Revelations from Patch 7.2: Seekers of Eternity

[SannaR]

For what it's worth (M8 Boss)

He's like 90% Custom Robo, with a tiny sprinkling of LBX Fenrir because Yoshi-P and Akihiro Hino are besties. No Gundams were harmed in the making of this mech.

To me he just reminded me of a G Gundam fighter if the Gundam helmet showed the face of the fighter that was piloting it.

[mallleable]

Speculating what Calyx knows

I've been speculating non-Ascian involved ways for Calyx to know about the reflections, and it might just simply be from studying the Milala as their souls would have been denser compared to everyone else. So he could have run experiments to see it it could be possible to 'thin' a soul, and then extrapolate how much more dense an Alexandrian soul could potentially be. However it doesn't explain how he know his reflection is The Ninth. I just think it would be much more interesting , and it would sell him as a genius if he figured this all out for himself instead of just 'an Ascian told him.'

[Levinphos]

Regarding Naming Conventions

Though the usage of minerals in Eldite and Hyune names is a dominant trend, I think it is inaccurate to call it the only trend. Names such as Calyx (from κάλυξ, meaning "case of a bud, husk"), Hector, Nostalgia (from νόστος+ἄλγος, meaning "returning home" + "pain"), and Otis (from ὠτίς, meaning "Bustard," a type of bird) suggest that there might be another, perhaps older, trend of Alexandrian names with Greek influences. That Sphene recognizes Calyx by name tells us it is not a new moniker taken by him after interactions he may or may not have had with Ascians. Additionally, Alexandria itself derives from Alexander, a Greek name (and one of historical note at that).

Zelenia might also be a variation upon Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon.

[Cassar]

Some of my thoughts on the stories

Arcadion

I think the story so far is alright, but one thing that still bothers me is how low stakes it seems to be compared to other ones. Other raids typically have some world ending threat - Bahamut, Alexander, Omega, etc.

We don't know who the President is, and this is the only thing that I'm looking forward to finding out. Whoever he is, however, he doesn't seem to be a huge threat to anyone other than the competitors themselves. A friend of mine had a nice theory that he might be Manderville's shard from the ninth

Other than that the only issue I have is the deal with Eutrope. So she wanted to kill us not to save herself but... Her boyfriend? Ex-boyfriend? If it was a family member like her little sister or mother I could understand but I'm not buying this story. Unless I miss something this just seems very weak and I don't quite see the point of it.

MSQ

I like what they're doing with Sphene and Calyx seems like a good villain, here's hoping he doesn't just die in 7.3 and never comes back (that would be absolutely awful.)

The "post credit" scene didn't give us much, but I was really looking forward to finding people theorizing about what this "question" is that Calyx is referring to, but it seems no one's talking about that

I am very very bothered by the fact that at the very end of last patch Y'shtola said "I'll get into studying the key immediately" and then proceeds to not do that at all and instead say the same thing at the end of this patch. Like... At this point it feels like this key is going to be a lead up to 8.0? Because there's no way the key is a plot point only for 7.3 and then goodbye, right?

Also, very interesting that they decided to completely forget everything about the first half of dawntrail. Honestly Kozamauka, Urqopatcha and that Mamook zone feel like they were in a different expansion. I can't say I dislike this, because to me the futuristic stuff is a million times more interesting, but I do fear that by doing this it's going to make Dawntrail age even worse by completely further undermining everything we did in part 1.

As a final note, it becomes more clear than ever in this patch that the writers are taking feedback into account. Wuk Lamat was pushed out of so many scenes: She went away to "explain" how to move out of Solution Nine to Milos' mom (this one in particular was so obvious) to give more space to Alisaie and Milos; She stayed back to aid someone who was hurt during the attack; She stayed talking to some random NPC while we were giving Sphene a tour of the city, multiple times in fact. If this was 7.0 MSQ you know for a fact that she would be right next to us every step of the way. Perhaps the "focusing on second half of Dawntrail and forgetting everything else" is also part of taking feedback into account, but the former was very evident to me.

[Cidel]

For what it's worth (M8 Boss)

He's like 90% Custom Robo, with a tiny sprinkling of LBX Fenrir because Yoshi-P and Akihiro Hino are besties. No Gundams were harmed in the making of this mech.

omg, I'm glad somebody else thought so too about him looking like something out of that obscure N64/Gamecube game.

And Dancing "Greeninja" and M6's obvious Splatoon expy.

I hope Yoshi's besties with Nintendo too given the recent copyright warpath they've been on over Palworld. (I kid, ...mostly).

[Iscah]

Regarding Naming Conventions

Though the usage of minerals in Eldite and Hyune names is a dominant trend, I think it is inaccurate to call it the only trend. Names such as Calyx (from κάλυξ, meaning "case of a bud, husk"), Hector, Nostalgia (from νόστος+ἄλγος, meaning "returning home" + "pain"), and Otis (from ὠτίς, meaning "Bustard," a type of bird) suggest that there might be another, perhaps older, trend of Alexandrian names with Greek influences. That Sphene recognizes Calyx by name tells us it is not a new moniker taken by him after interactions he may or may not have had with Ascians. Additionally, Alexandria itself derives from Alexander, a Greek name (and one of historical note at that).

Zelenia might also be a variation upon Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon.

There's no "dominant trend" of minerals in Hyune names – I had previously wrote that Sphene is the sole example, although I have since remembered Geode. Perhaps there are one or two others I'm forgetting, but for the most part it is only Eldites that use mineral names.

I don't have my compiled list of character names on hand, but the Greek-origin names are very much the standard for Hume, not an alternative.

Specifically regarding Otis, I've seen a few different etymologies suggested but the most likely is Outis (Οὔτις) meaning "nobody" or "no one".

[Dikatis]

Regarding Naming Conventions

Though the usage of minerals in Eldite and Hyune names is a dominant trend, I think it is inaccurate to call it the only trend. Names such as Calyx (from κάλυξ, meaning "case of a bud, husk"), Hector, Nostalgia (from νόστος+ἄλγος, meaning "returning home" + "pain"), and Otis (from ὠτίς, meaning "Bustard," a type of bird) suggest that there might be another, perhaps older, trend of Alexandrian names with Greek influences. That Sphene recognizes Calyx by name tells us it is not a new moniker taken by him after interactions he may or may not have had with Ascians. Additionally, Alexandria itself derives from Alexander, a Greek name (and one of historical note at that).

Zelenia might also be a variation upon Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon.

Regarding the trial boss, her name can be a variation on selenite, a form of mineral whose sandy-colored variations are called "Desert Rose" due to it growing in clusters resembling newly blooming roses, going hand-in-hand with her rose motif.

[Levinphos]

Inspired me to make my own catalog for Eldite and Hyune NPCs. Likely missed a few, but it shows the big picture.

Hyune Names:

Greek
* Amaryllis (Solution Nine NPC; from ἀμαρύσσω, "sparkle, shine")
* Cadmus (Solution Nine NPC; from κάδμος, mythological figure)
* Calyx (MSQ NPC; from κάλυξ, "case of a bud, husk")
* Corinna (Solution Nine NPC; from κόρη, "maiden")
* Delia (Solution Nine NPC; derived from an epithet of Artemis)
* Dorian (Heritage Found NPC; from Δωριεῖς, a Greek people)
* Eirene (Solution Nine NPC; from εἰρήνη, "peace")
* Eleni (Solution Nine NPC; from Ελένη, Helen)
* Eliana (Living Memory NPC; from Ηλιάνα)
* Elias (Heritage Found NPC; from Ἠλίας)
* Erastus (Living Memory NPC; from ἐραστός, "lovable")
* Filomena (Solution Nine NPC; from φίλος+ménos, "friend of strength")
* Hector (Arcadion NPC; from Ἕκτωρ, mythological figure)
* Isadora (Solution Nine NPC; from Ἶσις+δῶρον, "gift of Isis")
* Larissa (Solution Nine NPC; from Λάρισα, mythological figure)
* Leander (Solution Nine NPC; from Λέανδρος, mythological figure)
* Melody (Solution Nine NPC; from μελῳδία)
* Milos (Solution Nine NPC; from Μῆλος, a Greek island)
* Myron (Living Memory NPC; from Μύρων, an ancient Greek sculptor)
* Nostalgia (MSQ NPC; from νόστος+ἄλγος, "returning home" + "pain")
* Otis (MSQ NPC; possibly from Οὔτις, "no one")
* Petra (Living Memory NPC; from πέτρα, "rock")
* Philomon (Solution Nine NPC; variation of Philemon, from Φιλήμων, "kindly")
* Rhoa (Living Memory NPC; possibly from ῥόα, "pomegranate")
* Rhodina (Living Memory NPC; from ῥόδον, "rose")
* Tassos (Solution Nine NPC; variant of Αναστάσιος, "resurrection")
* Theone (Solution Nine NPC; possible variant of Θεία, "goddess")
* Theron (Solution Nine NPC; from Θήρων, "knot")

Latin
* Flavian (Living Memory NPC)
* Ilia (Living Memory NPC)

Mineral
* Geode (MSQ NPC)
* Sphene (MSQ NPC)

Ambiguous/Other/Unknown
* Basil (Living Memory NPC)
* Constancy (Living Memory NPC)
* Genolt (Solution Nine NPC)
* Karisa (Solution Nine NPC)
* Neon (Solution Nine NPC)
* Petal (Heritage Found NPC)
* Zale (Solution Nine NPC)

Eldite Names:

Mineral
* Beryl (Solution Nine NPC)
* Covellite (Living Memory NPC)
* Cinnabar (Heritage Found NPC)
* Feldspar (Solution Nine NPC)
* Gabbro (Solution Nine NPC)
* Ganister (Solution Nine NPC)
* Gossan (MSQ NPC)
* Malachite (Heritage Found NPC)
* Sapphire (Living Memory NPC)
* Shale (MSQ NPC)
* Skarn (Living Memory NPC)
* Unakite (Solution Nine NPC)
* Zircon (Solution Nine NPC)

Other
* Strika (Heritage Found NPC)

Didn't find any Hyune named after minerals other than Geode and Sphene. Geode's name could be easily explained by 400 years of cultural contact resulting in borrowed naming conventions, but I would want at least one more contemporary example to be confident about that. Sphene's name likely has a more significant explanation.

[Cilia]

Arcadion: Cruiserweight

Well, that was about usual for the middle of a raid tier. Little forward action. Fun fights - mostly (M3 was a bit of a pain), story wasn't much but a bunch of people being very stupid, and the lack of a minion is disappointing. (I did get the funky shades on my first go though so that's cool, especially after I didn't get the Nano Lord until the week before 7.2 dropped.)

Considering the President knows where this "Drop of Life" is it suggests they have access to it, which raises the question of why it's not being used for psychonekrosis already. Part of me can't help but feel like it's all part of this "season's" kayfabe; like they already knew about it and actually do cure the illness, and the talk about some nefariousness going on with the President is entirely due to Eutrope learning about it and going off-script, which has snowballed into this mess. Maybe. We'll see. In spite of the high stakes that psychonekrosis introduced this is still entertainment, and kayfabe often extends to "backstage" stuff after all.

Did not think Howling Blade bore a resemblance to any particular mecha series. I've put together dozens of Gundam models (I'm really liking the MGSDs, I love the MGEX Strike Freedom I put together during Hurricane Helene, and the Cal-Re.A is pretty sweet too) so I know a thing or two; other than the detachable drones (funnels) I didn't see much resemblance.

[Iscah]

Character names for all the S9 races (not that we were talking about Milalla but I might as well throw them in):

Hyune

Female

Amaryllis
Corinna
Delia
Eirene
Eleni
Eliana
Eutrope (Hhetsarro but noted to have taken an Alexandrian name)
Filomena
Ilia
Isadora
Karisa
Larisa
Melancholy (Shetona but seems to be following Hyune names)
Melody
Nostalgia
Petal
Petra
Rhoa
Rhodina (Rowena shard)
Sphene
Theone
(?) Zelenia


Male

Ambrose
Atticus
Basil
Cadmus
Constancy
Dorian
Elias
Erastus
Flavian
Genolt (Gerolt shard)
Geode
Hector
Leander
Lithander
Milos
Myron
Neon
Otis
Philomon
Tassos
Theron
Zale
Zander

Eldite

Female

Beryl
Covellite
Sapphire
Shale
Strika - I'm not sure whether this is meant to be a name or actually a title/role ("Striker")
Unakite


Male

Cinnabar
Euclase (odd one out with a Hyune name; found in Living Memory and may only be catalogued as "fair-haired man")
Feldspar
Gabbro
Ganister
Gossan
Malachite
Skarn
Zircon

Milalla

Female

Alayla
Mozeo
Maya
Rinuri
Saralla
Ubuyu


Male

Ketek
Kunuk
Metem
Monom
Phiniph
Robor
Tokot
Tonot