I MADE IT! Shadowbringers Patch MSQ Was BEAUTIFUL. 

We'll see you in Old Sharlayan after one last sleep. Man, this game is an experience. While you wait, wishlist The Pale Beyond! bit.ly/TPB_Steam

"The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it." My favorite line in the whole damn game.

The madman actually made it on the last day of Shadowbringers

lyna never fails at breaking me, such a good VA, i hope she returns.

Seto and Ardbert is a scene that takes no Prisoners

Seto Extreme, the trial that destroys almost everyone and makes them hug their chocobo

I'm surprised you didn't talk about who appears in the middle of the Seat of Sacrifice fight The fact that they can make a character recognizable based on a finger snap and a sassy handwave speaks volumes

Being a former soldier that has lost someone close to an ambush downrange, Lyna's scene after that big battle hit me different than it did most other folk. That shit was so powerful. And Salome Gunnarsdottir did a phenomenal job delivering her lines. I could practically taste the survivor's guilt exuding off her in waves. I felt the same when my best friend died in my arms and other soldiers under me didnt make it back home from Iraq.

I loved Elidibus's send-off and leading up to it throughout the patches. Emet gets lots of love (deserved) but people forget that of the unsundered, Elidibus has been the one in the narrative since the beginning. He was present in every part of FFXIV whereas Lahabrea was just ARR and Heavensward briefly, and Emet was only introduced as a character in post-Stormblood. Elidibus has been around and played a hand through it all.

Ishikawa, who wrote the MSQ for ShB and EW, commented that Fandaniel was her favorite character; everything we know is just setup to have us in the mindset for her to take us for a ride. She is a master storyteller, and we're just dancing to her tune at this point.

I spent six hours last night helping random people get through Matoya's Relict and Paglth'an to get caught up. I'd finished my to-do list, and was all, "Okay, who needs an insta-queue? Climb on!"

The unsundered did horrible, unforgivable things. But they did just want to go home. I would wonder how I would feel having lost everyone I knew for 1000+ years.

I followed you when I played WoW and I never, ever saw you smile as much as you did in this video!! I stopped playing WoW in June 2021 and have never regretted it. I love FF14. The story, the gameplay....everything.

Something that I never see mentioned is the shift in personality from Exarch to G'raha. While Scion G'raha has all the memories of being the Exarch he is still a 25 year old kid who doesn't have the confidence of running the Crystarium for 100 years (plus his experiences in the alternate timeline). He is more exuberant, energetic, and a little unsure of himself. Fantastic characterization.

what really got to me was that Elidibus was a kid when he became the heart, which makes sense since kids have more hope/wishes than adults, making him pretty powerful as a vessel

So regarding Garlean infighting: There was a civil war after Solus "died", in which Varis (his granson) fought Titus (Solus' second son). Based on the Encyclopedia Eorzea and in-game material, Titus was the favored candidate for the throne of the Populares. Currently Titus' son, Nerva, is the head of the IIIrd Legion and was fighting against Zenos' forces in the capitol before the towers rose up. Nerva is Zenos' first cousin, once removed. We also see more infighting throughout Shadowbringers' side content. In Bozja we see the leader of the IVth Legion, Noah van Gabranth son of Basch van Gabranth (the only non-pureblood Legates in Garlemald's history!) trying to establish a new state in Imperial Dalmasca / Landis / Bozja. Likewise there is another faction under Valens van Varro trying to pick up the pieces of Gaius van Baelsar's legacy in the Sorrows of Werlyt.

The Ardbert and Seto scene hits really hard if you've ever had a pet you lost, just thinking about it now makes me cry

I don't think the twins are going to die (for the reason you said) but my current theory is that Alphinaud is going to leave the Scions to stay in Sharlayan, likely to follow in his father's footsteps to become a member of the Forum. His mission in Eorzea was accomplished. He helped drive it into a better, united future. I can very easily see him wanting to do the same for Sharlayan if they're as stuck in their was as we've been led to believe. Also, fuck Fourchenault Leveilleur.

what gets you on the last moments in order... Lyna's crying scene... elidibus child form and "The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it"... then seeing fkn graha turning into crystal, then saying goodbye to everyone where we get ANOTHER Lyna crying scene and then fkn Graha coming back with those cat ears (i would kill a man if someone hurt this cat boi) 5.3 is just tears galore and i enjoyed every freaking second of suffering

Honestly, the pure, unadulterated love that pours out of these videos...it's nice to see people discovering the game and experiencing the whole thing for the first time.

I will forever love the direction they went with the Ascians, they went from the mustache twirling evil guys in ARR and HW to these tragic broken eternal beings doing everything they can to bring back their people.

The most amazing part of Bellular’s journey is how he went from casual FFXIV gamer to sounding just like the rest of us. And it’s not like he’s had time to steep in the community or Reddit to influence him-he sped through all the content and walked away with the same thoughts as the rest of us! Don’t hurt the twins. Their father is a dick. G’raha is adorable. It really shows you how convincing the story and the characters are in this game.

Hythlodaeus wasn’t just Emett’s friend, he was yours too. The three of us were best buds back in the day. Fourchenalt might be playing a game, and deliberately alienating the Twins for some reason. So his douchbag behaviour could be part of some plot. If it isn’t well… we can tell Dulia Chai, bring her to the Source, and unleash her upon the genetic donor of the Twins.

5.3 left me dry from all the crying. Seeing all the people who have died, then the Lyna/Exarch scene, then the post fight scene, and finally I broke down when I talked to Seto. I can't even see that scene without tearing up. Last time I saw that scene, my dog had been diagnosed with cancer and I knew that I would have to say goodbye. It hit me hard. I couldn't stop crying for like half an hour. I had to put her down the next day. Every time Seto says what he said to you about how much he cared, I think about my dogs.

G'raha's speech after you return to the source and you're running up to the Crystal Tower may be some of the best writing I've ever seen. And for it to be in a video game, but really be something you can apply to real life, just made be appreciate how much the developers love their game and respect their players.

The Ardbert and Seto part I cry. Every. Single. Time. I love stories of a hero with their mount that pay off like that. So good. Everything is just so good. So excited for Endwalker. Congrats on getting through the patch content though! I didn't know if you were gonna do it, but you sure did you fuckin MAD LAD! But hell yeah.

You do have reason to go to First. Listening to you talk and taking by how long it took you to get from 5.0 to 5.56, you probably skipped the Raid quests. The story in those is fantastic as well, you won't be disappointed for sure.

That scene with Elidibus talking about the rains; it always tears me up when I think about how he was just a child. He was sacrificed with the hopes of an entire star on his shoulders, and Elidibus did so willingly.

Graha's hero worship, not just of the WoL, but the Scions as well, broke my heart. Its just so damn relatable. I've also stood on the sidelines, adoringly watching my heros, longing to be one of them, feeling like a mouse among giants. Graha *was* the protagonist of ShB, as much as he wanted to give us all the credit. The feats he accomplished, the entire *century* he carried the plan alone on his shoulders, the sacrifices he made (and tried to make), and his brilliant last-minute saves. In spite of all of that, he's still surprised and delighted beyond measure just to rub shoulders with us. It's beautiful.

I remember reading somewhere that in order to write a good villain, write a hero that did everything with such fervor and ended up failing. It was something like that and with the ascians I had that feeling as ShB started to pick up and Emet showing the true nature of the ascians.

I still can't even think about the Seto scene without having to hold back tears. Re-watching it is just like bring on the water works. It hit's you from both ends the person who wanted to say something to somebody they loved and the loved one who might have wished to say something too. It's such a simple scene but it's just done so well. They don't try to suprise you with it. There's plenty of time for the player to think about the fact that we might speak for Ardbert which helps to build the moment. When it hits it's not a surprise but a release of the emotional tension you have begun to build as you release what is going to happen. I hope there is more of Ardbert in endwalker or rather Ardbert through the MC.

Shadowbringers(expansion) is the best RPG I've ever played. It's a masterpiece in storytelling and video game action. The fact that's it's wrapped up in an mmo is amazing too.

Negotiating with the beast tribes is extra satisfying if you've done the rep grinds with them and understand their backstories.

The Ardbert and Seto scene was my favorite. It was so good.

I love how all we see of the ancients is from the recreations from emet-selchs memory and the telling of a child who is literally incapable of thinking for himself, we have no idea exactly what amaurot was like, if the ancients really were that huge or its a manifestation of emet seeing himself as literally above us, and the almost utopian society made from heavily rose tinted glasses, when the amaurtine may just have been isolationist assholes like the holy see were, the vagueness is so cool, so well done I love it.

I love fandaniel and zenos, I think having them start as essentially a blank state for Endwalker gives the writing team a lot of freedom with those characters, and I'm sure there's villain's behind the scenes or something similar who will truly be the "big bad".

Might be just me, but out of all the emotional and beautiful scenes.. my favorite is still Emet saving our asses against Elidibus and properly just waving him off. That was.. a special moment.

When you get a chance go back for the Eden content and the weapons storyline from shadowbringers, even side content has amazing story telling

Woo! I feel the excitement! I literally finished as well 30 minutes before server shutdown last night and I'm so stoked for Endwalker. The ride has been amazing and I'm looking forward to being part of this huge finale with the rest of the community! I love your guys' videos and have enjoyed keeping up every step of the way and seeing the newfound excitement after all of this unfortunate blizz drama that's been going on. Keep up the great work!

Not every villain needs a tragic backstory to be good. I actually love Zenos the way he is.

the seto bit just straight up ended me. anyone with a pet would be hurt by that i think. ShB MSQ and post content was just beautiful.

I think there's more to Zenos than meets the eye. Yeah, he's clearly just interested in fighting us because it was the only challenge he ever had and it made him feel something. But at the same time, he killed his father because he hated his cowardly weapons (black rose) that would ruin his sport. And black rose ultimately killed the WoL in the original timeline before G'raha went back in time to the First. So he's already done half of the leg work in stopping the 8th Umbral Calamity (the rest being done on the First.) I think the information he's gained from Elidibus and Fandaniel has given him an interesting perspective, and I think there's already a deeper base character here than people give him credit for. He just seems a bit shallow on the surface. Endwalker should be interesting!

"For in times of hardship, when you fear you cannot go on... the joy you have known, the pain you have felt, the prayers you have whispered and answered -- they shall ever be your strength and your comfort."

Yup Seto was the one that did it for me as well. Congrats on making it in time and it's great to hear you've enjoyed the journey. Now on to the end!

The fact that he had to mention G'raha's ears twice was so cute, love and protecc our kittyboi!

Watching your recaps of your journey through the msq has been a great ride. Has made me more excited (and reminded me of some things so thanks for that!) for Endwalker! Can't wait to stream it

5.3 brought tears to my eyes once we beat Elidibus. I truly felt awful ending him, watching him hold the last memories of his cherished friends. Just hurts man

No one should worry about the twins. We've already seen their rock-solid character development in ShB. And, Elezen are known for having statuesque grace and elegance which the twins are surely growing into. I would be shocked, nay, petrified, to discovery anything actually harming them. But, should the worst happen, those with a Soft heart should always hold onto hope. For the FF14 team clearly cares about their story as much as we do and you can trust it like a compass with a gold needle to guide you back from the dark.

From what I've understood, Hythlodeus wasn't just Emet's friend. It was a trio of best friends with "Azem". On another note, I'm really afraid our young diplomat will sacrifice himself like the "ancient young" diplomat to feed the big dark savior.

I really hope part of the story in Endwalker forces you to go back to the first to uncover something about the Ascians. Maybe having to go back to the illusion Aumarot.

Fun thing to note about the entirety of Shadowbringers and why the pacing is so good, is because it's a direct beat for beat structural retelling of the Monomyth (The Hero's Journey). You can plot the whole story referencing it from **The Call to Adventure** to another world, **Refusal of the Call** dealing with the current Garlean threat, **Crossing the Threshold** to the First, **The Road of Trials** with the Light Wardens, **Meeting the Goddess** with OG Minfillia, **Temptation from the True Path** with Emet, **The Deep of Darkness** being overburdened with Light, **Atonement with the Father** facing Hades, **The Apotheosis** in realizing the WoL's true heritage, **The Ultimate Boon** of saving the First and discovering a way to bring the Scions home, **The Magic Flight** of facing Elidibus as the last obstacle, **The Rescue from Without** with Emet's assistance, to finally the **Return** home becoming a **Master of Two Worlds** with the **Freedom to Live** for the moment, as poignantly attested by G'raha's whole character arc.

You made it! I was worried, but glad i was able to follow you along on this.

Bro. Congrats on making it in time! So happy to have you join us on our walk toward the end!

Time doesn't exist when you're having fun. I'm glad you're enjoying being a kid again. I'm also happy you've been able to report something you're clearly happy about and wanting to burst out sharing that experience with all of us. xD

Hope's Confluence still makes me tear up a little bit every time I think of "Herein I commit the Chronicle of the Traveler." What makes it more special is that I really don't know why. It's a true spectacle of a scene watching the constellation gem come to life as To The Edge plays in the background, the ticking clock running in the background as Elidibus simply looks at you and completely sells the bewilderment of "...What are you?" as the summoning circle appears again. I love that the constellation gems sort of mirror Job Stones in a way. It makes them feel all the more convincing that you inherit Azem's will. There is something in the line "For yours is the Fourteenth Seat- the Seat of Azem" that completely bricks my mind. I have no idea why I react to it in such an emotionally visceral way. It feels like destiny has finally come calling and that the circle is complete. To The Edge made that scene for me. Soken is a genius and can invoke any emotion in me.

I love seeing how amazed you are about this game. It is like im looking in to a mirror of my own feelings. The points you mention with that feeling in your chest i also felt. Must be the Irish in us! Hello from...Longford!

Great video! I love all your thoughts on the story and what hit you. For me the Elidibus scene got me pretty hard along with crystal exarch. Ironically the seto scene did not do much to me... relatively speaking anyways compared to the others. But we all have our own heart strings for the pulling!

Rewatching Ardbert through you the last while and then rewatching Seto a few days ago is what had me decide to Warrior the Endwalker expansion. As Seto says, his journey is not over yet. Even gug out the old armour he wears and got the old weapon upgraded to the point where he had it

Congrats Bell! Honestly I just enjoy seeing you so happy and excited! Thanks for sharing you experience with us and so glad you're with us in Endwalker!

"Seto my old friend. You've grown." And that last duty was what peaked my curiosity for red mage. That job is fucking incredible!

Congratulations on finishing Shadowbringers! I find it really pleasing to watch you (and others) gush over 5.0 and 5.3. I was explaining to my friends that the end of Shadowbringers fills you up with joy, but as a result I'm very, very worried about Endwalker.

I cannot wait to see your videos on Endwalker!! I am so hyped and I am really happy you are too!!

Glad you enjoyed! I would honestly recommend instead of jumping straight into Endwalker MSQ, take a day or two and do the main raids of Stormblood and Shadowbringers, not the alliance ones. There's a lot of juicy plot there.

One thing I'm surprised you didn't catch, that as ascian wasn't emets friend. You find out when they show up to help you fight elidibus. Watch their hand gestures really closely before they walk away and disappear. (You can go to an inn, rwad the journal on the table and re watch it. You'll have a mind blown moment. It's also why elidibus is so shocked) But seriously, I'm so glad you finished the msq up and it was great seeing how much you enjoyed it. So many moments in shadowbringers... right in the feels. Seto and Ardbert, Feo Ul, Icelandic bunny girl, etc.. man.. the feels. I miss the 1st already.

Congrats on finishing MSQ. That is a huge effort to do it so quickly. I also love that Bellular loves the twins. They are my favs too and I worry for them in Endwalker. Totally agree that there's been so many death flags that they're probably safe... unless YoshiP is doing it on purpose and is luring is into a false sense of security. This game is so deep and they mess with you so much I don't know what to think anymore!

Yeah, 1 am here and I have work! Planning to log in by the end of day 1 at least. So happy to have been able to watch your reactions till this point and glad you’ll be coming with us into Endwalker!

Watching your updates via Twitter has literally been the highlight of my week lol. Shadowbringers really is something special

I love the fact of setting free Tiamat is so good in post game msq also the seto scene and the estinen meeting in ishguard so funny.

LOL I just looked for this video less than a half hour ago and there wasn't one. Suddenly, hubby texts me with this video. :D Congratulations!

Oh, you did make it LOL I just commented on your 5.0 video and all of it still applies. Cheers

It's really great to see you reached this point in the game. Congrats! About Zenos and Fandaniel, I got the opposite impression than you. I believe that the biggest development from Zenos in Endwalker will come to this realization that he has been a puppet to Fandaniel -- and Fandaniel is the one who will receive the most development. I didn't have much hope for that when I played 5.4 and 5.5, but Fandaniel has a line in the launch trailer for Endwalker that was really surprising and that made me have really high hopes for his character. But it's also possible that he indeed won't the be main drive. And one of the reasons I say that is because I'm pretty sure that, when Fandaniel talks about "his lord"... He is not talking about Zenos. His sigil also hints at some deeper motivations, as noted by the previous video on this very channel. About the Garleans... I don't believe they will be just thralls. Not at all. Again, in the launch trailer, we see some hints about that. In the launch trailer, we see at least one garlean actually suffering from the whole "world burning" thing. Overall, when I played 5.4 MSQ and 5.5 MSQ, I was not impressed. The dungeons and solo duties were cool, but I was gettting many ARR vibes from the story and specifically from the villains. We are fighting primals, the good side and the bad side seemed very set in stone, beast tribes stuff, political meetings, etc. It initially felt to me like a huge step backwards, but that was also what got me thinking about it. The lead writer wasn't changed and she did amazing stuff in Shadowbrigers, specially when it comes to the villains and the cosmic lore. There's no way she would suddenly get much worse (we are talking about one patch to the next). So, the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like this was all intentional. I really believe that she and Banri Oda (the lead story designer) were trying to fool us. And the launch trailer was another evidence for that. So yeah... The hype is real. I can almost taste it.

Playing as the other Scions... It kind of helps you see that they're more than just people who walk up to you after a battle to talk. They are actually skilled combatants. Assuming you don't screw it up and get them killed. 😆

In conjunction with that red moon - Endwalker was originally supposed to launch during a lunar eclipse. Which would have turned our own moon red. They're even using the real world to pull us deeper into this story and I love these devs for it!

OMG yeah, the bit with Seto was so wonderful! I went with "close your eyes," it felt more natural. And yeah, G'raha's ears are pretty epic. The whole "goodbye tour" was super emotional, after having invested so much in the First. And then the 5.4 and 5.5 content just so perfectly steers you into Endwalker. I can't wait to get to Sharlayan and find out what's going on there! And I agree, Zenos feels pretty shallow right now, and I'm hoping we'll see him develop some. But Fanny Danny definitely has something more up his sleeves than destruction. Perhaps with Zodiark being heartless, the position is open? Oh and I 100% agree about that final duty - as long as they are used very sparingly, I love being able to get a brief bit of a power fantasy of a different class. Playing as Alisaie got me to pick up Red Mage, and I found I really like the cadence of it! As for that vision, I think that may have been Venat, the ancient who became Hydaelyn's heart. They're definitely teasing that there's some reason Hydaelyn hasn't contacted us, and I'll can't wait to find out why!

I'm hyped that you were able to finish before endwalker! grats!

Just hearing you talk about Seto and Ardbert scene had tears swelling up in my eyes. What a powerful moment

TY for this video to keep me busy during my login queue!

I've watched a fair number of 5.3 reactions and even if tears are unshed by the ending of SoS itself, usually Seto and Ardbert make folks bawl. I cried, too. ;_; I had to go hug my cat. So glad you enjoyed the expansion and its patches, and well done getting here so fast, woof!

Both the Lyna farewell scene and the Seto scene hit me pretty hard. In particular Lyna... the amount of emotional expression detail they managed to pull out of that in game character model was incredible. I so badly wanted to reach through the screen and give her a big hug. Most of Shadowbringers' story was full of emotional ups and downs. I'm looking for whatever Endwalker has in store. FFXIV expansion launch day preparation isn't complete without a fresh box of tissues put on the desk.

Congrats! See you in Endwalker, my friend!

Talk about a speedrun. Glad you're having a good time, and happy you get to enjoy EW with everyone!

One thing I only see some people mentioning about Shadowbringers - the actual Cinematography of the cutscenes is absolutely incredible. Looking back at ARR you have 99% shot-reverse-shot cutscenes, and to see them really lean into and rely upon their cinematography here in Shadowbringers is so fucking good.

I'm impressed, I really wasn't sure there was time for you to finish!

Yes halfway through pagal'thon dungeon you get to ride the dragons over the fields. It's just a beautiful place.

Glad you made it. You'll get through Endwalker, then you've got to go back and do all the side content from everything!

Good to know you gonna be with us all in EW, I didn’t play yet & maintenance just finished up, I just wanted to pop in & see who’s online but that quickly changed when my cue count was 4.8k, so needless to say I left the cue, logged out & switched off, must 1st go help a client IRL, but 1s I’m done there- I’ll be back asap & cue up & then have the patience of 10 men, or should I say have the patience of 10 sloths… I’m super excited!!

Fun little thing: Seto's English voice actor, Brian Protheroe, was also Archbishop Thordan VII in Heavensward. And Elidibus' English VA, Matt Stokoe, was Meffrid in Stormblood.

Seeing you go through this game start to finish has been a treat!

So glad you made it!! See you in Endwalker!

That was some kind of speedrun! Also, all props to editor, who I bet worked hard to get those videos ASAP to us! See you on the moon. :)

I'm so so glad you made it in time! Please enjoy endwalker!

So happy for you!!!

Congrats!😄

GODDAMNIT. Even just MENTIONING Seto made me tear the fuck up!! Good GOD that scene just hit me so hard and it was an amazing, emotional experience!!

I love Zenos as a villain. Even if we've not had much characterization done for him yet, he's set up as the perfect anti-thesis of the player character. Where we emerged into the game penniless and worked for all our progress, he is the spoiled child with inherited wealth. We are spurred in to action in defense of the realm and other causes, he is apathetic towards almost everything. Almost. He represents decay and the player represents progress. The only thing he cares about is the player who is his own anti-thesis, he seems to see our battle and eventual vanquishing of one of us as the synthesis that produces something greater than the sum of it's parts. Hell, with his resurrection it's almost like he's got proof.

Really appreciate your perspective. Would have loved to see your reaction in the Seat of Sacrifice trial.

GRATS BEL! Now we all get to start Endwalker tomorrow together! Only a few hours left before launch babyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!

Lyna's farewell speech... I just can't, just thinking about it.... right now, i'm breaking down into tears

Congrats bellular

How insane you managed to make it to the end! Honestly congrats on making it! Glad y'all on the hype train with us. P.S. LOVE YOUR EDITOR THEY MAKE ME LAUGH. 😂👌