[Spoilers] How much does the average Eorzean know about the Final Days / implications

[kloojy]

(Entire MSQ Spoiler Below)



At the very end when we talk to the Scions before splitting up, Y'shtola expressed a desire to write a book regarding everything that we've learned during our adventurers in Eorzea, the First, and the edge of the universe. I was thinking that we have basically gleaned some pretty earthshattering truths about reality and our world that might be dangerous for the average person to know if the writers wanted to explore that route.



IRL religions in part seek to answer the unanswerable - how things came to exist, what happens after life (if anything at all), why do we exist, what is our purpose, morality, etc etc. Seeing the impact of the truth behind the Dragonsong War had on Ishgard and its Church, wouldn't revealing the truths behind the Ancients, Ascians, Hydaelyn, the Aetherial Sea, Ultima Thule, or even the heat death of the universe (from the Ea) have huge consequences on the average person realistically?



We essentially know our "gods" or "creators" (the Ancients) and the ultimate fate of different civilizations that have reached the "zenith" of their due courses (Omicrons and conquest, the Ea and knowledge, the Freedom society and unification, Ra-La and hedonism). We also literally know what happens after death and that Sharlayans have a potential portal to talking to your loved ones after death. There is also the fact that we are literally "broken" beings that were once godly, with fractured versions of ourselves existing in other dimensions.


Wouldn't people want to literally meet their "other halves" on the other shards? Or see their departed loved ones? Or seek to glean knowledge and technology from the Ea or Omicrons in Ultima Thule (since we can seemingly teleport there)? Or bring back the "true creators" (the Ancients)? Or kidnap the Loporrits for personal gain?
Or fear/worship the WoL for killing "God" or being the closest thing to a god? What about persecute the remaining Garleans out of fear of the potential of magitek and Black Rose, knowing they literally doomed an entire alternate timeline? How does Magnai feel knowing that we are his daddy/mommy (Azim/Azemya)?



Reminder that we chose to keep the truth behind Bahamut and the 7th Umbral Calamity a secret because it might be disastrous for people to worship the pheonix/Loisoix.



Even if Y'shtola decided to not publish a book, I think there are enough random NPCs across the MSQ that can piece together some damning truths. I think everyone in Sharlayan at the end knew a great deal about the Ascians, Final Days, Hydaelyn, and Meteion. Surely the people who donated Allagan tech were somewhat aware of the reason why we needed adamantite to travel to the edge of the universe.

I can totally see multiple cults or new religions forming up due to these revelations. Some interesting food for thought I think.

[KageTokage]

I feel like Sharlayan likely already knew most of the things we learned, and the rest of the world at large either didn't know or had traces of it from their folklore that was carried over from the early post-Sundering eras where people still possessed faint memories of the world that once was.

However, in the wake of the MSQ Urianger specifically mentions that in light of the new revelations him and Thancred are keeping a close eye on things in Sharlayan to make sure nobody tries to use any of such knowledge for ill ends (Which there is definitely precedent for, given the SGE questline...).

Dynamis in particular feels like something that was almost completely untouched/unknown because you couldn't even prove it existed originally, but now that there is very tangible and confirmed evidence of it in the Elpis flowers and lingering blasphemies, it would be surprising if scholars didn't start pursuing its study fervently...which seems like an easy way for things to get really ugly given how quickly Echo research was able to produce fruit.

[Vyrerus]

Maybe, maybe not. The average layman probably wouldn't even understand it, unless Y'shtola wrote it in laymen's terms.

So even if, "experts" were to read it, agree with it, and disseminate it, how much really would the average person care or understand?

Y'shtola herself didn't even try to understand the heat death of the universe. Who's to say what she found most impactful? What her perspective will actually put to paper if she even does?

I mean, her priority is to find a way back to her Hrothgar Daddy on the First.

[Yuella]

The people that helped us get the Adamantites know about it and they have soldiers/people helping them so I think the majority of Eorzeans know about it.

[Zero-ELEC]

The thing is, Final Fantasy XIV has always taken an interesting approach to belief, in that it considers peoples' religions and practices completely valid despite them being proven false in the course of the story. Despite the Scions' knowledge that the Twelve are likely not deities they still chose to pray to them. Despite knowing that the creation myths behind tribal religions like the Ixal "false" and the god they worship "fake", the game does not go out of its way to paint their belief in that as foolish. People in Ishgard still believe in Halone, despite the church being brought down a peg.

In a lot of ways the game is of a "live and let live" mentality as it relates to religions and the origins of myths and such, so having the answer to these is not going to change much.

Now for the knowledge of talking to people after death, they do mention that, and very specifically say that it is something Sharlayan is keeping under wraps to avoid people going out of their way to do so.

As it stands, a regular Eorzean probably knows that the End of Days came and went (blasphemies were popping up all around, even in places that didn't have burning skies), and that somehow it was stopped, perhaps they even know someone that helped brave a shard of Dalamud to obtain materials to do something to stop it in service of aiding the Scions or the Warrior of Light in particular. I doubt they know specifics beyond that.

[Veloran]

I would assume nobody knows anything other than there was some kind of impending calamity and the WoL and Scions stopped it. The groundbreaking world history stuff, I kind of doubt any of that is known to anyone outside of the Scions and their closest associates.

[Cleretic]

The thing is, Final Fantasy XIV has always taken an interesting approach to belief, in that it considers peoples' religions and practices completely valid despite them being proven false in the course of the story. Despite the Scions' knowledge that the Twelve are likely not deities they still chose to pray to them. Despite knowing that the creation myths behind tribal religions like the Ixal "false" and the god they worship "fake", the game does not go out of its way to paint their belief in that as foolish. People in Ishgard still believe in Halone, despite the church being brought down a peg.

Well, with them it's also a question of... honestly, what makes such a god 'false'? Honestly, there's little in-universe proof that the Twelve are real either; we know there's a truth to be found as external viewers who know that alliance raid is coming, but realistically there's no difference between Ramuh and Rhalgr, and a few cultures worship things that in some form definitely existed (Bismarck and Susano immediately come to mind), others kinda bungle history but know something at least was real (Garuda, Good King Moggle Mog XII, debatably King Thordan and Queen Gunnhildr).

I think a big part of how sympathetic the game is to varying cultures is making a setting where 'it's real to them' is perhaps even more valid than 'is it actually real'. You can't really Reddit Atheist your way through a faith debate in Eorzea, because 'your god isn't real' is in multiple directions a losing strategy.

Also, mentioning the Church of Ishgard is interesting in regards to the End of Days, because if you do the caster questline you'll find out that they actually had alternative ideas for what was causing the End of Days, largely stemming from the fact that in Ishgard it was afflicting the church faithful. (In retrospect, calling them 'blasphemies' probably didn't help that lot.) So I bet that while everyone generally knows things about the End of Days and surrounding events, the actual 'why' of it all hasn't really disseminated through.

[Recon1o6]

At the very least, everyone will know that the moon is a creation of hydaelyn on account of the loporrits and sharlayans beginning their efforts to get people to the rest of the globe and that it was intended for if the final days couldn't be stopped

Many people would have heard of the ship that sailed the sky to stop the final days in other countries. In Sharlayan itself it would be hard to miss.

Beyond that its more ambigouous depending on how hard the region was hit by the final days

[KageTokage]

I assume the leaders of city states made some kind of formal announcement about what was going on without disclosing all of the worrisome details because a lot of the job NPCs discuss the matter if you visit them post-MSQ and some specifically refer to it as the Final Days.

Given the threat of the blasphemies they probably had to at least bring up that issue.

[SannaR]

Magni knows we went to the moon and just asks us what's up there and if there's any cute ladies up there. Being envious of the WoL. I do know that the alchemists at The Great Works want to poke and prod the WoL after finding out about our use of Dynamis/Akasha. Just because you know of something doesn't mean you must believe it.

I'd assume Sicard has been told he can't talk about the Aetherial Sea being accessible in Sharlayean. Since he's the one who got told to go and collect one member from all of the beastmen. Then took them to where they could have access to the Mother Crystal. Though Padjal at least know that you can also bug the Elementals to access the lifestream. Of course you have to have someone close to what they need to find aether wise.