This post is going to be nothing but pure nerding out.  So if you're the type who can't stomach a little speculation just for fun, then you've been warned, don't bother reading any more.  It also contains major spoilers for both the Treasures of Aht Urhgan and Wings of the Goddess plots.



As of this update, it's the beginning of the end for the Wings of the Goddess story.  If you've been keeping up, you'll know that the plot has suddenly been introduced to a very familiar character.  The Dark Divinity himself appears in Castle Zvahl which turns out to have very serious repercussions for the characters involved.  It has been  known for a long time now that Odin was the one who gave the Shadow Lord his power.  But it was still surprising to see the Wings story actually feature him as a prime element.  It would seem that both Aht Urhgan and Wings both have a fundamental enemy in common now.


In the past, Odin threatens to bring about an alternate reality where the descendants of the Allied races have given themselves over to his reign.  In the present, Odin is momentarily subdued but his desire to bring about Ragnarok still hangs over the entire Empire.  This connection is interesting.  Is it possible that this could be the basis for a new final "crossover" mission after the completion of Wings of the Goddess?  The Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia expansions culminated in the "Apocalypse Nigh" quest series.  Both of which shared the elements of a person's life force returning to the Crystals (it was a bit of a stretch, but who cares, it was cool enough to justify it).  Now it might just be that Odin is the current element for the last two expansions.


Players have had a lot of fun finally obtaining the Alexander and Odin avatars from the latest update.  However there's also a new quest that involves freeing Prince Luzaf from Odin's pact.  The interesting thing is that no one seems to have completed it yet, and it appears to have no real purpose except purely for the sake of moving the story ahead.  Could this become a prerequisite for the final "tie-in" quests someday, similar to the "Storms of Fate" quest?  The potential sounds exciting, but only time will tell.

There's one more tidbit I want to mention since I'm talking about Odin and Aht Urghan.  Years ago near the beginning of FFXI Square commissioned Yoshitaka Amano to make a sprawling painting that depicts the entire mainland of Vana'diel.  It features the Goddess and a number of creatures and Avatars perched in the heavens.  (You can view the full version here.  HT: Spira)  What's interesting about the painting is that it appears to feature certain Avatars that at the time were years away from becoming implemented into the game.  Such as Bahamut, Phoenix, Ixion, Alexander, and Odin.  It's possible that Square simply told him to include a bunch of Final Fantasy regulars they might wind up using in a story someday.  On the other hand, given the established story and things like the celestial sky chart, it's possible Square has had a basic overarching story for the game planned out all the way from the start.


Now the fun part.  Depicted among the rest of the Avatars and just beneath Odin, there appears to be another Odin-like man on a horse.  Except this one is white and blue colored.  Anyone familiar with the Final Fantasy lore will know that it bears a strong resemblance to Raiden, Odin's alternate form.  The introduction of Raiden into the final series of missions could make for some incredibly cool potential.


Or maybe not.  Probably not.  But part of the fun of an MMO is to keep guessing about where the story is heading next.  Either way things are about to get even more interesting.