Thread: Revelations from Patch 7.4: Into the Mist

MSQ:

I should have taken notes the other day when I'd done the first part. I have probably forgotten a couple of things.

THE ENDING

Firstly, a couple of links I meant to share in the 7.3 discussion but misplaced for a while: an interesting Reddit post from 7.3 that draws some connections that are coming back now. Most relevantly, a connection between Halmarut (associated with plants) and the goddess Demeter, hinted at in 7.3 by the name Demetrius -- so perhaps we can assume that Halmarut has been involved with Preservation for a while. A separate discussion proposed that the then-mysterious Ascian might have been acting as the simulant Sphene too, rather than that being just a creation of Calyx, in which case for all Halmarut's quirky presentation here, she's already been acting as a competent villain against us.

It's curious that we now have a second example of a "green" Au Ra after Varshahn (though he just had green horns, not scales as well). Can we assume there's a whole clan of them somewhere? Though on the other hand both characters are "fakes" and Halmarut may have just made it look like that because she liked the colour scheme or something.

Halmarut's rambling seems to confirm to me that the term "Winterers" is metaphorical: withdrawing to a safe place to "outlast the great withering to come", indicating that this coming disaster is something temporary to be waited out -- but then that doesn't really seem to add up with the "world doomed to die" talk which suggests a more final destruction. Though maybe if the world dies it rejoins automatically, and that's what the Ascians wanted... but as Fandaniel indicated, the individual remaining Ascians are free of the Ancients' goal now. So what does Halmarut want? And why not approach us to warn us if we're genuinely endangering the world?


RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

They let Sphene be healer for duty support! I hope they fixed that for the Meso Terminal too.

It was cute that G'raha talked about Lyna, but also kind of odd because (once we were told we have to drink the medicine) I was anticipating a different reference back to when Chessamile forced us to take something similar, and I'm pretty sure she said something about having to force the Exarch to take it too. Though I suppose Lyna probably teamed up with her on that front.

Treno character outfits are an odd mix of different styles. Lumull and Eyaney in modern-looking Everseeker gear, but most of the others are in a mix of the new tome sets, Heirloom aiming top, Crested, and (another vibe again) the Mistic mage sets which seemed out of place and Turali-looking among the designs of last patch's dungeon sets and still don't seem like they fit in here. Is it supposed to be from some other FFIX culture? Also interesting that Miyali's costume is the one Historia set that had people saying "why is this here, it's not based on any FFIX character" -- I wonder if it was, at the time, sneaking in a design that they wanted to use for this NPC in the future.

There was a random unnamed character in white and red crafter gear who was playing with a dog on the farm earlier, and then at the end was on the main street apparently searching for a dodo, while down by the canal there was another character with a dodo. It could all just be a simple "the farm animals ran away when the monsters invaded the field" thing, but it seems like it could be a reference to something else.

And replies to other MSQ posts:

Originally Posted by RedLolly

Things that stuck out to me from MSQ:

G'raha casually talking about Lyna and waxing nostalgic over the Crystarium and his time on the First in a positive way is nice. How disgusting was that syrup Lyna forced on him that he compares it to "sin" when the guy's only dropped a single swear in his entire existence with us (during CT, btw).

"Sin" isn't a swear word, and "____ as sin" is an established phrase just meaning "very _____".

I don't recall him swearing during CT either, so I'm assuming it was something minor.

Originally Posted by Cilia

I'm not all that disappointed by Halmarut since we knew the Ascians were back in play after 7.3. I'm just... irritated she's doing the "If you knew what I know, we'd be on the same page" shtick Elidibus did back in 2.1, and this time entirely offscreen except in front of Calyx. She's understandably wary of us given our resumé, but you can't expect us to change onto the "right" course without even knowing what we're doing "wrong," let alone how to fix it. It's the usual "don't tell us anything and then blame us for not knowing" bit that's just... worn by this point.

Yes, that's my feeling too. It's no good muttering to herself about how the world is doomed if we don't change course, if she doesn't intend to warn us about our current course.

We know that Azem created a series of concepts (fourteen of them, to be precise) meant to ease the burden of travel. Perhaps the Key is a modified version of one of those crystals. Or perhaps another one. Perhaps it was Azem's answer to the Final Days, as we know they were working on something.

Originally Posted by Geriel

We know that Azem created a series of concepts (fourteen of them, to be precise) meant to ease the burden of travel.

Where was that said? I don't recall it.

Originally Posted by Cleretic

I don't think the Key and Azem could have even existed concurrently, at least not in a way that is in any way relevant or worthwhile to us. Because the shards didn't exist when they did, so a means to travel between them would have been worthless. Real 'can opener invented before the can' energy, only somehow dumber.


Also, an interesting thing worth recalling: back when Azem's symbol appeared, we were assuming that 'the Key' was the entire apparatus, both the crystal and the chalice it was held in; back then a huge root for the theory that the Ancients made it was that it spirals and they're the only civilization that really does spirals. But, now we know that's wrong: 7.3 confirmed for us that the Key is just the crystal, and the chalice was some kind of additional system added on by Preservation; to this day we don't have a great idea what the chalice is doing, save that--again, going by Preservation's track record--it seems to be working.

Given that knowledge, can we be on any level certain that the Key made the Azem symbol, and not the chalice?

There's always the 'it's Auracite' angle. And yeah, I have considered that it could be the electrope chalice that produced the Azem symbol.

Originally Posted by Iscah

"Sin" isn't a swear word, and "____ as sin" is an established phrase just meaning "very _____".

I don't recall him swearing during CT either, so I'm assuming it was something minor.

It's a very old scene.

The one instant of G'raha swearing is during the cutscene after completing Syrcus Tower. After the WoL comes out of an Echo vision during the clone's attacking the group, he runs over and yells at you to get it together, only to then get hit with one of the pain attacks he would get from the Royal eye back then. He shouts, "Damn it, not now!”

I guess for me, it feels like G'raha is swearing while using a rather extreme description because he never does. It's also just another layer on the running gag of how bad Crystarium (and Sharlayan) food is while G'raha himself is a foodie AND G'raha tendency to abuse energy drinks over just sleeping.

It's also curious to use "sin" as a negative moniker when it was usually used on the First as a way to describe normal, natural people and things.

I don't trust The Key, especially after Miayli's words of caution. I don't think Azem made The Key, but I do think they may have been in possession of it at some point. If that's the case, then I think what happened with them in the past is repeating itself now with the Warrior of Light.

Some speculation

Miayli told us that info about The Key is back in Alexandria, and so I think we're gonna learn about where the Millala are originally from before settling the South Sea Isles, and where they got The Key, and that will be the setting for 8.0.

I have a question.

I've been skimming through the story and not really taking in any of the finer details, so if this is totally off the table for reasons we've already been told please correct me. But is there a possibility that the "key" and its powers of interdimensional fusion (I think it's called?) was potentially Azem's answer to the problem of the Final Days and the Sundering? We know they disappeared and that they "sought to defy fate in their own way," and I find it interesting that it's termed "dimensional fusion" when it's being referred to as an object that supposedly enables travel, particularly since fusing dimensions is surely the reversal of creating and dispersing dimensions, or shards, as the Sundering did? It seems to me more that the existing Alexandria fused itself with the Source, particularly considering the remnants of the old city still remain, or am I misreading another pluck and drop as with the Crystal Tower? Environs seem much harder to "travel" through dimensions than a single building, though, and the way we have parts of Yyasulani with parts of the Ninth feels again more like a "fusion" to me, but like I said I haven't been keeping up with the current lore and theories at all and could be way off base, lol.

Originally Posted by Lunaxia

I have a question.

I suppose this would be possible, although there are a few things to consider:

1. This would imply that Azem knew of Venat's plans to sunder reality (either he was told or he predicted the future), but then why would he/she create a device that undoes the sundering? Maybe to rejoin the shards safely after Meteion was dead?

2. For all we know, the term "key of interdimensional fusion" was created by Preservation, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's its primary function. In fact, no one knows its origins or its secrets.

3. Alexandria did indeed fuse with the source, in 7.0 G'raha describes the phenomenon as a "localized rejoining".

Originally Posted by Cassar

I suppose this would be possible, although there are a few things to consider:

1. Potentially. I mean, IIRC Venat's faction did reach out to Azem but received no response, so it wouldn't be surprising if they did know. Both sides were at an impasse, and it's been hinted Azem had the gift of foresight. Perhaps they saw things coming to ahead - either through a premonition or simply assuming the worst - and put their own plans into motion in the case of a Sundering, so that all wasn't completely lost?

2. Ah, okay.

3. ...that gives me even more pause for thought. It's true that everything remains a mystery surrounding the key, but Azem's symbol combined with that particular ability is very interesting. Though I suppose they could have conceived of the idea for some other, unknown (but possibly related) cause that might be coming up, especially as SE has seemed reluctant to have the Sundering be second-guessed in any way. I'd be surprised if they suggested that an iteration of our character had a problem with it.