It feels like only a year since my first run of Castrum Meridianum and the Praetorium. Truth is it’s really only been close to 4. Before the rework. Good memories. I do love the greater context of these locations and it really paints a tale of how close the XIVth was to conquering Eorzea than one might first realize. We really did pull off a miracle in saving the realm and pushing back the Empire that hard from invasion.
Gaius needed the first elevator because he needed something that took long enough to get to Ultima to deliver his monologue. And he wasn't going to just walk next to the WoL and have that chat before fighting at the door. As for the second elevator. Well, he wasn't going to take the stairs up in that thing. The real question we have to ask is how much did the architect cry when they saw how much digging they would have to get done for that.
For a real answer, I think it's for secrecy. Gaius probably didn't want anyone to know what they were building, so keeping the Ultima Weapon top secret until it was time to unleash it meant hiding it deep underground so spies would have a really hard time finding it. And then the elevator back up is for Ultima Weapon to rise to the surface to be carried/fly to it's objectives once complete.
This was a great video. I actually had never considered to look at Castrum Meridianum and Praetorium in the same light as all of the dungeon history videos you've done before this one. If nothing else, you were able to remind me that while the Castrum and Praetorium were largely new and not some storied ruin that was occupied by hostiles like most other dungeons inevitably were, that doesn't mean it has no historic context to provide. Quite the contrary, since it's intrinsically linked to the XIVth Legion and Gaius himself. Which leads me to wonder if you were keen to consider a character study of the Black Wolf down the line. For one, it would be neat to know the lore they had for him in 1.0 and some behind-the-scenes stuff we're not privy to. Personally, I'm actually curious to know the context behind his obsession with being a mighty ruler. By your own reckoning in this lecture, he represents all that's honorable and noble in a Garlean soldier possessed of great integrity. Furthermore, XIV's narrative goes on to confirm that with how much his men loved him, from his tribunii (in varying degrees of devotion) down to the rank-and-file footsoldiers. It would be cool to know what instance in his own life potentially put him down the path of believing that "only a man of power could rightly steer the course of civilization" and that "the misguided elevate the frail, and the frail lead the people astray". Do these beliefs of his allude to a leader before Solus zos Galvus who indeed fit those descriptions? Or does it instead allude to Gaius' experiences under a legatus before him who fit the bill? So many burning questions about it
Definitely puts into perspective how much of a backfoot Eorzea was on during ARR, to say the victory at Castrum Meridianum was the miracle they needed is almost an understatement.
Greetings! I was hoping you might consider giving a lecture about the Ixal and Garuda or the Sylphs and Rahmuh! I currently don’t know much about the various tribes of Eorzea and I am deathly curious to learn more! :)
"Tell me for whom do you fight!!!?" "Hm. How very glib, and do you believe in Eorzea!!?" "Eorzea's unity is forged of falsehoods. It's city states are built on deciet. And it's faith is an instrument of deception." "It is not but a cobweb of lies. To believe in Eorzea is to believe in nothing." "In Eorzea, the beast tribes summon gods to fight in their stead, though your comrades rarely respond in kind. Which is strange, is it not?" "Are the Twelve otherwise not engaged? I was given to understand they were your protectors. If you truley beleve them your guardians, why do you not repeat the trick that served you so well in Carteneau, and call them down?" "They will answer, so long as you lavish them with crystals and gorge them on ether." "Your gods are no different than those of the beasts, Eikons, everyone. Accept but this, and you'll see how Eorzea's faith is bleeding the land dry." "Nor is this unknown to your masters. Which prompts the question, 'why dothey cling to these false deities?' "What drives men of learning, even the great Louisoix, to grovel at their feet?'" "The answer. YOUR MASTERS LACK THE STRENGTH TO DO OTHERWISE!!!" "For the world of man to mean anything, man must own the world!!!" "To this end, he has fought ever to grow through conflict, to grow rich through conquest!" "And when the dust of battle settles, it is ever the strong who dictate the fate of the weak." "Knowing this, but a path is made by the impotent ruler. That of false worship. A path which leads to enervation and death." "Only a man of power can rightfully steer the course of civilization, and in this land of creeping mendacity, that one truth will prove it's salvation." "Come champion of Eorzea!!! Face me!!! Your defeat shall serve as proof of my readiness to rule!!!" "It is only right that I should take your realm, for none of you has the power to stop me!!!" (After his ass whooping) "Heed me!! The subjects of a weak ruler must needs look to a higher power for providence, and there dependence comes at a cost to the realm." "The misguided elevate the frail, and the frail lead the people astray." "Unless a (insert race of whichever character you made here) of power wrests control, the cycle will never be broken." "You. You of all people have seen the truth in this. You who have the strength to rule."
His speech here triggered much thought and speculation from me. A single person has caused so much death and suffering with the invasion of Eorzea. And yet his power would be for naught if other people didn’t obey him, such as the military. Where would any leader be without those to lead.
It should also be Mentioned that the 14th, also took considerable losses during the Calamity and lost the support of Nael's Legion. So it was not. As if Gaius and his Forces were in a complete one sided Victory streak. I mean sure if Gaius had asked for the other Legions, Eorzea would had fallen. But the Calamity was costly to both sides
True! Though Eorzea was the only land thoroughly damaged by the calamity. As such, the 14th Legion had absolutely no trouble pulling resources from other bases outside of Eorzea to replace what was lost in the Calamity. Since Eorzea wasn't their home turf, they didn't suffer any permanent drawbacks from the Calamity. Same can't be said for every country in Aldenard. haha
@@SynodicScribe Yes and no. while you can say that most resources could be pulled from other colonies with the emperor's permission. You also need to consider the loss in man power two legions were nearly obliterated during the calamity, Gaius took what was left and set up his bases through the last years with little resistance yes, but he didn't have the same man power even five years after as the invasion had been costly to the Empire when it comes to man power. if Gaius had intended to take Eorzea through a slaughter he would had needed the aid of another legion, which would had left the Empire's grip on the colonies weakened. Not to mention transport of said resources would be costly due to the distance. You need to recall that Gaius also prior to the Calamity lost man power and the Empire's greatest airship to Midgarsomr.
@@warllockmasterasd9142 Losing the Agrius was a big setback no doubt, but that was more than a decade ago. They had done the same thing in that time as well. Redistribute forces and resources to reestablish their stance. This is why the countries of Eorzea truly were considering surrender before the Scions intervened. The 14th, plus Ultima Weapon, was essentially unstoppable to the modern Eorzean country. Good thing they had the WoL on their side, since they haven't lost a cage match in 12 years! hahaha
@@SynodicScribe Well to be exact they were ready to surrender once Garlemald proved they could take care of the Primal threat. The city states did have the manpower to stand up to the 14th as later seen, but they didn't have a means to defend themselves against the primal threat and the 14th at the same time. As we later even see that the city states, Isghard and the remnant of ala'mhigo were able to hold their own against the Empire's man army so long as it was soldiers against soldiers. So it's just plainly wrong information to say that the three city states were at Gaius mercy without the Ultima weapon. We even know from a realm reborn era that the three city states once the primal threat had been put on pause were more than able to strike at all of Gaius' build bases. the WoL is the champion of cage fights yes, but if the three city states couldn't had held their own against the forces of Gaius, we still would had lost.
Spoilers but Apparently later on in the expansions, we find him having disregarded his Legionary armor, but still doing his best to defend his people in an attempt to atone for his past actions. This is in part defending Garlean citizens from both Empire and Grand Company overreach as a wandering blademen, but also hunting down any ascians he can track down as well. When we run into him, he has several Ascian masks as trophies, including one of the red masks of the Convecation.
Ambition? Dominance? Cough cough, I don’t know why use such wording, but you gave me a stupid idea to try predicting what will happen in FF16 based on what happened to the battle between Eorzea and Garlemald during 1.0 and ARR. I don’t know if the FF16 creative director and original scenario writer worked on 1.0 and ARR, I only know he worked on HW 3.0. That aside, this is a nice video! I’m a sucker for magitek and my reaction to Garleans in the first few hours of ARR was “Imma beat you and claim your technology.” I didn’t like their ideology so I couldn’t say I like Garleans, but learning we have Garlean defectors on our side made me really happy. Well, there’s some bits in post SB, ShB and EW that continue to feature them as allies and adversaries both, sssooooooooo…!
As much as I want to, there's unfortunately not enough data to do an accurate deep dive on either of those races. I'll likely need to wait until they publish the next book. I look forward to the day I can make those videos.
@@SynodicScribe Yeah, not counting anything you find in Shadowbringer or Endwalker it's basically just Ivalice lore to go off of, and while I will stan Ivalice every waking moment, it's less reliant on the First and the Source probably.
RIP "How very glib" While I do agree Gaius himself proved to be one of things that led to the XIVth Legion's undoing, I don't think it was his nobler traits that served to be the chink in his armor, even though he did spare the Warrior of Light. Instead IMO I lay the blame at his atheist views that completely blindsided him to both the actions of the Acians and Hydlean. A primal may not be a true god in the conventional sense but you do well not to underestimate their power and impact they have on their followers.
Yeah, his speech was like a Fascist-Atheist-monologue of doom. Knull would be proud of our boy Gaius. He reformed himself quite a bit in the story though!
It feels like only a year since my first run of Castrum Meridianum and the Praetorium. Truth is it’s really only been close to 4. Before the rework. Good memories.
I do love the greater context of these locations and it really paints a tale of how close the XIVth was to conquering Eorzea than one might first realize. We really did pull off a miracle in saving the realm and pushing back the Empire that hard from invasion.
Now if you can only explain why Praetorium has a massive elevator leading down (Gaius fight) to another immediate elevator going up (Ultima Weapon).
Gaius needed the first elevator because he needed something that took long enough to get to Ultima to deliver his monologue. And he wasn't going to just walk next to the WoL and have that chat before fighting at the door.
As for the second elevator. Well, he wasn't going to take the stairs up in that thing.
The real question we have to ask is how much did the architect cry when they saw how much digging they would have to get done for that.
For a real answer, I think it's for secrecy. Gaius probably didn't want anyone to know what they were building, so keeping the Ultima Weapon top secret until it was time to unleash it meant hiding it deep underground so spies would have a really hard time finding it. And then the elevator back up is for Ultima Weapon to rise to the surface to be carried/fly to it's objectives once complete.
Have you seen their armor? Style-over-substance, it’s all about the presentation
funy
Gaius: Conquest without slaughter!
Lahabrea: Ok i nuke
Gaius: SUCH DEVESTATION!!! FREINDLY FIRE WAS ON YOU ASS!!!
Lahabrea: eh
woo, Nerding time!
9:11 Insert typical "Such devastation" line here. =P
SUCH EDUCATION!
This was a great video.
I actually had never considered to look at Castrum Meridianum and Praetorium in the same light as all of the dungeon history videos you've done before this one. If nothing else, you were able to remind me that while the Castrum and Praetorium were largely new and not some storied ruin that was occupied by hostiles like most other dungeons inevitably were, that doesn't mean it has no historic context to provide. Quite the contrary, since it's intrinsically linked to the XIVth Legion and Gaius himself.
Which leads me to wonder if you were keen to consider a character study of the Black Wolf down the line. For one, it would be neat to know the lore they had for him in 1.0 and some behind-the-scenes stuff we're not privy to. Personally, I'm actually curious to know the context behind his obsession with being a mighty ruler.
By your own reckoning in this lecture, he represents all that's honorable and noble in a Garlean soldier possessed of great integrity. Furthermore, XIV's narrative goes on to confirm that with how much his men loved him, from his tribunii (in varying degrees of devotion) down to the rank-and-file footsoldiers.
It would be cool to know what instance in his own life potentially put him down the path of believing that "only a man of power could rightly steer the course of civilization" and that "the misguided elevate the frail, and the frail lead the people astray".
Do these beliefs of his allude to a leader before Solus zos Galvus who indeed fit those descriptions? Or does it instead allude to Gaius' experiences under a legatus before him who fit the bill? So many burning questions about it
Definitely puts into perspective how much of a backfoot Eorzea was on during ARR, to say the victory at Castrum Meridianum was the miracle they needed is almost an understatement.
Just started this game a month or so ago. Thanks for putting out ARR content, it’s super fun to watch.
You're very welcome! I hope you've been having a wonderful adventure!
@@SynodicScribe best MMORPG I’ve played in over a decade. Reminds me of my Ragnarok Online days.
Thanks!
Greetings! I was hoping you might consider giving a lecture about the Ixal and Garuda or the Sylphs and Rahmuh! I currently don’t know much about the various tribes of Eorzea and I am deathly curious to learn more! :)
It's been a while since I've covered a Beast Tribe, I guess I should.
I was in Northern Thanalan when the Castrum went up in a literal flash. I swear, I still see spots when I close my eyes to this day.
I swear, your lore and retelling of history is amazing and so engaging!
Great job on this!
"Tell me for whom do you fight!!!?"
"Hm. How very glib, and do you believe in Eorzea!!?"
"Eorzea's unity is forged of falsehoods. It's city states are built on deciet. And it's faith is an instrument of deception."
"It is not but a cobweb of lies. To believe in Eorzea is to believe in nothing."
"In Eorzea, the beast tribes summon gods to fight in their stead, though your comrades rarely respond in kind. Which is strange, is it not?"
"Are the Twelve otherwise not engaged? I was given to understand they were your protectors. If you truley beleve them your guardians, why do you not repeat the trick that served you so well in Carteneau, and call them down?"
"They will answer, so long as you lavish them with crystals and gorge them on ether."
"Your gods are no different than those of the beasts, Eikons, everyone. Accept but this, and you'll see how Eorzea's faith is bleeding the land dry."
"Nor is this unknown to your masters. Which prompts the question, 'why dothey cling to these false deities?' "What drives men of learning, even the great Louisoix, to grovel at their feet?'"
"The answer. YOUR MASTERS LACK THE STRENGTH TO DO OTHERWISE!!!"
"For the world of man to mean anything, man must own the world!!!"
"To this end, he has fought ever to grow through conflict, to grow rich through conquest!"
"And when the dust of battle settles, it is ever the strong who dictate the fate of the weak."
"Knowing this, but a path is made by the impotent ruler. That of false worship. A path which leads to enervation and death."
"Only a man of power can rightfully steer the course of civilization, and in this land of creeping mendacity, that one truth will prove it's salvation."
"Come champion of Eorzea!!! Face me!!! Your defeat shall serve as proof of my readiness to rule!!!"
"It is only right that I should take your realm, for none of you has the power to stop me!!!"
(After his ass whooping)
"Heed me!! The subjects of a weak ruler must needs look to a higher power for providence, and there dependence comes at a cost to the realm."
"The misguided elevate the frail, and the frail lead the people astray."
"Unless a (insert race of whichever character you made here) of power wrests control, the cycle will never be broken."
"You. You of all people have seen the truth in this. You who have the strength to rule."
This speech has been ingrained into my mind because of the Praetorium dungeon run and is so iconic to this game.
His speech here triggered much thought and speculation from me. A single person has caused so much death and suffering with the invasion of Eorzea. And yet his power would be for naught if other people didn’t obey him, such as the military. Where would any leader be without those to lead.
I am loving this upload schedule: You’ve truly spoiled us and have outdone yourself! Stay safe my friend! ❤
It should also be Mentioned that the 14th, also took considerable losses during the Calamity and lost the support of Nael's Legion.
So it was not. As if Gaius and his Forces were in a complete one sided Victory streak.
I mean sure if Gaius had asked for the other Legions, Eorzea would had fallen.
But the Calamity was costly to both sides
True! Though Eorzea was the only land thoroughly damaged by the calamity. As such, the 14th Legion had absolutely no trouble pulling resources from other bases outside of Eorzea to replace what was lost in the Calamity. Since Eorzea wasn't their home turf, they didn't suffer any permanent drawbacks from the Calamity. Same can't be said for every country in Aldenard. haha
@@SynodicScribe Yes and no.
while you can say that most resources could be pulled from other colonies with the emperor's permission.
You also need to consider the loss in man power two legions were nearly obliterated during the calamity, Gaius took what was left and set up his bases through the last years with little resistance yes, but he didn't have the same man power even five years after as the invasion had been costly to the Empire when it comes to man power.
if Gaius had intended to take Eorzea through a slaughter he would had needed the aid of another legion, which would had left the Empire's grip on the colonies weakened.
Not to mention transport of said resources would be costly due to the distance.
You need to recall that Gaius also prior to the Calamity lost man power and the Empire's greatest airship to Midgarsomr.
@@warllockmasterasd9142 Losing the Agrius was a big setback no doubt, but that was more than a decade ago. They had done the same thing in that time as well. Redistribute forces and resources to reestablish their stance. This is why the countries of Eorzea truly were considering surrender before the Scions intervened. The 14th, plus Ultima Weapon, was essentially unstoppable to the modern Eorzean country.
Good thing they had the WoL on their side, since they haven't lost a cage match in 12 years! hahaha
@@SynodicScribe Well to be exact they were ready to surrender once Garlemald proved they could take care of the Primal threat.
The city states did have the manpower to stand up to the 14th as later seen, but they didn't have a means to defend themselves against the primal threat and the 14th at the same time.
As we later even see that the city states, Isghard and the remnant of ala'mhigo were able to hold their own against the Empire's man army so long as it was soldiers against soldiers.
So it's just plainly wrong information to say that the three city states were at Gaius mercy without the Ultima weapon.
We even know from a realm reborn era that the three city states once the primal threat had been put on pause were more than able to strike at all of Gaius' build bases.
the WoL is the champion of cage fights yes, but if the three city states couldn't had held their own against the forces of Gaius, we still would had lost.
@@warllockmasterasd9142 My friend I can't tell if we're having a fun back and forth here or if you're simply trying to give me a hard time. lol
Great video!
I missed your videos soooo much
Thanks for sharing; take care
I wonder what Gaius is doing now? Didn't he retire to a seaside town somewhere?
Spoilers but
Apparently later on in the expansions, we find him having disregarded his Legionary armor, but still doing his best to defend his people in an attempt to atone for his past actions. This is in part defending Garlean citizens from both Empire and Grand Company overreach as a wandering blademen, but also hunting down any ascians he can track down as well. When we run into him, he has several Ascian masks as trophies, including one of the red masks of the Convecation.
You'd THINK that after this disaster, Garlemald would have learned. But apparently not. :(
Ambition? Dominance? Cough cough, I don’t know why use such wording, but you gave me a stupid idea to try predicting what will happen in FF16 based on what happened to the battle between Eorzea and Garlemald during 1.0 and ARR. I don’t know if the FF16 creative director and original scenario writer worked on 1.0 and ARR, I only know he worked on HW 3.0. That aside, this is a nice video! I’m a sucker for magitek and my reaction to Garleans in the first few hours of ARR was “Imma beat you and claim your technology.” I didn’t like their ideology so I couldn’t say I like Garleans, but learning we have Garlean defectors on our side made me really happy. Well, there’s some bits in post SB, ShB and EW that continue to feature them as allies and adversaries both, sssooooooooo…!
Do you have plans for a Gaius Character Study?
Oh yeah. Eventually. Soooo much to talk about.
Can you do a character review on the Vera and the Hrothgar please and thank you
As much as I want to, there's unfortunately not enough data to do an accurate deep dive on either of those races. I'll likely need to wait until they publish the next book. I look forward to the day I can make those videos.
@@SynodicScribe that's cool I just asked because I play Vera. I love your videos
@@SynodicScribe Yeah, not counting anything you find in Shadowbringer or Endwalker it's basically just Ivalice lore to go off of, and while I will stan Ivalice every waking moment, it's less reliant on the First and the Source probably.
So you're saying that such devastation was not his intention.
Didn't Hydaelyn state that she never touched the aether of the mother crystal even once, no matter how dire the situation seemed?
RIP "How very glib"
While I do agree Gaius himself proved to be one of things that led to the XIVth Legion's undoing, I don't think it was his nobler traits that served to be the chink in his armor, even though he did spare the Warrior of Light. Instead IMO I lay the blame at his atheist views that completely blindsided him to both the actions of the Acians and Hydlean. A primal may not be a true god in the conventional sense but you do well not to underestimate their power and impact they have on their followers.
Yeah, his speech was like a Fascist-Atheist-monologue of doom. Knull would be proud of our boy Gaius. He reformed himself quite a bit in the story though!