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aka: Xenoblade

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All spoilers are unmarked. Spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 may also be unmarked despite efforts to hide them.

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    Form of Alvis 

  • The last time we see Alvis before the final battle, he is retreating along with Dickson. However, the next time he is encountered, before and after the final battle, he is little more than a disembodied voice. What happened to his physical form?
    • He's essentially God. He can probably fit any form he desires. His Homs form is merely an illusion.

    The world and the sun 

  • The Bionis and Mechonis are standing in an infinitely large ocean. The sun still rises and sets. Where does the sun go at night?
    • Looking at the sunset from an open area, like the Bionis Leg, reveals that the sun doesn't go down the horizon, it vanishes before reaching it. One of the heart-to-hearts reveals that the "stars" in the night sky are actually just ether; who's to say the Sun and the Moon aren't just ether that looks like the real deal too? This would especially make sense when the true nature of Zanza and Meyneth is taken into account. They made it so day and night looked like what it was back on Earth, but without the "other celestial bodies out there" part.
    • While it is true that the sun vanishes before reaching the horizon, it needs to be said that it isn't visible in the sky during daytime to begin with: it just appears out of nowhere a couple minutes past 5 p.m., then vanishes around 8 p.m. So, even though a Defence Force Soldier does indeed say that "the big light source in the sky during daytime is ether" and that it "has a light-dark cycle which makes night and day", that big light source isn't even there in the sky during daytime in the first place. That being said, my guess is that the game developers simply couldn't be bothered to animate a full day-night cycle.

    Machina mammaries 

  • Why do the Machina have breasts? And why do they bounce? What sort of metal does that?
    • Because they're beings made in the image of a human, and humans have breasts.
    • That does explain the existence of the breasts, but doesn't explain the Jiggle Physics. My theory is that they are made of a metal with a relatively low melting point mixed with whatever the Machina use for skin. How? Why? Who cares! It's Fanservice!
    • It is possible that this was made in Meyneth's image.

    Shooting 

  • Why did Dickson shoot Shulk? I understand all the god stuff but why did he do this? Was it necessary to trigger the transformation? Or was it purely an asshole move based on the decision Shulk was coming to?
    • Both it seems. Then again, Dickson would not betray Zanza and the passage of fate presented at that time.

    Testaments 

  • Not so much a complaint as an observation- does anyone else see the symbol of the Testaments on the back of Alvis's jacket? I can't shake the feeling that it's the exact same symbol, but heck if I can make any connection between Alvis and the Testaments- even speaking as someone who believes all the Xeno games are on the same timeline.
    • If you notice, it's the same symbol as on Meynth's Monado when it's embedded in Fiora's chest. It's likely her symbol.
    • Its seems like it's the symbol of Monado in general. It's recreated in the final boss battle, when lines of light connect Meyneth's, Zanza's, and Shulk's Monados in a triangle.

    Running out of power 

  • After the Mechonis Core, there is a very real concern about Fiora running out of power and dying before the quest's end, as her cardiopulmonary systems were being provided power by Meyneth's Monado. The first thing we see after Junks lands at Colony 6 is Fiora presenting the first Replica Monado to a comatose Shulk. Would it have been so unreasonable to say to Vanea, "Hey, think you could make me one of those? Sorta triangular, about, say, this size?" I know that the problem is solved by the epilogue, but as a quick fix to take some of the stress off of Fiora's, Dunban's, Melia's and... well, everyone else who spotted the issue with her body straight away's mind. Additionally, as the issue at hand would have been her machina body running out of power, couldn't you conceivably have used one of the two potential solutions to extend Neonik's life for Fiora?
    • It's possible that none of these would have worked. The Replica Monados might not have been able to supply the same energy that the genuine ones can, and Fiora's condition, and possibly her architecture, are considerably different from Neonik's.
    • (Original Poster) I can accept that the replicas weren't as powerful as the real deals, but at their base they at least had to have some means of either storing or converting ether energy out of the air to provide the energy blade the weapon used. As to Fiora's architecture, take this into account - on first meeting her, Linada, the machina doctor, mistook this strange robotic woman for one of her people, not realizing that she was a Face unit until the party actually mentions it. While their problems weren't identical (Neonik was dying from being damn near 10000 years old, Fiora is dying because Meyneth isn't powering her heart and lungs anymore), they boiled down to something very similar - their power systems were failing, and a shot of energy from an old Machina unit was enough to repower Neonik for another 20 years. Of course, if Fiora's power really couldn't be restored, it makes the usage of Final Cross REALLY irresponsible post-Mechonis Core, since the whole thing shakes out to "Massive blast of Monado power hits stuff".
    • Sure, but given that no other Machina have Monados powering them, it's quite possible that Fiora's power system is a unique technology and incompatible with other power sources.
    • (Original Poster) Fair point. That said, since Vanea was the one who originally put together the Fiora/Meyneth/Face Nemesis combo platter, she would probably have been the one most qualified to put together a stopgap system to keep the one remaining piece (Fiora) from terminally powering down. Also, while Gadolt doesn't survive long enough for this to matter, would all pilots of Face units, separated from their respective mecha, eventually succumb to cardiovascular failure, or is Fiora's problem entirely unique? I seem to recall that even with Meyneth on board, early on you still needed to scavenge parts from a wrecked Mechon (piezoelectrical unit, if memory serves) to prevent a complete system failure of Fiora immediately following your arrival at Junks. Then again, Fiora did suffer some rather critical... system damage in the process of getting taken in the first place (Impaled with Extreme Prejudice - not good for one's internal organs), and Linada did express some surprise to find that most of Fiora's innards simply weren't there anymore. So it could well be that her imminent shutdown (and lack of necessity to eat) was more a function of "Metal Face stabbed me with claws as long as I am tall" than "Meyneth isn't providing me limitless free energy". I know that Vanea eventually points out that some modification has to be done to a Homs to make a Face unit work, but maybe Fiora's modifications were a bit more extreme out of necessity, rather than simply to make her invincible to standard Monado damage.
    • As far as we know, even though the game doesn't flat out confirm this, the pulsating red lights that only Faced Mechon have (Shulk notes this in the first encounter with Metal Face after they find out the Monado can't damage him) are transparent artificial arteries/veins through which the blood of the pilot flows. This is what makes Zanza's Monado confused about the nature of the "thing" that it's hitting, not being able to distinguish Homs from Mechon, and therefore causes it to deal no damage (until Zanza lifts the restriction). So with that said, we can assume a Faced Mechon's pilot's body is surgically modified to have ports which connect his/her Homs blood vessels with those of the Mechon. When the pilot voluntarily exits the Mechon (for example, Mumkhar on Valak Mountain and Galahad Fortress), some software on the Mechon that manages its circulatory system makes sure to shut those ports and keep enough blood inside the pilot's body so that he/she doesn't faint or die from anemia (lack of blood). However, both Fiora and Gadolt were ejected from their critically damaged Mechon's wreckage, so it's safe to assume that control software wasn't working anymore and that's why they were so weak afterwards: a large portion of their blood was left inside the wreckage of their respective Mechons. This is only speculation, but seems plausible.
    • Fiora's circulation problems were solved by getting the piezoelectric unit on the Fallen Arm just after the party is reunited. Even after that, she still occasionally has issues adjusting to her new body thanks to some pretty hefty dysphoria. We don't get any details on what's happening to Fiora's body after she loses Meyneth's Monado other than she's running on reserve energy. Also, the Replica Monado was made based off Zanza's Monado, not Meyneth's. It's entirely possible that the energies are simply not interchangeable.

    High Entia and the Homs 

  • If some High Entia have been interbreeding with Homs up to the present day, but most Homs speak of them as though they were long extinct or a fairy tale, is there an explanation for this that doesn't involve kidnapping?
    • Well, it's established that there used to be more Homs settlements before the war with the Mechon. Could be that some of the old colonies that were destroyed were closer to High Entia lands.
    • There are probably Homs living in Alcamoth, just not in the section we see. Which makes perfect sense—there's a fair amount of anti-Homs racism among High Entians, as seen by people having low opinion of half-High Entians, plus the section of the city we see is connected to the palace. It's unlikely that Homs would be living in the much-coveted Palace District of the capitol city.
    • Future Connected confirms there were indeed Homs living in Alcamoth. Among the refugees from Alcamoth you meet there are two Homs who lived there because they had High Entia spouses, and one who worked there as a chef.

    Deceiving Shulk 

  • So in Satorl Marsh, Dickson has a line about how he feels bad about deceiving Shulk and co. Yet as soon as he makes his treachery known, he immediately switches to his true persona of a smug, unrepentant Jerkass of near Card-Carrying Villain levels who flat-out gloats about deceiving the heroes, making that line seem rather out of character in hindsight. So... What was the point? Was it just a narrative cheat to make Dickson seem like he might not be that bad despite obviously being up to something? Or an attempt at Hidden Depths that was ultimately left unexplored?
    • Chances are any kind of attachment he had to Shulk meant jack to him once Shulk started to go against the plans of his powerful long-standing master. After all, he's only known Shulk for what is essentially a passing second compared to his who knows how many years of immortality.
    • My assumption was always that he wasn't serious about feeling bad, but was simply saying it jokingly.
    • It might of been a line of mocking pity. Like "these idiots don't even stand a chance, this is like stealing candy from a baby. A really dumb baby."
    • Narratively speaking, the purpose of that line was to show Dickson shouldn't be fully trusted so from the player's perspective his betrayal doesn't come completely out of nowhere. In universe I reckon it is hidden depths. His jerkass tendencies are really over played but when it comes down to it he let's the characters go on to fight Zanza saying he's not prepared to die for his god, even though he does so immediately afterwards. In truth he didn't want them to see him die, possibly out of shame or possibly because he doesn't want it affecting Shulk's psyche for the upcoming battle. I reckon the character is conflicted between caring for Shulk, his devotion to Zanza and his Nihilistic/blood knight tendencies that makes him not want to care about anything, born from being a creature older than recorded history.

    Planets still existing 

  • At the end of the game,we see how the Bionis and Mechonis are created. Klaus wanted to turn all humans into gods but then did a Apocalypse Universal Class 4 which just left Zanza and Meyneth as Gods (along with Alvis) and forms the Titans in the endless ocean where the game takes place. I find some problems with that back story. First, how does the party still see an Earth-like planet before fighting Zanza when the reformation was clearly on Earth? Second, who decided on Klaus's, Meyneth's, and Alvis's fate in this world? Is there a greater god in all of this? Finally, what in the world happened with the ending? The Titans are now destroyed but how is Colony 9 still present and how did the other races make it to Colony 9 when there it is usually a dangerous and long path?
    • 1. It's possible that Zanza keeps an illusion of Earth and its nearby planets out there because, on some level, he misses it.
    • 2. We're talking about an event that turned two humans and a supercomputer into gods and destroyed the previous universe, so who knows how the mechanics behind something like that would work.
    • 3. After Shulk recreated the universe, there were once again planets and land outside the Bionis, so everybody got off the Bionis and built a new Colony away from it.
    • This is WMG territory: Klaus' "phase" experiment didn't destroy the universe, it simply sent him, Meyneth, and Alvis into a new universe, or an empty space where they created a new universe. This explains some of the bizarreness—the sun fading in and out, the endless flat plane of an ocean, altitude having no effect on people's bodies, etc. While they were scientists and gods, recreating the old world would have been daunting, so they went for something simple. A universe with such off-kilter physics required gods to keeps it functioning. When Shulk created a new universe "with no need for gods," that changed the universe into one with workable physics, a.k.a. real world physics, with stars and planets. Then for pure convenience's sake, they were placed on a life-supporting planet with a compatible ecosystem and no pre-existing sentient life. Colony 9 (and, I assume, 6, plus maybe Frontier Village, Alcamoth, and the Machina village) and all the people were moved to solid ground on the shore. I figure that their new planet is in the same position that Earth was in the original universe, probably with all the same continents. It just lacks humans, and maybe the flora and fauna are more akin to Bionis/ Mechonis lifeforms than Earth ones.
    • I interpreted this one as "Shulk took the stuff that was Bionis and Mechonis and incorporated that into the new planet". Hence why Colony 9 appears almost identical to how it appeared on Bionis, and perhaps more importantly, allowing the people living on Bionis to keep their homes and scientific materials, which helps with the whole "Explore this vast new universe!" idea.
    • Xenoblade Chronicles 2 reveals that the Architect is none other than Klaus' good half, while Zanza is his bad half. The earth-like image is just an illusion of the events before the story began. It is also possible that the Architect may have indirectly helped Shulk and his party, alongside Alvis (assumed to be Ontos in XC 2) because Shulk's nature is a parallel reflection of the Architect.

    Colonies 

  • So there's Colony 9 and Colony 6, where are all the other colonies then? (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ect...)
    • Destroyed in previous Mechon attacks presumably.
    • More or less confirmed by a Heart-to-Heart between Melia and Dunban on the Fallen Arm. One of the options while talking about Mumkhar says that he originally came from a colony that had been destroyed.
    • Some bonus material says there were originally 10 Colonies.

    Shulk surviving 

  • It's established that at Ose Tower, Zanza killed Shulk and the only reason Shulk appeared to be alive was because Zanza acted as his life force. Why is Shulk still alive and able to move on his own completely fine after separating from Zanza? If Shulk depended entirely on Zanza to live, shouldn't he have returned to being a corpse the moment Dickson shot him? Did Alvis do something to revive Shulk? I feel like the game addressed legitimate concerns with Fiora's split from Meyneth but didn't really explore the Shulk/Zanza aftereffects that well.
    • The game reveals that Meyneth used the last of her power to give life back to Shulk just before she died. Alvis was then able to bring his consciousness out of the coma.

    New arm 

  • Egil would need a lot of raw materials to build his Mechon army. That's fine; the Mechonis is pretty big, so even if they only mined bits of the Mechonis' interior here and there, that would probably provide enough metal and such for a whole bunch of Mechon. But that doesn't excuse the giant freakin' replacement arm that Egil was also responsible for building. Seriously, how the heck did he get enough material for a new arm without turning the Mechonis' insides into swiss cheese?
    • Well the inside of the Mechois Field is very open. Compareing it to the Bionis' knee too, the fallen arm looks somewhat small to me. It's possible the arm used to be meater but Egil mined it down to the bare bones, in a somewhat literal sense. What we see is just the interior skeleton design with the muscle and flesh parts being used to make the new arm.
    • He could have mined it from the ocean floor...

    Arglas 

  • About Arglas and Zanza: it was stated that Arglas was the soul of the Bionis and was possessed by Zanza. But it was also stated that Zanza created the Bionis, just like Lady Meynet created the Mechonis. So did Zanza create the Bionis with a mind of his own, made a sword for his body, waited for thousands of years for Arglas to pick him up, then destroyed and replaced Arglas's mind?
    • No, Zanza was the soul of the Bionis. Arglas was just a dude who found the Monado, picked it up, and got possessed by Zanza. When Zanza first shows up at Prison Island, the body he's inhabiting was originally Arglas's.

    Zanza and the Monado 

  • It was stated that Zanza and the Bionis Monado are one-and-the-same. However, Meyneth **has** a Monado, rather than **being** the Mechonis Monado. Was something messed up in the translation?
    • I don't know what exactly the game said, but wasn't it Alvis who was one and the same with the Bionis' Monado? I don't know about the Mechonis' Monado, but I think Zanza and Meyneth are on similar standings in regards to their blade.
    • Alvis is both Monados: he was the source of power for all of them.
    • I think a Monado is a part of a god—their willpower made manifest. So they're connected, and Zanza could, in a limited way, act through his Monado even while sealed. Meyneth was never separated from her Monado—Zanza took it after she died.

    Egil talking 

    Short run 

  • So... for all the brouhaha it took to get Xenoblade released in North America, why oh WHY did it get such a short run? At first I assumed the game was never for sale in our stores because I live in Flyover Country (Many of our stores only get one shipment of games every quarter - and we didn't even have Amiibos until February. This area has several million people living here, OI!) but then I found out it was the same everywhere else - even if For a game that was in such high demand in North America, why only release a short number of copies? Good thing we're getting a New 3DS version - which I hope has a longer run. (It'll actually be cheaper than the wii version - plus the system.)
    • Pretty sure NOA severely underestimated how popular the game would turn out to be in North America. And the NA release happened pretty late in the Wii's lifetime. We're very lucky to have gotten it at all.

    Zanza's vessel(s) 

  • How is Zanza's soul in two places at once? Meyneth said that Zanza's body was trapped in Prison Island and Zanza's soul (the Monado) was confined to Ose Tower in Valak Mountain. However, his "body" belonged to Arglas. What was the point in separating the body and soul if the body is not actually Zanza's? How is Zanza able to remain in Arglas and Shulk at the same time?
    • Because he's a god.
    • I think of it this way. Zanza is broken into three parts. His sentient mind is trapped within Arglas, that's how he was able to be imprisoned on Prison Island. His soul is further broken into two parts. One is within the Monado and attempts to bend anyone who uses it to his will (however it isn't sentient). The other half is within Shulk. When Arglas is freed and then killed, Zanza's mind is released and rejoins with either the half of his soul in the Monado or Shulk (which doesn't matter, since both are together). When Shulk dies all three pieces reunite.
    • Because Klaus' good side, the Architect revealed in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, revealed alternate possibilities. Klaus' soul was fragmented, though the Architect side seems to be whole, albeit a dimensional portal on his left hemisphere. It is possible that Zanza's soul was further fragmented.

    Prison island 

  • What is Prison Island? It's established the High Entia ancestors didn't build it, only used it, and at the end of the game Zanza goes there in order to enact his genocide/travel to a realm beyond scheme implying it has a connection to the original experiment. To further this (something I forgot about until replaying it) at the entrance there is text no one can translate but is similar to the symbols on the Monado which I assume are Japanese, I know the final symbol means God anyway. So what does this inscription say and what importance does Prison Island have in the overall existence of their world? Is their a corresponding structure in Mechonis that can be picked out?
    • I believe Prison Island may have been built by Giants, considering the size of its furniture.
    • Prison Island may have been the home of Arglas, and Zanza started using it when he possessed Arglas, because why not? Or maybe it was Dickson's place that he let Zanza use as an HQ. Of course, the fact that the Bionis control center is on the Terrace (we see Zanza-in-Arglas there when fighting Meyneth, it's where he was imprisoned) suggests that the island is as old as the Bionis itself. So either the Giants built a home around the Bionis control center, or Zanza remodeled the place after taking over Arglas and installed the control center on the Terrace.

    Recognizing Dickson 

  • If Egil was aware of Dickson being Zanza's disciple and was able to recognize him at first sight, isn't it incredibly odd that none of the Machina we meet remember anything strange about him? Egil's father Miqol witnessed the Bionis/Mechonis fight firsthand. He clearly knows about Zanza. Why does he say "I scratch his back and he scratches mine" in regards to Dickson when Zanza is the reason Machina were nearly driven to extinction? Why do all the Machina welcome him into the village with open arms? If Miqol is six thousand years old, and Egil is younger than him, and Machina such as Eiz and Neonik were alive when Zanza attacked Meyneth, why does nobody find the presence of Zanza's disciple extremely suspicious?
    • When Egil recognised Dickson, he had just done something despicable, and Egil could connect the dots from there. Miqol and the rest of the Fallen Arm residents see only a genial Homs, and have no reason to suspect that Dickson may be the Giant that served Zanza.

    Mining metal 

  • Where is the metal for the Mechon and the Machina coming from? Were Meyneth and Egil just hollowing out Mechonis?
    • Yes. In all probability at least. Most of what you explore of the Mechonis is very open interior while the Bionis is mostly the outside surface.

    Secretary 

  • After the Bionis Interior, we see Vanea finishing up a new face Mechon, Fiora. Some pretty cool villain foreshadowing, right? But then, a voice on the speaker says "Lady Vanea, Master Egil wishes to see you." Umm... Who was that? Wasn't the whole thing about Egil that only Vanea agreed to follow him? Where did he get a secretary?
    • Computer with an automated voice.

    Climates 

  • I'm having a hard time conceptualizing the different climates and environments on Bionis. Valak Mountain, for example. It's apparently so cold thanks to being "as high up on the Bionis as you can go," but it's pretty clear that spoiler Eryth Sea and Prison Island are higher—and they're pretty tropical. So how is Valak Mountain, the right arm of the Bionis, so cold? In the same vein, how are Satorl Marsh and Makna Forest even able to stay on the Bionis? They're both relatively flat, but they're on the waist and back, respectively. It doesn't make sense.
    • Due to its position, the right arm of the Bionis is constantly under the shadow of the rest of the body of Bionis, which gives Valak Mountain its cold climate. Satorl Marsh is located on an indentation found along the waist of the Bionis and visible from Bionis Leg, which is why it has its "C" shape; and Makna Forest is on an horizontal "plate" that comes out of the titan's back found beneath the floating Eryth Sea. Here are some pictures with the different locations of Bionis for reference.
    • There's also the fact that physics is just kind of wonky in this world. Even though they're both scientists, Meyneth and Zanza would have had a hard time recreating the universe after becoming gods, so it looks like they kept things really simple—a flat endless plain, a sun that fades in and out instead of rising and setting, etc. That would explain why the world needed gods—without them, the weird physics would collapse and the world would stagnate into nothingness.

    Shulk and Klaus appearance 

    Nopon Sage 

  • How in the actual heck is the Nopon Sage 9,999 years old? Nopons live longer than Homs, but shorter thank High Entia, apparently, because it's stated in a quest that there's a Nopon's grammypon who's celebrating his 160th birthday, but 9,999 is much longer than any Homs, Nopon, High Entia, or hell, even most Machina. HOW? Was he the first Nopon ever created? Are all Nopon descended from him and a deceased partner? Is he just lying? Who knows.

    Making Machina 

  • So... how exactly are Machina made? I find it hard to believe that a race who are essentially really advanced robotics are anatomically correct, and the fact that juvenile Machina look so different to adults that make me hesitant to believe it's by viviparous birth.
    • I don't know if we ever learn the details of how they reproduce, but we have reason to think that the Machina are more like biological life than like machines. While they are called machine people at one point, they are also repeatedly referred to as life born from the Mechonis. They seem closer to inorganic life than purely mechanical life. One NPC also notes that while they live for an exceedingly long time, they do eventually die and when they do said death is not all that different from that of organic life. Likewise they normally grow and mature just like other living things (one side quest involves helping a Machina whose growth was stunted somehow), so they may well reproduce in a human-like manner, even if the details might be very different.

    Tyrea 

  • I'm not sure how well I understood something that Dunban said, at the end of one of the Surprise Quests: "Melancholy Tyrea" saw the eponymous assassin part ways with Melia and the others. After she left, Dunban said, "We and Tyrea share the same goal. Our paths are sure to meet again." I get that at the very least, Tyrea won't be trying to kill them, but she was trying to fulfill her mission to Mercy Kill her transformed mother, while Shulk and co. are getting ready to stop Zanza. I don't think "killing the god of the Bionis" is the goal Dunban was referring to, so my question is: what goal do these two parties have in common? Is it fighting for their people?
    • Stopping Zanza is not the only goal. Mercy killing the transformed High Entia is among the goals Dunban's group has in the game. He's referring to that.

    Unique Face units 

  • How come Mumkhar, Fiora, and Gadolt get unique face units? What's so special about them compared to Xord and the other mass-produced faces?
    • Presumably it's a skill or power thing. Give the more skilled homs more advanced units to take advantage of their abilities. Gadolt was the best of the Colony 6 defense force, and Mumkhar was part of Dunban's honor guard. Fiora, while skilled on her own, was given a unique unit because she was Meyneth's host, and that was only because she happened to be close to Shulk.
    • Fiora wasn't given a unique unit because she's Meyneth's host, since it's made clear Egil had no idea Meyneth resided in her at the time he made her a Face Mechon. Egil only learns this much later in the story.
    • Metal Face in particular also seems to have been an early face unit, a prototype of sorts. It's also possible there are more designs than we see in the game, but we mostly see the Xord design due to the Law of Conservation of Detail.

    On the way to Sword Valley 

  • Dunban mentions that he thought the High Entia were but folklore. But... just a year ago you had to go to Sword Valley. How'd the Homs get to Sword Valley without passing by the lands held by the high Entia?
    • You don't have to go to Eryth Sea to get to Sword Valley. Only Valak Mountain. Going to Eryth Sea was only because of Prison Island and unlocking the power to hurt Faced Mechon.
    • What makes it strange however is that Otharon is clearly well aware of their existence, and asked them for help in the battle. How did Dunban never even know they existed?
    • I don't think Otharon was necessarily claiming he knew they existed and actually asked the High Entia for help, rather that its now clear to him the High Entia were aware of what was going on and that the Homs needed help yet they did nothing.

    Colony 6 last defense 

  • In the Battle of Sword Valley, why would the plan be to set up the last line of defense at Colony 6? 6 is pretty far from Sword Valley (having to go through Valak Mountain, Makna Forest, and Satorl Marsh to get there from Sword Valley), thus making it seem like a lost cause, plus the fact that Frontier Village in in Makna.
    • Recall that the group only went to Satorl Marsh, Makna Forest, etc. because of Shulk's vision showing they needed to get to the head of the Bionis (before this they planned to go straight to Sword Valley). Apparently there is a more direct/shorter route between Colony 6 and Sword Valley, we just don't get to use it. Sharla does seem to allude to it though when she mentions how if Colony 6 were in better shape they could just take pods from there to Sword Valley.

    Alvis and Shulk 

  • Why does Alvis need Shulk or to pretend to be a mortal at all? He seems to be more powerful than even Zanza, is sapient, and clearly isn't satisfied with the universe Zanza created. So why not just remake the universe himself? It doesn't seem like Zanza could do anything to stop him, and Alvis doesn't seem to need his permission to act either. If he did, Zanza could have just told him to kill Shulk at the end.
    • Alvis may simply not be able to take that kind of direct action. He refers to the events that defeat Zanza as "the providence of the world" (i.e. the collective will of the world) rather than his own power, that he is merely "proclaiming" the end rather than causing it. Further, he notes that without its own god the world Zanza and Meyneth made is rapidly falling apart and the new god, Shulk, has to decide what to do about it. That he outright creates an illusion to push Shulk forward in deciding suggests Alvis needed Shulk to be the one to do it and that Alvis couldn't stop the world coming apart without this. Hence Alvis needed to wait until Zanza's activities caused the conditions needed for a new god to be born before he could move forward with his own plans. Alvis' methods also tie into his original nature as a computer, he has developed his own will and wants for the universe but he is still limited by his need for "input" from others and his original purpose of being a monitor and overseer of a system rather than a direct manipulator of it. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 explores more about what sort of being Alvis is and what it takes for one to gain human-like levels of initiative and free will.
    • Specifically, XB2 explains that Blades normally work by channeling power into their Drivers, which is far more efficient than just fighting on their own. Blades are weaker the farther they are from their Drivers, even though the Aegis (which Alvis is) is much stronger and has an unlimited range. Even the Big Bad of that game just has a motivation copied off the man who initially Awakened him. So in short, Alvis can't really act unless his Driver is directing him. In the end, his only choice was picking Shulk over Zanza.

    Purpose of the Mechon 

  • Where did the Mechon come from, and what is their purpose? It's stated all throughout the game that the Mechon hail from Mechonis, but that seems pretty closed-minded when considering that Meyneth, the Goddess of Mechonis, wanted Gods and living creatures to exist in harmony. Why then would her home Titan house creatures meant to wipe out all life forms? In fact, doesn't it seem unnecessary for Mechon to want to eradicate all life, given that not only do the Telethia serve the same exact purpose, but they were specifically designed to do so by Zanza, the one who actually wants to destroy all life and reincarnate it in an endless cycle? The only Mechon who seem to make sense from a purpose standpoint would be the Faced Mechon, given that they don't have "minds" of their own, and they're piloted by corrupt Homs.
    • That's because they were not initially meant to be killing machines. Rather they were an automated work and defense force, doing things the Machina found too difficult or dangerous. It was Egil who redesigned/reprogrammed them and directed them to slaughter the peoples of Bionis.
    • Egil explained why he was attacking the people of Bionis: They are Zanza's food source, so attacking them (or better yet, repurposing them for his own use) is good strategy. He doesn't care about killing them, it's just a means to an end. Letting Zanza eat them is the last thing he wants.

    Empty shell 

  • So, we can infer that Shulk became his own person once he got in contact with Alvis postmortem, given that Zanza literally said that Shulk was nothing but an empty shell for his whole life. ...But that just begs the question. Why did Shulk have so many unanswered questions about the feud between the Bionis and Mechonis, as well as his own motives, feelings, and relationships? Was it all an insanely complex ruse by Zanza to lead to his resurrection? Because if so, Zanza was being way too convoluted in putting up a disguised personality for 18 years, especially given that age rates for Gods stretch out far longer than someone like a Homs, or even a High Entia.
    • That's one interpretation, but I would say the game's story supports the idea that Shulk was always his own person, hence why Zanza did things like send him dreams saying "you aren't here, not anymore." Him claiming Shulk was an empty shell was likely just a way to disregard him or otherwise make everyone doubt themselves. Note that they all seem very focused on breaking the spirits of Shulk and company. We see this too when Dickson refers to Fiora as a "corpse" and mocks the idea that they think she is their old friend, whereas we know that even though she is being kept alive via a god's energy, she is still Fiora just the same. Zanza became Shulk's life force, and this meant Shulk himself was still alive alongside Zanza, and after Zanza left him, Fiora states Meyneth used the last of her power to fix his body. What specifically Alvis did is unclear, but perhaps he helped awaken Shulk's developing godhood.

    A world with no Telethia 

  • Without Zanza following Shulk's wish, the Telethia no longer serve a purpose in the new world. Even so, this doesn't stop the High Entia from being carried over to the new universe where Zanza and Meyneth are erased from existence. In theory, could the High Entia still undergo transformation into Telethia at the end of their lifespan or through high-energy Ether radiation without Zanza around? And if so, without a meaningful purpose, what would these new-universe Telethia be capable of?
    • To be clear, Zanza and Meyneth were already dead and gone to whatever afterlife may exist in the Xenoblade realities before the new universe was made, they weren't "erased from existence." Zanza's corpse, the Bionis, is even still present in the new world. Without Zanza to influence them, the Telethia now exist as fully indepedent (and notably placid) creatures, flying about their city and feeding on ether. As far as we know no pure-blooded High Entia remain who aren't already Telethia, so there are none left that can become Telethia anyway. If a way is found to change them back into High Entia, then they could address if it is still possible for pure bloods to become Telethia. Course, that might be a moot problem then since it would mean a way to change Telethia back now exists.

     Fiora's body after the attack on Colony 6 

  • Fiora was made into a face unit after the Mechon attacked Colony 6, so that must mean they took her body with them when Metal Face and the remaining Mechon fled the scene. But if that's the case, why are the protagonists absolutely certain she must be dead? Sure, Metal Face's attack on her was a No One Could Survive That! situation, but you'd think Shulk or Reyn would at least hold on to a faint hope that she survived the attack and was being kept a prisoner of the Mechon?
    • Recall that at the time they thought the people the Mechon took were being eaten, not kidnapped. Thus they had no reason to think Fiora's body even still existed.

     No other gods than Zanza and Meyneth? 

  • In the flashback with the accident that created this game's universe, we clearly see that there were other scientists present besides Klaus/Zanza and Galea/Meyneth. Why didn't they turn into gods like Klaus and Galea did?
    • The Conduit is mysterious on purpose, but perhaps the depiction of these events in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is meant to explain it a bit, with Klaus and Galea being closer to the Conduit's activation point than anyone else. Klaus also states "many people and many things disappeared into distant dimensions," so its possible others did become gods, just in a different dimension from the one formed for Klaus and Galea.

    The appearance of Meyneth and the Machina 

  • Before becoming creator gods of the Bionis and the Mechonis, Zanza and Meyneth were both regular humans. So it makes that Zanza's true appearance still has the same human form he had as a mortal, and that the life born out of him on the Bionis includes a species which is identical to homo sapiens. Meyneth, however, looks like some kind of cyborg, and the only sentient life form born on the Mechonis is completely mechanical. Is there any explanation why her path as a god was so different from Zanza's?

    The Machina refugees in Future Connected 

  • In Future Connected, it's implied most of people living on the Bionis Shoulder are refugees from Alcamoth. However, there are many Machina among the refugees, and it seems quite unlikely they are from Alcamoth too, since before the war no one on Bionis even knew the Machina existed, and during the war Alcamoth became infested with Telethia with almost all of the population fleeing the place, so the Machina couldn't have moved there then. One of the Machina refugees does explain that he fled the destruction of the Mechonis and landed on the Shoulder by chance, but again, it seems unlikely all of the Machina there would have ended up in a such remote place due to similarly random circumstances. So where did the Machina population on the Shoulder come from?
    • It's possible they moved after the creation of the new world, or perhaps, got moved. As Teelan and Maxis explain, they were all living in Alcamoth before the Fog King forced them out onto the shoulder. That could include the Machina, as Maxis says: "we gathered the High Entia and anyone else we found..." So regardless of how, it seems they were all in Alcamoth to begin with in the new world.


Alternative Title(s): Xenoblade

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