Still the Warrior of Light in 6.x and beyond? [Spoilers through ShB]

[tinythinker]

I didn't see this covered over the last several months, so my apologies if this has already been debated, but if Hydaelyn is the source of our power as the pre-eminent WoL on the Source in the current era and if she is removed from the equation in 6.0, what happens to our characters?

Current Status as WOL

To clarify where I coming from, let's review.

• In 2.0 we learn we have the Echo and can hear "the Mother Crystal", a.k.a. Hydaelyn.
• In 2.x we are called the Warrior of Light because the people of Eorzea cannot recall the names or faces of a group of heroes who fought to save the realm during the Calamity and when they try the heroes' faces are obscured by light
• People begin comparing our characters to the Warriors of Light and after a certain point people finally recognize us as the champions of 1.x or as their successors and WoL becomes one of our common titles among the people of Eorzea
• In 2.x the Blessing of Light from Hydaelyn saves us at various times at the expense of draining the Mother Crystal's power
• Due to the last point, Midgardsormr removes the BoL so we can learn to lean less on Hydaelyn and we continue gaining strength even after it is returned, but it is unclear how much this might catalyzed or sustained by our connection to Hydaelyn (This catalysis need not necessarily draw on her power through the BoL)
• We learned that our character's soul is a fragment of an Ancient from Amaurot named Azem, a member of the Convocation of Fourteen of acted very much as our own WoL character does in going out into the world to solve the problems of those in need
• Our character merges with the remnant of Ardbert's soul (another fragment of Azem) and our character's soul becomes even more dense, allowing us ever greater feats of strength, and at this point we haven't heard directly from Hydaelyn in a long while

The End of Hydaelyn

We learn the Hydaelyn is an alpha Primal summoned to contain/limit her predecessor, Zodiark. Based on artwork on the First, there is even the possibility that her summoning/creation split Zodiark in a parallel to the Sundering. She succeeded Zodiark as the Will of the Star.

It is known that 6.0 will be the end of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark storyline, but not what that means. It is possible they will cancel each other out in balance and return their aether to the world to heal and renew/rebuild it. Or that a new soul will enter the reunited Primal as the new Will of the Star. Or something else. It is possible somehow it will just be "Hydaelyn beats Zodiark to become the uncontested Will of the Star" but everything we've learned makes this seem unlikely. Which brings us to...

The Post-Hydaelyn Era

So, if Hydaelyn is neutralized or dissipated, what happens to our character in power and it appellation?

As outlined above, Hydaelyn helped us to become more powerful with her guidance and her Blessing. Yet that doesn't mean it was all borrowed power. A trainer, coach, mentor, or guide can also help people find and hone their strengths without borrowed power.

This tempts me to wonder:

How much of our power was built on or expanded through a platform constructed by Hydaelyn?

Note this doesn't say Hydaelyn supplied everything, but rather helped to increased capacity or offer stability through reinforcement. We know she helped us early on, but what happened if these supports are taken away? Is that the same thing as the removal of the BoL? Or would such supports have been separate? Do they stand on their own?

This may seem like getting lost in the weeds, but it does ask what happens to our own base capacity without the Mother Crystal. Rather than worrying about metaphysical mechanics we can do a quantitative assessment (0% effect to 100% effect). Or we could a generalized qualitative or consequential assessment (struggles to regain inner balance until we get used to her absence, sometimes has trouble controlling power levels in cutscenes during an adjustment period).

I don't claim what the answer would or should be, just curious what people think.

How much of our growth in power used our connection to Hydaelyn?

Basically the same as above, but in relation to our always seeming to get more powerful over time.

What would we be called?

So if we have been the WoL and the WoD and help bring some kind of balance or renewal, what are we now? Both literally in terms of our aether, special status, etc. as per the above two underlines questions, but also our role? And hence our title(s). Does it still make sense to be the Warrior of Light in the "new world" that is coming after 6.0?



Thanks for reading. Thanks even more for responding!

[Steelbreaker25]

Your first two questions are somewhat answered via Heavensward, as Midgardsormr took away our blessing for a time, yet we still maintained our considerable power for most of the HW MSQ. We also still have the echo, which grants us other benefits.

We'll probably still be referred to as the Warrior of Light, simply because most people aren't aware of our connection to Hydaelyn and the blessing of light.

[tinythinker]

Your first two questions are somewhat answered via Heavensward, as Midgardsormr took away our blessing for a time, yet we still maintained our considerable power for most of the HW MSQ. We also still have the echo, which grants us other benefits.

We'll probably still be referred to as the Warrior of Light, simply because most people aren't aware of our connection to Hydaelyn and the blessing of light.

Yeah, I considered that, but we've kept growing after the BoL was restored with little indication of our interplay with the Mother Crystal. I don't expect a power drop or shift but our connection to Hydaelyn is still murky.

My assumption is that Hydaelyn is acting as more of a recruiter and protector rather than a structural support, a conduit, a catalyst, or an ignition. Still, there might be some kind of disorientation period that gets played out in cutscenes.

If SE did want to do a power creep reversal of any significant magnitude this could offer them some kind of excuse and open some interesting plot lines for a time the same way the BoL loss did.

I kinda agree on the name thing for the common folk, but if the surviving Scions and faction leaders adopt something else who knows? Plus, being the WoL is just sooooo Hydaelyn-Zodiark Era

[Vyrerus]

We're strong without Hydaelyn. That's part of why we were chosen. The Blessing helps, but not very often is it required. We didn't use it against Shinryu, for example.

[Enkidoh]

I'm fond of the 'Warrior of the Crystal' moniker from FFXI myself, as it makes sense - we're serving/protecting a Crystal after all, and also using both the Warrior of Light and Darkness titles as well, so rolling that all together under one combined banner works better.

And of course references a past FF game. (Also the Warriors of the Dawn title was taken already).

...Yes Vyrerus, I know the 'Warrior of the Crystal' term in FFXI ended up meaning something completely different in that game's lore, but here it works as a term used by an adventurer.

[GoldStarz]

We're strong without Hydaelyn. That's part of why we were chosen. The Blessing helps, but not very often is it required. We didn't use it against Shinryu, for example.

This feels like you're operating under the assumption that the Blessing is a tangible power rather than an unseen buff that affects us within the lore of the story, though, which I'm fairly sure is what it's supposed to be given how characters talk about it.

I think if Hydaelyn is destroyed in EW, as I assume she will be, WoL will be knocked down a few pegs. That's not to say they aren't already incredibly impressive on their own, after all we took down all the 2.0 primals as well as Ravana and Bismarck without the full blessing, just that it will be more understandable if we struggle against some more grounded threats.

[Steelbreaker25]

This feels like you're operating under the assumption that the Blessing is a tangible power rather than an unseen buff that affects us within the lore of the story, though, which I'm fairly sure is what it's supposed to be given how characters talk about it.

I think if Hydaelyn is destroyed in EW, as I assume she will be, WoL will be knocked down a few pegs. That's not to say they aren't already incredibly impressive on their own, after all we took down all the 2.0 primals as well as Ravana and Bismarck without the full blessing, just that it will be more understandable if we struggle against some more grounded threats.

I guess it depends on what you mean by tangible? When the blessing kicked in during the Dying Gasp, Hades initially confused it for the lightwarden's aether overwhelming us. It just most often manifests as a shield or barrier.

[Cleretic]

This feels like you're operating under the assumption that the Blessing is a tangible power rather than an unseen buff that affects us within the lore of the story, though, which I'm fairly sure is what it's supposed to be given how characters talk about it.

I think if Hydaelyn is destroyed in EW, as I assume she will be, WoL will be knocked down a few pegs. That's not to say they aren't already incredibly impressive on their own, after all we took down all the 2.0 primals as well as Ravana and Bismarck without the full blessing, just that it will be more understandable if we struggle against some more grounded threats.

I made a whole video about this (Here, if you want, it's twenty minutes long), but the Blessing is indeed a tangible aid from Hydaelyn, although it's less of 'a power granted to us' and more of 'a direct hotline to call for her help'. It comes up in ways that are actually very visible:

1. Helped against Ultima Weapon,
2. Made a blade of light to mess up Lahabrea,
3. Ysayle called on it to get aether enough to channel Shiva in open airspace,
4. Ardbert used it to kill one Ascian with a blade of light, and fail absurdly poorly at killing a second,
5. Was probably how we survived fighting Hades

On top of that, Lahabrea and Igeyorhm curse our use of it in the Ascian Prime fight, but given Hydaelyn's aid is normally very visible, and at that point we saw nothing, they might've just been whiny about losing.

While losing access to the Hydaelyn Hotline would suck for the WoL, it's not something that would leave them completely helpless. Like you said, we kept pace for most of 2.0 without it, either almost all of all of Heavensward (since our only possible use of it was the Ascian Prime), all of Stormblood, and almost all of Shadowbringers; we can definitely compete without it.

[Vyrerus]

I made a whole video about

Well, there's also the bit where Igeyorhm confronts us on the Tubing Rock that we used to Ishmael, FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE! Bismarck. When she holds us aloft using a dark energy tendril she quips that we've recovered our Blessing, albeit at a fraction of its former strength. It's a tendril similar to what Elidibus uses, though a bit less forceful. So the Ascians are capable of analyzing it, and analyzing how much power it has by itself.

It seems as though, at least with the writing stance they were in back then, it did something that was extremely inhibitive towards Ascian powers.

[GoldStarz]

I made a whole video about this (Here, if you want, it's twenty minutes long), but the Blessing is indeed a tangible aid from Hydaelyn, although it's less of 'a power granted to us' and more of 'a direct hotline to call for her help'. It comes up in ways that are actually very visible:

1. Helped against Ultima Weapon,
2. Made a blade of light to mess up Lahabrea,
3. Ysayle called on it to get aether enough to channel Shiva in open airspace,
4. Ardbert used it to kill one Ascian with a blade of light, and fail absurdly poorly at killing a second,
5. Was probably how we survived fighting Hades

On top of that, Lahabrea and Igeyorhm curse our use of it in the Ascian Prime fight, but given Hydaelyn's aid is normally very visible, and at that point we saw nothing, they might've just been whiny about losing.

While losing access to the Hydaelyn Hotline would suck for the WoL, it's not something that would leave them completely helpless. Like you said, we kept pace for most of 2.0 without it, either almost all of all of Heavensward (since our only possible use of it was the Ascian Prime), all of Stormblood, and almost all of Shadowbringers; we can definitely compete without it.

The first one (two?) isn't the Blessing of Light though, it's Hydaelyn directly interfering to shield WoL from Ultima, it's why she's so drained after ARR because she spent most of her reserves protecting us from Ultima. Also keep in mind that Nabriales says the Blessing of Light was what repelled the Ascians from ever launching a direct attack on the Scions and their base, directly implying that it's more of an ambient power than a tangible one.