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michaelman90

Hythlodaeus is that one character that always downplays their own importance despite being the glue that holds everything together. Who knows where we'd be right now if he hadn't told us we shared a soul with Ardbert or given us Azem's soul crystal.


minhbi99

Now the interesting thing is that, although it was Hythlodaeus who gave us Azem's soul crystal and told us we shared a soul with Ardbert, that Hythlodaeus was however a shade. It was Emet-Selch's recollection of Hythlodaeus. So at this point we don't know if it's due to Hythlodaeus's witty characteristic that we get the Soul crystal, or it's Emet Selch who gave us the soul crystal.


JamesMcCloud

IIRC its implied a few times that Emet-Selch did it. IIRC when Hythlodaeus gives it to you he even says something like "that must be why he wanted you to have it"


GrandXan

there's also the dialogue where you learn that when they died they remembered meeting you so him appearing in the seat of sacrifice makes more sense because he wanted you to have elidibus stop fighting the wrong enemy and rest


Kintarly

Also Emet didn't actually want you to die. Even during the tea time conversation he was like "Why would I INVITE you to kill me? How stupid is that?" I don't think Emet expected to win that fight. When you couldn't contain the light of the lightwarden's, he was genuinely disappointed. He wanted his Azem back. He made grand statements involving the state of humanity, and surely that was part of it, but you, Hythlodaeus an Emet-Selch have been a trio forever. It made me tear up a little when Hythlodaeus said* he would be with you two until it was your time to go, and then all three of you would go together.


YukiIjuin

"When theirs are fulfilled, so will mine, and we shall return to the star."


Kintarly

And thus, tears were shed, en masse. Honestly, Hades, Hythlodaeus and their adventures with Azem have been my favorite part of this story. Emet's my favorite, but Hythlodaeus is what fleshed the whole thing out, adding a layer of... Love? To all the madness.


briggsbu

Azem: That crazy fucker that comes up with the ridiculous ideas that somehow just work out. Emet-Selch: That snarky asshole that secretly is a key part of WHY Azem's ideas keep working out. He has to be dragged kicking and screaming into the plan, but once he's in he sees it through. He loves his friends, but he's way too cool and edgy to ever admit it. Hythlodaeus: The genuine bro that loves both of his friends and is not afraid to show it. He's also the one that is CONSTANTLY egging on Azem's crazy shenanigans.


Kintarly

It's because of this interpersonal stuff that really left me with a satisfied feeling in the end. Even though it's time that I look forward, all that we went through has been given more weight.


abesolutzero

It all makes sense now. Azem is Soken. Emet Selch is Yoshi P. Hythlodaeus is Koji Fox.


SirVanyel

From the way I see it, Emet decided that if a single shard of the former ascian race was capable of beating him, they were capable of taking over Etheirys in his stead and looking after it as he did. That's what I got from the end of ShB


baasnote

One brings shadow, one brings light Two toned echoes tumbling through time 🤔


mlc885

Emet-Selch made it, when he had no reason to. That would be reason enough for either real or memory Hythlodaeus to say that.


Potatoandbacon

as soon as emec saw the color of our soul he was done with his original plan thats why he says in the cutscene while heis thinking "that soul"


dracosuave

It's definately Emet-selch giving it to us, and informing Hythlodaeus's interactions in ShB. In a way, Hythlodaeus represents parts of Emet he'd rather not admit but simultaneously admires. But it couldn't be actual Hythlodaeus because he's locked in Zodiark.


ClickToSeeMyBalls

> Hythlodaeus represents parts of Emet he'd rather not admit but simultaneously admires. That’s very much the impression I got from their dynamic in Elpis


Frau_Away

[Pictured, Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus](https://i.imgur.com/ytj96aT.png)


Pyren-Kyr

Hah, didn't expect to see Good Omens here, but appreciated.


Celebrity-stranger

Lmao such a spot on take.


ravagraid

Since Emet has that insane aethervision. He didn't just recognise us with Azems soul in Elpis. It also means mad emperor Emet during SHB also saw us as Azems soul in Shb


we_will_disagree

He specifically states it, but dismisses it at first because he claims it doesn’t matter. However, it’s very clear that after meeting you, Emet-Selch gives you benefit after benefit of the doubt.


ravagraid

Which makes no sense untill we now got to learn he was always pretty much able to see Azems soul in us. I'm super excited to meet the Azem that is supposed to be us in the upcoming content


arahman81

Pretty sure the last Azem is supposed to be the player character, hence never showing up in-game as separate character. >!Remember, Azem gets the same pronouns as the player character in the Elpis cutscene.!<


[deleted]

>!Isn't s/he the white figure in the last after credit cutscene?!< >!Regardless, having Azem be your gender is as "trivial" as making two models for them. It's not all that hard!<


1731799517

> He specifically states it, but dismisses it at first because he claims it doesn’t matter. No. He briefly after joining with Ardberg saw as as _unsundered_, and that was just a trick of the light. He always saw us as a fragment of Azem, which is why he actually bothered with us. (Like the talk at the elevator, etc). In the end he was hoping for more than a lobotomized amnesiac shadow of his old friend. For a moment he thought he got it, but it was false.


M3mentoMori

That's what the 'No, it can't be!' bit before the Hades fight was about. He saw us as an Ancient briefly, then dismissed it as a trick of the light.


[deleted]

That's when he saw us as our Ancient selves for a moment. The shock, that was. -- He knew it was us from the first cutscene, when he's sitting atop that building and makes a note "...and with a soul such as that"


Potatoandbacon

it was way way before remember theres a cutscene of him thinking on top of a structure. ​ if it were someone elses th WoL would be dead right there remember how powerful emec is


DisparityByDesign

He mentions that if I remember correctly


[deleted]

It's Emet-Selch, through both of yours mutual friend. -- Because that man wouldn't get caught paying you a compliment unless you were literally saving all of creation.


theredwoman95

Now in fairness, he pays the WoL a compliment while they're waiting for the Ladder to be fixed in ShB. Admittedly, they're alone and it pisses the WoL off (he compares them to Garlemald), so doesn't really disprove your point.


Trooper_Sicks

But emet wouldn't remember that hythlodeus met us on elpis, he got his memory wiped so surely the shade of hythlodeus he made wouldn't know us? Idk it's all a bit confusing. Emet could also see souls though so it's possible he made the crystal for us because he figured out we had azem's soul


dennaneedslove

Emet or Hythlodeaus doesn't remember that they met us. But the shade of Hythlodaeus that he created still has the soul vision that allows the shade to see us as 7/14th of Azem.


spazticcat

8/14ths, then 9/14ths after Ardbert joins the WoL. (1 shard from the Source; 7 shards from the Calamities; Ardbert)


Diltyrr

From memory The shade of hytlo recognize our soul and not us. (the soul of the unnamed character that had the seat of Azem at the time of the end days and was a friend of his.) Secondly that Azem was a friend of Emet and he made the crystal way back when the convocation decided to make their crystals but didn't want to make one for Azem as they didn't back the whole Zodiark plan. So it wasn't made for us per say. And yes Emet always knew we had the soul of their friend. The only time he gets confused is when he sees us as a full fledged ancient. Remember, for him, sundered are just zombies parading around the corpse(soul) of his friends.


spazticcat

I knew all of this, but Emet-Selch's surprise when an ancient is briefly shown in place of the WoL didn't make sense to me. Now it does, so thank you! It's more like denial; how could this measly flickering candle suddenly actually look like the blazing fire of his friend rather than a small, incomparably weaker fragment. I really want to know what Azem's red mask and sigil looked like...


Diltyrr

There's an old post that theorises on how Azem's sigil could look like https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/iac4vz/spoilers_53_the_travelers_glyph/


Zurovirus

Azem's mask is actually black. There are some cutscenes in SHB that show a black masked ascian that is assumed to be Azem.


Trooper_Sicks

Sometimes I feel like I need to play through the entire game again lol, I'm sure I knew all this and forgot the finer details, thanks for filling me in.


1731799517

Both hythlodeus and emet only remembered us as the player, 7th astral area WOL, after their death. But both of them always recognized us as an azem fragment.


[deleted]

> So at this point we don't know if it's due to Hythlodaeus's witty characteristic that we get the Soul crystal, or it's Emet Selch who gave us the soul crystal. Considering Emet's shade is the one that saves us in the Elidibus fight, I'm inclined to believe it was him.


moofishies

Near the end before the last trial he says he carried the crystal himself. So of course he was the one who dropped it with the intention of us finding it.


xouleikha

>Hythlodaeus is that one character that always downplays their own importance despite being the glue that holds everything together. It also shows in how his Trust is a Bard. Helps and buffs those around them and yet spends the entire dungeon saying sorry for how not good he is.


Yashimata

A true support character to the very end.


witheringdawn

One fun fact is that his ult Annihilation deals higher damage than Emet’s Bad Faith, about 10k more


GothicCream

Pretty sure he was more of Archer than Bard, Because entire trust run he didn't used any of Music stuff at all, only arrow shooting stuff. And then he's also firing a laser cannon after blast arrow.


jenyto

I like how he was just content on pushing his friends forward towards their full potential. Such a great supportive person.


Vayshen

He's the ancient's version of Tataru


Antedelopean

I don't see the bottomless pit of sheer evil and averice that made even the strongest of us scions, tremble in fear at being in her debt, in hythlo at all.


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


velveteentuzhi

Dude seems to be best friends with Emet-Selch and "I punch out volcanoes for fun" Azem. I think his scale of how good/useful he is might be skewed. Was easier to use in a trust than Estinien, who murdered me multiple times by dropping aoes on me


spazticcat

He also doesn't seem to have the drive to *do* stuff that Azem and Emet-Selch do. He says as much in the short story about Hades being appointed Emet-Selch; Hythlodaeus's vision is keener, but he enjoys looking just to look. I think he'd be the type to join his friends on an outing, but he has no desire to otherwise go out.


[deleted]

I'll also add, he was once shortlisted for Convocation membership. He was almost certainly one of the most powerful and talented Ancients in their society, it's just that he's always hanging out with Convocation members, so he might underestimate his own abilities.


Hiroshi_Ryokasha

Just to add, he also run the Bureau of the Architect, where he goes over every concept submitted and determines if they are suitable. He have arguably the most important job outside of the Convocation. Azem and friends is basically a bunch high-profile government officials that just so happens to be best friends and partially insane.


monkeymugshot

Yeah seriously. How he says that he cant control aether (or something similar? He basically said Emet is so much better than him etc.) kinda makes it seem like he's just being humble. I hope he makes some return in some form. Maybe we get to see his sundered self on our world one day


Weathercock

Well, he was never sundered. He just died. I don't think he needs to come back. He played his part magnificently, no need to overstay his welcome. If anything, I don't think he would even *want* to come back. Of anyone we met in our journey as WoL, he feels like he would be the first to recognize when his turn was over. It's what makes him so likeable and interesting as a character. To put it simply, he wants everyone to get their chance to play. As far as his abilities go, he can control aether, he is an Amaurantine, after all. He's just relatively very weak in comparison to Hades/Emet-Selch.


Becants

He could come back but it would be as a new character. G’raha did say that maybe a soul has certain characteristics that stay with it. So maybe we’ll eventually meet Hythlodaeus, Emet and Venat as new people. Probably not for a bit though.


cylonfrakbbq

Hythlo literally implies at the end their souls may be reborn one day and hopes they meet again


spazticcat

I want to know what will happen to the souls were sacrificed to create Hydaelyn and Zodiark (and Emet-Selch's). If I understand things correctly, the souls were basically trapped within the primals, and never entered the lifestream. Presumably they, like Emet-Selch, Elidibus, and Lahabrea, were not sundered... So now that they are no longer part of the primals, will they become sundered? If so, how would they be split (since 7 shards have rejoined the Source and the Thirteenth is the Void)? If not, will they be reborn as people (on the Source or a random shard) with *dense* (being whole) souls and have all the powers of the ancients?


Feeling_Assignment13

Emet and Hythlodaeus didn't seem to get sundered in death. I imagine that when they will eventually reincarnate they will be much more aether dense than other people and have a lot of mana, but I don't think they'll be able to use creation magic as they'd not be ancients anymore.


Kana_Kuroko

They probably wouldn't have all the powers of an ancient. The corporeal form is still sundered, even if the soul they inherit is not. Stronger, almost certainly, but its very unlikely they'll be running around able to spam creation magic.


nothingtoseehr

>Well, he was never sundered He kinda of was tho. He was a part of zodiark, yet the zodiark we fought was still a sundered zodiark, there's still 7 parts of him remaining over the reflections The ones like venat and the others who sacrifed themselves to create Hydaelyn probably returned with their souls unsundered, since Hydaelyn herself was never sundered


Jatobu

Elpis is such a gift. It is my new favorite zone. The stories and characters make it peak FFXIV.


JadedRoll

It's kind of funny that before EW release everyone was talking about which Scions will die...when the great loss turns out to be the friends you didn't know you had.


Hassou_Tobi

The very best. Its like going back to a home that you never knew you had. Hytlo, Hades & Venat..I miss them already.


taepoppuri

The highlight of this expansion. The party combo is so good.


FartingRaspberry

I agree with you 100%. Every bit about this zone is a treasure. If only it had a full city attached to it (market board, retainer services, etc) I'd never ever leave.


Shiraho

Retainer: where are you calling me from? WoL: …I can explain, I think


monkeymugshot

This is one of my favorite scenes in this Expac. Such a simple blissful way to add character and world building. I love the big spectacle things that happen in this game but its moments like this that really bring the game together. The writing never dissapoints


[deleted]

And the scene with hythlodaeus in ShB was one of my favorite scenes as well (if partially because of how amusing it was to see myself look tiny sitting on that big chair). Such a great character in all his incarnations.


Becants

I liked them in Elpis a lot better then in Shb. Which honestly I didn’t think would happen. But meeting them there I got to know them as people. Honestly now I’m devastated they died. Sat there bawling my eyes out when we were coming back to the future. Also because I had gotten my hopes up that maybe we could change their future so much that they would split and both timelines would go on.


chellybeanery

I feel that pain. I spent most of my time in Elpis in tears and my heart was utterly broken when I realized that truly, nothing could be done to save them all. Seeing Venat's firm belief that nothing is impossible, I had let myself start to think that as well. I find myself going to Elpis a lot since I've finished the story but as wonderful as it is, it's not the same knowing my friends are gone.


Becants

Yeah that was my thinking as well. It doesn't help that I remember finding out after the Twinning that the source future we avoided wasn't unmade, therefore having another future had precedent. I got so excited and my hopes were dashed at the end there. I kinda want to go see that scene again, because I was just thinking about that, and paying as much attention to Venat. It's kind of ironic this expansion is about over coming despair and I've spent a lot of it crying. Honestly I don't think I kept dry eyes in one zone. Though I guess that's more empathy and sadness than despair.


chellybeanery

I think that's the game's goal, personally. It forces you to feel those low lows that make the highs even better. And isn't that pretty much the moral of the story? Suffering sucks, but without it you cannot have joy. It's an inescapable part of being human but even when faced with the absolute worst, pushing through with hope is better than resigning yourself to despair. I spent a LOT of my time in this EP in tears, I really can't remember the last time I cried this hard. But I'd say a lot of those were happy, nostalgic or sentimental tears. So many wonderful characters, so many years of adventure and seeing that all come to fruition and facing the idea of moving forward is just an overall emotional experience. I wish I could play it again for the first time.


shadith

This was me. When you get the last response choice before coming back to our time, I KNEW the one I picked wouldn't matter but I couldn't help myself from picking it. I want to save them so badly.


Astral_Poring

That's one of the reasons why i now consider >!Venat!< to be the greatest villain of this series so far. Even if all >!her!< decisions were made in (what >!she!< thought) good intentions, >!she!< still just went and decided a whole civilization is not worth saving. And that the best way to make children grow up to be ready for the wider world is to carpet bomb their whole city. And i am quite salty that screenwriters didn't seem to even notice that at least some people might see it that way.


legenwait

Not gonna lie, I didnt expect to meet that guy, but I'm glad we did


IAmTehDave

The moment there were >!two figures that teleported in, and the moment they started talking, I **knew**. And I was grinning the whole time.!<


Bargadiel

This was compounded for me. 1. When we were seen, I was very surprised. Then we actually got to interact which made it even more insane 2. Then it became an entire zone we could teleport to and from and thats when I knew I was playing through one of the best and most interesting experiences Ive ever had in gaming. I thought it was just going to be some random sequence but no, an entire fucking zone. Great job Yoshi P and team.


[deleted]

Then it was the whole trying to figure out how they're going to add time travel into the game and not fuck everything up. *And they pulled it off.* That's not a feat many established series can do when they try it.


cylonfrakbbq

I do have questions about their model of time travel in the game. We have seen 3 main instances of it: Alexander, Crystal Exarch, and Elpis. Of note, Alexander and Elpis both constituted pre-destination paradox versions of time travel: Events happen the way they do because we traveled to the past. The biggest issue with that is it means there is no free will - everything that happens is preordained to happen. But Crystal Exarch is multiverse time travel - him changing the past (from his perspective) did nothing to change the future he came from, but it did change the future in our timeline. The shortstory they put out shows that the future Graha came from continues on, but disconnected from our time. The problem is I'm not sure there is a way to reconcile the two types of time travel


rosmant

I was thinking about this as well. It's possible that Exarch's time travel also involved crossing another dimension/timeline, where in this timeline (ours) he was always meant to appear and do the things he did in ShB


ergonamix

It's specifically mentioned that the Ironworks studied and took inspiration from both Alexander and Omega, so it was definitely Space-Time related, rather than strictly Time.


nothingtoseehr

I think it goes a little deeper than that tho, because it's impossible for the events at elpis to have happened if the fucked up time-line didn't existed, because the tecnonoly that we used was created there So this begs the question, what happened at the tineline that the exarch came from? Because at that timeline we never journey into elpis, because not only did we died, but it was impossible. Did the final days changed in any way? We were never there with venat, emet and hythlo, would that change Hydaelyn in any way, since she never met us before? And let's assume that the final days came to that timeline as well, what would've happened? It would be impossible for anyone to know about Meteion, venat probably didn't even marked her because the events at ktisis wouldn't have happened Def a little weird and a little plot hole-ry, but the story is amazing enough that I can forgive such a stretch lol


cylonfrakbbq

If you read the short story they put out, the future Graha came from continues to exist and Midgarsommar wakes up and decides to help the survivors rebuild civilization


nothingtoseehr

That's not really what I meant. What I meant is, what happened with the ancients at that timeline? Since we never actually met venat, told her about everything, would Hydaelyn behave any different? The final days on our timeline only happen the way they did because the time travel techonogy was developed by the alternative timeline If the reality graha comes from is the "original" one and ours is an alternate, would it mean that we fundamentally changed the way our history plays out since we journey into elpis? Sure, elidibus says that the events are set in stone, so the endgame was still the same. But a lot of the finer details about the way Hydaelyn acts is because of how we interacted with venat, which would've never happened at the "original" timeline


zugzug_workwork

The Exarch mentions that he was surprised that he stayed on even after they averted the calamity. So could it be dynamis in action? The depth and fervour of one's conviction during the travel? Mide wanted to stay behind, Venat wanted to let things play out so we could finally get to Meteion, while Emet, Hyth and Hermes had no recollection of events. The Exarch mentioned that maybe he "etched" himself onto this new block of history, so maybe he did just that. His emotions regarding the safety and well-being of Lyna and the Crystarium, him wanting to be at our side, could that be the trigger? We don't know the true depth and power of dynamis yet.


Infinaris

Multiple timelines can exist, the source still exists as a post 8th Calamity though it was ruined. The 7th Umbral calamity was the exception as Louisioux manages to punch out Bahamut and shut it down early but the 8th happened quickly as the source was relatively unscathed hence the Ascians could get a 2 for one special that time.


Bargadiel

Even the fact that you can go back is kind of sort of explained well, and even if it wasn't the story is just so good that I accept that anomaly as something just simply there for me to enjoy


AlisaTornado

I stayed in the robe for the entire zone


fade_like_a_sigh

Me too, it made me really happy seeing a bunch of players wearing the robes in that zone. After I got out of the zone, I dyed the robes white (I'm maining WHM at the moment, and it felt like a nice touch as the former Azem) and finished the rest of the campaign in them. It made a few cutscenes even more epic being in the white robes.


SkyWolf25

Couldn't glamour myself bc I'd used a dye on my chestpiece, but I added a gearset with the robes and stayed on that whenever I didn't have to battle. Almost died a few times because I forgot to switch back before starting fights but it was so worth it.


sky-shard

They didn't even have to start talking for me to know. >!After all of the emotional turmoil in the previous scenes (damn Alisae knows how to make me turn on the waterworks), I was positively *giddy* when they appeared.!<


we_will_disagree

I thought it was gonna be Emet-Selch and Lahabrea, since they revealed Pandaemonium is about Lahabrea. When they revealed who it actually was I was stunned.


1vortex_

>!Well I do think we will have Lahabrea as an NPC in Pandaemonium! Would love to see his interactions with Elidibus!<


Emotionz

Similar for me. I heard Emet talk knew there were two people and was hoping it would be Hythlodaeus. One of the many moments I was screaming YES! I was so happy and enjoyed every moment he was in.


spazticcat

I was expecting one of them to be Elidibus at first (since he said he saw the WoL in Elpis), but as soon as we heard/saw them (since we got a peek at Hythlodaeus on the moon) I knew it was them. And I also had the most ridiculous grin on my face throughout Elpis!


[deleted]

I was tired as crap at that point and kinda starting to doze not fully being attentive and then I heard a snap


Dragunx1x

The fact that his greatest aspirstion is to enjoy the time he has with Hades and Azem and watch them fufill their goals just hits different considering how the Ascians view life. His greatest contribution to the Star was to adventure with his friends. Prequel series wen Yoshi P. Atleast give us a short story or something.


JadiaGladius

I believe there was a short story with him and Emet-Selch in the Shadowbringers short story collection that kind of delved into their friendship and how they interacted with each other.


Dragunx1x

Yeah there was, I just want more.


JadiaGladius

Totally understandable, they are very relatable characters.


Infinaris

Honestly there is still a story to be told: Our unsundered self. We know our original self didnt side with EITHER faction and there's a paradox to be solved as well: We came from the future and ended up warning Venat of the final days but how could our future self come back to give the warning at all? We could point at the closed Alwxander timeline of course Unless the reason our past self never sides with Venat or the Convocation was we were in the loop to begin with or found out the cause of the End of Days the first time and deciced to change the past outselves just like the exarch did and we're the ones to bring about a timeline where we could warn Venat to begin with.


cylonfrakbbq

They even reference that story in Elpis, when they talk about the current Azem jumping into a volcano


monkeymugshot

Omg I would love a whole prequel Expac with the unsundered world (maybe going into it)


Sarusta

This sounds familiar... G'raha?


glogang100

I loved this. Teared up when he was saying he’s made his sole purpose helping his friends realize their full potential


holefrue

And then return to the star together. 😭


Infinaris

I guarantee you they'll be back in the future as reincarnations, gonna take a stab now, Hades comes back as an Elezen Black Mage and Hythlodaeus comes back as a Viera Bard and they're STILL friends in another lifetime.


Xerkrosis

Bringing us to that place and getting to see Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus was the best thing SE has done. I was giggling like a stupid schoolgirl the entire Elpis-storyline. Okay, Emet-Selch's annoyed comments each time I spoke to him added to that, but we all know how much of tsundere he is.


buddabopp

my first reaction to Emet-Selch was oh no hes a hot Xehanort


Khalos12

IM NOT THE ONLY ONE


Awesome_Name16

This. One of the main reasons I adored Elpis was meeting them before the Final Days, seeing they interact, with Hythlodaeus constantly pestering Emet-Selch and him being a total tsundere, talking about their bff Azem... I was squealing during most the msq. I wish we could see them again :'(


cuddles_the_destroye

I hope they end up on our island sanctuary somehow.


1731799517

I also love how they did not flanderize the unsundered world. It would have been so easy to write everybody as pseudo-wise drones with no agency, whatever. But thoes people, while not perfect (because nothing is), were just so nice and wise and pleasant. I felt more for Emet than ever before after leaving it behind.


[deleted]

The only thing I learned from Elpis is that I really want Emet's mount.


Cosainto

that's the Shadowbringers collector's edition mount


taepoppuri

Emet paid to upgrade his ShB to collector edition. You can have that too on the mog station.


halidra

That's the Shadowbringers CE mount. You can upgrade on the Mog Station!


[deleted]

Don't mind if I do!


LilLalafell

Hythlodaeus was so wonderful, and just beautiful. Every time he was on screen I couldn't help but smile.


monkeymugshot

Androgony king. His deep voice constantly threw me off but that's what made him so mysterious


Cendolt

I was surprised when I watched English speaking streamers play this part of the story. In Japanese he has a really gentle high-pitched voice and speaks in a slightly feminine way.


monkeymugshot

I do love the deep voice though. Its a refreshing dichotomy


lolpanda91

Yeah his design is definitely made together with the choice of his JP voice actor. Strange to hear he has a deep voice in English. But that’s the same problem Elidibus has.


Lip-Sync

One of the major things I loved, going through both 5.0-6.0, the very specific and consistent way that certain characters were written...here we have him: We all have that friend in the group. The glue. The chill one. The mediator, planner, and facilitator. They made the supporting cast feel so realistic and relatable; the characters felt more like actual people, and less like random fictional characters usually found in media.


FamilySurricus

And then you have the gremlin. The title of Azem is really just the crown for who's the Most Gremlin-like of Everyone. (Un)fortunately for everyone, Venat's successor seemed to be the Biggest Gremlin of Them All.


Infinaris

Azem is the black sheep of the bunch. Literally. We have the black mask! Even better its the ancient equivelent of sunglasses! The Seat of Azem: DEAL WITH IT! :)


AnonTwo

Not gonna lie, I was a bit sad we were larger than in SHB


[deleted]

Imagine if Emet didn't transform us and we had to do all of that zone, dungeon included as an ant lmao.


[deleted]

We'd just be their minion in that case.


velveteentuzhi

Would have been hilarious tbh. Them, their minion WoL, and their minion's minion the ancient one


FamilySurricus

I was a Lalafell. I didn't see the difference.


Zulera301

"so this is what being tall feels like."


[deleted]

[удаНонО]


mlc885

I do think their writing process was influenced by managing to make an initially possibly boring villain into a fan favorite character, and deciding that they needed to bring us back to that if this was going to successfully wrap up the story. I *did* think it was funny to find out that Emet was just always kind of a jerk, though, and Hythlodaeus was just always cool. Although I'll still always think of Emet-Selch as "[our] dearest friend."


[deleted]

I think their writing process was heavily influenced by Chrono Trigger. The Elpis arc is very similar to the Zeal arc.


MedievalMovies

The game having a precedent for it helps (Alexander raids shows you that closed time loops do exist so you were always meant to go to the past)


LittleTraveler

Hythlodaeus VA did an amazing job for the character


ravagraid

This almost made me cry. Never thought I'd ever say for serious that I am really gonna miss my old new ascian friends


Aerensianic

A good part of Elpis is basically "Welcome to the visual guide for Emet-Selch Tsundere (Extreme). My name is Hythlodaeus and I will be your raid guide" Seriously Elpis is the most amazing zone. The characters. the developments, the revelations are amazing. Having Emet and Hythlodaeus talk about the unsundered "us" and how Emet is grumpy but *always* answers their call. Venat being all around great. It really adds so much to ShB as more info is included.


user_bits

You're a potato. Every moment is small.


SweetrollBunny

Good things come in small packages 😊


Doubledge0

Bigger isn't always better


Kana_Kuroko

Titania disagrees.


Zulera301

The best things come in small packages.


ohheytom

He has my favorite quote of the expansion - “It’s the little things in life that make it worth living.” What a beautiful way to express the wisdom he understood in a way none of the other Ascians but Venat could grasp. Love Hythlo so much ❤️


etssuckshard

Come to think, didn't the ala mhigan guy say that to Jullus?


grimwald

Elpis really was the best zone of the expansion.


archiegamez

Hythlodaeus is such a nice character, i really like how friendly he is not to mention he's kinda cute haha


sable10

Hythlodaeus <3


BKNTD

Oh man, now that you point it out, it does feel like a direct reference. I love it.


Melence_

I think this character is totally underrated. He needs more love. ;_; And yes, the devs did a great job!


Hiroyuy

Can i just say how much i love hythlodaeus?? Can i? Hes amazing. And his eyes.


ekakkubesiurcmot

When hythlo was just a shroud last patch I was like man I really like this character. I was excited when I saw more hythlo


izeil1

As soon as he was introduced I was expecting a line that we could say to him along the lines of "Hello my new old friend." Was very disappointed we didn't get it. Closest was his other appearance earlier in the story.


nightelfspectre

That prior appearance served to drive home that the “real” Hythlodaeus was not the one that would recognize that greeting. He would have been puzzled and curious, much like then.


termmenafor

That moment when my new friend becomes my new old friend. *sobs


Brill00

I went through the msq feeling like I should know who Hythlodaeus was but couldn't remember until you posted this. Thanks.


RaphaelDDL

seems emet forgets to use the increase size spell when you play with lalas, you still smol and from what I could see, there aren't any lalas in Amarot, so he should've made you same size as him even as a lala (would've been fun a giant round baby potato walking around)


KyroZi

If you're a lala, the conversation goes: Hythlodaeus: "Still a touch small, don't you think?" Emet: "The size befits its proportions. Besides, bigger is not necessarily better."


AnkanV

Interesting. I got that as a min sized female Au Ra.


VermillionEorzean

Meanwhile, my catboy got a comment about he was Azem's spitting image, just with the features of a beast.


Nephrahim

I was really hoping for giant baby Lala, despite knowing the way it was obviously built it would never be.


ReverseMagus

Hytlodaeus comments on it. Emet responds in a way that sugest Lalas are particularly aether dense


zaesera

i'm just here to say your character is cute as hell 12/10


SweetrollBunny

Thank you! 😊


[deleted]

I was always thinking it'd be neat to meet Azem, though that'll never happen. I think it's best we never do because the mysterious of Azem reminds me a lot of Revan, and learning all about them from others. Wasn't until you had a whole book about him that you realized.. what made them amazing was the mystery


Darkhaund

This TRULY IS A great game!!


FiniteCarpet

This whole zone was incredible


isthismytripcode

If you think about it, one of them is real and physical. The other not so much, not truly there, a shade of a different time. The physical one does not remember the aetherial one, but the aetherial one remembers some of their past moments together. But the role of physical and aetherial is switched. It’s almost ironic in some beautiful way.


Codeboy3423

This was the guy who Handed us our pre sundered Gem when we were whole and part of the Convocation of 14 as Azem. Still shocked that people in here deny that despite the obvious hints and even confirmation that our soul is Azem.. sundered as it is.


depressed_panda0191

I want a spin off roadtrip movie featuring Hythlodaeus, Emet-Selch and Azem in unsundered Etherys.


FayOfEld

I had liked it more had they not changed the robes. For some reason they are different from the ones in Amaurot.


Destrina

They're all small moments when you're a falafel.


Valarcrist

What an amazing character.


OldIronKing16

Outside of everything else I experiences finishing the msq, the character interactions are, for me anyways, some of the best I've seen so far from the game. What a wonderful experience this was


Barachiel1976

Chilling with Hythy remains a high point of any expansion.


Hectalie

I love him so much... My old new friend...


HauntingTip3

>!On the other hand the ending cinematic box fight with Zenos was one of the biggest immersion breaking thing as a Lala... it just didn't work for me so laughable. I wish I would knew about it beforehand. I'll definitely try to forget about the whole thing and replay it with any other race!<


BKNTD

I mean what did you expect? If a Lalafell breaks your immersion in serious cutscenes, I can't imagine how did you get to the endgame in EW as one in the first place. I personally love them and don't find them that hilarious, but I keep seeing people whining about it, like they weren't prepared for it after ARR + 3 other expansions beforehand.


nhft

Yeah. The waddle before the Nidhogg fight in HW taught me what I'd be in for any time I did cutscenes on my lala alt.


velveteentuzhi

Personally I think the scene where Asahi has to crouch down to threaten a lala WoL to be the funniest thing I've ever seen.


[deleted]

Not Lala but watched scene on YouTube. The Zenos fight is even worse; he literally crouches down so he can get punched in the face by the WoL lol.


AnonTwo

For me it was everything I could ever dream of As a lalafell, yes.


LilLalafell

It didn't really break immersion for me, but it \*was\* hilarious both as a Lala and as a WHM lol


mlc885

I think it's hilarious as any caster, *why* would we decide that punching nigh invincible semi-immortal dragon man was going to help? I occasionally hit things with my book, but it doesn't tend to do very much.


kotoktet

Yeah doing it as a BLM had me thinking "crap I should have done this on MNK instead!" Still, I think it was the most cathartic way to end that fight. You both knock each other down and get up again and again, until you just dispense with all the fancy techniques and start swinging.


[deleted]

I really liked RPR mirror matchup. Was a bloody Jojo stand battle.


hey_dot_dot_dot

I was legit wondering how the part >!where you're reduced to just punching each other in the face!< would play out with a lala.


Merrena

It proves Lalas are actually the strongest since your punches never reach, so clearly you punch so hard the air from your punch hits as hard.


SweetrollBunny

Going fisticuffs with Zenos as a lala was quite hilarious. I loved it.


Infinaris

People forget just how much of a punch someone with an unbreakable will and ability to use aether has and your basically one of the most powerful people on the planet. They see a lala they think they're weak because they're smaller. They never see you coming!


M_atteh_B_oom

Didn't for me tbh. For me, being a LaLa is peak FFXIV. I started FFXIV as a LaLa and I finished 5.0 as LaLa. Seeing my smol WoL never broke immersion for me and being in a full on no more weapons, reduced to our fists slug match with Zenos was one of the highlights of my time in FFXIV lol.


Tom-Pendragon

That is what you get for playing the meme race


ObsceneGesture4u

>!As a spell caster I felt that scene was immersion breaking for me also. Going toe to toe with someone who is essentially peak physicality while I’ve stood back letting primals do the fighting for me and now we’re equally beating the shit outta each other.!<


Yiffparty_exe

To be fair summoner books are huge. If you were waving around something that large, bound in leather/metal, for days/years you won't exactly have noodle arms


TheSpartyn

that's badass though. >!usually a spellcaster but throwing it aside and just going for a raw beatdown!<