Winterers (interview spoiler and speculation)

[mallleable]

I don't think the 'Winterers' are dealing with a literal winter, but more so a metaphorical one. What their 'winter' could be is a mystery that I don't think we have enough information on.

[Divinemights]

Winterers could be a hidden 3rd faction of Ancients dissidents like Azem, who chose to “winter through” the age of Hydaelyn and Zodiark, and may now be seeking Azem’s scattered legacy (7.3 story)

[Ayan_Calvesse]

Aren't the Telphoroi still rolling out there? I know Fandaniel identified himself as one of them.

[Milea]

My guess is it actually has nothing to do with winter as that would be too on the nose.

Rather it is the meaning of riding out a period of hostile environment or storm somewhere else. The idea of wintering is to go to a place that is warmer cause you don't like the cold bitter winter.
So it doesn't have to be the cold bitter winter, it could any such season that is unappealing or hostile in this context.
Birds fly to warmer places in the winter.

So it could be people from the 9th who went to other shards to escape the lightning flood while they came up with a solution.
Or it could be the other Ascians or Ascian adjacents who didn't like the idea of a rejoining but couldn't stop Emet and co and were hiding from them.

[Ryvick]

Winterers or Snowbirds in the US tend to travel south in the winter to warmer climes. I wouldn't assume its a cold locale.

Perhaps a Rogue Garlean contingent that never went home?

[Khryseis_Astra]

My guess is it actually has nothing to do with winter as that would be too on the nose.

Rather it is the meaning of riding out a period of hostile environment or storm somewhere else. The idea of wintering is to go to a place that is warmer cause you don't like the cold bitter winter.
So it doesn't have to be the cold bitter winter, it could any such season that is unappealing or hostile in this context.
Birds fly to warmer places in the winter.

So it could be people from the 9th who went to other shards to escape the lightning flood while they came up with a solution.
Or it could be the other Ascians or Ascian adjacents who didn't like the idea of a rejoining but couldn't stop Emet and co and were hiding from them.

This is my thought as well… everyone seemed to jump on Emet’s comments about Blindfrost, but like you say, the whole point of being a Winterer is to get away from the cold, and in this case that could either be literal or metaphorical.

I think (and hope) we’re being led south, to Meracydia. There’s a couple different things that point to it, among which is the Milalla involvement in the key that might take us to the South Sea Isles for a more in-depth exploration than we got from Aloalo. From there, it’s a short trip to Meracydia…

Also liked Divinemights’ idea about a 3rd faction of ancients, that may or may not see Azem as an inspiration of sorts, which could lead to some more lore about what Azem was doing during the first Final Days.

[Jeeqbit]

Winterers or Snowbirds in the US tend to travel south in the winter to warmer climes. I wouldn't assume its a cold locale.

That is a good point.

[mallleable]

Winterers or Snowbirds in the US tend to travel south in the winter to warmer climes. I wouldn't assume its a cold locale.

Perhaps a Rogue Garlean contingent that never went home?

Meracydia is the Southern continent. Maybe there are Allagan empire revivalists there.

[Xpejro]

Winterer peers as others said might refer to some kind of migration from worse to better environment.

I might be delusional, but that might mean that somehow ascians from other timeline (in which WoL dies, and G'raha Tia summons Crystal Tower to the First) can't progress with their rejoining plan (or because of alternate timelines they have other plans e.g. something like Fandaniel that life has no meaning and we'll die someday)

After reading this it's stupid theory, but there's possibility that SE might use someday in some expansion that alternate timeline, because it still exists, but as for now It might be better to just wait for 7.4 and 7.5 than trying to deduce what 8.0 will be about, especially when we know nothing of "Winterer peers" intentions (I think that "peers" have slighty different plan than Calyx, and they're just using him for their own purposes)

We know at least that Calyx's primary goal and Winterer peers goal is to reclaim Azem key, but besides traveling between shards we don't know what it's capable of (Maybe it's something similar to the Alexander time travel or Omega's dimension travel)

[Raikai]

After reading the first short story, about Otis and Zelenia, it's heavily implied that other nations may have the electrope technology to make a dome.

So maybe the Winterers could really be other escapees from the Ninth. Treno (like suggested on the short story) or another one. Other surviving nations could not be something known by the Alexandrian ruling body, but an Ascian could probably travel between electrope-made domes, engineering their plan.

Perhaps in the process that had Alexandria merging with the Source, another dome also merged somewhere else, maybe in Blindfrost, so to give their peers the Winterer nickname. 7.4 and 7.5 could be likely exploring the discovery of this fact, and 8.0 we head there.

I just hope - if that's the case - this other nation is not cyberpunk super high tech and more built around magic. Treno in FF9 looks very victorian, and that's a cool aesthetic.