8.0 speculation

**Cleretic** · 04-14-2026 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by Iscah

If they brought natural weather back, it would be clear how much of Heritage Found is just "Shaaloani again with gloom".

Yeha, 'perma lightning storm to the point where they have infrastructure based around it' is about 70% of Heritage Found's whole thing. (The other 30% is Archeo Alexandria.) Fixing the weather would take away its whole identity. And that's even putting aside that it seems like the developers were very intent on it staying that way anyway. That dome of lightning-murder and permanent storm might actually be a really good reason that we cannot 'merge the reflections back into the Source safely without calamities'.

...Not that I'm sure why anybody would want to; ever since Endwalker I've seen people a bunch of people bluntly asserting that we could and should do 'safe Rejoinings', but I have never once seen anyone give a reason why.

**Mansion** · 04-14-2026 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by Cleretic

...Not that I'm sure why anybody would want to; ever since Endwalker I've seen people a bunch of people bluntly asserting that we could and should do 'safe Rejoinings', but I have never once seen anyone give a reason why.

Not feeling we have to visit all shards eventually?
I don't really mean it, but while Shadowbringers was an excellent "Eorzea but different" expansion, seeing this again as an expansion would sure feel redundant I imagine.

Otherwise I agreee, I don't see the point of rejoinings. Even in the original Ascian plan actually. It is not necessarily a plot point, but the Endwalker's Ancients story bits are telling us that "they had it all and it failed anyway", so a fully rejoined Aetherys would not necessarily mean a better world (especially with the death of everyone on each shard; a safe rejoining sounds odd to me because it doesn't seem posible that someone could coexist with different shards of their own ancient soul)

If anything, I'm surprised that the fact the WoL has one shard more (Ardbert's) of their original soul compared to the rest of the people on the Source has not come up in the story ever since. And that we have not encountered our Ninth's soul buddy either (or learnt anything about them). So I sort of came to the conclusion that, at least for now, it does not matter that much in the story.
But this comes back to the discussion we had around January about why Azem would have created the key, and how Azem is a difficult element to write in the story at this point.

**Zero-ELEC** · 04-15-2026 01:45 AM

Originally Posted by Cilia

All we have right now is Halmarut's dialogue with Mica Doll Calyx, which tells us nothing other than "badness is coming." 4.4 really did have more hints, what with the localized deployment of Black Rose, the deaspected crystals Y'shtola found mirroring others from before the Calamity, and the Scions' souls being spirited away by a mysterious voice that left their bodies comatose. We just didn't know how all that led forward until 4.5.5, and it didn't fit together until very early in Shadowbringers itself.

We have more than that, we have knowledge that that "badness" is related to the shards and the "will of the star" in some way, that said "badness" gives an Ascian cause to believe that an entire shard of people will die because of it, that there was an artefact that somehow associated with the seat of Azem that can enable interdimensional travel, that at least one shard (maybe more depending on how literal you took Queen Eternal's representations of "worlds beyond") is suffering from an elemental Calamity-like issue of unclear provenance, that there's a group self-titled "Winterers" that shared cause with Calyx which includes at least one Ascian....

**Cilia** · 04-15-2026 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by Iscah

If they brought natural weather back, it would be clear how much of Heritage Found is just "Shaaloani again with gloom".

Originally Posted by Cleretic

Yeha, 'perma lightning storm to the point where they have infrastructure based around it' is about 70% of Heritage Found's whole thing. (The other 30% is Archeo Alexandria.) Fixing the weather would take away its whole identity. And that's even putting aside that it seems like the developers were very intent on it staying that way anyway.

I mean, certain Watsonian elements preclude the bubble going away (Solution Nine and other electrope tech integral to Alexandria doesn't function otherwise), but when we first set out I did not imagine the bubble would remain indefinitely. These sorts of things usually get fixed after a certain point; dramatic landscape changes are a rare thing, and the eyesore on the skyline and environmental damage that came with it... bother me.

Originally Posted by Cleretic

...Not that I'm sure why anybody would want to; ever since Endwalker I've seen people a bunch of people bluntly asserting that we could and should do 'safe Rejoinings', but I have never once seen anyone give a reason why.

Naturalistic fallacy - pre-Sundering Etheirys was natural and therefore better, so returning it to a complete state is something we "should" do, even though Rejoinings have never been portrayed as a good thing and even the Ascians acknowledged what they were doing was wrong on a subconscious level.

Originally Posted by Zero-ELEC

We have more than that, we have knowledge that that "badness" is related to the shards and the "will of the star" in some way, that said "badness" gives an Ascian cause to believe that an entire shard of people will die because of it, that there was an artefact that somehow associated with the seat of Azem that can enable interdimensional travel, that at least one shard (maybe more depending on how literal you took Queen Eternal's representations of "worlds beyond") is suffering from an elemental Calamity-like issue of unclear provenance, that there's a group self-titled "Winterers" that shared cause with Calyx which includes at least one Ascian....

We have some information but zero context for any of it, and a lot of people keep saying that it's related to Zodiark's death but I have no recollection of that ever being mentioned. Elemental devastation may be occurring on other reflections - my guess is it's a result of either Rejoinings causing elemental destabilization across dimensions as was mentioned to happen to the First / Thirteenth, or more botched Rejoinings - but there's currently not much we can do about it and based on the Ninth and Thirteenth those pose no danger to the Source under normal circumstances. The Key for Interdimensional Fusion's creator and true intended purpose remain a mystery (probably not Azem or any of the rest of the Convocation on account of there being no need for such a thing prior to the Sundering, and the Ascians had no need for such a thing) unless history prior to Amaurot's twilight somehow becomes relevant (which is something we can only speculate on). We know nothing about the "Winterers" other than Calyx is a member or associate of theirs - presumably from their name and Calyx's stated goals, trying to outlast this coming nebulous threat - but that's about it.

No clue what this threat is or what we should be doing differently to mitigate or overcome it. We knew the Ascians were all about Rejoinings (just not why) so had a what, just not a how. We're flying blind this time, with no clue who the antagonists are or what they're trying to achieve. Halmarut did not come across as antagonistic, at least in 7.4, and we already overcame Calyx's masterstroke and came within a hair's breadth of punching his ticket. What are we dealing with and why; and why doesn't Halmarut (or Calyx for that matter) talk with us when we've made it clear we're only too willing to hear our adversaries out, as shown through the Shadowbringers / Endwalker duology?

What is this terrible badness on the way we have to change our ways to stop, and why aren't the people who know of it talking to us?

**VulpinusRex** · 04-15-2026 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by Cilia

We have some information but zero context for any of it, and a lot of people keep saying that it's related to Zodiark's death but I have no recollection of that ever being mentioned.

People say this is referring to Zodiark because of Halmarut's quote:

"It's nature's proclamation, can't you hear it? It echoes in the silence left by the will of the star."

Zodiark has been referred to as "the will of the star" several times ever since Shadowbringers, and it does come to reason that killing something so pivotal to the cosmogony of the Source and their reflections would have adverse side-effects. It really could only be Zodiark or Hydealyn but I believe that the fact that both of them are gone is what truly leads to the 'Withering'.

I do agree with everything else you've said though. We have very precious little information about the future, and comparatively to previous expansions we genuinely are being kept in the dark with no significant 'hints' whatsoever.

My worry is that what would otherwise be built up since x.4 will now all have to fall to 7.5 and 7.55 to lead us to 8.0, and I honestly don't think they'll be able to sufficiently build up the expansion in what will essentially be roughly 15 quests at most.

I believe that the lead up to an expansion is what truly builds up the hype and XIV is in a bit of a rough spot atm where people are holding their reservations for the game and tempering their expectations a lot. So idk how well it will serve them to move the plot so slow but, well... I guess ARR did well enough with the Bloody Banquet of 2.55 (even though Ishgard had ample build up even before that), so I suppose they might be able to pull something off...

**Cleretic** · 04-15-2026 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by VulpinusRex

People say this is referring to Zodiark because of Halmarut's quote:

"It's nature's proclamation, can't you hear it? It echoes in the silence left by the will of the star."

Zodiark has been referred to as "the will of the star" several times ever since Shadowbringers, and it does come to reason that killing something so pivotal to the cosmogony of the Source and their reflections would have adverse side-effects. It really could only be Zodiark or Hydealyn but I believe that the fact that both of them are gone is what truly leads to the 'Withering'.

Specifically the logic for Zodiark is that, because Halmarut is an Ascian, she would still have been giving that title to Zodiark as they see Hydaelyn's claim to that title as illegitimate.

I think that logic is pretty thin to raise up as the default, because it makes a lot of assumptions about Halmarut and her thought processes that are not necessarily true; we don't know if she's a 'party line' Ascian like Emet-Selch or something closer to Fandaniel or Mitron, we don't know what exact circumstances she's responding to, we don't even know what the role of 'the will of the star' is/was.

There's a few equally possible ideas here:

She was referring to Hydaelyn and just preferred to go for the title,
that it does not matter who the will of the star was, the point is that there's not one now and that's going to cause problems,
or that she is lying or bending the truth, and scapegoating a conveniently dead entity that can't speak out against her.

We do not know why she used 'the will of the star' specifically, or what she's exactly responding to, so people deciding that she's referring to Zodiark simply because she was in the Zodiark Clubhouse is just jumping to conclusions and potentially leading themselves down a false path.

...also, it actually occurs to me that I'm not sure the Ascians EVER called Zodiark 'the will of the star' when discussing the present day. There's a lot of Ascian speeches for me to sift through in confirm that and Gamer Escape's search is currently playing up which prevents me from just searching for the string, but the only time I can see it ever said by an Ascian is Emet-Selch when talking about his actual summoning in the Qitana Ravel; post-sundering I can only find it used as a title to describe Hydaelyn. I can't find any evidence that they still refer to Zodiark as 'the will of the star' and that they don't instead treat it as a title held by someone else. The Ascians' preferred title for Zodiark is actually 'the one true god', which is admittedly mostly an ARR title; more often they just use his name.

**Zero-ELEC** · Yesterday 01:38 AM

Originally Posted by Cilia

*snip*

Right, which is what I think 7.5 is gonna address give the Warrior of Light is seen with mu toy-Calyx in one of the screenshots. My point was we have more than nothing, just... maybe not as much as last few times.

Originally Posted by Cleretic

*snip*

Here's all times I could find talking about the "will of the star", using xiv.quest:

Originally Posted by "The Burden of Knowledge" quest

Emet-Selch: Until it was faced with a crisis. Unprecedented, terrifying. Civilization found itself perched upon a precipice, staring into oblivion.
Emet-Selch: But through prayer and sacrifice, the will of the star was made manifest.
Emet-Selch: Zodiark was His name, and by His grace was the calamity averted.

Originally Posted by "A Greater Purpose" quest

Alphinaud: All this time... But if they still mean to enact this plan, then things won't end with the Rejoining...
Y'shtola: ...Aye, I thought we knew their intentions in full: restore the world to its former glory, and, in turn, empower Zodiark to reclaim His throne as the will of the star.
Y'shtola: Yet that was merely a step along the way. I hesitate to put it into words, but we have to assume that following the final Rejoining, the Ascians mean to draw on the lives of the Source to make their sacrifice to Zodiark.

Originally Posted by "Facing the Truth" quest

Theyler: That's impossible! You should be dead...
Ardbert (Elidibus): Aye, that I should. But as the world has been given new life, so too have I.
Ardbert (Elidibus): I know not why I, and I alone, have been gifted this chance. But I do know this: only by the will of the star itself could such a miracle come to pass.
Ardbert (Elidibus): The hero who stands before you now─the Warrior of Darkness─is not of this world. And the day will come when [she] must return to [her] home.
Ardbert (Elidibus): But this land is our home. And if it is to remain so, now and forevermore, it is we who must protect it.

Originally Posted by "The Martyr" quest

Spirit: We must return and be made whole!
Spirit: We are the will of the star, now and forever!
Spirit: For the greater good! For the sake of the world!
Fandaniel: Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Lies and delusion!

Originally Posted by "Her Children, One and All" quest

Hydaelyn: Nigh impossible is it to send mortals to the edge of the universe. Should you fail, there will be no second chance.
Hydaelyn: As the will of the star, I ask of you this...
Hydaelyn: Do you possess the fortitude to stand firm when all around you doth crumble? Do you possess the faith to vanquish despair itself?
[...]
Hydaelyn: Yes, my child.
Hydaelyn: Ever since I became the will of the star, the aether drawn here hath slowly crystallized.
Hydaelyn: They who have answered my call know it well.

Originally Posted by The Mothercrystal duty description

Goddess of Light. Will of the star. Hydaelyn. From the far reaches of the aetherial sea has She ever called to you...and at last you meet face-to-face. Though the Scions would traverse the great expanse in search of Meteion to forestall the Final Days, you must first rise to meet Her challenge and prove yourselves equal to the task.

Originally Posted by "The Secret of the Twelve" quest

Omphalos monument: As beings who endure by the will of the star, we are susceptible to the influence of hopes and prayers. Thus do we commit our yokes herein, lest we stray from our purpose.
[...]
Krile: I'm inclined to agree with Raha.
Krile: The gods wrote that they endure by “the will of the star.”
Krile: Who that refers to, we all know too well.
Krile: Hydaelyn.

Originally Posted by "Guided by the Past" quest

Erichthonios: Someone must stay behind to ensure that never happens. With Themis and Lahabrea otherwise indisposed, that responsibility falls to me.
Erichthonios: And that is why I must defy the directive of the Convocation. My soul will not be offered to manifest the will of the star, but instead consigned to eternal vigil.
Erichthonios: I know that in doing so, the Final Days may take me. I may not live to see my duty upheld.

Originally Posted by "The Heart of the Myth" quest

Snoegeim: I find myself much more effective in the field. Being here gives me inspiration, you see, and of late I've been mulling over the opening words of the epigraph.
Snoegeim: “As beings who endure by the will of the star, we are susceptible to the influence of hopes and prayers. Thus do we commit our yokes herein, lest we stray from our purpose.”
Snoegeim: The suggestion that faith has shaped the nature of the Twelve paints a truly intriguing picture!

Originally Posted by During the Thaleia duty

Oschon: The will of the star has entrusted the future to you and yours.
Oschon: As entities charged with ensuring life on Etheirys, we rejoice in this outcome with all our hearts.

Originally Posted by "Into the Mist" quest

Halmarut: For soon, it begins, and every world shall tremble. The Winterers must be prepared to outlast the great withering to come.
Calyx: That's your ominous prediction, is it?
Halmarut: No, it's nature's proclamation. Can't you hear it?
Halmarut: It echoes in the silence left by the will of the star.

7/12 times "will of the star" refers to Hydaelyn, 4/12 times to Zodiark, and 1/12 times indeterminate.

**Cleretic** · Yesterday 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by Zero-ELEC

7/12 times "will of the star" refers to Hydaelyn, 4/12 times to Zodiark, and 1/12 times indeterminate.

Ooh, thankyou! And, like I suspected, all of the Zodiark examples are historic; all from people either referring to Zodiark at the time of its summoning, or are from people essentially mentally trapped in that period.

Also, I would argue that Ardbertlidibus was also ambiguous. The fact that it's Elidibus did make me reflexively think 'Zodiark', but this is Elidibus pretending to be Ardbert to the people of the Crystarium; that could mean anything.

**Cilia** · Yesterday 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by VulpinusRex

People say this is referring to Zodiark because of Halmarut's quote:

"It's nature's proclamation, can't you hear it? It echoes in the silence left by the will of the star."

Zodiark has been referred to as "the will of the star" several times ever since Shadowbringers, and it does come to reason that killing something so pivotal to the cosmogony of the Source and their reflections would have adverse side-effects. It really could only be Zodiark or Hydealyn but I believe that the fact that both of them are gone is what truly leads to the 'Withering'.

Thanks for that! I probably just missed it because Halmarut's girlfailure act was too entertaining.

Mmh... it's probably not Zodiark specifically, but the lack of a "will of the star" figure occupying the position created by the Ancients (Zodiark). I agree with you on that point, and if anyone would know it's the Ascian most in-tune with nature (bearing in mind that neither Zodiark nor Hydaelyn, and by extension the role of "will of the star," are naturally occurring).

And yeah, Ishgard had a lot of build-up, starting with the stinger of 2.3 and building up from 2.4 to 2.55; the Crystal Braves subplot just kind of dragged on from 2.2 until the conclusion of 2.X because the writers needed time to get Heavensward done and had to kill time.

I think they could pull off prepping 8.0 narratively considering 7.0 had only 3 quests in 6.55 to get it off the ground. (Yes, the entire rest of 6.X was devoted to a loose adaptation of IV.) Still, with higher stakes than "Hey, wanna go on an adventure and help me become Dawnservant (dattebayo!)?" things probably need more buildup, and one patch (even if it's the X.5's customary 2-parter) just might not be enough for something so grand as the "Great Withering."

Thread: 8.0 speculation

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Display

Tags for this Thread