Yes, I’m having a bit of fun in the title here. Obviously there is one main artifact that serves at a major plot element in Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, which makes it in fact a key artifact. But the artifact in question is itself a key. Specifically, it’s the interdimensional key, the thing which fuels most of the second half of the plot as well as being the primary reason why Krile was sent through the gate before the story even started. So, you know, wordplay.
The key is interesting at this point, but there’s a lot that isn’t clear yet about the key and a lot of things that aren’t clear about what isn’t clear about the key in the first place. So today I want to talk about the key. Keep in mind that this is not going to be so much “speculating about what the key must be” as it will be pointing out the fundamental mysteries behind it; if you’re expecting to walk away saying “oh, so that’s what it is,” you will be disappointed. Instead, we’re going to just be making some statements and then offering information. We good? Let’s go.
The interdimensional key is an artifact that allows for both the creation of portals and the fusion of reflections back to the Source.
These facts are pretty obvious; they are both things that we see the key do. The portal to and from the Unlost World within Yak T’el and the fusion that results in Heritage Found are the work of the interdimensional key. Research into it is what led to these things even being possible, and it was specifically removing the key from the hands of Preservation that motivated Krile’s parents. We know these are things the key does.
The interdimensional key is from the Source.
This one, by contrast, is pretty easy to miss amidst other revelations. The Milalla were originally Lalafell from the Source, but during the Fifth Umbral Calamity (the one of ice) a group of them used the key to make their way to the ninth reflection to escape the ice. Specifically, this is the group that lived on Aloalo Island, which explains why arcanima as an art is clearly present in Alexandria (especially in the arcane glyphs on electrope).
The Unlost World is almost certainly the ninth reflection and is definitely not the twelfth.
This is a minor point and a bit tangential to the key itself, but it’s worth pointing out. We do not have any confirmation of what reflection the Unlost World is on from strict in-game text, but during an interview at Gamescom, Yoshida referred to the world Sphene was originally from as the ninth. Given that basically nothing of importance hinges on the veracity or falsehood of this statement, we know there’s no real reason to take it as anything other than the truth; it’s also just another name for the same place, just as “the Void” and “the Thirteenth” refer to the same reflection.
However, some people have misconstrued the reflection in question as the twelfth, the shard responsible for the Second Umbral Calamity (the one of lightning). This is not correct. The Unlost World was being tilted toward lightning and prepared for a rejoining, yes; this is just what the Ascians did. There has been speculation that somehow this is a remnant of the shard that remained, but that also does not appear to be accurate. There is nothing that remains of a shard after rejoining. This is not the same thing, full stop, period end.
Heritage Found is on the Source, not on the Unlost World.
This one is another thing that’s easy to miss with the whole point of “interdimensional fusion” as well as Sphene keeping a gate open to her home reflection, but at a basic level it’s fairly simple. The dome does not represent a portal because if it was passing through Vanguard wouldn’t just let you walk into Heritage Found. There also wouldn’t be many visible pieces of Turali architecture throughout Heritage Found. This area – along with the dome – are a part of the Source now. The whole idea of interdimensional fusion is allowing you to overlay large amounts of a home reflection over a space within the source, as near as we can tell. Everyone from Alexandria is from the ninth, but they are on the Source now.
The interdimensional key has something to do with Azem.
It’s a real blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but during the cutscene leading up to the final fight, we once again see the Azem stone for summoning… at which point the key also lights up with the symbol of Azem. What does this mean? We don’t know.
What we do know is that Azem couldn’t be responsible for making it, as the key could not have existed at a time when Azem would have been capable of doing so. (There weren’t any reflections until Azem was already sundered, that was the same event.) Possibly it’s a sympathetic effect of having a similar origin. Possibly the key itself is from another reflection in some fashion. Technically, the Azem stone we have is from Norvrandt, although it has also been altered by other magic to make it powerful enough to summon people.
We do not know the origin of the key.
The Lalafell of Aloalo Island probably did not make the interdimensional key. By the time they used it, it was already seen as an artifact. Whether or not that means that it had been made by them a long time ago or was an existing item they inherited is presently unclear. There are elements of the key’s design that look faintly Allagan, but G’raha presumably does not recognize it either (he sees it and doesn’t really comment on that), which means that the key may not originate on the Source either. It seems the most likely origin point, but that doesn’t tell us much.
We can, as mentioned, rule certain origins out. But we don’t even know that the groups who became the Milalla knew where it came from. It could have just washed up on the shore one day! Probably not, but it could have.
This thing is going to be important moving forward.
It’s very clear now that we are resolutely in the Reflections Era of FFXIV, and the ultimate fate of the key is important enough to both specify in dialogue and in lingering shots at the end of the MSQ. Where this key comes from, what it can do, and what its ultimate purpose is will be consistently important moving forward, of that I am quite confident. Hey, if we can’t figure out where it came from, isn’t there another continent that might have some mysterious stuff going on there?
Or maybe it’ll just be in our new field operation zone. We’ll see.
Feedback, as always, is welcome in the comments down below or via mail to eliot@massivelyop.com. Next week, I want to talk about something that’s a little odd in the existing lineup of job speculation by looking at NPC jobs that we keep seeing but aren’t available to players in any fashion. (Yes, it has come up before, but this year’s Rising reminded me again.)
The Nymian civilization hosted an immense amount of knowledge and learning, but so much of it has been lost to the people of Eorzea. That doesn’t stop Eliot Lefebvre from scrutinizing Final Fantasy XIV each week in Wisdom of Nym, hosting guides, discussion, and opinions without so much as a trace of rancor.
