Summary: The conclusion to the Bahamut raid. Phoenix and Bahamut Prime. Alisaie and Louisoix find peace.
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The Final Coil of Bahamut
-Alphinaud joins us inside for our push to deactivate Bahamut’s remaining regenerators.
-This part of the Allagan facility is full of tanks containing dragons. The first boss seems to be a coeurl-dragon hybrid.
The Allagans SUCKED. It sounds like they imprisoned and tortured these dragons.
ALISAIE: “Who else but the dragons of eld would summon Bahamut? Who else but they could sustain him?” Bahamut was summoned by the prayers of his suffering children.
-The next area looks to be a smaller replica of Dalamud.
We head inside the sphere and take out a surprisingly tough boss, a three-headed mechanical hydra.
-The next turn. Louisoix’s shade blocks our way and tells us about some history around Bahamut.
In the end of the third astral era, the Allagan Empire invaded the dragon land of Meracydia. The dragons prayed for salvation to Bahamut, one of the first brood. He arose as their newborn god.
-The Allagans responded by binding Bahamut, and enslaving the dragons. This kept Bahamut alive, since his suffering children kept reaching out, sustaining him with their need.
LOUISOIX: “Tis man’s overweening belief in his own primacy that blinds him to the commonness of his condition… and the truth of his own tyranny. As long as man is suffered to remain, the dragons shall never be at peace.”
-He’s not wrong, but the one-sided anti-humanity screed doesn’t strike his twins as similar to the grandfather they knew. So despairing. Louisoix’s clearly not himself.
-…Louisoix explodes in blue fire, turning into the primal Phoenix??
-Phoenix starts out made of blue fire, and the theme changes to classic orange and red during the fight.
-The battlefield is especially awe-insipring. The Bahamut’s titanic, regenerating bulk looms.
-The fight isn’t a problem for us, overleveled as we are, but check out the dissertation it took to explain all the mechanics back when it was current content. Yikes:
https://www.ffxivguild.com/ffxiv-phoenix-turn-12-...
-Defeating Phoenix frees Louisoix’s spirit from Bahamut’s grasp. Eyes no longer red.
-AWWW THIS IS ALL ALISAIE WANTED! She’s so happy to have these moments with her untampered grandfather.
-He shares what happened during the Calamity. And though he’s tempered, I believe him.
-We already know that during the Battle of Carteneau, Bahamut broke free of Dalamud. Louisoix called on the Twelve to aid him to create a prison of aether. It didn’t work; Bahamut’s rage was too fierce.
“I used the last of my strength to entrust our hope unto the future, and prepared to meet my end.”
-Flashback time! We get a brilliant, full-blown cinematic that picks up where the game’s introductory cinematic left off.
-Louisoix took one last shot. He wished hard for salvation, for the chance to help the Eorzea persevere and rebuild.
-The air was suffused with aether. It served as a catalyst for the desperate prayers of Louisoix and the Imperial and Eorzean combatants.
“I became the immortal Phoenix, ancient symbol of rebirth. Rising into the sky, I struck Bahamut with all my newfound strength.”
-The now super Saiyan Louisoix rockets forward. Pushes back the meteor, pushes back the dragon’s attacks, and frigging RIPS THROUGH BAHAMUT’S TORSO!
https://i.imgur.com/B6lzvFV.jpg
-The aether that composed Bahamut rains down, bringing rejuvenation to Eorzea. That’s how we got from FFXIV 1.0 to 2.0 (“A Realm Reborn”) five years later.
-Louisoix relinquished his hold on the energy, but Bahamut’s will was so strong that he reached out and claimed him. Thus began Louisoix’s existence as Bahamut’s thrall.
-Bahamut started his rejuvenation with the freed aether, filling the gaps via Allagan technology. We have to deactivate that technology.
-Louisoix takes this chance to encourage Alisaie and Alphinaud to follow their own path, their own dreams and goals. I hope Alisaie in particular is listening. This is beautiful to see.
-Time for the final turn. Bahamut himself.
-Before Alisaie can deactivate the regenerators, Bahamut blasts us with megaflare, preparing more.
-Alisaie is discouraged – all this way only to be roasted before the end! – but the memory of her grandfather encourages her. She picks herself up off the ground, opens her grandfather’s magic grimoire, and casts a wall blocking Bahamut’s magic.
WE EVEN SEE LOUISOIX’S GHOST CASTING ALONGSIDE HER!
This is one of my all-time favorite tropes, the ghost appearing in a brief flash helping the person they care for from beyond the grave. Phoenix Wright JFA spoilers: Yvxr jura jr frr Zvn cbvagvat orfvqr Cubravk ng gur raq bs gur Tbqbg gevny..
-Alphinaud joins her to strengthen the magic. They’re keeping Bahamut at bay.
-It’s up to the player party to use this chance and destroy Bahamut permanently. We soar into that crystal core of his, his essence, to fight “Bahamut Prime.”
I’d wondered how they’d handle a fight against such a gigantic monster. WoW had this problem with the huge dragon Deathwing, where you just stood on his back and poked at it for a while. It was underwhelming.
I like this better. We’re inside Bahamut, fighting a representation of him.
-Two mechanics stand out to me as especially cool:
1) The adds Bahamut spawns. They’re all “X of Meracydia,” (Meracydia being the dragon civilization the Allagans conquered who summoned Bahamut). Blood of Meracydia, Pain, Gust, Sin, Storm.
Even now, Bahamut is drawing on the spirit of that fallen culture.
2) FLARES! Lots of them. Megaflare, Gigaflare, Tetraflare. Classic Bahamut.
He even gives a countdown, like in FFIV.
-Victory! Not bad the four of us over-leveled, but again, this was once the toughest content in FFXIV. There’s even now an “Ultimate” version of the fight that looks to be overwhelmingly brutal.
-Alisaie shuts down the final regeneration coil. Bahamut’s body lights aflame and disperses.
-We resolve to keep the details of Bahamut’s demise a secret, especially about Louisoix and Phoenix. If everyone knew, they’d pray for Phoenix’s help. Summoning a primal usually doesn’t end well.
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Alisaie’s Path
-This feels like a titanic moment. I mean, we defeated Bahamut himself, the elder primal who caused the Calamity! We solved the mystery of Louisoix’s disappearance and the rejuvenation of Eorzea!
-And yet, my favorite part of this raid may be the smaller elements. It’s as much about Alisaie finding her path and coming to terms with the loss of her grandfather as it is about the global mysteries.
-She got a sense of closure and peace.
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Next time: The start of the Heavensward raids.
