MEGA SPOILERS! FFXV Story Summary (complete)

[Paperchampion23]

Welp, second half of the game is getting updated: http://www.novacrystallis.com/2016/12/final-fantasy-xv-update-road-map-revealed/

Not that every issue would be fixed obviously but it does give me hope for some good stuff there. Ravus, Verstael, and Iedolas all need scenes and potentially action sequences. I really hope they can open up some of the areas for exploration. Hell give me an emotional Ravus fight in Tenebrae that causes his death. But looking at this, they'll likely just give extended scenes as to how he ended up the way he did in Ch 13.

The saddest thing for me is that we end up in places in the aftermath of juicy plot stuff. Tenebrae attacked? We get there later, can't explore it. Gralea turned into a horror city? We get there when it happens. It would be absolutely amazing to be able to travel through parts of Gralea and the surrounding mountainside on sidequests. Here's to hoping at least some of this stuff happens.

Oh and while you are at it, retcon Glauca's death. Noctis should have been the one to finish him off, especially for what happened to his father.

If anybody wants a good read, I did a very thorough take on what FFXV's story had the potential to be. Just lmk and I'll make a post about it.

 

[LeonBlade]

Given the rest of the sentence, I think Ardyn was the "healer", and Izunia in this case was Noctis' ancestor, who would become the Crystal's substitute Chosen.

Ardyn's speech and Bahamut's speech contradict one another in a way. Ardyn says that he is Ardyn Lucis Caelum, which means that he was part of the royal line. There was another King (?) who wasn't chosen by the crystal who demonized him. How does this make any sense? Bahamut mentions that the immortal Accursed was given immortality through absorbing the daemons and was ultimately rejected by the Crystal. This confirms that Ardyn when referring to the person who cured people by absorbing daemons was in fact himself. That means that when he mentions another King who wasn't yet chosen by the Crystal demonized him that he's referring to someone else demonizing him. Then he states that his birthname is of the Lucian line. So... who demonized Ardyn, was it Izunia? Who was Izunia? Another Lucian? So, Ardyn was a Lucian but wasn't King? Perhaps Izunia was Ardyn's father making Noctis and Ardyn sort of parallels of each other with their respected fathers as well? I mean, it's far fetched for sure, but I don't understand how Ardyn can be King while another Lucian King exists at the same time...

I don't understand at all what the hell is going on with this whole plot...

That reminds me, what about the Omen trailer where we hear that Crystal or someone saying "I've seen many deaths but now I'm only looking forward to one". Who is that and what death are they talking about? Why was this never explained?

 

[Terper]

It's simple.

Ifrit betrays the Six and unleashes the Starscourge during the time of Solheim. The Six choose a king - Ardyn Lucis Caelum - and make him their Chosen One and task him with wiping out the plague and the daemons, and choose an Oracle to guide him. Ardyn is too nice a dude, however, and can't bear killing them since they were just humans, and instead decides to absorb their demonic juices into himself. The king of another place, a man named Izunia, was jealous that the gods chose Ardyn over him, calls up the gods and says "Hey, your "Chosen One" doesn't seem so pure and proper now with all this demonic energy in him, yeah?" and the gods were like "oh shit you're right, Ardyn you're off the case, this Izunia guy is now Lucis Caelum because we need to keep our branding, also you're no longer welcome to the afterlife". Ardyn is pissed and teams up with Ifrit and the two decide to kill the next Chosen One to spite the gods and deplete the Crystal of its power.

 

[Paperchampion23]

Ardyn's speech and Bahamut's speech contradict one another in a way. Ardyn says that he is Ardyn Lucis Caelum, which means that he was part of the royal line. There was another King (?) who wasn't chosen by the crystal who demonized him. How does this make any sense? Bahamut mentions that the immortal Accursed was given immortality through absorbing the daemons and was ultimately rejected by the Crystal. This confirms that Ardyn when referring to the person who cured people by absorbing daemons was in fact himself. That means that when he mentions another King who wasn't yet chosen by the Crystal demonized him that he's referring to someone else demonizing him. Then he states that his birthname is of the Lucian line. So... who demonized Ardyn, was it Izunia? Who was Izunia? Another Lucian? So, Ardyn was a Lucian but wasn't King? Perhaps Izunia was Ardyn's father making Noctis and Ardyn sort of parallels of each other with their respected fathers as well? I mean, it's far fetched for sure, but I don't understand how Ardyn can be King while another Lucian King exists at the same time...

I don't understand at all what the hell is going on with this whole plot...

That reminds me, what about the Omen trailer where we hear that Crystal or someone saying "I've seen many deaths but now I'm only looking forward to one". Who is that and what death are they talking about? Why was this never explained?

I'm confused about that too, but about your last statement. I think the being in the crystal was Bahamut. Bahamut actually sounds exactly the same. I also think that the Omen scene was a play on words and intent. Bahamut was talking about Ardyn when he wanted to see the death of someone. We just all thought that it was Noctis. I actually thought that the Crystal voice belonged to Chaos and Bahamut was simply preventing Chaos from leaving it. But since the ending didn't happen that way, you know.

 

[Paperchampion23]

It's simple.

Ifrit betrays the Six and unleashes the Starscourge during the time of Solheim. The Six choose a king - Ardyn Lucis Caelum - and make him their Chosen One and task him with wiping out the plague and the daemons, and choose an Oracle to guide him. Ardyn is too nice a dude, however, and can't bear killing them since they were just humans, and instead decides to absorb their demonic juices into himself. The king of another place, a man named Izunia, was jealous that the gods chose Ardyn over him, calls up the gods and says "Hey, your "Chosen One" doesn't seem so pure and proper now with all this demonic energy in him, yeah?" and the gods were like "oh shit you're right, Ardyn you're off the case, this Izunia guy is now Lucis Caelum because we need to keep our branding, also you're no longer welcome to the afterlife". Ardyn is pissed and teams up with Ifrit and the two decide to kill the next Chosen One to spite the gods and deplete the Crystal of its power.

Lol i like it, but it still bothers me that Ifrit basically is the catalyst for the entire story, yet he is a 10 minute boss fight sequence in the last half an hour of the game. Honestly, there should have been a higher power commanding Ifrit because the way looks, his whole impact on the story was shot the moment Shiva destroyed him. I always thought Chaos or some other FF type God was going to be the one who started the Starscourge, I'm kind of shocked that Bahamut was just chilling in the crystal with nothing to guard. Like dude, why are you in the crystal? You could have wrecked Ardyn and Ifrit years ago. I really thought that he was preventing something in there from leaving, as if the crystal was tainted. Power is never a good thing, it sapped Regis of his life span and made Iedolas obsessed. It was just....weird.

 

[SonOfEtro]

Lol i like it, but it still bothers me that Ifrit basically is the catalyst for the entire story, yet he is a 10 minute boss fight sequence in the last half an hour of the game. Honestly, there should have been a higher power commanding Ifrit because the way looks, his whole impact on the story was shot the moment Shiva destroyed him. I always thought Chaos or some other FF type God was going to be the one who started the Starscourge, I'm kind of shocked that Bahamut was just chilling in the crystal with nothing to guard. Like dude, why are you in the crystal? You could have wrecked Ardyn and Ifrit years ago. I really thought that he was preventing something in there from leaving, as if the crystal was tainted. Power is never a good thing, it sapped Regis of his life span and made Iedolas obsessed. It was just....weird.

There's a good reason the lore is slightly nonsensical; SQEX were desperate to remove as much as possible of the game's FNC legacy, so rather than a delicate rewrite they went at it with an axe. They couldn't get rid of it all due to its integral part in the game's world, but they removed enough that what was left didn't make sense. Slot FNC back into the mix, and the whole thing kind of makes sense.

In the original concept, the Astrals would probably have been equivalent to fal'Cie/Crystals. Ifrit's probably following a higher command and unleashed the Starscourge to trigger an event similar to Ragnarok or Tempus Finis (millions of humans killing each other, triggering a flood of souls to open the way to the afterlife for their creators). But Ifrit didn't bank on some of the Astrals effectively betraying their programming and trying to preserve humanity, such as Shiva, Ramuh, Titan and Bahamut. Bahamut turns into the Crystal and waits for the right person to be born that can defeat Ardyn, essentially making Noctis the l'Cie of Bahamut. Ardyn's tragedy and all the subsequent mess would be a consequence of Ifrit following his programming while the others rebelled, or like Leviathan remained apathetic.

 

[APZonerunner]

That reminds me, what about the Omen trailer where we hear that Crystal or someone saying "I've seen many deaths but now I'm only looking forward to one". Who is that and what death are they talking about? Why was this never explained?

Like so many of the issues you could ask this question of in 15, the answer is because it's basically unfinished.

I take it to be Ifrit, btw.

 

[Paperchampion23]

Like so many of the issues you could ask this question of in 15, the answer is because it's basically unfinished.
I take it to be Ifrit, btw.

I think it's Bahamut. He sounds exactly the same and he wants Ardyn to die, simply because Ardyn has been around too long

 

[LeonBlade]

It's simple.

Ifrit betrays the Six and unleashes the Starscourge during the time of Solheim. The Six choose a king - Ardyn Lucis Caelum - and make him their Chosen One and task him with wiping out the plague and the daemons, and choose an Oracle to guide him. Ardyn is too nice a dude, however, and can't bear killing them since they were just humans, and instead decides to absorb their demonic juices into himself. The king of another place, a man named Izunia, was jealous that the gods chose Ardyn over him, calls up the gods and says "Hey, your "Chosen One" doesn't seem so pure and proper now with all this demonic energy in him, yeah?" and the gods were like "oh shit you're right, Ardyn you're off the case, this Izunia guy is now Lucis Caelum because we need to keep our branding, also you're no longer welcome to the afterlife". Ardyn is pissed and teams up with Ifrit and the two decide to kill the next Chosen One to spite the gods and deplete the Crystal of its power.

The problem is why would someone else be given his surname just because he's not chosen by the crystal? That's not how names work.

 

[Terper]

The gods can do whatever the heck they want. As Ardyn asks after the final battle, "Will you erase me from history once more?" His name and identity as the first Chosen One was taken from him. The gods wanted their chosen line to be known by that name. That's all there is to it.

 

[DrBretto]

I think it's Bahamut. He sounds exactly the same and he wants Ardyn to die, simply because Ardyn has been around too long

That's 100% how I saw it, too.

I see it like, I've seen many deaths, but getting rid or ardyn will totally make it worth it.
Regis: Noctis will make the right call when the time is right and end it.

Etc etc. It would explain the Dawn trailer, too.

 

[Slaintimez]

Yeah, i don't understand how can anyone assume that was Ifrit? Thats weird.

 

[DrBretto]

Yeah, i don't understand how can anyone assume that was Ifrit? Thats weird.

Well, we live in a world where if you have to think about it, it's broken

Or more accurately, with the hysteria going around, it's hard for people not to see everything as a symptom of it, whether it is or not. I saw a lot of people complaining about Arenea's motivations not being shown, but they were and clearly, just as one example. But it ends up getting counted in the chorus regardless.

I do wish more people would stop and let things sit before reacting on the internet, though. Sometimes things take some thought. That's part of the experience, to immerse people into the world and get people talking about these points and whatnot.

 

[LeonBlade]

The gods can do whatever the heck they want. As Ardyn asks after the final battle, "Will you erase me from history once more?" His name and identity as the first Chosen One was taken from him. The gods wanted their chosen line to be known by that name. That's all there is to it.

I think that's stupid rational to take and it makes no logical sense. Surely Ardyn had his own family before him, do they suddenly not exist as part of the family anymore and the namesake gets shifted over to another line? That makes no sense at all. I don't see how anyone can really make sense of this. If Lucis Caelum was just a title, I could see how it could just be shifted, but it's not a title, it's a birth name... you don't just change those.

What, did the Astrals go and change everyone's birth certificates after they got mad that Ardyn absorbed daemons into himself?

 

[SonOfEtro]

What, did the Astrals go and change everyone's birth certificates after they got mad that Ardyn absorbed daemons into himself?

As is quite clearly seen with both Leviathan and Bahamut, in addition to statements from the developer, Astrals are above humanity. If one of them displeases them, they'll just cast them aside.

Oh, and a name can be inherited by someone who isn't of a particular bloodline, I think. There are examples in history that do linger in the back of my mind. And this is Final Fantasy. Human logic can go out the window in their stories.

 

[Terper]

Names are social constructs used to identify people. They're not some sort of eternal, unchanging magic thing. Changing one's birth name in reality is as simple as just requesting it and filling out some forms. Or hell, even marrying. If Luna married Noctis, then her name would (probably) be changed to Lunafreya Lucis Caelum.

And if it's that easy for humans to change name, then if the literal Messiah or whatever god may or may not exist that we can compare to the gods of Eos stepped down from up on high and said "Your name is now Jesusson", then I don't think there's much arguing to be done unless you wanna invite the wrath of some higher power.

 

[LeonBlade]

Does anyone have the CE Guide?

 

[SonOfEtro]

Does anyone have the CE Guide?

I have the CE Piggyback Guide in English.

 

[LeonBlade]

I have the CE Piggyback Guide in English.

Is there any way to get the info from the list of characters that explain how everyone is connected? I've seen people mention it, but I don't have the guide myself to see it in person.

 

[SonOfEtro]

Is there any way to get the info from the list of characters that explain how everyone is connected? I've seen people mention it, but I don't have the guide myself to see it in person.

I can't upload a picture, but I can explain it in words. AHEM....

The six Astrals are along the top (Leviathan, Titan, Shiva, Ramuh, Bahamut, Ifrit). Shiva is the same person as Gentiana who is the protector of Tenebrae's royal family. THe only one mentioned there is Sylfa, who is the mother of Ravus and Lunafreya, the former as the new commander of Niflheim's army. Ifrit is connected to Ardyn through a master(Ifrit)-servant(Ardyn) relationship. Ardyn is among the eline of Niflheim, which includes Iedolas Aldercapt and Versteal, who is called in the guide the "biological father" of Prompto. Serving Nilfheim in the army are Caligo Ulldor, Loqi and Aranea's mercenary group which includes herself, Biggs and Wedge.

From Altissia, there is the leader Camelia Claustra, who is friends with Regis' former ally from 30 years before Weskham Armaugh. Then comes Lucis, which has Cindy and her grandfather Cid, who is included among the group of 30 year allies. This group, which goes directly into Innsomnia, also includes Regis himself, Gladiolus' father (mislabeled as Crailas rather than Clarus Amicitia and depicted as this fellow from 2013) and latecomer Cor Leonis. Gladiolus' father is of course connected to GLadiolus himself and Iris, who is herself connected to her butler Jared Hester and his grandson Talcott. Gladiolus himself forms a part of the new group, or rather the game's protagonists, which include Regis' son Noctis, Ignis and Prompty. Noctis is in turn engaged to Lunafreya, and their "messengers" are the dogs Umbra and Pryna.