We’ve heard Answers since the very beginning. Answers, permeates through what makes Final Fantasy XIV Final Fantasy XIV, it is unendingly important to the emotional arc to the plot, and ultimately makes an enormous difference in how we resonate with that plot. It has been around for so many years and is so vitally important. I hope you enjoy this video of me discussion Answers.
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Chapters:
00:00 Answers
00:27 The 7th Umbral Calamity
01:18 Dalamud’s Arrival
01:34 The Final Disconnect
01:42 Answers is Final Fantasy XIV
01:57 Flames of Truth
02:52 Why Must We Suffer?
03:18 Flames of Truth pt2
04:57 Who Is this Celestial Being?
06:03 Flames of Truth pt3
06:55 Rock Ballad
07:40 Flames of Truth pt4
08:29 Our Only Hope
09:07 Flames of Truth pt5
09:47 Stillness
10:13 Flames of Truth pt6
10:40 Where Does This Leave Us?
11:11 Venat and the Ascians
11:31 “Your Answer”
11:56 Proving Our Worth
12:42 Your Answer pt2
13:58 Battle To The Death
14:36 Your Answer pt3
15:18 This is Our Answer
16:23 Your Answer pt4
15:47 The Final Days and The Calamities
17:07 Venat’s Promise
17:42 The Cycle of Suffering
18:08 Venat’s Promise pt2
19:48 Hearing Answers Differently
20:19 Venat’s Promise pt3
22:14 “From The Ashes”
22:25 Venat’s Promise pt4
26:18 Sundering the World
27:11 Venat’s Promise pt5
30:03 A Quest to Find Your Purpose
30:34 The Importance of Answers
Videos Used:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzLUASTdV5g&t=1337s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVQS_yYAlh0&t=80s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xOOFCltZuc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QVVuqPelZo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOmmeHpzvR8&t=177s
Credits:
Composers: Masayoshi Soken, Nobuo Uematsu, Naoshi Mizuta, Tsuyoshi Sekito
FINAL FANTASY is a registered trademark of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
© SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
Answers (From “Final Fantasy XIV”) · Nobuo Uematsu
℗ 2015 AWR Records
#finalfantasy @FINAL FANTASY XIV #finalfantasyxiv
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"Thou Must live, die and know"… This was something that was haunting me for a very, very long time. This song itself was an enigma at first for me. But the more I progressed in the story the more I understood it. This song is for me our companion, the one who's been here from start and when we finally understand it… He goes off. What a truly masterpiece of a video you made. I would love to see it on dragonsong who's full of lore.
Perhaps the only flaw there was to this expansion was not establishing meteon earlier. Maybe not from previous expansions, but from post shb patches. But apart from that, I loved how Answers continue to be an ongoing theme even at the 6.2 msq patch.
Won't say the details for spoilers sake but we see that Haedelyn' s traces will continue to persist
This might genuinely be one of your best videos. Since I started playing in 2013, this has been one of my absolute favorite songs in the game and your analysis is so perfect.
I'm not gonna lie, I cry when I listen to this song. It's damn powerful even before EW gave it extra context, but just being generally older since ARR gave us this and having faced more hardships in life, yeah, this is definitely one of my favorite songs of all time because it helps me when I'm depressed a lot tbh. It just moves something in my heart, and I appreciate it.
I felt every painful step Venat took in that particular cutscene of EW and suddenly the song took on such a deeper meaning for me
Your analyses and interviews (for FFXIV specifically, I'm a fanboy – sorry :P) are quickly becoming my "YAY!"-moments when I see them in my feed. Thank you. 🙂
Any more songs and lyrics you're tackling? 😀
the song may have been created for a singular purpose by a being of unconditional love but really like with life, there is no right answer to the question it poses but the one you give it.
Wow, so much quality in this video. What a great analysis. Congratulations
that walk that Venat took while suffering in unimaginable pain in her every step and what it actually means hit me so hard that I literally cried. Even now tears are still threatening to fall. One of the most impactful scenes I have watched for sure.
You can finally rest, Venat. We will take it from here.
Beautifully spoken. The reveal of what this song meant after so MANY years is a masterpiece of storytelling. You can't simply experience this level of foreshadowing and profound emotional revelation in written works or other media. It's the combination of written storytelling and emotive master crafted music that combines into a few fleeting moments, those moments of revelation and understanding spread across literal years of playing this games storyline. They all flow together and become one and reveal the secret in a beautiful experience that has changed the lives of millions. This is a work of artistry that deserves to be remembered as a classic, one of the masterpieces of our time.
ahh this song is just the best in last 20-30 years of music in general
I still think Venat's voice actor doesn't bring enough emotion to match up to the story and "Answers". Frankly, that unnamed Bitter Ancient puts forth a better performance. Whether it's direction or delivery, Venat just sounds like a person reading lines.
I first saw Venat's Promise during the peak of The Endless Queue (Ultimate). The emotions in that scene overwhelmed, so I chose to log off and sit with these emotions.
At the depth of my despair, I felt no reason to live, and plenty to end. Knowing that this despair would never leave me. Knowing this despair was in fact the results of my own actions. I had clung to shallow hopes and thought I could salvage my life, only to find that this pursuit of happiness was rooted in suffering I inflicted on the ones I love.
Yet in that moment, I felt an angel. I knew this darkness would always be here with me. I could not banish it, or I would just spread it to others. But that was no reason to end. That instead was my reason to live. To live knowing I will suffer. To live knowing life itself is suffering. To live knowing there would be no end to suffering. That angel gave me true hope. One that has yet to be broken. To live and strive forward, and help carry the ones I love through our suffering.
When I saw Hydaelyn's true form, I saw my angel again. And I told her this was my answer.
Oh so one small thing from the Mothercrystal fight that ties into the music, during the intermission phase she in dialog actually finishes the 'think…' 'feel…' statements that we've heard since the beginning, essentially answering the fact that Answers asks 'think what? feel what?'
ARR and Answers was important and sad. During the Bahamut Trial Answers felt almost joyous. Then after Endwalker I can never hear Answers without tears… Even now I am still sniffling…
You might have mentioned that the wounds Venat suffers during her walk are the wounds from the later calamities. Greivious and bloody, yet still she walks forward.
A song of those who tried and failed to create a better world. A song of the end.
Would love to have seen Susan watch this with you
Damnit, fine. I have like 4 friends breathing down my neck about this game. I already know it is good – I've just been trying to ignore it in the interest of time. I know that Square really tries hard with their numbered games, so eventually I was gonna cave. If anything is going to convince me it may as well be this piece of music.
Alright… I'll play it. Answers is going to truly haunt me if I don't
Nope never heard of it sounds like cool game also is that acnologia
You know, watching this, I was struck with the thought that I'd be very interested in hearing you and Alex Moukala kind of have a joint discussion breaking down a lyrical song in FFXIV. It seems like his commentary focuses primarily on the music/instrumentation of a piece, and while you do touch on that somewhat, I noticed in this video you seemed to focus more on the lyrics. I feel like it could be such an interesting discussion to have the two of you do the super deep dives that you do into your respective specialties while also discussing with one another and tying it all together.
Anyway, love this video ^_^ Will always watch and love anything discussing "Answers." It still makes me tear up very often when listening to it, and I've been playing since ARR open beta. I'm not sure many other pieces of media have had that much emotional sway over me for that long in my life – but then, not many other mediums encourage your personal investment in the way a story-driven MMO does.
Man look at thise neck and the accent too
A lovely analysis, as always! 😀 Thank you for sharing, I was absolutely excited to see your thoughts on this one and truly enjoyed listening.
Going to share a very long comment (for youtube) reviewing an angle that made me sit and think hardcore, in case it's interesting for ya.
One layer of meaning I've been stuck on has been the male chorus being specifically the Unsundered in their tempering to Zodiark, juxtaposed with Hydaelyn/Venat and the surviving, free, fractured souls of the sundered.
"I close my eyes,
tell us why must we suffer.
Release your hands,
for your will drags us under.
My legs grow tired,
tell us where must we wander.
How can we carry on,
if redemption's beyond us?"
The mission of Zodiark, I think, is twofold. First is the salvation of the world–ensuring that life is preserved and will continue on. The sacrifice of half the population, to stop the song of Meteion from reaching Etheirys. The sacrifice of the remaining half, to restore what was made barren during the time the song reached. The waters flowed once more, plants could grow, new birth could happen. Total, this took 3/4 of the population–with further deaths likely resulting from the song itself. Life could not be extinguished.
The second mission, and the one that I think was more insidious, is warping of what 'salvation' truly means. We hear from the Ancient confronted by Venat that he (and those around him) want a perfect paradise where mankind knew naught but bliss. We hear this sentiment repeated many times by Ancients in reference to Zodiark, both on the moon and from Elidibus himself at Seat of Sacrifice. They yearn for "a world free from sorrow", when that was never what existed in the first place. And depending on whether Zodiark's summoning came with the side-effect of tempering anyone without the traveler's ward, it may be that the majority of survivors wouldn't even have had the opportunity to reflect and step away from that course. Certainly the convocation was enthralled. They would never be saved, never have their mission satisfied, so long as suffering continued.
Security and freedom are often juxtaposed ideals, and I think this is an underlying contrast in symbols between Zodiark and Hydaelyn. But in losing freedom, the tempered of Zodiark are psychologically enslaved and can never know peace so long as the world is sundered and the sacrifices of the Final Days left to stand. Maybe even beyond that. Without risking spoilers, we effectively see that mentality in action a bit with Pandaemonium tier 2–the heart doesn't matter before the greater good, the mission. Personal morality, personal feeling can and sometimes must be sacrificed to protect what you love most by that mindset. And with this exploited/reinforced through tempering, the unsundered are pushed to end the world over and over again with a faraway promise that one day it will bring them home again. One day it will make a difference. And with each passing age, that promise becomes increasingly abstract as the burden of guilt, pain, isolation, and fear grows stronger.
"Release your hands/for your will drags us under" makes a lot of sense in light of tempering. The will is of Zodiark, and likewise "My legs grow tired/tell us where must we wander"–this is not someone making the decision alone to wander, but asking someone else to be commanded despite reaching the end of their endurance. And that end of endurance is further reiterated in the question "How can we carry on/if redemption's beyond us?"
One thing I also find interesting is, when we get to the back-and-forth we see the words attributed to the male and female singers switch partway through.
"Suffer (Feel)
Promise (Think)
Witness (Teach)
Reason (Hear)
Follow (Feel)
Wander (Think)
Stumble (Teach)
Listen (Speak)"
For this segment, the female chorus is for the first word while the male chorus is in parentheses. Then order changes.
"Honor (Speak)
Value (Tell)
Whisper (Tell)
Mention (Hope)
Ponder (Hope)
Warrant (Wish)
Cherish (Wish)
Welcome (Roam)
Witness (Roam)
Listen (Roam)
Suffer (Roam)
Sanction (Sleep)
Weather (Sleep)
Wander (Sleep)
Answer (Sleep on)"
At this point I want to also mention–we actually get Zodiark's primal command in a very subtle form, replying to Hydaelyn's "Hear, Feel, Think" command. In Shadowbringers as Emet-Selch explains the Final Days in the Qitana Ravel. From him it's "Look, Learn, Remember." So the places where there is echoing and overlap really do seem like two halves of a whole imo. We also see the effort born of time continuing to evolve with new words, and how while the sundered chorus begins to fragment and repeat itself the male chorus continues in more linear fashion–a single life stretched rather than divided by reincarnation and rediscovery over and over again.
We also see the juxtaposition in this section:
"War born of strife, these trials persuade us not
(Feel what? Learn what?)
Words without sound, these lies betray our thoughts
(See what? Hear what?)"
Male singers in parentheses potentially the Unsundered, which would track with being lost after the sheer length of time. And another interesting point of shift:
"Witness (Feel) Suffer (Think) Borrow (Teach) Reason
(Hear) Follow (Feel) Stumble (Think) Wander (Teach) Listen
(Blink) Whisper (Blink) Shoulder (Blink) Ponder (Blink) Weather
(Hear) Answer (Look) Answer (Think) Answer together"
This section the female singers go first and the male singers second, but then the first (Blink) happens and from then on it's a combined chorus of male and female followed by male only. Imo this speaks to finally sharing experience again between the factions. And likewise, that combination continues to the song's end. In the end both are just people and the trials are not one against the other but for all.
It still blows me away that the entire premise of the game up to the end of 6.0 is contained in Answers. Having beaten Endwalker I see Answers in a whole different way now. Incredible.
before endwalker Answers has been a meaning of the Hardship we had vs Bahamut (specially people that does UCOB a lot)
but after done endwalker 2 months ago, it has an entirely different meaning. the suffering hydaelyn have to went through from the days in Ancient times. to finally bestow us a final farewell before we face the final duty we did to save entire Eorzea (i downplay some points because don't want to go too much spoilery).
i always think of Her journey she had.. the fight we did… and the entire journey we had starting from ARR (and even better for peeps that played in 1.0 since i only started this May) to Endwalker.. it truly is something special and this song bonds the entire 5 expansions. from 1.0 to ARR to HW to SB to ShB and finally Endwalker)
Hydaelyn's monologue still makes me well up to this day. The closing of the "Answers" dialogue was a master stroke that could never have been possible without an incredible amount of coordination from such talented people. There are few fantasy experiences that can feel so real, even with the benefits of the medium.
"No more shall mankind have wings to bear him to paradise! Henceforth….he shall walk."
Seeing this was the entry drug to an eight year glorious habit, I might not have been there when the servers opened, but I will be there when they close. Another excellent video! ❤️
The part about Answers that really gets me… is that all of the "answers" we are given to the question are verbs. Things to do. Things to become. We are here to perform. Our purpose lies in action, not inaction. And that the experience of life is more important than even the mere act of living, for we are meant to live, die, but (most importantly), know.
I liked this song when I listened to it the first time. But I love it even more as time goes on.
Appreciated your analysis, Marco. Glad you were finally able to finish Endwalker, 14 as a whole feels like such a unique experience.
I actually took to heart the wisdom in those words, it relates to everyone's struggles on Earth as well. If we don't find these wisdom, we simply fall into despair.
End is never the End.
Every time I hear Answers now tears start, because I know the weight of this song. These words. After Venat's walk I needed to take a break because the culmination of what I saw in the story up to that moment to the bridge being connected to the past…yeah that broke me.