After Zero loses the 1v3 fight in the past, she's lying on the floor begging for help while she bleeds out. I feel like something or someone may reach out to her in that moment of need and whomever does will tie things together.

Zero here felt like Cecil with her become a Voidsent like Cecil's Dark Knight job and her return as Hyur like Cecil's Paladin. However unlike Cecil righteous personality, Zero is more cynical with justice and kindness because of her past but slowly change overtime.

There's a couple of critical points that should be espoused on here. From the design of Zero's avatar form taking a lot of inspiration from Zemus's design (the bald head, the crown of thorns that appears both over the avatar form's head and on the trim of the hood of Zemus's cloak, etc.) and the fact that the crystal's purpose is not to make Zeromus *vulnerable*, but to reveal his *true form*, if this theory of yours is correct, that would make Zero the true identity of our Zemus/Zeromus. And while it's a given name by Y'shtola, it definitely feels like that's the path they'd go down if that's how they wanted to bring Zemus into the game. If your theory that Zemus is coming is correct. That being said, there is a theory that's been floated around of late that the series of events for Zemus are, in fact, flipped in reverse in FFXIV from how they happened in FFIV. So in a sense, we've already SEEN Zeromus in the form of Zero's Avatar Form, the Crystal of Light turned her *from* Zeromus to Zemus (in a sense), and now instead of becoming this corrupted villain leader, she's becoming more... purified of purpose. And that's kind of the theory I subscribe to.

to find that this actually connects with patch 6.4 is amazing, i cant wait for the next patch to complete this questline

I’m glad your video gave a bit more context to Zemus from IV. If I’m honest, I found glaring loose ends and issues in the story of Zemus, which I grant were likely due to the time which IV was originally released. Your video helped address some missing info that helped contextual some of those issue. However I’m not sure some of it can be translated over to XIV and will need to be modifie to suit the game. Zemus strikes me as odd since the orignal game never went to deep on some details. His unique powers, his appearance, his motivations, and so on. It seemed odd since no other Lunarian comes close to what Zemus was or what Zeromus manifests as. My biggest question at this point in time would be what would Zemus be in XIV? Voidsent? Alien? Will of the Ancients in the shard of Zodiark perverted by the calamity wrought on the Thirteenth and its stagnant Lifestream? I’m eager to find out next patch. Good chance he might be saved as the trial boss for 6.5 perhaps?

All I really want is eventually we get an Ultimate Four Fiends with Golbez and whomever we end up fighting at the tail end. Scarmiglione and Cagnazzo were robbed!

Keep it up, Stout. You have some of the most enjoyable FFXIV content on KZfaq IMO--it's really good storytelling, well put-together and connected. I look forward to seeing what comes next with the patches and future expac.

Fascinating! Makes me want to go back and play FF4, it's the only one I have not played. Either way, I am very excited to see how this all turns out, great vid as always!

This guy don't miss! Best xiv lore theory vids on the internet.

Maybe FF14's twist will be Golbez IS Zemus. He has the "better world for his people" motivation (assuming that's not influence), and he's heavily armored, which could be seen as protection against the corruption of the void like our warding stones needed. Perhaps in a fight or event Golbez will lose his armor being revealed to be Zemus.

I feel like Golbez is the 13th's WoL and that our Zero is as manipulated as Golbez is. Eventually we'll find a way to rebuild the 13th through Dynamis as we work our way through a forward base on the moon. Given that our Watcher is no longer watching Zodiark he'll help us out.

I think you raise a lot of good points. Although Zero did say that voidsent do remember things about their human lives but since death isn't possible on the 13th those memories can be hazy. I do think that Globez is being manipulated though. It was also insinuated that the last shard of Zodiark was on the Source. Although I might be wrong.

While there still are some plot points to play out in this I feel like we've already had the paralell to the Zeromus fight in the final battle against Meteon. The fight against the embodiment of a negative emotion, the twins leading a group in prayer allowing victory. It's not beyond the writers to make it feel like a tie in of the patch content to the leveling content, but I also feel like the source material has already been used this expansion.

More lore vids to absorb!

I think we're getting FF7/TAY/1.0 style story in 6.4. Simply put, the 13th's moon is red just like Dalamud was before it fell. Zeromus will be all the voidsent fused together after the destruction of the 13th.

The Zodiark shards all died with Zodiark's main body, according to Square

Isn't it established that when a Voidsent consumes another they dilute themselves? Zeromus could end up being what happens when Zemus consumes Zeromus or vice versa.

I think zero is a sleeping body for Zemus. While his incorporeal form Zeromus is pulling the strings on Golbez. And that Zero will awaken as Zemus in 6.4

I was theorizing with my friends that Zeromus might be one of the missing Ascians

I'm a little new to the game, endwalker is the first expansion that I play where I have to wait for the rest in patches, but if I'm not wrong there is at least 2 other main story patches, considering that in 6.4 it seems we will fight against Azdaje (as the darkness dragon) and Golbez, there is still a another patch that opens the Zemus possibility, and I can see two things, as you say zemus is behind the plan, but maybe the developers would try to make something similar to Eden in the first reflection, in this case I can expect Zemus being "The First Voidsent"and it wants to expand the "flood of darkness" unto other reflections, or maybe one of the unknown high ranking Ascians wanting to end it all because of the death of Zodiark wants to destroy the main reflection with a flood of darkness.

Golbez might be the fallen WoL who turned into a voidsent, and the statue in Zero’s Domain represents the returning hero of the thirteenth… one thing that bothers me is that the rich and pure aether he has (which was shown by feeding the archfiends) makes me wonder his origin, is he another shard of Azem, or a sundered Ascian who failed to activate the primal of darkness (shard of Zodiark) Also the Symbol on top of Golbez’ helmet, and at the heart of 13th moon has a resemblance to Zemus’ T-pose all may be serving this entity whatever its origin Edit: a wild theory, Zemus’ origin may manifested as the shard of Zodiark thus manipulating Golbez as his puppet

How did I miss this videoooo

you should recall that lower ascians cannot cross the between worlds so zero been zeromus an ascian that was trapped in the 13th is possible, that will fit also the theme of Zemus her original soul bearer been a lunerian or in this case an ancient the events of ff4 might already have happened in the 13th in some form it doesnt necessarily mean that we cause them to happen. That paladin statue might have been Cecil and golbez might be his brother, maybe even trying to bring him back by going to the source

The fact that Zero is named Zero must have something to do with Zeromus. I believe that her experiencing life in the Source and seeing what has been taken from her home world will plant seeds of jealousy, and the voidsent part of her will feed off of this and turn her into the manifestation of hatred towards the people of the source that get to live in joy as her world crumbles. And this form will be Zeromus. And we must fight her and use the crystal once more to turn her back. Just like in FFIV, Golbez and Kain succumbed to the mind control because they already had seeds of hatred planted within them: Golbez blamed Cecil for the death of his mother and Kain slightly resented that Rosa chose Cecil over him. So this feeling of jealousy will the the anchor Zeromus will take hold, and even after Zeromus is defeated, Zero will still live with that guilt of how she felt, and bringing zeromus into the world.

Not to mention the elephant in the room of golbez currently squatting in what probably should’ve been the resting place of the Thirteenth’s shard of Zodiark So what happened to it and where is it in relation to him, as well as why he wants everyone on his star to be able to die properly Edit: maybe I should’ve kept watching the vid before commenting

I mean right there. He says he'll always exist so long as there's hatred in the hearts of people. And what was one of the biggest reveals in Endwalker? Dynamous. A force distinct from aether that is powered by emotion. It'd be perfect for an entity who's able to exist thusly, to exploit those who desire aether above all else, and will cause vicious conflict to get to it. What better way to generate a power you can thrive upon?

I think Golbez is the dragon we are trying to rescue. She’s been corrupted and is using Golbez as a vessel like Vtra uses his own.

Final Fantasy 4 really set a standard for final fantasy. Before that game characters barely had any backstory and identity.

I feel like Zemis shares similarities with both golbez and zodiark.

Honestly, I didn't even remember this guy existed.

Im gonna have to debunk the zodiark shard theory. Mainly because i highly doubt a limb or piece of zodiark could have its own consciousness without elidibus. While yes i do acknowledge that zodiark is made of ancients and thier will lingers they did nothing while elidibus separated himself from zodi leaving it an empty shell. I WOULD HOWEVER posit a new theory still keeping with zemus/zeromus manipulating golbez but from the inside as voidsent need to control the vast other souls inside them to stay in control and not blend, but what if one soul found a way to wiggle and worm its ambitions from the back of golbezs mind?

Zero.... Zeromus...Zero.... Zeromus.. ... Hmmmm

I mean every expansion has seven trials and there are now two left. If one is Golbez, I’m a little scared for the last one. I pray it’s not Azdaja. I’m dying to know who the watcher really is. The 24 man raid has referenced them but could they also be a part of this story too?

Zero needs some practice on PvP PLD

I really don't want Golbez to be secretly good... Even if he is being manipulated, I hope it is only bc he already had a bad seed in him, it only took root thanks to the manipulation. I don't want to redeem him, I just want a bad guy for once.

is it just me or is anyone else noticing a biblical theme here zemus Jesus crown of thorns hatred in the hearts of people dark night becoming good as in born again

By any chance Zeromus from 12 show up yet in 14 ? i Swear zero Is going to become zeromus

I figured Zemus/Zeromus would be the equivalent of Eden. The ultimate source of the Flood of Darkness on the 13th.

I think the story from FFIV will be combined with FFIX. Where the villains from Pandemonium and the villains from the Thirteenth will meet to halt the flow of souls in the source covering it in mist, and overwhelm the lifestream with monsters from Pandemonium. Monsters that have had their memories censored (not erased) endless times until they've gone mad. Now, why do I think this? It is implied in the wiki page that Fusoya, being an elderly figure that guides the main character and protects hos kind, that there are parallells to Garland from FFIX. You could say that Garland most likely was inspired by Fusoya. But in FFIX, Garland was created by the Terrans, a species that sought a new world. But due to their limited resources opted to shed their flesh and store their souls in a ship called Pandemonium. Garland's sole purpose was to take care of the Terran souls, find a new world for them to inhabit. On the way they would consume the crystal of worlds by halting the worlda flow of souls, and forcing the worlds inhabitants to be reincarnated as monsters through the mist, and incite war to create more death. This halt of the flow of souls reminds me alot of what happened on the Thirteenth. Also, we also have Pandemonium appear in the lifestream that is definitively relevant for the flow of souls. And not to mention that Rubicante and Cagnazzo joined the great flow. There is also a Memoria in FFIX, a mishmash of your own and the planets memories, where Garland explains to you the nature of memories.

Just a thought but, no one knows what happened to Azem around the sundering. 1) Azem survived the sundering but lost his memories of before. 2) Azem visits the 13th doing the traveler thing that Azem usually does 3) While in the 13th the ascians accidentally create the void 4) Azem becomes Golbez

Spoilers for a 33-year-old game

All very interesting stuff, you covered just about all of it. But one piece of the FF xiv puzzle is missing: ... Where do Cecil and the other heroes of FF4 factor into this? A recurring theme of the story is wishing to go back to better times. Coudl it perhaps be that Golbez is attempting to resurrent his own world using stolen Ascian knowledge? An Ascian named Zemus, who promised him a way to restore his home, and his loved ones, by telling half-truths about his own people and their own potential resurrection?