Summary
Dawntrail, the most recently released expansion forFinal Fantasy 14, is a new episode in the game’s ongoing story but also marks a new beginning. The first expansion to release afterEndwalkerconcluded many of the game’s longest-running storylinesand plot threads,Dawntrailis something of a reset forFF14, lowering the stakes from the previous expansion’s universe-ending threats to focus on a more down-to-earth adventure in the unfamiliar continent of Tural. However, while the expansion starts as a relatively simple adventure, the later parts of the story leading into the ending might not be what players expect.
The premise ofDawntrailat the start of the expansion’s story is relatively simple as the Warrior of Light and a few of their companions (Alphinaud, Alisaie, Krile, and Erenville) are enlisted by Wuk Lamat to help her ascend to the throne of Tural’s Dawnservant — a role for which she has to compete in several trials, with the overarching goal of finding Tural’s fabled and elusive “city of gold.” Complicating matters, though, are the other candidates for the throne, which include Wuk Lamat’s adopted brothers, Zoraal Ja and Koana, as well as the two-headed tournament champion Bakool Ja Ja.
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Dawntrail’s Initial Premise Leads To A Greater Conflict
FF14’s Latest Expansion Goes To An Unexpected Place In The Second Half
For around the first half ofDawntrail, the story revolves around the Rite of Ascension, a series of trials devised by the current Dawnservant and Wuk Lamat’s adopted father, Gulool Ja Ja. The Rite tasks her and the other contestants with journeying to meet with the various different peoples of Tural, to undergo trials and learn their cultures. Here,the game starts to set Zoraal Ja up as a major villain, establishing him as someone who aims to instigate war and contrasting him against the more peaceful Wuk Lamat and Koana.
Eventually, after visiting the villages of Tural’s various peoples, Wuk Lamat and the Warrior of Light succeed in Rite of Ascension, defeating a projection of Gulool Ja Ja as he was in his prime andfinding the entrance to the city of gold deep underground. Despite being shown amysterious keyby Gulool Ja Ja and Ketenramm (an old Eorzean explorer), they don’t enter. Instead, the party returns to the capital of Tural, Tuliyollal, to hold Wuk Lamat’s coronation ceremony, where she reveals that she intends to share the role of Dawnservant with Koana.
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While the party is in Tuliyollal, however,Zoraal Ja attacks Ketenramm and steals the key from him, making his way to the entrance to the city of gold. There, he’s told by a mysterious voice that it can grant his wish to rule and make conquest — and, after the coronation, while the Warrior of Light is adventuring with Erenville to reach his hometown, this proves to be true, as Tural is suddenly attacked by strangely advanced airships and automatons.Although Erenville’s home is swallowed up in a mysterious dome, he and the Warrior of Light rush back to Tuliyollal.
Returning to the capital, they find the city under attack — and, rushing into the palace with Wuk Lamat, Koana, and the other Scions, they find Gulool Ja Ja dueling with Zoraal Ja. Though Gulool Ja Ja defeats him at first,Zoraal Ja is revived and empowered by an unknown device on the side of his head and ends up killing his father. Then, he issues a challenge to Wuk Lamat, telling her to confront him in his own territory for the chance to save Tural from further invasion.
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The Main Villain Of Dawntrail Is Introduced Late In The Expansion
In Dawntrail’s Last Stretch, Queen Sphene Takes Over As The Main Antagonist
Chasing Zoraal Ja, the party finds themselves journeying into the mysterious dome that now covers Erenville’s home of Yyasulani. Inside, they find that the area has changed drastically, having been somehow joined with a location from another reflection — a high-tech city called Solution Nine, which belongs to a kingdom named Alexandria.The party also meets Queen Sphene of Alexandria, and it’s revealed that 30 years have passed inside the dome, and that the reflection that Alexandria is from suffered from constant storms and widespread warfare over its unique resource, electrope.
Importantly, it’s also revealed that Alexandria makes use of regulators —technology that uses souls to revive its residentswhen they die from causes other than old age — and, although Sphene is a benevolent queen who cares for her people, she will also go to drastic lengths to keep up their supply of souls. To that end,she was the one who provided Zoraal Ja with the technology and support he needed to attack Tural— although this quickly backfires on her, as Zoraal Ja turns Alexandria’s forces back on its own people for more power.
In Solution Nine, the game also introduces the concept of the Endless — Alexandrians who have passed away, but whose souls continue to live eternally, sustained by Alexandria’s soul reserves.
Though the party defeats Zoraal Ja,the incident ends up pushing Sphene to greater extremes, as she takes the mysterious key and withdrawsto the reflection that Alexandria was originally from, aiming to use it to invade not only Tural but every other remaining reflection as well. The party is unable to follow her at first but is eventually able to find a way to Sphene’s home reflection through the gate to the “city of gold” — which, it’s revealed,has always been a portal to the city of Living Memory, where Sphene and other Alexandrians live eternally as Endless.
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Queen Eternal Is The Final Boss Of Dawntrail
Dawntrail’s Final Boss Is A Transformed Sphene
The party meets Sphene again in Living Memory, where she revealsshe intends to have herself stripped of her emotions and morals, allowing her to lead a conquest against other worlds without anything to hold her back. After making their way through Living Memory to lower its defenses, the party delves into the memories of Alexandria as it was, which serves as the game’s final dungeon. At the end, they find Sphene but are unable to convince her to give up on her plans for conquest. Subsequently,she strips herself of her conscience, transforming into a giant robotic entity called Queen Eternal.
Queen Eternal serves as the final boss ofDawntrail— and, unlike in earlier trials, she is the only boss for which Trust companions aren’t available, as she banishes Wuk Lamat, Krile, and G’raha Tia from the battlefield. This forces the Warrior of Light to rely on Azem’s crystal to summon allies for the fight, and this causes a strange, as yet unexplained reaction to the mysterious key in Queen Eternal’s possession, causing it to briefly flash with the symbol of Azem.
The End Of Queen Eternal
Wuk Lamat Returns
Partway through the fight with Queen Eternal,Wuk Lamat manages to return to the battlefield, dealing a huge blow to the boss and making an impassioned plea to Sphene. Her efforts manage to bring some part of Sphene’s conscience back, and Queen Eternal is eventually defeated by Wuk Lamat, the Warrior of Light, and their summoned allies. Unfortunately, although Wuk Lamat promises to look after Alexandria’s remaining citizens,Sphene herself can’t be saved, and she fades away as Wuk Lamat and the Warrior of Light return to Living Memory.
After the final battle, a few loose ends are left — most notably, the mysterious key used to cross between reflections has been left in the Warrior of Light’s possession, to be researched further by the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, and, although the people of Solution Nine mourn the passing of their queen, the gladiatorial arena known as the Arcadion is opening back up, teasing the expansion’s upcoming raid series. Erenville, carrying on the wishes of his late mother, quits being Sharlayan gleaner in favor of exploring the world, and the Scions enjoy festivities in Tural.
AlthoughDawntrailstarts with a relatively down-to-earth premise, the conflict with Alexandria, Zoraal Ja, and Queen Sphene quickly take over the second half, sending the Warrior of Light once more into an alternate reflection. While the expansion’s story remains mostly self-contained, plot elements such as the mysterious key bearing Azem’s symbol and the environmental calamity that befell Alexandria provide some plot threads for futureFinal Fantasy 14expansions orDawntrail’s own post-release patch quests to expand on.
