Summary
The latest theory amongFinal Fantasy 14fans is that Jenova, the iconic villain fromFinal Fantasy 7, may be making an appearance inDawntrail. This hypothesis came by connecting a bunch of hintsFinal Fantasy 14gave fans during its second Fan Festival in London.
Dawntrail,Final Fantasy 14’s fifth expansion, takes place in Tural, a continent that has historically been referred to as the New World by most Eorzeans. The zones, cultures, and landscapes of the region take direct inspiration from real-life places in South America.
During FanFest,Final Fantasy 14revealed some new imagesand hints for the expansion. While most of it has been kept deliberately vague, director and producer Naoki Yoshida repeatedly referred to massive secrets in the expansion. As players combed the various pictures, they noticed the map of Tural looks like it has massive impact crater from a meteor–similar to the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan peninsula widely believed to be responsible for the mass-extinction of the dinosaurs. With her title of “The Calamity from the Skies,” Jenova is the first thing that came to mind for many players.
This mystery goes even deeper. During the convention,Final Fantasy 14revealed Shaaloani, a new zone teeming with ceruleum fuel. However, Yoshida was careful to cover up a part of the key art, as it would apparently be a huge spoiler, though he claimed later images could give hints as to what might be there. Then, later in the keynote speech, he revealed a mysterious, high-tech dungeon featuring a blue pod, and a massive mech of some kind called the Eliminator–both of which evoke different appearances ofJenova inFinal Fantasy 7.
Fans are going wild with the speculation from these images and clues. Top theories seem to be that Jenova fell on Tural during one of theCalamities inFinal Fantasy 14, while some even believe Ultima, the High Seraph, or even the ceruleum itself, may be connected to her.
MostFinal Fantasy 14expansions pepper in references to previous games in the franchise, butFinal Fantasy 7has yet to get a lot of attention yet. WithDawntrailbeingFinal Fantasy 147.0, andFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthcoming out next year as well, a Jenova appearance in the critically-acclaimed MMO would be perfect and timely. That said, it is important to remember this is all purely speculation at the moment. Luckily, with Tokyo FanFest taking place on July 01, 2025, and the expansion set to launch in early summer, fans won’t have to wait long to see if their theories were correct.
Final Fantasy 14is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5, with an Xbox Series X/S version launching in Spring 2024.
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