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aripuppyistired · 3 years

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FFXIV Endwalker Lyrics Breakdown

Hello all! As you might be aware, Yoshi-P recently did an interview where he mentioned that the Endwalker song was meant to represent Hydaelyn and Zodiark as each having their own voice. So, using this information, I wanted to go over each verse to determine what they might mean or refer to!

[Sam Carter vocals] Heart of ember*, out of time Cooling swiftly, bleeding light Smoldering softly, biding time Marching forward, left behind

This is our introduction to the song, and I think it’s interesting that Zodiark is the main ‘speaker’ throughout the song. It should be noted that the “ember” here might also refer to “amber”. In both cases, I believe the first two lines are referring to Hydaelyn, and Zodiark’s view of the situation. We know that Hydaelyn had been significantly weakened after she protected us from the Ultima weapon, and that Zodiark’s seal has been weakening due to the calamities. There have been seven such calamities so far, which is over half of the seals broken.

The next two lyrics refer to Zodiark himself. After his defeat at the hands of Hydaelyn, he’s been biding time until his return: his essence never truly left. Since he was sealed, not truly defeated, I think this and the Ascian’s mentions about ‘re-writing the laws of this star’ might refer to Zodiark and Hydaelyn actually BEING the star and moon now, too, but I’m getting ahead of myself. In any case, Zodiark seems keen on making his debut soon.

Fire as shadows clash Forgotten footfalls engraved in ash Fire will be repaid ‘Fore our echos begin to fade

Fade away

This section seems to refer to the End of Days that the Ascians suffered, and notably, begins playing before the narrator describes the End of Days occurring again. As we’ve defeated the last of the unsundered Ascians, I believe this refers to their last attempt to lash out at the world they tried so hard to protect, the world that had forgotten them.

Heart of ember*, out of time Burning brightly, all in white Kindred souls in a […] web Sorrow’s silence breeding there

Here the first two lyrics refer to Zodiark’s view of Hydaelyn again... or possibly you, the Warrior of Light. It’s a tough call. If it’s referring to Hydaelyn, she could be going through one last burst of energy before the final curtain call in their tale. If it’s the Warrior of Light, he could be referring to the idea that we’re out of time to stop his return. If we are out of time though, we’re still very powerful and are a beacon to those around us.

I personally lean a bit more to the WoL interpretation, especially with these last two lyrics. I have had the absolute worst time trying to figure out what the word in between “Kindred souls in a“ and “web”, but I believe the basic gist is being trapped and sad here. I unfortunately can’t figure out much more without that missing word.

[Amanda Archen vocals] Strum a song along the way Tales of loss and fire’s fate

This is the first time we here from Hydaelyn in this track. This part is interesting because it breaks from the sad, minor-key we’ve been in to something somewhat hopeful. I also think it’s important to remember that Hydaelyn was ALSO summoned by Ascians. Because of this, and because of how Hydaelyn tempers people, I think she very much does Not want the Ascians to be a forgotten people. I think maybe part of the reason why she’s had so much trouble with the calamities is that, at her core? She didn’t want to fight the other Ascians. She doesn’t really want to temper people, either. But she still wants the Ascians to be remembered, even if she wants to stop them from their goal of reviving Zodiark.

[chanting Heavensward lyrics]

Ok yea no idea about Heavensward dragon lyrics here other than I think we’re going to get an answer as to where the dragons were running from.

[Sam Carter vocals] Storm of blood, Born from blood, Of our fallen brothers Time stays still, oaths fulfilled, Now we yearn for freedom!

Switching back to Zodiark, we have the beginning of the Stormblood lyrics that takes on a new meaning with what we know about how the Ascians summoned Zodiark and Hydaelyn. It was half of their population sacrificed to stop the End of Days and another half to return life to the planet, and then another half to summon Hydaelyn... So I think that puts us at 87.5% of the Ascian population, gone. And since we know of no other primals using souls as their source instead of Crystals, there’s a non-zero chance that they’re still cognizant in there. Spooky!

(Side note: how messed up would it be if the crystals we mine are either the remnants of wounds from Zodiark/Hyadaelyn’s clash, or the remains of Ascians?)

In any case, it seems like these souls are now tired of this game, and long to be set free. Whether it’s through the dispersal of their soul back into the aetherial sea, or if it’s through the sacrifice of everything on this star to revive them, is anyone’s guess.

Born in blood, (Still we forge ahead) Stained in red, (Until tomorrow) Bound by blood, (Still we forge ahead) Hunger’s fed, (Until tomorrow) Cull these thieves, (Ever forge ahead) Hand-in-hand, (Until tomorrow) Souls aligned, (Ever forge ahead) Forge ahead, (Still we forge ahead) Forward- !

There’s a lot of anger here, and the Ascian’s hands are stained in blood. I vaguely remember something about a blood oath to restore Zodiark, and with the lyric about ‘Cull these thieves’ and ‘Hunger’s fed’... I’m thinking that Zodiark is powerful enough to start breaking his bounds himself, and is ready to set about restoring the star to their ‘rightful’ stewards.

[Amanda Archen vocals] Our song of hope, she dances on the wind Higher, oh higher 'Ere our boughs/foes endure Everything for better/ever, strong Standing tall in the dark do we carry on

Here we have Hydaelyn again, and she’s still hopeful. Knowing now that this represents Hydaelyn, I am leaning closer to the “boughs” interpretation for that third line. Despite how grim things look Hydaelyn seems confident that we can handle it. And that, at the end, we will come out better and stronger for it.

On wings of hope you rise up through the night, Higher, oh higher, Carrying a song, Made of voices in our hearts, That its chorus might ring for all!

This, she’s speaking to you, the Warrior of Light. You are a bastion of hope, made up of the people you’ve met along the way, and you carry their hopes and dreams with you as you press on. You are at the point where your story has inspired people to travel through time and space to save you, because you gave them something to rally around. You gave them hope for a better tomorrow. And it is that same hope that will carry everyone through the fight ahead.

[Background] One brings shadow, one brings light, Two-toned echoes tumbling through time,

Tumbling down, to! the! end!

This section, the speaker is not Zodiark or Hydaelyn, but the narrator. The speaker is referring to the fact that Zodiark and Hydaelyn are echoes of each other, and that perhaps their time is coming to an end. I think at the end of this expansion, we will see both primals return to the aetherial sea.

[Sam Carter vocals] There’s a step we take, Echoes in our wake, Went and [mount] our best, Forge ahead- !

This takes on an interesting meaning if we continue to take this as Zodiark speaking. Each step taken on this path to resurrection has left something behind. Whether that’s entire shards, the other Ascians, or referring to something else is hard to say. But no matter what, Zodiark is going to continue on this path forward.

Should we lose our way, Tire of our disgrace, We won’t be afraid, Forge ahead- !

Now this part is interesting. For a while I was torn between “disgrace” and “dismay” as the last line of the second lyric, but the idea that it’s Zodiark speaking has me leaning firmly to “disgrace”. As evidenced by Emet-Selch’s attempts to help you as much as he can despite his tempering, I do not think any of the Ascians really want to be doing this. They feel lost, disgraced, and are generally unhappy with how things have gone. But they’ve come too far, waited too long, to stop now. They still have their own people to save, after all.

There is not a place, Nor the time to wait, No it’s not too late, Forge ahead- !

Again, referring to the idea that the time to strike is now. It’s not worth waiting to see if this is really the time and place, the iron is hot! They still have a chance, even with the unsundered Ascians gone!

As we ride again, To another end, Where it all begins, Forge ahead- !

And finally, I believe we’ll be seeing the original site of the battle between Hydaelyn and Zodiark. Time has finally come full circle, and it’s time for these two to finish what was started oh so long ago.

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Other notable things throughout the song are Zodiark’s propensity to speak in plural, I think referring to the fact that he is made up of so many souls. Just, so many. And I think part of Zodiark’s issue, why he was defeated the first time despite Hydaelyn being significantly weaker (Compare his roughly 75% of the population’s souls to Hydaelyn’s 12.5%) is that the souls are discordant with one another. Hydaelyn has never had a problem referring to only herself, and even here uses plurals to refer to both herself and the WoL. And we don’t know how many of that 75% were sacrificed knowing of the plan to sacrifice the new lifeforms to bring them, the Ascians, back. I can’t imagine many of them were happy about that. But, at this point, I think their will might be over-powered now by those that DO wish to complete the plan, or at the very least, that is the portion of Zodiark speaking in this song most strongly.

#FFXIV #ffxiv endwalker #endwalker speculation

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