Thread: 8.0 speculation

I don't know how to link images here but does anyone remember the elemental aspect wheel from Shb?
Ice had the opposite place of lightning (the ninth) and in the middle was a tree.
Given the expansion is norse themed (as was acknowledged by Yoshida in an interview) and there is usually Yggdrasil which holds different realms in the mythology, maybe the shards are more connected than we think.
What if the key with it's "twisty" design is akin to the tree "holding" up the shards through the source?

Tbh, I think it being so similar to Shb is a bit of a bait and switch and in the end it's more than just the fourth playing a role.
The elemental aspects seem to get more and more focus.
The freezing is eerily similar to Fimbulwintr, which basically was the beginning of teh end for the age of gods, a godless realm basically. We have also images of some kind of "world serpent" and do know that dragons are only to be found on the source.
I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing we know about the Shards turns out to be not the whole picture, same as our past knowledge of the alignments of the elements.
Heck, we don't even know if the "calamity" on the fourth is astral or umbral aligned, though I tend to the later given it seems to be pretty active.

Originally Posted by Cilia

Respectfully, there's referencing something (Knights of the Round, not named as such, as the Act 2 climax boss in a plotline otherwise divorced from VII references) and then there's taking whole settings and plotlines for a remix (6.X's Void Arc, Dawntrail's second and third acts). Disregarding side content the game generally did not do as such prior to the Void Arc, and I am hoping they get back to more original plotlines. (Or at least as original as a franchise that's been around for nearly 40 years can be; we've got serious "Simpsons Did It" issues.)

Except that's not what 6.X did at all, unless I'm misremembering the part in FFIV where Golbez kidnaps a dragon in order to use it to open a portal to another world so that he and his people can die. Literally all 6.X does is take names, but the characters and motivations are remixed into something completely new. Likewise in 7.X and there outside of Necron they don't even really take the names either (Necron is also not the same as in FFIX). Every time this comes up I beg XIV players to actually play other FF games and am always disappointed. I mention the III influence specifically because in the DS/3D versions Xande explicitly freezes the surface world (though here its frozen in time), and not just covers it in darkness like in the 2D versions.

Except the world in 3 wasn't frozen in ice, it was frozen in time and flooded over with water. This is more like 12,000 B.C. in Chrono Trigger, where the surface was frozen over in ice and snow during the ice age, with the magical kingdom of Zeal floating up in the sky enjoying temperate weather.

Originally Posted by Zackneifein

And a message, coming from an Ancient, for the WoL, who clearly knows who the WoL are, what kind of people they are, and all about their goals and fate (the word is used) and asking us to continue our journey and "Unite the stars into one".

First of all, I think you should add spoiler tags to your post, since 7.5 is still very fresh.

But as for the scene in question...

I personally interpreted this as the WoL recalling Azem's memory of their commencement to the Convocation. If I'm correct, the key likely precedes them; an earlier invention given to any who hold the seat in question, apparently to ease their travels.

Originally Posted by Turnintino

First of all, I think you should add spoiler tags to your post, since 7.5 is still very fresh.

But as for the scene in question...

I personally interpreted this as the WoL recalling Azem's memory of their commencement to the Convocation. If I'm correct, the key likely precedes them; an earlier invention given to any who hold the seat in question, apparently to ease their travels.

I can't say I agree.

I find it hard to believe, even more when the voice clearly talk about a way to solve the current problem of Aetherys. There was no "stars" to unite when Azem took the seat after Venat and nothing remains of Azem's memory, neither in us or the crystal. The aether resonate with Azem magic, not as "Azem seat's magic" but the last Azem characteristic one and everything is orange, from the Key to the bridge and the portal like Azem crystal once again not some kind of official color but the very one Emet chose for one of his best friend.

Another point about 7.5

There is a big difference between the french and english translation at the beginning of the "message" with the voice of an Ancient.

Where in english, the first sentence is just "Behold - the gift of Ethos" it's far longer in french with "This is Ethos. You who live beyond space and time, receive this gift."

Adding that to everything else in the message, there is very little doubt that the message is for the WoL.