#like its a fun story and the story either adjusts itself to resolve conflicts or it just ends and she doesnt have to deal w it

[lavellane]

having elspeth's whole blight schedule planned to the last minute detail has opened my third fourth and fifth eyes all simultaneously but on the flip side it means ive also inadvertantly cockblocked her from her mans until like. ⅗ of the way through of the game lol

[gegenji]

Musings on Post-5.3 Roadmap

So, I’ve had a fun little thought on how the plot of Final Fantasy XIV is going to go moving forward for a while now.

This latest patch did add some wrinkles and new information, but ultimately I think it actually makes my little story path I see in my head all that more... interesting, from a personal literary sense?

I’ve mentioned it on some Discord channels, but I figured I should really just put it down “on paper” as it were. To share, to discuss, and maybe come back to it down the road and see how close or wildly off the mark I was on my ideas.

This will involve some revelations from the most recent patch, of course, so I will be putting the theory beneath a Read More along with tagging the entire post as spoilers. Since it’s only been... a week and a half? Since the patch dropped.

So, my little theoretical roadmap comes in three parts. One for the rest of Shadowbringers, one for the unnamed Garlemald expansion that is supposedly coming up next, and one for the third and “final” expansion before the FFXIV main story ends and all that follows is just fun support stuff to keep the game alive (and bringing in money) for however long afterward.

So, to keep things tidy, I’ll split this diatribe into three parts to match.

Part One: Shadowbringers

With all our heroes back on the Source, I believe the rest of Shadowbringers will mostly wrap up the situation involving the Sundered members of the Convocation - like Fandaniel the Fantastical shown in the ending cutscenes of 5.3. Mostly since I believe somewhere it was mentioned that this expansion would wrap up the whole Ascian plot. So I don’t see these Sundered Ascians lasting past this expansion, as that would be counter to the aforementioned goal.

So I imagine that these Sundered Ascians may get some attention, but it’s hard to imagine them having the power and presence of the Unsundered like Emet or Elidibus. Unless - and this is what I think may happen - they pull an upgraded version of the Ascian Prime fusion that is done in the Aetherochemical Research Facility (or ARF, as many lovingly call it). This could serve as the final battle against the Ascians, providing a tangible combat threat for the WoL and their allies as well as handle the Sundered Convocation members in one fell swoop.

And since Elidibus took the station crystals with him when he was absorbed into the Crystal Tower on the First, there’s no way to elevate any of the other fragments of the Convocation members to their positions. Ascians effectively handled.

However, while that handles the Ascian situation, it doesn’t close the circle on Zodiark and Hydaelyn. Zodiark just loses its main core of people who are seeking to release him, as well as the main driving force causing the Rejoinings. That does not mean Zodiark is out of the picture, though, as there remains one very tangible individual who I see playing a major role in the Original Elder Primal’s release.

Zenos. (Not a huge surprise, I know, but bear with me!)

Part Two: Kingmaker

This expansion is dealing with the Garlean situation. The Populares as a united unit has been apparently dealt with offscreen given the ending cutscenes of 5.3. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some manner of ragtag band of freedom fighters or something that has been trying to cobble together a presence enough to get Zenos off the throne.

This would be our heroes’ “in” to entering Garlemald. Allying with and supporting this group of rebels against the Empire. Bringing in all the “good” Garleans we’ve encountered before, as well as introducing some others. Showing that Garlemald isn’t entirely full of cartoon villains but a nation of varied thoughts and opinions. It’s just the people in charge still adhering to the thoughts and principles instilled in them by the Ascians. The Ascians are gone, but their machinations still continue in this fashion.

The overarching plot involves getting the Populares reformed, fighting with Zenos’ forces, and - ultimately - putting Gaius on the throne instead. Putting him in the position to rule he had always wanted, but after being kicked down and having to make this climb back up. And perhaps senpai will finally notice Nero and he’ll end up as Gaius’ head of scientific endeavors while Cid remains with the Alliance (and perhaps joins the Scions as well in a more official fashion).

With Gaius on the throne, Garlemald would be in a position for peace with the Alliance and the war would finally end.

However, Zenos - as we have seen - doesn’t really care about the throne in the first place. He just wants to have his Grand Battle with his Best Friend. And the ending of Shadowbringers and the entirety of this Garlemald expansion has been setting up for this great battle. He has just been using his forces to entertain the Alliance and his Friend until he can get everything ready.

In the ending cutscenes of 5.3, it was implied that Zenos and Fandaniel were trying to goad Elidibus into showing up. There’s some ideas as to why, but my personal guess is to teach Zenos one of the few Ascian-related things he still doesn’t know how to do.

Rejoinings.

Either during the final patches of Shadowbringers or during this expansion, Zenos is going to figure out how to do this. Perhaps not as cleanly as the Unsundered did it in the previous Calamities, but he is going to. And that has been his goal during all this: to provide that one last Rejoining that will allow Zodiark to break free from His confinement.

Why? Shinryu 2.0. His goal is to harness the power of the Original Primal and seek to bend it to his will for a realm-clashing battle of the gods between him and the Warrior of Light. Whether he succeeds or his hubris finally comes back to bite him and he ends up a puppet of Zodiark, the now-deposed Crown Prince is still going to get what he wants.

And that’s the Warrior of Light having to do the same with Hydaelyn. The two have their great clash, and the Warrior of Light overcomes Zodiark-Zenos. Likely due to the power of friendship and Hydaelyn more willingly giving Her power to defeat Zodiark than Zenos’ forcing himself to replace Elidibus as Zodiark’s core.

This battle drains both Zodiark and Hydaelyn, finally removing the two Old Primals from the game. Things seem like Happily Ever After...

Until the Sound returns.

Part Three: Terminus Reborn

This is the big kicker: Zodiark actually never got rid of the source of the problem that caused His creation and sealed the end of Amaurot. He was simply holding it at bay - a task taken up by Hydaelyn after the Sundering, and perhaps aided by the problem itself also being split across the reflections. But with both Original Primals gone, and enough Rejoinings in place, the Terminus begins again.

This is where I see a literary parallel happening here. The Warrior of Light - also known as Azem, the wanderer and gatherer of stars - has been gathering people to them this whole time. The Scions.

And while they may not be exactly the same, and certainly don���t have the power, knowledge, or resources of the Convocation - due to not being Ascians, not having the station crystals, and not being in a similar position of power - there is enough of a similarity that one could compare the Scions to a New Convocation of sorts. Perhaps even taking up similar roles in the group dynamic - such as Cid fulfilling a Lahabrea-style position or something. Or Tataru being the Emet-Selch. Or even being identified as the counterparts like in the Scions of Light/Darkness in FFXII.

However subtle or obvious they make it, the full circle is here. The “new Convocation” has to deal with the threat of the original Convocation. From a far more perilous position and unable (and very likely unwilling) to just do a repeat of the past by summoning a new Zodiark analogue.

So the Warrior of Light does what they (and Azem) do best. They travel the world, gathering the help and knowledge of people all over to find out a way to defeat the problem. If there are any parts of the Star (would it still be called Hydaelyn at this point with Hydaelyn gone? Who knows) that have been left unvisited, this is the expansion it happens. New World, Meracydia, etc.

Through this, the true cause of the Sound is discovered (perhaps a previously unknown side-effect of Amaurotine Creation/Primal summoning) and a solution is found and implemented, saving the world. And showing the Sundered races having surpassed the Amaurotine they were fractured from by solving the problem they could not.

Expansion ends, and then all the future content is more or less just fun side stuff or other mini-conflicts that take place on the Star now that the threat of the Ascians, of Zodiark and Hydaelyn, and the Terminus are all resolved.

==========

And that’s basically my thoughts on where I could see the plot going, based on what I’ve seen and what thoughts I have had based on the information that’s been provided. And some adjustments and additions/omissions based on the Discord conversations I mentioned at the very start of all this.

What do you think? Seem plausible? Too far out there? Do you see things unfolding in a different way?

I’d love to see what others think - both of my idea, and their own ideas for how the plot of FFXIV will continue and ultimately conclude.

[aion-rsa]

Infinite Crisis Again: What Rebirth Can Learn From Its Cosmic Cousin

DC Comics’ “Rebirth” is both a publishing initiative and a (somewhat subtle) crossover event. On the publishing side, “Rebirth” relaunched almost all of DC’s main-line superhero titles. On the story side, May 2016’s “DC Universe: Rebirth” special brought back the classic version of Wally West — thought to be lost to the New 52 reboot — and explained that characters from “Watchmen” had given the DCU a case of the blahs.

However, that wasn’t the first time writer Geoff Johns and an all-star artistic roster (including Phil Jiminez and Ivan Reis) had crafted a sequel to a seminal Reagan-era miniseries. In 2005’s “Infinite Crisis,” Johns and Jiminez (with help from Reis, George Pérez and Jerry Ordway) revealed that a trio of survivors from 1985’s “Crisis On Infinite Earths” — most thought lost to “COIE’s” reboot — had a plan to bring back the infinite Multiverse. Oh, and all their behind-the-scenes manipulations and plotting were designed to cure the DC Universe’s then-current case of the blahs.

RELATED: Where to Watch the Watchmen: A Rebirth Guide

“Infinite Crisis” enjoyed a substantial buildup and left a significant footprint. It was at the heart of the “Crisis Cycle” of the 2000s — when DC’s superhero line was either preparing for, in the middle of, and/or recovering from some world-shattering calamity. Since “Rebirth” seems to be using some of “Infinite Crisis'” playbook, today we’ll compare and contrast the two to see how the current event might benefit.

OUR BRAND IS CRISIS: 1982-2004

“Identity Crisis” cover art by Michael Turner

We begin in 1982 because that’s when DC started stealth-promoting “Crisis On Infinite Earths.” The Monitor and his signature satellite first appeared in July 1982’s “The New Teen Titans” vol. 1 #21; while his assistant Lyla made her debut over a year later, in 1983’s “New Teen Titans Annual” vol. 1 #2. (Naturally, 1985’s “Crisis” came from the “Titans” team of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.) Apparently if you want to convince readers that a pair of new characters have been watching a shared superhero universe for a long time, it helps to show them watching that universe for a decent amount of time — even if the Monitor was never fully seen until “Crisis” issue #1, when Harbinger’s powers were also revealed.

By 1986 “Crisis” was over and DC could start building on its effects; but eventually that too led to conflicts. In the summer of 1994 writer/penciller Dan Jurgens and inker Jerry Ordway produced “Zero Hour: Crisis In Time,” which attacked those problems with a different set of cosmic tools; and ten years after that, writer Brad Meltzer and artists Rags Morales and Michael Bair inserted some nasty elements into the history of the Justice League of America. Through it all, DC was careful to use the “Crisis” name sparingly.

On the surface, 2004’s “Identity Crisis” was a mystery about the murder of Sue Dibny, the Elongated Man’s wife and a fixture of the superhero community. Her death brought out a pattern of memory-altering and other Orwellian tactics used by a handful of Leaguers to protect their secret identities. Seems that years ago, Doctor Light had snuck aboard the JLA Satellite and attacked Sue when the team was away. In the wake of that incident, and another body-switching episode involving the Secret Society of Super-Villains (from 1979’s “Justice League of America” issues #166-68), Zatanna made a habit of erasing any compromising information from the bad guys’ brains. Zatanna also put the zap on a disapproving Batman when he found out.

After seven issues of anguished conversations, a few super-fights, andmore death, Sue’s murderer turned out not to be a supervillain at all. The Atom’s ex-wife Jean Loring did it to get his attention. Jean went to Arkham Asylum, the League started to look at itself a little more carefully, and that was it, right?

THE CRISIS CYCLE: 2005-2011

Detail from the cover of “52” issue #24, by J.G. Jones

Not quite. Here’s the “Crisis cycle” in bullet points:

The murder mystery in “Identity Crisis” (2004) had repercussions for the Justice League, the supervillain community, and Batman specifically.

The “Countdown to Infinite Crisis” oversized one-shot (2005) continued the Batman subplot. Turns out he’d built a killer spy satellite and thought he’d put it away safely. Sadly, no — ex-good guy Max Lord repurposed “Brother Eye” and killed off Blue Beetle because Beetle had learned too much about Max’s anti-superhero plans.

Four six-issue 2005 miniseries then got the readership ready for “Infinite Crisis.” First, “The OMAC Project” had Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman investigate Max, who was so powerful he could only be stopped by Wonder Woman snapping his neck. (“OMAC” also included “Sacrifice,” its own 4-issue sub-crossover about the neck-snapping) Next, “Rann-Thanagar War” and “Day of Vengeance” depicted a couple of time-sucking widescreen-style events to keep DC’s space-based and magic-based superheroes busy. Meanwhile, “Villains United” and the “JLA” arc “Crisis Of Conscience” (issues #115-19) dealt with fallout from “Identity Crisis” in the supervillain community and within the Justice League.

“Infinite Crisis” (2005-06) addressed all the miniseries’ business, revealing the comprehensive plan orchestrated by Alex Luthor (of the old Earth-Three) and Superboy (of the old Earth-Prime) to restore the old Multiverse and make DC-Earth a happier place. In the end, the Joker killed Alex, the Green Lanterns imprisoned Superboy-Prime, and things were back to normal, except just a little different in some areas. For example, now DC had a fun-sized Multiverse.

The regular superhero books jumped ahead one year in March 2006, taking advantage of “Infinite Crisis'” shakeups to make tweaks and other adjustments. However, “One Year Later” wasn’t received as fondly as “52” (2006-07), the year-long weekly miniseries which actually chronicled the missing year.

Even after all that, DC still wasn’t done with big events. It followed “52” with another year-long weekly miniseries, 2007-08’s “Countdown to Final Crisis,” which was supposed to gin up excitement for the next event by tying into a) just about every superhero title and b) several affiliated miniseries (like “Countdown Presents: The Search For Ray Palmer” and “Death of the New Gods”).

Thus, despite the title, 2008-09’s “Final Crisis” wasn’t the last blockbuster miniseries, because 2009-10’s “Blackest Night” dealt with (among other things) all the deaths from the various events and the biweekly year-long “Brightest Day” (2010-11) tried to set the superhero books back on a more congenial path.

Accordingly, the “Crisis Cycle” lasted upwards of seven years before the carnage from its events was resolved. DC then went and rendered all that effort moot with 2011’s line-wide New 52 reboot.

THE ROAD TO REBIRTH

Telos presents “Convergence’s” multiversal spread

Just as “Infinite Crisis” was preceded by an apparently-standalone event miniseries, a one-shot and a handful of lead-in miniseries, “Rebirth” has built on an apparently-standalone event miniseries (“Convergence”), the miniseries which followed it (“Titans Hunt” and “Lois & Clark”) and a one-shot (“DC Universe: Rebirth”).

2015’s “Convergence” was billed as the product of DC’s real-world cross-country move, which forced the publisher to create two months’ worth of (for lack of a better term) fill-in comics for the spring of 2015. The 9-issue weekly “Convergence” miniseries explained that the mother of all Brainiacs had been collecting Multiversal remnants and was pitting them against one another; and the several affiliated two-issue miniseries showed the effects of those battles. “Convergence” had some confusing consequences for DC’s cosmic mechanics, but for the most part it was a nostalgia-fest which marked time until the summer’s “DC You” initiative.

Nevertheless, three miniseries came out of “Convergence.” Nobody read the 6-issue “Telos,” about Brainiac’s Silver Surfer-esque assistant; but the 8-issue “Titans Hunt” established the secret history of the original Teen Titans (Dick Grayson, Roy Harper, et al.) and “Lois & Clark’s” 8 issues revealed that the pre-“Flashpoint” Superman and Lois Lane had been living on the New 52’s DC-Earth since the start of its superhero era.

The rest of the superhero line got a “DC You” makeover, with quirky new series like “Black Canary,” “Prez” and “Omega Men” joining radically-changed versions of Batman, Superman and Green Lantern. When “DC You” didn’t bring in the sales, the publisher responded with the “DC Universe: Rebirth” special; and with a series of one-shots which served effectively as “zero issues” for the newest round of relaunches. Among those relaunches were “Titans” and the Superman titles, which continued what “Titans Hunt” and “Lois & Clark” had begun.

Because the Titans, Superman and the Wally West Flash have been most heavily involved in connecting the pre-“Flashpoint” DC Universe with its current version, a good bit of “Rebirth” clues have appeared in their respective series. This is true for other ongoing series like “Detective Comics” and the upcoming “Button” crossover in “Batman” and “Flash.” In this respect the current “Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad” miniseries — which also promises hints about “Rebirth’s” macro-plot — is an outlier. The strategy looks like an inversion of “Infinite Crisis,” because the “Rebirth”-fueled changes precede their explanation (or at least the detailed explanation) and the buildup isn’t allocated largely among tie-in miniseries.

One important “Rebirth” factor still needs discussing, namely Mr. Oz from Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr.’s run on “Superman” (issues #32-39, August 2014-May 2015). Thought currently to be a disguised “Watchmen” character, the fact that Mr. Oz predates “Convergence” suggests that he may have been intended to fulfill some other purpose, like an alternate route to restoring the New 52 Supeman’s powers. (He also reminds us of the Tangent Comics Green Lantern, but that’s probably just coincidental.) In any event, we’re not prepared to speculate that “Rebirth” might have been in the works for some two years — despite precedents going back to those Monitor and Lyla teases — and certainly not before the one-two efforts of “Convergence” and “DC You.” Nevertheless, Mr. Oz has certainly worked out well as the mysterious personification of “Rebirth.”

LESSONS LEARNED?

Detail from the cover of the “DC Universe: Rebirth” special, by Gary Frank

Again, “Rebirth” is using many of the same tools as the Crisis cycle, but in a slightly different order. Where “Identity Crisis” led to “Countdown to Infinite Crisis” and then into the four feeder miniseries, “Convergence” facilitated “Titans Hunt” and “Lois & Clark,” which then led into the “DCU: Rebirth” special. As noted above, the changes to “Rebirth’s” ongoing series are happening now, as opposed to the “One Year Later” books happening after “Infinite Crisis.” (Actually, “1YL” started just as “Infinite Crisis” was ending, but close enough.)

To be sure, it’s a different strategy for a different set of market conditions, but it has paid off. “One Year Later” didn’t do much for ongoing series’ sales, but “Rebirth’s” ongoing series are performing very well. The question now is whether DC can keep it up for the two years Dan DiDio has said “Rebirth” will take. Right now DC is maintaining a good balance between business-as-usual stories and “Rebirth” teases. While more “Rebirth”-specific arcs are on the way, many of DC’s superhero books have little (if anything) to disclose about the event. For example, “Wonder Woman” is explaining changes to Diana’s origins, but that’s not expressly part of “Rebirth”; and the cosmic adventures in the Green Lantern books likewise are mum on “Rebirth.” However, if the rebirthing won’t be over until the summer of 2018, that will probably change; and more of the superhero line will be connected directly to “Rebirth’s” macro-plot.

It’s also possible that DC will go back to the “Crisis cycle” well by stepping up its reliance on “Rebirth”-related miniseries. “Titans Hunt” and “Lois & Clark” arrived with little fanfare — certainly not as much as the four “Infinite Crisis” lead-ins — but they weren’t expected to play much of a role after “Convergence.” With the two-year clock ticking (a countdown, as it were) and “Justice League vs. Suicide Squad” an apparent hit, DC might feel confident enough to launch a couple more event miniseries before the main throwdown begins.

DC needs to tread carefully with those event miniseries, though. Where “52’s” source material made it necessarily self-contained, “Countdown to Final Crisis” went entirely the other way and paid the price. “Countdown” itself was uneven at best, bouncing haphazardly across subplots as its characters bounced around the new Multiverse. That left its tie-ins without much goodwill, which miniseries like “Countdown: Arena” and “Lord Havok and the Extremists” wouldn’t have enjoyed anyway. So far “Rebirth’s” focus on the ongoing series has been successful. It may not stay that way, but for now there’s no reason to change.

By using event miniseries sparingly, DC can also avoid the dreaded “event fatigue.” While there is the notion that event fatigue is really just another name for poor execution, the reception given “One Year Later” argues that enthusiasm for “Infinite Crisis” peaked with that miniseries and didn’t extend to “One Year Later.” Remember, DC spent the better part of a year hyping “Infinite Crisis” with the goal of getting its readers to stay with DC’s ongoing series. Instead, many of them chose to stay with “52,” the only series which described “Infinite Crisis'” immediate aftermath. By contrast, “Rebirth” is building a readership for the ongoing series first, presumably so that the inevitable event miniseries will be more meaningful to that readership.

If we can map “Rebirth’s” mileposts to those of “Infinite Crisis,” we’re past the point where the main miniseries should have occurred. We’ve already had the standalone miniseries, the prelude miniseries and the oversized one-shot. It might be another year before the main event starts. If that’s supposed to be the peak of activity, when the curtains are finally drawn back and all the questions are answered, then DC can’t get comfortable until then.

As much as we lump in “Identity Crisis” with the rest of DC’s big crossovers, we risk forgetting that it wasn’t billed as such. Instead, it was the publisher’s effort to reach out to the non-comics reader by using a well-known mystery novelist who would write to his strengths. “Identity Crisis” only crossed over with a handful of ongoing series, perhaps because DC hadn’t done a proper line-wide crossover for a few years. Therefore, the hype for “Infinite Crisis” hit a comics marketplace which hadn’t been oversaturated with such a thing.

Phil Jiminez’ clue-filled “Countdown” teaser

The problem was, the successes of “Infinite Crisis” and “52” convinced DC that it could keep going in that vein; so over the next few years it did, to diminishing returns. Ironically, the corporate-driven excesses of “Countdown” were in support of writer Grant Morrison’s idiosyncratic “Final Crisis”; and the success of “Blackest Night” was more a reflection of writer Geoff Johns’ crowd-pleasing work on “Green Lantern.” The ecumenical, almost grass-roots appeal of “Rebirth” may be due similarly to the popularity of the individual series, and not so much the mysteries informing them. If that’s true, DC’s real task over the next year or so will be steering that collective appeal into anticipation for “Rebirth’s” endgame.

The Crisis cycle had a few big accomplishments. It revived DC’s Big Events, which had been dormant for a few years. It rebooted the Multiverse, albeit with just 52 parallel universes. It gave the entire superhero line a soft relaunch, led by the likes of writers Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek on the Superman titles and Grant Morrison and Paul Dini on the Bat-books. Through “52,” it showed that readers would embrace a quirky, detail-driven weekly miniseries (although “Countdown” would show that such a thing didn’t always work).

On the minus side, it fostered a climate of perpetual change — for example, Bart Allen’s brief Flash career and Wally West (and Mark Waid)’s similarly-brief return — coupled with the near-certainty of character death during each new event. “52” turned Ralph and Sue Dibny into ghost detectives; “Countdown” featured Earth-51’s apocalyptic end and the corruption of Mary Marvel; “Final Crisis” both “killed” Batman and planted the seeds of his return; and “Blackest Night” was all about death (although it featured a number of revivals, including Max Lord but not Blue Beetle). Even “Brightest Day,” which was supposed to focus on restoring happiness and cheer, started with the death of a cute baby bird. While the Crisis cycle wasn’t all bad, there was so much grimness and grit that it took a while to clean up.

We hope that proves to be the main difference between the Crisis cycle and “Rebirth’s” two years. It’s not just setting up a big event and watching the payoff, it’s also how much of the event’s negative effects are allowed to linger. “Rebirth” may be over by 2018, but DC must then get back to business as usual; because the Crisis cycle showed how too much of an event atmosphere can snowball out of control. Fortunately, unlike its en-fuego predecessor, “Rebirth” is doing a slow burn. That low-key approach has worked well so far, and DC should remember its effectiveness before getting too bombastic. It can’t afford to lose the readers it has gained.

How do you think “Rebirth” is doing? Let us know in the comments!

The post Infinite Crisis Again: What Rebirth Can Learn From Its Cosmic Cousin appeared first on CBR.com.

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