milystaz673: Venat already referred to the ancients as the mankind back in Endwalker

hollowheartjosie: I don't think Zenos was invoked because he is returning. I think he was invoked because Halmarut is drawing a parallel with him and the WoL because they are both more or less forces of nature that warp the fates of those around them with their strength. As well as that both of them fight/fought for the thrill of it. Both seeking greater battles but for different reasons.

Zenos wanted to feel anything. The WoL enjoys battling, but they do it to save people/the world because they can. So I think in Halmarut's eyes we are the same as them. She sees us as ambitious to the point we will get in the way of her plans purely because we can.

I think Zenos is dead, and she wanted to goad us. To make us do what we do best. The impossible.

Cyc1one62: Little bit of clarification, Zenos was 'given' the title of 'Viator' for his actions of turning against Garlemald, from these lines in the MSQ quest "Returning Home". Small detail, but he did not take it on himself.

" While on the subject of Zenos, the Xth Legion has made an official proclamation.

They denounce the crown prince and condemn his role in the Empire's downfall.

His very title has become a source of shame among his former subjects, and its continued use serves only to hinder relations with foreign nations.

For this reason, he has been declared as Zenos viator Galvus, outcast and enemy of Garlemald."

As a side note, Lahabrea's non-convocation name is Hephaistos, which we find out from the Pandaemonium raid as his younger form is the 8th fight. So apart from seeming to use a fair bit of fire magic, and being involved with Pandaemonium and therefore "dangerous creations", theres not much else from him.

Hades on the other hand, calls upon specters of dead ascians to fight us, and a number of his attacks are named around a theme of deaath and hell

Jeremy-mg9tl: About using the term "mankind", Venat famously said; "So let there be no way back. From that temptation, I sunder us. No longer shall MAN have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk."

Crusina: Another video for the "kill time during chemo" Playlist lol thank you

Fingleberrys: MSQ VIDEOS ARE BACK BABY!

And honestly for me the single biggest question I have going forward is I want to know what the hell Azem was up to during the end of the world

bmj0163: What this lore drop really does is it makes one thing abundantly clear: this is why Emet and the Ascians never took a shot at Hydaelyn. She was responsible for the Sundering, she was their enemy, she opposed them and they opposed her. But they could never afford to KILL her until the great rejoining was complete, because otherwise the Solstice would happen in her absence and they would lose everything. It wasn't just that she was too powerful to take in a fight, they could have found ways around that. It was that the act of defeating her would have doomed themselves. Which must have driven Emet crazy early on, having a means of rejoining the world that was so close and yet so far because of how disastrous it would be to do it that way.

retolia: Kyle slapping down a Manila envelope and all the things on that table makes me think you guys are just one step away from a big board with tons of string going across it. Nice, finally going all in into that theory crafting I see.

Insanity_pepper: I'm curious as to the difference between the words "Wanderer" and "Traveler" in Japanese. Are there two varied meanings between the two?

Yes, Halmarut referred to Zenos with the word "Wanderer" BUT... When Zenos betrayed his people and caused Garlemald's collapse, the Garleans changed his title to Zenos Viator Galvus. This stripped him of his "Yae" title indicating that he is directly in line for the throne and named him as a traitor. Essentially, Hades was so mad at Azem after their disappearance during the final days, he made the strongest word in the Garlean language for a traitor "Traveler". This could be what she was referring to rather than a future significance.

The Scythe appearance was possibly just a poignant prop as she's telling you that if you blindly pursue your own agenda without allowing any outside factors to sway you, like Zenos, it will only lead to ruin.

The "Palm sized crystal" that Kyle referenced is "Ethos". One of 14 concepts designed by Azem to ease travel. Not the orange jolly rancher. Ethos would be the only one of the two stones that were ever actually in the presence of Azem as the duty finder crystal was made by Emet-Selch out of nostalgia and he's the one that put the magic in it.

I also want to point out something that the shade of Hythlodaeus said to us after giving us the crystal in 5.3 that, looking back, has zero to do with anything through the end of Shadowbringers or through Endwalker. "Now go and see about reuniting the wayward stars".

leander_rsr: Personal Theory: We're going to link the shards together with a Crystal bridge, allowing the elemental aether to traverse the shards and source stabilizing them, glowing with the myriad elemental colors, a rainbow bridge if you will.

natebroadus8474: I think we're about to find out what exactly Azem did after leaving the Convocation of Fourteen. We know they didn't side with Hydaelyn or Zodiark's faction, and we know the interdimensional key has Azem's symbol on it.

I haven't been this lore-hyped in years.

VGJunky: Checking in for engagement while this was posted 32 seconds ago because I'm gonna have to come back in 6 months when I'm caught up in DT before I can actually watch it

dairehefferon3249: For the answer as to why halmarut knew about the solstice for so long ahead of time, depending on how much time she spent on the other shards, her personal timeline could've ended up really streched relative to the the source's timeline.

1losttheGame: Props?? Quotes?? Notes and extra outside materials?? SIGN ME UP GG BOYS!

Kraftigebub: Love the physical pictures, giving off real yoshi-p liveletter vibes.

AzemPersephone: I brought my plate, my cutlery and a bottle of wine, I'm here for your cooking

pollenus5796: I think when Halmarut says that she's foreseen the Solstice since "time immemorial" it might just been flowery words for she's known it would be a problem for a very long time.

My guess is pretty immediately after the sundering the first thing the Asians planed to do was kill Hydaelyn and it was Halmarut that theorized the Solstice would be the result if they did. So they had to find another way, eventually coming to the rejoinings as a "controlled" means to their ends that would let as many people survive as possible.

NotKiramisu: A CodeMENT reference in this day and age, very cool. I guess Emet and Hythlo can probably argue about that since they're at the Life Soup

Mortimer13: I love where the story is going. It does totally feel fresh, because there is no real menace from Halmarut. It's just the planet reasserting itself and that makes total sense.

JJBCrimsonKnight: Laha in Pandemonium fights using chains and fire

Elidibus fights with both light and dark.

SekundesCCFFVII: For Zenos, his scythe is more than to insult the WoL, it's Halmarut saying that from her PoV, us trying to bar her way puts us in the same position as Zenos, as it would be satisfying our ego as a hero rather than taking the pragmatic approach.

Also, Zenos came back to life once, him doing so again when we saw him die and his story was complete would be a cope out

criticaljohnson: Regarding Necron: I don't think the point of Necron is that he was more powerful because he was a concept and the others weren't. I think the point was that, specifically, Necron was the concept of death and empowered by fear of death in a society that has never, in living memory (ha) had to fear death. So by introducing that fear for the first time in the Alexandrians' lifetimes, and then guiding events so as to make them as absolutely terrified of death as possible, Calyx made him a sort of super-primal, because the emotions empowering him were juiced up way more than normal. For comparison, think about Jaws. How many Americans had ever really seen a shark in real life or had any reason to be afraid of one, before that film? And after its release, it awakened an absolute primal fear in tons of people that was then super powerful because they had never had a chance to grapple with that fear before in childhood or adolescence. And all they knew about sharks was what the movie had intentionally chosen to show them. Just my two cents, that was how I understood it.

FF-tp7qs: Viator was goven to Zenos by the Garlean survivors to signal how he was being exiled from the nation.

I am of the opinion that involing Zenos was simply to suggest the WoL would be acting selfish by stopping the Winterers.

Halmarut uses plant magic the scythe was a trmporary construct made from her magic.

Also Lahabrea's true name was Hephaestus it was revealed in Pandaemonium he uses fire power

Steve-YT383: I think we're going to see a Heavensward / Shadowbringers Chimera

puff-justincorbitt1656: I quote Hythlodaeus and Emet Selch in Endwalker, in Elpis, where they refer to you as a "familiar", and they mention you are their spitting image (of the current Azem)

TheoVorster: I am curious if the threat of the Solstice will continue past Evercold and extend into the entirety of this “Godless Realm” saga (which I presume will last for at least one more if not two more expansions after Evercold). If it does continue past Evercold I also wonder what that means for which expansion they are planning on saving Meracydia for? Since if the Solstice does end up being the overarching threat of this current saga I am curious to see how they will incorporate Meracydia into that overarching plot?

cstrouts: Wanderer and Traveler are also the in-game terms for players that are world hopping and data center hopping, respectively. They replace your Free Company name when you're away from your home world.

May 24 2026

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