Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – FINALE – The Banquet



The real Final Fantasy XIV starts now.

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0:00 – Introduction

0:35 – QUEST: “The Parting Glass”

5:23 – Several cutscenes will play in sequence.

48:50 – QUEST: “The Parting Glass” (continued)

54:36 – QUEST: “Before the Dawn”

1:04:20 – End Credits

1:13:54 – QUEST: “Before the Dawn” (continued)

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Edited by Daniel Floyd

♫ “Pray Return” by Chris Logsdon
https://lnkfi.re/pray-return

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44 thoughts on “Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – FINALE – The Banquet”

  1. Aaaah! It's so dramatic!

    Thank you, Dan. This is an awesome series, and I'm so glad you're doing it!

    Of all the voice actors here, I think it's Raubahn's I'm most likely to miss. Even from the start of the story his voice stood out as just being a great fit.

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  2. 44:01 Subtle narrative bookends are for cowards, apparently.
    1:18:09 Got a better option, Yooka-Laylee? Also, who said you could leave my back pocket? I don't need you screwing up what may very well be my workplace for the foreseeable future.

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  3. As someone who just absolutely can not commit to an MMORPG, I really appreciate this. I've had friends try to convince me to play for years, but it's just never gonna happen. So watching a story-mode playthrough is the only way.

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  4. AHHH I'm SO EXCITED. I feel like it should say a lot about both the quality of the story AND the quality of your content- your commentary and presentation – that despite having just played through Heavensward myself, I am BEYOND excited to see you get started on it. ENJOY YOUR WELL EARNED BREAK, DAN!!! But I'm selfishly very glad you don't plan to stay away for TOO long, because I'm so very excited to continue on this journey with you.

    Viewers, I hope y'all are ready to spend a good amount of time with my favorite tall Elezen sweethearts. And Estinien, who is much less sweet so far but also a fav. (And Lucia, who is probably very Tired of the chaos but is Doing Her Best to keep Aymeric and Ishgard in one piece).

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  5. As much as I love this game and it's story this part doesn't work for me (bad voice acting hurting the scene aside)
    This "coup" just makes no sense. The monetarists have no powerbase to make this work, as Pipin says the populace will side with the scions, The Flames as Ul'dah's primary armed forces are more loyal to Raubahn than the Monetarists, and neither Limsa nor Gridania would back this coup. If Raubahnhad just stood there and said no, what would they have done? Not to mention that Teledji's performance in the banquet hall basically screams "I'm guilty" to anyone.
    The logical outcome of this coup would be that Ul'dah is shortly under Monetarist control before being besieged and taken by Alliance forces.
    Same with Alphi saying we need to go beyond the Braves reach. What is their reach gonna be? They might have a piece of paper saying they can operate in Alliance territory but try explaining that to a Limsan galeon or a regiment of Gridanian archers that disagree with you

    Also Haurchefant bringing hot chocolate to help cheer us up will forever make him the best boy

    EDIT: To put a little footnote on Dan's thanks to the DTC: The directors and especially Head Goose Eos have done an amazing job wrangling people behind the scenes to make helping with the recordings fun for us, and also easy for Dan.

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  6. Playfriends, your spoiler free lore comment will start with this warning: Upon starting this episode, several cutscenes will play in sequence. It is recommended you set aside sufficient time to view these scenes in their entirety

    Or perhaps, I should say, this episode covers the events that first made those words infamous in the FFXIV community. Every time that warning is given, players hold both excitement and trepidation in their hearts.

    14:25 – There's history repeating itself, and then there's telling you exactly how easy it was to turn the Crystal Braves:

    "Whispers on the street say your organization is funded by corrupt coin – by Syndicate money" – Landebert, "Recruiting the Realm", Episode 45

    "Ul'dah's military was made up of disparate orders, most of which were glorified mercenary companies that answered only to their own paymasters. Hardly an ideal environment in which to establish something as high-minded as a Grand Company" – Ilberd, "Tendrils of Intrigue", Episode 49

    "Amidst the chaos of its founding, it would have been child's play to infiltrate the company" – Alphinaud, "Tendrils of Intrigue", Episode 49

    "The Immortal Flames have ever been caught between conflicting interests – the public and the private" – Alphinaud, "Tendrils of Intrigue", Episode 49

    25:30 – And so passes Teledji Adeledji, half the potato he used to be. If you're going to stage a coup, stand out of reach of the man who would take umbrage at your efforts.

    26:34 – "I would sooner cut off my own arm than raise a hand against a friend" – Ilberd, "The Reason Roaille" , Episode 50

    37:00 – Yda is pulling off Limit Break 3. As a Pugilist & a Thaumaturge, these two have plenty of firepower. But with their backs to the wall, will it be enough?

    40:43 – One last wish, to her sister. One last goodbye, to his friend.

    42:00 – Minfilia trusts in a higher calling. But we've seen that Hydaelyn's power is not absolute. Will it be enough to keep her safe?

    43:28 – I wish they had introduced Pipin earlier. It would make this introduction less awkward. Here, he's voiced by Max Mittelman.

    45:05 – Back in the wagon. Back where Durmin began his journey.

    58:10 – Thank Azeyma that Tataru is safe. Fans would riot.

    So there we have it. Durmin Durami, Sergeant of the Immortal Flames, has been charged with high treason for the assassination of the Sultana.
    The Scions of the Seventh Dawn are changed as his co-conspirators. They are missing; Perhaps imprisoned, perhaps dead.
    The Rising Stones is watched by the Crystal Braves, waiting for the moment to catch Durmin. He is a hunted man.
    Tataru, Alphinaud, and Durmin only have one place to go.
    They go North.
    They go to Ishgard.
    They go Heavensward

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  7. Thank you so much for doing this series! I look forward to it continuing. 😀

    Unfortunately, a lot of the drama this episode gets undercut for me by a few significant questions:
    1. Why are a handful of guards able to apprehend the player character, slayer of primals and acknowledged "one-person army"?
    2. If the player character is a healer class, why couldn't they just…I dunno, cast Esuna on Namano or otherwise cure her of the poisoning? I get why Durmin can't (being a Dragoon and all), but this is the sort of thing that RPG games so often gloss over and ignore, and it annoys me a great deal!
    3. Why don't the Scions use Aetherite teleportation (or w/e it's called) to get out of there after meeting up with Thancred? Or at any point in general? I've not played the game—I only know what I've seen in Dan's playthrough—but if Iceheart could flee from us using such a method, why could the Scions not do likewise?

    Like, the drama is poignant, but for me, these questions undercut it a lot. I'm still looking forward to seeing the series continue with Heavensward, though!

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  8. The finale of A Realm Reborn is still one of my favorite moments in this entire game. I think it's something to be said that ARR was well-received at the time. Its story is a bit basic at first, but it has excellent worldbuilding that serves us for the rest of the game. Saying "The real Final Fantasy XIV starts now" is a bit unfair, I think. The trimming and updating in 5.3 helped things quite a bit I think. ARR walked so Heavensward could run.

    A bit on my own personal experience here. Ul'dah was my home, just as it is Durmin's, and I was very curious to see what would happen should I try to return. And…nothing. Things are quiet in Ul'dah. The public at large is not aware of the sultana's assassination or the charges brought against the Scions. Additionally, Revenant's Toll is not as dangerous as Yugiri suggests. The Crystal Braves are present, but talking with them reveals that the ones stationed there are conflicted and confused. They will act as if you're not there. I imagine this was so the players wouldn't be locked out of any content in the months leading up to the launch of Heavensward. Additionally, Revenant's Toll was the end-game hub of ARR, so it'd be a bit awkward for players wanting to interact with those vendors.

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  9. Never have I so wanted to punt a small one, preferably off something really, really high up.

    I both thank and hate you for getting me into this game, been spending so much time on it, yet it has been soooo damn fun!

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  10. When I first started ARR, I had already heard that it doesn't get good until the expansions. I thought that it would be a gradual improvement, I did not expect it to just…suddenly get good like that! I've played through Stormblood and Heavensward is definitely my favorite so far.

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  11. Thanks for this series, Dan. A friend of mine has been BEGGING me to get into FFXIV for years now, and I've always resisted because… well, I know how easily I can get addicted to a good game. A good game that never really ends? That's terrifying. But watching you play this finally got me to give it a shot, and I've enjoyed it immensely! Currently part of the way through Heavensward, and while I probably won't join the DTC due to being on a different server with my friend, I do look forward to continuing my journey and also seeing Durmin's resume soon.

    …I've also proven that I was correct about my addiction problem, but fortunately, only paying for one month at a time before forcing myself to take several months' break seems a viable option with this title. Still, I won't be giving any other MMOs a try anytime soon…

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  12. Thank YOU, Dan, for this wonderful story. As someone who's never going to play the game myself, I've loved seeing Durmin's journey and looked forward to each episode as it was released. This one sure did go from zero to 'holy shit' very quickly and left me with a lot of emotions, which is wonderful. Take your well-deserved break, but I can't wait for Heavensward.

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  13. Anvil of Foreshadowing: * KA-BANG! *

    This was an amazing journey Dan, and Definitely Not A Bad Idea. Take as much time as you need, we will patiently wait for Durmin the Snack Primal's adventures to begin a new chapter!

    I really like that they brought back our peddler buddy from the beginning for the rescue! We need all the friends we can get, both new and old!

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  14. What a great journey it's been to this point. Thanks Durmin and Dan for taking us this far!
    .
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    .(spoilers)
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    One thing I really appreciated about the writing of this end sequence, was that nothing about what happened felt like a cheap story move without motivation. To the point that you can't help but watch along as they masterfully play out everything you've been thinking and speculating about over the course of the game.

    We see the seeds of Alphinaud's arrogance early in ARR, and they pay in a full harvest now.

    The Sultana tried, and failed, to destroy the status quo and was made to pay a grim price for her noble if naïve efforts.

    But likewise, Teledji brazenly and cruelly mocked her death to Raubahn's face. The general of the immortal flames. The sultana's confidant. A man who won his fame and fortune by killing people. What did he think was going to happen in return?

    And to Dan's point about the expansions… Each of the expansions is someone's favourite! In my opinion, Shadowbringers and Endwalker are the pinnacle of the game, and are in my all time favourite games ever. But personally, my soul lives in Heavensward. I'm so excited to watch as we go through it all together!

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  15. I agree both Erin Fitzgerald (Nanamo) and Amy Bolton (Minfillia) turn in much better performances here than their introductions in the start of ARR. I read a comment elsewhere that ARR didn't have a voice director. I'm not sure if that's true, but it sure would explain a lot.
    One thing that strikes me is the timing of the dialog; there are some really awkward pauses in the auto-playback here. By the end of Shadowbringers, the editing becomes SO much tighter in those cutscenes, to the point where some of them are timed out to match the music as well. (The scenes bookending the 5.3 trial were the ones that convinced me to change back to English)

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  16. When the Endwalker trailer first came out, I really wanted to understand the story and why it was award winning and so well received, but even with some hour long recap/explaining videos, it didn't feel like the same thing. I don't really enjoy MMOs, nor do I currently have the time to play one, so I started watching a multi-hour long video that claimed to be "the full playthrough", but that was just not my tempo, I had to pause and read all dialogues and that was the kind of time I don't currently have.
    But then you started this series, and I'm really really grateful, for being commentated, I can listen to it while doing other stuff, and I can keep along. But it's not just the reading, but all the effort and energy you pour into it, and explaining and clearly knowing where to go next yet still playing along with the plot as if you didn't know what's to come… It's truly a great series, unlike any other playthrough I've watched, and as long as you keep making them, I'll keep watching and reading the lovely community in the comments. Maybe one day we'll get to finish Endwalker, but if it doesn't happen, I'm glad you've already gotten this far. Thank you!

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  17. Man I'm so happy this playthrough got this far, and that we're going into Heavensward! I have no means to play the game yet, so this has been an awesome chance to see the story! It may be a long shot, since it took six months to cover ARR, but I hope we'll get to all expansions someday.

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  18. 12:45 Of course your slimy ass would be first in. I wonder if it was the wine or the goblet? Would be quite awkward to commit regicide only to have no scapegoat.
    Man, I could timestamp so much of this for comments… well done, FF14.

    EDIT: 25:36 What he… no, he deserved worse, but it'll do.
    EDIT 2: I swear Brendt's VA is Capt Veleth's (Dan Donohue), but I can find confirmation anywhere.
    EDIT 3: 1:06:30 Brendt's VA isn't Dan Donohue… impressive, and well done, Neil.

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  19. I have so much i want to talk about in this episode. Ill keep myself to one thing, and its a shoutout to the music.

    This isnt a fancy detail, or some lore expansion or anything, its just a fan sharing something that they adore about this game with others. Nothing more.

    (Now, im not a music theory person. Best i can do is just say what i like about things – theres probly something that some Youtube channel could do with these two songs about BPM or Minor/Major key but i dont know anything about that kind of thing.)

    Two of my favourite tracks in the entire game, even after all these years, are found here.

    At 28:05, we have one of the "sad themes" of the game. I would name it, but it is attached to several key major plot points in this story, some of which havent happened yet, and simply googling it presents an incredible spoiler. Do not try to find the name of this song.

    Its a slow, quiet, mournful violin/trumpet piece that, to this day, makes me tear up every time i hear it. While its also heard during the main story quests, its also got a key presence in many of the Job Quests. Often it plays when people are at their lowest and darkest places, when there isnt much hope or happiness to be found. Here, Rhubahn has just lost everything in only ten seconds. His charge, his duty, his reason to exist, his allies, his arm, and now his friend in Illberd.. There is no darker place this man could be.

    However, this song is not a solo piece. Its something of a "Part 1" of the second song i want to speak of.

    At 29:12, it starts. This song is called "Breaking Boundaries." This one you can (carefully, of course) look up – the first video google returns is from the final, level 50, Dragoon quest, which Dan and Durmin did back in episode #46.

    This song is the same as the first, but with new layers; a driving, marching drum, and a choir to reinforce the tone. Yet the violin and its answering trumpet are still quite mournful; but the drum keeps marching the song onwards, as it builds and builds, before coming to its looping point and quieting back down before continuing the build.

    This song, Breaking Boundaries, plays here but also plays generally around the same time as the first song. In many job quests it either plays before or after the first, but here it plays after Rhubahn's lowest possible point. Despite the sad tones of the song it still marches on, and feels heroic and inspiring because of it…. But one of my favorite details in this entire game is that, many many times, when Breaking Boundaries plays, your player character, your warrior of light, gets a buff.

    For your character, you get a little icon, which is titled "Brilliant Conviction." All it says in explanation is "Breaking limits, as only a true Warrior of Light could." This is used by the game to buff your stats by a crazy amount and give your character massive health regen for the fight, but they integrated this simple game mechanic – and ingame buff – into the story as well.

    In your characters case, oftentimes theyve reached a low point. There is no way out, and they are trapped. But then, they push past it, break those boundaries and the walls that trap them, and keep marching on – even though theyre still sad or lost. Becuase they are the hero, and they can go further, in the way that only the Warrior of Light – the hero – can. But its also the Warrior at their most powerful – filled with fury, or will, or sheer determination. They march on, through the sadness, because its what they are. They break limits, break boundaries, because they can.

    I find it incredibly inspiring.

    I dont know, is any of that making sense? Even if it doesnt make sense to you, i hope that it helps someone understand why some people love this game so, so, so much. Even down to the soundtrack and in-game character buffs, there is story and detail. They could have not put in this little "Conviction" buff. They could have called the second song "Job Quest Final #1". They could have just thrown together some generically happy or sad song, but they didnt.

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  20. Well that's a heck of a set up, Can't wait to see what comes next. Honestly I've been loving this series, not sure I would have had the patience to make it through all this myself but a bunch of my friends are really into FF14 so It's nice to be able to see the story.

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  21. Hey Dan, I want to voice my appreciation for this playthrough! I am really loving this story, but for a number of personal reasons I try not to let myself get stuck in on an MMO. So I'm really glad I have a way to experience this story all the same, and your commentary really adds a lot to me. Thank you for all that you and Carrie do in providing this!

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  22. Thank you Dan, for sharing this story with us. I am really invested now, as compared with the main Realm Reborn story, where I did fall off and have to binge watch several episodes in a row. But for these pre-Heavensward patches, I've actually been actively watching and paying attention, not just listening while I multitasked in pokémon.

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  23. I know that heavensward is next on this series, but to anyone that is experiencing this for the very first time I would highly recommend watching the cutscenes of the Lancer/Dragoon job quests. It is just too good of a prequel to Heavensward, and you'll have a better understanding of the things encountered in the main story.

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  24. I love how this closing ties together all sorts of threads that have been flowing together for the past several patches. The monetarists, Teledji's plans, the weirdness in the Crystal Braves, and Alphinaud being in over his head. I love how it tears the WoL down, paving the way for the Heavensward arc.

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  25. This has been an amazing series. I absolutely love Durmins story. I would never have experienced this without your play through. And you have turned a bad idea into a good one. Hats off!!

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  26. I remember finishing this and being furious (As a PLD main, it irked me bad everyone was holding the line while I was running) and sad. I was not expecting all my friends to be dead at the end. My free company had to scrape me off the floor.

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  27. Was going to complain that they misspelled Sam Riegel's name in the credits, but apparently "Sam Regal" is an alias he sometimes uses. Or maybe someone on TVTropes is joking about a common misspelling.

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  28. Yay congrats getting to end of the ARR! 👏 That's a lot playing and editing 💪🤗 I started Stormblood so I can't wait you starting HW, it's fun to watch out little lala Durmin continuing the story, see ya 💕

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  29. Now that we've reached this point I wanted to give out some little trivia bits and reminiscences. Lol. It's been a long while since we who played FFXIV real time had to wait between these scenes and the release of Heavensward. Some (maybe) might be wondering how you continued to play the game when you were wanted as an assassin and criminal. Well, the writers of FFXIV took that into account. In essence, nothing changed and you could continue to do any and all duties, quests, and otherwise even as a 'criminal.'

    The methods varied, but broadly fell into 2 categories. Anyone you worked closely with, such as guild/class/job leaders, the innkeepers, and major players believe the charges against not a jot. They happily continued to work with you while 'forgetting' to mention that they saw you to the guards and soldiers. Their explanations for their reasoning varied and some were highly entertaining, from just a simple 'there's no way you would have done that' to elaborate 'if you break down the sequence of events it makes utter bollocks sense for you to be involved.' I hope Dan takes a short time to talk with some of these characters before starting Heavensward to just show them off a bit. The writing during this interim period was very good. (Hopefully he sees this suggestion. XD)

    Other characters such as guardsmen and townsfolk you didn't cross paths with directly or those loyal to the conspiracy, do recognise you and deem you needing to be captured. However your reputation for slaying gods and single handedly downing legions does proceed you, is know, and serves you in good stead here. Lol. Many guards call for help but do nothing, or pointedly look the other way, not wanting to face you across a blade. It's highly amusing how Eorzea entire officially wants to arrest you, but either deliberately fails to do so or is terrified of actually challenging the Warrior of Light.

    This did we have free reign of the entire game, even as we were charged with assassination of a royal. Lol. It was a fun time. Now, again, all the first timers get to have a small taste of our experience waiting with baited breath to see what would happen next. The heavens await! It'll be a trip. Till Heavensward everybody!

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