G'raha in Exarch mode. He fought the sin eaters on the first for nearly 100 years. They built the city around the tower after he arrived, I can imagine those first few years were much like this, and he lived though the 8th calamity on the Source of the bad future. He's seen some S*. This isn't that G'raha, but he carries those memories, and dug into that strength to get though this.
it's not just the memories, but his soul as well, it was described as a blending so it's not like Exarch's entire soul and memories were just layed on top of young G'Raha's, but merged so any matching bits weren't duplicated, the Exarch's soul of course had been through 8 rejoinings instead of 7 so would be denser than young G'Raha's but you wouldn't expect there to be a loss in density but just like I wouldn't expect there to be duplicate memories, I wouldn't expect G'Raha to be the equivalent of a 14 times rejoined soul which wouldn't have been possible even if the ascians didn't screw up the thirteenth, can you imagine someone with a soul density greater than the ancient's? so at best G'Raha is on par with the WoL in terms of soul density
@@scotty110 Memories are aether, so, true, but his physical form is also aether too, and that form was left behind, so, he's not rejoined in the same manner as WoL. Is his aether denser? I think it is, but I don't think it is as dense as the WoL. His body doesn't suffer from the crystal corruption being linked to the tower, he's far more shy and timid then his Novant counterpart, he doesn't 'live' the memories as the G'raha of the first, he had to draw inward and pull that forward, as if it is more distant. Is he "rejoined" is the question. How much of him self did he give before the end. They never truly answer, and it wasn't direct like it was for the WoL. Did the work Kryle do serve as a rejoining? My answer is, no. And I'll tell you why. We merge with another fragment of our own soul, but not our soul. It was Ardbert, a completely independent being that was a shard of our soul. G'raha was only merged with another temporal/transiant version of himself. No other segment was included. But, my logic has a flaw, the G'raha was on the Source when the first had 'been' rejoined. So, that G'raha had been rejoined. He had 8/14th and that made him stronger. But now, could Kryle facilitate the merger of that 8/14th to the sleeping G'raha 7/14th in the tower? There's actually a Paradox involved too, and even a bit of a paradox of a paradox, but that is not appropriate here for reasons we can't get into. Suffice to say, I think G'raha post SW is a bit denser then the average person, but I think the full rejoined version was lost on the first at the top of the tower. our G'raha's soul may be more dense, but its the memories that serve him the most, his 'past' that help his present. He drew inward on that strength when things hit the fan. Those are my thoughts, anyway.
@@wakirk Elidibus did comment on the fact that the Exarch's soul was unusually dense, that could either be from having been rejoined 8 times, being directly linked to the crystal tower and being reinforced by said link, or both, with the tower's influence being more like an amplifier that was no longer there once the soul and memories were merged with G'Raha back on the source (and Krile wasn't even with the WoL when that took place, it's assumed the WoL woke up G'Raha with the spirit vessel merge, they went back for that cup of tea that Alphinaud said they'd need an extra cup for and then informed Krile that they'd need her assistance resealing the tower). keep in mind that he was able to see and memorize the spell needed to cure tempering in a very short time, plus that mass levitation at the tower of Zot, while draining, still seemed like a huge deal that it could be accomplished on that scale by just 1 person. his comment after the 5.3 cutscene about it feeling like it was harder to use magic could simply be attributed to him having been so used to having the Tower's energy at his disposal for soo long, he simply forgot about how it used to be like and he likely wouldn't have much of a baseline for what it would be like for someone 8 times rejoined compared to 7 times rejoined and the WoL is probably not a good comparison anyway because it may just be a trait of any who would become Azem to just be gifted with greater ability than most ancient. As for G'Raha's shyness, he also mentions after the 5.3 cutscene that he simply didn't want to be considered the Exarch anymore, that life was on the first and so on the Source he wanted to basically go back to where they left off when they first went to the Tower, it was a choice he made to put that part of his life behind him so that he might make due on his promise to live life to the fullest and be happy. which kinda makes that sigh before he goes into Exarch mode hit harder since it's not that he wanted to forget that part, he just didn't expect to ever need to be that person again
Now do the Vanaspati dungeon again, and note the Mother and children that turn just before the second mini boss ... it gets sadder every time, knowing their souls are damned gone. Also G'raha's Exarch Mode FTW
It was such a great moment to see Graha, who as the Exarch lived through sin eater attacks on the crystarium multiple times before its defenses were established knowing what to do purely because he's lived through this kind of situation for a century.
There is a little detail about Estinien's character that I absolutely adore. He has this gruff, abrasive attitude, but it's a defense mechanism, to prevent people from getting too close to him, lest he lose them the way he lost his parents. But when he meets others with a similar self-defense mechanism, it's like he recognizes it, and is able to connect with them on their terms. Whether it's Gaius trying to be stern and intimidating, or Thancred and Y'shtola's teasing, he just meets them on their level. It's the sincere emotional connections that he's uncomfortable with.
And now, the story's brakes are off - hang on tight. Also, Exarch Mode G'raha is the best thing ever. That coalesced, 8 times rejoined soul of his has so much strength to offer others, and G'raha knows precisely how to tap into it when necessary. So cool.
I LOVED this entire expansion. The entire first half was just set-up, and it felt like a rollercoaster. Then you reach this section and realize “holy shit… that was just the set-up???” Just… Relentless emotional assault. Whatever you may have heard or may hear about Dawntrail, negative or positive, just keep in mind that Endwalker was the culmination of TEN YEARS of story coming to an end. Dawntrail doesn’t have this pacing. It’s relaxation mode by comparison, just not in difficulty of normal stuff 😅
What hit me was that after watching the launch trailer, I thought I knew what the plot would be. Turns out 90% of the footage happens before you get to Vanaspati! But yes, Endwalker has a very special place in my heart, not just as an expansion, but as an experience. Dawntrail was probably never going to beat that, but for me it didn't need to. I thoroughly enjoyed the DT MSQ for what it was. :)
@@RothAnim yes, I feel exactly the same way. DT is fine the way it is and never needed to exceed any previous expansions. It’s the first step into a new story arch
@@RothAnim Yeah. It's a soft reset in story terms really, and the devs were VERY clear about this. Which, apparently isn't enough in this day and age because people are terrible at managing their expectations. I got everything I expected out of DT and then some (didn't expect to be that emotionally devastated yet again, even though the frequency of those moments was way lower than in Endwalker, where it's basically 50+% of the entire expansion lol). I do expect that the patch content and following expansions will slowly ramp things up again, though. But yes. Endwalker was amazing.
15:10 Yes that again. I hate the spinny hand mechanic. 18:40 Yeah, Thavnair burns. They were flexing on this part. 19:30 Who decided the First Beast needed a dual flying type evolution?? 24:55 Getting transformed like this is complete and total soul death. 37:45 Good catch. Yes, sadly. The guy from the dock. 56:30 "Not the kid." ^.^ 58:28 I wonder how many times G'raha saw scenes like this in Norvrandt, with the people of the Crystarium fighting sin eaters. 1:00:30 Yes sir, Crystal Exarch, sir. /Crystarium Salute
Another cool detail about this dungeon in particular is that if you bring Y'shtola with you she will fall for avoidable attacks since she can't see the bosses!
G'raha in Exarch mode. He fought the sin eaters on the first for nearly 100 years. They built the city around the tower after he arrived, I can imagine those first few years were much like this, and he lived though the 8th calamity on the Source of the bad future. He's seen some S*. This isn't that G'raha, but he carries those memories, and dug into that strength to get though this.
it's not just the memories, but his soul as well, it was described as a blending so it's not like Exarch's entire soul and memories were just layed on top of young G'Raha's, but merged so any matching bits weren't duplicated, the Exarch's soul of course had been through 8 rejoinings instead of 7 so would be denser than young G'Raha's but you wouldn't expect there to be a loss in density but just like I wouldn't expect there to be duplicate memories, I wouldn't expect G'Raha to be the equivalent of a 14 times rejoined soul which wouldn't have been possible even if the ascians didn't screw up the thirteenth, can you imagine someone with a soul density greater than the ancient's? so at best G'Raha is on par with the WoL in terms of soul density
@@scotty110 Memories are aether, so, true, but his physical form is also aether too, and that form was left behind, so, he's not rejoined in the same manner as WoL. Is his aether denser? I think it is, but I don't think it is as dense as the WoL. His body doesn't suffer from the crystal corruption being linked to the tower, he's far more shy and timid then his Novant counterpart, he doesn't 'live' the memories as the G'raha of the first, he had to draw inward and pull that forward, as if it is more distant. Is he "rejoined" is the question. How much of him self did he give before the end. They never truly answer, and it wasn't direct like it was for the WoL. Did the work Kryle do serve as a rejoining?
My answer is, no. And I'll tell you why. We merge with another fragment of our own soul, but not our soul. It was Ardbert, a completely independent being that was a shard of our soul. G'raha was only merged with another temporal/transiant version of himself. No other segment was included.
But, my logic has a flaw, the G'raha was on the Source when the first had 'been' rejoined. So, that G'raha had been rejoined. He had 8/14th and that made him stronger. But now, could Kryle facilitate the merger of that 8/14th to the sleeping G'raha 7/14th in the tower?
There's actually a Paradox involved too, and even a bit of a paradox of a paradox, but that is not appropriate here for reasons we can't get into.
Suffice to say, I think G'raha post SW is a bit denser then the average person, but I think the full rejoined version was lost on the first at the top of the tower. our G'raha's soul may be more dense, but its the memories that serve him the most, his 'past' that help his present. He drew inward on that strength when things hit the fan. Those are my thoughts, anyway.
@@wakirk Elidibus did comment on the fact that the Exarch's soul was unusually dense, that could either be from having been rejoined 8 times, being directly linked to the crystal tower and being reinforced by said link, or both, with the tower's influence being more like an amplifier that was no longer there once the soul and memories were merged with G'Raha back on the source (and Krile wasn't even with the WoL when that took place, it's assumed the WoL woke up G'Raha with the spirit vessel merge, they went back for that cup of tea that Alphinaud said they'd need an extra cup for and then informed Krile that they'd need her assistance resealing the tower).
keep in mind that he was able to see and memorize the spell needed to cure tempering in a very short time, plus that mass levitation at the tower of Zot, while draining, still seemed like a huge deal that it could be accomplished on that scale by just 1 person. his comment after the 5.3 cutscene about it feeling like it was harder to use magic could simply be attributed to him having been so used to having the Tower's energy at his disposal for soo long, he simply forgot about how it used to be like and he likely wouldn't have much of a baseline for what it would be like for someone 8 times rejoined compared to 7 times rejoined and the WoL is probably not a good comparison anyway because it may just be a trait of any who would become Azem to just be gifted with greater ability than most ancient.
As for G'Raha's shyness, he also mentions after the 5.3 cutscene that he simply didn't want to be considered the Exarch anymore, that life was on the first and so on the Source he wanted to basically go back to where they left off when they first went to the Tower, it was a choice he made to put that part of his life behind him so that he might make due on his promise to live life to the fullest and be happy. which kinda makes that sigh before he goes into Exarch mode hit harder since it's not that he wanted to forget that part, he just didn't expect to ever need to be that person again
Crystal Exarch.exe engaged. Such a good character moment
"I'm a fucking bard, I don't need to be in melee!" lmao
I had the same reaction with my main during playing. BUT I AM A BLACK MAGE! THE FURTHER AWAY THE MORE BOOMS I DO!
Now do the Vanaspati dungeon again, and note the Mother and children that turn just before the second mini boss ... it gets sadder every time, knowing their souls are damned gone.
Also G'raha's Exarch Mode FTW
00:58:17 welcome to Endwalker, btw
It was such a great moment to see Graha, who as the Exarch lived through sin eater attacks on the crystarium multiple times before its defenses were established knowing what to do purely because he's lived through this kind of situation for a century.
There is a little detail about Estinien's character that I absolutely adore. He has this gruff, abrasive attitude, but it's a defense mechanism, to prevent people from getting too close to him, lest he lose them the way he lost his parents. But when he meets others with a similar self-defense mechanism, it's like he recognizes it, and is able to connect with them on their terms. Whether it's Gaius trying to be stern and intimidating, or Thancred and Y'shtola's teasing, he just meets them on their level. It's the sincere emotional connections that he's uncomfortable with.
Today: Two laughs at a kid getting stomped!
Now waiting for the next vod to be titled "cant believe this happened"
And now, the story's brakes are off - hang on tight. Also, Exarch Mode G'raha is the best thing ever. That coalesced, 8 times rejoined soul of his has so much strength to offer others, and G'raha knows precisely how to tap into it when necessary. So cool.
I LOVED this entire expansion. The entire first half was just set-up, and it felt like a rollercoaster. Then you reach this section and realize “holy shit… that was just the set-up???” Just… Relentless emotional assault. Whatever you may have heard or may hear about Dawntrail, negative or positive, just keep in mind that Endwalker was the culmination of TEN YEARS of story coming to an end. Dawntrail doesn’t have this pacing. It’s relaxation mode by comparison, just not in difficulty of normal stuff 😅
What hit me was that after watching the launch trailer, I thought I knew what the plot would be. Turns out 90% of the footage happens before you get to Vanaspati!
But yes, Endwalker has a very special place in my heart, not just as an expansion, but as an experience. Dawntrail was probably never going to beat that, but for me it didn't need to. I thoroughly enjoyed the DT MSQ for what it was. :)
@@RothAnim yes, I feel exactly the same way. DT is fine the way it is and never needed to exceed any previous expansions. It’s the first step into a new story arch
@@RothAnim Yeah. It's a soft reset in story terms really, and the devs were VERY clear about this. Which, apparently isn't enough in this day and age because people are terrible at managing their expectations. I got everything I expected out of DT and then some (didn't expect to be that emotionally devastated yet again, even though the frequency of those moments was way lower than in Endwalker, where it's basically 50+% of the entire expansion lol). I do expect that the patch content and following expansions will slowly ramp things up again, though.
But yes. Endwalker was amazing.
Alisae is a limit break yoinker.....everytime
15:10 Yes that again. I hate the spinny hand mechanic.
18:40 Yeah, Thavnair burns. They were flexing on this part.
19:30 Who decided the First Beast needed a dual flying type evolution??
24:55 Getting transformed like this is complete and total soul death.
37:45 Good catch. Yes, sadly. The guy from the dock.
56:30 "Not the kid." ^.^
58:28 I wonder how many times G'raha saw scenes like this in Norvrandt, with the people of the Crystarium fighting sin eaters.
1:00:30 Yes sir, Crystal Exarch, sir. /Crystarium Salute
58:54 his Crystal Exarch was showing there.
Another cool detail about this dungeon in particular is that if you bring Y'shtola with you she will fall for avoidable attacks since she can't see the bosses!
I love the cutscene where we visit Ala Mhigo and Ishgard, there are so many cameos in it. From class quests and more. How many can you spot?
Ooooh I never noticed, nice fatcat plushie behind you ! :D
that kid just couldn't hold under pressure.
lol
I have to ask, did you highlight the weather condition on your minimap?
And from now on, it doesn't stop ever
This. Try not to be tempted to just blast through the rest of the expansion and 2 more maps in one long ass stream.
My god that last scene...
Another video! 🎉
beep boop comment deposited
I liked your evaluation of Forchenault in the recap here more than in the last video. Shows a little more understanding of the nuances.
This whole section is still harrowing to me (I say, as if it's even over 🥲)