seeing something like that, with this just being a projection of her true form. I remain convinced that there will be friction in dealing with her in some facet or other, but with it looking more likely that Fandaniel does indeed serve some other force, that to me will likely be the true antagonist of 6.0. Guessing the MC will be keeping that ghostly sight to themselves for a while...

The oddness in the whole encounter is the fact that she's projecting herself, rather than speaking via the Primal or appearing directly. Running with the assumption that she is Venat... for as long as the Blessing of Light is there we can assume so is the Primal, but as the scene cuts off then that isn't really determinative of much. So it could mean any number of things, including contacting the MC from somewhere difficult to reach (Aetherial Sea... better yet, the moon...) or the Primal is fading as she does it, which is of course going to have implications as to the Blessing itself, hence making me sceptical of that being the case so soon... Thancred's language about there being no more primals, taken to its logical conclusion, means no Hydaelyn or Zodiark left in the long term either...

The passing similarity of the spirals on her mask to several designs within Sharlayan have me wondering if there is a direct connection, given their fascination with studying Hydaelyn, or whether it's just more generically Amaurot-inspired.

[13:58] ??? : Votre Mère vous accorde encore sa grâce, mais vous sentez certainement vous aussi que son énergie s'amenuise progressivement. Ce n'est qu'une question de temps avant qu'elle ne soit complètement tarie.
= “Your mother still grants you Her grace, but you too must certainly feel that her energy is gradually dwindling. It’s only a matter of time before it is completely dried up.”

[13:58] ??? : Bientôt elle disparaîtra, ou plutôt elle retrouvera sa forme initiale.
= “Soon She will disappear, or rather She will regain Her original form.”

Originally Posted by Nanchi

As you can see the german translation talks about Zenos hatred and anger, while english and japanese both adress the WoL (well in japanese it is implied) I sadly don't speak french but I would be interested to read the differences in text.

Hm. Just one opinion.

Why do you think the german version is not adressing the WOL? It is not exactly named in the text. Sure. But we all know, that he means the WOL with the "ultimate hunt". So the WOL is adressed, but between the lines, which is a common thing in german language.

The dreamer. For some reason that remenbers me most on Yu-Yevon.

Estinien is totally addicted to them sun-dried squids...

MSQ

I thought Krile would've returned by now, but since she called I guess she is not in any kind of trouble, that was a bit of relief.

Forum sending Fourche to deny us help instead of sending a message did seem as a spectacle. Disowning his kids was a bit overboard, does he think now it will hurt less when they die out in the field? Don't envy him when he tells this to his wife though.

On the other hand, maybe he volunteered to deliver response so that he could drop us some hints about Forum's secrets...

Towers seem to be absorbing huge amounts of aether although summoned primals did not appear to be very strong. Still no solution how to protect people from tempering. Didn't allagan already solve this?

What happened to the moon? One second it is super bright, another - all orange... Perhaps something there is absorbing the light and it is not reflected anymore?

And who/what is the dreamer that Zenos will be making to dream more? Is it perhaps Zodiark? What is his dreaming doing? What was he dreaming up before?

Venat appeared at the Silvertear, maybe Midgardsormr was guarding her? She seemed to have viera hair.

Edit: Moon in the world is not orange...

Yorha

As expected - total bullshit...

In my restless dreams, I see those Ten Characters

Main Scenario

The fact that Sharlayan knows more and the feeling that we are being deliberatly ignored / misdirected / lied to by omission, is probably (my view) going to end up being one of the least interesting reveals in the expansion. It felt like the Shadowbringers release trailer where we were all going nuts about the Hydaelyn / Zodiark primals reveal from the end and Yoshida say effectively "eh, that's kind of a minor thing".

My 1.x self was impressed at just how many loose threads they do seem to want to tie up. I know, I know... we've heard them say that, but I'm not sure many people had a mention of the Ashcrown Consortium on their bingo cards, right?

Arenvald's condition felt (from my able-bodied and probably quite ill-informed view) like a good narrative use - show that there are consequences other than "alive" or "dead" to being a hero, or playing the hero, or just trying to do your damn best when looking out for your friends, or the people and things you believe in / hold dear. I was waiting and waiting to hear who Fordola was going to tick off for their limited view of heroics, but the setting gave it a rather warmer line than the juxtaposition in the trailer suggested, and I'm gload to see more nuance in that direction.
On the subject of lines from the trailer - I couldn't find Fandaniel's "Destroy them! Destroy them all!" in there at all, which is interesting? Unless it plays if you fluff parts of the fight in Cartenau?

Lastly, Venat (I know we shouldn't go giving a name to an unnamed and ambigious character, but I think we're safely in Gaiushunter territory, here). Nothing in this plot has been done accidentally (or, at least, nothing they haven't been able to ascribe significance to later), and her appearence alongside the Keeper of the Lake / close to the presence beneath Silvertear makes me want to New Game+ an absolulte kupotonze of raids. I would NG+ 1.0 at this rate, if I could!

Very random MSQ thought

Wait, since we're one Grand Company now, is this Square Enix's way of saying we're not ever getting any more Grand Company content?

I've been hoping for my Grand Company content for a long time now. I'm a proud Immortal Flame! I really hope that this doesn't mean "no more Grand Company content!". Grand Companies are so neglected.

It's interesting that there are so many different takes on what the "Dreamer" Fandaniel talks to Zenos about. At first I had assumed that it was talking about Zenos and his dreams about the downfall of Amaurot, but given what people are saying about the translation, that no longer seems to be the case.

Strange that German talks about wrath and fury. When Zenos doesn't seem the least bit angry to me. Just callous and sadistic. Anger is a response to a perceived injustice. What sense of justice does Zenos feel? Zenos is a cold manipulator. He gets joy out of killing and challenge.

This Dreamer seems like one of the few extra things and hints we've gotten in this Patch. And yet it doesn't tell us much at all. Zenos? Anima? Zodiark? Your guess it as good as mine, I'm afraid.