Going into the Into the Mist patch, I knew that Final Fantasy XIV had two things that it had to hit right. The first thing it needed to do was to land the ending to the Arcadion, which is notable in no small part because the game frequently has issues with wrapping up its raid stories. The second, equally important, was making the MSQ story flow naturally from where the Dawntrail material had left off without feeling like an extended coda so much as suggesting future destinations.
While there will be spoilers below the break (a bunch of them), I think it’s worth noting that by and large, the patch has delivered on both of these points rather elegantly. That doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily the best possible moments we’ve ever experienced, but it does mean deft navigation of a number of pitfalls that have left me feeling like Arcadion might be the best front-to-back raid series we’ve had in terms of writing. So let’s get into it, with that spoiler warning fresh in your mind.
Put some work in
So I’ve mentioned numerous times that I had what I considered an absurd theory that everything in Arcadion would turn out to be an elaborate work, and while it wasn’t a work that all of the participants were in on, it turns out that really was what was happening. For Metem and the last patch of opponents, this has been an undisputed work the entire time, and the actual stakes were never higher than “some bad things will happen to some people if this isn’t stopped.”
Then we stopped it and so those bad things didn’t happen. And that’s… actually pretty much perfect!
I think part of the reason why our raid series have always suffered a little bit is that they are optional side content that also still needs to feel big and impactful and meaningful, but also can’t be the focus of the story because they are side content. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but it does mean that the stories can struggle a bit with appropriate stakes and opponents. People remember Omega’s story but conveniently forget that basically all of that story happens in the last tier of the raid, and Eden is a good story but has a complete anticlimax at the very end even if you’re trying to wedge in Savage’s more suitable climactic battle.
Arcadion, by contrast, keeps its stakes pretty well managed and its characters with realistic goals the whole time through. It isn’t flawless – my criticisms of the second part being structured as if the writers didn’t know what the second part would be ahead of time is still there, for example – but on the whole, the experience is well-told and wraps up without feeling like anything had to come wildly out of left field.
The solution to people dying kinda did come out of left field, of course, but it came out of left field in a way that played into all of the wrestling tropes the story had been setting up until now, and it didn’t change anything we as players were already planning to do.
Overall, I really enjoyed this tier and especially liked that it felt like it handled its cast and the overall stakes very well for a conclusion. It wasn’t perfect, but it was darn good, and it left me satisfied with where we wound up. Not just because it pulled off my dumb theory correctly, either, but that definitely helped.
Draconic duress
There’s a lot going on in the MSQ for this patch, but much of it is interesting in a way that is difficult to discuss as more than just a description of what has happened. We have a picture of what the rest of the Unlost World looks like beyond the barriers, and it’s pretty bad. But we also see a post-conclusion moment that hints at something particularly interesting, and much like when Calyx called his world the Ninth, it’s easy to miss because the game calls no attention to it intentionally.
Specifically, we meet Halmarut, and there’s something very important about her appearance: She appears to be an Au Ra with green scales.
Now, in and of itself this doesn’t necessarily say a whole lot. There is nothing saying that NPCs cannot have appearances we, as players, cannot. While the Raen and Xaela are the only groups we see in the game and the only choices players have access to, there is nothing saying that there cannot be other kinds of Au Ra with another scale pattern. In broad strokes, sure, that makes sense; Ishgardian Elezen are not really Duskwights or Wildwoods, Alexandrian Eldites aren’t one of those groups either, the Roegadyn that are common in Othard are not Hellsguards or Sea Wolves, and so forth.
However, while these things don’t have to be true, per se, they generally are true in broad strokes. Eldites aren’t Duskwights, but they do use all Duskwight cosmetic customization. Generally, speaking, something that’s outright impossible is a rarity. And it’s even more of a rarity when you consider that Halmarut is not, in fact, the first time we have seen an Au Ra with green scales… because Varshan, Vrtra’s humanoid avatar, also has a distinctive greenish tinge to his scales (and skin, to be clear).
So what does that mean? Well, it either means that there is another kind of Au Ra out there in the world with green scales that no one has ever mentioned and has never been worthy of any dialogue, or it suggests that Halmarut has some sort of draconic source for her body. I know which one seems more likely to me.
As for where that draconic connection comes from, that’s harder to be sure about. We currently have one elder wyrm wholly unaccounted for (Tiamat) and the body of one that was potentially harvested for scales to make homunculi for some time (Azdaja), but that’s assuming that it needs to be from the First Brood in the first place. There are a lot of unanswered questions here. But the draconic connection definitely seems worthy of attention.
It also raises some interesting questions about her motives. Halmarut speaks about the idea that the Ninth will be ending soon, but she does so in a passive voice; she doesn’t imply that she will be responsible for the incoming conclusion, just that it is going to happen soon. While she’s clearly not interest in stopping it, I still think that’s interesting and worthy of consideration… but also something that would get heavy into speculation before we know anything more of her motives.
Are we going to learn those soon? Who knows? But I feel like we’re wrapping up our time with the Ninth for the moment, so let’s see where we end up next.
Feedback, as always, is welcome in the comments down below or via mail to eliot@massivelyop.com. Next week, I want to start looking ahead to 2026 for FFXIV, both things we know now and things like the new year message we’re sure to get this coming week.
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.
