I had heard this song only a day after my mother passed away this last December. I have an incredibly small family, 2 sisters, a grandmother and one aunt left. Her and I were pretty close over the years. Anytime I hear this song I like to imagine she's happily flowing through the aether watching her WoL continue on to live a good life full of adventures and good deeds. Thank you for this upload!
I'm sorry for your loss. I'd like to think that your mother would be smiling upon you right now, proud of everything you've accomplished, no matter how big or small. She's up there looking down at you with pride and joy. No matter where life takes you, I wish you all the best. As a fellow Warrior of Light, you deserve that much fam.
I lost my mom nearly two years ago....at the time I wasn't sure I'd get through it, and it was a long and hard road, a few weeks ago this came on my recommended and at first it nearly broke me emotionally, but, as it went on I could just...feel like she could see me where I am now, and how far I've come, and I felt like she was smiling at me, just as proud as she always was, if not more so, and my tears felt a lot...happier in nature after that. It's nice to come across someone in a similar situation, and having a similar feeling about this song...makes the world feel a little less vast and me feel a little less isolated in it.
The ending shot of the Scions and the Amaurotines has that wonderful messages, at least for me. The Scions forge ahead and move towards the future that they've fought for while Venat and others return to their resting place, finally getting the rest that they all deserve. But even though Meteion is on the side of the Amaurotines, she looks where the Scions face. She now understands the hardships of the past but the WoL has shown her hope and to look towards the future. Hermes, Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch walk towards their destination, having now finished the roles that they have to play and while Venat walks among them, she looks towards her children. Passing the torch but still guiding them through her love even though she isn't there anymore.
Look closely, Meteion is looking at her father, happy to be reunited with him. Mom is looking at the scions (and by extension us) looking all proud as she watches us go by with a gesture showing her love for us.
I also understood it to be the reference to the "look to those who walked before" from Answers. We have now walked further, past those who walked before us, and it's a brave new world ahead.
Probably doesn't help though that Venat didn't return to the lifestream, she poofed out of existence entirely. She spent the very last drop of her soul to keep us safe. Likewise with Elidibus & Lahabrea, they will never be reborn.
@@thatpunkcatte Pandaemonium directly contradicts that final statement. Dawntrail and Voidsent lore also detail how "spent souls" work. Spoilers for all of those below, but spoiler-free tl;dr: Souls cannot be destroyed. When the game talks about them being "burned up" or "spent", that means they were held on the material plane for some manner of time, and being "used up" caused them to essentially fall apart and disperse back into the Aetherial Sea. To this end, Venat and Elidibus, as the Souls of Zodiark and Hydaelyn, would use up all their power to help the WoL in their respective duties, and when they spend their souls, their souls simply go back to the Aetherial Sea. For Hydaelyn, when she talks about not even "her soul" being left, that's Hydaelyn speaking. Not Venat. Every Primal has their own soul, and Hydaelyn and Venat are still two different people. This is why when Elidibus "dies" while Zodiark's still around, Fandaniel can use his own soul to power Zodiark. Think of them like mecha pilots. If the mechas had reality altering capabilities. Elaboration with Spoilers below: The subject of "burning souls" is a bit iffy across the language barrier, primarily due to some of the ENG localization for Dawntrail, but there is no destroying "the soul". Every time a person dies, their soul is largely "intact". There is no way to destroy a soul, because a soul is aether, and aether is energy-- that can neither be destroyed nor created, simply transformed. So souls are either kept "whole" upon death, i.e. Haurchefant, Ysayle, Hades, Hythlodaeus-- or they're split apart and scattered-- as is what happened to virtually all of the Ascians who were defeated via White Auracite (that was then shattered). Now, every soul of the Ancient World would have been split apart during the Sundering (which is why I put "whole" in quotes), but the idea stands that the soul tied to one person usually remains in that form upon death-- which is part of why the Rejoining was REALLY bad. The Shards' souls wouldn't simply return to the Aetherial Sea to be reborn as their own souls-- they'd directly rejoin the souls of the Source as well, cutting down on the total population of Etheirys and The Reflections altogether. This is what Ardbert did with us, during 5.0's finale. Now, as we learn in Dawntrail and from the Reaper storyline and Voidsent lore, souls can be used to access more power, but when they burn up, they don't simply "fade away" out of existence. They still return to the Aetherial Sea. It's a problem because when those souls are being "used", they're being essentially withheld _from_ the Aetherial Sea, fucking with the Cycle of Rebirth. That's basically what was happening with Zodiark-- and part of why the Voidsent are so fucked up and why the Garlean Reapers were so feared and why Dawntrail's concluding arc was so divisive to the two Rulers. But those souls aren't destroyed, by any measure. They're just able to be held on the material plane for some period, and if/when those souls are "burned up", they literally just have to disperse back into the Lifestream to be reborn WAY later. So in Elidibus' case, while he "burned up" his soul to power the Crystal Tower, his Soul basically gets ejected from the Tower, into the Aetherial Sea (where we could even assume Hydaelyn herself gathers that aether up and ferries it into the Aetherial Sea to be reborn). Which is why, during the events of P9-12, we meet a version of Elidibus who, despite being constructed by Athena, retains some memories (due to having his whole Present/Future Soul plucked from the Aetherial Sea). Lahabrea and Ericthonios' Artifices were made from the Memory Crystals, rather than their actual souls. And when Pandaemonium concludes, we see Elidibus' POV in the Aetherial Sea (as Unsundered Elidibus, not Pre-Sundered or Artificial Themis). All this to say, Venat herself likely still exists, because her soul was the one being used to form and power Hydaelyn. When She's speaking, She's no longer Venat, but Hydaelyn. Remember-- like Zodiark, Hydaelyn is a Primal. The Primals all have their own souls, but the Big Two had "human" (for lack of a more official term for the Ancients) hosts-- being Themis and Venat. While Hydaelyn's journey burned up Venat's soul, Hydaelyn Herself will cease to exist, but the soul She used will return to the Aetherial Sea as Elidibus' has (probably a short walk for Venat, considering where Hydaelyn died).
@@zedgovos4914 I remember hythlodaeus saying something about how anything muddling your memory is gone when you go back to the aetherial sea which happens twice to elidibus in a way, so I think is fair to say he did go. The only time I remember hearing the soul was gone entirely which was a big shock to everyone was when the scions saw everyone turn into terminus monsters for the first time at the beginning of the final days
That "Well come and well met my brave little spark" line always gets me. It feels like something a mother would say to her child; not a creator deity to the creature they created, but a tried and true mother welcoming her child home.
My personal interpretation of this song is that it's a lullaby sung for the Warrior of Light as a way of gently acknowledging everything they've been through so far. There's one line in particular that gets me every time: Sinking deeper and deeper in calm embrace Loving tides sweep in and bear you down Should you meet a soul rising surface-ways With your unbeating heart, wish them well. That line makes me think of when WoL nearly died at the end of their battle with Zenos and how utterly distraught the Scions were over it. Seeing some of them shed tears over nearly losing WoL and the lengths they went to save them had ME in tears. In that moment, my WoL had never felt so loved and so grateful to have these amazing people watching over him. ANYWAY this song makes me feel a lot of different things and brings back a lot of specific memories, but at its core is, undeniably, a message of love. ♡
It's actually referring to the cycle of reincarnation in Etheirys. Not just the WoL, but every soul that passes through the lifestream. Sinking deeper and deeper in calm embrace - Soul Returning to the Lifestream Loving tides sweep in and bear you down - Your memories being cleansed so your soul can have a clean slate. Should you meet a soul rising surface-ways - Refers to you possibly meeting a soul that is next for reincarnation. With your unbeating heart, wish them well. - You who have finished your time in life, hydaelyn is asking you to bid them good luck in their life.
@@johnzkeePW This is also how I interpreted it. the Flow music video also cuts to the Ancients when this line starts, and bubbles appear on screen like they do in MSQ during a lifestream scene.
its about death, reincarnation and the hope and dreams we bequeath those we leave behind, it is a lullaby, but its written like old folk songs about life during war. Its her hugging the wol and acknowledging all that they gave endured with a warm smile annd saying "just a little farther, were almost home. keep moving forward".
"Of this, I have no doubt. For yours is a Light, BRILLIANT beyond measure. Even after I am gone, though not even my soul remaineth...my love will be you forever...my dearest children"
There is so much Endwalker made me want more of... Venat's line in Elpis...About lands that stretch on forever, about nothing seeming impossible, about her purpose, meaning, and love. I feel that we've taken that on, in all our lives...And I really simply must know if Azem would be as proud of us as Venat seemed to be. We constantly seek new people, places, experiences...We stand up for those that cry out for a champion, we reach out for the closeness of our comrades, we make promises not knowing if we can keep them but determine we will anyway. It's the one thing, for me personally, that was left greatly wanting from Endwalker. And that is such a good thing, because I feel the World Unsundered, and "The World That Was" is getting its chapters closed, but there might still be a little of Azem to discover waiting out there in "The World That *Is*" ... or, at least, one can hope
Though broken and imperfect, we ARE of Azem. We've joined with Ardbert and become even closer to the original but we haven't really changed, just learned and grown. So I have to assume that the completed Azem we come from, is... literally just like us. There's a fragment of Azem on every reflection and if Ardbert is any indication they are all drawn to adventuring just like we are. I'd be curious to know what happened to the fragments on the reflections that had been rejoined by the Ascians, and what happened to Azem's fragment on the 13th reflection (the void). It'd be a real kick in the pants if Golbez ends up being a fragment of Azem, huh?
"And I really simply must know if Azem would be as proud of us as Venat seemed to be." There's thankfully an easy way to answer that. You are a shard of Azem, so simply ask yourself: are you proud of yourself? Listen to your soul's answer and be at peace.
This song never fails to bring tears to my eyes. So much emotion was Endwalker. I flip between ShB and EW as my favourite expansion but really, they're both amazing in their own ways. I truly love this game.
I feel the same wayyyyy they’re so different from one another in so many ways but they’re both so deeply affecting. I don’t think of myself as being particularly emotional (though one can never really say), but with Ishikawa’s writing, Amanda Aachen’s vocals, and the history I have with my own character, the Scions, and Venat, it’s all I can do to make it though this song without embarrassing myself.
How to find me sobbing at 4 a.m., play this song. In fact, any of the vocal tracks in XIV tend to send this 38 yr old man into heavy sobs. Sooooo much emotion carried in the voices, lyrics, scenes, and players.
No shame in that. Stories are supposed to make us *feel*, dammit, and FFXIV is nothing if not a hell of a story. And one without the embedded cynicism that haunts so much of modern culture - it's a story that says "It's never wrong to care and to fight for everyone", and that's something we need to remember.
@@anotherkenlon It's such a hopeful story, even when things are bleak, you never doubt that you'll somehow pull through! Even if we have lost friends along the way... But we honor their memory simply by keeping it up!
I can picture it now. It's 4 a.m., time to swap on a vocal track. The music starts, and you weep for the sheer beauty of the emotions it brings. It is "Good King Moggle Mog XII", the finest masterpiece of our age. Many have wept upon hearing it, there is no shame.
This song will always remind me of the greatest time in my life- which is right now. I remember singing this song to myself meeting my nephew for the first time, because I couldn't wait to meet him the day he was born. It was also on my playlist the day my sister got married. This game will always remind me of this incredible snapshot of my life. And I know the sun won't always shine. Like others, there will be peaks and valleys, losses, smiles, tears, and more. I can see this song means so much to so many. I cannot thank Soken and Achen, along with the other musicians, for creating this utter masterpiece.
This song helps me grieve my father. The grief that just won't surface, because I have to be strong. Strong for my family, my sibling, my relatives. If I don't let it out, anxiety takes over. This song helps me grieve, and thus my anxiety. I'm not special, nor unique; I know there's more like me out there. With people, there are no coincidences. May your grief pass eventually, just as I hope mine. I wish everyone grieving the same luck as I, and I invoke this great equalizer as a love letter to all of humanity. The sun will rise again, the sun will rise. Even when it rains.
I appreciate it, this song helped me process the untimely death of my cousin, who I hadn't seen since she was a kid and was making plans to see again. I know this comment is about two months old, but I hope the grief with your father has been kinder in recent days, and if it hasn't, I hope it moves on gently. No storm lasts forever, after all.
After loosing my dad 4 months ago, I feel your pain and feel even worse that I feel nothing even tho I know the grief is there, until now I've realised after reading your comments, its to be strong and yea, this song really helps, I hope your grief passes soon and that you remember him in memories and love and that like my dad, I'm sure he's right there with you every step of the way
As someone who lost most of their close family to heart disease, both Shadowbringers and Endwalker resonated with me - a world ripped apart that you'd do anything to bring back and can't make sense of whats left, resentment for those who can't or won't understand the pain of it all, before the eventual and inevitable duty towards loving the ones you have left despite of it all. It's a difficult path that's never really gotten any easier, but Endwalker especially speaks to a journey I'd walked before but never been able to put words to adequately express. Never easier, but so much to learn, and still so many people left in the world to love and live for. FFXIV really is the most beautiful story ever told to me.
This song is about the WoL's deaths through the past 12 thousand years. And how Venat is always there to welcome you back to the life stream and ferry your soul into another body to continue to keep hope alive untill the time Meteion is defeated. A lot of people don't realize that for some reason I think.
@@MissBeloved__ Its a good explanation I think, its as good as any other - and makes more sense as its Venat and not Hydaelyn. If it was Haydaelyn, she'd be talking to any soul coming into the life stream, welcoming them home and wishing them well as they move into the lifestream to be reborn. But in this line of thought, as its Venat, each time the sundered soul of Azem is reborn and moving through the life stream again - she's there to welcome them back and wish them along. All for the home of the final time. The lyrics are more specific to WoL and not a a generic person.
I think it’s even more than that. This is Hydaelyn’s song to *every soul* as they one day pass into the Sea and to a new life. She asks to hear of their life. She tells them that every misfortune and joy has led them to the sea that will carry them to their next great adventure. She asks them to encourage any new life they see pass them by on the way. And possibly the biggest comfort of all, she tells them that she has been waiting and watching all this time. That their struggle meant something, in the end. Answers was our plea for meaning from a god who seems distant and heartless. Flow is the answer that god’s heart wants everyone to know.
The beauty of Flow's lyrics is you can interpret them a bunch of different ways. Personally, I don't think it's Venat/Hydaelyn singing to the WoL specifically. I think it's more her singing to every soul as it passes into the Aetherial Sea on it's way to be reborn again. She's a mother welcoming her children home before sending them back on their way.
I can never hate Meteion even after what she did because you realise she's just a scared kid who's afraid of what the future holds and places too much focus on "what if" It's nice that Ff14 paints most of the villains as not being truly evil but just misguided. Except Asahi, fuck Asahi
The only villain I can't reconcile with is Lahabrea. Sure, you see his good side in, but you never see him sympathetically outside of there. Emet-Selch at least tries to be sympathetic, as if he remembers you from the time you met in Elpis. Elidibus, for all his aggression, tries to level with you. Hermes was a scared father, wanting the best for Meteoin. Lahabrea though? Completely unredeemable.
@@Trelior emet selch doesnt remember you from elpis, his memory is wiped in Ktisis Hyperboreia, he recognises you because he has soul sight and can tell you are Azem in some sense, I've no doubt he would have just killed us and the scions if he didn't see that.
@@Trelior That's just because Lahabrea was driven mad by grief, his people died out, and we now know his family was very important to him (even though his wife never loved him) so he just went off the deep end with all the responsibilities placed on him. The same happened to Emet Selch and Elidibus they simply held it together better than he did
This reads to me, not as a song to the WoL. But venats lullaby to humanity. She greats everyone who enters the aetherstream this way. Every one has their story to tell, choices to weigh, and terrors to be soothed.
I find it hard to listen to both Answers and Flow… they both remind me of my grandma… I know people consider Hydaelyn to be a motherly figure, but considering my grandma effectively raised me, I guess I tied these songs to her… Lost her in May of 2020… and it almost feels like she’s there when I play either of Venat’s themes… Thanks for putting this up. I probably needed it.
@@DracoSuave Answers is a back and forth between hydaelyn and the people who are still living. Flow is hydaelyn’s song to those who have perished and is her final lullaby to them before they sink into the deep of the aetherial sea to be reborn, just before they lose their memories
@@Some_guy_and_his_games Personally I see the first half as her message to the Warrior of Light The last bit "Deep, dark, far away, I have heard your voice, weighed your every choice Now our hands join round the meaning you sought I'll catch your tears, quench your fears with joy til you near the shore Where in time, all shall as hope be reborn, ah Hush, love, close your eyes, and in sleep abide As sun's distant light, echoes down to dreams below know you will wake, on winds rise again For this journey's end is but one step forward to tomorrow" feels like it's aimed towards Meteion as she as her sisters spread to the corners of the universe, distraught by the "meaningless" and "hopeless" nature of existence, desperate for an answer to prove them wrong
I love this song so much because it's not Hydaelyn singing to her champion- no, because Answers is Hydaelyn's theme. This is Venat singing to her pupil, her child if you will and idk why but that makes me bawl :( like how long has she waited to comfort us?
May not be the most appropriate place to talk about this, but maybe someone is going through this too. A close friend of mine passed this morning and it just doesn't feel real. He was the one who introduced me to this wonderful game. We bonded so much over this game and our WoLs. I'm glad he got to experience Endwalker before his passing. But it hurts regardless. His passing could've been entirely avoided. Maybe in time I'll be able to look back on not only this game, but all of things we liked and not feel pain thinking of them. I wish that I can play though Endwalker right now because I feel it could bring me some comfort. Regardless, I'm glad I got to experience it so I can hopefully be able to take those messages on despair and loss to heart. Thank you FFXIV for existing. For those we have loss. For those we can yet save. Update: Went to the wake and funeral a while ago. It has gotten better, but there's still very much a void in my life. I miss him so much. Things have definitely felt more empty without his presence. And probably petty and dumb to say, but I miss being able to talk about FFXIV with someone. My other friends (with one exception) haven't played it and I don't expect them to drop everything and invest so much time and energy into an MMO when they have busy enough work schedules. The exception is a recent friend who was also friends with Jacob (the one who has passed). Admittedly I'm not very close to him (at least rn) because he was more Jacob's friend that I was acquaintances with due to us all playing FFXIV, but we've been talking to each other more through dms instead of in the old FFXIV (mostly) group chat that we had (which I've since archived for obvious reasons). Idk felt like ranting and giving an update. I'm doing fine. Trying to make through each day. Because I know he wouldn't want me to be wallowing in despair constantly. He wouldn't want me to give up on the things I love.
I'm sorry for your lose I couldn't imagine how it would feel. Your were so lucky to have someone to bond over something like that not everybody does. I wish you the most luck and joy in life. And many new wonderful memories to come!
Tears. Every time. It invokes so much emotion that it's almost overwhelming. I can't sing along unless I've already gotten the tears out, but oh how I love this song.
I had finished base endwalker last night, and all i can say, every single step, every fight, every tear, every bellowing group of laughter, this journey has brought me to the highest reaches of the heavens, to the deepest shadows below, i started this journey as a warrior, and i ended it as a warrior, and i don't have the words to say other then, im glad this game has been in my life and brought me from the brink of my own shadows, thank you all and thank you yoshi-P for this beautiful and most astoundingly wonderful game! Till the next star to shine brightly in the sky!
I'm man enough to admit that this song made me cry, and remember all the good time I had with my mother, who has long since rejoined the Life Stream. I can only hope that, just like the WoL, she's waiting to welcome me home, too
Had to rewatch this after finishing Endwalker. Today is the 6.55 patch day. I was torn for the longest time, but now, in the end, I can say that I enjoyed Endwalker even more than I did Shadowbringers, which speaks volumes 🎉
The beginning of this song got me today..its the new year and me and my fiancée are in bed willing ourselves to get up..my fiancée was singing this to me and I was in his arms just listening to him and finally deep down inside of me my inner child asked " we're finally safe aren't we?" And I said yes and finally just broke down with tears of happiness. I always think of a mom singing this to their child. Babe, If you read this I love you
"My love will be with you forever, my dearest children" 😞 Having to kill Venat and Endwalker in general broke me in a way I have never experienced in any other game and strange as it sounds I am eternally grateful for it. I would not want to miss one second of this amazing journey.
Ffxiv is one of the best games I've ever been able to play, and no one can convince me otherwise. The amount of emotions the game writhes out of you with each expansion is amazing. Endwalker is the best example, and this song most of all
When i listen to this song, i feel like i can finally rest, no more surving, no mote fighting. Just finaly being acknowledged, and being allowed to rest.
Sinking deeper and deeper in calm embrace, Loving tides sweep in and bear you down, Should you meet a soul rising surface ways, With your unbeating heart wish them well This part is always making me cry. Even if you are dying or dead, still wish the best for the ones trying to live or go on.
I cannot even begin to fathom a FFXIV without the Ascians, Zodiark or Hydaelyn.. For lack of a better word, after Endwalker I feel.. strangely lost. Like a child who has left their parents and granparents behind to pursue a life elsewhere, far away. Huh, it even seems approperiate. From where shall we go, and what shall we see? What awaits us, now that the only antagonists and decade-old plot poiints, the only consitsent ones we have ever known, are finished at last? Finding out shall be one heck of a journey on it's own. Here's to the future of Final Fantasy XIV and all the minds and effort behind it.
To me, this song is what the warrior of light will likely hear once his journey (his life) is finally over. The reason why I think it is for the warrior of light is because of the part with "my brave little spark". That is obviously referring to the warrior of light.
Little known fact, this is actually the hardest song in the game to whistle along to, as your tears and quivering lips make it incredibly hard to stay on tune
It is so fulfilling this final artwork rehabilitates Hermes and Meteion among our friends. Hermes finally found his answer to the meaning of life : for him, raising a child, Meteion, and passing the torch, was what eventually made him find purpose. That final Elpis blooms field scene was as much as fixing Meteion as it was fixing Hermes.
This song and just all of Endwalker cemented XIV as not just my favorite Final Fantasy, but my favorite video game. It is beyond a story. It's a world, an experience. I've laughed, I've cried. I consider some of these characters my friends.
I think Venat's story touched me so much because Hydaelyn reminds me so much of my own real-life goddess. I can't listen to this without crying, and when I played through EW I was so fucked up by the concept of a goddess dying 😭
The problem with Meteion isn't that she screwed up in any spectacular manner - it's that she screwed up in a completely ordinary and mundane manner, but had the raw power to magnify that screwup into something truly monstrous. There's a line from a totally different work of fiction which I wish I could have quoted at her... "You'd be surprised what people are willing to forgive you for, if you just turn yourself around. You CAN fix this, but you need to start now."
@@Jourmand1r Well, yes. We knew from mid SHB that Zodiark wasn't the big bad, nor were the Ascians, so it was always going to be something new - a mysterious big bad to discover in EW.
@@Jourmand1r nah, the villain being Hermes would've been fine, but the world turning to shit thanks to a child with reality alternating powers being mentally distressed and his creator's unwillingness to undo his creation after getting out of control. And the rotten cherry on top was Venat didn't even know our fragmented selves, after rejoining half our fragments, would lead us to discovering another type of energy that would let us face and defeat Meteion. She even acted against the rejoinings, because she was just buying time trying to think of a way to save her people, while the others sought for the fragments to rejoin and revive their people, no longer stuck in this endless loop of life and death without memories of each iteration, stagnant. The true villains are the WoL indeed, and Elidibus the main hero, as he and his friends sought to restore their families, while we just killed them all to selfishly keep these fragments of souls in a reincarnation cycle, never to be whole again and come back to life, we deny their life while taking their should to feed our fragments of worlds.
@@Jourmand1r"The good God you've followed this whole time is actually evil!" is the laziest and most predictable plot device ever. Actually having Hydaelyn be unambiguously a good guy, after Shadowbringers made people doubt her, was the much better direction. It's a payoff for people that never doubted Crystal Mommy.
Even after all this time…. IM ON THE TRAIN SOBBING MY EYES OUT. This is especially relatable cause my mum goes through so much abuse with my brother, terrible physical and emotional abuse, but she has never given up on him, even though we tell her she should. A mothers love is boundless for her children. My mum is literally Venat to me. She’s a beautiful soul, inside and out and just like Venat, so youthful and pretty looking. So this hits me so so hard.
When I die, I want my deity's candle (As I am a pagan) to be lit and played at the funeral. As I imagine her singing to this to me many times, and it seems fitting for her to sing this to me as my body is buried and my soul leaves to go wherever it is it'll go
In my mind it makes sense though, all of the latter half of Endwalker was telling us that it’s not over, instead it’s just the start of a new story. In my mind it would make sense for a new story writer to come into play
it's almost the same situation as maehiro after heavensward, i just hope that they sideline ishikawa to write for cbu3's new project, the same way maehiro step down as main scenario writer to write ffxvi.
I'd like to give my interpretation! To me, the references to the sea and the ocean are a metaphor for death/afterlife/reincarnation. The song is a promise that you'll be reunited with the ones you love in a future life. The "streams, rivers, and lakes" represent our lives gradually making their way back to the sea as time flows ever onward. I interpret it as being from the perspective of a dead mother watching over her children from beyond, and leaving them with a final bittersweet goodbye, as well as a plea to hope for a future in another life, just as her child finally reunites with her by arriving to the sea (in other words, the child reached the end of their life and passed away). ' It doesn't have to be a mother, though. It can be anyone in your life who you've lost, who you miss. Always remember that from the deep, dark, far away, your loved ones can still hear your voice and watch over you. It lets us know not to fear death, but to accept when it's our time and let its gentle embrace. To live is to suffer, and at the end of the day, the eventuality and inevitability of our end is a mercy. At journey's end, after everything we will have been through, we deserve to finally rest.
I think you are pretty spot on. Ishikawa, like many Asians, views life/existence from a buddhism perspective. If you would like, I would also like to give you my interpretation from a buddhism pov. 😊
I just love saying on the cutscene after the venat battle "we will found the way Venat" There is just something magical, saying here name, lost into the time, just like an old friend you havent seen after a long time, but also saying her name is a way to telling here we can walk alone and she can finally rest and finally that glare on the end like a proud mother looking his/her child after a long time and now he/she can stand alone. Its just magical and i love it
but why you do this! now i have to restart the msq and dt is just around the corner :c it's beautiful!!! the story has left such impact on me. and this just really brought it home
Flow is probably my favourite leitmotif in ffxiv it's so emotionally charged but at the same time reassuring. Be it the sharlayan town theme, the Dynamis theme or the actual song flow itself. It's going to stick with me for a long time to come
Never play FFXIV. The Design of this being inspire me ...calm. Is she some kind of Divinité? Whats a wonderful chara design! But that's not what i want to talk here. I just make m'y girlfriend listen this song. And she absolutely doesn't no english. Myself, i Can communicate and understand but i Can Make some errors (excuse me for that so). She was in tears, so i Ask her what happen, are you ok..she has a smile..my Friend. She look at me, take me into her arms and hug me for.. i dont know how many minutes. She a hypersensible person, and she explain to me that's even if she doesnt understand the lyrics, thé voice, the tempo, everything in this song made her feel relieved, hopeful. Fun fact: she has immediately think about a river or a lake. Sorry for this Big text but i wanted to share it with you. I Honestly believe, than Flow is One of the Greatest song in the History of video game. I put it here Come get me😂. Its a masterpiece.
I was just hanging out in Old Shalayan, and the town theme is based on this song. And then magically the choruses of this video and the in-game music synced up, and I can’t help but but feel happy and sad again.
![Thou Must Live, Die, And Know [LV87 MSQ CUTSCENE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SwTcMt6k8FQ/mqdefault.jpg)
The rains have ceased. And we have been graced with another beautiful day.... But you are not here to see it.
Did the song not elicit enough tears for your unquenchable hunger? Why would you do this??!
Now why did you do this to me
Oh, there's the ugly tears and gross sobbing. Thanks, I forgot where I put those.
*[Incoherent sobbing]*
@@Danger__Floof Legit just made me cry and I am low key pissed.
I had heard this song only a day after my mother passed away this last December. I have an incredibly small family, 2 sisters, a grandmother and one aunt left. Her and I were pretty close over the years. Anytime I hear this song I like to imagine she's happily flowing through the aether watching her WoL continue on to live a good life full of adventures and good deeds. Thank you for this upload!
I'm sorry for your loss. I'd like to think that your mother would be smiling upon you right now, proud of everything you've accomplished, no matter how big or small. She's up there looking down at you with pride and joy. No matter where life takes you, I wish you all the best. As a fellow Warrior of Light, you deserve that much fam.
I lost my mom nearly two years ago....at the time I wasn't sure I'd get through it, and it was a long and hard road, a few weeks ago this came on my recommended and at first it nearly broke me emotionally, but, as it went on I could just...feel like she could see me where I am now, and how far I've come, and I felt like she was smiling at me, just as proud as she always was, if not more so, and my tears felt a lot...happier in nature after that.
It's nice to come across someone in a similar situation, and having a similar feeling about this song...makes the world feel a little less vast and me feel a little less isolated in it.
It's never quite the same, but you always have an extended family on Etheirys
The ending shot of the Scions and the Amaurotines has that wonderful messages, at least for me. The Scions forge ahead and move towards the future that they've fought for while Venat and others return to their resting place, finally getting the rest that they all deserve. But even though Meteion is on the side of the Amaurotines, she looks where the Scions face. She now understands the hardships of the past but the WoL has shown her hope and to look towards the future.
Hermes, Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch walk towards their destination, having now finished the roles that they have to play and while Venat walks among them, she looks towards her children. Passing the torch but still guiding them through her love even though she isn't there anymore.
Look closely, Meteion is looking at her father, happy to be reunited with him.
Mom is looking at the scions (and by extension us) looking all proud as she watches us go by with a gesture showing her love for us.
I also understood it to be the reference to the "look to those who walked before" from Answers. We have now walked further, past those who walked before us, and it's a brave new world ahead.
Probably doesn't help though that Venat didn't return to the lifestream, she poofed out of existence entirely. She spent the very last drop of her soul to keep us safe.
Likewise with Elidibus & Lahabrea, they will never be reborn.
@@thatpunkcatte Pandaemonium directly contradicts that final statement. Dawntrail and Voidsent lore also detail how "spent souls" work. Spoilers for all of those below, but spoiler-free tl;dr:
Souls cannot be destroyed. When the game talks about them being "burned up" or "spent", that means they were held on the material plane for some manner of time, and being "used up" caused them to essentially fall apart and disperse back into the Aetherial Sea. To this end, Venat and Elidibus, as the Souls of Zodiark and Hydaelyn, would use up all their power to help the WoL in their respective duties, and when they spend their souls, their souls simply go back to the Aetherial Sea. For Hydaelyn, when she talks about not even "her soul" being left, that's Hydaelyn speaking. Not Venat. Every Primal has their own soul, and Hydaelyn and Venat are still two different people. This is why when Elidibus "dies" while Zodiark's still around, Fandaniel can use his own soul to power Zodiark. Think of them like mecha pilots. If the mechas had reality altering capabilities.
Elaboration with Spoilers below:
The subject of "burning souls" is a bit iffy across the language barrier, primarily due to some of the ENG localization for Dawntrail, but there is no destroying "the soul". Every time a person dies, their soul is largely "intact". There is no way to destroy a soul, because a soul is aether, and aether is energy-- that can neither be destroyed nor created, simply transformed.
So souls are either kept "whole" upon death, i.e. Haurchefant, Ysayle, Hades, Hythlodaeus-- or they're split apart and scattered-- as is what happened to virtually all of the Ascians who were defeated via White Auracite (that was then shattered). Now, every soul of the Ancient World would have been split apart during the Sundering (which is why I put "whole" in quotes), but the idea stands that the soul tied to one person usually remains in that form upon death-- which is part of why the Rejoining was REALLY bad. The Shards' souls wouldn't simply return to the Aetherial Sea to be reborn as their own souls-- they'd directly rejoin the souls of the Source as well, cutting down on the total population of Etheirys and The Reflections altogether. This is what Ardbert did with us, during 5.0's finale.
Now, as we learn in Dawntrail and from the Reaper storyline and Voidsent lore, souls can be used to access more power, but when they burn up, they don't simply "fade away" out of existence. They still return to the Aetherial Sea. It's a problem because when those souls are being "used", they're being essentially withheld _from_ the Aetherial Sea, fucking with the Cycle of Rebirth. That's basically what was happening with Zodiark-- and part of why the Voidsent are so fucked up and why the Garlean Reapers were so feared and why Dawntrail's concluding arc was so divisive to the two Rulers. But those souls aren't destroyed, by any measure. They're just able to be held on the material plane for some period, and if/when those souls are "burned up", they literally just have to disperse back into the Lifestream to be reborn WAY later.
So in Elidibus' case, while he "burned up" his soul to power the Crystal Tower, his Soul basically gets ejected from the Tower, into the Aetherial Sea (where we could even assume Hydaelyn herself gathers that aether up and ferries it into the Aetherial Sea to be reborn). Which is why, during the events of P9-12, we meet a version of Elidibus who, despite being constructed by Athena, retains some memories (due to having his whole Present/Future Soul plucked from the Aetherial Sea). Lahabrea and Ericthonios' Artifices were made from the Memory Crystals, rather than their actual souls. And when Pandaemonium concludes, we see Elidibus' POV in the Aetherial Sea (as Unsundered Elidibus, not Pre-Sundered or Artificial Themis).
All this to say, Venat herself likely still exists, because her soul was the one being used to form and power Hydaelyn. When She's speaking, She's no longer Venat, but Hydaelyn. Remember-- like Zodiark, Hydaelyn is a Primal. The Primals all have their own souls, but the Big Two had "human" (for lack of a more official term for the Ancients) hosts-- being Themis and Venat.
While Hydaelyn's journey burned up Venat's soul, Hydaelyn Herself will cease to exist, but the soul She used will return to the Aetherial Sea as Elidibus' has (probably a short walk for Venat, considering where Hydaelyn died).
@@zedgovos4914 I remember hythlodaeus saying something about how anything muddling your memory is gone when you go back to the aetherial sea which happens twice to elidibus in a way, so I think is fair to say he did go. The only time I remember hearing the soul was gone entirely which was a big shock to everyone was when the scions saw everyone turn into terminus monsters for the first time at the beginning of the final days
That "Well come and well met my brave little spark" line always gets me. It feels like something a mother would say to her child; not a creator deity to the creature they created, but a tried and true mother welcoming her child home.
why can't more fictional deities care about humanity in such a way?
I tear up every time. "Share of your life," also gets me every time.
That's why we call her Mommy, sorry. Mommy, sorry. Mommy.... Sorry
@@aradigm1890 Y'shtola is "Mommy". Venat is "Mom".
@@aradigm1890 I can even see a busty Viera in your line
My personal interpretation of this song is that it's a lullaby sung for the Warrior of Light as a way of gently acknowledging everything they've been through so far.
There's one line in particular that gets me every time:
Sinking deeper and deeper in calm embrace
Loving tides sweep in and bear you down
Should you meet a soul rising surface-ways
With your unbeating heart, wish them well.
That line makes me think of when WoL nearly died at the end of their battle with Zenos and how utterly distraught the Scions were over it. Seeing some of them shed tears over nearly losing WoL and the lengths they went to save them had ME in tears. In that moment, my WoL had never felt so loved and so grateful to have these amazing people watching over him.
ANYWAY this song makes me feel a lot of different things and brings back a lot of specific memories, but at its core is, undeniably, a message of love. ♡
It's actually referring to the cycle of reincarnation in Etheirys.
Not just the WoL, but every soul that passes through the lifestream.
Sinking deeper and deeper in calm embrace - Soul Returning to the Lifestream
Loving tides sweep in and bear you down - Your memories being cleansed so your soul can have a clean slate.
Should you meet a soul rising surface-ways - Refers to you possibly meeting a soul that is next for reincarnation.
With your unbeating heart, wish them well. - You who have finished your time in life, hydaelyn is asking you to bid
them good luck in their life.
"Our" characters, because everyone that plays the game is "WoL".
@@johnzkeePW This is also how I interpreted it. the Flow music video also cuts to the Ancients when this line starts, and bubbles appear on screen like they do in MSQ during a lifestream scene.
its about death, reincarnation and the hope and dreams we bequeath those we leave behind, it is a lullaby, but its written like old folk songs about life during war. Its her hugging the wol and acknowledging all that they gave endured with a warm smile annd saying "just a little farther, were almost home. keep moving forward".
L😊😊@😅
I well up every time I hear this song. It's such a fittingly beautiful song for such an incredible character. "Thank you, Venat."
so incredible she knew who to genocide and who not to genocide
I found the part ''i'll catch your tears, quench your fears with joy'' really moving..
15/08/24: i cry.
15/08/24; i cry
seen amanda live this year in london performing this... the entire concert was just an embrace of the universe
"Of this, I have no doubt. For yours is a Light, BRILLIANT beyond measure. Even after I am gone, though not even my soul remaineth...my love will be you forever...my dearest children"
that ending artwork i would pay square enix so much money for a copy of that with my player character drawn into it
Wearing your golden frog glamour? LOL
@Tiago Soares for this one I think I'd have to go with my regular adventurer glamor.
@@jerome6519 ahh, so the the black/grey frog glamour
I think it is possible to hire a digital artist to photoshop you in.
You could probably commission someone to do that for you.
There is so much Endwalker made me want more of...
Venat's line in Elpis...About lands that stretch on forever, about nothing seeming impossible, about her purpose, meaning, and love. I feel that we've taken that on, in all our lives...And I really simply must know if Azem would be as proud of us as Venat seemed to be. We constantly seek new people, places, experiences...We stand up for those that cry out for a champion, we reach out for the closeness of our comrades, we make promises not knowing if we can keep them but determine we will anyway.
It's the one thing, for me personally, that was left greatly wanting from Endwalker. And that is such a good thing, because I feel the World Unsundered, and "The World That Was" is getting its chapters closed, but there might still be a little of Azem to discover waiting out there in "The World That *Is*" ... or, at least, one can hope
Though broken and imperfect, we ARE of Azem. We've joined with Ardbert and become even closer to the original but we haven't really changed, just learned and grown. So I have to assume that the completed Azem we come from, is... literally just like us. There's a fragment of Azem on every reflection and if Ardbert is any indication they are all drawn to adventuring just like we are. I'd be curious to know what happened to the fragments on the reflections that had been rejoined by the Ascians, and what happened to Azem's fragment on the 13th reflection (the void). It'd be a real kick in the pants if Golbez ends up being a fragment of Azem, huh?
@@Thatoneassclown i still have my bets on zero being the azem of the 13th
"And I really simply must know if Azem would be as proud of us as Venat seemed to be." There's thankfully an easy way to answer that. You are a shard of Azem, so simply ask yourself: are you proud of yourself? Listen to your soul's answer and be at peace.
This song never fails to bring tears to my eyes. So much emotion was Endwalker. I flip between ShB and EW as my favourite expansion but really, they're both amazing in their own ways. I truly love this game.
I feel the same wayyyyy
they’re so different from one another in so many ways but they’re both so deeply affecting. I don’t think of myself as being particularly emotional (though one can never really say), but with Ishikawa’s writing, Amanda Aachen’s vocals, and the history I have with my own character, the Scions, and Venat, it’s all I can do to make it though this song without embarrassing myself.
How to find me sobbing at 4 a.m., play this song. In fact, any of the vocal tracks in XIV tend to send this 38 yr old man into heavy sobs. Sooooo much emotion carried in the voices, lyrics, scenes, and players.
No shame in that. Stories are supposed to make us *feel*, dammit, and FFXIV is nothing if not a hell of a story. And one without the embedded cynicism that haunts so much of modern culture - it's a story that says "It's never wrong to care and to fight for everyone", and that's something we need to remember.
@@anotherkenlon It's such a hopeful story, even when things are bleak, you never doubt that you'll somehow pull through! Even if we have lost friends along the way... But we honor their memory simply by keeping it up!
@@megamage911 Afterall a Smile better suits a Hero
I can picture it now. It's 4 a.m., time to swap on a vocal track. The music starts, and you weep for the sheer beauty of the emotions it brings. It is "Good King Moggle Mog XII", the finest masterpiece of our age. Many have wept upon hearing it, there is no shame.
To this day I haven't managed to sing this song properly once. Halfway into the song is as far as I go, before my voice gives in to the tears.
If it makes you feel better, the singer Amanda Achon had the same problem ❤
This song will always remind me of the greatest time in my life- which is right now. I remember singing this song to myself meeting my nephew for the first time, because I couldn't wait to meet him the day he was born. It was also on my playlist the day my sister got married. This game will always remind me of this incredible snapshot of my life. And I know the sun won't always shine. Like others, there will be peaks and valleys, losses, smiles, tears, and more. I can see this song means so much to so many. I cannot thank Soken and Achen, along with the other musicians, for creating this utter masterpiece.
Just remember...the flower turns black for others, too.
I don't think I could have cried more this expansion. And then Venat came into play.
Venat is Best Mom. Must hug and cherish.
This song helps me grieve my father. The grief that just won't surface, because I have to be strong. Strong for my family, my sibling, my relatives. If I don't let it out, anxiety takes over. This song helps me grieve, and thus my anxiety. I'm not special, nor unique; I know there's more like me out there. With people, there are no coincidences. May your grief pass eventually, just as I hope mine. I wish everyone grieving the same luck as I, and I invoke this great equalizer as a love letter to all of humanity. The sun will rise again, the sun will rise. Even when it rains.
We are all the Warriors of Light in our own story, unique and special to those we meet on our journey.
I appreciate it, this song helped me process the untimely death of my cousin, who I hadn't seen since she was a kid and was making plans to see again. I know this comment is about two months old, but I hope the grief with your father has been kinder in recent days, and if it hasn't, I hope it moves on gently. No storm lasts forever, after all.
what is grief, if not love persevering? stay strong for your loved ones, but do know that the expression of sorrow is not a sign of weakness.
After loosing my dad 4 months ago, I feel your pain and feel even worse that I feel nothing even tho I know the grief is there, until now I've realised after reading your comments, its to be strong and yea, this song really helps, I hope your grief passes soon and that you remember him in memories and love and that like my dad, I'm sure he's right there with you every step of the way
As someone who lost most of their close family to heart disease, both Shadowbringers and Endwalker resonated with me - a world ripped apart that you'd do anything to bring back and can't make sense of whats left, resentment for those who can't or won't understand the pain of it all, before the eventual and inevitable duty towards loving the ones you have left despite of it all. It's a difficult path that's never really gotten any easier, but Endwalker especially speaks to a journey I'd walked before but never been able to put words to adequately express. Never easier, but so much to learn, and still so many people left in the world to love and live for. FFXIV really is the most beautiful story ever told to me.
This song is about the WoL's deaths through the past 12 thousand years. And how Venat is always there to welcome you back to the life stream and ferry your soul into another body to continue to keep hope alive untill the time Meteion is defeated. A lot of people don't realize that for some reason I think.
could you explain this??
@@MissBeloved__ Its a good explanation I think, its as good as any other - and makes more sense as its Venat and not Hydaelyn. If it was Haydaelyn, she'd be talking to any soul coming into the life stream, welcoming them home and wishing them well as they move into the lifestream to be reborn. But in this line of thought, as its Venat, each time the sundered soul of Azem is reborn and moving through the life stream again - she's there to welcome them back and wish them along. All for the home of the final time. The lyrics are more specific to WoL and not a a generic person.
This is a pretty neat explanation. Never saw it that way. 👍
I think it’s even more than that. This is Hydaelyn’s song to *every soul* as they one day pass into the Sea and to a new life.
She asks to hear of their life. She tells them that every misfortune and joy has led them to the sea that will carry them to their next great adventure. She asks them to encourage any new life they see pass them by on the way. And possibly the biggest comfort of all, she tells them that she has been waiting and watching all this time. That their struggle meant something, in the end.
Answers was our plea for meaning from a god who seems distant and heartless. Flow is the answer that god’s heart wants everyone to know.
The beauty of Flow's lyrics is you can interpret them a bunch of different ways. Personally, I don't think it's Venat/Hydaelyn singing to the WoL specifically. I think it's more her singing to every soul as it passes into the Aetherial Sea on it's way to be reborn again.
She's a mother welcoming her children home before sending them back on their way.
I know we werent very close with Elidibus, but i kinda wish they had included him with the final bunch as we walk past them
Well they couldn't have really, because we canonically don't find out who Elidibus actually was until after the events of the MSQ.
she may be gone, but humanity will carry her love onto forever ;_;
One of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.
I can never hate Meteion even after what she did because you realise she's just a scared kid who's afraid of what the future holds and places too much focus on "what if"
It's nice that Ff14 paints most of the villains as not being truly evil but just misguided.
Except Asahi, fuck Asahi
Amen
The only villain I can't reconcile with is Lahabrea. Sure, you see his good side in, but you never see him sympathetically outside of there.
Emet-Selch at least tries to be sympathetic, as if he remembers you from the time you met in Elpis. Elidibus, for all his aggression, tries to level with you. Hermes was a scared father, wanting the best for Meteoin.
Lahabrea though? Completely unredeemable.
@@Trelior emet selch doesnt remember you from elpis, his memory is wiped in Ktisis Hyperboreia, he recognises you because he has soul sight and can tell you are Azem in some sense, I've no doubt he would have just killed us and the scions if he didn't see that.
Asahi did it for love
Love of being an asshole
@@Trelior That's just because Lahabrea was driven mad by grief, his people died out, and we now know his family was very important to him (even though his wife never loved him) so he just went off the deep end with all the responsibilities placed on him. The same happened to Emet Selch and Elidibus they simply held it together better than he did
This reads to me, not as a song to the WoL. But venats lullaby to humanity.
She greats everyone who enters the aetherstream this way. Every one has their story to tell, choices to weigh, and terrors to be soothed.
I find it hard to listen to both Answers and Flow… they both remind me of my grandma… I know people consider Hydaelyn to be a motherly figure, but considering my grandma effectively raised me, I guess I tied these songs to her… Lost her in May of 2020… and it almost feels like she’s there when I play either of Venat’s themes… Thanks for putting this up. I probably needed it.
Flow is Venat's theme and Answers is Hydelyn's.
Answers is Hydaelyn''s song to the world.
Flow is Hydaelyn's song to the warrior of light.
@@DracoSuave Answers is a back and forth between hydaelyn and the people who are still living.
Flow is hydaelyn’s song to those who have perished and is her final lullaby to them before they sink into the deep of the aetherial sea to be reborn, just before they lose their memories
@@Some_guy_and_his_games You're not wrong.
I'm not wrong.
We're all not wrong.
I do love FFXIV's lyrics with their multiple meanings.
@@DracoSuave thats the wonderful thing about music we can all interpret it our own ways and for the most part we wont be wrong
@@Some_guy_and_his_games
Personally I see the first half as her message to the Warrior of Light
The last bit
"Deep, dark, far away, I have heard your voice, weighed your every choice
Now our hands join round the meaning you sought
I'll catch your tears, quench your fears with joy til you near the shore
Where in time, all shall as hope be reborn, ah
Hush, love, close your eyes, and in sleep abide
As sun's distant light, echoes down to dreams below
know you will wake, on winds rise again
For this journey's end is but one step forward to tomorrow"
feels like it's aimed towards Meteion as she as her sisters spread to the corners of the universe, distraught by the "meaningless" and "hopeless" nature of existence, desperate for an answer to prove them wrong
I love this song so much because it's not Hydaelyn singing to her champion- no, because Answers is Hydaelyn's theme. This is Venat singing to her pupil, her child if you will and idk why but that makes me bawl :( like how long has she waited to comfort us?
i cannot listen to this without crying. Endwalker is such a masterpiece, holy hell!
Song brings me to tears every time I come back to it. God bless the artists behind this game
Definitely have this on a repeat since DT is a few days away!
It's finally here... I've been waiting for this lyric video.
Almost sounds like a disney song at first, I love you Venat and Crystal Mom. The music is so good and sad at the same time
This is the only song I’ve ever listened to from a video game that has genuinely made me cry.
Finish FFXVI then tell me what you felt
That walk with our WoL and the character's leading to the artwork is just beautiful. 😭
May not be the most appropriate place to talk about this, but maybe someone is going through this too. A close friend of mine passed this morning and it just doesn't feel real. He was the one who introduced me to this wonderful game. We bonded so much over this game and our WoLs. I'm glad he got to experience Endwalker before his passing. But it hurts regardless. His passing could've been entirely avoided.
Maybe in time I'll be able to look back on not only this game, but all of things we liked and not feel pain thinking of them. I wish that I can play though Endwalker right now because I feel it could bring me some comfort. Regardless, I'm glad I got to experience it so I can hopefully be able to take those messages on despair and loss to heart. Thank you FFXIV for existing. For those we have loss. For those we can yet save.
Update: Went to the wake and funeral a while ago. It has gotten better, but there's still very much a void in my life. I miss him so much. Things have definitely felt more empty without his presence.
And probably petty and dumb to say, but I miss being able to talk about FFXIV with someone. My other friends (with one exception) haven't played it and I don't expect them to drop everything and invest so much time and energy into an MMO when they have busy enough work schedules. The exception is a recent friend who was also friends with Jacob (the one who has passed). Admittedly I'm not very close to him (at least rn) because he was more Jacob's friend that I was acquaintances with due to us all playing FFXIV, but we've been talking to each other more through dms instead of in the old FFXIV (mostly) group chat that we had (which I've since archived for obvious reasons).
Idk felt like ranting and giving an update. I'm doing fine. Trying to make through each day. Because I know he wouldn't want me to be wallowing in despair constantly. He wouldn't want me to give up on the things I love.
I'm sorry for your lose I couldn't imagine how it would feel. Your were so lucky to have someone to bond over something like that not everybody does. I wish you the most luck and joy in life. And many new wonderful memories to come!
@@Phantomile000 Thank you so much for your kind words. I hope I can make new happy memories too someday. Even if it'll be a little more lonely.
@@yeetintothevoid You got this take it one step at a time. And remember your never alone even if you feel like it.
@@Phantomile000 I know 💚
Tears. Every time. It invokes so much emotion that it's almost overwhelming. I can't sing along unless I've already gotten the tears out, but oh how I love this song.
I had finished base endwalker last night, and all i can say, every single step, every fight, every tear, every bellowing group of laughter, this journey has brought me to the highest reaches of the heavens, to the deepest shadows below, i started this journey as a warrior, and i ended it as a warrior, and i don't have the words to say other then, im glad this game has been in my life and brought me from the brink of my own shadows, thank you all and thank you yoshi-P for this beautiful and most astoundingly wonderful game! Till the next star to shine brightly in the sky!
I'm gonna sing this as a lullaby to my kids in 10 or 15 years :) I'll never forget it
Hush, love, close your eyes...
@@2Shiba And in sleep abide
Thank you, Venat, I miss you every day, you are a wonderful wonderful person, I’ll always keep you in my memories, I love you dearly.
I'm man enough to admit that this song made me cry, and remember all the good time I had with my mother, who has long since rejoined the Life Stream. I can only hope that, just like the WoL, she's waiting to welcome me home, too
Had to rewatch this after finishing Endwalker. Today is the 6.55 patch day.
I was torn for the longest time, but now, in the end, I can say that I enjoyed Endwalker even more than I did Shadowbringers, which speaks volumes 🎉
I like your version of your music video, and the official one. You did a great job!
Thank you!
Its such a nice and wonderful way to personify Death: A mother singing a lullaby as they tuck their child into bed for the night
The beginning of this song got me today..its the new year and me and my fiancée are in bed willing ourselves to get up..my fiancée was singing this to me and I was in his arms just listening to him and finally deep down inside of me my inner child asked " we're finally safe aren't we?" And I said yes and finally just broke down with tears of happiness. I always think of a mom singing this to their child.
Babe,
If you read this I love you
Maybe one day I'll be able to get through this whole song without crying, after all, miracles happen everyday...
but today is not that day
Listening to this with Headphones and the Realtek Audio Console Environment set to "Concert Hall" is a near RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.
"My love will be with you forever, my dearest children" 😞
Having to kill Venat and Endwalker in general broke me in a way I have never experienced in any other game and strange as it sounds I am eternally grateful for it. I would not want to miss one second of this amazing journey.
Be right back calling my mom to tell her I love her
I miss Venat
I enjoy both versions of flow
EVERYTIME WITHOUT FAIL, INSTANT TEARS!
its been almost 2 years since the release of EW and I STILL cry to this song without fail 😭😭😭
I just finished endwalker and this song hits different on me now, whenever I hear it I just start bawling
I just caaaaaaaaaan't... That ending where Venta peeks at us.. This is what gets me.. That little smile at the end!
For those we have lost and those we may yet save.
Rest easy, Mother. We will carry the embers now.
Instant tears.
That's it. That's the comment.
Ffxiv is one of the best games I've ever been able to play, and no one can convince me otherwise. The amount of emotions the game writhes out of you with each expansion is amazing. Endwalker is the best example, and this song most of all
When i listen to this song, i feel like i can finally rest, no more surving, no mote fighting. Just finaly being acknowledged, and being allowed to rest.
Sinking deeper and deeper in calm embrace,
Loving tides sweep in and bear you down,
Should you meet a soul rising surface ways,
With your unbeating heart wish them well
This part is always making me cry. Even if you are dying or dead, still wish the best for the ones trying to live or go on.
I cannot even begin to fathom a FFXIV without the Ascians, Zodiark or Hydaelyn..
For lack of a better word, after Endwalker I feel.. strangely lost. Like a child who has left their parents and granparents behind to pursue a life elsewhere, far away.
Huh, it even seems approperiate. From where shall we go, and what shall we see? What awaits us, now that the only antagonists and decade-old plot poiints, the only consitsent ones we have ever known, are finished at last?
Finding out shall be one heck of a journey on it's own. Here's to the future of Final Fantasy XIV and all the minds and effort behind it.
I think it's time to move on to the next FF online.
I am not crying, you are.
Between this and close the distance I don't have any tears left by the finale of endwalker
To me, this song is what the warrior of light will likely hear once his journey (his life) is finally over. The reason why I think it is for the warrior of light is because of the part with "my brave little spark". That is obviously referring to the warrior of light.
Well fuck, i didn't expect to cry today but i ended up crying in the middle of the song.
Same
Honestly I can never get through the song without my voice breaking due to emotions >.
watching this for the third time after finishing endwalker… THAT POST ENDWALKER DEPRESSION ALWAYS HITS AUGGHHH
Little known fact, this is actually the hardest song in the game to whistle along to, as your tears and quivering lips make it incredibly hard to stay on tune
your videos make me so happy. thank you!
Glad you like them!
It is so fulfilling this final artwork rehabilitates Hermes and Meteion among our friends. Hermes finally found his answer to the meaning of life : for him, raising a child, Meteion, and passing the torch, was what eventually made him find purpose.
That final Elpis blooms field scene was as much as fixing Meteion as it was fixing Hermes.
This song and just all of Endwalker cemented XIV as not just my favorite Final Fantasy, but my favorite video game. It is beyond a story. It's a world, an experience. I've laughed, I've cried. I consider some of these characters my friends.
I think Venat's story touched me so much because Hydaelyn reminds me so much of my own real-life goddess. I can't listen to this without crying, and when I played through EW I was so fucked up by the concept of a goddess dying 😭
Immortal merely means you can not die of aging or other natural means. Doesn't mean you can't die at all.
The problem with Meteion isn't that she screwed up in any spectacular manner - it's that she screwed up in a completely ordinary and mundane manner, but had the raw power to magnify that screwup into something truly monstrous. There's a line from a totally different work of fiction which I wish I could have quoted at her... "You'd be surprised what people are willing to forgive you for, if you just turn yourself around. You CAN fix this, but you need to start now."
the problem with meteion is that they revealed the villain of FFXIV 5 hours before the end of the game
@@Jourmand1r Well, yes. We knew from mid SHB that Zodiark wasn't the big bad, nor were the Ascians, so it was always going to be something new - a mysterious big bad to discover in EW.
@@ressana.8622 yeah the villain should have been hydaelyn.
but god forbid.
@@Jourmand1r nah, the villain being Hermes would've been fine, but the world turning to shit thanks to a child with reality alternating powers being mentally distressed and his creator's unwillingness to undo his creation after getting out of control. And the rotten cherry on top was Venat didn't even know our fragmented selves, after rejoining half our fragments, would lead us to discovering another type of energy that would let us face and defeat Meteion. She even acted against the rejoinings, because she was just buying time trying to think of a way to save her people, while the others sought for the fragments to rejoin and revive their people, no longer stuck in this endless loop of life and death without memories of each iteration, stagnant.
The true villains are the WoL indeed, and Elidibus the main hero, as he and his friends sought to restore their families, while we just killed them all to selfishly keep these fragments of souls in a reincarnation cycle, never to be whole again and come back to life, we deny their life while taking their should to feed our fragments of worlds.
@@Jourmand1r"The good God you've followed this whole time is actually evil!" is the laziest and most predictable plot device ever.
Actually having Hydaelyn be unambiguously a good guy, after Shadowbringers made people doubt her, was the much better direction. It's a payoff for people that never doubted Crystal Mommy.
This is the most beautiful song ever
"Why are you crying?"
"You wouldn't understand."
If there's one thing I take from Endwalker story, it is this: "As one journey ends, another begins."
It's a terrible day for rain...
This song itself makes me want to get into this game.
Even after all this time…. IM ON THE TRAIN SOBBING MY EYES OUT.
This is especially relatable cause my mum goes through so much abuse with my brother, terrible physical and emotional abuse, but she has never given up on him, even though we tell her she should. A mothers love is boundless for her children.
My mum is literally Venat to me. She’s a beautiful soul, inside and out and just like Venat, so youthful and pretty looking. So this hits me so so hard.
When I die, I want my deity's candle (As I am a pagan) to be lit and played at the funeral. As I imagine her singing to this to me many times, and it seems fitting for her to sing this to me as my body is buried and my soul leaves to go wherever it is it'll go
We will find our way forward, Venat...
So sad Ishikawa isnt writing Dawntrail. 😢 shes one of the best story writers ive ever been graced with journeying with.
In my mind it makes sense though, all of the latter half of Endwalker was telling us that it’s not over, instead it’s just the start of a new story. In my mind it would make sense for a new story writer to come into play
it's almost the same situation as maehiro after heavensward, i just hope that they sideline ishikawa to write for cbu3's new project, the same way maehiro step down as main scenario writer to write ffxvi.
Such a gorgeous song.
I'd like to give my interpretation! To me, the references to the sea and the ocean are a metaphor for death/afterlife/reincarnation. The song is a promise that you'll be reunited with the ones you love in a future life. The "streams, rivers, and lakes" represent our lives gradually making their way back to the sea as time flows ever onward.
I interpret it as being from the perspective of a dead mother watching over her children from beyond, and leaving them with a final bittersweet goodbye, as well as a plea to hope for a future in another life, just as her child finally reunites with her by arriving to the sea (in other words, the child reached the end of their life and passed away). '
It doesn't have to be a mother, though. It can be anyone in your life who you've lost, who you miss. Always remember that from the deep, dark, far away, your loved ones can still hear your voice and watch over you. It lets us know not to fear death, but to accept when it's our time and let its gentle embrace. To live is to suffer, and at the end of the day, the eventuality and inevitability of our end is a mercy. At journey's end, after everything we will have been through, we deserve to finally rest.
I think you are pretty spot on.
Ishikawa, like many Asians, views life/existence from a buddhism perspective.
If you would like, I would also like to give you my interpretation from a buddhism pov. 😊
These Onion Ninjas made me tear up again.
I just love saying on the cutscene after the venat battle
"we will found the way Venat"
There is just something magical, saying here name, lost into the time, just like an old friend you havent seen after a long time, but also saying her name is a way to telling here we can walk alone and she can finally rest and finally that glare on the end like a proud mother looking his/her child after a long time and now he/she can stand alone.
Its just magical and i love it
This still hits hard,my adventure shall continue
Months after finishing endwalker and this song can still leave me a crying mess.
Same here, it's been a year
I tried to sing along to this and I couldn't stop myself choking up. The memory of all FFXIV has meant to me summed up in this one single song.
I can never listen to this without welling up...
Thankyou Venat...for everything. ;w;
but why you do this! now i have to restart the msq and dt is just around the corner :c
it's beautiful!!! the story has left such impact on me. and this just really brought it home
Goodbye mommy Crystal
Flow is probably my favourite leitmotif in ffxiv it's so emotionally charged but at the same time reassuring. Be it the sharlayan town theme, the Dynamis theme or the actual song flow itself. It's going to stick with me for a long time to come
❤❤❤❤ this Song will make me feel I’m finally found my Resting Place in Peace
Never play FFXIV. The Design of this being inspire me ...calm. Is she some kind of Divinité? Whats a wonderful chara design! But that's not what i want to talk here. I just make m'y girlfriend listen this song. And she absolutely doesn't no english. Myself, i Can communicate and understand but i Can Make some errors (excuse me for that so). She was in tears, so i Ask her what happen, are you ok..she has a smile..my Friend. She look at me, take me into her arms and hug me for.. i dont know how many minutes. She a hypersensible person, and she explain to me that's even if she doesnt understand the lyrics, thé voice, the tempo, everything in this song made her feel relieved, hopeful. Fun fact: she has immediately think about a river or a lake. Sorry for this Big text but i wanted to share it with you. I Honestly believe, than Flow is One of the Greatest song in the History of video game. I put it here Come get me😂. Its a masterpiece.
I was just hanging out in Old Shalayan, and the town theme is based on this song. And then magically the choruses of this video and the in-game music synced up, and I can’t help but but feel happy and sad again.
she can't be gone. i don't want to accept it. just need her back !!!!! venat .... hydaelyn .......................... please come back ily
Come now, a smile better suits your hero.
Recently finished Endwalker and the piano in this song moves me so much. Especially at 2:39 and 4:35
it's always weird to see someone else's warrior of light in cut scenes
DT has nothing that can come close to this master piece.
Was hoping we'd get another master banger from Amanda Achen but unfortunately not 😢
This song hits me hard in the feels