The Warrior of Light rejoined

[Carin-Eri]

That's why I'm so excited for 8.0. I'd like us to finally follow in Azem's footsteps, to see what he was doing in the final days other than being on Aloalo (you know, for the key), unless Aloalo is his final destination...

After all, it's not like we've been teased with Meracydia for a while now. I'm mainly talking about the Azeyma symbols on the Meracydian ruins in Azys Lla, or even the possibility that if Meracydia is based on a strong Egyptian cultural influence, we could see the connection with the sun (Azem's crystal + Azeyma's affinity and his own symbol).

Bonus points if there are still descendants of the Allagans in Meracydia, but not classic citizens, but rather resistance groups affiliated with Phlegeton who stayed to help rebuild the continent and repair the damage caused by the war.

Not to mention that Tiamat likely returned there and could become part of whatever story could happen there.

[XtremePrime]

I think there's potential for this and would be really cool to meet other shards of Azem, just to maybe give us a glimpse into their adventures, especially after (Shadowbringers and Ardbert), I'd love to see more of that! ❤️

[Nana_Bear]

"HB" tags (think "hidden box") are much better for concealing spoilers.

Thanks! Still getting used to the bells n whistles on here (I'm an old tech-dinosaur, and family who would know were busy and I didn't want to interrupt them). Appreciated!

[BunnyBrat]

So a story where the ascians win?

[Supersnow845]

Why do people think fully rejoining will make the WOL “become” azem as they were before the rejoining

Azem is gone, we are simply his/her largest shard. Fusing with ardbert didn’t in any way overwrite any part of our personality

If we fully rejoined we’d just become an immortal version of our self who is probably taller and has better control over creation magics

[Gwenkatsu]

So a story where the ascians win?

A story where the Ancients never turn into Ascians. No Zodiark -> no servants of the Dark Lord.

But this will never happen, because (quoting Elidibus' words from Hope upon a Flower):

Yet even should you manage to interact with others, you will be unable to effect meaningful change.
For the reality you wish to save—the reality to which you must return—exists as a result of the Final Days.
You cannot reshape the past to undo the tragedies of the present. Cannot unmake the sorrow and suffering fated to come.

Or with other words: Time travel never works as expected. Or unexpected. In the end, it never works.

Except for Graha Tia, who did exactly this (travel into the past to undo the tragedies of the present).

[Onshinn]

Say, do you guys read Harry Potter? Remember how the Hocruxes work? I'd imagine it's similarly like that. You lose Part of your soul, and you'll be a little different and one less of yourselves. But at your sub-conciousness there is always a nagging familiarity in the people and things around... It's like you seem to know it and you don't at the same time.

So maybe that's how the sundering does...Maybe each sundered soul plays a part of its destiny. Maybe Azem already lost the essence of his own soul and part of him plays the bad guy while the part of him plays a good guy.. and that very soul starts combating such great conflict because of it.
And maybe Haedalyn all this while was trying to keep the good part of that soul alive as she once knew... and she was conflicted with such pain and enduring chaos; and she's like eff it... split not just one or two BUT 14 times! Maybe it's why that melancholy look of all these ancients and their stupid vague dialogues; like OH the mystery... drama... cliffhanger... And dun dun dun... next expansion...

[TakoyakiLala]

Bullet points of how I imagine it would go...

1. We reach the part of the story where we become fully rejoined

2. Through the echo of our own memories we merge with our past selves, becoming two Ancients in one ( the Graha treatment )

3. Wake up in Elpis or somewhere else in the old world

4. Find Hermes and convince him not to send his Meteion flock into space

5. Timeline splits

6. We travel with Hermes and our other favorite Acians, around Etheirys and space

7. Explore the 6 worlds we see in The Dead Ends dungeon as well as on Ultima Thule

8. Omicrons could be the big threat

9. Save the dragons home Dragonstar, stop the war between the two factions, cure the disease etc

An idea if they continue the story after the new ten year arc.

This I can actually see happening. I've fully expected the WoL to inevitably become fully rejoined, become Azem and travel back to the past to perform his role in everything that happens in the main timeline.

But I can also see this occurring as well. It would be so cooling the WoL became Azem and wound up helping save the Unsundered Realm!

[Carin-Eri]

This I can actually see happening. I've fully expected the WoL to inevitably become fully rejoined, become Azem and travel back to the past to perform his role in everything that happens in the main timeline.

But I can also see this occurring as well. It would be so cooling the WoL became Azem and wound up helping save the Unsundered Realm!

Mixed feelings about this.

I mean, it would provide one possible explanation regarding how Azem knew exactly when and where we would appear in Elpis (during Endwalker) and was able to advise Themis - he/she had already lived it, and our adventures are leading to a predestination paradox.

Although I hope not. I prefer the air of mystery around Azem and what he/she was doing during the Ancient's final days and don't feel it requires further elaboration.

[Catwho]

The Tales story didn't "create" the branching timeline – that's a logical conclusion of the wider plot. What it does create (and I thoroughly dislike) is that they wrote a happy ending that makes it seem like the entire plot is a waste. The whole point was supposed to be that the other timeline's world had no hope of salvage and all they could do was send G'raha into the past before the aether-killing effects of Black Rose claimed everything.

Now we've got dear Raha mourning lost friends who are actually perfectly fine, and it feels cheap.

"And in deepest despair, light everlasting."

Even that doomed timeline still has people who hope - and if they could figure out how to cobble together a TARDIS with a latent primal and a giant battery, I think they too might have been able to catch on that Black Rose cause stagnant aether and there might be a way to ward against aethereal corruption using dragon scales.

I don't think we are going to get a fully rejoined Azem, though. Will we pick up a few more shards here and there? Quite possibly.

I think instead we're more likely to get what Jesse Cox calls "The Azemgers" where we end up teaming up with another Azem shard or multiples of them, and they remain their own independent persons.

I'll bet a million gil that we eventually do learn what Azem was doing during the Final Days, though, and it's because they were trying to prevent the catastrophe in their own way.