okay after playing through 7.5 here are my Conspiracy Theories that are probably wrong, but still it's fun to talk about!
okay first and foremost. i think hoary boulder is gonna be joining the main cast for 8.0 and he's gonna be the new tank rep. i can't quite explain it but there was something about the way that he was the Main Focus of that cutscene with the returning b-team scions, and all the talk about how they'd all improved so much while we were away that made me feel like we're getting something like that.
second of all, when we were preparing to leave s9 for sharlayan, shale told us she'd be contacting us later. as of the end of the first part of 7.5 msq, she still hasn't. however, now we've learned that calyx is alive. if we tell her about that, i wonder what the chances are that she'll join us for 8.0, since she still has unfinished business with him. god i hope so. we need new scions and also specifically we need new female scions. it would be everything to me
third of all. i know not everybody is as Diseased as i am so idk how many people noticed, but. aergmhus and bluomwyda, the two roes who have been hanging out in the drowning wench trying to figure out how to get a boat to aerslaent since base endwalker ended, did not show up with tataru and the other b-list scions. i noticed this immediately as a person who desperately wants more aerslaent lore and therefore has been checking up with them every single patch since the end of 6.0 to see if they were still there. and the thing is--they were still there as of 7.4. i thought it was very odd that they wouldn't respond to tataru's call if they were just hanging out in the same spot by the leve counter in the drowning wench that they'd been hanging out at for nearly four years at this point. so before even finishing talking to the various members for the quest progression, i warped over to limsa to check it out. and they're gone. this means they're either currently en route to or already in aerslaent.
i find the timing of this change very significant. do i know WHY? not at all. could we be getting a dual expac with aerslaent and the fourth? i mean i guess it's possible but i also don't really expect it. i do think it's interesting, though, that the concept and environment art we saw at fanfest had so many norse inspirations, including a wholeass viking ship, when that's Supposed to be what aerslaent's whole aesthetic was, and at the same time the npcs associated with going to aerslaent have suddenly disappeared. like i said, it could be unrelated or building up to some kind of later development an expac or two down the line. it could be that it's a case of convergence like with ronka and tender valley. it could be that i'm talking completely out of my ass. i don't know! but i'm excited at the prospect either way!
a fourth thing: i had A Feeling when this line was said that it might wind up haunting the narrative in some way. i could be wrong, but either way i am pointing at it and going hmmm.
gee this sure would suck to come back to us down the line to ruin our day at some point in the future
the last thing isn't really a conspiracy theory it's just something i'm fascinated by, but. the part where halmarut compares us to zenos, acting out on our whims purely for the sake of our own selfish vanity without care for how it impacts others, is absolutely fascinating to me. because while everyone has their own version of the wol with their own interpretations of their behavior and motives, if we look at this comparison from the general overall picture the game gives us of the wol... it's just such a wild misread on her part? it's so fascinating to me that after all this time of facing so many mirrors and 'we're not so different's and foils, we're finally facing off with somebody who just. doesn't seem to know or understand us at all? i'm so fascinated. what is her viewpoint. where is she coming from. why does she think that way about us. i'm putting her in my mouth and chewing on her WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER
anyway these are the bulk of my Thoughts about 7.5 and potential links to 8.0 but also i'm going insane. that patch was so good what the hell
snowghoul
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