Time at last for the meeting.
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0:00 – Introduction
0:48 – QUEST: “Heart of Ice”
16:03 – QUEST: “The Wyrm’s Lair”
22:09 – QUEST: “New Winds, Old Friends”
29:56 – QUEST: “A General Summons”
46:44 – QUEST: “Awakening in Ul’Dah”
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Edited by Daniel Floyd
♫ “Pray Return” by Chris Logsdon
https://lnkfi.re/pray-return
#PlayFrame #FFXIV #FinalFantasyXIV #Heavensward
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They did a great job with animating Ysayle's face after Hraesvelgr gives her the "You've been conned – that isn't the real Shiva" speech.
Also, I love how consistent they are through all of the expansions with what primals really are. As the characters learn, you learn, and those new insights are built upon until you get to Endwalker. I never got the feeling that they were walking anything back or retconning anything. Rather, people's understanding of the primal threat changes as they learn more information.
As much as it might be disappointing to some that Ul'dah just remains the same, it just makes a lot of sense that Lolorito would work to keep the status quo the same for as long as he can. He is ahead in the game.
Can we start calling it a Heavenswardrobe Change?
the Ul'dah part of this episode is probably my least favorite part of Heavensward – with Raubahn restored to his post and Nanamo turning out alive two of the most impactful points of the banquet are now null and void
Why should I believe your version of events?
Well first off I’m the only one you’ve ever spoken to who was there soooo
I really really like the updated facial animations for the cutscenes that were announced (haven't replayed the content since that was scheduled). I can see the despair of Ysale or Cid's amusement at Biggs and Wedge or even your hero's surprise so much more lively.
Just a suggestion but have you ever played dead cells?
I think we lost dan audio around @36:52, it comes back
The Danyell audio subversion joke truly tickled me once I grasped it. See, Playframe respects its audience and didn't go for the low hanging fruit and shout the dialogue like a lesser channel with a host named Dan who reads textboxes would have done. Not even a nod to it afterwards, that is respect for your audience's intelligence right there. Genius.
Honestly I was so invested in the whole dragon plot-line that I kinda forgot about the Ul’dah story…
I’m glad the sultana is alright, the reunion was very sweet.
I definitely don’t like Lolorito tho…’Ul’dah thrives in competition’ my butt, for the rich maybe! I wonder what they’ll do more of this with future content
Through 6.15, we've met most of Midgardsormr's First Brood. For whatever reason, Hraesvelgr is the only one so far that has pinions. I wonder how much of that is Shiva's influence.
I’m sure this would be less evident for a average player breaking off from the main story for side quests but as a first time viewer it’s a little amusing how often the npcs will say they need a bit more time on a project then someone will burst through the door to redirect Durmin to urgent work elsewhere.
It’s probably a good way of juggling multiple things going on actually. That for instance the airship needs work so dragons can’t be confronted yet so it doesn’t play as making a choice between the Sultana’s situation and the dragon conflict.
Finally, I can talk about Shiva's lore. This is moreso a recap of what we've heard and learned about her, but i've still been waiting and a recap is good for those that forget.
"Saint Shiva lived thousands of years ago, at the time when the Elezen people migrated from underground to Abalathia's Spine to settle and build a temple to their god, Halone. At this time, Coerthas was solely owned by the dragons, and there was a great war waged between the two groups for over a decade. Shiva, however, believed that the dragons were not brutal monsters as the others did, and went to entreat with them. In her time, she found the dragons were actually capable of high reasoning and compassion- one of whom she fell deeply in love with: Hraesvelgr. The two found soulmates with one another, however due to Elezen's having significantly shorter lifespans than dragons, Hrasevelgr despaired at losing his love someday. With no other options open to them, Shiva asked the wyrm to consume her and her aether, so that they may be together forever. Giving in to the maiden's request, he took her and her aether into his body.
This story of a love that transcended species reached the battlefront. The Elezens and dragons laid down their arms, for how could they continue to fight now that their people were so inextricably tied together? Thanks to the sacrifice of Shiva and Hraesvelgr, the war had ended and the dragons and Elezens were able to live in peace and harmony for over three hundred years. Shiva was canonised and worshipped later by the people of Ishgard.
Although her story was relatively peaceful and Shiva was no warrior, her story over the course of a thousand years slowly became twisted and changed, with people revering her in combat and comparing her to their patron deity, Halone. This gave birth to the primal Shiva, who Ysayle offered her body to as a corporeal figure so she may fight for the heretics and the dragons in the Dragonsong War. This however, was revealed to be nothing more than a facsimile by the dragon, and the announcement that she was the reincarnation of the saint by Ysayle to Hraesvelgr only caused him anger at the people of Ishgard who had twisted her image to fit their needs."
Additionally, i'd like to talk about Hraesvelgr… or more specifically, his brood. Most of the First Brood we have learned about have their own children, with the more notable ones taking on their colors. For example, Vidofnir has a white scale color, indicating that her father is Hraesvelgr. Additionally, dragons can reproduce asexually and do not need a mate to lay eggs.
Also, these wyrms have fur! (but it can also be construed as feathers.) You can see it easily at 5:48 with Hraesvelgr here, but all members of the First Brood that we'll see in the flesh have this trait.
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Additional comments;
– Hraesvelgr, Ratatoskr, and Nidhogg pull their names from Norse Mythology- Nidhogg is the dragon that gnaws at Yggdrasil's roots, Hraesvelgr is the giant eagle that creates the winds from the top of the tree, and Ratatoskr is a messenger squirrel that scurries up and down the tree. Their names are understood to mean "malice striker", "corpse swallower", and "drill tooth" respectively.
– I dislike the resolution of the Banquet. Nanamo surviving and Raubahn getting broken out of the gaol is fine (Nanamo's in several crafting class stories so killing her off wouldn't be an option), as with the Warrior of Light being absolved of all crimes they didn't commit given Merlwyb's dialogue earlier about people not believing that the Warrior of Light is guilty. However, the reasoning for the absolvement just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It feels a little bit contradictory for Lolorito between his ARR and current portrayals, you know?
If you notice I seem to go silent from around 36:40 to 37:20 (while speaking to an NPC named "Danyell"), this was a render error. Normally I'd replace this upload with a fixed version, but this time I'm leaving it, because it's the first time I've ever seen Adobe Media Encoder tell a good joke.
Here's a bit more lore about the Silver Bazaar: There are rich and powerful forces at work trying to lower the property value of this area and buy out the residents. With brute intimidation, if need be. Hence why when Durmin spoke with the large and intimidating NPC, Spotted Meadow, he said that his masters would not be pleased to hear residents were returning to the Bazaar.
Supposedly the rich want this land to build ocean-view mansions on. The large machines you may have seen outside the village are not oil derricks, but large hammers trying to pound the sand into a sturdier foundation for the mansions.
While I do think the Ul’dah storyline is the weaker part of heavensward, I do enjoy – and perhaps it was not the intended read, but ah well – the feeling that Lolorito is absolutely scrambling at this point to not get murdered.
My understanding of his plan was that he wanted Lolorito to start gloating and thus admit guilt, but was not expecting him to gloat that much, and certainly wasn’t expecting Raubahn to kill him (I think his shock was genuine). So, instead of revealing the duplicity, having an over-ambitious rival removed, generally saving the day, and, most importantly, being owed a favour by the Sultana, Raubahn, the Warrior of Light and the Scions, he gets that absolute mess… and he knows that, most likely, the next guy on the chopping block as far as the survivors are concerned is him. Uh oh.
So it feels like he’s just constantly throwing stuff at us like ‘please don’t kill me’, while trying not to admit culpability or fear. He convinces a colleague to act as a neutral party and be like ‘you shouldn’t kill him’, and break the news that the sultana’s alive (and it’s thanks to him! (Subtext: please don’t kill me)). Then he actually meets you, after several minions have checked the situation, with several witnesses, and he’s got the vial and doesn’t give it to us until we seem chill – another bargaining chip. Then he keeps bringing up how he saved the day, and how, oh you know Ilberd said this you should be mad at him not me, oh it’s kind of your fault for the whole crystal braces thing, I mean the whole plan was teledji’s anyway… all while continuing to act in his classic ‘smarmy jerk’ manner. I like to interpret it as, under all that smirking, that guy is Terrified. It brings me some degree of satisfaction.
I gotta wonder – is Durmin's costume change here supposed to make him look like (a palette-swap of) the main character from Quest For Glory games?
Alphinaud: "I shall disband the crystal braves." Dan/Durmin/Literally Everyone: "YOU DIDN'T DO THAT YET?!?!"
Is it just me, or did Dan's audio seem to cut out at around 36:48 (funnily enough, right when he spoke to a character named Danyell)?
Hey everyone that's super invested in the story right now, I just want to remind everyone that this is an MMORPG. It can be easy to forget when you see this much care and dedication put into a story that it was meant as a functioning community for 100s or 1000s of people
-i love that the game straight up tells you the Primals are just Artificial creatures that resemble a God, which is also why keeping Granpa Phoenix a secret is a good idea
-we interrupt Nidhogg's revenge griefing to bring you Ul'Dah's politic Machinations
-just because Lolorito's actions ended up causing more good than harm, still doesn't save him from getting punched by Raubahn
-the VA's really had fun with Teledji Adeledji's name
-Aplhanaud i respect & am proud of your character development… i don't think you have any form of Autorithy over the Crystal Braves anymore
Raubahn definitely should have handed himself and Loloreito in for their crimes, himself for murdering teledgi adalegi, and lord lolorito for concealing high treason and then performing his own high treason. I think I can imagine which one would get the harsher sentence.
So, let me see if I followed this correctly:
There existed a peace between Dragonkind and Mortalkind, that was supposed to last "centuries", and when a single king and his vanguard were jackasses, the response is ETERNAL punishment. Not war, no, they could have won that already, they want to basically torture every single generation of the descendants of those responsible for ONE death and ONE grave injury, despite the fact they understand just how vast the gap between understandings of time is.
Man, fuck these guys. Gimme Paarthurnax any day.
Ah, one of those plot aware lines, "With two azure dragoons working in unison".
spoiler
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Wonder if his comment about his armor being stained red with blood counts as foreshadowing.
Just hit 44:14 and realized: The death of the scions and crystal braves, the mutilation and near execution of Raubahn, the exile of the warrior of light (up till now the only force capable of retaking Garlean land) and the removal of the Sultana and an oligarch. It was all Tuesday for the masked monster.
Okay, so that first field trip didn't go so well, but the second one was a success!
You might wanna turn down the smarm there Lolorito, Raubahn still has an arm and a sword.
"You didn't do that yet!?" 😀 He's technically not even in charge of the force anymore, it's more like he's finally able to accept his failure and let go of the idea behind the Braves.
52:50 for real! lol
Small note! When the medicine to sustain patients in a death-like slumber is mentioned having been created by the previous head of the phrontistery… That's a reference to the 1.0 Alchemist questline!
In that questline, you had to help awaken an ishgardian boy who had this condition wherein he was almost always in a coma, ever since an attempt at his life ended with him falling off a cliff in dravania, wherein he was ultimately saved from death by a dragon who kept him alive. It ultimately ended by it requiring you to do more than simple medicine to heal him, you had to use the echo to, within his dream, create dream-medicine to awaken him. Amusingly that questline is in fact very relevant to Heavenswand- The story of that situation exists in a book called "The Boy and the Dragon Gay", which as you can expect is banned in Ishgard.
Currently, that boy actually DOES show up in the game- Mostly during the Starlight events. He now runs the children's ward of the Phrontistery, and whenever a quest takes you there (which up to date has always been seasonal events), he's there at the front.
I love Zenith's day theme. One of my favorite themes in Heavensward, and contains arguably one of my favorite leitmotif in all of FFXIV. it is really a wonderful theme.
You know, I HAVE come to like Alphy more than I did at the beginning. He's trying his best.
Wow, Lolorito's VA is having a ball with that monologue x'D Amazing work!
I feel bad for Ysayle in this episode. She sounds so heartbroken.
On a positive note I love Kwehfriend's hat, looks adorable.
I never noticed and it never bothered me but when dan skipped 5 seconds at like 2:40 for some reason i just went a bit grumpy. Not to throw shade dan, I'm happy with your editing, it's just that the bgm there is soooo good
A fun little thing I forgot to say about today's episode. This episode features the first time we hear "dragonspeak", which is the language Hraesvelgr uses to speak to Durmin and crew. What's interesting is that this isn't just a pseudo-language made to sound alien and unintelligible, but it is an actual language created by the localisation team! There's a thread on the Square Enix forums that list a few known words in the language, which you can find here: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/265527-Dragonspeak-Dictionary
The main theme to the expansion also features a verse sung in dragonspeak! I'll write it out here:
Dys An Sohm In (Our slumber disturbed,)
Rohs An Kyn Ala na (All my brothers wake.)
Mah Morn Na-ah-ah-ahrr (The saviors must perish.)
Sahl Djahs Afah An (Vengeance will be ours.)
Eorzea!
I love this detail because it's totally not necessary for the game to be understandable and to get the same feel, but the extra effort that goes into this is just incredible and really shows the great amount of care this world is constructed with.
Still don't like alphinaud, but at least he is less annoying so that counts i guess?