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Not using spoiler tags here because there's just too much to cover and spoiler tag. So if you don't want the stories of most of the missions in the game ruined for you, I suggest you stop readng now.
OK, so ACP ended up tying up one loose end that had been there for years, namely that CG intro we all know and love. Then it tugged at one loose end of CoP - that seemingly random meeting with Mathilde (who we now know is Aldo's sister, Emeline). She has a flashback to Bearclaw Pinnacle where we see what we've generally presumed to be Odin's shattered protocrystal.
Ulmia recognized Mathilde, saying something about being in the Tavnazian choir with her or some such. It did dawn on me in Hall of the Gods that this was the woman we had met in Selbina during CoP and since she also knows the Memoria de la Stona, it was easy to conclude she was also tutored my Cardinal Milldron.
So we originally thought Elemine got piked by the orcs, but was captured and somehow survived.
Could it be that, much like the Zilart used Verona and her song to open the way to To'Lia that Emeline was used to release Odin so the Shadow Lord could strike a deal with him to get an army of Kindred?
Of course, why would Odin have been crystalized in the first place? Nashmeria told us that there had been a clash between Odin and Alexander before and that was hundreds of years ago. Luzaf also made a deal with Odin to gain revenge. Perhaps a slumbering god could hear prayers, I suppose?
But again, how did Odin get in Bearclaw Pinnacle all these years later after the previous cataclysm in the Urghan region? Could it be their powers emerged at the same time and they clashed before becoming encased in the protocrystal?
The dawnmaiden's story in RoZ inside Hall of the Gods leads me to think so. In some FF games, to become a summon, one must either sacrifice themselves (FFX) or die (FFVI). All the origin stories of the celestials involve them dying, after all. Perhaps even just severely weakend would be enough. They die, become crystalized and are taken to the Realm of the Avatars.
So Odin and Alex clash, get thrown across the world and crystalize. Emeline is brought to awaken Odin with her song. Carbuncle had expressed concern about people's attempts to open the gate to paradise in the Waking of the Beast storyarch, as well as in the CoP storyline. Celestials wake up, paradise returns, terrestrial avatars are no longer tops and the mortals are wiped out.
Could the song awaken an avatar? Yeah, probably. But who woke up Alexander and what did they have to gain from it? Or did he just get loose in response to his true enemy?
Pretty clear Odin hasn't recrystalized, he's romping about Einherjar, its his place in spacetime, after all. Has Alexander? Again, Alexander remains a bit more mysterious. Both he and Odin needed mortal contact to manifest themselves outside their realms. Odin could have just make another contract with someone after Luzaf gave up his quest for revenge and Odin revived Nashmeira. Odin didn't have it in for the Empire, just Luzaf originally. Odin just hates Alexander.
So where does this all leave us? We now know that Mathilde/Emeline was no simple retcon to CoP, this character did have a purpose and set many events in motion. She was truly the last loose end of CoP.
Of course, why is she alive? Well, nothing to gain from killing her, what if the Shadow Lord had wanted to use her to unleash other celestials? So she still has some role to play out in Vana'diel, I think. I think that role may lead us to "The Last Verse."
OK, so ACP ended up tying up one loose end that had been there for years, namely that CG intro we all know and love. Then it tugged at one loose end of CoP - that seemingly random meeting with Mathilde (who we now know is Aldo's sister, Emeline). She has a flashback to Bearclaw Pinnacle where we see what we've generally presumed to be Odin's shattered protocrystal.
Ulmia recognized Mathilde, saying something about being in the Tavnazian choir with her or some such. It did dawn on me in Hall of the Gods that this was the woman we had met in Selbina during CoP and since she also knows the Memoria de la Stona, it was easy to conclude she was also tutored my Cardinal Milldron.
So we originally thought Elemine got piked by the orcs, but was captured and somehow survived.
Could it be that, much like the Zilart used Verona and her song to open the way to To'Lia that Emeline was used to release Odin so the Shadow Lord could strike a deal with him to get an army of Kindred?
Of course, why would Odin have been crystalized in the first place? Nashmeria told us that there had been a clash between Odin and Alexander before and that was hundreds of years ago. Luzaf also made a deal with Odin to gain revenge. Perhaps a slumbering god could hear prayers, I suppose?
But again, how did Odin get in Bearclaw Pinnacle all these years later after the previous cataclysm in the Urghan region? Could it be their powers emerged at the same time and they clashed before becoming encased in the protocrystal?
The dawnmaiden's story in RoZ inside Hall of the Gods leads me to think so. In some FF games, to become a summon, one must either sacrifice themselves (FFX) or die (FFVI). All the origin stories of the celestials involve them dying, after all. Perhaps even just severely weakend would be enough. They die, become crystalized and are taken to the Realm of the Avatars.
So Odin and Alex clash, get thrown across the world and crystalize. Emeline is brought to awaken Odin with her song. Carbuncle had expressed concern about people's attempts to open the gate to paradise in the Waking of the Beast storyarch, as well as in the CoP storyline. Celestials wake up, paradise returns, terrestrial avatars are no longer tops and the mortals are wiped out.
Could the song awaken an avatar? Yeah, probably. But who woke up Alexander and what did they have to gain from it? Or did he just get loose in response to his true enemy?
Pretty clear Odin hasn't recrystalized, he's romping about Einherjar, its his place in spacetime, after all. Has Alexander? Again, Alexander remains a bit more mysterious. Both he and Odin needed mortal contact to manifest themselves outside their realms. Odin could have just make another contract with someone after Luzaf gave up his quest for revenge and Odin revived Nashmeira. Odin didn't have it in for the Empire, just Luzaf originally. Odin just hates Alexander.
So where does this all leave us? We now know that Mathilde/Emeline was no simple retcon to CoP, this character did have a purpose and set many events in motion. She was truly the last loose end of CoP.
Of course, why is she alive? Well, nothing to gain from killing her, what if the Shadow Lord had wanted to use her to unleash other celestials? So she still has some role to play out in Vana'diel, I think. I think that role may lead us to "The Last Verse."
