WMG / Xenoblade Chronicles 3

WARNING: Unmarked spoilers ahead. Go on at your own risk.

Pre-release Main Game WMGs

The Melia and Nia seen in the announcement trailer are red herrings

We all know how the Xenoblade series likes to do shocking plot twists involving the main characters (Zanza being inside Shulk, and Nia being a Flesh Eater Blade, for example). Odds are that they, whoever they are, aren't the original Melia and Nia.

• Confirmed! The acting queens of Keves and Agnus are actually robots, while the real Melia is being used as a Living Battery by Moebius, and the real Nia has gone into hiding.

The "true enemy" mentioned in the trailer is capable of forcing people to fight each other.

Noah seems dismayed that Mio would side with Agnus against Keves, as if they were initially on the same side once. Mio's response ("We're only fighting because there are enemies to kill.") isn't much of a reason unless she's being compelled to fight, like Elly was back in the day. Taion's introductory line ("They're not your friends anymore! They're his fuel!") also implies the war only broke out recently, and until then the two nations were friends. It also hearkens back to Egil accusing Zanza of using Bionis' life for food. The fact that he says "his" also implies that neither maybe-Melia nor maybe-Nia are the ones pulling the strings. Perhaps the "true enemy" (whether it's the Fog King, Zanza, Malos, an evil Wave Existence, or whatever) has possessed the leaders of the two nations and forced them to go to war, so that it can feed on the death and destruction that will result.

• Confirmed. The Moebius are able to control people through their Irises and force them to fight the party, as indicated by a red glow.

Despite Shulk’s hope, gods will make their way into the new world

Assuming this game takes place in the world Shulk wished for at the end of the original game, and that is indeed the same land Rex and company arrived at, Shulk wished to live in a world without gods. But it simply would not be a ‘‘Xeno’’ experience without heavy questions of godhood. This could take several forms:

• Those descended from the Homs and those descendants of Alrest could wage religious war with one another over distorted messages. If Shulk has become legendary, the Homs descendants could take his wish to live without gods as a commandment to keep gods and religion from returning. Whereas the descendants of Alrest, whose god was ultimately benevolent, could interpret it as the ancient Architect’s will to wage holy war. Thus, distorted messages force the sides into conflict.
• The conduit could return in some way, shape, or form, and conflict could break out over who will ultimately next wield its power.
  • Neither of these take part in the main game, but Z is basically the closest the world has to a god.

Some aspect of Galea will be a major player

• As Klaus was ripped in two by his experiment with the Conduit, there is a chance some of Galea ended up elsewhere as well. What role she would play remains unknown, but she may well be the last bit of the original earth still out there, somewhere.
  • Given that Meyneth was killed near the end of the first game and that means her other half (If there was one) would have also died, I doubt Galea has any chance to show up.
  • Besides this, the second game implies that the half of Meyneth that remained in her original world became the Infernal Guldo, similarly to how that half of Zanza became the Architect. It seems unlikely she'll make any direct appearances.
• Jossed. Neither Klaus nor Galea appear whatsoever.

Xenoblade Chronicles X will be acknowledged as well as the first two games

Not much to go on for this one as of just the first trailer, but some of the costume and technological designs borrow more from X than from the two mainline games. And with the confirmation that this game connects the first and second titles, X could fill a similar role as the insane third act reveal of ‘‘2’’ and its true connection back to the original.

• Specifically, it may be revealed that the world the main characters exist on is another region of Mira, and that the internal war to take control of the Conduit that caused Earth to be destroyed in the first place was part of the alien war described in the backstory of X.
• Grey's class is "Full Metal Jaguar", the same as Elma.

Names for Noah's sword

List what you think the names for his sword might be here.

• The Xenoblade, as this is a direct sequel to both 1 & 2, this would make 3 a Bookend to both games.
  • That would also evoke Xenogears, and the protagonist Fei’s eponymous Gear that he obtains near the end of the game.
    • While the main sword is unnamed, inside of it is a blade known as Lucky Seven.
    • It actually is named, as can be seen in the Hero Roster. It is originally called the Veiled Sword, and later on the Truthsinger.

Noah is a reincarnation of Fei

Xenogears was known as "Project Noah" while in development, Noah resembles Fei if he were white and they're both motivated by wanting to stop others from fighting each other. Not to mention, Fei had a bad habit of reincarnating over & over. First he was Abel, then he was Kim, then Lacan and finally Fei. He might have reincarnated into Noah this time around.

• Jossed in the most literal sense, but Noah and Mio both seem to parallel Fei and Elly. They both have multiple incarnations across the millennia, Noah/Fei always loses Mio/Elly before dying himself, and the previous incarnation to the one we play as eventually becomes evil as Grahf/N. This is inverted by N and M being the "real" Noah and Mio, whereas the Noah and Mio we play as are merely his emotions and will having separated from him and returned to the cycle of reincarnation, as opposed to Fei being the "real" Contact and Grahf being his emotions and will.

More of the series' Myth Arc will be explored

Xenoblade 1 introduced Klaus' evil half and teased what would be shown in Xenoblade 2. 2 explored Klaus' past further by bringing in his good half and one of three Low Orbit Stations of the Orbital Ring. This game could have the Second or Third Low Orbit Stations (or perhaps both) come into play, and we could see more of the Saviorites and their motivations.

• The Consuls may very well be the Saviorites, finally coming out of hiding to complete whatever it was they set out to do all those millennia ago.
  • Sadly, nope, this is mostly Jossed, at least for the main story.

We'll get to pilot giant mechs again

Because they are awesome and I want one!

• Adding to that, each member of the party will get their own unique Face Mechon/Sirens in the manner of Gears and AGWS. Also, the token Nopon party member will be able to swell to giant size just like Chu-Chu.
  • Not exactly. The Ouroboros forms are the closest we get to piloting giant mecha.

The story will take from Genesis 3 of the Bible

Xenoblade 1 and Genesis 1 focused on the creation of a universe. Xenoblade 2 and Genesis 2 focused on a god's gifts to his people, a man and a woman, and a lush, green paradise. If the pattern holds up, Xenoblade 3 could include some forbidden fruit, a serpentine being, and a major act of disobedience/defiance.

• Well, we heard Melia refer to a being called "Ouroboros" in the reveal trailer, and that's a snake.
• When it comes to possible symbolism, the Ouroboros may very well represent the serpent from Genesis 3, as mentioned above. As for a major act of defiance, the Ouroboros are constantly rising up against the Consuls and the ways of their world, so that could count.

The "Ouroboros" mentioned in the trailer powers the weapons of both sides

A closer inspection of the cores of each of the party's weapons shows that the ring in the centre of the core is shaped like an Ouroboros. This is likely due to the disappearance of the Conduit/Zohar at the end of XC 2 (and by extension XC 1). So whatever the Ouroboros is, it's important for both Keves and Angus to wage war against each other.The only exception to this seems to be Noah's sword, which looks like it runs on a power that I can only assume comes directly from the Conduit or something to that effect.Noah's sword has the same Ouroboros symbol in the trailer when he and Mio are tackling the Agnus robot/"Flame Clock." I think it's safe to say he's not an exception after all.

• Jossed. The June 2022 Xenoblade Direct makes a clear distinction between the two.

Poppi will show up as a wandering storyteller that the party interacts with every now and then

Since Tora is more than likely long dead, Poppi has no reason to stick around in one place. By the time of the Aionis war, she has no will to fight, and instead tries to stay out of it. She'll show up every once in a while to fill in the gaps of how the world got to be in the state that it's in. Bonus points if she shifts between her three forms with every encounter.

• In the English dub, she'll probably also speak in more grammatically correct English to reflect her being Older and Wiser, albeit still with some Noponic speech quirks.
  • Jossed. She does appear in the ending though.

The Pyra and Mythra amiibo from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be released alongside the game and have some sort of compatibility

The release of XC3 would probably be the most profitable time for Nintendo to release the amiibo of those two given the cross-promotion, particularly since they have already been confirmed to be in development. If this were the case, then it'll also make perfect sense for them to be compatible with the game in some way; it could be something as simple as power-ups, cosmetic items or a sound test mode (like in Xenoblade Chronicles 3D), or something more surprising like superboss battles a la Elma in XC2 (which Shulk would also get via a re-release of his own amiibo).

• Jossed for now. There is amiibo compatibility, and the Shulk amiibo has the unique functionality of reskinning the Swordmaster class' sword to the Monado; the Pyra and Mythra amiibo were not yet mentioned.

Melia and Nia will be straight-up villains and Poppi will be Back for the Dead

The developers at Monolith Soft include not only people who worked on Xenogears and Xenosaga but also Chrono Cross. Thus, to play Devil's Advocate, let us suggest an unlikely worst-case scenario: the game's time themes are a hint that they will not only homage past Xeno games but also the recently-remastered Cross, by treating the old protagonists terribly. First, they derail Melia and Nia by having them become unapologetically evil tyrants. Then, they will reveal that the heroes of the old games either died ignobly or underwent a Face–Heel Turn to become evil conquerors. And since Poppi is an Artificial Blade, she can survive into the present day. As such she will become an administrative supercomputer for the sake of a Cerebus Retcon in which the villain deletes her memory to really rub it in a la Robo.

• Jossed. the real Melia and Nia are on the side of the good guys, and Poppi only cameos in the ending.

The Xenoblade 1 and 2 cast tried to stop the "real enemy," but failed

Shulk and Melia already know something is up in Future Connected, and whether or not you take the Land of Challenge in Xenoblade 2 to be canon, there's no way Rex's party wouldn't want to help out if they could. Unfortunately, whatever they were up against turned out to be more than they could handle, leaving Melia and Nia (and maybe Poppi) as the sole survivors, each blaming the other's group for things turning out so badly. And with all of the mediating voices like Shulk, Rex, Pyra and Fiora out of the picture, conflict ensues.

The game will be a reconstruction of what Episode 6 of Xenogears was supposed to be

The only thing we know about Episode 6 is that it was supposed to be "the terminal point" of Xenogears' entire story, and it would cover the Time of the Gospel mentioned throughout the games. If what's said in Xenosaga is taken as fact, the Time of the Gospel is the end of the universe. From what dialogue suggests in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, it looks like Aionios is dying. Also, both Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and especially 2 seem to be the Episode 5 of their respective timelines.

The "true enemy" mentioned in the trailer is manipulating Keves and Agnus

Keves and Agnus are both translations for "lamb" in Latin and Hebrew respectively. Lambs are the term used by Solarians to refer to surface dwellers. They were also fueling war between Kislev and Aveh, two countries with very similar names.

• To add on to this, its name may be Ouroboros. Additionally, the Clocks may be their doing, including the Flame Clock.
• Confirmed as of the June 2022 Xenoblade Direct.

Pyra and Mythra are the main antagonists.

In previous Xeno games, the main antagonist(s) are a Foil to the protagonist(s). Pyra and Mythra are potentially some form of “Off-Seer” like Noah and Mio, the two protagonists. Or having some involvement in the pacification of dead souls as they’re guided to the collective unconscious again, but keeping the world in a perpetual cycle to sustain it in a way that’s morally questionable due to the suffering of the collective. The flutes◊ that Noah and Mio has is the same color patterns as Pyra and Mythra. Black, gold, red and emerald green is Pyra's. White, gold and emerald green is Mythra's. Also appears to be borrowing one of the decorative knots from Nia's Blade form. The Aegis created the ceremony and would be the only ones able to manipulate both the Cloud Sea and Core Crystals en masse. The Architect granted them authority over ALL the systems at the end of Xenoblade 2. Pyra and Mythra are manipulating the war on both sides, Keves and Agnus. Despite the two nations are at war they have a few things in common such as the "Off-Seer" and the ceremony. It must have it's origins lies elsewhere. They believe that this would cause the Conduit to return since Pyra and Mythra are emotionally depended on Rex. Pyra and Mythra showed some rather unhealthy coping mechanisms in the absence of someone being able to support them. Black Knight who may be Elma's former partner and the Hero of the White Whale, is the one who secretly instigated Pyra and Mythra to enact Xenoblade 3's conflict. Similar to how he may be the one behind Lao's actions, learning the truth of Elma and Project Exodus, breaking Lao out of prison, etc. He was presumed deceased. He was mentioned a few times in Xenoblade X and in Xenoblade 2. Black Knight with his mysterious powers, would murder Rex and may prevent Rex's revival as the Aegis could before when Rex made contact with the Aegis sword in Xenoblade 2. He would meet Pyra and Mythra and set them on their path of revenge against the world. Black Knight would make "promises" that Rex can somehow be brought backed. A twisted Call-Back of what Lao was promised from the higher-ups of the Coalition government. Much as how Malos gave Jin a purpose and Black Knight himself with Lao Huang. Black Knight's agenda would be kept a secret till later.

• Jossed - They don't appear in the main game except in an image owned by Nia seen during the ending.

Uraya was slain by Mythra.

It wouldn't be the first time Mythra destroyed a Titan. Mythra is still powerful enough to take the Mechonis Sword and use it to destroy Uraya. It's worth noting that Uraya was where Mythra knighted Addam to be her Driver.

• Game Spot's preview reveals that a Sphere of Destruction was used which shares a resemblance to Mythra's and bit of Pyra's coloration as well as the craters it leaves behind similar to what was seen with Malos, destroyed Uraya.
• Jossed. Uraya was destroyed by an annihilation event, which has nothing to do with Siren or Mythra.

The game's incarnations of Territorial Rotbart and Immovable Gonzalez will have reversed roles.

Gonzalez will be the one the player runs into (and gets slaughtered by) in the early game, though befitting its name it will mostly stay in one place but will still be conspicuously visible. Rotbart will be encountered a bit later on, guarding some sidequest-important area.

• Jossed. They're in areas typical of Xenoblade 1 and 2.

Noah has Time Stop abilities.

Unlike Shulk and Rex whom can see the future due to Visions and Foresight, Noah's power would serve as an invaluable counter for opponents whom are able to utilized the aforementioned power such as the Aegis.

• Nope. But the world is, in a sense, in stopped time, in that it's trapped in the "Eternal Now".

Melia and Nia will become Walking Spoiler Party members.

After the entire game thinking they are the Big Bads its revealed they were working together the entire time to deal with the threat enemy and they both will become the last two party members.

• Did someone say post-game Heroes? I heard post-game Heroes. Comfirmed.

The conflict between Keves and Agnus is a religious war over the legacy of Klaus.

Xeno series lore has always been rife with Abrahamic symbolism and this game will likely be no exception. The success of the previous Xenoblade games which toned down the references somewhat will likely embolden them to be more overt. And Klaus has been the common factor binding the two games, so there's a fair chance he will continue to influence the plot of 3.

The inhabitants of Keves, implied to be the people of Bionis and Mechonis, knew Klaus as a tyrannical Demiurge Archetype, and Melia was one of the people who personally fought to depose Zanza so that they could live in a land without deities of any sort ruling over them. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Agnus, implied to be Alrestians, knew Klaus as a benevolent ruler and that their continued survival is a direct gift from God. It's likely that Keves and Agnus's wildly different interpretations of Klaus are reason to fight, just as wars have been waged in real life over different interpretations of God and the Bible.

• Jossed. It's just a means for the real villains to live off of their life forces.

Zeke is still alive in the present.

Since Zeke and Mikhail are both Blade Eaters and Mikhail's aging was slowed down substantially after being made into one, Zeke's aging may have been changed too. In which case he might show up still alive despite however long the time period between 2 and 3 turns out to be.

• Zeke hasn't appeared in the main story, although he might be related to one of the first Ourobus.

Gael'gar will return.

Gael'gar may have jumped off a cliff but his body was never found. Gael'gar could come back to get revenge such as bringing back the Fog King, herding in Fog Beasts, and turn Teelan into Telethia, the Endbringer. He would meet Empress Melia, the leader of Keves again and give praise of what she's doing such as her contribution to the war. Melia would feel ashamed of it.

Tyrea is dead.

Tyrea volunteered to get Melia's back and sniff out plots such as political maneuvering and backroom assassinations in Future Connected. Someone or more then one person has set up Tyrea to be removed in order for another to take Tyrea's place as one of Melia's closest advisors to engage the war and other actions, such as Gael'gar and/or Pyra.

L will appear as a Superboss.

L would appear in his original form and will "test" the party's strength much as how Telethia, the Endbringer did.

Alternately, L is one of the Consuls and will appear as a main story boss.

He coincidentally has the same naming convention that they do, and his original form looks somewhat like the purple-horned Consul we see in the Direct. For all we know, they could be the same person and L's characterization in X is Obfuscating Stupidity.

• Jossed on him being the horned Consul from the direct, who is named "Z." There is a Consul named L, though, but we don't know much more than that yet.

The party members specialized in at least one element.

Similar to how Torna ~ The Golden Country had human party members that could alternate between Elements if the player wanted, but they primarily specialized in Fire, Electric, and Earth specifically. Each character has a different shade of color in their official artwork portrait. For example, Noah has a red shade, Lanz has a green shade, and Eunie has a yellow shade. Noah is specialized with Fire, Lanz is specialized with Wind, Eunie is specialized with Electric, Mio is specialized with Light, Sena is specialized with Water, and Taion is specialized with Earth.

• Jossed. Most of the party doesn't even have an elemental theme to their Arts that we've seen so far, and the only one who does (Taion) has multiple elements, with a lean towards Wind instead of Earth. Overall it seems more like the first game where all of the elemental magic will be concentrated in just one or two characters or classes, like Melia and Riki. Hero classes could be still be element-themed, but the main party appears to be exempt for now.

Noah and Mio have second forms.

Some of the previous Xeno party members has more then one form. Noah has an ID equivalent form where he has powers of Darkness and Mio's second form has powers of ice.

• Yes and no. They have Ouroboros forms when fused together, with one each for whichever personality is dominant at a particular time, but that applies to all main six party members.

Off-seers function similarly to Summoners from Final Fantasy X.

Various motes of light which resemble FFX's pyreflies can be seen floating around Noah, Mio, and the unnamed blond figure in the first trailer when they play their flutes, presumably carrying out the Off-seeing process. These could be figurative or literal representations of off-seeing, or possibly even the literal spirits of the dead. Thus the Off-seers' jobs might work similar to Sending and involve pacifying the dead so that they do not remain as dangerous monsters or so their energy can be recycled into a form that can be used by their allies as fuel.

• Confirmed. Off-seers are meant to, as the June 2022 Xenoblade Direct puts it: "Send souls off to the great beyond".

Noah is the Great One.

CHOCO who was one of the mech designers of Xenoblade X is credited to be one of the main artists but what he worked on is kept secret. Vita has several meanings, one being the Latin word for "life". Vita is also a term used to describe a biography/legacy of a saint. In the Italian version of Xenoblade X, Vita is called Vitarth instead. The main theme of Xenoblade 3 is life. The bit about the legacy of a saint could also be referring to Noah, who would get a mech that happens to resemble the Vita. Noah shares some resemblance to Fei Fong Wong who also is a Martial Pacifist sporting a Samurai Ponytail. The Vita's second form shares some resemblance to the Gear Xenogears. With it being a very powerful mech that have spikes on the back while floating around. One of Fei Fong Wong's previous incarnations had also became an antagonistic figure. The Vita was mentioned to have belonged to the Great One.

Koei Tecmo will develop a Dynasty Warriors licensed spin-off for this game.

Given that the Warriors licensed spin-offs have started to spin-off of individual series installments rather than make Intra-Franchise Crossover games, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that Koei will continue the trend for Xenoblade 3. It helps that Xenoblade 3, at least from its reveal trailer, will feature a greater number of large-scale conflict compared to its two mainline predecessors.

The Mysterious Giant is a failed Ouroboros of Shulk, Fiora, Rex and Pyra

He has two cores instead of the party Ouroboros' one, and they bear an infinity symbol instead of a circle, perhaps indicating that this is a fusion of four people instead of two (and we all know what four means in Japanese culture). Following up on the "previous heroes tried to stop the real enemy but failed" theory, maybe the Giant was a result of the leads of both games trying to fuse together to stop the real threat, but the fusion was unstable, causing it to go rogue and lose any resemblance in body or mind to the people that constituted it. This would explain why both Melia and Nia are so adamant about destroying any new Ouroboros; they saw what happened to their friends and loved ones when they tried it, and see destroying them while they still have humanity as a Mercy Kill.

• Jossed. It's a new character named "D".
  • And the infinity symbol is the symbol of the main villains.

All the protagonists are former villains.

The reason everyone sees them as Living Shadows is that they were all part of a horrific battle in which they all participated in something utterly wrong. This is also why they want to stop the war, because in the wake they realized what the war had done to them, but the likely Big Bad sealed away their memories to hide the truth of what actually happened, using their own desire to forget everything they saw and did against them. Every one of them has a Superpowered Evil Side that is effectively them trapped in that battle, the worst moment of their lives, and unable to realize it ended - everyone will eventually remember how they actually met, and after the inevitable Heroic BSODs are over, confront and subdue their dark halves, accepting the guilt and horror and reintegrating themselves before confronting the ultimate causes.

• Building on the above, the shadows are the party's Gnosis forms, which are possibly renamed Moebius here - when having a flashback, the party transform into Gnosis due to them being fixed mentally in something that leaves them feeling too guilt-ridden and fearful of their reward to rejoin the universe - however, Ouroboros reminds the party that other people exist and understand their pain, which helps them retain their sanity (it's Word of God that Gnosis are utterly incapable of recognizing the existence of other Gnosis, hence their lack of tactics or coordination) and enter Gnosis form in a controlled state - the reason Nia declares them enemies to be destroyed at all costs is that they're still Gnosis, with all that implies; even if they don't accidentally turn people, the idea of rational Gnosis is terrifying, given how Gnosis instinctively despise all other consciousness.
• Jossed. They're all just child soldiers.
  • On the other hand, it's possible that they are clones of other characters who may be villains. The apparent leader of the Consuls, N, bears an uncanny resemblance to Noah.
    • Confirmed for Noah and Mio, at least.

Both queens will have a Heel–Face Turn later on

Because they're still Nia and Melia, and not awful people at all. After discovering the truth, they will try to stop the Forever War but be usurped by their own generals and become patrons of the party to stop their out-of-control troops.

• Well... The ones we see with the masks on are robots, but the REAL Queens do get recruited to the party's side, so...

Shulk, Rex, Fiora, Pyra and Mythra will be fought as boss battles.

With none of them knowing about the full story they will attack the main protagonists leading to a boss fight, upon defeating them the protagonists get an opportunity to explain everything which will lead to them occupying the 7th party slot. (either as permanent party members or Guest-Star Party Member’s depending on characters in the 7th party slot stay in the party)

• Sorry, they don't appear in the game, so Jossed.

The Indoline will return in this game as an endangered race affiliated with Keves.

The Indoline have been confirmed to have not gone extinct following Indol's destruction, since there are refugees in Fonsett Village, but they're bordering extinction. By the time of 3, it's likely that they'd repopulate to the point that they'd be more endangered than critically endangered, but there's also the caveat of Amalthus' criminal actions being fresh in the public conscience and likely being passed down through generations up to the current people of Agnus who descended from the citizens of Alrest. This sort of hearsay would likely result in the Indoline being ostracized, but the fact that Aionios is in the midst of warfare would end up increasing tensions even more, to the point that the Indoline would end up seeking refuge as citizens of Keves and use their knowledge of Blade technology to assist the mechanical endeavors of Keves.

• Confirmed that they exist, but they're still with Agnus.

There will be Blades for other characters in the game.

Considering how much is being focused on customisation via Blades by Monolith, I wouldn't be surprised if the player could access the Blades of characters like Riku & Manana, Zeon, Valdi, that Gormotti girl with the bow, maybe even Ethel, Cammuravi and Isurd after certain requirements are met, allowing the main six to class change into them. And considering 2 got a Season Pass, there are probably going to be Blades based on previous Xenoblade (and maybe other Xeno) characters as DLC.

• Bonus points if Melia and Nia are made playable this way, as they might have some some choice words for the Queens of Keves and Agnus, respectively.
  • Okay, my idea on Riku & Manana's and Ethel's Blades at least has been confirmed via footage from tweets by the Monolithsoft Twitter account and dev blogposts, meaning we can assume Cammuravi, Isurd, Valdi, Zeon and the green Gormotti girl will likely apply.
    • Got the characters wrong, but my assertion was otherwise correct.

There will be an Old Save Bonus for Xenoblade 2 and Definitive Edition.

Self-explanatory, and probably a safe bet seeing as how Definitive Edition is literally the page image (as of the time of writing). But I wanted to get this out there. I guess you could leave your guesses as to what it could be down below.

• Nope, sadly.

There will be a Tirkin Optional Party Member

The birdmen will FINALLY get a Representative, but the party member is optional because... reasons.

• Jossed, unfortunately.

Mio is Nia's daughter, or otherwise significantly connected to each other

The similarities between these two are quite honestly too great (both cat girls, have similar hair and eye colors, flesh-eater cores, disc weapons ect.) to be more than just an allusion, especially since Nia herself is likely the Queen of Agnus. Furthering this, Nia will likely be the first of the two Queens to pull a Heel–Face Turn. Unless one of the Keves trio also have a direct relation with their Queen as well. However unless that happens to be Noah, Mio's position as a protagonist will likely make the connection have more narrative focus.

There will be at least one scene of one Colony crashing into another one.

I mean, they're mobile houses and artillery at the same time. The joke writes itself!

• $10 says it's Zeon's fault.
  • We do get one scene similar to that, where the Feronis of a once-lost colony crashes into the Feronis of Concel V.

Melia and Nia used to be friends.

Melia and Nia have design patterns based on the opposing nation. Similar to the people of Bionis and Mechonis, they lived in peace for a certain period of time, and Melia and Nia formed a friendship. Until another enemy struck to caused them to turn against each other, whether it's Pyra, Mythra, Alvis, and/or Black Knight, others such as Fog King, Fog Beasts, Gnosis, Saviorite rebels, T-elos or other unknown enemies for their own agenda.

• Well, more like "they were and still are." They worked together to try and prevent their worlds from being destroyed when the two collided.

Ouroboros is Necessarily Evil

Ouroboros usually tends to be portrayed as something bad or ominous through various forms of media and popular culture, such as being part of a Big Bad's plan. Ouroboros may cause the characters to lose themselves but is needed to fight off something worse.

• Jossed. It's not Necessarily Evil. But it is needed to help fight off something worse.

Pyra and Mythra will not only return, they'll be playable

They'd fit perfectly into the paired party member system, with Pneuma as their Ouroboros equivalent. And while we got to play as Mythra in Torna, Pyra has only been directly playable in Smash Bros, and Pneuma never has been. Here we'd get to play as all three. This could either be a non-canon bonus like Shulk and Elma in XC2, or actually part of the story (though in the latter case they would probably need to be nerfed in some way due to their Story-Breaker Power.

• Jossed, unless some DLC changes this.

Pyra and Mythra have went their separate ways at some point, possibly due to differing ideologies.

They end up having to reunite and reconcile their differences in the course of the story.

Mio is Nia and she is also the Queen of Agnus.

Each of them look similar to each other.

• Nope. Nia is the true Queen of Agnus though.

Guernica Vandham is Rex

The fact that this game's Vandham looks so much like Xenoblade 2's incarnation is not just a fun callback, it was a deliberate decision by Rex. Rex was already Vandham's successor, having become the leader of Garfont Mercenaries and a legendary mercenary in his own right. Thus, it is only natural in a situation where Rex has to conceal his identity, he would choose to take up the mantle of an old respected mentor of his.

In addition, the little we see of Guernica's lifestyle so far line up with the life Rex was living already. As a salvager, he's used to roughing it out in the wild and tinkering with machinery. His line about the "true enemy" also holds a lot of weight when you remember the final conflict in Xenoblade 2, and how Malos' wicked nature stemmed from the hatred of another man, hiding in plain sight.

Bonus points if Roc or any of his old non-Aegis/Nia blades make an appearance, though this would likely give away the game too quickly. Extra bonus points if he is involved in a potential Poppi sidequest.

Though, it can be assumed that if Rex is now taking up the mantle of Vandham, he will likely meet the same fate of him...

• So how did his accent change from Scottish to Australian?
• More over, how did his ethnicity change from (presumably) Tornan to Urayan, given the skin difference?
  • Nope, but it's likely he might be descended from Rex...

The Conduit will return

The only thing about the Conduit we know for sure his that it was unearth in Africa and that it can connect to different dimensions. While it may have vanished at the end of Xenoblade 2, its influence is a major part of the Xenoblade story, so it's unlikely it won't a least be mentioned in 3.

If it does return, then it's entirely possible that the Conduit's origins will be explored also. The Conduit might also have a hand in the Ouroboros with the "true enemy" mentioned is also after the Conduit.

• It doesn't, sadly. However, Origin's concept art depicts a room with multiple Conduits (or possibly Conduit Emulators), implying that the developers at least considered having it show up again.

The Queen of Keves and/or Agnus will suffer a Villainous Breakdown

Similar to what happened to Luxaar, their people and soldiers such as Ethel, Valdi, Zeon, Cammuravi, Isurd, Yuzuriha, will betray them, go rogue, disobey orders, or abandon their factions to join Noah and Mio's party. As each of them join the party one by one, it escalates their breakdown. It culminates with a creation or usage of a Humongous Mecha that uses technology from the nations of Keves and Agnus or Melia using the Vita. Weapons that are powerful enough to destroy the world in order to kill the party.

• Jossed.

KOS-MOS and Telos will be optional blades

They will be the hardest blades to obtain.

• This game doesn't even have Blades in the same way as XC2.

Gray is from Planet Mira

He's kinda serving a New LA/Cowboy hybrid look, his class is named after a class in X, and his face is covered which means there's something important under it or just part of the New LA/Cowboy look.

• Then why doesn't he have an American accent?
  • Why can Rook have a British accent?
    • Because they're the main character. Whatever choices made for Rook are more or less non-canon and are just cute little nods to the OG Xenoblade.

Each Ouroboros pair will have a third form

So far, every Ouroboros form shown is only controlled by one person at a time. There will be a third form for each of them where they truly work together as one.

• Nope, they only have two forms each.

The Mysterious Giant, or "D," is Dickson

D's voice remains modulated and his face hidden even in humanoid form, as if there's still something about him to hide. Dickson was one of the only characters in the first game (besides Zanza) to mention the "passage of fate," and his combat style included both blades and projectile attacks like the ones D uses (though he could have borrowed the Wolverine Claws from Mumkhar). We also didn't exactly see him die in the first game, though the cigar falling from his mouth after defeating him implies that. He might have only fallen unconscious, though, and the Consuls could have picked him up off-screen and brought him into the fold. Alternately, he might simply be Back from the Dead like the Testaments from Xenosaga (see below).

• Jossed. None of the Consuls are characters from the previous games that we know of. D's true identity is from Agnus, with his real name being Blackblaze Dirk.

The Consuls are the Xenoblade equivalent of Testaments

Following upon the above, they may be the resurrected spirits of significant figures across the franchise's history in pursuit of a greater goal, similar to how the Testaments from Xenosaga followed Wilhelm. Their armor all resembles Grahf/Red Testament's combat armor or the E.S. Judah as well.

• Even if they aren't returning dead characters, they're definitely the Testaments in spirit.
• Correct on them being this game's equivalent of the Testaments, but Jossed on them being returning characters.

N is a past incarnation of Noah in the vein of Lacan from Xenogears

The members of Consuls, who are all obviously based off of Grahf/Lacan, are shown watching the events of the game play out in a theater just like in Xenogears when the Coward communicated his memories of Fei's childhood. The Consuls also mention that the events of the game are an Eternal Recurrence despite the heroes' attempts to save Mio and defy fate. It's possible that N, who looks and sounds very similar to Noah and shares the first letter of his name, is a version of him who managed to escape the infinite timeloop and wishes to end the system altogether, and that some of the scenes the Consul watches in the theater are his own memories. Likewise, Noah can later be heard declaring, "If the world holds our lives back, I will end it", which could be foreshadowing for his ability to become twisted into this game's version of Grahf.

• Alternately he's a different version of Kevin whose ultimate goal is to save Mio at any cost, and let himself be killed on purpose or otherwise in order in order to further his plans. Hopefully this time less of a Smug Snake.
  • You're basically right, in that N is Noah - specifically, a Noah who chose to become a Moebius.

Melia and Nia are being controlled by the Consul

Assuming the Queens of the two nations really are Melia and Nia, then them being Brainwashed and Crazy would explain why they would willingly send thousands of Child Soldiers to die near constantly. Heck the mask they wear might even be how they're being controlled.

• Adding onto that, they might be fully aware of what they're doing and are simply unable to do anything to stop it.
  • Nope, they're just in a deep, deep sleep - the Queens we see at first are just robots.

Most of the conflict is a Whole Episode Flashback.

Most of the conflicts Noah gets in are his memories and N is the present day Noah, showing what would cause his eventual change. Noah would end up saying a variation of This Is My Story.

• Jossed, no such thing occurs.

Riku’s resemblance to Rex is not a coincidence.

Rex turned himself into a Nopon in order to deceive the true enemy. He travels with the party because he believes they may be capable of defeating them. After all, since when has there been a coincidence in a Xenoblade game?

The Consuls are genetic templates on which the party is based, hence N's similar appearance to Noah.

They see everyone in the world as disposable anyway, so they don't care what happens to people who look like them, either, and are used to their clones being able to see past their lies only to fail and be recycled. That their counterparts have Ouroboros abilities is because they genetically match the profile for the Consuls' own Moebius. Plus, if they all already look like Darth Vader...

• Jossed. While N and M look similar to Noah and Mio as well, it's because they are past versions of themselves who became Moebius.

Noah is the Final Boss

Through unfortunate circumstances whether due to Pyra, Mythra, Black Knight, or other antagonists machinations, Noah is forced to transform and the party has no choice but to put him down. Making Mio's first fight in the game against Noah more impactful. He may return later on somehow just like Lao Huang. Noah's name as the final boss would be Noah Prime.

• Hey, if we're already borrowing from Astral Chain, why not have a literal Six Noahs boss fight? And it will be just as much of a Mind Screw to the playable Noah it was to Akira.
  • The game was more or less finished before the meme became a thing. Any Ascended Meme would make its way into the game in the DLC, if at all. And this is ignoring how the "Six Noahs" thing emerged from google translate screwing up, which the Japanese audience (i.e. the game's main audience" wouldn't know. All the English-speaking fandom's memes only made it into the English versions of the game, which is handled by both Nintendo Treehouse and Nintendo of Europe.
  • Nope, the final boss is Z, but N is one of the bosses faced during the final dungeon.

The pixelated hero in the Direct is Vandham

The icon appears before Riku and Manana, and if the heroes are supposed to be in chronological order, there's only one other allied character who we know we're going to meet that early in the game. The reason Monolith decided to censor him is to not spoil the fact that, despite his status as the party's mentor and how many death flags he has as a consequence, he's going to survive for at least a litttle while after we meet him, if not for the whole game like Dunban did.

• It's not him, but they do play a similar role in a sense.

The Consuls are the remaining scientist working alongside Zanza and Meyneth

They seemingly function much like Zanza did, draining the aether from the dead and dying, with the flame clocks and the war. And being the only two to have remained in any form just seems unlikely to me.

• Jossed.

Noah has some sort of connection to Logos

So far, the main characters of the series have been connected to one of the three A.I.s: Ontos for Shulk and Pneuma for Rex. At the end of the second game, Malos laments that he could never have had a good ending and also asks Pneuma how it felt to be alive. But let's consider the fact that Logos' core crystal was destroyed, so his body couldn't return like Pyra and Mythra were able to. Maybe when he faded away, the energy he released became the building blocks for the third game's cast and some part of him made it into Noah.

• This could explain why "N" (Noah's Consul doppelganger) has Malos' dark energy enveloping his sword.

The main party is all clones of people who are (mostly) long dead

• Noah's flashback to the worlds colliding isn't his flashback - it's a memory of the original Noah, who doesn't have the same hand tattoo. This would explain why the Consul N looks so much like Noah but seems to be much older (given he's a Consul) - he may be the original. Mio is also a clone of Nia, down to the discolored Flesh Eater crystal.
• The worlds colliding happened much longer ago than the game wants you to think, and the original versions of all six of the core party members were important figures in the immediate aftermath.
• This is the reason why the two groups of soldiers meet on a special mission: something about the passage of fate might mean that their clones will always meet, always break away from the warring nations... and always die, and then they're cloned again years later, and the cycle repeats. "Fighting fate" is the ability to stand outside the cycle and take a third choice.
  • Well, N is the base for Noah, but M is the base for Mio, not Nia.

The game will have major thematic callbacks to the life cycles in both Xenoblade 1 and 2

• In Xenoblade 1, part of the core cycle of the world was that Zanza - as the Bionis - would grow civilizations and then harvest them once they grew too far, so that he could live forever; Meyneth (as the Mechonis) refused to do this, and ultimately grew weak. In Xenoblade 2, the life cycle of a Titan (which the Bionis and Mechonis are the closest 1 equivalents to) was that once a Blade hit the end of their life cycle, they were reborn and became a Titan, losing all memory of their past life; the Titans then produced Core Crystals, creating new blades.
• Titanic creatures devouring the lives of their people for fuel because they can just grow more... where have we seen that again? Oh, right, one of the Moebius did that.
• Inherently, the ether cycle of this world seems really screwed up: most people are grown in vats, live for ten years, and then dissolve back into ether. There's no way this is healthy or sustainable, and I suspect it may be a major plot point in finding out what's wrong with the world.

Post-release WMGs

Mio is Nia's daughter with Rex.

• The looks, the Core crystal, the Gormotti ears, and the ending which shows humans and Blades can reproduce, and finally the messed-up timeline making it all possible.
  • If not her daughter, then a modified clone of Nia?
  • Or perhaps one of her decendants.
  • Nia's one-on-one conversation with Mio in her Hero Quest comes just short of outright saying she's her mother, as Nia desperately wanted to meet Mio in person in a way that would seem a little obsessive if she was "only" her descendant but makes total sense if she gave birth to her. That and Mio probably wouldn't have such a Strong Family Resemblance if she wasn't Nia's immediate offspring.
  • Another addition to this, while Mio has a strong resemblance to Nia, she also has golden eyes, just like Rex.

Other possible guesses for canon characters that Rex's kids grew up to be

• Cammuravi might be Rex and Pyra's son, partly because of his flame-based powers.
  • Unlikely. The hair is the wrong colour (not to mention not on fire).
    • Some people have a different hair color as adults than as babies, and it's possible that Cammuravi only started emitting flames from his body after puberty (which would be near the start of his lifespan as an Agnian soldier).
• Consul D/Blackblaze Dirk might be Rex and Mythra's son. He's the only prominent Agnian character with blond hair, and it's a bit weird for the Mumkhar/Metal Face expy to be specifically from Agnus rather than Keves. Making him this would make things extra-tragic and heinous, especially if he's revealed to be the one who permanently killed off one or both of his parents Kylo Ren-style — on top of all his other atrocities, being Rex and Mythra's murderer while also being their child would make him the single biggest Hate Sink in all of Xenoblade.
  • Very unlikely and would be terrible writing even if it was true. Dirk's already way past the Moral Event Horizon and the party has enough reason to hate him for what he did to Guernica, Mwamba, Hackt, and Eunie's past self. Making him Rex and Mythra's child just so he could kill them on top of that would do nothing but disrespect their memory for shock value. Also, if Dirk was related to Rex's family at all and killed an Aegis before, you'd think he'd have known to aim for Nia's core crystal. Moreover, as a Moebius he'd know all about his past lives and wouldn't hesitate to rub it in Mio's face that he (thinks he) just killed her mother and that he's her half-brother.
    • As of the February 2023 Nintendo Direct, older Rex's face bears a resemblance to Dirk's. It's still not likely, but there could be a chance of them being related. Also, it's not stated in game whether Moebius know of their pre-Aionios lives, rather than their past lives in Aionios. Since Dirk is Agnian, he wouldn't know the concept of family after being born from a pod.

Ethel and Cammuravi were in love.

• This one is self-explanatory, Ethel and Cammuravi were in love with each other, but as the people of colonies generally don’t know about the concept of romantic love, let alone for their sworn enemy, the only way the two knew how to express their feelings was fighting each other with everything they have. Thus, their final duel to the death is them expressing their love to each other one last time.
  • I wouldn't even call this a WMG, that's basically what's implied in-game.

The false Queen of Agnus is a Brainwashed and Crazy human impersonator originally appointed by the real Nia

• As seen on her character entry, the game goes out of its way to avoid showing whether or not the false Nia is a robot or not, and provides a few hints that she may not be. She isn't seen at all after her defeat, and doesn't break down the way the false Melia did. Given that Nia chose to directly seal herself away, unlike Melia who was kidnapped, it's unlikely that Moebius replaced her with a robot of their creation. Instead, Nia would have appointed someone to impersonate her and throw Moebius off her trail, and when Moebius inevitably got to the impersonator, they brainwashed them into serving their own needs. As for their identity, possibilities include some incarnation of Mio, given that she and Nia have the same Core Crystal, or one of Nia's friends from Alrest (Mythra could be a possibility because of how the fake Queen's mech uses light-based attacks.

Z is an incarnation of Nurgle mimicking a Vampire Count

• Perhaps overall more pretty than the average Great Unclean One, but he looks distinctly unhealthy, like he was being eaten away by a wasting disease - and more importantly, is the Etheric embodiment of the selfish desire to stagnate and refuse to change, simply enjoying the status quo regardless of how miserable it is. The theory is that during the Intersect, a portal was torn open to the Age Of Sigmar Mortal Realms, and the collective desires of the people within the system for everything to remain the same didn't just spontaneously become Z, but attracted the Father of Decay's attention. Seeing a change to create an entire pocket world that embodied his philosophies, he infected the desire with sentience, creating Z - but not wanting to be blatant and getting Tzeentch or Sigmar to interfere, drew back from the full-scale Body Horror and plague, instead making it so Z would embody stasis more than disease, and have an MO that drew from all four Chaos Gods (Khorne's war, Slaanesh's decadence, Tzeentch's scheming, and his own views on fate), instead patiently waiting for everyone in Aionios to lose faith so completely they'd come to Nurgle's teachings of eternity within decay of their own free will. He didn't plan on Ouroboros.

If Pyra and Mythra are DLC Heroes, their Class Inheritors will be Sena and Lanz, respectively.

• They were getting at something when they gave Sena's and Lanz's Ouroboros forms Flame Nova and Ray of Punishment as Arts, respectively. It also feels like their personalities would gel the most during Pyra's and Mythra's Hero Quests. Also, there will be some sort of interaction if you bring them to Queen Nia after awakening and/or recruiting her.

There is a Moebius/Consul who's name is A.

• The Consuls have a One-Letter Name out of almost every letter in the Latin Alphabet. The only letter that is seemingly absent is A. The Consul is Aion. The Top God of Aionios and the alpha to Z's omega. The beginning to Z's end. Aion may have familiar moves X-Star, Siren Buster, War of the Servants, Flame Gear, Anthropos, Prometheus, possibly suggesting Aion is either or has a connection to Artifice Aion.
• Confirmed that a Consul A does exist. Somewhere in the files of one of the other Consuls, it's explicitly stated that there are 26 Moebius.
• Alternatively, Consul A is Alvis, Addam Origo, or Black Knight who's real name starts with A.
  • Possibly as of the DLC Volume 4. Alvis does seem to appear in it, and could possibly lead that his identity is of the true Consul A, with his name accurately starting with A.

Z is 'technically' Zanza, albeit an entirely new one.

Z's origins as an aggregate sum of humanity's obsession with the status quo seem like a cop-out. However, considering the fact that both worlds are populated by the descendants of Zanza half were created by Zanza's crazy god-emperor persona while the other half were cultivated by evolution directed by Zanza's Architect persona, it's possible (and knowing him, likely) that he put some kind of essence - a trace gene related to ether, perhaps - in every single entity. Nobody, not even Zanza, knew what would happen if you connected the collective minds of an entire world and then doubled that. The end result is a being obsessed with creating and restoring the status quo - the very theme revolving around Zanza.

• Z is essentially a malware program within Origin's programming tapping into people's desires in the form of Moebius so he can maintain power. I wouldn't exactly call that a cop-out.

The DLC expansion will focus on the Founders

.Similar to Torna: The Golden Country in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the DLC could be a story that takes place in the distant past—and the Founders are a perfect fit for the leads, given that they're the original Ouroboros.

• The issue with part of that theory is that the Founders are not the original Ouroboros. They founded the new City a thousand years ago after N destroyed the original City, and looking through Noah's lives from earlier than that we see that there were Ouroboros several life times before that event.

The DLC expansion will take place after the events of the game.

The Stinger implied that the worlds of Bionis and Alrest successfully merged together. If that's the case, the DLC expansion can allowing people to explore a portion of the new world, similarly to Future Connected. Further, the promotional art for the DLC story shows Noah's red Blade, a Blade that was not used by past incarnations of Noah (as he used a different, darker-colored sword back then), making it likely that it is the current or a future Noah that would be featured in the expansion.

The Challenge Mode will include at least Shulk, Rex, and Elma as Heroes.

When Xenoblade Chronicles 2 released its Challenge Mode, it made the effort to bring in Shulk and Elma, uniting all of the protagonists of the Xenoblade series as of then. This game can do the same, allowing Noah and friends to meet the heroes of the past fight alongside Shulk, Rex, Elma, and possibly other characters from their respective games. Not to mention them meeting the heroes of their respective worlds, as well as reuniting Melia and Nia with their friends.

One of the DLC Heroes will be part of a race introduced in Xenoblade Chronicles 4

It's been stated that the Expansion Pass would give us a tease in the future of Xenoblade. Perhaps one example would be to give us a sneak peek at one of the main humanoid races of the next game via a Hero.

Pyra and Mythra will appear in the Expansion Pass

It's been rumored that Skye Bennett did voicework for the game—but the Aegis duo aren't in the main game, nor did she do any additonal voices. Because of this, it's plausible that she did voicework for the Expansion Pass, meaning that Pyra and Mythra could appear there becase of that.

Riku is Really 700 Years Old.

The fact he seems to be on familiar terms with Melia and knows so much about the Lucky Seven, even being one of the seven masterpon able to upgrade the main characters' blades implies a lot more about him. And considering that Aionios has existed for the past thousand years at least, he either is part of a clan of Nopon who were in on the world's origins and the nature of Moebius, or he was around for more of Aionios's history than a Nopon should.

Triton didn't really forget his Moebius form

It's stated late in the game that Z, as the leader of Moebius, can revoke a member's special abilities more or less whenever he wants. This is why Mio-in-M's-body loses access to M's powers after the events at Agnus Castle and in that case, Z did it remotely without the Moebius member seeing or feeling anything. So it's entirely possible that since Triton wasn't interested in going along with Moebius, even refusing to call himself "T" by their naming scheme, he simply had his Moebius powers revoked and he didn't realize it. He just tried to transform one day and found that he couldn't. Since Triton's very self-aware about his forgetful nature, he figured "well, I thought I was doing it right, but I guess I misremembered!" and just carried on with his usual ho-hum attitude without ever thinking about it more than that.

Triton is a Death Seeker

It’s heavily implied that Triton, being a Moebius, doesn’t survive the ending. While it’s unclear how much he understands in advance about the consequences of taking down Z, he’s lived a long life and, unlike the other Moebius, befriended the people he’s seen die again and again. Now, his current Colony has welcomed him as a member of their family, the Triton family, but it’s only a few years at most before they die, leaving him alone again. Triton certainly has reason to get his life over with, saving his family — not to mention the rest of the world — while he’s at it.

Elma is indirectly responsible for Origin.

The entire concept of Origin is basically identical to that of the Lifehold, where it's supposed to act as an ark carrying the data and consciousnesses of all life on Bionis, Mechonis, and Alrest with the intention of rebuilding both worlds once the universe intersection occurs. Nia and Tora have met Elma and Melia is friends with Shulk who also met Elma. Elma told them some info about her world, her technology, and how humanity fights for survival. This led to Melia, Nia, Tora, and others to get inspired and build Origin based on the knowledge Elma gave them. Elma's special appearance in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is indirectly acknowledged through Fiora having a short spoken line via recycled voice work from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Pyra and Mythra created Z and Aionios.

Aionios is claimed to be a byproduct of Origin, a grand metal ark that was built by Melia and Nia to store the souls and memories of the inhabitants of Bionis and Alrest. Z is described to be Origin system's AI that was infected by the desires of its creators and the people it was protecting in digital form to have a world that never changed. Pyra and Mythra helped created the Origin system, the depths of Origin contain Core Crystals around a similar size to the Omega Fetter, and ended up infecting it with their fear. Certain locations in Aionios are named and based on things that most of the inhabitants of Aionios wouldn't know such as the Mechonis Sword being referred to as "Swordmarch." Locations such as as Urayan Tunnels, named after the Uraya titan, Melnath's Shoulder, a location of the Gormotti Titan, and Dannagh Desert, a location of Torna that was destroyed a long time ago. Only a few people whom are possibly still around would know about the Dannagh Desert. Pyra and Mythra did state they "love this world because Rex is in it" and they carried fear before. They would fear of a world without Rex.

Noah is Shulk's son.

No real evidence, but he's rather similar to Shulk in voice and personality. Two of the Agnus party members have a very strong resemblance to characters from 2, being likely descended from them. Noah seems the most likely to be directly descended from a character from 1: Eunie doesn't seem to be royalty as she would be if descended from Melia or Tyrea, and Lanz, while possibly descended from a known Machina, has no clear resemblance to any of them.

The seventh Founder of the second City of the Lost Numbers is Moebius/Consul A.

Triton's ascension quest mentioned that there are 26 Moebius present of an unspecified time frame. The seventh founder of the second City is the most enigmatic, as the only evidence of their existence is that the original plans for Memorial Hall meant to include them where the Ouroboros Stone Cage now stands. Historians speculate that the seventh Founder chose to remain hidden. Moebius/Consul A haven't made an appearance on-screen in the base game, remaining hidden. The seventh Founder have helped out with Rhodes and Ortiz whom lived into their 80s despite being part of the Flame Clock system, which should have killed them at the end of their 10th term. Moebius/Consul A has found a way to get around the 10th term limit.

Cammuravi and Isurd are Pyra and Mythra's sons.

When looking at the ending, the trait that Pyra and Mythra's children directly inherited is their hair color. By that alone, Cammuravi and Isurd have points in their favor, coupled by the fact that they're members of Agnus, placing them within the confines of Xenoblade 2 descension. Admittedly, Isurd's a little more of a stretch, since he has Tron Lines to emphasize him being a Blade that Mythra lacked due to being the Aegis (though Pyra showed when she was tortured by Malos that Aegises do have Tron Lines, but they are simply not normally visible), but he does still have Light Element-based weaponry to make some connection beyond the hair plausible. Plus, it would be a funny prospect for the Aegis' children to have a Personality Swap of their mothers, with Cammuravi as Pyra's son acting more like Mythra, and Isurd as Mythra's son acting more like Pyra.

• If you look closely at Mythra's child, they have a dot on their forehead similar to the ether lines of Blades, providing more evidence in favor of Isurd being her son. Also, this theory (along with others) would make the two Mio's half-brothers.

Likewise, Sena is Brighid's daughter/descendant.

Hair that burns a blue flame? Check. Neon-blue body markings? Check. Personality-wise they're practically chalk and cheese, but considering how we have no clue who the father could be, Sena could have inherited it from him.

• This is further aided by the throwback costumes, where Sena’s throwback costume is based on Brighid.

Taion had been reassigned to Colony Gamma to spy on its inhabitants.

At the start of the game, he is a part of Mio's squad but isn't particularly close to her or Sena. While it can be because he joined the colony relatively recently, it could also be because of his involvement in the Survey Branch. In Isurd's Ascension Quest, he casually mentions that the Survey Branch has eyes and ears everywhere, all but stating that it is a spy network. Colony Gamma has some unusual inhabitants, such as Mio and Sena who narrowly escaped Colony Omega's explosion and Teach who was the brutal commander of Colony Chi. The Survey Branch may have wanted someone to keep an eye on this Colony, and Taion had a great (and true) cover story for transferring there.

Founder Ortiz is Klaus.

Founder Ortiz looks remarkably similar to Klaus and shared his mastery of engineering. Klaus was a scientist and used the Cloud Sea to restore the world. Klaus's nature became unusual ever since he came into contact with the Zohar/Conduit. Similar to Abel, Klaus has been reincarnated. It is mentioned that it was unusual that Ortiz lived to his 80s despite being part of the Flame Clock system, which should have killed him at the end of his 10th term.

Galea is one of the Founders.

Galea's nature became unusual due to the experiment for similar reasons to Klaus and she has been reincarnated similar to Elly. Galea is either Rhodes, who lived to her 80s despite being part of the Flame Clock system, which should have killed her at the end of her 10th term. Or a Founder who instead built a statue of a mentor instead of herself making her appearance unseen, such as Reid or Cassini.

The fake Queens were created inside Origin, and are King Mooks of the Droid enemies.

Given that Origin is Moebius' base of operations and where they create the Ferronises, it's plausible that it's also where they created the fake Queens. Origin is full of humanoid, hostile "Droid" Mecha-Mooks that consist of chunks of Origin metal bound together by purple miasma, and are classified as machines. The masked Queens are probably more advanced versions with more sophisticated AI and speech/logic capabilities that more accurately mimic human appearance and behavior, but otherwise share the same origin (no pun intended). While a tenuous connection at best, when the fake Queen of Keves' mask is blown off, her eyes glow purple with the same color as the Droids and most of the enemies in Origin. However, the connection becomes stronger when you consider that the real Melia and Nia were the creators of Origin, and that their robotic duplicates easily got their personality/appearance data from within. The implications that the fake Queens are made of Origin metal would also be kinda interesting.

Now if you really want to go all out with the theories: the fake Queens were intended as new bodies for the real ones after the original two universes were destroyed and would have inherited their memories, personalities, etc. (thus making them like mimeosomes), but were hijacked by Moebius into being their puppets and instead developed corrupted versions of the originals' personalities. They were also intended to properly inherit the Queens' actual faces, but because the process was botched, they were unable to develop proper facial features and Moebius had to resort to using masks.

The Vandham family are descendants of N and M

We know that the descendants of N and M lived in the City, with many members of the Lost Numbers being descendants of the original Ouroboros. N and M were both Ouroboros members of the Lost Numbers, meaning that many of their descendants would be held in rather high regard. By the time N wiped out most of the original City, due to the number of descendants he'd have, the chance of wiping out every single one of his descendants (by accident) is incredibly slim. As leader of the City, Guernica would have had a strong connection to the Lost Numbers and the Ouroboros, and not only that, but he was the one to awaken Noah and Mio's Ouroboros abilities. The fact he had an innate connection to those two implies that the three of them have a deeper connection of some form.

• Some evidence supporting this theory comes from the statues of Founders Vandham and Doyle, which depict them as different subspecies despite records indicating that they were brother and sister, suggesting an Interspecies Romance somewhere in their parentage. Vandham is depicted as an ordinary human^* (or Homs, for all that matters anymore) who resembles Noah (though this could be chalked up to both of them being Fei expies), while Doyle is depicted as a Gormotti wearing a jumpsuit like Nia's under her jacket. Sound familiar?
  • Not only that, but in the cutscene introducing the statues, Noah and Mio have a direct correlation with the House Vandham and Doyle statues respectively. Sena even points out the resemblance with the latter, whilst Eunie points out the former. Noah even thinks about the statue in a few of his vision.
• Nia also seems convinced in her Ascension Quest that the Vandham family is related to the Vandham she knew in Alrest. However, XC2's Vandham wasn't born with that name; it was an alias he picked up after his son died, which is also why he took Rex under his wing and made him his successor, as Rex reminded Vandham of his son. While Vandham could have had children after becoming a mercenary who would have his new surname, the fact that none of them try to contact Rex after Vandham's death and passing the Garfont Mercenaries onto him seems to indicate that he didn't have any other biological heirs who could contest Rex's inheritance. If this is true, then the only way the XC3 Vandhams could be related to XC2's would be through Rex's family adopting the name at some point, and one of Mio's incarnations like M being the common link between the two would be a neat and tidy way to make that happen^* (otherwise you'd have to involve one of Pyra, Mythra, or Nia's other children). That said, while Nia admits she doesn't remember all the details about how Vandham helped her in the past, not remembering that she technically is a Vandham is a big thing to forget, but like with Mio, she may just be reluctant to explain how she's related to everyone to not cause waves.
• The DLC story teaser shows that Founder Vandham's appearance is essentially that of Fei with Noah's color scheme, further indicating the possibility he may have been Noah's descendant, if not outright son.

Z's full name is Zero

Every other Moebius with a revealed name had their Moebius name as their initial. If Z's name was Zero, it would also make the name of the final boss be Zero∞.

Melia and Nia will get combined Ouroboros forms in the story DLC

Given that Nia was the one who *created* the Ouroboros Stones, and Interlink pairs are formed from one Kevesi and one Agnian, it'd make sense that the two of them would be the very first Interlink and that'd also be what made them the Queens of their respective nations.

Regarding DLC heroes and potential classes

Given that at present, XC 3 has 11 attacker role classes but only 8 healers and a measly 5 defenders (plus Soulhacker, which is all of the roles), it seems unlikely that new dlc heroes might be more attackers. Given that its most likely we'd see previous protagonists as heroes, here are some alternate guesses to their roles:

• Shulk will be a healer- but with more an emphasis on support than raw healing, with arts relating to Monado Shield, Speed, Enchant, and maybe Light Heal.
• Mythra (or Pneuma) will be an agility/evasion focused defender. While Mythra herself was an attack role blade, her biggest power came from giving a teamwide evasion buff, which translates here to being a dodge tank.
• Rex will be an attacker still, with Roc as his weapon with dual scythes.
• Given her Full-Metal Jaguar class is already in the game, Elma will instead be a tank.
• Poppi (either herself or through Poppibuster) will return as a block tank.
  • The first DLC Hero turns out to be an original character name Ino who is a Defender.

The purpose of the off-seeing is to save a soldier's data to Origin

• Near the end of the game it turns out the world was created by Origin, which is effectively a giant computer. It is never explained why the off-seeing is important in this context, but there are some hints.
  • Every Colony has at least one off-seer. Their importance is emphasised throughout the game.
  • The melody has the same effect on the remains of J's mudpuppets as they do to husks. The mudpuppets hold the negative thoughts and feelings of the people they copy.
  • It is shown that Z can show a person their past lives. He likely retrieved them from somewhere.
• Put it all together and it is likely that the off-seeing melody is the equivalent of saving a copy of a document and then closing it. At a stretch, it could mean that a person cannot be reborn after they're killed unless they're sent off in the same way you cannot open a document if you already have it open.
• This could also mean that any character from the city that was sent off is also in Origin's metaphorical hard drive.
• Furthermore, it would explain why there's two Noahs and two Mios. The beginning of the game shows Noah is still moving even though everything else has frozen, which could be the equivalent of a document that got corrupted when the first copy was saved.

In a previous generation Ethel & Cammuravi were Ouroboros

Just a thought but as the titles says, Ethel & Cammuravi were once Ouroboros in a previous generation, which is why they’re drawn together so much now that they’re back in the cycle, much like Mio & Noah.

Taion's Core Crystal came from Nimue

Given the unusual shape of Taion's Core Crystal, he's probably a Blade Eater, and Nimue is most likely the Blade he received it from since both of them use the same kind of weapon.

• If it's not Nimue, the next likely candidate is Isurd. You never see either of their Core Crystals even though they are visibly Blades.

"Muppet" is an artifact insult from pre-Conduit Earth

• "Muppet" as a British insult is actually derived from The Muppets. It's possible a salvager in Alrest retrieved a copy of The Muppet Show and an old world video player of some kind from the Land of Morytha, and it became an insult the same way. However, the insult became better known than its origin, and by the time the two worlds became Aionios, the origin of the word has been lost to history.
• As for Keves/Bionis, Zanza or Mayneth called someone a muppet without thinking and use of the word spread.

The Nopon are behind everything

Consider:

• They don't have Irises.
• They existed on both the Bionis and Alrest (and Mira?!).
• They are members of both Agnus and Keves.
  • (the human-like races on both are actually different- Keves humans are physically weaker)
• They are allowed to be neutral.
• They aren't subject to the Flame Clock.
• They aren't birthed from pods.
• They aren't targeted by the Consuls for any of these reasons, despite it being punished by death for other races.
• They secretly have concepts of things the Colonists don't, like the idea of commercial 'brands' - Riku mentions a "leading brand" but Lanz doesnt know what he's talking about.
• Weapons manufacturers stand to gain a lot from a forever war.
  • The head honcho is the worst capitalist of all among the Nopon — Bana. Or rather, both of them: Bionis' Bana (Consulpon B1) and Alrest's Bana (Consulpon B2). And before they Interlink, they declare "Meh-meh, you thinking what I thinking, B1?" "Meh, I thinking what you thinking, B2!" "IT MOEBIN' TIME!"
• The new Nopon Archsage is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka in Japan, the same as both Z and Alrest's Bana, and his fur color is paler than 2's Archsage, like Z's skin. Make of that what you will.
  • And his English VA is none other than Adam Howden, i.e. Shulk and Zanza. Make of that what you will.

Consul V also had a Levnis-only Kevesi colony

This has no bearing on anything, it doesnt matter at all if it's true or not, but it does explain why there's a big collection of levnises in a base on an island at Levi Sandbar with no people there. It's also close to where we would expect his current Agnian colony to have been, near Lost Colony.

Going through Homecoming does not release someone from the cycle.

This was just a lie used to justify having the Moebius ritually execute those nearing the end of their life cycles in order to harvest the for a flame clock rather than let it be wasted. Possibly only Z himself (or also X and Y) knew the truth, which would explain why V did not know it. Z eventually relented and allowed the Homecoming ceremony by realizing that giving the soldiers an "end goal" might make them more effective but the lie was already too entrenched amongst other Moebius that he could not reveal it lest they lose trust in him. This would explain why Noah and Mio continued within the cycle even after reaching the end of their predetermined lives in prior incarnations. To discount the idea that the Homecoming ceremony is needed for the removal from the cycle: V seemed to think that simply allowing a soldier to expire after ten years was enough to remove them.

Vandham and Reid are Rex and Shulk's surnames respectively.

Two of the Founder's statues, Reid and Cassini, depict the founder's mentor instead of the founder. Reid's statue looks like an older version of Shulk, while Cassini's looks a lot like Rex. While Cassini could be Rex's surname, he already has a connection to a Vandham. It's likely he took his friend's name as his surname in their honour.

Z had originally planned to corrupt Melia and Nia into becoming Moebius.

The game makes it pretty clear that one doesn't have to be a Kevesi or an Agnian in order to be made into a Moebius, as Shania/S was originally from the City. The names of the two Queens also conveniently start with the same letters as Mio and Noah's, both of whom opposed Z for countless cycles before Z finally managed to break Noah. It's possible his initial idea involved getting the two queens to be Moebius N and M before he got distracted by Noah and Mio's Determinator tendencies.

The original Noah was a big fan of Shulk.

Unlike Mio, who is all but stated to be at the very least a descendant of Nia, if not her daughter (thus making her also related to Rex), Noah curiously seems to lack any direct connections to the Xenoblade 1 cast. The mentor of his final Aionios incarnation, Crys, does look like he could be related to Shulk and Fiora, based on his appearance, and he plays a big enough role in Noah's story that this could very well be intentional, but Noah himself has no visible traits that would connect him to a known Xenoblade 1 character on the same level Mio's Gormotti ears and Flesh Eater Core Crystal do with Xenoblade 2's Nia. And while one could chalk it up to him being based on Fei, the two already have enough differences that combining this reference with another one really should not have been an issue at all. So, what's the deal here, then? Is there no direct connection between Noah and Shulk after all?
Well, let's look at some interesting details:

1. The flashback showing how Noah acquired the Lucky Seven shows that his Blade was already red before it was customized by Riku... because Noah - being the dork he is - evidently painted it red, and Riku just permanently recolored it while fitting the Lucky Seven inside it. Now where would Noah, whose original self was from Bionis, get the idea of having a red sword?..
2. Since Noah, Lanz, Eunie and Joran coincidentally knew each other before the Intersection happened, it's entirely possible Noah also met Crys at some point - and if Crys really is Shulk and Fiora's son, that would also mean Noah might have actually met Shulk in person as well, or at least heard grand tales of his adventures; Shulk and Rex appearing in the DLC story clearly indicates both were alive and well at the time of the Intersection. Noah himself was still a child, and would absolutely fanboy over the Monado.

Now, this would leave the question of why Noah's Blade looked different in his past incarnations that led to N, since all of them wielded the same dark Blade that N uses as a sheath for his own sword. A possible answer would be that the current Noah received the Lucky Seven unusually early, and though he still managed to rename it something embarassing, he wasn't yet in the "edgy teenage stage", and opted to just keep his Blade red, just like the cool sword his young original self saw.

The materials used to construct Origin.

There's a fair amount of focus given to whatever the material is that Origin and Lucky 7 are made from, but we never really learn what it is or where it came from. To take a guess- the metal may well be whatever was originally used to construct the First Low Orbit station. Unlike Morytha, which has the Cloud Sea perpetually regenerating it, most of the World Tree is above water, and must be built utterly Ragnarok Proof, and may have proved a good basis for constructing Origin's core.So what was the Keves half of Origin constructed from? Possibly the remains of the Mechonis. Assuming Galea was familiar with the metal that made up the Low Orbit Station, she may have chosen it as the base for her god form.In addition to the idea of the metal as ultra-durable, this answer also suggests a poetry to the actions of the two worlds: the people of Bionis and Alrest salvaging the ocean for the remnants of what was holy ground to a pair of benevolent, dead gods, and using it to try perserving their existence.

Pre-release DLC WMGs

Ino was created or is implied to be created by Tora

• Highly likely considering her hero title is 'Noponic Champion'.
• Because of this she may also speak in Nopon-ese like Poppi, or at least have some sort of spoken quirk.
  • Confirmed. Her speech is admittedly quite obnoxious, too.
• Ino says her Grandmasterpon is named Oosoo, which is only one letter off from Soosoo, Tora's grampypon and Poppi's first creator. So not Tora himself, but maybe Tora's descendant.

Poppi will appear in the second wave of DLC

• Since Ino will basically be XC 3's version of Poppi and considering she appeared in the ending, it wouldn't be too outlandish to expect her to get another cameo.

The DLC will give Ouroboros forms to the Heroes

While this is unlikely in the main plot, it is possible that the Nopon Sage could create more Ouroboros for fanservice reasons. Here's some potential pairings:

• Riku and Manana
• Ethel and Cammuravi
• Zeon and Juniper
• Alexandria and Valdi
• Ashera and Teach
• Fiona and Triton
• Melia and Nia
• Mwamba and Hackt

If you want to stretch things, we could also get Ouroboros forms for other characters that may return via DLC, consisting again of Keves-Agnus pairs (with the Agnian being a Blade for simplicity's sake and to reflect the Driver-Blade duality):

• Shulk and Mythra
• Fiora and Pyra
• Shulk, Fiora, Pyra and Mythra combining into a single Interlink that looks like a giant biomechanical Pneuma, where Pyra and Mythra are in control and Shulk and Fiora manifest as twin Monados (Alvis' and Meyneth's) similar to those wielded by Zanza during his final boss fight
• Reyn and Pandoria
• Dunban and Brighid
• Riki and Dromarch (as counterparts to Melia and Nia)
• Sharla and Haze
• Kino, Nene and Poppi (in a single, O & P-style Interlink that looks like a three-headed Nopon monster that uses Poppi as its core)
• Egil and Jin
• Alvis and Malos

The heroes will run into the fake Queen of Keves a third time.

Having been fooled once, they call her a machine right in her face — at first, the robot will try to con the party into thinking she's the real Melia and that Nia lied to them about Agnians being trustworthy, then enter into a programming loop error that causes her to have a Logic Bomb and malfunction again.

• Bonus points if Melia is the one who calls her robotic copy a machine. Or if the fake Melia speaks for the first time with her mask off, and her jawbone moves while she talks.
  • If we get Shulk as a DLC Hero, she could even be the Arc Villain of his Ascension Quest, working with some of the insurgents to Kill and Replace Melia out of an extremely rigid pre-programmed belief that the Forever War with Agnus is the natural order of things and it must be restored at all costs. The thing that causes her Logic Bomb could even be her failure to recognize Shulk^note as Moebius probably has no idea he ever existed combined with the real Melia's memories of him,^note as the real Melia has some kind of psychic connection to the fake one, seeing as she used the decoy to observe the party and/or Shulk could even point out the irony of Melia needing an actual masked body double back in the day. Another possible plotline/outcome could be the fake Melia realizing that she's merely a robotic double and that the world she's "protecting" is a Crapsack World run by Moebius, triggering a Heel–Face Turn and causing her to transfer her essence and functions into the real Melia, allowing her to use Mind Blast and adding her Earth and Wind elementals to Summon Element.
• Semi-confirmed: She appears as one of the bosses in the Archsage's Gauntlet (as a Dual Boss with Consul Crys), if that counts for anything.

The heroes will run into the fake Queen of Agnus who has a Brainwashed and Crazy Dromarch under her control.

If we get Rex or Pyra and/or Mythra as a DLC Hero, their Ascension Quest could revolve around Queen Nia searching for Dromarch and looking to reunite with any other old friends she may find. We learn that the fake Queen survived her Mini-Mecha exploding and is working with insurgents like Ragzy to take over Agnus Castle again and continue the Forever War (out of the same pre-programmed directive to restore "the natural order of things"). In a surprise twist, the insurgents reveal a feral yet familiar tiger-like beast on their side who fights alongside the fake Queen in a Dual Boss battle. The fake Nia uses Dromarch's Twin Rings (in another instance of Moebius being unable to copy her actual weapon) and the two ape Nia's fighting style with them in XC2, complete with Blade Specials. It also ends up being an "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight, and after defeating the fake Queen and ascending Rex/Pyra/Mythra, Dromarch becomes a normal NPC at Agnus Castle along with the other assorted folks there, and helps Ghondor with sending the Lost Numbers back home.

Speaking of Ghondor, this quest would run the risk of turning into another Side Story: Sena, where the focus ends up being on Nia and Dromarch instead of Rex/Pyra/Mythra. It would be a cool idea but ideally the quest would also have the XC2 Hero reflecting on their memories with them and getting most of the focus.

• If this quest follows the same Tomato in the Mirror direction suggested for the Queen of Keves in Shulk's Ascension Quest above, the fake Agnian Queen's bond with Dromarch would stem from her believing herself to be the real Nia and convincing Dromarch of it too, and her realization will cause her to grant Dromarch back to the original before disappearing for good.

The story DLC will involve a Playable Epilogue for the game where the two worlds properly combine into one.

Given that XC3 is implied to be a bridge between the first two games and the future games in the series, ending it with the worlds getting split apart again seems odd; while Aionios was an unstable mishmash of what remained of the worlds after they collided, it was still technically a new setting (that just happened to consist of references to previous games), and resetting the world sort of goes against the whole "don't fear the future" message. So perhaps the heroes will figure out a way to create a new world for everyone to live in together without fearing eventual annihilation, like a "child" of both worlds.

This could even tie into the Noah/Mio romance symbolically, as the ending suggests their original versions will somehow meet after the worlds split apart again. Considering at least one pair of their Aionios incarnations managed to have a son together (who was implied to not have been bound by the Flame Clock system or the Kevesi/Agnian shortened lifespan), and the vague suggestion that people who were born the normal way in the City will eventually be born in the restored worlds (i.e. they're "destined" to exist)...

Contrary to the above, the story DLC will be a prequel... but it won't touch on any of the lore of Aionios.

It will be about the series's Myth Arc, the events of 20XX. While the first two games and the Siren model kit's lore dump helps shed more light into the era, there are still many parts of it that are unknown, such as the Saviorites. And of course, this will end in Birth of a Universe.

• It could also give some lore about the Conduit (which will definitely be taken from previous games.)
• Additionally, it would also be the first Xeno game to properly take place on Earth (minus what Xenoblade Chronicles 2 did.)

Alternatively, the story DLC will just be a prequel focused on the Founders of the City.

The Torna DLC for the previous game was a standalone prequel story, and if there's any significant backstory events in 3 that are shrouded in mystery, it's the restoration of the City after N destroyed the original one — particularly the exact identities of the Founders, whose statues and descriptions imply connections to specific characters. It could also incorporate a whole lot of interesting concepts, such as new Ouroboros pairs and powers, or Nia's role in the story.

• Seems to be the case as of February 2023 Direct, with the sneak peak of the DLC featuring a new Fei lookalike character (possibly protagonist) who is almost certainly Founder Vandham, as well as adult versions of Rex and Shulk, who were speculated to be the two mentors honored by the statues. When exactly the story itself takes place is still unknown, however.

The story DLC will be a Distant Finale starring Joran.

...Hear me out, okay?

1. Joran and Nimue have some Dummied Out data present in the game suggesting they might have been at some point planned to be Heroes or at least temporary party members. This is particularly curious in Joran's case, as unlike Mwamba he died before the events of the game, and unlike Nimue (or the actually playable Hero Miyabi) he comes back as Moebius J rather than his regular self. As a result, pre-Moebius Joran is only ever seen through Kevesi trio's flashbacks, and because he died in his early Terms he is permanently stuck as a child so we never see what he would look like when older.
2. The original versions of Joran and the Kevesi trio were already friends prior to the Time Crash, and that somehow carried over into Aionios, even if it took countless loops and reincarnations. (Curiously enough, their other old friend Riku is nowhere to be seen in the "normal" world; the last we see of him is him bawling at having to part ways with Manana.) This seems significant. The original Joran, however, doesn't have to worry about fighting and is in no danger of dying young.
3. In the final cutscene, Noah is seen mysteriously vanishing after following the off-seer tune he hears. Wherever the heck he disappeared to, his friends are probably going to freak out badly, especially since all of them are still children at that point.
4. With Noah out of the picture, we would need a new protagonist, and Torna already did that sort of thing but as a prequel. While Eunie and Lanz would work, we've already seen plenty of them in the base game. And this time there's no backstory characters available because there was no "backstory" besides what Melia and Nia were doing at the moment. Joran is right here, though.

If the story is a reunion epilogue, Mio will wield Pyra and Mythra's Aegis blades and/or Noah will wield the Mondado REX+.

Assuming that Mio is Rex and Nia's daughter, it would serve as Passing the Torch moment between the Master Driver and his kid. Same goes for Noah if he's Shulk and Fiora's son. Bonus points if it's an 11th-Hour Superpower against whoever the antagonist is.

Alternatively, Mio will retrieve Lucky Seven from the ocean and use it as her main weapon, at least for a little while.

Retrieving lost technology from the bottom of the ocean is not an unheard-of concept in Alrest, and Mio's certainly not afraid of a little wotah; she might have taken after Rex and become a salvager herself in Alrest, which would put her in the perfect position to find Lucky Seven right where Noah left it. And unlike the Monado and the Aegis, there doesn't seem to be a canon reason yet why Mio can't use Lucky Seven. You could justify it in the main game as there's only one Lucky Seven to go around (since it's not a normal Blade and thus Ouroboros powers can't duplicate it) and Noah has the most experience with it, but with him unavailable, Mio would be the next best candidate.

The DLC story will feature a team of Rex's children.

While Nia's child is heavily implied to be the original version of Mio, no hints are ever provided as to who Pyra and Mythra's kids are (or, for that matter, whether the rest of the Ouroboros team has any connections to past characters, but that's a different story).^note On the meta level, it could always be that Mio was intended to just be an Expy of Nia with no relation to her and the connection was added later, but her being the only other character with a Flesh Eater Core Crystal is too suspicious. One explanation for this could be that while Pyra and Mythra's kids existed in Aionios, they aren't any characters seen in the game, either because they were never awakened in the current cycle, or because they managed to live to their Homecoming. But it's possible they were around in the past and met a previous incarnation of Mio, perhaps even one that somehow managed to avoid meeting Noah. This could be an interesting plot to explore given that Aionios soldiers are clones with no concept of family or siblings, and the trio wouldn't even look alike due to having different mothers.
The story could also be used as an excuse to show a glimpse of Alrest and what the Time Crash looked like from Mio's perspective, especially as her possibly being Nia's daughter might mean that unlike Noah she was aware of it coming.

The DLC will be an Alternate Continuity story starring Ethel and Cammuravi.

Ethel and Cammuravi are infamously underused by the main story, with Ethel being the tutorial Hero who leaves the party soon after joining, and Cammuravi not even being recruitable until after the two die and get reborn as well as having his quests tied to Ethel. The game pretty much spells it out that they would've been a perfect Ouroboros pair had they gotten the powers, which is somewhat played for drama to highlight just how lucky the main party was to meet Vandham when they did. There's potential here.

Post-February 2023 Direct WMGs

The Fei-lookalike at the end of the preview is Founder Vandham, as well as Noah and Mio's son.

Despite his resemblance to Noah himself, he uses Mio's Ouroboros form as a Fighting Spirit, and his left eye (i.e. the eye used by Agnus) is the one glowing. His Battle Aura is also green, a mix of Noah's blue and Mio's yellow. Unfortunately, this might not bode well for Rex, since this would probably make him Vandham's grandfather who just got killed.

• There's one small issue with this: while we know that at least one incarnation of Noah and Mio did have a son (who did heavily resemble Noah), the guy is also yelling about somebody killing his grandfather. The only way this would make sense with him being Noah and Mio's son is if at least one of them was adopted at some point, since they were still a Kevesi and an Agnian. His appearance does match Founder Vandham's (who is also noted to resemble Noah), so he is likely at least a descendant of Noah.
  • ...Unless he is referring to Azurda ("Gramps"), which potentially has even worse implications. Azurda was definitely alive when Pyra, Mythra and Nia had Rex's children since he is (sort of) in the photo, and his home game had him surviving grave injuries by reverting to his larval form. Then again, if one of the antagonists is Alvis...

Alvis did something to Pyra and Mythra to prompt Rex's "heartless machine" line.

Rex is the same guy who was willing to forgive Malos of all people; for him to treat his other brother-in-law so harshly by comparison, Alvis must have done something particularly heinous, like killing or subjugating his sisters and/or their (and Rex's) children.

If this is happening outside Aionios, Alvis is running a Zero-Approval Gambit to properly unite the worlds against a future threat.

Alvis might have seen something in a vision that could threaten the existence of Bionis and Alrest, so he took it upon himself to give something the peoples of both worlds to unite against before it happens.

Despite the obvious implications in the teaser, the DLC is actually a sequel and not a prequel.

Despite the massive leftover mystery surrounding the identity of Consul A, Shulk and Rex having apparently fought Alvis of all people at some point in the past is, to put it mildly, one heck of a detail to omit from the main game, especially considering Melia is mostly the one doing the infodump about Z and his true nature. Surely she would've mentioned there was also another godlike AI involved? That also apparently went rogue? And, for all we know, might still be around? This seems kind of important. Ditto Nia, who is evidently sharing a husband with Alvis's long-lost sister(s). Nia also implies in the ending that her family is still alive. All of this would make more sense if the story takes place after the game and not before.

Alvis is out for revenge.

Details aside, Rex did kill his brother and fuck his sister.

Alvis is behind the creation of Z and Moebius, and Wave 4's story is a battle to stop Origin's improper fusion of the World of the Titans and Elysium post-separation.

Knowing how Alvis seems to have omniscience over every single person in the World of the Titans, it would make sense for him to have some involvement with Origin, which keeps a data catalogue of everybody between the two worlds. Beyond that, if Z is meant to be a manifestation of people's fear of change, the best way to justify his existence would be through Alvis, who is aware of people's thoughts and desires at all times. In essence, Alvis is the one responsible for turning Aionios into a hellhole, and Wave 4 will be about preventing him from repeating the process.

Founders Cassini and Reid are the children Rex had with Pyra and Mythra.

The description of the statue honoring Founder Reid explicitly mentions that although her mentor raised her as his own child, the two were not biologically related, but the relationship between Founder Cassini and her mentor is left ambiguous. Given that Rex and Shulk fight side by side in the trailer despite being originally from different worlds, Shulk having somehow ended up raising one of Rex's daughters in his own world is not entirely outside the realm of possibility.

Masha is from House Doyle, and as such, another descendant of Mio and Nia.

(Credit to Luxin for the idea.)

Masha wears yellow, Blade-like clothes, is a healer, uses twin rings, and her hair decs are a rough approximation of Gormotti ears even though her ears are humanoid. That's way too many similarities to Nia to be a coincidence. It also stands to reason that Mio will be her class inheritor since Noah got Ino's class, and just like with Nia, being related to Masha (albeit in the opposite direction) is as good a reason for it as you can get.

• Jossed for the house: She's the head of House Cassini. Confirmed that Mio is her class inheritor though.

Alvis is the reason Noah and Mio reincarnated separately from N and M.

While the existence of the playable Noah and Mio is explained in the main story as them being born from the hopes their original selves cast off upon becoming Moebius, this ultimately leaves more questions than answers, such as whether this essence split is a natural occurence that just happens to be rare, why it took so long for them to be returned to Aionios's reincarnation cycle in the first place, or how Nia seemingly knew about that happening. "Alvis did it" is about as good an explanation as anything, considering who and what he is.
On that note, the original Aionios incarnations of Noah and Mio were already an anomaly for being able to persist in some form even past the natural end of their lifespan, which is what allowed Z to "recruit" N - and it doesn't seem like Z himself had any idea how this was possible. Given Alvis's overall role in the series, him inadvertently granting somebody an ability that actively makes their life more miserable would be entirely fitting.

Founder Reid will reuse Shania's model and VA from the base game.

Like with how Hugo in Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country reused Niall's model and voice actor from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the same will apply to Founder Reid reusing Shania's model and voice actress in the Story Expansion DLC for 3. That being said, Founder Reid herself will be a complete 180º in terms of personality, and will be much more idealistic than Shania was in the base game.

Rex's Aegis Swords are replicas because Nia has the originals

It's been pointed out that the Aegis Swords that Rex wields in the Story Expansion don't have the Core Crystals of Pyra and Mythra. However, considering that Nia has two spectral Aegis Swords accompanying her, and that those swords do have Core Crystals on them, it could mean that the spectral swords are the real Aegis Swords - and by extension, manifestations of Pyra and Mythra in Aionios. As for why they with Nia in the first place, it's most likely to further protect Nia from Z and the Moebius within the Cloudkeep.

Riku is the Seventh Founder of the City.

Given his involvement with Lucky Seven and his very mysterious interaction with Melia, it could be possible that he helped found the City (possibly by Melia's direction) as a way to give humans a fighting chance to one day defeat Moebius, particularly in regards to their lifespans which are far shorter than that of even ordinary Nopon. The Seventh Founder is secret because Riku needed to keep incognito, especially considering how Nopon are not supposed to interfere for some reason, and by keeping his involvement hidden, the Nopon race would remain protected by not being perceived as a threat. Furthermore, by having a hand in these events, it would possibly help explain how Riku is so calm all of the time, because he already has an idea what will happen, and having knowledge of how Lucky Seven works helps that. And if he was around in those times, he would have witnessed the original City's destruction by N. And when Noah was in his first term, Riku just so happened to be around and attach himself to the trio with an unusual degree of closeness and he just so happened to be holding onto Lucky Seven to give to Noah, which happens to be very similar to what N owns, as if another copy had been made to set things right. This surely cannot be a coincidence.

We will meet a previous incarnation of at least one of the main game party members

Probably as the commander of a colony, at least allowing them to save their budget on creating new models by just reusing an old one. Personally my money is on Lanz, though it could be anyone (and potentially more than one) out of him, Eunie, Sena or Taion.

• Something to keep in mind here: out of the six current Ouroboros members only Noah and Mio ever managed to live to the end of their lifespan (the playable ones splitting off from their original selves after the latter became Moebius). The other four kept reincarnating normally across the centuries between that and the start of the game, and as shown by Eunie finding her own corpse, they were getting assigned to random colonies before Eunie, Lanz, Joran and the new Noah were conveniently reborn together. Considering those four were already friends before Aionios was formed, this is in hindsight one heck of a Contrived Coincidence, and I would not be surprised if the DLC includes all of them, if only to explain how that happened (even if the explanation ends up being along the lines of "Alvis did it").

Territorial Rotbart will appear as an optional boss in the DLC story.

Which, if it's a prequel, would explain his absense in the main game.

Moebius K and T will play a role in the DLC story.

These two are the only unmasked Moebius who look elderly, which is never explained. Triton has been a Moebius long enough to even forget how to use his powers, while K is a Starter Villain who dies in the chapter he is introduced in, far before the Ouroboros reach the City and learn about the way humans are meant to age. Maybe we'll finally learn their origins.

Riku is The Atoner.

While Noah's Lucky Seven / Sword of the End was explicitly given to him by Riku, it is shown that Noah wielded a similar sword in his past incarnations, which is still being used by N. Assuming both swords come from the same source and considering the deliberate ambiguity of Riku's age and the exact time the swords were forged, it is possible that either Riku himself or his predecessor (could even be both) gave N his sword as well, and given that Riku is pretty much the Obi-Wan to Noah's Luke him being involved with N would not only be incredibly fitting, but would also explain why Riku prefers to be around Noah despite the supposed neutrality of Nopon: he is making sure the new Noah doesn't repeat the fate of his predecessor by falling into despair.

The meeting between Rex and Shulk in 2's Land of Challenge DLC will be referenced to in some way.

Loose Canon aside, it was technically the first contact between those of Bionis and Alrest. Whether it be a Mythology Gag like recreating their handshake or outright confirming that it happened, it is prime material for call-backs.

• It was already referenced by Melia's postgame Hero Quest. Fiora has a short spoken line via recycled voice work from her Guest-Star Party Member appearance in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

D and L are brothers.

They both have usage of claws, connection to Eunie, and how giddy they are at destroying Colonies after they hit Gold Rank, and their Moebius forms are similar in appearance. Taion also makes a point out of noting that D's clawed gauntlets were not Blades, but weapons he'd seemingly made himself. L's weapons are also similar in nature to D's.

Riku is an A.I.

Riku's overall role in the story, particularly his relationship with Noah, has weird parallels with the Aegis siblings Alvis and Pyra/Mythra. Not only is he the immediate source of Noah's unique plot-relevant weapon, but he is unusually perceptive and there are points in the game where he seemingly has a pretty good idea how the events are going to unfold despite being in a sticky situation. Also, until Manana drags him onto the battlefield during their Hero Quest, he stays out of fights and insists that Nopon aren't supposed to engage in battle, yet he apparently had no issues providing Noah with a reality-bending katana (possibly more than one incarnation of Noah at that). He is also implied to personally know Melia, which wouldn't make much sense unless he is older than Aionios itself. Why would he be in the form of a Nopon when all three Aegis cores had humanoid avatars? Well, there are some implications that one of the creators of Origin was Tora...
On that note, Riku has some interesting ways of concealing information. He tells Noah that he was given the sword by his masterpon for safekeeping (in context likely referring to its creator Melia, but Noah wouldn't suspect the two to be connected at the time), casually mentions that it's sharp enough to cut through a Ferronis's armor (which is what later inspired Noah to use it on Colony 4's Flame Clock) despite that being a massive understatement, and phrases the bit about Noah drawing the sword when it's needed in a manner that could easily refer to its Ouroboros equivalent (long before Noah even gets Ouroboros powers at all). Considering both Alvis and Pyra used similar tricks to get their companions to do what they wanted...

Poppi will play a major role in the DLC story.

Since the base game's ending casually reveals that Poppi was in the Cloudkeep the entire time, it's possible she personally assisted some of the past Ouroboros teams in one way or another, as her nature as an Artificial Blade both makes her immortal and renders her immune to many of Aionios's "gimmicks", not to mention the implication that her creator may have helped with building Origin. Alternatively, if any parts of the DLC take place after the base game, Poppi may get a new mission to complete.

Joke WMGs

The Fake Queens Are Offshoots Of: Serial Number Q5U4EX7YY2E9N

• We Already Know That They Are: Computers (Smart) But Also The Fake Melia Says The Following When Her Battle Starts: "I Melia Antiqua Shall Face You In Mortal Kombat"
  
  This Means That She Would Have Challenged The Ouroboros (Stupid) To An Arcade Game Of Skill To Crush Their Self Esteem Were It Not For Their Going To Attack Her Right Away LMAO And Just Like Kris Susie And That Other Guy The Only Way For Them To Properly Play The Game Would Have Been For Them To Combine Into Their Ouroboros Forms
  
  Also: It Can't Be A Coincidence That Later On She Is Seen Siding With Crys They Probably Became Trucies And She Told Him To Get The Banana (Potassium) But Then: He Betrayed Her When He Decided That Trucies Are Over
  
  Also Remember That The Fake Nia Has Her Own Giant Freaking Robot Hidden In Plain Sight In Her Castle Just Like GIGA Queen

(BTW, this is just a shitpost for those who got a bit concerned)

The cameras had to focus on Pedro Eustache during the game awards

Because otherwise viewers would have seen his flute causing motes to rise up from the Microsoft/Activision deal.

Z is a Devil

Possibilities include:

• The Control Devil (as another reincarnation far into the future), since he's a Control Freak and could be formed from humans' fear of the future and need to follow orders instead of following their own path. This means that, had Makima gotten her way, she would have created Moebius and the "Endless Now" way back in pre-Conduit 1997, and we'd have a very different "Consul M".
• The Life Devil
• The Infinity Devil
• The Endless Devil
• The Annihilation Devil

Riku is a fusion of Shulk and Rex, while Manana is a fusion of Fiora, Pyra and Mythra, disguised as Nopon.

For all the talk about how Nopon in Aionios are supposed to be a neutral party staying out of combat, Riku has a surprising amount of involvement in the plot, being the source of Noah's Sword of Plot Advancement and generally being the party's main mentor figure. Also, unlike the Kevesi trio, he is never seen outside Aionios, and his little scene with Melia suggests that he may be far older than is normal for a "common variety Nopon". Manana is less of a mystery as she acts like a typical Nopon and seemingly had no involvement with the Agnus trio besides being their regular cheffypon, but she does show a bit of Hidden Depths at times, and the Ouroboros pretty much ship her with Riku. More importantly, there are some interesting parallels the two have with the aforementioned characters:

1. Riku is The Engineer who insists on avoiding fights, much like Shulk, but his Hero Quest portrays him as an Adventurer Archaeologist in search of treasure, bringing to mind Rex's job as a salvager. Also, the Yumsmith class Blade used by the Ouroboros inexplicably takes the shape of a sword instead of Riku's gun-like tool, a weapon type favored by both Shulk and Rex.
2. Manana, meanwhile, is a Supreme Chef like Pyra, but her playful personality is closer to Fiora's (with Pyra being a quiet nice girl and Mythra being a tsundere), and she quickly gets attached to Riku despite the two having never met before.

How and why those fusions happened is anyone's guess^note Alvis did it, but being disguised as Nopon is an excellent way to keep important characters from being a target of Z and his crew of Moebius.

Riku is using an alias.

(Placing this in the joke section due to the Insane Troll Logic involved.)
Due to all of the Moebius following Alphabetical Theme Naming, the sheer amount of conveniently named characters in the game is a sight to behold. One particularly interesting detail, however, comes from the Moebius counterparts of the central duo: in Latin alphabet, M and N are letters number 13 and 14, respectively - right in the middle. Aside from Noah and Mio themselves, the Queens of Keves and Agnus, Melia and Nia, also have their names start with the same letters - a curious coincidence given that Nia is a somewhat interesting choice for a Queen compared to Melia, which doesn't get an explanation until the endgame revelations.
(Now admittedly there are multiple random Heroes whose names start with those same letters, but curiously, apart from Miyabi and Masha, they conveniently got renamed in the English dub along with most other Heroes: Nagiri to Segiri (albeit for specific reasons), Mashiro to Fiona, and Nina to Alexandria.)
What does any of that have to do with Riku? Well, you may notice that Manana's name also starts with M. Why not name the Kevesi Nopon something that starts with N to keep the pattern going? Furthermore, Riku's name is oddly close to Riki's for no apparent reason other than both being from the Xenoblade 1 side. Finally, if Riku really knows Melia personally like their little interaction in the endgame suggests, he would be a lot older than is normal for a Nopon, and would likely have to resort to using fake identities in order to avoid being found out by Moebius. All of this raises the possibility that Riku isn't the Nopon's real name but an alias he took up probably around the time the new Noah was born. Given that he is also the one who gave the Sword of the End to Noah (and may have personally helped forge it), he has every reason to hide his true name. As for what the name would be besides starting with N, I have no idea, but expecting a Meaningful Name of some sort.

Ethel is related to Melia.

Ethel bears a slight resemblance to Melia (mainly via her color scheme), is Kevesi, has a connection to Noah (notably being the first person to comment on his Blade, which given the origin of the Lucky Seven is interesting), and is an unusually strong warrior even by Aionios standards. While she appears to be a Homs and not a High Entia, it should be noted that Melia herself is half-Homs, and with how genetics seem to work in this game (such as Noah and Mio's son lacking Gormotti/Blade features, presumably due to his mother being half-Human), it wouldn't be impossible for Ethel to have no High Entia features.