OVERHUMAN: Heavensward's Warrior of Light

[@GenixGr]

the DRK questline was really good on this matter. it literally showed us that no matter what, our characters are still human, maybe a bit overpowered but still human, we got a dark side but our companions and their needs never leave us to express it since we got no choice. but our alter ego, he said everything we wanted to say. we are not a machine that listens to every bidding, he/she hears, feels, thinks and in the end it shows why we did all these things when all the knights looked at us cheered on us. i believe that even though we are a bit monstrous when it comes to strength( even dangerously dark) we will still be human and while we do the bidding of anyone thats in need, we are not being used because these people(npcs whatever) will still care about us in the end. DRK quest literally explains everything and i believe it to be enough

[@LAMEN_THE_BLAND]

i mained DRK through HW for this reason. Love the DRK story /pray

[@bainbonic]

I think it's telling that since 3.0, the Warrior of Light has been shown undergoing full-on character development and has been displaying a full emotional range. I mean shit, they've been showing a tonne of symptoms of depression that have been getting worse and worse over time since Haurchefant's passing, but then come the Final Steps of Faith and the rescue of Estinien despite all odds, they've recovered and now display a far healthier mind as they came to terms with the loss of their friends, highlighted by the visions of Haurchefant and Ysayle during the Final Steps of Faith and the visit to Haurchefant's grave afterwards. Our Warrior of Light really has grown into their own character since Before the Fall.

[@hundset]

I would love to see a continuation of this, a series analyzing the character arc of the WoL/WoD, especially given the most recent expansion.

[@galacticelite1327]

Ethys, please do an Encyclopedia Bellatoria on Haurchefant. He really deserves recognition for being such an embodiment of chivalry.

[@Puunyamya]

Jacob Akers I agree! I would love to see one done for him, he was so important to our journey.

[@timidshadow]

I truly enjoy the eloquence and philosophical perspectives that you discuss in each of your lore videos. Thank you so much and I sincerely look forward to future videos.

[@birdgang2939]

Very solid consolidation of the character growth the WoL has experienced across 3.0's MSQ, I think this couldn't be phrased in any better a way.

[@BrianJoyce]

As always you make great game even better with your insights. Thank you!

[@SeraphinaAizen1]

I suspect that you're either a primal, born out of Eorzea's collective need for a hero to appear and save them (given shape for the quasi-worship of the Warriors of Light) Which is also why you become increasingly powerful as you travel around collecting crystals, just as a primal depends on them for strength. Alternatively, you're an Avatar of one of the Twelve, sent to Eorzea directly by her.

[@tometeles7192]

The question "What are you!?", is what stay with me the most. What type of being thoses gods/primals see when confronted by the WoL?

[@CovertAnime]

I really like this kind of video. Are you going to do something similar for SB or Shb, or Endwalkers?

[@DarthAlphaTheGreat]

Thordan: What are you? Me: I am vengence, I am the night. I am Batman!

[@DaddyHensei]

I can't wait to see further development. In AAR, I felt almost like a Deus ex Machina force pretty much that just injects himself into the middle of those conflicts and just happen to decide to save the Grand companies, the city states and the Scions. Now in HW I was thrilled to have dialogue options and see my character actually express a range of emotions, like caution, sadness, grief, joy. Develop a relationship with the people around him and not be this god that people just command us to kill other gods at a moments whim. I do feel that we are walking the path of Louisoix and I feel that he is an example of what we could become if we were to fail. I have a feeling that we will become something a lot like Louisoix and his relation with a primal or like Ice heart and Shiva but unlike them, we won't fall to our sense of loss at the deciding moment. Even in the darkest of times, the Warrior of light had also been one of quiet confidence, even in the face of great sadness or disaster. In HW and in Coils we see how Primal can interact with people differently. Maybe in Storm Blood, or a later expansion we too will find a primal that represents our identity. After all we already befriended Midgarsomyr, we're chosen by the Crystal and we've worked closely with Primals as well, and slaughtered them as well. We may not become a primal, but we may become able to summon one for the plot, a minion and a mount in game haha. Who knows how it will go but I think eventually we will have a very close relationship with one primal much akin to Louisoix, or Iceheart.

[@isawarenshi]

One of the things I have been thinking since seeing the questions of what happens when Hydalyn runs out of power or essence is just this. Sure it might be crazy but they really seem to be building the Warrior of Light as something more and a source of light in the darkness, who else does that remind you of?

[@sayanmonk6]

I got a question that can be answered if possible Ethys: wouldnt we be counted as primals? This had me thinking for a while where we started pitifully weak(no prayers or desires from everyone else) to being almost on the tier of gods? Just as how we are in a parallel universe created by lousiex(however you spell his name) wouldnt it be fair to say either we're purposely placed as gods by him to recreate a peaceful world or if everyone's prayer and power that flowed through lousiex went to "us" and we became primals. It sounds far fetched but after looking at cutscenes, seeing our own power trample "gods" it seems fitting that our characters are actually primals. Also from the dark knight storyline you can see we crave knowledge or power to the extent that our "darkside" manifested a teacher through a dead body before becoming a physical being for us to fight. Even if we were granted power, we still have a side that shuns it and wants to leave it all behind and let the world defend itself. So by some crazy hypothesis i can say that we were forced into becoming gods or primals without leeway of any kind. What are your thoughts Ethys or anyone else?

[@Kitsune10060]

I figure if we aren't a Primal now, we WILL be one later down the road. Presumably after our passing. As for the Dark Knight part. Personally I think that was just the WoL trying to deal with the fact they had just been betrayed and presumably abandoned by allies and those they had fought tooth and nail to save, and bleed for. As from where I sit, the WoL didn't set out to be any kind of 'great hero' but an adventurer of some note that was just caught up in things beyond their understanding and saddled with a 'gift' they didn't ask for, so when 'Uldha', and the Dark Knight quest line happened they where torn between the understanding that 'yes, they really are one of the, if not the only one who can stand against the Primals and Ascians' and their own anger that they very people they'd been fighting for just tried to 'throw them away' as if they where of no further use. course, that could just be my own head canon for my character talking as well. She and I did not take what happened in 2.55 very well.

[@That_River]

Looking at this video again, I find myself wondering how they will explain our growth of power in Stormblood, lorewise. Like you said Ethys, the growth of power between ARR and Heavensward can be explained as us growing after having the blessing of light denied to us. But no such denial happened at the end of Heavensward. I wonder what catalyst there will be for our growth this time.

[@CastDeathGames]

Ethys you should do a video of the dark knight the quest from 30-50 were actually the warrior of light struggling with all the negative emotions you would expect an ordinary person to deal with after everything that happened in Uldah

[@BenRiley83]

That was beautiful! Thank you

[@ZanTheFox]

Definitely recommend a followup to this one

[@GrayveStone]

Great video. Have you played through the Dark Knight 30-50 job story quests? I feel they really do flesh out the WoL more then any other job.

[@TheTheromas]

Welcome back! great vid

[@achalys4147]

I can't be sure of recomending the class ubt the quests of the Dark knight job give us an idea of the warrior of light choices, i'll try to not get much into detail to avoid spoilers. also one thing i noticed is the word Fray regarding the Warrior of Darkness, its funny because the DRK quest giver are a character named Fray, probably is something small or an uninentional easter egg, but i found it an interesting choice of words. Any thoughts about the flyng ship that looks like lunar whale with coffins attached? Its been hinted to be related to the 3.1 raid but i had in mind that the warring triad would be it. So would like to know what you think about these topics.

[@bixsterino]

Hey Ethys, what is the difference between us being a Warrior of Light and let's say people like Minfilia who just possess the Echo? Also, what does the title of Archon mean? I noticed both Lousoix and Urianger possess it. Great video and I look forward to the next one. Thanks.

[@EthysAsher]

bixsterino I'll be covering the Echo and its distinction from the Blessing in the next metaphysics entry, it's a difficult one to summarise in a few sentences. "Archon" denotes the scholars that take an active role in warning the realm and moving to prevent or soften an oncoming Umbral Era, so in our context the Archons are those among the Sharlayans who actually descended from their ivory towers and got their hands dirty.

[@bixsterino]

I see. Thanks for the reply. I had thought it was some sort of rank in Sharlayan proper but it makes sense now that you say it was a title givin to them by the people of Eorzea or Scions. Loved your new Primal video and I'm excited for the upcoming one about the echo and blessing.

[@kefkapalazzo1092]

Ethys Asher wait a sec.....the sword that the garlean use at the end.wasn it the sword of gaius?????

[@amitamaru]

+Jef Drouin It's a mass produced model used by a lot of Garlean soldiers.

[@Prich319]

Ilberd's argument that he and and the WoL is pretty much BS. They are not. While they both devoted themselves to a cause, the WoL always stays true to themself and their companions, and when the world screws them over, they overcome it, even if they must start from square one. As a result, they saved a realm from imperial invasion, put an end to a thousand year war, regained a blessing that a dragon god easily stripped of them through sheer tenacity and will, and killed what could not be killed. Ilberd on the other hand kept looking for shortcuts to forward his own goal: liberating Ala Mhigo, even throwing away his integrity and scruples in the name of that goal. He has betrayed everyone who has ever put faith and trust in him, Raubahn, Alphinaud and the Scions as a whole, and ultimately he betrays his own people by sacrificing them to a primal so dangerous that one of the WoL's companions sacrificed themself to seal it, and has pretty much doomed the realm to a now inevitable war with the empire. If you the player character are an ubermensch, then Ilberd is truly the last man.

[@wintertrooper7918]

Prich319 I hate to say but Ilberd has a point in a way prior to heavensward we mostly did whatever we were asked to do like an obedient servant no matter how trivial the request was (Delivering a note to the alliance leaders, loads of fetch quests) and then also relied on to save everyone’s asses from the evil empire, then back to assistant the difference is that Ilberd gave in to the worst parts of people and attempted to justify his actions by using the age old excuse of ‘for the greater good’ which in his case was for the liberation of his homeland

[@HawsDaBaws]

Welcome back

[@lyconxero457]

I found the actual story points of ARR perfectly fine but there was far too much FILLER in between important quests which diluted the story. Heavensward, on the other hand, was awesomely story driven from beginning to end. I love that your character got to grow from what they previously were to something more and those around you were forced to evolve as well. Here's hoping that Stormblood continues this trend of awesome story-based questing with minimal filler.

[@durantes]

Anybody feel Midgardsomr is more human than most other characters we meet? May just be me. Still an impressive being i say

[@TheNeoVariable]

I wonder if there's a sequel in the works for this

[@McGrill18]

Ethys how do you feel about the current WoL=primal theory going around?

[@Rhomagus]

You look like Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn in that dark shot with the Elezen pope.

[@DMSunseen]

If you do the dark knight quests you will find out how your character really feels.... well there inner darkness,while offering some great choices to break the "hero"role and be a real anti hero towards people just thought i'd throw that out there

[@warlockwarlord169]

Great video ^_^/ Lore in this game can be fascinating

[@Ergatran]

Great video and very insightful. Hadn't picked up on the lines Gaius had tbh. On the other hand it has been some time since I watched the Castrum cutscences. ^^` On one instance I have to disagree though: We didn't start to gain acess to dialog options in HW. Dialog options have been around for quite some time really. They even appear in the first cutscene after character creation and many times during ARR. The conversation with the kids from Doma comes to mind for example. I get that you raised it in the video to fortify your point and I too felt that the options were much more interesting and different from each other in HW, but I still had to point it out. Sry for being nitpicky! Keep up the great work, looking forward to more videos in the future. Subscribed.

[@masha8770]

Ergatran While I agree there have been instances of having a choice of what to say before, they have been very, very scarce. The Doman kids & the starting cutscene really are the only examples that come to mind. In HW it is much more frequent that you are asked for your opinion and it really gives a feeling of agency, even if these are just flavour texts.

[@writer_man5318]

Ergatran I recall 3 dialogue options: The opening, Gaius on the elevator, and the Doman children. The only other time was saying the password to Minfilia upon joining the Scions. Think about it - the opening is because we aren't yet set up on anything so we aren't a "tool" yet, Gaius since 1.0 had considered himself counter to the Warriors of Light, and the Doman children who hero worshipped you. Starting in Heavensward, a humbled Alphinaud does not set decisions for you except once - which you do not have a dialogue option until Estinien chastises him. Thus dialogue options actually hold quite a bit of weight - your opinion matters now. The Ishgardians recognize it and your former allies are realizing it to. Alphinaud's force beyond that stage where he treated us as his lap dog before the feast. It's also one of the reasons I believe Alphinaud, Yugiri, and Y'shtola took a more active role in Heavensward - to make up for taking you for granted. Alphinaud got A LOT more involved this time around.

[@keithlewis9621]

As always, great video! One thing I am curious to get your thoughts on is this: do you think the Warrior of Darkness is going to be a singular threat or will the story admit to having multiple Warriors of Light/Darkness? I am interested how this will play out but with so many storylines going on at once I feel like some of the action will be pushed farther out, like the Warrior of Darkness actually confronting us. Thoughts?

[@masha8770]

Keith Lewis Considering a very early cutscene shows other - kind of random - people alongside us circling Hydaelyn's crystal, we always knew we were not the only chosen of light - Ysayle was the first we really met in the world though, since other players are usually interpreted by our story as just other adventurers. I believe that is probably why the Warrior of Darkness teased might be a mirror of ours, just like a mirror to Hydaelyn's crystal has been teased in 2.0 as counterpart to her (Zodiark). There might be other Warriors of Darkness, just like there are other Warriors of Light, be we don't know yet if they will attack as a group or at this point a singular threat.

[@writer_man5318]

Keith Lewis The cutscene with Warrior of Darkness has Elidibus say "You and Yours".

[@Mr402TA]

Is it possible to oversubscribe :)

[@rugal14]

Goddamn that's a great speech

[@pofruin]

Hmm mayhaps update on WoL growth with Stormblood? Next spurr of growth did not come from benefactory. It came from foe we where too weak to fight. And the people that made it are still at large :).

[@jdgjordan]

Funny enough this actually slowly started to show in 1.0 were in first msq you really were nothing but a simple hand in things. In fact most quest you complete were very minor and the slightly major ones you only helped but never felt it was thanks to you alone but you do start taking slightly more important work as you go along still nothing major tho just a cog in the machine . Then near the end 14th legion guy shows up and is about to take you out but only by the saving grace of luck the real main hero's show up(sicons) to battle him so you manage to live past a battle that at that point is so much more grander then your simple but. After that tho your hero starts to play a bigger role in quests, classes and one even cultivating in you fighting an beating ifrit something other adventures were all failing to do then resulting in 7th legion boss to take note of you and from here you become more important and start even affecting things on bigger scales doing stuff others just can't do and this all then moves on into 2.0 where you interact and then stand on equal terms with the sicons before going on to of course be even bigger then them all the while of course gaining more personality as you go?

[@TheRealCHIMShady]

Imo they have a lot of work to do if they want to make the player character an interesting one. Also pointing out the flaws in your own writing (referencing that the WoL has no character) does not absolve you of those flaws. Sometimes it makes it even more retarded because if you know about the flaws/that they are flaws, why not fix it.

[@Gee-xb7rt]

+The Real CHIM Shady yeah, my problem with the game itself, even the abilities you pick up in hw are steeped in semantics. SE is lost in the aether of their own making. Every story progression just feels like something they pulled out of the backside as an excuse to add a dungeon.

[@IoannesBellator]

Well, it is apparent that in Eorzea, there's no such thing as objective morality, because Hydaelyn doesn't give you any sort of precept, only some vague notion of "Light" which is easily counteracted by "Dark" making it more dualistic than anything, but amoral above all. Why is the Warrior of Light "Right"? Because he can destroy people weaker than him. The sort of morality he espouses is that Might makes Right, even if can't be accountable towards any higher power- For example, Ysale went about murdering her fellow Ishgardians believing in her own subjective morality- but if morality is indeed all-subjective, then why should we have any sort of objection towards the situation she finds herself in once the truth was found out about the nature of the Dragonsong War, or even the methods of the Archbishop? I do not at all see the reason why we find it objectionable that the Archbishop did what he did, as a consequence. Being lied to in itself is insufficient, otherwise we would have sufficient reason to kill Hraesvelgr for being accessory to Nidhogg's campaign, or killing Lolorito for the entire deception that ended up destroying the Scions. But it seemed to me an arbitrary move on the part of the guiding hand of the Warrior of Light, which isn't the player, but the writer- he doesn't really have the sort of freedom you claim to give him, or else he could make his own decision to support any party in the Dragonsong war and see it to its ultimate conclusion, not the sort of softheaded "We got rid of the oppressive authority of the Church, everything is better now!" Because there are still Dravanians, there is still Nidhogg, and there is still tension between the upper and the lower classes, and there are still those who walk away from Ishgard who will partake of dragonblood. Not a single archbishop in sight to unify the Ishgardians and keep them battle ready... And it would not seem that the other city states will help Ishgard, because as Merlwyb had put it: "Limsa comes first, then the Alliance." Which is probably why she never even put up pretense of resistance during the entire Uldah incident. See, at worst, the Warrior of Light becomes his own egocentric deity, the sort Hitler was to Germans and how Hitler and other dictators saw themselves as- people love him, and it seems even unto himself that he can do no wrong because he's sufficiently good, and sufficiently strong. This ubermensch idea has been the cause of all the fascist, charismatic personality cult regimes in modern times. A person who we view as charismatic and strong would have the right to be given god-like powers because people believe in him, as if he had no faults or mistakes. It certainly doesn't humanize the Warrior of Light when he's treated more like a Greek god by both the people in-story and the writers at Square Enix.

[@randalltate7684]

786 Harlech In

[@HarlequinJitsu]

Randall Tate Hellequin means Bringer of light, Pa means warrior, Ta'al is with light. Pa Taal, sometimes seen as Paa Tal. They were extremely tall Elvenesque humanoids however they evolved far beyond the need for a physical form. Their lore & ways cannot be given tangibly & are difficult to conceptualise as they are of a domension so different from our own. They also cannot directly influence an evolving race, especially this one, which becomes them. So, they transmit & we receive. We create songs, dances, games, stories, films, books, given to those who hear us.

[@DarthAlphaTheGreat]

You think too highly of the warrior. The warrior is the observer in the story, he/she doesn’t drive the plot, they simply react and connect them. Interestingly enough while the warrior is the protagonist, they are not the focus of the story-everyone else are the focus. I think of myself is just some dude who has the power of light, and just trying to make some money and glamours. in Seventh Astral Era everyone pays good money, so I just do them without complaint. In Heavensward everyone was just too sad all the time and consequently too incompetent and I have to say something. Because they are getting in my way of getting paid. I had to get involved, but still reactionary, not proactive. The ideas and dialogue options are NOT what I came up naturally, they were forced upon me just as much as ARR stories, I wasn’t offering multiple different paths that would change the story in any major way- Because I am not the focus of the story, I just keep it going...and I get paid for it.

[@taa347]

The thing that really bothers me about the whole warrior of light thing is that I feel we're too powerful. Like WAY too powerful. There's a god that was summoned. We take him out. Another god, gotcha. Done. What's for lunch. The most powerful and revered knights in Ishgard? No problem. Oh, now they've taken the power akin to the gods you've faced before into their own forms and there's 13 of them altogether. So? Done. After just beating 2 ascans and then again when they fused for prime. I don't like knowing that lore-wise we can, will, and do defeat every single threat no matter what. I don't feel fear in new trials and enemies when I know that when it's all said and done, we will have won. In games like WoW you needed the help of other people. It was never just you fighting alone and toppling gods. In FFXIV it is and it really bothers me. Lore-wise we're basically infallible. We're always right, always doing the right thing, always winning every. single. confrontation. idk if this bothers anyone else, but it seriously hampers my enjoyment. Like, sure, you're not gonna walk into a similarly leveled dungeon or raid and walk out the victor alone, but that's not the lore as far as I'm aware. Lore-wise for Bahamut's coil, for instance, it seemed like it was just the WoL and Alisae and that's it. Hopefully you can shed some light on this, Ethys, which is why I'm writing all this. I hope I'm just missing something. I just don't like being all powerful. That's not fun to me. It's like using cheat codes.

[@wintertrooper7918]

Lewd Cat also the primal are not ‘gods’ in any true sense they are merely the collection of aether formed by collective thought and worship so they are more like bastardizations of gods and heroes