Dawntrail - My current theory/thoughts (prolly wrong, but this is fun)

[LyraShu]

Dawntrail thoughts actually put together~

Ok, so the basic premise of my theory has been that “We are going to be causing the next calamity/disaster due to our will to adventure”. With how things ended with Dawntrail, it has gotten me even more excited for this idea and I think we have a pretty good setup for it as well. I’ll have research and notes down below for anyone that wants to dive in with me, but I keep thinking about this and getting ideas/thoughts.

SO, to start with, the biggest part and reason why I think this will happen is because we were given this magical mcguffin and told “No one knows what it does, but I guess it responds to strong feelings?” and kinda just given it. SO, what is that magical Mcguffin? What does it really do? Lets see if we can theorize~
1. Magical Mcguffin seems to have Azem’s crystal mark display during one of the ending cutscenes during MSQ. (can't ever get pictures to work on here, but feel free to look it up for reference)

I find this to be really interesting. First of all, we have been using this crystal for some pretty fantastical things. I mean, we can call down other Warriors from other times/places to come and fight with us for moments of need. That is….I mean huge. I could dive into a full paper just about the fact that we can just do this, but if interdimensional travel and gates are as protected and feared as they are, then this little stone is a freaking a-bomb!

So what does that mean for the Chalice? Does it hold the same power? Well, no I don’t think so but we can also start to see what sort of direction Azem was going with their plans of surviving the Sundering (maybe even further…i.e something worse then sundering). It seems to be almost wanting a peaceful way to bring realms together, almost like they were searching for the “Perfect merger”. Lets say, for example, that the power the chalice gave the Alexandrites WASN’T random, what if opening interdimensional travel was always the use for this device? If that was the case, it just did exactly what it was designed to do, but the Alexandrites did not have the knowledge to actually use the device properly. When it was used, it was because 2 parents wanted to save their child and had hope that they would survive in a new world, arguably the last form of hope that could have been “made” during that time. Even when Sphene uses the Chalice during the last moments, it’s when she is the most passionate after lifetimes of existence.

Now on the other hand, lets take more of what people say at face value, what if the Chalice is just a key? Ok, then what does this key open/use? It cannot be this teleporter design from the Alexandrites, but rather something older/thought of to be more reliable. I do not believe Azem would want us to have an imperfect means of merging reflections to the source, but is there a better answer? Could this be why Emet was so insistent for us to follow Azem’s legacy? I don’t think he would know of the existence of such a device, but, he might know that “Azem was on the precipice of finding an answer”.

Now lets talk about the Interdimensional travel that we are getting to see more of in this world. First of all, what is interdimensional travel? Well, different FF games has handled it a bit differently, but at it’s core it seems to follow this example from FFV – “The Interdimensional Rift represents the space between dimensions and is where the Void was sealed. Exdeath came to the Interdimensional Rift to seek its power.” (source - https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki...inal_Fantasy_V) ).

SO, in this example, it is how Exdeath was able to harness the void in this game. In the same page though, it references this place as the “void” and “part of a connective dimension through which other parts of the Fianl Fantasy multiverse can be reached”. Granted, this gets into weird thoughts/theories from people on how the games are all tied together, but I think the takeaway is the fact that Rifts have been apart of the rich history of FF and, while it has different interpretations, it always seems to follow the ”this is a place outside from your dimensions/all others”.

So, what is the portal/rift in FFXIV all about? It warps time, space, and does it in a pretty dramatic way. I mean, we didn’t take a ton of time getting into that rift and almost a literal lifetime passed between locations. It also does this without just straight up causing a disaster from the flooding of aether, so it seems to “cut off” the new location from the old. It almost seems that, instead of just straight up merging the 2 locations, it just simply took all of the aether from one location and just dumps it into a “bin” in another location (my thoughts is because of the new weather pattern in the rift plus the fact that the the land didn’t change aside from “properties” and people). We know that their big machine mainframe also makes the jump, but it is also powered by and is nothing but Aether from what I can gather. This electrope thing just seems to be a special rock that manipulates aether, so it may not be a far cry from saying that it behaves like aether as well (probably a reach, but theorizing). We already know that they were playing with storing souls and containing memories, which is also the only limitation of people like the scions to be able to travel to other reflections so I could also see how moving a reflection from one spot to the source could work out a bit this way. I really don’t think that it is just taking 2 places and making them 1, I don’t think we would see as dramatic as changes as we do with it now that we do.

Phew! Well, 2 big things talked about but now lets tie things together a bit~ First of all, it is my belief that the Chalice is nothing more then a way to travel as it bears Azem’s symbol and seems to be primarily used for traveling means. This COULD mean that it is meant for this kind of portal travel, but I think it is meant to be something closer to how WoL’s can be summoned from different realms/dimensions from across time/space. BUT, I think it is a very imperfect form of travel and meant to be used WITH something so you can move more then just a person with it. What that something is could vary but I don’t think it generally matters as nobody knows about it. I think we are going to try to use the mcguffin without knowing the ramifications.

So why do I think we will cause a calamity? With everything that has been mentioned, it almost seems like we are going to allow for our “want to adventure” to become so great, that we open up the worst nightmare the source has ever faced. Rejoinings/Calamities are ‘nothing more’ (simplification) then aether flooding from a reflection onto the first, which causes all sorts of disasters/death/destruction that it essentially resets life on both (well, survivors make it out but they are left with a dead land/destruction to deal with).

So what happens if we just happen to really really want to go to any other reflection for that matter, what would happen? And then, what if Wuk Lamat saw us do this? What if the scions did/other people and come to the conclusion of “yes, this adventurer has done a ton for us, but if they are just a walking bomb…..what then?”. We already know that the people were willing to just end people who used to be under the primals influence, so we already know the Scions are willing of that much. Plus, Wuk Lamat’s character would get some interesting moments of “what are you doing to my people?”

[Carin-Eri]

*Snip due to text limitation*

So why do I think we will cause a calamity? With everything that has been mentioned, it almost seems like we are going to allow for our “want to adventure” to become so great, that we open up the worst nightmare the source has ever faced. Rejoinings/Calamities are ‘nothing more’ (simplification) then aether flooding from a reflection onto the first, which causes all sorts of disasters/death/destruction that it essentially resets life on both (well, survivors make it out but they are left with a dead land/destruction to deal with).

Interesting thoughts!

In fact, your theory regarding the Warrior of Light reminds me of Goku in Dragonball Super - when his overwhelming need to face new challenges/fight stronger people prompted the so-called "Tournament of Power" where it was clearly stated that the only universe that would survive would be the one that achieved victory in said tournament.

[LyraShu]

Interesting thoughts!

In fact, your theory regarding the Warrior of Light reminds me of Goku in Dragonball Super - when his overwhelming need to face new challenges/fight stronger people prompted the so-called "Tournament of Power" where it was clearly stated that the only universe that would survive would be the one that achieved victory in said tournament.

That is kinda funny, I didn't even think of that but you are right! I guess I feel in love with the idea of the Hero turning into a zero and having to rebuild their reputation. I am laughing about the similarities though haha

[Basteala]

I would be very surprised if we caused a Calamity, but I strongly suspect that we're going to be thrust into a situation where a Calamity (or more accurately, a Flood), is a very real risk or we go to a shard where a flood has happened--again. Alexandria makes it clear enough that other shards were certainly being primed for rejoining and us beating the Ascians has put them all in dire peril.

So in terms of causing a Flood, in a weird indirect way, we may all already have.

[Luzzu]

Something I noted in our player character's dialogue, as well as the dialogue of our fellow Scions, is that no one except the Alexandrians thinks their soul system is okay. Some even express disgust or claim it's unnatural, which is an extreme reaction and seemingly odd in a story that explored cultural differences and acceptance as a theme. With the plot suggestions from the raid cutscenes, it's clear now if it wasn't before that their soul system has a dark side.

I think what we'll find, though, is that while their methods are problematic for a number of reasons, it has a broader impact on the Lifestream. Think about it: aether is supposed to continuously flow. When it stopped flowing in the Ancients' time, the Final Days occurred. When aether is processed and stored by Alexandria, it is separated from the Lifestream. It does not go back until the souls are expended and even then, I don't think we can be certain that the Arcadion fighters, as an example, aren't completely expending this aether when they transform. The aether they store is "cleansed" and the memories discarded, but how and to where?

The Rift is sometimes described as the space between worlds but it's connected to them via the Lifestream. Where the story might also be heading is towards a story wherein the Lifestream itself is compromised, as Elidibus foreshadows that something is wrong as he is dispersing in the aetherial sea.

Lastly, the chalice or Azem's relic cannot just be a means to travel. We see it used to manipulate two different sections of space and time, for one, and Sphene also uses it to transform. Whatever it is, it's probably related to auracite, like the Heart of Sabik but on a different level altogether.