Who Did Golbez Kill? (Final Fantasy XIV Lore & Theories)

Buried Memory is here in 6.2, and Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker has a new threat to an unfamiliar world. Here's what we know about Golbez so far, including who he killed, and the dream that his followers say they are willing to die for. Enjoy!
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[@Azdaja13]

One detail: in the cutscenes that go into Scarmiglione and Barbariccia's backstories, the hecteyes refer to Scarmiglione and Golbez as "The voidsent and the knight" as if Golbez is _not_ a Voidsent. If Golbez was a Voidsent, why make that distinction? It would just be "the two Voidsent" or "the Haagenti and the knight" (since that's the type of Voidsent Scarmiglione was) or something. Nothing there to suggest what Golbez is, but it does seem to suggest he isn't a Voidsent. Also Golbez's actions are completely un-Voidsent-like. He gives away aether to others. He isn't constantly hungering. Even his Archfiends are constantly hungering. He is far more like a person than a Voidsent.

[@TheTriforceDragon]

Bit of a wild take here, but what if Golbez is Azdaja? As far as I remember the body of Azdaja we saw had its eyes closed, meaning the eyes of the wyrm might very well be elsewhere entirely...like possibly animating Golbez armor (or fused to whoever is inside).

[@cylontoaster7660]

My theory: Golbez is Emperor Xande and they won't reveal this until 6.5 because this will be the lead-in to the next expac, which will basically be the return of a version of the Allagan Empire. If you look at the context in the game, it is a sound theory. 1) Golbez knows what dragons are, has knowledge about their power, and knows how to contain/capture them in the flashback, when the other voidsent do not. Allag had developed knowledge of dragons during their war 2) The Warring Triad was a means by which they learned to tap the power of mighty beings and use that power to their own ends, which Xande would have known 3) They keep bringing up the Cloud of Darkness and old Allagan history in relation to it. They also mention the Cloud of Darkness never reappeared and muse that her essence may have been absorbed prior to coming back. Xande may have done this 4) They mention you are functionally immortal in the 13th - Xande had an existential crisis about dying, as noted in Fandaniel flashbacks in EW 5) We fight a Xande clone both in CT AND World of Darkness during the CT raids, which already raises the possibility that the Xande we killed in the 2nd raid is not the prime Xande clone 6) Golbez clearly wants to get back to the source and is preparing for a "crusade", which suggests he has no designs on wanting to just stay in the 13th This also gives them a lot of plot to work with: Post-EW, both the Empire and other places are in no condition to fight. Xande leading some twisted Voidsent/Allagan Empire would be hard to stop. This would require the Dragons get involved, which means Mericydia may be one of the focal points of the xpac. They also planted that nugget of info that Graha's royal eye would fade someday, so I suspect that would happen during the xpac as a means to explain why he can no longer access/command Allagan technology like he used to.

[@acupofnick4757]

Dude I absolutely love this theory! I think it makes a lot of sense and it’s just crazy enough to be plausible

[@LargeLadCharles]

Golbez being a shard of Azem would be insane, but I personally think that it's more interesting if Zero is a shard of Azem. It would make the fact that Fandaniel helped Zenos twist her to his will almost an extra slight towards the WoL.

[@BroadwayRonMexico]

Yeah, given that the WoL saw Zero (in her voidsent form) in their dreams, Zero seems to have the Echo, and that Zenos' obsession with his friend seems to be tied to him having that avatar, I'm guessing Zero is the Thirteenth's Azem. Golbez though, I think is either related to Zero, or is actually Azdaja

[@fredy2041]

@@BroadwayRonMexico It was not any dreams, had nothing to do

[@Liavain]

I too think Zero is actually the shard of Azem. Otherwise, why would the crystal have reacted in such a way to her?

[@AxisOAnarchy]

@@BroadwayRonMexico Weren't Golbez and Azdaja shown in the same cutscene when he gave some of the dragon's aether to the Fiends?

[@BroadwayRonMexico]

@@AxisOAnarchy Yes but we don't see an eye on the side of Azdaja we see (hard to tell if it's closed or missing). We also should know from Vrytra/Varshahn that seeing Golbez and Azdaja's true body in the same place doesn't preclude them from being the same person All I'm saying is, we know simulacrum bodies are things dragons can use, Golbez in FFIV was the hero's brother, and FFXIV Golbez somehow knows what a dragon is, despite being from one of the shards (when dragons didn't arrive in the Source until after the Sundering)

[@kalandarkclaw8892]

"I'm not saying it's Azem but... it's probably Azem"

[@StoutHelm]

It’s always Azem.

[@BroadwayRonMexico]

Nah, pretty sure Zero is the Thirteenth's Azem. Golbez I do think will be somehow *related* to Zero though (given Golbez in FFIV was related to Cecil). And if not related to Zero, then I think Golbez is likely actually Azdaja

[@roberts7873]

I really wanna see Cecil and Kain. In the MSQ in Zeros Domain there is a Statue of a Paladin. I made sure to pay my respects...

[@godless1014]

Yep. That was IMMEDIATELY my thoughts as well. If it was.meant to represent the player character the statue wouldn't have depicted a Paladin specifically. Not only that but if you soeak to the monster in front of the statue it says it depicts a hero who will return to save the world . . . But . . . It doesn't think that hero is YOU. It's Cecil 1,000%. And as a Paladin main specifically because of my love for Cecil and FFIV this was a pretty awesome moment for me.

[@BeanMan157]

@@godless1014 maybe the monster talk is a reference to Mysidia (the town of mages from IV) prophecy of the hero (Cecil)

[@KilltheMarxists]

@@godless1014that statue is almost certainly Zero while she was still mortal. The statue is clearly female and looks just like Zero in her flashback where she is armed with a sword and shield and is attempting to protect a village from some rapists and thieves that use memoria crystals to overpower and nearly kill her.

[@AdeptKing]

Makes me wonder if Cecil and Zeromus are going to show up somewhere. I’m also curious to see if Rubicante will do the whole “I will heal you because I wish to face you at full strength”.

[@bover-5]

I had a feeling when they named Zero that it’s not that far of a stretch to add “-mus” to the end of her name… wonder if they’re going to bring that into play, that maybe she’s tied to the even bigger bad that was behind Golbez in FF4.

[@sorrenraclaw9029]

One thing that I think is worth looking into: At Zero's Refuge, one of the voidsent makes note of the paladin statue noting: "They were supposed to the hero that came to restore balance to the void... whoever they were." (or something to that effect) That plus the fact that we never got a wind-up Cecil likely indicates that we will see Cecil in some form or another before this expansion is completed. Since this is technically an original story and is only inspired by FF IV - the biggest plot twist of all would be that Golbez and Cecil are one in the same in this universe. Golbez is a "corrupted" version of Cecil, who was one of the original Memoriate. It's a crazy theory, but it's fun to speculate.

[@midnightbloomofeorzea7182]

Something to keep in mind though-- the exact phrasing is "the prophecied hero who would save them", as in it's meant to be someone who hasn't done that yet. Also, Zero mentions she did not remember that statue being there at all. As if it is new upon our arrival.

[@ralk7048]

I'm also interested in the role Cylva/Cyella/Shadowkeeper would play in the following patches/expansion. Perhaps she would be related in some way to Cecil as well.

[@ralk7048]

@@midnightbloomofeorzea7182 Since the patch is called "Buried Memories", we can probably speculate that there's way more to Zero than it first seems, not to mention that a lot of people have drawn connections from her to the boss Zeromus from FF4.

[@acidtux]

I'm not certain how relevant this detail is, but the statue has very similar gear to the Endwalker paladin emblematic gear set. It might just be symbolic, so that we as players recongize an abstract paladin-like figure. It probably doesn't represent the WoL anyway, since not everyone plays as paladin and will recognize themselves in it.

[@verar2247]

​@@acidtux Not similar but exactly the same, also paladin is poster 'canon' class for WoL/Meteor in EW and in every official art, trailer etc. WoL wears paladin gear

[@sturpsy1551]

Golbez being a corrupted Cecil sounds like the best current theory out there, with Cecil being the Shard of Azem on the Thirteenth. Out of curiousity, have you gone to the First to revisit Cylva and Unukalhai? I believe they have new unique dialogue that's only accessible after you hand in the "Buried Memory" quest.

[@StoutHelm]

I haven't, it's on my to do list! originally Zero was going to be my next video but I sort of want to do a Void/Thirteenth piece... Hm,

[@soosfief2474]

​@@StoutHelm Doesnt it make sense that unukalhai is actually cecil - and he is the shard of azem?

[@StoutHelm]

@@soosfief2474 I feel like if Unukalhai was a shard of Azem we’d know by now. Though he is a very interesting case. I did the extra dialogue for him and Cylva. They’ll both be a part of the next video.

[@paine_inflicta]

I thought it's said somewhere that Unukalhai was most likely the reflection of Nyelbert?

[@kennybridges1284]

There's something here that isn't being brought up: Golbez KNOWS WHAT DRAGONS ARE. Dragons only largely exist in the source, so the only way he could know what kind of creator Azdaja is, is if somebody who's familiar with the source told him. And my theory for who contacted Golbez is Igeyorhm. Golbez in FF4 does an 11th hour switch to the hero's side, and we already know that trying to restore the 13th is the plan on the scion's end; what if it turns out Golbez's plan is to use Azdaja's power (and perhaps the power from the 13ths shard of Zodiark) to conquer the Void, bring order and "stasis" to a realm dominated by chaotic umbral aether and thus tip the balance of the 13th? And perhaps Igeyorhm is the one who set Golbez on that path, hoping to redeem his mistake (Igeyorhm being the one responsible for what happened to the 13th)? And perhaps Golbez is the 13th's shard of Azem, the warrior of light, giving him the power to partially resist the corruption of the void? That's the theory I came to anyway

[@acidtux]

That makes a lot of sense, I like this theory. Just a minor point I think you got wrong, but doesn't matter much to the overall logic: in the final cutscene of 6.2 MSQ Golbez mentions wanting to get rid of the stagnation of the 13th, he doesn't seem to want to stabilize the world, because it's already kind of dead and static. I think he rather wants to bring life back, which would be the opposite of stagnation. But it's still unclear to me which is stasis and which is change between light and dark, there's been contradictory information about it before. On the first reflection light brought stagnation, but darkness appears to do that too in the 13th. I guess both can go both ways, maybe a matter of "umbral" vs. "astral". Which is unclear if they are light and dark added to other elements, or just polarities for any element, including light and dark?

[@ZelosSama]

norhing actually says dragon never existed prior to contra memoria though . and also they were fighting dragons back in the allagans days so he probably knows what they are.

[@acidtux]

​@@ZelosSama Dragons never existed on the 13th before Azdaja came through the allagan war portal, since Midgarsormr came to the source after the sundering. As for voidsent fighting dragons during the allagan era, we would need to know for sure if voidsent who "die"' on the source and go back to the 13th keep their memories from the source or not. It's likely but not confirmed yet, as far as I know. Then again, there might have been voidsent who came to the source with their physical bodies, and they might have returned to the 13th, thanks to the big portal that Azdaja traveled through. And who knows, maybe Golbez was one of them. Anything is possible at this point.

[@ZelosSama]

@@acidtux again where does it say it never existed? for all we know , the reflections might have dragon on other planets and came to their planets too. maybe they went all instinct when contra memoria happenned . and also , golbez knew what transpired in the crystal tower , hence how he knew how cloud of darkness fell . So he must have had a mean to know what were happening in the war, like a true ruler should. Also the 13th was formed after the sundering as well. maybe their dragon, like in the first , had other names and they said dragon here because of convenience and yes there are dragons in the void . the second boss of WoD for example.

[@acidtux]

​@@ZelosSama What we seem to not agree on is whether the shards of Aetherys have a whole full universe around them. From what little definitive information we currently have on this topic, I deduct that the shards exist in pocket dimensions of sort that don't have a whole expansive universe around them. It's almost definitively sure that shards have their own moons, but I don't think it reaches much further than this. My reasoning is that Hydaelyn was probably not powerful enough to sunder the whole universe. I might be completely wrong, but at this time it's what I base my theorizing on. You might be absolutely right about a whole universe around each shard, and dragons living there. We'll eventually find out anyway.

[@sijrichters]

Being someone who hasn't played FFIV, I think we need to look at who Golbez was in the previous game to speculate more on what his motivations were. That would tie it up to who Golbez is in XIV. They usually do nods to the old characters with a slight twist to it after all.

[@ChairmanSteel]

You should look up the name of the final boss in FF4 if you want a possible spoiler.

[@StoutHelm]

I think so too, I just didn’t want to spoiler major plot points for anyone who may get around to playing it. Especially those threads of atonement and manipulation.

[@Kurotowa]

It's been twenty years since I played FFIV, but on refreshing myself from the wiki, one of the big twists with Golbez is that he is *MODERATE SPOILER* a party member's long lost sibling. So that might be a point in favor of the "Golbez is Azdaja" theory.

[@sijrichters]

@@Kurotowa Interesting point.

[@C7Plague]

and with the points thus put on the table, I just want to remind all of us of the Mysidian Legend... "One to be born From a dragon Hoisting the light And the dark Arises high up In the sky to The still land. Veiling the moon with The Light of Eternity, It brings Another promise To Mother Earth with A bounty and mercy."

[@25xxfrostxx]

Golbez's dialogue in the final cutscene very much reminded me of Elidibus' comments saying things about not halting his steps to win redemption for the star. I am guessing that he went to the moon and killed the watcher, then devoured the part of Zodiark that was held there. We know that the parts of zodiark on he shards disappeared when he was destroyed so this had to have happened previously. He possibly assimilated part of the remainder of Elidibus that was left in the mixture when he separated from the primal. Unukalhai told us all the way back in Heavensward that the heroes of the 13th were corrupted by the leaking essence of the primals they had imprisoned and Y'Shtola repeated that. So naturally we stupidly put two crystals containing archfiends in our back pocket. My guess is, we're going to fight Rubicante and Cagnazzo in 6.3 and do the same dumb thing with them. They will corrupt Zero into Zeromus and we will have to kill her. They have already very deliberately established that killing a voidsent separates them from what they previously consumed so they have paved the way to saving her. As far as Zero, I think she is hiding a lot from us. She definitely knows a lot about Golbez and the fiends. She also told us that her mother was "touched by darkness" but never actually said that she was dead. That will come up later, I'm sure. My guess for the future is, Golbez "war" is an invasion of the source that will likely make landfall in Meracydia or the New World, setting the stage for 7.0.

[@justsomeguy4422]

Zero was attached to zenos long enough she isnt hiding anything. she literally can barely remember. tho for certain at the least she is def hiding her real name. watch it be Zeromus from the get go, and ysh just somehow came up with Zero to be cool. lmao

[@25xxfrostxx]

@@justsomeguy4422 She's definitely hiding something. Right before she killed Scarmiglione she said "Now that I think on it, you owe me a debt as well." so they've met. Then when she woke up in the source, the first thing she said was that she had to get back to the battle.

[@jesuisradmusic]

I definitely think the whole "personality assimilation" thing will come up with Golbez, but he can't have consumed any part of Elidibus, as Elidibus is one of the three unsundered Ascians. This would imply that he had to have withdrawn himself from Zodiark before the sundering took place. I think they even mention that he did so to try to do his Emissary thing and bridge the gap between Venat's faction and the Convocation.

[@25xxfrostxx]

@@jesuisradmusic He did withdraw before the sundering. That's how he left part of himself and became single minded and driven with no real memory of why he was doing what he was. He became the heart of Zodiark when the primal was summoned and the final days stopped. Then when the followers tempered by Zodiark wanted to keep sacrificing more and more and they split into two factions they started fighting so he withdrew to try to mediate as the emissary. Then Hydaelyn sundered Zodiark. Since he became part of Zodiark, part of him would still be in the mixture.

[@kingmisha5161]

If Zero does turn out to be our 13th shard, and she is corrupted into Zeromus... when we have to take her down, I wonder if we'll rejoin somehow. I will also be happy with Zero joining our band of besties indefinitely :)) But I can't be so optimistic about any character freshly off the shard of tragedy & ruin

[@brendansabourin1864]

To be honest the theory of him being a shard of Azem is really fascinating with its implications. Spoilers for FF4: if I recall in the original game Golbez was Cecil’s brother so maybe in the sense of your character and Cecil being main characters it could be a sort of hint at the relationship.

[@bekomon]

A funny interesting detail is that Golbez seems a bit similar to King Thordan. Potentially feeding on/using the power of a dragon, involved in a war (against who know what), Slaying an ascian, his appearance to extend. I just though it was pretty interesting.

[@ObsidianCrane]

I expect Golbez to have a motivation that we can sympathise wtih, very few FFXIV villains are unsymapthetic.

[@StoutHelm]

Part of what makes them so well written.

[@adrasteiamavros9027]

In Japanese, the "prison of passivity" part is more like a "power/force of stagnation" that's an obstacle to his plans so that line delivered while Golbez is possibly killing one of the Watchers, makes me think that he's not a fan of power of the Light (as opposed to darkness = movement). He also says in his first cutscene that his crusade is about "saving the world" (literally, those words), although he doesn't specify which one, so I am getting strong "this guy is you but corrupted" vibes.

[@sirflimflam]

If they brought back Golbez, his backstory from FF4 has to be somewhat relevant, since they always tend to keep the overall themes from imported characters at least somewhat similar while working them into the greater FF14 plotline. I'm really curious who it ends up being and what his goals ultimate are.

[@StoutHelm]

It could be, but I don’t think it’s going to be an exact replica. Borrowing the themes of his characster arc? Absolutely. I fully expect some manipulation and trying to find redemption.

[@kalandarkclaw8892]

Zemus

[@exiaedges]

Goblez and his relationship with the four archfiend is like the reverse version of Femto and the God Hand from Berserk.

[@leeuchiha5661]

Well if he wants to lead his people to the source, he's leading them to oblivion, you don't mess with people from the source man.

[@StoutHelm]

Grab a ticket and get in line for your ass beating courtesy of the greatest hero of modern Eorzea.

[@silviamileva2207]

The comment about the prison of tranquility makes me think he might actually be aiming for the First, not the Source. The light eather that's overpowering the first is stillness, stagnation, the opposite of the dark in the thirteenth. The Crystal Tower which has previously opened a door to the 13th is in the first. He might be trying to equalize the two shards by marching to the first to feast on the light eather there. Also I prefer the theory that Zero is the shard of Azem because Zenos WOULD seek out his friends shard for his voidsent :P

[@StoutHelm]

I think the Zero is a shard theory lines up better thematically, but what a departure it would be to have the villain be the shard. It’s wild and I’d be on board for it. Zero can be special without being an Azem shard.

[@fefnireindraer144]

Except all the shards of Azem look the same. They all look like Ardbert. The only reason your character looks different is personal play style and means nothing to the story. This is why I think Golbez could be your shard. He is twisted by the ether, but when purified he would like more like us.

[@dafire9634]

@@fefnireindraer144 where is this said that they all look like ardbert?

[@justinlee790]

@@dafire9634 It isn't

[@yalczero]

@@StoutHelm This is what I'm hoping. It would be a nice twist for the 13th shard to be an anti-villain. Wants to save the world and is willing to destroy another world to do so. As for Zero she could also be Zenos' 13th shard.

[@anyroad5455]

My going theory is that Golbez is a shard of the WoL and he got his power by consuming the Cloud of Darkness after we beat her in World of Darkness. If time passes differently on the First compared to the Source, there’s no reason to think that it wouldn’t also be the case for the Thirteenth. Who knows how much time on the Thirteenth has passed since we defeated the Cloud of Darkness.

[@GM-lx7ji]

Especialy considering how long the Thirteenth has been tranformed by the flood of darkness.

[@joeterrasi2202]

Zero eats golbez and becomes zeromus.

[@imacuttlefish6832]

nomnomnom

[@mlemlemmlemmlem]

@@imacuttlefish6832 mleeeem

[@vincentbeton]

While really a longshot, having a reversal in the Shadow Dragon / Golbez relation would be quite the shocker

[@StoutHelm]

You’re right, it’s unexpected.

[@kimaclaret]

During the cutscene for 6.1, they are anticipating specifically our coming as an opportunity for something. Golbez reminds them to focus on their mission to bring salvation to their star. He definitely seems like some 'by any means necessary' antihero, unlike the characterizations of the fiends we've seen so far in the follow-up side quest. With all the talk of travel to the reflections and the mention of the light, I wonder if the gateway they mention is to the First and not the Source.

[@Pangster]

I like to think that the 13th is like the Chaos alignment ending for Shin Megami Tensei but in Ff14. Where the demons won and the Strongest rule. It's a dog eat dog world and I'm liking it

[@StoutHelm]

Lots of similarities there.

[@davidguerrero4519]

If we are keeping the Fiends Crystallized is very dangerous, these were the auracite that bring calamity to the 13th transforming the wols of this shard, i cant but fear the worst for Zero, I hope it doesnt come to that.

[@Mandraken119]

Rip zero, long live zeromus!!

[@NeroLucifarious]

I am the wellspring of darkness. I am she who is called zeromus i am she who knows naught but hate!

[@Sintakhra]

I fear more for estinian. Didn’t the dragoon die in the old FF game?

[@evacody1249]

@@Sintakhra no

[@StoutHelm]

I agree, there’s a danger there. Zero says as far she knows, memoria is a permanent transformation but I’m willing to bet there’s a way to reverse it.

[@knicknevin9975]

I found it kind of interesting that 'every Voidsent knows about Golbez' but Zero said she doesn't. She didn't even recognize the name. But he's presumably been around from the beginning. So either Zero lied about having never heard of him, or has somehow lost all memory of him. No idea where that's going though. Well, none worth really speculating on yet, at least. I'm fairly certain that Golbez's line 'the prison of passivity must fall' was him speaking directly to the Watcher in that flashback, right before cutting him down. What else would be Zodiark's cage be but a prison of passivity? Zero said the Contramemoria was what eventually caused the Flood of Darkness, but I think that the inciting event was similar to when Eden was created on the First. I'm going to wager that Golbez was the person who unwittingly unleashed the Flood of Darkness. The Ascians went to him and urged him to go to the moon and kill the Watcher and break the seals, for power or whatever motivated him, probably hoping that the shard of Zodiark would rejoin itself to the Source, but things backfired because they hadn't worked out the entire process of rejoining a shard. The Thirteenth was used as an experimental grounds for them to test out the most direct method of rejoining the worlds- just break the seal on Zodiark and let the chips fall. Obviously, that failed. (Personally, I think that the aether between shards was not distributed evenly when Venat sundered the world, so the Thirteenth was considered the most expendable.) Golbez was left to his devices on the now worthless (to the Ascians at least) Thirteenth. Zodiark himself was the root of the Flood of Darkness, just as Eden was the root of the Flood of Light (Eden having been created out of Mitron, since the Ascians certainly weren't going to get Hydaelyn to cooperate with destroying the shard with Light). As for his current goals... Well, if he's after the rest of Zodiark's aether, he's in for a rude surprise. I'm guessing he wants to somehow restore the world and undo his mistake, but the method he's chosen for doing so is to just steal the aether they need from some other shard.

[@aluj4498]

your mentioning about Zero "somehow lost all memory of Golbez" reminds me of the fact that, in FF4 Cecil also doesn't remember his brother Ceodore (whom had been converted to Golbez)

[@knicknevin9975]

@@aluj4498 Hmmmm, that's probably pretty significant. Since Zero wouldn't tell us (or doesn't remember) her real name. -I guess now we know it's Cecilia-

[@Tantan-vt4cf]

I really like the theory that he plans to open a gate to the source. It goes in line with what Y'shtola is looking for and can be the main part of her character arc, which she really needs one.

[@StoutHelm]

She really does.

[@anonymoususer69420]

Been waiting for this one

[@StoutHelm]

Happy to deliver.

[@Alpacalips]

Can’t wait for the 6.3 Golbez recap! Seems like it gave us so much more depth in his story

[@StoutHelm]

I like what we got from the new story chapters too for Golbez.

[@konodioda2118]

They should make another Final Fantasy Origins game for Golbez. It would be more intresting to see Golbez side of view of the game. Maybe we can see Jack and Golbez teaming up to fight the gods.

[@StoutHelm]

This is an interesting idea! I really need to play that game.

[@_r._7513]

I feel like if Vitra went to Nidhogg about it, things would have been much different. Nidhogg seems to be very protective of his brood-siblings, meaning he would have been willing to help.

[@StoutHelm]

Probably but there was already some strife there at this point in the story. Maybe he wasn’t comfortable.

[@midnightbloomofeorzea7182]

At that point, however, I'm pretty sure Vrtra has already begun his satrap-ship over the peoples of Radz-at-Han, and Nidhogg would probably have wanted to kill them all. Or refuse to help Vrtra because he considered him a brood traitor or something. Remember, Nidhogg hated all mortals irredeemably.

[@SniperKing-O]

If the Watcher exists on all the Shards moons, then maybe Golbez is a shard of Zodiark previously sealed within the 13th's moon. The Flood of Darkness could have somehow bolstered the shard of Zodiark on the 13th to become strong enough to break Hydalyn's seal over him, assume the form of Golbez out of convenience for his lesser strength (only being 1/13 of himself), kill(?) the 13th's Watcher and make his way down to what remained of the 13th after the flood. But because he was only 1/13 of his full power, Golbez decided to regain as much of his original strength as possible by absorbing countless voidsent and then creating an army of powerful voidsent so he could eventually invade the Source in order set free and rejoin with his main self still trapped on its moon and completely destroy any who would attempt to oppose or stop him.

[@elyes_nort9687]

Love how FF14 made me play FF4 (as I was playing ARR the past year) and now there are many references to this game that are even tied to the story. I hope we can see Cecil somehow, I love him, top 3 Final Fantasy protag for me

[@StoutHelm]

Four is SO DAMN GOOD.

[@SystemOfFantasy]

It was my first and also my favorite, the music they brought back is the best part about this expansion :)

[@shiryushini7321]

I'm fairly certain we'll see Cecil at some point, maybe in XIV he isn't Golbez's brother, but actually Golbez himself, which got corrupted. We have the whole FFIV cast as minion, except Cecil, we do have his DRK mask in the game but that's it, so we're bound to get his minion later on in future patches I think, so meeting him is a fair assumption.

[@LordZombieZanetta]

I think one thing we may neglect is that Goblez just may not be the Antagonist, he may actually be as the Acians were and is trying to save his world... Zero will be the real enemy and Golbez will end up helping us.

[@StoutHelm]

The good villains are always the ones with understandable and relatable motivations.

[@kisavalkyrie]

Okay this is a spoiler for those who did not finish all job quest of Shadowbringers.. Spoiler below: Unukalkhai is actually on the 1st now if you completed the Shadowwalker quest- you find out that Cyella the barmaid is also from the 13th- she travelled along side of the Warriors of Light in the 1st to help them tip the scales to bring a calamity. I believe it was patch 6.4- you get an addition quest where you bring Unukalkhai soul to the 1st and he mets up with Cyella. He states that he will work on a way to bring the 13th back just like how the 1st came back.

[@krampusthestoryteller1416]

I can't help but wonder if they'll actually indulge or abandon this line of plot because people didn't do the quest? Iunno. I did all the job quests in SHB and hope they will tie it in.

[@kisavalkyrie]

@@krampusthestoryteller1416 me too. My friends and I who completed it, felt like it's a good story and it foreshadowed going to the 13th.... although wr didn't think we would go so soon

[@sirhc1528]

Agree that Golbez could be a piece of us (Azem). A Warrior of Light in the 13th, a hero whoms statue could be seen in Zeros hideout. And his enemy could be the watcher. We defeated Zodiark but what happend to all the parts we didnt fought against? Are they in stasis in every existing other shard? 1/14th of Zodiark could be enough aether to revive the whole 13th world.

[@Rodrigo_Apgaua]

If you destroy something of the source like zodiark, all of his reflections cease to exist. But I'm still bet golbez is a shard of azem. To make the parallel of him and the WoL brothers in some way like it was with him and cecil in FFIV

[@c_huvaknunh9138]

I don't know if I can add anything, however I will say that I found it very strange that Golbez knew that Azdaja was a dragon, when dragons were creatures that were not of the 13th, but of the source.

[@StoutHelm]

It definitely stands out. There's only one other person from the Thirteenth who wasn't surprised by the term dragon... Zero.

[@superfantasic3169]

I’ve got the feeling that he might be one of the Ascians, or the Voidsent version of one ☝️ whom was sent to the 13th back before it was the void Or he is our version from the 13th our shard that would be dope

[@KippDotter]

Igeyorhm was task with the rejoining of the 13th and we see her in HW together with Lahabrea.

[@violetbliss4399]

I kind of wonder if Golbez started as the Ultima weapon from the thirteenth. It almost looks like his eye is like the heart of Sabik. Maybe he was constructed to turn back the Void or, to aid the plans of the Ascians there, before it all went wrong and now has become something more, sentient. Probably not though, but that eye really reminded me :p

[@blanketshark]

Golbez' boots make the same sound as Zenos', and no other character's armour makes this noise. When I first heard the boots before even seeing him, I was like "oh that's a shard of whatever ancient Zenos is a shard of". I kind of hope I'm right?? I hope Zero is an Azem shard as it would tie Zenos' story together as well.

[@StoutHelm]

Yo, I DID NOT KNOW THIS about the boots.

[@blanketshark]

@@StoutHelm first thing I noticed and dude I FREAKED OUT

[@WintersFinalstand]

Strong suspicion that Golbez is the Wol's soul.

[@xuto2693]

I'm really enjoying how they're delivering this story so far, and I believe it was said already before 6.2 was released that they've finished the writing on all of this, so it's all planned out. It's fan service in the best way. All the pieces and callbacks are there but it's easy to imagine multiple ways they might all fit together that make a good story without every playing IV itself.

[@lMsAutumnl]

I wasn't sure how I felt about Golbez being the shard of Azem, but thinking about it, Ardbert was a shard of Azem with ties to a world being overtaken by light, I would not be surprised if we ourselves need to absorb Golbez (something happens to Zero or whatever, the usual climatic events lol) rejoining another of our shards to the source. Listening to the Elidibus confrontation scene about them being the last unsundered makes me wonder if someone can, unsunder themselves by combining with their shards like we did with Ardbert.

[@donaldleewarner3868]

I think that Gobez will be like the Lunarian (FF4) who snaps out of Zeromus’ mind control and become the redeemed soul in FFXIV. Just speculating.

[@StoutHelm]

Very possible.

[@imperiumdei2281]

I want to believe Golbez is a WoL that couldnt survive the flood on the 13th.

[@HouseOfAlastrian]

Golbez being the Thirteenth's incarnation of Azem is a theory that crossed my mind too... as is the theory that he was one of the Memoriates who was seduced by the dark power they existed to seal away... possibly even the first one to do so.

[@StoutHelm]

Very possible.

[@HouseOfAlastrian]

@@StoutHelm other things I have read about Golbez is that he was partly inspired by Darth Vader... so if he is a Memoriate who turned to the 'Dark Side' then that fits. Another possibility I had in my mind based on that is that he might be Zero's father. I mean she never mentioned who her father was... just her mother, who was a Memoriate who fought against this dark turn among the Memoriates like her. Not that I'm entirely sold on that, but if it were the case I would not be surprised.

[@Catknight4444]

@@HouseOfAlastrian I'm one step ahead of you. The white robed person Golbez killed wasn't the watcher. It was Zero's mother. She sacrificed herself to imprison the 13th and potentially all the other shards in a giant Memoria. Which would explain why traveling to other shards requires way more Aether than space travel. Golbez is trying to get to the Watcher's moon above the source in order to obtain the Ancient's remaining energy after Zodiark fell. The "Fathercrystal". Furthermore, Golbez is the son of Pashtarot most likely. Pashtarot most likely became Zeromus which will be the Eden of the 13th.

[@roii4124]

The prison of passivity really sounds like something to do with Light.

[@StoutHelm]

It would make sense with all the other parallels. Plus, that would be an easy way to insert Unukalhai and Cylva into the story.

[@davidmoore2279]

I realize Zero didn't name herself, but I'm expecting it to be a hint that they're the big bad Zeromus. We defeat Golbez, learn he was a shard of Azem and defeating him paved the way for Zero to unify the 13th against the source.

[@StoutHelm]

I think you're right.

[@ehmkinator6597]

The First has too much Light, the 13th has too much Dark. Wouldn't it be interesting if they found a way to connect those two so the Light and Dark can balance between them and restore both worlds?

[@Junebug89]

That was basically the ascian's plan, in fact. It's just that they were going to immediately rejoin them afterwards.

[@SniperKing-O]

Rub both Shards together like two pennies and see what comes of it. x3

[@BabyShenanigans]

Personally I think Zero is more likely to be the 13's Azem shard. I can just imagine Zenos's delight at using a piece of our own soul against us.

[@StoutHelm]

I think this would be a neat take but there's a few things that pull me off this theory. Our WoL would've had some kind of otherworldly reaction to Zenos like we did with Ardbert for the first time. Also, how did Zenos make the jump between worlds, since we know he was born in the Source? It would be super fun, don't get me wrong, I just don't think it's likely.

[@BabyShenanigans]

@@StoutHelm Zenos has been shown to have an unusually good grasp on his echo powers, being able to body-jump at will just like an ascian. Probably due to his heritage, even though his echo is artificial. As for "otherworldly reaction," the crystal we were carrying *did* immediately transform Zero back into a human. I know that's not 100% proof and kinda just the crystal being a crystal, but I thought it was very interesting to be sure.

[@ReyReyzzz]

‘Doesn’t want to be stopped by the prison of passivity’ golbez sounds suspiciously a lot like emperor xande…. 😳

[@rickyfabulous1564]

Theory: Golbez is the not shard of Azem from the 13th, but may be related to them. Golbez was the corrupted by the world, which I believe is going to eventually culminate into the fight with Zeromus as the personification of the darkness of the world. After the WoL inevitably fights and wins against Golbez, the world will corrupt him, transforming him into Zemus/Zeromus. In addition, I believe that Golbez's Shadow Dragon is going to be Azdaja after a scene where the WoL sees Golbez consume Azdaja, turning them into a dark personification of their original body.

[@StoutHelm]

I think Azdaja being the shadow dragon is the obvious set up. That’s probably what we’ll get but I wouldn’t mind a twist. Especially since he said he has bigger plans for her.

[@xuto2693]

You know I've been trying to decide what might be the best way to work zeromus in, and that has a good edge to it. Defeat golbez, and all the souls in him start fighting to take over and what comes out is zeromus. But how zero might factor into that....

[@meowwl]

If I had to guess, I'd speculate that if anything, Gobez is an ascian himself, possibly one of the convocation that we haven't seen yet...or, possibly one of the heroes that managed to pull himself out of the corruption....and it would fit the story if he were Unukalhai's brother or half brother.

[@RaddyC]

I buy the theory that Golbez killed the watcher on the 13’s moon, absorbed the shard of Zodiark that was sealed within and wants to drop the moon into the void. The moon is almost entire light aether and he mentions the “prison of passivity” being key to his plan. So it goes something like this: Golbez is a memoriate which is why the other voudsent fear him, they know he can kill them for real. After Azdaja entered the void one of the ascians found Golbez (who may or may not be a shard of Azem) and told him about dragons and how much aether they have etc. and either the ascian or Azdaja told Golbez about the moon and Zodiark. The idea being this crazy powerful dude may figure out how to restore the void for the ascians so it could one day be rejoined. Azdaja would know bc hydaelyn told Midgardsormr about the ancients and Zodiark and whatnot. In exchange for the info, Golbez is keeping Azdaja safe while occasionally letting the fiends have sips of her aether to placate them. He managed to get to the moon where he killed the watcher and absorbed the 13th shard of Zodiark. This enraged the ascians who threw him back into the void as punishment and assumed he wouldn’t act up anymore. He intends on getting as much aether as possible to get back to the moon and drop it into the void to either balance out the darkness (thereby restoring the void) or force a calamity of sorts and make travel to the other shards possible.

[@Jonasansu]

I like the theory that Azdaja is Golbez.Spoilers for FFIV so stop reading if you don't want to be spoiled. In FFIV, Golbez is the brother of the protag, Cecil. We don't find this out until the start of the 3rd act of the game. If they follow this it would make sense that Golbez is the siblings of one of the main characters of this arc. Besides Y'shtola trying to get back to Runar, the other leg of the story is Vrtra looking for his sibling lost in the void. It all just kind of makes sense. That being said, Golbez being a piece of Azem would also make sense as they would be siblings in a way to the WOL as well, though, I am not convinced Zero isn't the shard of Azem form the first.

[@spacevillainy]

not a bad theory, but im thinking azdaja is going to become corrupted and turn into golbez' shadow dragon from ffiv

[@Scottoest]

I was wondering if he could perhaps be the result of a voidsent who consumed the sundered shard of Zodiark on the 13th. They make a repeated note of mentioning how "you are what you eat" on the 13th, and presumably Zodiark's will would be strong. All I hope is that "the war" he keeps referencing isn't just a "Dark Portal" from the Thirteenth to the Source so they can invade. I think that would be kinda underwhelming, considering we just had the Final Days. I'm also hoping they delve into how exactly the Ascians screwed up the Thirteenth and made it "a useless void" in Emet's words. Why wouldn't a world consumed by Darkness rejoin the Source, if a world consumed by Light would? What was different about the Thirteenth? Does it involve Golbez?

[@Fl0wchart]

Zero spoke of herself and her mother as if they were both Warriors of Light of the Thirteenth, this leads me to believe that Golbez IS Zero's mother.

[@StoutHelm]

Interesting theory. I think there’s definitely a connection between the two. Something Zero doesn’t remember, hence the buried memory concept, and probably why she’s never personally heard of Golbez.

[@alyssarasmussen1723]

"zero.. i am ur mother"

[@justaman381]

My theories is I think behind him may have bigger threat. Meteion always use this quote 'Greeting, Can you hear me? Do not be alarmed-I mean you no harm. I wish only to hear your words, share your feelings, and know your thoughts. May we please be friends?' she said this when she meet interesting person, WoL example. but before she shared consciousness, she said this quote while look at sky, cleary not to her sisters(it not make sense to greeting her sisters because her have schedule to share consciousness). I think keyword 'friend' may have something interesting than just word from Zenos.

[@Dividus]

What if Golbez did seek power at first, hence him journing to the moon to attain it, but he learned the truth about the shards and the rejoining. Could it be possible that he somehow seeks to bury the 13th since it's basically left to rot after the causing the events that lead to it? Maybe that is the redemption he is looking for, for turning the void into what it is to day and make it return to the original star in it's entirely. Obviously that would cause a massive flood of dark aether which is already abundant in the source after the 7th umbral calamity, but he doesn't know that detail or the current state of the source potentially. This way he would want to finally lay the void to rest, out of guilt of causing the current state of the world himself

[@shiryushini7321]

Or maybe he wants to invade the First, flooded with light aether, to bring balance to both worlds, if he knows about the shards and rejoining, that would also make sense.

[@gondz6055]

Cant wait to see the other fiends look like in XIV Cagnazo is my fave, his form is so bad ass

[@StoutHelm]

Rubicante has always been my favorite.

[@SyncOnari]

Barbariccia because I’m a simp… 😔

[@Nightshadow12111]

Maybe the "the prison of passivity" he refers to is Hydaelyn, and his endgoal is to complete the rejoining? He probably don't believe that something could be done to restore the 13 and its people to the original state, and to him, the only way to save them is to rejoin them to the Source. Also interesting that voidsent is already "fuse" with each other, so from their perspective rejoining with the other shards wouldn't be seen like some terrible end of existence, they are doing something similiar anyway. No surprise that Golbez would see it as a perfect happy ending and salvation he seeks, abandon the broken world and live a normal life as a part of gheater whole.

[@ZelosSama]

i wouldnt dismiss the possibility of golbez attacking unukhalai He tried to strike him , but elidibus saved him at the last second. i think it makes way more sense than being the watcher, like what would he be doing there to begin with. like we dont actually see if the strike landed and square has been doing this kind of manoeuver a lot in the game. let us believe someone did something but cut before the act is done . And when you think about it , im pretty sure they didn't mention elidibus saving unukhalai in Hw for "nothing" , as in they may have saved the actual event for later, square have been doing that sometime ( most notably with the aldbert arc in HW ) . And it wouldn't be the first time they brought a side character into the main story ( G'Raha Tia).

[@StoutHelm]

I didn’t consider that part of it being Unukailai. So I’m glad you brought this up. Very very possible. And hey, I’ve been wrong plenty of times. Haha

[@AkromaStrategy]

i feel like golbez and zero are going to have some sort of connection. Like he's her father or something

[@sirkyrxon936]

Unless he wants a civil war against other factions in the 13th, I feel like the crusade he's building up is supposed to be an invasion to the Source so that they can take all the aether in the Source. I think it's also why they were so quick to notice that our portal had opened up briefly before it got locked it again.

[@StoutHelm]

Very possible. Seems like the obvious choice, so maybe they'll deviate. We'll see.

[@EchoOddity]

I believe Zero is the shard of azem and golbez wants to "fix" the 13th, either by connecting it with the source, or connecting it with the first. from the development standpoint connecting it with the first would be interesting, keeping the shards in their own sort of ecosystem, the first is already still majorly destroyed and things like eden and the void side quests are there with heavy relations to the 13th

[@NeroLucifarious]

Since ff4 plays a prevalent theme in endwalker ive dubbed the white robed ascian construct on the moon fusoya. Venat may have made other guardians or watchers like him on the reflections moons to keep an eye on the other pieces of zodiark

[@insecdroid]

Honestly I think Zero is the 13th’s shard of Azem.

[@StoutHelm]

Very, very possible.

[@endlessdreamhero4234]

I think there might be a connection between Golbez and Zero, though admittedly the proof is slim. Also I'm still trying to find the right word to describe those who share remains of an Ancient's/Amaurotine's soul. Shard seems to be what the other worlds are called during Shadowbringers. Reflections might work because Hades says in the boss fight "We must overcome these vain reflections". It could also be fragments...I'm going to check the new codex and see if it says something

[@kuronaialtani]

Given we can just barely see some glyph-looking things behind Golbez as he strikes down the robed figure, I'm absolutely convinced he killed the Thirteenth's Watcher and absorbed the shard of Zodiark (maybe during the Contramemoria), which probably caused or boosted the cause of the Flood of Darkness by a considerable degree If anything the line that confuses me is "what irony that the blessed damned should set us free" Was Golbez previously imprisoned somehow, and then he was freed, and learned of Zodiark and the Watcher? Is he speaking post-shard consuming, and his mind is already warped by Zodiark like Elidibus was?

[@rilkecadmus5143]

They are 100% in front of Zodiark's prison in that flashback, in the top left of the screen, you can see the hilt of one of the stationary sword sigils surrounding Zodiark, slightly to the right of the sigil you can see a bunch of dots/hexes that look identical to the pattern of the shield around Zodiark and behind Golbez to the right is the same ring pattern that circles Zodiark's prison

[@StoutHelm]

Maybe blessed damned are the ancients who wander the moon endlessly. Blessed with vast power but damned to the moon forever.

[@rilkecadmus5143]

I thought it was referring to all Amaroutine shades (watcher included) but I didn't even think about the shades walking around Zodiark's prison. Are they still there though? I thought that, since they are the echoes of those sacrificed to form Zodiark, when Zodiark was killed they also dispersed. (Although, since that line was said during the flashback, this would have been before they dispersed). It wouldn't explain why he would want to go back to the moon. I do think his crusade is against the moon though. The line about the gate being open makes me think of the lunar gate at the top of the Tower of Babil

[@Rhaniel]

And don't forget what we learned during 6.2 MSQ... When a voidsent devours another, its soul kind of coexists into the voidsent body and can cause personality alterations! Maybe Golbez ate Zodiark 13th shard aether (long before EW I guess) and Zodiark personality took over?? I mean, Zodiark is not supposed to really have one, but there may be some fleeting traits from being the will of the Star?

[@KippDotter]

@@rilkecadmus5143 The question for me is, why going for the watcher, who can't do that much. He can support the prison, but as we saw in EW, you just need to destory the seals of Hydaelyn. Ok, that is for the "real" prison, maybe it is different for the shards, because it seems that Hydaelyn was not connected to those.

[@Wildbarley]

I think Golbez is one of Zero’s parents, the other being Igeoyorhn. Tempered beings can still have children and they pass on their elemental aspect but not the tempering. My tinfoil is that Zero is an analog for Ceodore, her flashback clothes look like a “dark” variant of Ceodore’s outfit. Seems pretty apparent now what I mentioned months ago is the case: Golbez went to the moon, slew the watcher and then slew/absorbed Zodiark. And that is specifically what triggered the flood, it was the equivalent to yanking out that bath tub drain on the lifestream of the thirteenth shard. The shards of Zodiark’s sheer volume of aether is almost certainly what sustains the other realities. Also tidily explains why the Ascian’s abandoned it: because the Zodiark shard itself was dead. Nothing to rejoin per their tempered agenda.

[@WintersFinalstand]

So to put a more thoughtful approach, Golbez thus far strikes me as a redeemer. Considering he isa reused character seekign redemption, and his plan seems to be on a far grander level then most of his kindred, I suspect his aim is the salvation of the 13th. This is highly unusual, but if Azem is a savior as a soul, then it aligns that Golbez would have a similar desire, and had been a warrior of light himself that fell. It is my suspicion that the Azem of the past is the literal Wol that we play ingame however. Their precognition of our arrivals and seeming avoidance of the player has always struck me as off, especially given their ability to literally predict your arrival in the past. Given this, I think that by the end of the Golbez's story, we will reassimilate him, with future stories seeing us re-assimilate the other parts of our soul. In turn, we eventually go into the past, possibly permanantly, with all our memories as the fully unsundered Azem, able to help the ancients and predict our past self's arrivals and trials. But this also means in turn that we stay in the world of the Ascians, and must face death and sundering. Emet Selch...poor creature...how many times have you had to slay your dearest friend? It's a trajedy...

[@Nightshadow12111]

That would be an interesting twist, but i'm not sure how it could be implemented in MMO game where we should be able to continue playing and have access to previous locations. Though, we already have a stable connection with Elpis, theoretically unsundered Azem can live in past and present simultaneously, but it would be too weird.

[@WintersFinalstand]

@@Nightshadow12111 I would say it would be the end point really. The sort of time when any MMo hero character would put up their weapon. For me, my character's name is Saiya. This time likely would be when she has done it all, seen it all. When the game sees no further expansions, she probably would go back to the distant past to fulfill her last role and prevent the end of all things. Azem refusing to help Hydaelyn could be a hint of this, knowing she had a role to play in turn. our current self learning of the past self's choices and actions may be prophetic and informative of the decisions the WoL must take.

[@xuto2693]

@@WintersFinalstand What an ending that would be, too. That at the very end of the tale, you go back as a fully rejoined azem, and middle about in society as you need to, knowing how things will and have to go, and ultimately become sundered to complete the loop. I doubt it ever would, but it would be such an ending.

[@xuto2693]

This has been bothering me as well too. The fact that we keep getting azem's seal of approval when they should have less than zero knowledge about us in any such way. When Themis said that in the raids I had to do a triple take.

[@Alnarra]

So a few things about Azhdaya being Golbez, that I think disqualify her. The 13th was the Ascian's first experiment, before any of the other shards. Meaning that the 13th was afflicted with the Flood of Darkness well before even the 1st Umbral Calamity. The Allagan empire wasn't even in operation until well into the Third Astral era , and it's collapse was at the hands of the 4th Umbral Calamity. Meaning by the time Azhdaya shows up on the thirteenth it's been that way for a long... long time. We can speculate that if that is the 13th's Watcher that Golbez is slaying in his flashback, as I believe each shard comes with it's own identical moon with a fragment of Zodiark (which is what appears to be in the background, with the binding brands). In such a case it's likely Golbez predates Azhdaya ever arriving in the thirteenth by just as many years. I think that pretty firmly singles Azhdaya out. So that leaves other key figures. The obvious jump is the Azem Shard for the 13th, and while I certainly can't entirely discount that, and I believe it would make a more compelling story, I have reason to believe it isn't the case, that zero is indeed the Azem Shard. The first piece is that while Azem's shards definitely appear to vary from the original, they do appear to share many of Azem's core and identifiable traits. Namely their whimsical nature, their inherent need to protect life, their tendency to attempt to solve problems on their own before calling in their friends. All of these traits, even a in a suppressed form, based on all we know about Golbez are not present. Golbez acts through others, has a reckless disregard for life. This is in contrast to Zero, who has inadvertently created a sanctuary for the weak, demonstrates a willingness for adventure (see how quickly she just sort of accepts showing up on the source) But perhaps more importantly, we know thanks to talking to Cylva that the Memoriates are the 13th's Warrior of Light, and Zero appears to be the singular WoL from the 13th that's still alive. It's also curious the Metion GPS crystal seems to resonate with Zero. I have a suspicion there's more to that crystal then simply memories of crossing the stars. I propose that Golbez is actually Pashtarot, Emet-Selch bringing him up once more during discussions of Kairos after so many years of everything about him being quite quiet. He's also one of the few Asicans whos face we've seen. Altima and Deudalphon are both dead, apparently killed by Gaius. We of course killed Fandaniel, Mitron, Loghrif, Igeyorhm, Nabriales, Emet-Selch, Lahabrea, and Elidibus. That should in theory only leave Halmarut and Pashtarot as Emmerololth is theoretically just floating about the lifestream. Pashtarot would be sundered and it would also make sense that the Ascians may want to leave someone on the 13th to keep an eye on things. It would also explain why Golbez seems unconcerned and unafflicted with the inherent Aether sucking nature of the 13th. It would also give credence to the ability and want to strike down the Watcher. It would also explain why Golbez knows what a dragon is, as another commenter points out, they aren't native to the source, they landed there sometime later, once it had already been shattered.

[@Shindashi]

"can-yat-so" is closer to how Cagnazzo would be pronounced in Italian lite, like the others.

[@StoutHelm]

Yeah I totally butchered it. My fault. I’ll get it right for the next mention.

[@Zeomantic]

Love all the FF4 callbacks in Endwalker.

[@StoutHelm]

Me too homie.

[@ShiningGurren]

When considering the plot twist in FF4 with regards to Globez's identity the theory of Azdaja might be possible. Since Golbez was the elder brother of Cecil. The idea of 14 Golbez actually being the older sibling of the Vritra who if one recalls is a Paladin by default in the fights.

[@StoutHelm]

Thematically it would be fantastic if they execute it right. Vrtra might sort of be out Cecil in that regard.

[@BeanMan157]

FF BOSS AT XIV LIST: CHAOS: ✅ MATEUS PALAMECIA: ❎ CLOUD OF DARKNESS: ✅ GOLBEZ/ZEROMUS: loading... EXDEATH: ✅ KEFKA: ✅ SEPHIROTH/JENOVA: ❎ ULTIMECIA: just reference KUJA/NECRON: ❎ JECHT/Yu Yevon: ❎ KAM'LANAUT/EALD'NARCHE: ❎(put them because the first is the main villain who shows up on Dissidia, while Shantotto battle was an special event and we "already got" the others like Alexander, Cloud of Darkness and Shinryu. Or maybe Emet-Selch Hades entire arc was a reference since we have the same races and one of the final bosses from XI at Shadowbringers) VAYNE SOLIDUS: ❎ XIII: ❎ (dont know who) ARDYN: ❎

[@Scotia__]

@Stout Helm have you noticed the new addition to Ultima Thule's background yet? It there if you look Northward, and looks like the Light equivalent of a Void portal imo.

[@StoutHelm]

I have! I think it's tied to the Omega side quests but we'll see! Maybe it deserves its own video.

[@Scotia__]

@@StoutHelm I think 6.25 or 6.3 will definitely add something that would be worth a video! At the moment there isn't really enough to build a full video on imo, but it could be good for community engagement & speculatiom in the meantime. 🤔

[@mayashley6163]

Azdaja's model, placed outside of her imprisonment bubble, is missing an eye...

[@StoutHelm]

Are you serious? I have to look into this now!

[@UkraineJames2000]

Well, looks like 6.3 confirmed that.

[@mickwayne3398]

The fiend names are Italian so Cagnazzo is like "Cahn yatzo"

[@StoutHelm]

Yeah I butchered it. I’ll make sure it’s right the next time the fiends are mentioned.

[@kaihedgie1747]

People are pretty quick to think that this Golbez is totally gonna be like the original FFIV version...but a whole lot seem to not be aware that we've had characters from previous games show up in XIV and having only scant similarities to their original counterparts While Gabranth is in this game, there's no Basch to bounce off for him, plus Gabranth is his family name rather than an alias he put on, and there's the whole "deserting the empire to pursue other ambitions" thing not present in XII Xande in 3 was simply a wizard and the characters Doga and Unei were his equals rather than descendants of his bloodline and his motivations for inviting the Cloud of Darkness were entirely different. He was never an emperor of anything and he certainly didn't have clone bodies. The only things we can infer from Golbez in XIV is that he will use Azdaja in some way other than as a bargaining chip for his archfiends. He's for the most part right now, quite removed from his original counterpart. There was no Contramemoria and certainly no past fight with what appears to be ancients. Related, the archfiends themselves are *very* different from their original counterparts as they all have backstories and existed as normal people who were turned into monsters before being upgraded into their present-day forms And yeah...I'm not entirely sure about this whole "Golbez is our 13th shard because he was secretly a good guy in IV". We already have our voidsent protagonist in Zero. Hydaelyn's crystal uniquely reacted to her and her only and the way she fights certainly suggests she has the skill and power of a Warrior of Light. In all honesty, she might be the Warrior of Light's reflection. No, despite the name, I don't think she'll secretly become the final boss of the patch storyline simply because her name looks like Zeromus. It would be a bit too predictable.

[@swordcoheir9186]

I'm guessing Golbez was originally working with the Ascians. We know the 13th was a failed attempt to force a rejoining via artificial means, and I could probably bet good money that the Ascians meant to do that by freeing Zodiark's shard from the 13ths moon. Without that piece of Zodiark to maintain the aetherial balance and all the random aether that was sealed away by Memoria users, we essentially got the imbalance, flood, and corruption of darkness much like on the 1st with the Light.

[@althelor]

Wait, you mentioned something about golbez possibly absorbing the shard of zodiark on his version of the moon, which got me thinking. What if that's why the 13th was never rejoined? If during the flood of darkness, golbez absorbed zodiark, and essentially stopped the rejoining from happening by anchoring down that shard of zodiark? If so, then that raises some interesting ideas about where the story might go from here. Because then, if we kill golbez... We might accidentally trigger the rejoining in full, and cause a new calamity without even realizing we were doing it. Which I think would be a really interesting direction to go, having us rejoin a shard without even meaning to now that all of the ascians who were behind all the rejoinings are dead, and we end up continuing their work in our efforts to correct their mistakes.

[@GGMEHD]

What Golbez is after will seem to be most determined by what kind of a bad guy they want to make him. Is he like unsundered, an enemy whos justifications are relatable, redeemable. Will he be like Zenos who represents just his own ambitions with no redemption. Is he just a puppet to a bigger master. They said that by 6.5 we would know where the story is going. Given there are two more generals and him to face and we still have 6.3, 6.4 and 6.5 to deal with I think his story will be more a launching point to a bigger enemy. The only way that wouldnt be the case is if hes the catalyst to disaster in the source and we spend 7.0 challenging him and some new power attained which just doesnt sit at this time. Given there's a loose goal to visit the other reflections and the story has been framed for the next 10 years I think whatever it is it will be our starting point to exploring the other reflections. just how do you map that out as a 10 year journey.

[@StoutHelm]

I don't have the mind to map a story for that long and make it as good as we've gotten so I have no idea, haha.

[@madambutterfly1997]

Azdaja is gonna be Golbez's shadow dragon.

[@StoutHelm]

I’ll be surprised if she isn’t

[@ampur2]

Golbez is...Cecil, right? That's what I thought they were trying to tell us?

[@StoutHelm]

Maybe. Cecil and Golbez both have arcs about atoning for their actions in the past.

[@tsulong]

ooh golbez being an azem shard is an interesting theory...

[@googlemademedoit806]

I agree with the Watcher assessment and I also agree that Golbez's strength may come from consuming Zodiark's shard in the 13th. Golbez being a shard of Azem is interesting but I think Zero is the more likely candidate for Azem shard of the 13th. Her being saved from the Flood and the crystal itself to me is clear evidence of Hydaelyn's intervention. Rather Golbez may be like Eden and possibly is an Ascian. Maybe Halmarut? Golbez in FF4 was Lunarian and if Lunarians in FF14 are simply Ancients this would make sense. Zero's name however is far too familiar to some FF4 stuff and with the exposition on the nature of souls being absorbed and creating modified personalities... I have a feeling we will meet a Zemus who will eventually consume Zero in some manner and we, just like Cecil, will need to use a Crystal(wait a minute didnt we just get a crystal?!) to weaken this combined Zero and Zemus... Zeromus if you will :) but I could see Golbez also being the Azem shard and giving his soul to us for a power boost. One way or another I think we end this story 10/14ths of Azem.

[@Reve_Hyrulier]

Final fantasy 4 will tell you. Remember CECIL and KAIN

[@Lady_Moonsong]

Called it!

[@nekovet69]

I don't think Golbez is our shard as I feel they are setting up Zero to be our shard.

[@ChairmanSteel]

Zenos was so obsessed with us that he enslaved our shard from the 13th? That would make sense, whether it was intentional or not.

[@StoutHelm]

It’s very very possible. But also expected. Maybe they’re faking us out.

[@anyroad5455]

I think Zenos would have had a feeling if Zero was the WoLs shard. Zenos and Arbert never met iirc. I am so hyped for this new story. Auracite being in the MSQ is incredible, considering the other stories auracite has been apart of in FFXIV.

[@SubduedRadical]

I was wondering if Golbez could be an Azem shard. Considering in FF4, Golbez was Cecil's brother, what's the closest thing FFXIV's story could give us to our WoL having a "brother"? ...well, a fellow shard of the same soul, yeah?

[@aSmolGoth]

9:35 The dragons haven't proven to create human proxies on their own. Varshahn's auri body was made specifically by the alchemists of Radz-at-Han and places one of his eyes into it to actually use it. The most powerful dragon of the first brood, Nidhogg (lore-wise, yes, it is stated Nidhogg was the strongest, moreso than the undefeatable Bahamut that could only be captured and imprisoned eternally by Allag) was able to *possess* Estinien with the use of the eye Estinien recovered. Midgardsormr created for himself a body that only we could see in the form of a hatchling, unless he wanted to be made known to others. While it is possible that yes, any of the first brood can do this, the main theme seems to be removal of an eye, one of two pieces of their life-source. I never played IV, but when I think of "bigger," I think GODS. This whole expansion is revolved around godhood : meeting with the Twelve in Aglaia, dealing with Zodiark and Hydaelyn, Endsinger basically being a deity of nihilism, Pandaemonium with resurrection and it's themes of Greek godhood mythology. I'm leaning toward Zero being a shard of our WoL as they land squarely on fairness and restraint (she keeps a place for other voidsent to hide as long as they cause no problems, she takes equal aether in payment for services rendered which is in stark contrast to the other voidsent). Although she doesn't specifically stick her neck out for others, she sure is a shepherd for the downtrodden. What has me going is I know of Zeromus and I played VIII and recall seeing PuPu at the end of 6.2, meaning there are implications. We KNOW there is other life out there thanks to our journey in Ultima Thule. I also find it curious that they picked three games with alien theming to be present through the expansion : IV, VIII and IX. (I think they only didn't pick VII because they have future plans with that. X's theming went perfectly with death, desperation and hope.)

[@liamwilson7549]

Likely that worlds oracle of light. Since we see voidsent/minions of the world of darkness utilizing an ability that encapsulates an entire beings Aether, it likely trapped their reincarnation powers as well the same way an Ascian would be effected. Remember, the way ff14 does it’s storytelling is often with very obvious foreshadows using things that have already been established.

[@Dioptase26]

I think Golbez is the same as Eden but he stopped the rejoining before he lost his mind. I think he’s a shard of the convocation that was not found, how else would he know to find Zodiark on the moon? He may also be referring to the first rebalancing it aether which would be the stasis he’s referring to.

[@ozenky]

For what you describe Golbez like, he seems more like a shard of Hermes than a shard of Azem, and Zero is more likely a shard of Azem in this case.

[@StoutHelm]

Very possible. But I think Golbez is working towards saving the Thirteenth in his own way. We'll see!

[@Cara_Veil]

If Zodiark was sundered to each of the shard's moons, they remaining shards should be facing the final days. Because each shard no longer has that protection and a sundered mition would start to burn down each of the worlds. (responding to what you said around 8:20)

[@StoutHelm]

Not quite. The Final Days existed only in the Source. Ryne notes that nothing similar to that event was happening in the First. Remember, only our star was sundered. Meteion and her sisters were on the edge of the universe during that time, meaning they were not sundered.

[@patrickkershaw4885]

I wonder if his Crusade isn't against the Cloud of Darkness. If we are comparing Voidsent to Sin Eaters then the Cloud of Darkness would no doubt be a light warden equivalent so maybe beating it would help restore the light.

[@StoutHelm]

Possibly but they mention the Cloud of Darkness in the first scene with Golbez, and reference how she's gone.

[@patrickkershaw4885]

@@StoutHelm He referenced us besting her but we didn't kill her at the end of CT and even if we had we know she would have reformed by now so she must still be out there. It seems unlikely she is the focus though since he did mention her.

[@providencebreaker1558]

I'm not entirely sure Golbez is a voidsent or even a native of the Void. While he wears black armor, he seems to wield light aspected aether. He could be from the Source or even a survivor of the 12th reflection, as both worlds would have a strong connection to the Void due to proximity. In any case I get the sense that his exploits in the Void are a means to an end and he doesn't particularly care what befalls its inhabitants so long as he gets what he wants.

[@StoutHelm]

This is interesting, but the thing that makes me think he’s voidsent is his abilities to consume aether. Even though we haven’t seen it first hand, we’re told that’s what he does now instead of increasing his numbers. But this is an interesting idea.

[@starpyre7354]

While the idea that Golbez is from the source is interesting, it's pretty unlikely he's from the 12th. The 12th shard was destroyed during the 2nd Umbral Calamity more than 5 thousand years ago on the Source. Unless Golbez is from a very long-lived species, like an Ascian, or the 12th and 13th move very slowly compared to the Source, it's pretty improbable. Then again both of those things might be true. Who knows what's going to happen?

[@lajohnson8588]

i have a theory that Unulkahai might be Young Cecil based on the appearance

[@StoutHelm]

Now that’s something worth talking about.