I really like the idea of it being an Auspice, that could also mean its that mystery woman from the poster.

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

Indeed possible! While it was brief, we did see that the Auspice can take humanoid forms for a time at least.

if he is an auspice, hes defs gonna be that squirrel from the trailer

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

It was the squirrel all along!

@WilliamTheWatchful

Ай бұрын

Ratatoskr??

@phoenixruin6640

Ай бұрын

I really think its just a random squirrel, but if not, well then dadcred has a huge troll XD

@Nazuiko

Ай бұрын

Ive heard a theory that the squirrel is teasing Thancred job changing to Beastmaster in 7.45

@mizar010

Ай бұрын

I thought that squirrel was Nutkins

My ultimate bet is that Valigarmanda, and the level 97 trial are the new "Mcguffin entities" akin to light wardens, aucpices, and arr primals. They will be referred to using their own terms, and likely hold some unique lore, but hold that same kinda space. I wouldn't be surprized if they are called espers, or fayth, to fulfill that classic FF summon role of world important, but not plot essential, story detour.

@cj_skywalker

Ай бұрын

Or they could be called aeons since there is a lot of FFX influence in Tural. ;)

@Gloomdrake

Ай бұрын

@@cj_skywalkerVI and IX, too, though, so who knows which word they’ll go with?

Love that youre still pumping out great videos, big or small, popular or not im here for it. You have a great cadence and an ability to convey wider messages about the lore that keep me engaged

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

I appreciate that my friend. ^^

If i may be a bit Doylist, Given the art piece you showed at the end and its striking similarity to the FF6 sprite (Aztec inspired headgear and all) there's almost no chance Valigarmanda, whatever it is, doesn't use the Alte Roite animation rig. That would be a pretty marked departure from every dragon we've seen thus far and would probably lose a lot of the gravitas we've come to expect from big bad draconic entities. I think the Quetzalcoatl parallel is the best and most obvious explanation. Wuk Lamat has already laid out the connection between her trials of ascension and the mythical beast and in Aztec history, Quetzalcoatl is closely connected with priests and kings as well as the sun. If Valigarmanda serves as a similar guardian of the sun throne, encountering it as proof of one's mettle would make perfect sense as an integral part of the succession rituals. PLUS it would harken back to the FF6 esper's words after it's released from the ice: "Let's see if you are worthy."

@TorManiak

Ай бұрын

It would then make even more sense for Valigarmanda to be an Auspice or a creation/non-aether sucking primal with the job of testing one's worth.

I "think" Valigarmanda will be may used as a test or w/e to see if you are worth to be the next ruler...

@WickedOniNagi

Ай бұрын

I doubt that....we never going to get the throne 1 of the 4 siblings will

@phoenixruin6640

Ай бұрын

@@WickedOniNagi Well I was saying that the "test" would be for who we side with, but again it's just a "guess"

@Gloomdrake

Ай бұрын

@@phoenixruin6640why is “think” and “guess” in quotes?

I don't have any idea what they could do with Valigarmanda, but I feel like it would be cool if it showed up early as a dungeon boss, but while it's still frozen and reappear as a trial boss unfrozen with its full power. Would be interesting to see

my hope is that Valigarmanda will be at least the initial breadcrumb to the upcoming broader story of ffxiv. we've mostly finished with the Ancients' storyline (barring a few loose ends surrounding our past life) so i hope we can be given clues for what we're in for for the next couple of expansions. (i already think this clue arrived in the form of that gold fish from the Old Sharlayan crafter quest, but im game for some more clues)

Don't have anything meaningful to add to the discussion but I thoroughly enjoyed these theories!

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

Happy to have you all the same!

I believe Valigaemanda and the great Serpent of Ronka could be the same. And Yshtola is the link. As she never resolved the post Shadowbringer mjral in the ronka ruins.

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

SCREEEE!

@gamerpro021

Ай бұрын

Yeah the whole dialogue plot point seems it would come soon and it really was unresolved. Like it seemed to tease it would get addressed

Considering how Valigarmanda is in the key art, I doubt they would just be a one and done primal fight

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

Yeah I'd be disappointed if it was just a one and done fight. Here's hoping for something impressive!

@Blue018Phoenix

Ай бұрын

What if the whole deal with Vali is that whoever defeats / lands the final blow on them becomes the next Valigarmanda? (Though this's bit iffy since it would be a bit awkward if your WoL ends up a Birb Wyrm for a while)

@WickedOniNagi

Ай бұрын

Nothing them I thought they might be dungeon bosses like they did in Ew

@davidank07

Ай бұрын

I suspect it'll be something like Zodiark. Some buildup to fighting the big bad, and then a shift in the party's goals.

@Gloomdrake

Ай бұрын

@@Blue018PhoenixEstinien wouldn’t be too bothered by it, though. A bit traumatized, but he’s been there before

When you think about it, it's not surprising that Vali mastered Firaga, Blizzaga, and Thundaga. It was designed based on 3 mythological creatures, the ice serpent Vrtra (different from ff14 Vrtra), the lightning bird Garuda, and the fire lizard Salamander.

Espers were originally humans who had The Misfortune of Being within proximity to the warring Triad during their fight and were subsequently transformed.

Was nice pointing out it being Tritoch to you at fanfest ;)

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

And all this time I was hoping we'd get more data. haha

I wanna point out something I, as a person whose favorite FF pre-14 is 6, cannot ignore. Urqopacha mirrors real life Macchu Pichu, and is a giant mountain with ice riddling it. Likewise, it was a former home of giants, and from both pre-release stuff and the Dawntrail benchmark, seems to be either the first or second dungeon. If it is the second dungeon, that means the first trial isn’t too far behind… and Valigarmanda has a habit of being inside giant mountains and being fought at the tops of. If this was all for some test to prove the claim in some form of fashion too… well, that explains a lot. Lastly, one last piece of potential evidence to the dragon or even auspice theory: We hear a roar in the distance after Vrtra and Azdaja call out. This roar is not one we know, and it could easily be Valigarmanda. Though not a member of the Firstbrood, if they were a Dragon who grew strong and powerful in the wilds of Tural before being sealed by the giants for some reason or another in ages past, still alive whether in a prison or safe haven of ice, this could explain this unknown roar. Similarly it could be an auspice, as I do generally like that concept as well considering. Though I have wondered thanks to all this… is it theoretically feasible for any creature to become an auspice, and if so, does that include aliens and things such as dragons? We know an auspice did wipe out all life on another star thanks to Meteion’s report, before ending its own upon this revelation to, but an auspice dragon could explain the extreme size and strength arguably more than it simply being one or the other.

Great video. You mentioned Valigarmanda being in opposition to Solution 9; I kinda think it’s protecting it. I recently replayed FF9 to get ready for Dawntrail, and the natural protecting the futuristic makes me think of the weird techno-organic stuff at the Iifa Tree, and how they used the natural (the trees) to spread and promote the Mist for the restoration of Terra (the futuristic). I’d love some of those themes to be in play here, but it’s all theory at this point.

if his tri-elemental attacks are anything to by, i am HYPED for the fight, the possible mechanics I'm thinking in my head are crazy.

From what I remember they showed Valigarmanda and the Eliminator at the same time/one after the other, so maybe we could be needing to go find Vali for help much like we sought out Hraesvelgr in HW. That could kinda work with you pointing out the potential conflict of nature vs technology? Plus it’d be pretty sick to see a giant serpent fighting a big robot thing, kinda like when the primals (tried) to fight the ultima weapon in ARR, but a lot less one-sided.

@Gloomdrake

Ай бұрын

Omega v. Shinryu, you’ll recall

@AtlantiNeus

Ай бұрын

@@Gloomdrake I thought I was forgetting something. Def something like that but not as crazy in the air.

Completly agree with your point. I think, after EW, Primordials are not allowed in Trials anymore, we have already fight the most powerful of them, Zordiark and Hydaelyn !

Another option is that it was creature created back before the world was sundered. When we traveled back in time to Elpis, many of the creatures we see and fight are similar to ones we've encountered in the present. Showing that many of the creations of the ancients did survive into the present. Valigarmanda could have been a creation from back then that wasn't affected by the sundering and continued to grow and evolve over the eons into the being we will encounter.

@samj1512

6 күн бұрын

One of my favourite side quest lines is the one where you help a gang of researchers improve their creations and inadvertently creating monsters like the Behemoth Queen when the idea would have been scrapped otherwise

the tail plumage on Valigarmanda and the wings or rather how lavish they are reminds me of birds of paradise.

I personally think that Vali is gonna be a dragon (maybe a direct child of the first brood?), it has both feathers, scales and multiple wings. And since dragons can pretty much evolve into anything I'm more leaning into this theory, though your theory of it being an Auspice is really good as well. Though I will say it could be something new all together, maybe there's a place like the aetherfont where it makes its lair that completely changed its appearance

Since Final Fantasy 6 is like in my top three favorite Final Fantasy overall, is nice to see this particular esper from that game get some major recognition in 14

Love the lore videos.

The only thing you forgot to mention was Vtra, who is a dragon that controls a person behind the curtain.

I doubt Valigarmanda will be a primal simply due to the direction FF14 has gone with primals. The last two "standard" primals we've fought were both relegated to dungeon bosses (Magus Sisters, Anima). The last few primal-related trials by contrast have been figures like Zodiark-vastly more important figures to the lore and cosmology. It's possible that, like with Anima and the Sisters Valigarmanda is going to be a bai-and-switch dungeon boss (in which case being a primal would fit), but I think it's far more probably they are something different. An auspice would be cool, but they could also just be some element of the setting that is entirely new built into the culture and mythology of Tural itself.

@sethkaiser7423

Ай бұрын

Not really. In Hildibrand quest, we fought the primal Asura 😁 I think that's the last one so far.

The key art (CGI) for Dawntrail is very telling. Valigar is there flying very close to the city, yet the WoL is looking directly into the camera, smiling. That's very unlike what we saw in say the Heavensward key art where the WoL was in battle with the opposition in the image. So it for sure seems like Valigar is going to play some type of friendly role and will "test our resolve" or something like that.

It could be a ancient Chimera from Solution 9?

I really love the idea of them being Auspice. We lack so much lore of what auspice are, how they are created and etc.

I love your videos!

If the Autarch is also the Dawn “Servant” could Valigarmanda be the Dawn?

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

Anything is possible at this point!

Maybe Valigarmanda is something similar to a Guardian Force and is tied to the girl in white on Dawntrail’s poster above Galool Ja Ja? Still agree it’s part of the contest, but that someone is responsible for calling upon it. Like an Esper perhaps?

I'm thinking that Valigarmanda will be tied to the contest for succession. We may have to go to a dangerous location and challenge them. Have an epic fight just to retrieve and bring back a single feather. I like the Auspice theory, and Valigarmanda could be the subject of the post patch MSQ where we learn more about them.

I kinda hope they play with the mystery for a while, and have us seek him out through some way, not to fight it but for it's wisdom or assistance

endwalker alliance raid spoilers personally there was a point i speculated that the twelve were auspices of their small blending in appearances that accompany you between raids. then shaped and empowered even more by hydaelyn to protect sundered children of man and the prayers n subsequential dynamics influence into their present forms. the truth is nice too but it woulda been neat

When doing the hunt our new friend mentions frozen lands. I could see Vali being an auspice that was frozen in the mountains.

Remember when Anima was announced to be in EW and he was reduced to “MSQ Dungeon Boss”? While cleverly implemented (to a degree) that made sense, theories went abound from being a servant of Zodiark, becoming the replacement entity above Zodiark and Hydalyn, and more (not to mention potential for blitzball=confirmed). Knowing that CBU3 can convert an esper into dungeon fodder or the next farmable world boss like Chi or Indominable can’t be ignored

I wouldn't be suprised if Valigarmanda is Ouroboros of FFXIV Dawntrail site says "Each time it has embarked upon a rampage, it has inflicted terrible scars upon the land" And there's Golden Dhyata prophecy "Eventually, the serpent devours its own tail, and renders new flesh using its own. The pain felt with cause the earth to quake, the mountains to crumble, and the rivers to run dry. Thus, seven wedges must be driven into its back."

Not entirely interested in valigarmanda more interested in the big robot lol. But also interested in where solar Bahamut comes in to lore.

Honestly, I hope it's something entirely new. To open new possibilities for other mythical, interesting creatures to exist outside of the primal/auspice definition. Still, I like the idea of it being an auspice because it can exist without the detriments a primal causes to natural aether.

My two most likely ideas for it are 1. It being a "created being", Maybe not a primal, but some sort of guardian force left behind long ago by some outside group, or 2. It being an "evolved" species. I like the idea of it being something along the lines of the crazy things we see with "island syndrome", where a mostly closed off environment makes the species there evolve in some crazy, weird way. Like Dodos, or pigmy elephants. The idea of it being this semi-intelligent long lived but mostly gone species forged by the dangerous and ferocious predators of Tural till it sat at the top of the foodchain as this true beast of legend is a nice change from the usual "left behind by ancient people" or "its a primal/dragon!" that feels a bit stale. Maybe we get to see its "original form" in some way, like the basic design of what the ascians may have created it as, but over time its come to be far more powerful and amazing then their original design.

I love the idea of them being an Auspice. The main auspices from Stormblood are the equivalents of the real world Chinese 4 Winds. Funnily enough, the ancient Aztecs had an equivalent of the 4 winds. And with us going to the 14 equivalent of MesoAmerica, it would be such an amazing connection with them being an auspice.

I figure they're a "perfected version" of the Quetzalcoatl we faced on the first, possibly broke free and hiding/thriving in the wilds.

@Gloomdrake

Ай бұрын

Considering that was a memory we fought, it doesn’t even have to necessarily be a different version. It could be the same creature, now sundered, or a descendant

I feel like Vali is tied to the Warring Triad and the Allagans. Perhaps to escape the fate of ending up imprisoned like the Warring Triad, Valigarmanda escaped and flew to the New World to evade the Allagans. It's Guardian of nature status owing due to seeing how Allag would often twist and corrupt nature using it's technology. Or perhaps he is a chimera of some kind created by Allag, That escaped following their downfall. The only speculative evidence I have is iirc in an Interview Yoshi P was asked like what content people should make sure they do in the lead up to DT, and his response was The Warring Triad.

honestly id love for it to be an Auspice, & act as sort of some kind guardian deity of Tural, maybe they have gone missing or perhaps, to lean into ff6 they have been entrapped & we have to save them? maybe they have been corrupted by some kind of outside force & we have to help them just like we did with the 4 lords. reguardless of the circumstances, i think having it as a Guardian of Tural in some form or fashion makes a lot of sense

I wonder if this Valigarmonda will have a similar theme of being sealed in ice at some point in FF14? Also, Valigarmonda was seen frozen on Pulse according to some of FF13-2’s quizzes, so perhaps FF14 might link them to prior incarnations of FNC lore instead of FF6 lore Edit. Since this new expansion has a scifi zone, the FF13 lore feels more possible

I love the idea if him being an Auspice or a Dragon! Being a Primal is too easy for Square in my opinion! I want Valigarmanda to be a unique entity! I wonder if he could he have been imprisoned in Solution 9 (encased in ice)!

I'm guessing he'll be our first trial used to prove our strength because I've noticed player theories are often way more out there than what actually ends up happening, so I'm going for simple explanations.

My theory ties it to Solution 9. Tritoch was a lightning aspected esper if I recall. Solution 9 sits in a giant lightning ball. I'm guessing Solution 9 is a civilization from another reflection, possibly a destroyed one, that found a way to bring their whole city over to the source to survive a rejoining (with a bunch of life stream souls in a giant reservoir waiting for the source to reach their level of technology before emerging, sort of a non evil FF9 genome thing). Tritoch could have been a common primal on another world that now guards the city and wards off interlopers.

I will just say this, FF XIV has always taken inspiration from different games for it's story. Not just one or another, and not just Key points. Shadow Bringers is a combination of world of ruin from VI, III's world of darkness and warriors of darkness + some small details of IX. Meanwhile Endwalker is clearly inspire from IV and VII. IV in the traveling to space, to the moon. And VII in fighting to the clear end of the world that's coming and we know it's coming before the whole world does, and actively try to stop it but we fail. In the case of Dawntrail 2 things jump to mind. First the overall goal, which is to stop war from happening between 2 different sides of the world. Which is similar to the goal that the resistance originally has. Second, we have the jobs introduce, Pictomancer clearly base on the unique magical abilities of Relm, and Viper clear base on how it's depicted on fighting game the weapon of Zidane, through in IX Zidane can equip either the dual blade or double bladed thief sword, but there is more, now thanks to the lastest live letter, we know that not only it changes of form according to our desire, but it has a form where we take more power from our Job stone to achieve more power almost as if we are entering a *TRANCE.* The main ability of Terra from VI and the whole main cast of IX. To me this says that at less this expansion. But we don't know how much of this expansion will influence the future story line. It can be just not much to a lot, only time will tell. And we can see the influence of IX too in Solution 9, and the travel to the "new" world, as in IX we travel to multiple continents which the people of the continent of mist through to not exist, or hard to access. What does this say then? That Valigarmanda purpose could be similar, but different

I hope we encounter it in a similar manner to 6. Maybe it's not encased but imprisoned and possibly being a "battery" for the giant mech they showed alongside it. We fight it as an early duty and have the trial fight at the end trying to earn it's favor.

I think one of two possibilities: One, Vali is just an extremely powerful monster and is a misdirection, ending up being a dungeon boss while the real trial fights are hidden (like in Endwalker). Two, it's a new type of being altogether, introduced into the lore for meta reasons because Primals and Voidsent are old hat. That's not even touching on the possibilities brought on by what Dawntrail's story ends up being about. If DT introduces some time travel element, could Vali be some magical creature from the ancient past/far future? Or perhaps we travel into an alternate world (either another Shard or some kind of parallel timeline) and that's where it originates.

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

Indeed. It could always be a red herring and Vali has like, NOTHING to do with Dawntrail or the FFXIV story. haha

I think there is a chance they may be an auspice but also potentially more like a kami from stormblood. While they fell into a similar category as primals and most would be seen this way. We have seen plenty of artifacts gain wills of their own and create physical forms like in the variant dungeons. So i think a powerful object that gave itself form would also be interesting😊

What I have seen in the dawntrail launch trailer is like the in ffvii vailgarmanda is imprisoned in ice and I suspect the story is going to be like ffvii in a way

I think Solution 9 is just remnants of Mhach, and they moved on from drawing power from voidsent to drawing power from a primal or auspice. Since the very nature of these draws in ambient aether, it could be an unaging battery. Valarmaganda is an unwilling host to this.

i swear, if the pull ANOTHER "hey by the way, there is YET ANOTHER dragon of the first brood you had no idea about😀"

It would be hilarious if it will be just another dungeon boss like sisters xD

I think we will see a few Auspice, I get the joke about Thancred and squirrels, yet I am amused by the thought that they used one in the trailer that interacted directly with more then just him. I want to see a squirrel auspice.

As a feathered serpent-like bird creature from FFXIV's version of South America, the parallels to Quetzalkoatl/K'uk'ulkan are too apparent to leave them out of the analysis.

i bet shortly after we arrive in Tural, an early cutscene will have an enormous shadow soar past us as the WoL, Alphinaud, and Wuk Lamat look up to see Valigarmanda above us. not knowing what it is, Alphinaud will want to chase it down to find out, and Wuk will want to eat it, so away we go. itll be the level 93 trial, a wall boss using the Alte Roite skeleton.

@kiiturii

Ай бұрын

I can't tell if you just have the most boring imagination ever or are simply a huge pessimist lol

it is a whole different thing we've not encountered before that's my bet.

Hopefully they serve as en excuse for the EX fight to finally give us the Terra minion I've always wanted >.>

Anima and the Magus Sisters were billed as being big important bosses when they were just dungeon bosses as opposed to trials. I doubt Vil will have much story importance?

I imaging it had a role in the royal competition, like a judge or a testament, and with a religious position. Let see how much secret they have.

Quetzacoatl was not only suspected to be the God of wind, but also the God of learning among many others so perhaps valigarmanda will play a role similar to vritra

I mostly lean to Valigarmanda being of the second brood. The eldest of one of the first brood's children. But what it does in the story that's a tricky. I wasn't thinking it was against Solution 9 rather its guardian. My idea is it found this city and seeing how man is felt it best to keep people out till they are ready. Or it was made with the city to hide it. What better way to hide a high tech city then by making people think only a beast is there? Other idea I had is fighting and getting the blessing of Valigarmanda is the battle for the throne. We spend the first part tracking down legends of this beast. Those who hope to take the throne must go from place to place learn from the locals and prove their worth to them so that all the info can be pieced together. Thus showing you are able to both aid your people and listen to them to prove you are just as smart as you are powerful. It could still even be of the second brood, having made this deal with the current king, to leave clues to itself.

I like the auspice idea; I feel like dragons a) have reached the danger of being overexposed, and b) would have been mentioned by Varshan by now.

It would be so cool if he is an Auspice! All we can do is wait and see though

I was just wondering on your thoughts that; Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers and Endwalker, were just retellings of Final Fantasys 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. And what themes from Final Fantasy 5 might appear in Dawntrail?

If they were created I think they might be meant to of been an anti primal being the reason I think this it's known for having access to 3 elements is described as a being of nature implying it protects it and finally as a little reference to its dislike of war in the original

Valigarmanda org, Eng local, Tritock Tri,(3)in FF6 could have had 3 parts a dragon (lighting )a bird (wind)and salamander (fire). If you recall how much our new friend's hand shook after we defeated that bird? Could Valigarmnda be some how linked to the fight for the throne.

I think it'll be a Eikon Like the warring triad

I wonder if has something to do with the beast master job?

The headdress alone portends a level of intelligence, so whatever it is isn't wild.

I dont think that sulution 9 plays in eitherys, i must now think on emets words, that we have still visit the other shards, and ysthola being so obssesd with that, i think that valigarmanda might be able travel trough shards, maybe a dragon that has that power and can bring other along, sulution 9 seems soooo diffrent i think its on another shard more advanced then the source, that maybe valigarmanda asks for help and brings us there, who knows maybe their still ascians outside that still want to fuse all thw shards.

Maybe valigarmande is our stars interpretation of a dragon an Etheiyian dragon and not one from the dragon star

Holy shit, dragons is digimons

Azem: Alright, so scaly noodle with a parrot beak. Elidibus: Yeah, too normal for you so far. Azem: RIGHT?! So, I put some wings on it, made it *reeeeeaall noodly* like, all over your screen kinda stuff. Elidibus: screen-? Azem: NO WAIT, MAKE IT A PARROT AT THE SAME TIME! BAM! **Creation noises** Elidibus: Why are you like this... Azem: And make it noble for no reason!

Valigarmanda VS Solution 9?... Espers VS Genomes???

Shit just a month I need to catch up

Whatever it is ima kick its butt. Whether it be out of the freezer it’s gonna go in the frying pan. We can sort out the details after! 😂🎉😊

This is kind of out there, but what if it's a kami? Unlikely but hey.

Its clearly Zenos come back to life = ^)

Custom delivery npc character

@LemonedIScream13

Ай бұрын

Lol that will be surprising and hilarious on the same time.

I want it to be a dragon or something interesting, but my money is on primal lol

Please stop reminding me about how Summoner got screwed over. We begged pleaded and prayed Yoshi P would bless us with a full kit. instead, he stepped on our toes and made walk barefoot over broken class and hot coals for his own amusement.

Whatever Valigarmanda is, I think they'll be protecting whatever is in the Golden City which'll be what kicks off the next major overarching story arc.

Jabberwocky

there are only what, 3 ascians still unaccounted for? at this point i find it hard to believe anyone is still disseminating information regarding primal summoning. this is why i don't think this guy will be a primal!

Unfortunately, Dungeon boss like anima.

I would much prefer Valigarmanda be a S-Rank Hunt than a Primal Trial. While not story relevant, S-Ranks feel like a much bigger deal.

@SynodicScribe

Ай бұрын

They certainly feel like they're earned that's for sure.

Tural doesn't, not have a draconic presence. We're just not sure if it's dragon, dragon like, or important. At the very least the Whalaqee tribe has come into contact with something they call a dragon, and used it to make the whalaqee totem for "Dragon Force."

Sadly, I think Valigarmanda won't be that much of a thing. To me, this is just another Anima case. I remember back then before Endwalker everyone was super hyped and had tons of theories and it just ended as a boss dungeon... Now I think Valigarmanda may actually be a trial and not a boss dungeon, but I still don't expect much. But maybe I'm wrong. Hell, I hope i'm wrong.