This is actually a repost of a post I did earlier this morning on reddit. Beside the speculations, I think it explains well how FFXIV connects with another chapter in the series.

First of all, if you haven't finished the main storyline, close this post now. I'm going to spoil the very end of the story. don't spoil that to yourself, it's really fun, and it will give you chills. Just take your time and finish it, it's not worth ruining it by reading a post on reddit. To everyone else, what I'm going to talk is so huge that it could be the theme of a whole expansion, if not more. I'm not going to talk about the upcoming content like crystal tower or the next turns in coil.