FFXIV Lore- A Retrospective Breakdown of the Void

I wanted to give people the chance to do the patch before releasing this so I feel now is a safe enough time. I'm happy with all the lore we got this patch and I'm even more eager to see what happens in the future!
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Primary Sources:
Video Games-
FinalFantasy XIV Online
Publications-
Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume I
Encyclopedia Eorzea Volume II
Alternative Sources:
FinalFantasyXIV, The Lodestone/Sidestory
FFXIV, Letter from the Producer
Published FFXIV Brand Art Books
#ffxiv #void #zero

[@ViralN9]

The void is such a hauntingly beautiful place. Though there's this part of me that wonders if our reaper avatar gets confused when we summon it while in the void...

[@ladyellen7993]

From what Zero said, being warped into a reaper’s avatar seems to put the voidsent in question into a sort of fuge state where they’re not really aware of much outside their reaper’s mind. As such I doubt your avatar would notice or even care if it was in the void :P

[@acgearsandarms1343]

Wait I’m confused. I thought Drusilla said the avatar was a manifestation of your essence and the voidsent at the other end of your contract. To feed the voidsent through a proxy essentially. Or am I missing something?

[@Eshenaleros]

@@acgearsandarms1343 That IS what Drusilla said. She even implied that it has something to do with your soul; suggesting that your Avatar, to me at least, is your shard from the Thirteenth. Which tells me Zero is Zenos' Thirteenth shard. Zero also has a special line that specifically states that you and your avatar have an equitable relationship if you do that cutscene as a reaper. Zero's situation was unique, and likely turned into a monstrous thing by Fandaniel.

[@kriscubero6778]

@@Eshenaleros Damn, if your words are true, ZenosXWoL ship will get stronger.

[@JrystalTyaeli]

The avatar doesn't seem to possess much intelligence so I doubt has the capacity for confusion.

[@lyconxero457]

I'm personally still reeling from all of this new Void lore we've been exposed to recently and I absolutely love it. I'm already dying for the next part of the MSQ because of this.

[@sailor_anna9924]

Me too!!!! The void has been such an interesting part of the story I'm excited it's becoming the front runner of the story now

[@kuronaialtani]

When they said in-game that “death doesn’t exist” and all, I kind of figured it was something just to do with their aether not resting, because of darkness’ polarity to astral and activity But the way you phrased it about the two planes makes perfect sense, they *literally* do not have anywhere to go when they die, so their only choice, against their will in fact, is to reform eventually or cannibalize/be cannibalized

[@Xyrenos]

And even when they are eaten they might get thrown back into the world if their eater is "killed" and disperses for some time

[@justsomeguy4422]

also even then as mentioned by Zero, taking on others aether, will dilute your own. eventually losing your original essence and becoming a sort of multiple beings in one. also comfirmed by the farfello quest at Zero's domain.

[@kevindavis4456]

After 6.2, it's interesting to think that the more powerful viodsent that we have fought previously, like Diabolos, Scathach, Echidna, The Cloud of Darkness, and the like, could have possibly been the heros of the 13th before the shard's corruption. They could have been Hydaelyn's chosen on that world.

[@kevindavis4456]

@Lilith Scathach's absence from the Void can be explained by being summoned by Mhach and imprisoned in the Void Ark. I'm thinking that her essence was consumed entirely by Diabolos and was destroyed along with him. However, I would be pleasantly suprised if she shows back up in a future patch. During the warring triad questline, Unukalhai mentioned how the Heros of his world used Auracite to harness the power of primals, but were corrupted by it, and started amassing armies. That's why I speculate that the more powerful Voidsent of the higher circles are the fallen heroes of the 13th. Maybe it will turn out that Golbez is a shard of Azem's soul, making him a twisted reflection of the WoL? Who knows, but I am looking forward to the future patch MSQ no matter where it leads.

[@BroadwayRonMexico]

And if Zero isn't the Thirteenth's shard of Azem, then I think Golbez most likely was

[@Ranixo286]

@@BroadwayRonMexico I feel like it has to be Golbez, since ff4 Golbez was Cecil's brother. Though I worry for Zero considering that game's final boss is named Zeromus...

[@Takyomi]

6.2's dive into voidsent feels like the writing team really trying to make up for SHB's lack of information on sin eaters. In the end, despite how much of a threat they posed to the first we really didn't get much information on how they worked. They need aether like any other being, but what exactly do they do with it? The First's denizens call them forgiven, but how do they determine what sins they are forgiven of? They were basically a zombie analogue, only a threat to push the narrative at any given moment. Though its fun to think of the subversion between the Sin eaters being more demonic, unthinking and always prone to violence to feed primal urges and the Voidsent being the angels, actually categorized by rungs/hierarchy, ALL of them being intellegent and able to be conversed with for themselves or for their masters.

[@danilooliveira6580]

I love that the void is feeling like the makai arc of a shounen anime. suddenly the protagonists are in dark plane fighting a different demon with weird powers every week, it fits so well.

[@wretchedabyss1394]

You know, I don't think we'll ever fix the void like we fixed Norvrandt, but it could become a staging ground for travel to the other Reflections of the Source.

[@kimbiebaut3741]

This makes me consider that to someone as Zero, the lives on the Source must seem very fragile. And heck, imagine explaining the idea of 'aging' to her. Because she seems very, very concerned about 'keeping herself unchanged' the idea that those on the Source can't really fight it might seem terrifying.

[@陳威麟-q7o]

So glad zero's accompany, and its so good to stray to her domain. Thanks for sharing.

[@MalandrosNyclo]

I am so excited. Love this type of video as we learn new info, comparing it to what we know, updating what we knew, and taking stock of new questions. ^^ Let's adventure into the void with you as you write a Thesis and make friends with traumatized immortal beings. =D

[@markointhesky]

One thing to note about the 13th is that, despite being changed before the first calamity up to 12 thousand years ago, the modern races were already distinct from eachother Scarmiglione was a miqo'te, Barbariccia's father was clearly an elezen, and presumably the memoriate and/or his servant that buried him alive was likely a hyur Time may flow differently between the shards, but it still shows that the races had already split from their (presumed) sundered-ancient common ancestor Of course there is the possibility that it was the sundering itself that made modern man into the shapes we are familiar with rather than traditional biology and divergent evolution, but that is simply speculation at this point

[@Toksyuryel]

My pet theory is that all of these races existed in the unsundered world and are what Zodiark created when he was asked to fill the world with life again.

[@RRapierre]

@@Toksyuryel different races never existed in the unsundered world. Everyone was a tall person. If you are a Lalafell or a Roegadyn during the Elpis time travel MSQ, Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch will have special dialogue in which he will comment on you being too small or too tall.

[@Toksyuryel]

@@RRapierre I realize that the way I phrased that was confusing, what I meant was that the races didn't exist until Zodiark created them.

[@mikoto7693]

@@ToksyuryelI always wondered when the modern races were created. I like the idea that they were amongst the species created when Zodiarc was asked to restore life to the planet after his delaying the Final Days.

[@ProfessM]

The vast power of the lords of the void makes this hollow world so fascinating. What will it take to give this world the resurrection it needs? I am way to much thinking about Hollows from Bleach lol. Great vid

[@kurostern2527]

It seems like the Voidsent are working in a much more different way than the Sin eaters. I thought they were the same, but one was corrupted by light, and the other by darkness. But the voidsent have more individuality compared to the Sin eaters. I wonder what makes their behavior so different despite being the same kind of creatures.

[@SynodicScribe]

That's what happens when you've existed for so much longer. The Sin Eaters were like children compared to the Voidsent.

[@starlightbreaker561]

the Sin eaters have a stagnant mind, while the voidsent have a rampant mind, due to their mono-elemental aether, that'd my guess at least. Remember, light aether is tranquility/stagnancy, while dark aether is change/rampancy.

[@danilooliveira6580]

also lets not forget that the sin eaters don't really eat anything, they corrupt living beings turning them into other sin eaters, they just... exist, they don't seem to evolve or change. their form is equivalent to the amount of Aether they had when they were created, and when they are killed, their Aether just disperses and infects the closest living beings around. while voidsents activelly hunt aether and are always evolving and changing. I theorize that one key difference here is that when a living being turn into a sin eater, everything that makes them is lost and become pure light Aether. while voidsent the original being is still there, just completely twisted and ever changing. its the difference between taking a bunch of pieces of wood and making a table, or burning them into ash. when you look at the table the wood is still there, just in a completely unrecognizable form made from different trees. but when you look at a pile of ash you can't distinguish the individual wood, its technically still there, and maybe if you completely reverse entropy you could recover the original wood, but the information that made the wood is mostly lost. either way both are very scary ways to go in different ways. one you are lost to peaceful oblivion, the other you have to live eternity of torment.

[@SynodicScribe]

@@danilooliveira6580 Actually the Sin Eaters also feed off of living aether just like the Voidsent. Vauthry even said as much in a voiced cutscene. Vauthry also showed they've the capacity to evolve when granted enough power, just like Voidsent. Unbalanced aether is the shockingly similar no matter the direction it's tilted in.

[@starlightbreaker561]

@@danilooliveira6580 but what about Tesleen, I know she was only a sin eater for a short time, but her personality was there, it just seemed to be frozen in her last thought. even if Alisai isn't there, she's still apologizing to her.

[@azmira1289]

I'm so excited to get more void lore, been really loving what we've been getting so far. This is what I've been waiting for, so can't wait to see more void!

[@lukoscreyden]

Very good video! Just started playing Reaper and so, I wanted to brush up on my voidsent knowledge. Glad I found this channel.

[@estwilde]

Since soul aether on The Void just cycles around and gets eaten or reforms endlessly (ie: "Death does not exist"), I am curious if voidsent is summoned / allowed to enter the Source or another reflection, and then killed, it stands to reason that their soul shouldn't automatically teleport back, as there's nothing inhibiting their aether from returning to the lifestream. We have seen and fought several 'more powerful' voidsent multiple times, but I'm wonder if that's just an earlier game thing before this was all fully fleshed out and envisioned by the design team.

[@acgearsandarms1343]

Will you mention other factors to the transformation of the Thirteenth, such as the Contramemoria and memoriates, in a later video when there’s more information?

[@JrystalTyaeli]

I have a personal theory that Golbez is a primal. Maybe like how Thordan and Ysayle were. We know that memoriates sealed primals in crystal and Zero states that she THINKS it's permanent, not outright stating it is. I think Golbez was sealed away and set free by a future WoL after the corruption happened. In his flashback he is seen taunting a robed figured, however it doesn't look like an Ascian, it looks like the same robes Unalkalhai and Cyella once wore. As well referring to the robed figure as "the blessed damned" could be interpreted as reffering to a WoL since they are blessed by Hydaelyn's light but damned to continue a pointless fight in the World of Darkness. He even calls the situation "ironic" which would be true if he was sealed by a memoriate, which were the original WoLs in the 13th, only to be freed by another later.

[@bakubread9308]

someday, when ive actually caught up on XIV content (currently in Shadowbringers) i'll binge watch these videos

[@Tom-Pendragon]

Time to catch up with all these lore videos

[@rayjinflo]

I kept thinking to myself the whole time in our latest patch that it would be cool if all that Lightwarden Aether would have allowed us to consume voidsent without being corrupted. I already have the corrupted mindset of building Zero's domain into a conquering force

[@elgatochurro]

The Aether from that was balanced

[@mikoto7693]

I always thought Ardbert stabilised us and repaired the cracks in our soul but that we expunged the Light Warden aether in killing Hades. That our “blade of light” was literally the gathered aether of the Light Wardens and afterwards we were back to our normal self. Repaired soul and norma aether. Even if I’m wrong, I like the interpretation. Hades was undone by allowing the WoL to come to him bearing (barely) the very light aether required to kill him.

[@rayjinflo]

@@mikoto7693 It would have been handy. If all the lucky circumstances didn't happen and we were simply jettisoned into the Void before becoming a lightwarden as a last-ditch effort, we could have had the voidsent eating out of our hand like Golbez while keeping ourselves stable in the process.

[@sgxthach]

Its funny that this gets posted today (at least for me) as I just finished the Fell Court of Troia about an hour ago. I'm more a casual gamer so I never finished Crystal Tower and I didn't remember ANYTHING about the Void, so I had to search for one of your older videos for more information. Thanks for posting!

[@SynodicScribe]

Happy to be of service.

[@Toksyuryel]

How'd you get past 5.3 without finishing Crystal Tower

[@rachelkelley5930]

The crystal tower is mandatory tho, the story just doesn’t work without it. Also, most content is made to be easy enough for the average player to complete. By this I mean, you should really do the raids.

[@Sov-Ryn15]

This patch gave me good lore to add to my succubus familiar.

[@mlemlemmlemmlem]

Rated B for boo- I mean bosom

[@SynodicScribe]

Got'm!

[@Gat720Dua]

I have a friend that really likes the idea that the Voidsent are basically aether vampires.

[@SynodicScribe]

I mean. It's not wrong. lol

[@キョコ]

If you are going to mention older videos of yours or referencing them, please put them in the description, Other than that keep up to good work! I enjoy your videos a lot

[@25xxfrostxx]

I have a little bit of a problem with the void ecosystem. It's not sustainable. With no new Aether in the mix, it's one ongoing distillation. After 10,000 years there should be 2 or 3 really powerful voidsent left. The food source is each other with no new sustenance entering the cycle. Even with prey escaping a defeated devourer that would only slow the process. Eventually the population would dwindle and fade out.

[@danilooliveira6580]

I mean, it really isn't, but the nature of the astral aspect is that it abhors stagnancy, we would imagine it simply wouldn't happen because the chaotic nature of the world would break it down. I would imagine however, as a completely uninformed personal opinion, that the void does decay slowly, in the far future it would probably just turn into a swirling mass of darkness that can't create anything because anything that it creates breaks down. just like the first would have eventually became a ball of perfectly stagnant aether that can't create anything because nothing happens.

[@acgearsandarms1343]

Layman answer, the thing that drives voidsent is also what prevents them all from dying out: self-preservation. To survive, they need to feed. Those who can’t feed, find protection under someone stronger. Not to mention consuming others puts you at risk of losing your sense of self if your mind and will are not strong. It prevents them from cannibalizing each other to extinction. And they can’t actually die from starvation.

[@treebush]

Have you done the new side quest that unlocks after 6.2 msq it's pretty good but it cuts short and seem to be a multi questline that will get updated till 7.0

[@Lesbian.Monster.Hunter]

I am so early female hrothgar aren't here yet... *cries in waiting*

[@missleiadragonitemaster7597]

Anyone else curious about how long it’ll be before the Professor meets an.. acquaintance?

[@Observe30]

Can you make a video explaining all of the different types of void sent? Also, can you make a video explaining sine eaters?

[@ridewild1956]

i wonder if the other worlds who were on the rejoined had something like the voidsent and sin eaters born from their aetheric imbalances like beings made of pure corrupted earth or fire

[@Curinteru]

I love these videos

[@SweSora]

Am I the only one confused as to why G'raha isn't with us when we journey to the void now?

[@acgearsandarms1343]

Too busy with the Students of Baldesion and is working on the thing with the Twelve and the Omphalos. And we aren’t using anything requiring his Allagan expertise yet. There’s a couple of reasons why he isn’t able to join us.

[@SweSora]

@@acgearsandarms1343 I know the in game reasons, I just thought it would've been fitting considering we accompanied him when going to the void the first time

[@paladinoflight5413]

I bet at the start of 6.3 msq he will be mad that we didn’t tell him we were going to the void.

[@Puddingskin01]

I wanted to drag Nero with me. "Come on man, it will be funny, put that scale down."

[@acgearsandarms1343]

@@SweSora It’s not that confusing if you think about it. G’raha’s expertise or current skills isn’t exactly related to voidsent and would just help cover our basis as an exploration team. And I must add his contributions didn’t actually contribute going into the World of Darkness at the time, he helped outside of it and mostly on the Allagan information. If we do need him, I suspect it will be much later.

[@Wanderingsage7]

I don't know if this is a headcanon or speculation, but there's hints in the lore that implies that the voidsent look different on the source, seeming to need a vessel (the boss of deepcroft). Also, death doesn't seem to take in the 13th. (Diabolos fights, Ferdinand etc).

[@SynodicScribe]

Yes and no, while they might not be at full strength using a vessel on the Source, their essence ultimately shapes whatever is holding them into something similar to their actual appearance. And yes, as explained in the video, true death is a foreign concept to the Voidsent.

[@Wanderingsage7]

@@SynodicScribe many thanks for your answers and insight goodly scholar.

[@sympathiea]

Voidsent are Menos Grande? Hell yes!

[@pungivergiverofpuns3611]

I was just thinking yhe same thing.

[@b3ardedragon921]

Reminds of how hell works in devil man

[@RocRolDis]

The Thirteenth isn't stagnant in an aethereal sense. It's overly active, in fact. Without light, stasis, souls and aether continue to be active.

[@SynodicScribe]

The voidsent themselves and the energy they put out is active yes. But the world itself, the Void, is dead. It no longer has an aethereal sea, no longer has a natural flow of aether. Without that flow the voidsent have been starved and driven mad. This is why I use the word stagnant. Like a fetid pond the world breeds naught but disaster as it no longer flows as it should.

[@hasseo195]

What i wonder. What happened with cloud of darkness and Diabolo? Whe defeated cloud in the Void. Is she allready back? Or is in the phase of rebirth? The same with Diabolo, who eated Scatchas. Is he around somewhere? And, was he with his real body there? Or all the other named voidsent whe defeated in the class quest

[@acgearsandarms1343]

If you did the Crystal Tower raid series, you would remember that the voidsent we kill, don’t seem to reform except for the Cloud. She is amongst the highest tier of voidsent so slaying her is temporary.

[@hasseo195]

@@acgearsandarms1343 The lower voidsent can comeback to. It only need time. And i watched the cutscene in the Tower again. The cloud was allready back. But, didnt was able to manifest completly

[@natwon633]

Needs a retro retrospect

[@dakotadoyle7573]

So... Planning on a lecture on Zero or the Cantramemoria?

[@SynodicScribe]

We don't know much about the Cantramemoria other than it happened. I'd need more data to do a thorough breakdown of its events. As for Zero, she's such an exception to the norm I'd have to make an entire video devoted to just her.

[@dakotadoyle7573]

@@SynodicScribe She's basically the Voidsent equivalent of Vauthry.

[@SynodicScribe]

@@dakotadoyle7573 Not quite, Vauthry was planned and had Ascian help. Zero kinda just, happened, among other differences.

[@silvinity4939]

@@SynodicScribe From what she knows at least, there could have been someone working behind the scenes to set her up in the position that she's in, but maybe not. I just feel like there were a lot of coincidences that got Zero to where she is, so maybe there's more than meets the eye.

[@kingsilvergrass8751]

Can some Void sent use magic. 🤔

[@SynodicScribe]

Of course they can! Void magic is classified as its own arcane school after all. The distinct corrupting nature of the void has yelled unique spells and incantations that are difficult to pull off on the Source. But that's the rub, it's powerful, but unless you're in complete control, it's overwhelming.

[@Wanderingsage7]

So, is the Cloud of Darkness the anthropomorphic representative of the Void?

[@SynodicScribe]

The Cloud of Darkness is a Voidsent like any other. However, their power is considered to be on such a scale that they need not fear defeat at the hands of other Voidsent. Whatever became of her after being defeated by the WoL? I don't know. But unless she was devoured by another Voidsent, she's still out there. Plotting.

[@ladyellen7993]

@@SynodicScribe The Archfiends talk about the WoL as “the one who laid low the Cloud of Darkness” so I’d imagine she’s been greatly diminished. I do wonder if we’ll run into Doga or Unei at some point, since they stayed to fend off the cloud long enough for us to escape

[@Fantasygod930]

There are some things I don't get of FFXIV Magic like how is light umbral ( passive ) and how is dark astral ( active ) I can get the other six ethereal energy but light and dark they should be both not one or the other that just doesn't make any sense

[@SynodicScribe]

I actually made a series of videos explaining FFXIV's magic system as best I can and cover that if you're interested. Simply put, the aetherial chart could be wrong and our interpretations on aether are incomplete.

[@lyconxero457]

"Magic" in FFXIV is derived from aether which under normal circumstances is unaspected (neutral). Aether can then be shifted into the various elemental energies which inherently lean more towards astral or umbral depending on the element. Astral and Umbral are not elemental but instead are more akin to polarity where one pole is pure activity and the other pole is pure passivity. Also, keep in mind that all of the elements CAN EXIST as either polarity despite certain elements leaning more towards one pole over the other naturally. For example, lightning is the element that normally leans the most towards the active pole but the fact that lightning can also exist in a crystalline form shows that it can also be shifted towards the passive pole.

[@Threnan17]

Why do they have to be both?

[@thorn_lekoh]

It doesn't make alot of sense considering that in our real world it's movement that produces heat and light whereas things that stop moving become cold and dark.

[@ronny3169]

As the person above said, Umbral/Light(passivity aether) and Astral/Dark(Active aether) are polarity, not elements. All 6 elements and "unaspected/raw aether" can lean toward Umbral or Astral. So for example: a Light Spell like Holy is an "unaspected/raw aether" tuned to Umbral polarity, and a Dark Spell would be a unaspected aether tuned to Astral polarity. Other examples would be: Astral/Dark Fire spell(agressive polarity) would be a like violent explosion, and a Light/Umbral Fire(passive aether) would something like a heatwave.

[@darkwolf9ball]

You can't tell me to back out your not my real dad. I can't wait for the next expansion we def not going to the 13th.

[@Memyx]

What it means to be a Reaper? 😉

[@jacobsiron6929]

Listening to Evanescence while watching JJBA

[@elgatochurro]

What even is 6.2? Ew?

[@SlvrStryker]

...boy, I just had a completely random thought here at 1 in the morning... ...are we...going to inadvertently cause another Umbral Calamaty...? What with our visits to the the 13th...?

[@acgearsandarms1343]

Not likely. The world of the Thirteenth is already broken and both Source and Shard need to simultaneously face a crisis on a massive scale of the same type of aether.