(Wildly speculative) idea about the next overarching threat - *spoilers*

[Vyrerus]

This is interesting because didn't the Ascians themselves give up on rejoining the 13th because the balance went too far towards darkness? If the Ascians couldn't figure out a way to rejoin it, how on earth could Golbez figure it out?

Dynamis? Dynamis.

[Cleretic]

Golbez isn't trying to do a Rejoining, he's just trying to Throw Wide The Gates and invade. It was stated EXTREMELY directly in the new patch, I'm not sure how you got this wrong.

EDIT: The actual quote, if it needs to be reiterated.

Golbez: That world will never be ours again. But we need not suffer in this purgatory of death and rebirth forever. Join me, and together we shall seek the promised land!

Rubicante: There is no hope--no freedom from the wheel. You speak a fantasy.

Golbez: I speak truth. The Ascians' revelation. There are other worlds than this. Ours is but one of fourteen. There is no greater proof than the whispers we hear--born of a neighboring reality. A reality to which we may journey if we can but break down the barrier that divides us.

Cagnazzo: You meant it, then? We will take this world as our own? Gahahaha! Count me in!

<after flashback>

Rubicante: And thus did we begin our great work.

Zero: You intend to forsake the Thirteenth and conquer the Source?

Rubicante: Just so. Our home is a lost cause, our only choice to begin anew.

[KageTokage]

As far as we've learned, breaking the boundary between a shard and the Source is precisely what causes a rejoining to happen normally, though the 13th's present state supposedly makes that impossible somehow.

The implications of what happens if that occurs without the shard in question immediately being dissipated into pure aether and absorbed are...interesting, to say in the least, though I doubt it's going to progress further then making a multitude of void fissures appear before we stop Golbez's schemes.

[Cleretic]

As far as we've learned, breaking the boundary between a shard and the Source is precisely what causes a rejoining to happen normally, though the 13th's present state supposedly makes that impossible somehow.

The implications of what happens if that occurs without the shard in question immediately being dissipated into pure aether and absorbed are...interesting, to say in the least, though I doubt it's going to progress further then making a multitude of void fissures appear before we stop Golbez's schemes.

No, that's not true. The way a Rejoining works is that a shard gets flooded by a singular type of aether to the point where it essentially just is that aether, and then immediately consumed by a huge explosion (either literal or proverbial) on the Source. The Thirteenth can't be used for that because that flood's already happened, as a result it's just sorta stagnant and stale. To rejoin the Thirteenth you'd first need to un-ruin it; the Ascians didn't really have a plan for this, it was just sort of in a pile of 'we'll solve it later (probalby with Zodiark)'.

Golbez indeed likely intends to just make one honkin' huge void fissure or a whole bunch of small ones, yes. We don't really know what that plan is; we know the intended end result, but not the middle steps. It's entirely possible that a hugenormous void fissure would cause problems for that beyond the legion of voidsent that'd come through, but going by the Scions who are pretty much experts in exactly this, the actual concern is said legion of voidsent. They call it 'naught less than a calamity', not a Calamity, and they clearly look at it more as the global disaster rather than the Rejoining, or else... y'know, they'd say that.

EDIT: That 'naught less than a calamity' line uses a lowercase C, too, so it might be using the real-world definition rather than the specific FFXIV definition. But that's WAY too pedantic for me to be confident.

[Vyrerus]

I'm not sure how you got this wrong.

I'm not sure why you think being right or wrong matters in a wild speculation thread.

But I'll go ahead and point out that you left out the lines where Golbez says that everyone on the Source has to die. How's he going to accomplish that without mass destruction? How is what he's talking about and doing different in practice from what a Rejoining is/requires?

I mean, outside of wild speculation, it's far more likely that Golbez's arc goes absolutely nowhere and we stop him completely in 6.4. Then whatever happens there leaves the door open for whatever really new thing they want.

But that more obvious take is no fun. And this thread is supposed to be about fun, at least that seems like OP's intent. Get a grip.

[Cleretic]

But I'll go ahead and point out that you left out the lines where Golbez says that everyone on the Source has to die.

Can you point out the line where he says that? Because the only one I'm aware of is the one where he seems to want the Thirteenth to die.

I'm absolutely fine with wild speculating, I'm just cautious that if you start with an already faulty or misleadingly-stated premise like 'Golbez is trying to do a Calamity' (as opposed to the actual in-game-stated 'Golbez might end up causing some real damage'), you might end up even further afield than you want to be.

Sorry if I'm coming off a bit more brutal or no-fun than I'm intending; I just like me some factual basis.

[Lyth]

I think Vyrerus' assessment is correct around bringing an end to life on the Source.

6.3

Final line of 'Gods Revel, Lands Tremble':
Golbez: 'At long, long last... the end draws nigh. The end to life on that star. And the end to my suffering...'

You could interpret this in the context of the Thirteenth, but I interpreted it to mean the Source. There's also the bit of conversation where Golbez first recruits Rubicante (Hexeye questline):

'According to the mysterious knight, the price to save the world was dear: the inhabitants of the neighboring reality must be sacrificed.'

There's probably more to it than that, but we'll see. I wonder if he's actually motivated by the state of things on the Thirteenth, or if there's another reason for his actions.

[Cleretic]

I mean he's literally looking up at the Thirteenth when he says that line, and the camera pans up to it to follow his gaze, I think it's pretty clear 'that star' refers to the Thirteenth and I'd find it very confusingly framed if he didn't. I feel like he just considers the lives of the Source acceptable collateral damage for his actual goals, both the one professed to his followers ('get the denizens of the Thirteenth a place to live and die') and his personal goal ('empty out life on the Thirteenth for some reason').

But this is also not particularly relevant to the main point of the topic, and clearly not super welcome in said topic, so I'm not gonna continue. I don't have much else to say on the original topic than what I said on the first page, anyway; base idea seems neat, although I'd prefer a different angle of making it happen.

[Shookbeast]

I’m on board with most - if not all of this. I had similar thoughts, and will take it a step further.

My speculation is that the writing team are doing a bit of housecleaning regarding lore/loose threads before 7.0 - so they’re attempting to cover quite a few of the ARR storylines and wrap them up. However, due to time/budget constraints, a lot of the story has to be spread over pre-existing content slots (Raids, Dungeons, etc…) rather than just the MSQ. This is similar to how Coil and Crystal Tower are now basically MSQ even though they fall outside of standard MSQ quest structure. I’d venture to say the current “Myths” storyline is basically MSQ and will segue into the Golbez storyline.

With this said - if the Watcher is indeed the 13th “god” of the 12 - and given what seems to be an image of Golbez attacking the Void’s version of the Watcher - it stands to speculate that there may be (or may have been) versions of the 12 present in the Void as well - and that the 12 storyline could meet up with MSQ.

Maybe the 12 are sort of “guiding programs” that run in the background of the planet, with personalities based on Venat’s buddies. And maybe they are present on each reflection, in some form or version - left by Venat to run the day to day business - but not really interfere with “mortals.”

If so, Golbez could have defeated and even absorbed the Void’s version of the 12 (along with the 13th Watcher). This would make him not only powerful from absorbing the gods’ aether, but would also leave the Void without any guiding hands.

If we go back to the story on the Source - the gods present there may realize what has happened to the copies of them in the Void, and plan to find a champion of their own - someone who, like Golbez, is capable of defeating Gods - namely our WOL.

But… is finding a champion the Gods’ “dream” made reality?

I don’t think so. I think this “dream” is closer to the OP’s thoughts.

With Venat gone, the Reflections may have already become unstable - and the Gods’ love of the Stars’ (Reflections’) people means they want to see them all survive.

So the plan may be to see a new kind of Rejoining - where all the Reflections are pieced back together by the remaining 12 (13) and the Source doesn’t experience a Calamity, as much as an “Embiggening” with all the continents and people combined into one much larger planet.

This could serve as the story “reset” and a semi-lore explanation for the Graphical Update. It would drop a bunch of new content onto the Source, and new friends/foes to shake up the status quo.

It seems possible to me…

[Shookbeast]

Perhaps a more simplified version is the Gods’ want a champion, and then plan to make travel to other Reflections possible through their Stones - which might be present on each Reflection in some form. This would skip the Embiggening process. The Gods’ “dream” being a strengthening of the bond between the Reflections, and the ability for the people of each world to experience life on other Reflections.