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Movie Link: Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - Answers ***HOLY SHIT WATCH THIS***
Click the above link. Trust me. The movie link contains everything in this one-shot and is kinda the single most important event to happen in Eorzea's history. Eorzea being the world of FFXIV, you see.
I don't even know if this is going to be something I pursue. But this is an idea I haven't been able to get out of my head. We start, innocently enough, with some clouds and a peaceful blue color.
Did I say peaceful? I mean there's fire raining from the heavens. Easy mistake to make, whoops!
As the camera pans through the clouds, they get more and more red-looking. And the fireballs get more frequent.
This is Dalamud, one of Eorzea's twin moons. And it's very, very red.
And very, very artificial. One of the structures jutting out from the bottom is cracking the surface of the moon.
These fireballs are falling all over Eorzea. While we haven't been introduced to the cities yet, this is one of the three major city-states in the game... Limsa Lominsa.
The inhabitants of the Thalassocracy are quite curious about the fire.
Likewise in Ul'dah, the desert city.
Even the people of Gridania, the forest city, are curious about the fireballs.
But this story takes place in Carteneau, an awful, terrible flatland situated somewhere between Ul'dah and Gridania.
A gigantic battle is taking place.
Can you pick who we're supposed to root for? Hint, it's the guys in colorful uniforms who don't look like Helghast troops.
By the way, FFXIV is not a nice and pleasant game. It's dark, depressing, and miserable. Our nice yellow guy gets his throat slit by this jerkbag.
On the hill above are the commanders...
Teenage Magical Girl, Hulk McMuscles, and the Pirate Captain. They all have proper names, but I can't remember how to spell at least one of them. Also they're incredibly unimportant to this cinematic.
Again, there's no missing who the bad guys in here are. This is the Black Wolf, Legatus of the XIVth Legion of the Garlean Empire.
The Empire are launching an all-out assault to claim Eorzea, and the Cartineau Flats are their first stop. Also they have magitek.
The Eorzeans, on the other hand, have magic.
In this case, magic is mightier than technology!
Here comes the star of our show, now! This is the Warrior of Light, the mightiest warrior in Eorzea! He's a Hyur, the generic human type people.
He's something of a one-man wrecking ball.
It's very hard to get a good shot of him because there's so much motion blur.
This game has very few cinematics in this style, and for that I am endlessly thankful. While they are quite pretty, they are hard to get screenshots of.
He takes a moment to look at the sky in the middle of the battle. Understandable, because Dalamud is quite close.
Perhaps it's not a smart idea to stand and look at the moon in a warzone. Especially when the enemy has guns!
The Warrior isn't dead, just injured.
A few arrows from offscreen take care of the advancing Garleans.
This is another member of the Warrior's party. She's a nameless Bard.
Also she's a Miqo'te... a catgirl.
I think she's supposed to have shielded him? But I have no idea.
The party's White Mage runs up to see to the Warrior. She's a tiny little potato lady, a Lalafell.
The catgirl lines up in front of the warrior, and another member of the party, a Black Mage, is casting spells to save him. They're apparently an Elezen, though literally nothing in this cutscene shows that fact off. You'd think they'd have modeled the mage's ears.
I have been informed that the Elezen's ears are beneath the brim of their hat.
The last member of the Warrior's party shows up. This guy is a Paladin, and is a Roegadyn. There's no mistaking Roes for anything else, becase they're gigantic. Also the pirate captain lady we saw earlier is one of five female Roegadyn in existence.
The White Mage finishes her job and then the Warrior runs off to cause some more havoc.
The whole party is causing some serious havoc.
They eventually reach the back lines, where the Magitek armor is offering fire support.
This intro does a good job making all five jobs shown off here look badass. Warrior and Paladin are crashing through the front lines, White Mage is offering healing support from the back rows, Bard is helping clear a path for the tanks, and the Black Mage is offering artillery support.
This white-haired fellow is also here, watching. Though the heroes aren't visible from this distance.
Is it just me or is it getting redder in here?
The crack in the bottom of Dalamud is getting wider.
And then that curious structure falls.
And it falls right onto the battle.
The shockwave of its landing knocks everyone fighting over.
All those blue "keys" (which is the best name I can come up with for them) are flying out of the moon in this shot. It's literally exploding over Eorzea.
Like I said.
Nothing good is about to come of any of this.
Something inside is putting out a tremendous amount of force, and it's about to burst out.
Up on top of Dalamud...
This thing's wings are as big as Dalamud itself.
Excuse me. Bigger than Dalamud!
This gigantic dragon is pissed off. Very, very pissed off.
And there goes the moon!
Each one of these fireballs is a piece of Dalamud landing on the landscape.
They are fucking it up bad. Though this is a really nice shot of Ul'dah silhouetted against the fire.
These aren't small explosions, either.
The party just watches helplessly as all this awful shit goes down. How do you even try to stop this?
The dragon is loose and it's just wreaking havoc on everything.
By the way, just in case you wondered... yes. Yes. That is Bahamut.
Each one of those white lines is another projectile it just unleashed. Each one will create a gigantic explosion.
I keep saying it, but it's no less true. Bahamut is really fucking mad.
Bahamut lays waste to Limsa Lominsa in the blink of an eye.
The Warrior is just kinda... dumbstruck by the whole thing. And at least one other emotion that I think is "oh god I'm gonna be sick."
Here comes Bahamut again.
This magic missile is coming for our heroes.
That's quite a shield!
This is Louisoix. All you really need to know is he's the kind of guy who goes to an active warzone so he can stop the Protagonists from dying to an explosion. And he's powerful enough to conjure a bubble big enough to hold back at least one of Bahamut's magic missiles.
Honestly the fact that he could stop it at all is impressive. No shade being thrown here for it eventually breaking. Bahamut's strength is unprecedented in Eorzea.
He stopped the immediate area's devastation! Sure the rest of the continent is burning, but small steps.
And he also got Bahamut's attention.
Its undivided attention...
Louisoix didn't come without a plan, though!
We'll meet the rest of these characters eventually. Just right now know they're helping Louisoix.
This pair are praying in the Twelveswood, outside of Gridania.
This man is praying in Ul'dah.
This catgirl is praying somewhere on the island with Limsa Lominsa. I think.
And all that power is being given to Louisoix.
He's creating a whole lot of these spears...
Whatever's happening, it's containing Bahamut!
They're forming a seal over Bahamut, trying to contain him.
The runes start raising in the air...
It almost looks like he's done it, except... look at the containment seal.
Bahamut escaped.
Louisoix's staff shatters from the feedback.
I'm pretty sure that's Megaflare.
Nobody's really quite sure what to make of what just happened. But nobody's happy.
Louisoix's spell makes the heroes start all disappearing one by one.
The Warrior himself can't quite believe it, either.
With all of them taken to safety, Louisoix can face his fate...
...with a smile.
And so this story begins with an apocalypse. A Calamity, you might even say.
