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0:00 – Introduction
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First? Also really love these videos and they have made me really want to pick up FF14, but my computer isn't powerful enough sadly 🙁
Hey everyone, how was your weekend?
Feo Ul is legitimately one of my favorite parts of this expansion
Urianger always gives me and my google something to do, but by God! he's becoming one of my favorite characters, and fast!
That last scene was epic!
Alisaie was so…Alisaie there. And Alphinaud too.
I love that bunch.
And Feo Ul is precious.
I legit started busting up at amoro snorkle
The conversation at the tower with Feo Ul really is the singular highlight of the expansion for me. It's such a touching moment that it always makes me tear up a bit. A really wonderful moment that encapsulates the entire expansion!
I love the chat with Ardbert and Feo Ul on the tower. It's just hammering home self care in a way a lot of people need to hear. It shouldn't be all on your shoulders, even if it's all your fault things will get better, there are always ways out even if you know you shouldn't take them, and finally stop looking at what was and what could be and accept what is, what truly is, and you'll be ok.
One of the things I love about FF14, that I feel many other games (not just RPGs, not just MMORPGs, but games in general) are lacking, is the way that the game makes the journey personal and connects the player to the narrative.
There are so many parts of this game (especially in Shadowbringers, but certainly in other expansions too) where I find myself tearing up regardless of the number of times I've seen them. The exarch's scene here is one of them. If this was any other game, this scene would have no emotional impact at all outside of maybe some forced heartstring pulling coming from the music. But here, in this game, the exarch's reasons strike a chord. All these people did the literal impossible because they were inspired by things we actually did in the game. We aren't just some nameless Champion or something, we are an integral character to the story. That's really cool.
I am looking forward to tearing up again as this playthrough continues, and can't wait to see what heartstrings get pulled in Dawntrail.
This part is just. So so good. I could watch it over and over and over and over again and never get tired of it. Shadowbringers was… the exact kind of story that I needed in the exact moment in my life that it appeared. I won't go into a lot of the details, but when ShB launched, I was not in a good place in my life at all, and my self-confidence was all but shattered. And here, at this part of the story… we get to see the difference you've made in peoples lives, and how much you mean to them, and the people who are willing to do everything for you and stand with you till the end.. it's true, my Warrior of Light is not me, and I'm not the one being talked to. The events that my Warrior of Light "did" are not even real. But to hear and see this sentiment expressed to "me" was something I needed so badly right then, and I cried so much. It will always be special to me.
I already lost this post once so I won't rewrite everything I had but, just one point I had to mention was at 31:25. Does this line sound familiar? "There is no hope. We are finished. /Mankind/ is finished." It's the exact words that Emet-Selch said when he described after the Innocence fight, when he described how we'd bring the First to it's final end. Fun! But also incredible, because G'raha's next words recite an answer to that despair-filled cry – both in the past, and in now. This plan is the answer to both worlds' despair.
Additionally, G'raha mentioned that this plan unified "several fundamental principles discovered on the Warrior of Light's journey." There is some side content that makes exactly what he's talking about clear, but I'll give y'all this little hint: they're patch content. There's a reason Dan has been working hard to include all the different raid storylines. Can you think of a few storylines that might have been relevant or important to a plan to cross both time and the rift between worlds?
Also god Bethan Walker's performance at 45:43… god she really killed it there.
There's been a lot of fantastic voice acting in this expansion, but holy geez Alisaie's VA was not pulling any punches today.
Time to face the aftermath, Playfriends. This is your spoiler free lore comment.
7:00 – Grenoldt is an elusive craftsman; a master of multiple disciplines. His brilliance might give Durmin an edge on a confrontation with an unsundered Ascian. Of course, that might not matter much if Durmin won't survive to even make it to that fight.
11:30 – I love that the character to commiserate with us is Ardbert. Two Warriors of Light, who have found their efforts at putting down evil creatures has brought ruin to the land. But Durmin hasn't turned just yet. And Ardbert knows what separates him and Durmin. Durmin has, time and again, rallied people to a common cause. To imagine a better world. Ardbert thinks this may make all the difference.
15:00 – This sequence is left ambiguous on purpose. Don't worry if you're left scratching your head at what's going on. What is clear is that Ardbert supports us, to the end.
17:05 – The world is nearly at armageddon, all because of you. Everyone thinks you're the hero to solve this issue. It's very tempting to run. To hide. To lift your burdens and responsibilities. To become Titania, and play all day. And leave The First teetering on oblivion.
21:35 – The Exarch has been planning his Endgame for a long time.
22:25 – While on duty, they are The Exarch and The Captain. Off duty, they are grandfather and granddaughter. Lyna is fairly young for a Viis, as she has been raised in the Crystarium. And you better believe that there are oodles of fan art of her growing up under The Exarch's parentage.
28:30 – "Symmetrical book stacking. Just like the Philidelphia Mass Turbulence of 1947." "You're right, no human being would stack books like this" – Ghostbusters
29:00 – Urianger never beheld portents of doom. At least, not in Shadowbringers. Turns out, when one of the major points in your career is duping the "Warriors of Darkness" with your plans, you're the natural choice for keeping secrets. "You do one sus thing…"
This revelation of The Exarch's past is elaborated on in two of the side stories on the FFXIV website, under the Tales from the Shadows.
First, "A World Forsaken" covers the effects and aftermath of the deployment of Black Rose. Cid, The Garlond Ironworks, and other disparate souls sought to bring order and peace to Eorzea, but the general collapse of civilization have stymied their efforts. As Cid and Nero strove to find a way to undo the damage to the world, a single tipping point came, years after the 8th Umbral Calamity had begun. During one of their expeditions, Wedge was fatally mauled by a monster. After his passing, Cid was forced to concede that he would not be able to resolve the problems of the world in his lifetime. He would need to build a legacy instead. Their research and findings on Calamities, Time Travel, and the Dimensional Rift would have to be the foundations for others to build the salvation of their world.
Second, "An Unpromised Tomorrow" covers the efforts of those who followed in Cid's footsteps. The Garlond Ironworks strove on, long after their namesake had passed. This story covers the work that would awaken G'raha Tia and would eventually lead to his work on The First. 200 years passed in chaotic aftermath of the Calamity, and the 18th President of the Garlond Ironworks, a descendent of Biggs, woke G'raha Tia from his stasis within the Syrcus Tower. With his knowledge of the era, control of the Tower, and Sharlyan education, he assisted the Ironworks with completing the modifications to the Tower and identifying the best time frame for their intervention. We saw some of their work back in Episode 28 in an Echo vision. The Warrior of Light would need to be triumphant and strong, capable of averting a Calamity, but not so late that the danger of Black Rose would be unleashed during their work. With the difficulties of modifying the Crystal Tower, it would only be safe for a single occupant: its pilot. And so, after a meager feast, they sent G'raha Tia on his way, with the Crystal Tower's Temporal and Dimensional engines roaring to life, and the entire assembly winking out of existence. He would go on to arrive on The First, shortly after the Flood of Light, and use the next century to build up the resources and means to assist The Warrior of Light when they could be pulled to to him. But back on that abandoned timeline, The President of Garlond Ironworks would find a new companion in morning light. Midgardsormr, the Great Wyrm, has slumbered long enough and approached the workers on the edge of Silvertear Lake. Taking some of G'raha's last words to heart, “Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the triumph over it”, the President charted a new course for the Ironworks. To rebuild their damaged world. And Midgardsormr agreed to help.
45:45 – Alisaie is lashing out because she knows what it's like to be impotent to help people. She's always preferred action over study, but she's also seen first hand those she wants so desperately to help and can't. She hasn't managed to help Ga Bu. Or Halric. And she isn't going to give empty promises to Durmin.
47:00 – I guess the open secret isn't so secret anymore. They had rallied behind The Exarch for years. They rallied behind Durmin when the Sin Eaters came calling. In The Exarch's absence, they're following the final course he put them on: Help Durmin and his compatriots. Bring the Shadows back to Norvrandt. And they're ready to help, in whatever way they can.
Next time: They call them the Cardinal Virtues. And they're the worst of the worst.
Oh right, if we're going to take a bit to do all the role questlines, we're definitely not going to finish before Dawntrail. Hopefully Durmin has gotten some recording done ahead of time because the extended maintenance and new expansion queues will be brutal otherwise.
If you thought on Mt. Gulg that 5.0 was almost done, buckle up. There still lots left in store.
Did Durmin's hair always have white tips or is that a subtle effect Dan made to show the Aether corruption?
I love how as you get further in the expansion, the opening begins to make more and more sense.
Not just by what the Chrystal Exarch meant by "if history is to be rewritten, let it be rewritten", but why the Warrior of Light vs Elidibus-In-Zenos's-Body fight is shown that way: it's not from this timeline.
In our timeline, the Exarch reached out before Durmin fought Elidibus, causing him to collapse.
In the Chrystal Exarch's timeline, that interference never happened and, therefore, The Warrior of Light had a big Samurai duel with Elidibus and won.
9:50 Durmin not doing the thing most players would do, i.e. just jumping off the balcony, and instead going and finding the stairs, is giving me life.
Whoof.
As I had said before, I had rolled a heterochromatic miqote for the WoL I made this content with. So when I met G'raha in the story, the fist male Miquote with a major role in the story, who was also heterochromatic (having heterochromia is kind of a big deal in suncat society, or so it says on the character creation screen), I headcannoned them hitting it off. His role in the crystal tower raid series is comparitively brief compared to… well, every other character at that point, and I don't blame people for losing track of him, but in my mind I had imagined my WoL (you didn't ask, but his name is X'ipeta) bonding over their tribal backrounds, over hunting contests, that he was an academic where my boi was a ground-pounder etc, and consequently, the CT raids hit me hard, and frankly I was desperate to see him again by the time it was over. I knew I would see him again, but I didn't know the circumstances, and didn't seek anything out despite my itch to know.
And then the horrible truth. The thing that wrung me out this episode. Not that people were anxious and frightened that the light had returned, not that it was apparently the fault of the light within me. But that G'raha Tia- my companion, my friend, The one I wanted to meet when he woke up somehow- had woken into a horrible future where I was long dead. That he had seen my failure written as the world decended into chaos. And that he, with knowledge of a future Cid, teleported himself and the entire tower to the distant past, on the chance that he might save me, might avoid this future. That to do this, he intended to die.
Wrung out like a sponge, me and my WoL both. Rendered speechless with horror and sorrow and rage and despair, wanting to find the Exarch and shake him and give him the biggest hug of his life, and shout at him that he never told, and why must everyone he loves be so determined to sacrifice themselves for this or that greater good (that's MY job, godsdammit!) and to cry with him and just look at him and and and.
And then even after all of that: Ardbert's commiseration. Feo-Ul's compassion. Urianger's confession (ANOTHER self-sacrificing fool! Two, three times over!). Alisae furiously breaking down over her own helplessness. The scions electing to stay with you, even in hopelessness. The entire Crystarium rallying behind you, because the Exarch is a compassionate loyal person and created a community of compassion and loyalty… I finished this at one am and lay in my bed sobbing like a child till I couldn't anymore.
TL;DR: Game good, yall. Subscription well spent.
– so… once Durmin returns to The Source he's gonna be dropping a bulletproof vest at the Crystal Tower, right?
– oh no Durmin has the most dastardly of Light Posoning's symptoms… FROSTED TIPS!!
– i love all the Bro moments you're getting with Adbert
– same with Feo Ul's still, rude from them to assume there's no Bro Ghost
– oh NOW they all have seen the Exard's face
– of course Urianger is in cahoots with Graham Crackers
ngl, when Urianger gave his whole speech to me when I was playing this part I was like "come on dude this is like the 3rd time you've done something like this we're good."
4:24 in Durmin’s aether-saturated condition that might not be for the best
33:00 the funniest part about this history lesson is that Cid gets all the credit for being the greatest mind and Nero is not mentioned at all. clearly he did not leave a positive impression on G’raha
46:05 ooouuughhh Alisaie 😭😭😭
There is so little gameplay but so so many emotions and so so much lore in this episode. A perfect counter point to the heavy gameplay dungeon + trial of last episode.
I love feo ul so much
I remember when I first watching back during a realm reborn, and I had no opinions of Urianger. I thought it was kind of a nothing character with an uninteresting gimmick. And wow how times have changed. He's not my favorite Scion, but wow is he up there.
Aaah I wanna hug Feo Ul.
I'm glad for some of the recapping because I legit missed the Exarch was just catnaped and not dead. When Emmet said your friend still lives, I thought he was referring to Durmin, but a rewatch of that sequence cleared that up. Also glad for it because seeing bartender made me realise, oh yeah we do need to do those not job quests, they were stated to be necessary to beat the expansion, so I suspect that's what we're doing on Wednesday and then for maybe an episode or two after.
I trust in Dan on picking this placement, so I'll keep waiting for my elephant in the room to be addressed, painful as it may be.
heckin good VAs, and the direction just – chef's kiss!
44:16 This conversation seems so different when you're NOT playing a Lalafell… My character is Auri, a little shorter than Y'shtola. When Uriangier kneels here he bows his head, he doesn't look up at my character while he's apologizing… Perspective really makes a difference.
Ooooh, I'm looking forward to the next few episodes. I was wondering when Dan would get to it…
I'm really glad our friends caught us before we headed off all by ourselves. That wouldn't have been good…
I always love the image of Urianger at 37:17 holding his head with both hands, struggling to accept the enormity of the story he is being told. It's especially impactful when you consider that he is often the one who best understands these grand truths. If even he is struggling with this, that's how you know how truly incomprehensible it really is.
They aren't necessarily always well used (don't scold me for assuming the fearies might not be super interested in the manual labor for a big talos!), but Feo Ul sure does land well when they let her.
35:50 – Oh geez…. Hien's katana and the girl Vidofnir saved… I'm okay. I'm not tearin up!
Over the course of this Expansion Urianger has turned into one of my favorite characters!
It could be the new design they've made for him, but he also has such an important role in this story, they really fleshed him out!
I hardly need to explain why this was probably the most emotionally charged sequence of story beats for me when I played this. From the moment of waking up to the room all the way to setting out with the Scions again, it is just an overwhelming experience. Even tho rightly due to this being an MMO, our character will be fine, the shere magnitude of how badly things went just really hooks in how dire things feel.
It is a bitter sweet feeling that one of the first things we hear upon waking up is that the Scions have been searching for a way to help us while we've been unconscious. Then to follow that up with seeing how the Crystarium is holding up. Only to pivot back to ourself with the incredible conversations with ardbert and feo ul both.
Just everything about this, hearing what not only G'raha had to endure, but the people who lived in the wake of the 8th umbral calamity.
The last thing i can feel to ramble about is how Alisaie's frustration at the helplessness she feels always cracks my heart. I appreciate that by being one of the more emotionally expressive members of the Scions, she often can act as a catalystto expose what many if not all of them are feeling. And then most of all did she really lay down how the whole group surely feels but are unwilling to speak.
This sequence is like. The final nail on the coffin for the WoL's relationship with the scions. It has been building steadily, but the heel turn from them being associates, to close comrades that you ardently support, to suddenly being in absolutely dire straits yourself, except here they are. Ready to lift you back on your feet, and walk behind you wherever you deem right. It is probably my favorite moment in the entire game right next to the ethereal mystery of first starting Shadowbringers
Is Ardbert essentialy sharing his light protection with Durmin ? Or maybe absorbing some of the excess light ?
Whatever is going on, I can't wait for the reveal in a few episodes!
💙
Not spoilers, but theme talk below the fold:
Many folks have said one of the strengths of Shadowbringers is that it is ABOUT the Warrior of Light, comparing to other games or even Stormblood when it seemed we were more a POV camera enabling others to tell their stories. I will agree with that somewhat, but expand it further. Shadowbringers is about THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT… not just YOU.
It is about our journey and struggle to take down the lightwardens, yes, and dealing with the consequences now. And with things like calling out frustration with the pixies chores, they better relate how we feel going about things, along with better animated reactions, options in dialogue, etc.
But it's far more then that. Shadowbringers shows the true POWER of the Warrior of Light. Not just in what we can do, but in our ability to inspire and enable OTHERS to acts of their own. Dermin may have helped to bring all of Nourvtant together… but HE wasn't the one that built that Talos. NO single person did, but by inspiring and bringing hope to so many, they ALL were able to do something far more impactful then ANYTHING we could have done alone.
And as those in the 8th Calamity timeline show… that effect we have does not stop with us. it continues, as those we have helped and aided, those we have touched and saved, continue to pass it forward, and raise one another's hearts with tales of our deeds. Breaching the barriers of both space and time again are things that are wholly beyond our capability… but the hope we inspire is able to do far more then we ever could.
Shadowbringers is about what it means to be a HERO. And that's about SO MUCH MORE then just YOU.
I’ve always thought the cutscene from the Unbroken Thread really encapsulates what makes the WoL special. Like, yes, they are a primal-stomping snack-delivering badass who beats down massive foes and inspires their allies, and that’s not nothing, but more importantly to me, it shows that even when the WoL is dead and gone and (almost) everyone who knew them is no longer around to share their story, their deeds continue to inspire others, giving hope to the hopeless and motivating them to try to achieve the impossible. And I think that’s the best kind of legacy a hero could leave behind.