I couldn't miss the chance to practice my drawing!
Hythlodaeus:So it was that the brave wayfarers arrived at last at dream's end.
Emet-Selch:In following their path walked and history written, I am made keenly aware of one truth... Though the curtains may fall again and again, so long as others take the stage, ever shall there be more tales to tell.
Hythlodaeus:So let them bring it to a close, I say.
Emet-Selch:Let the curtains fall upon this— The final chapter in the tale of the star.
Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch introducing Ultima Thule
Ultima Thule [ˈʌl.tɪ.mə ˈθuːl] is a location in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker and the final zone visited in the expansion story. Located at the farthest edge of the universe, it is the Metia's Ultimatum, a domain where dynamis has been made dominant over aether and so a place where emotions dictate reality.
History[]
The familiar Meteion and her sisters, after their shared consciousness succumbed to the despair of countless dead and dying civilizations, came to the belief that existence is a mistake, and resolved to usher in the end of life on Etheirys and the cosmos through a song of oblivion carried on dynamis. To prepare, they fled to the farthest edge of the great expanse to build a nest of pure dynamis harvested from the despair of the stars they visited. As the Meteion on Etheirys made her escape, the ancient Venat managed to place a tracking spell on her to chart her passage through the stars.
Over 12,000 years later, the Warrior of Light and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn bested Hydaelyn, and from her obtained the crystal with the data from the tracking spell. With the aid of the Loporrits they determined the nest's location, dubbed "Ultima Thule", and prepared the ark created by the Sharlayan Forum, christened the Ragnarok, for a journey to the nest.
Using the Mothercrystal as fuel, they reached their destination but immediately encountered one of the Meteia, who attempted to use dynamis to snuff out the aether of their life. The Warrior fell unconscious as they saw Thancred Waters make a stand against the familiar. Waking up with the Scions and accompanying Loporrit crew, they found Thancred missing, but the Ragnarok had safely landed, with the surrounding area possessing of all the qualities necessary to support life.
The remaining Scions disembarked to track down the true Meteion and locate Thancred. During their investigation, the party came across an abandoned metal fortress and discovered ashen and stone remnants resembling dragons. The Warrior and Estinien were able to discern draconian shades prowling the environment, which Estinien attributed to their unique bond with dragons. The Scions eventually came across a settlement, with its dragon residents visible to all. One of the Meteia revealed themselves before the group, disclosing that the beings and environment around them were based on the memories absorbed by the familiars during their search for answers. The reason they could survive in the area was due to Thancred's sacrifice, who was erased by Meteion during the initial confrontation aboard the Ragnarok, but his powerful hope for his friends' survival shaped the region's dynamis, leaving him in a quasi-dead state where his soul struggled against the despair of Ultima Thule.
Shocked by this revelation, the Scions attempted to find a way forward but found their path barred by empty space. They instead conversed with the dragon shades, learned their history of their war and subsequent loss to alien invaders and why they eventually gave up hope. Estinien was particularly affected by this knowledge and eventually traced the most despondent dragon. After hearing its cries and lament for non-existence, Estinien challenged the shade, and used himself and his people as an example of how despite the feud between different races, common ground could be reached to hope for a better future. The shade dissolved into a storm of dynamis and swallowed Estinien, who realised what needed to be done. The storm dissipated and a wind began to blow and parted the wall of fog barring the way forward. The party realised that Estinien, in confronting the greatest despair of this civilization with his hope, had used his life to reshape the dynamis and opened the way, like Thancred before.
Forced to continue onwards, the Scions encountered another civilization in the Ea, beings of science that utilised their knowledge to shed their flesh and obtain immortality. In their discussions with the shades, the group learned that the Ea once were proud of their technology and progress, however the discovery of a certain piece of information lead them to lose all faith in science. Many of the Ea extinguished their own lives, while the remaining individuals decided to research and shed their immortality to regain their mortal forms. One of the shades offered to divulge this piece of information and Y'shtola Rhul accepted. The shades revealed that the universe will die, and there would be nothing that would prevent it. Y'shtola rejected the shades subsequent conclusion that knowledge and life is futile before they dissolved into another storm of dynamis to swallow the researcher. Urianger Augerelt joined his companion to aid her will against the dynamis, and Y'shtola shared her hypothesis that Azem's incantation, as infused by Hydaelyn's power to give form to the formless, could bring back the lost Scions before they vanished. After the storm faded, one of the Ea's old teleporters sprang to life, signaling the way forward. Meteion appeared to the remaining Scions, surprised that the hope of their companions was proving to rekindle the light of civilization. Alisaie demanded the familiar to stop hiding and face them, but she told the group that she resided in the dead sun hovering above them before vanishing.
The Ea's teleporter delivered the remaining Scions to a third civilization—the Omicrons, a cybernetic race who had created Omega. Most Omicrons they encountered were on standby, prompting them to seek out their leader, Stigma-1, referred to as "Sir". Although Sir failed to answer all of their questions, the Scions took notice of an Omicron who was not on standby, and was wandering freely. This Omicron was an extension of Sir, and it was revealed the Omicrons had augmented themselves into purely mechanical beings to better themselves through conflict, but had since grown so strong there were no beings that were their equal; Sir believed that the Omicrons no longer had a purpose, having discarded their previous motivations with their original bodies. G'raha Tia asserted that no part of a living being is immutable—body, memory, and soul—and urged Sir to find the ability to dream and desire again. Sir's Omicron body dissolved in another storm of dynamis, taking G'raha with it; Stigma-1's main body remained, and was encased in crystal, which formed a path onward.
At the end of the crystalline path was an abandoned city not unlike those on Etheirys. Meteion appeared and revealed it was a recreation of a star whose inhabitants had already died before she arrived. There were no inhabitants, recreated or otherwise, and there was no path forward despite the absence of emotion to obstruct them. Alphinaud and Alisaie determined that it was Meteion herself whose emotions permeated the environment and obstructed them; as she and her sisters shared their findings with the collective consciousness, the suffering of so many stars' inhabitants had driven them to inadvertently cause some of the ends they discovered. The fear of sharing this with Hermes had driven the Meteia to give up on all life, and usher in the end;. To this end, the Metia constructed Ultima Thule as a haven, and stored within the Dead Star the souls of those she had overwhelmed. As souls were reborn again and again, the Metia prevented their birth. Using the power of dynamis, the Metia were accelerating the final heat death of the universe, the point where there would be no possibility for life, and thus birth, to occur. The Leveilleur twins asserted that a part of life is overcoming the suffering, provoking another storm of dynamis to consume them and the Meteion before them, and open one final path forward for the Warrior of Light.
Walking through the dead city and across the path of light borne of the twins' sacrifice, the Warrior of Light remembered all those they had met along their numerous journeys, until they stood at the highest point of Ultima Thule, just beneath the dead sun. The Meteia confronted the Warrior through the medium of the Meteion who originally accompanied Hermes in Elpis, claiming there was no way to reach them. Using Azem's magic, the Warrior summoned the souls of Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus, who used their creation magicks to create a bed of Elpis flowers. The sight provoked Meteion's memories of Hermes, severing her from the Meteia collective, and Ultima Thule was altered into a place where life could naturally exist. The burden of the Scions' souls thus lifted, the Warrior used Hydaelyn's gift to restore their comrades and call them to their side.
Although one had been restored to herself, the remaining Meteia still continued the song of oblivion. Meteion opened the way into their nest in the dead sun, where further recreations of dead worlds awaited the Scions.
Battling their way through the Dead Ends, the Scions encountered the true Meteion, who summoned and merged with her sisters to become the avatar of the Meteia's hive mind and it's infestation of despair, the Endsinger. The Entelechy overwhelmed the Scions and prepared to annihilate them all save the Warrior who, in a last ditch surprise, activated the emergency return devices gifted to them prior to their departure, and dropped their own, sending their comrades to safety. Alone, the Warrior prepared to face their foe once more, when the moment was interrupted by the surprise entrance of Zenos Galvus, in the form of Shinryu.
The two set aside their conflict and Zenos allowed the Warrior to ride on his back to chase down the Endsinger. After an intense battle, the Warrior overcame their foe, empowered by dynamis responding to the prayers of the Scions, and the Endsinger was reduced to a singular Meteion. With her, the Warrior shared the memory and emotions of their journey, demonstrating to her that life has many forms of experiences that make it worth enduring. Her hope rekndled, this Meteion sang a song of hope to exho throughout creation and offered to take the Warrior home as her last act.
However, Zenos, returned to his human form, requested the Warrior for one last battle, appealing to their sense of adventure. The Warrior complied and, after a hard fought duel, emerged the final victor. Zenos passed on, and the Warrior, heavily injured, fell unconscious. By a stroke of luck, their abandoned emergency return device landed next to them and activated, sending the Warrior back to the Ragnarok, where the Scions began emergency treatment of their friend while also commencing the return journey home.
Some time later, the Omicrons would resume preparing for war, but the Lopporit Jammingway and the Omicron N-7000 helped convince it otherwise. The pair would establish a cafe in the abandoned city to help re-invigorate Ultima Thule with hope and so the Omicrons can learn to become a more diplomatic people. In doing so, the surrounding dynamis created a new planet, which Jammingway called Elysion. Every time the Warrior of Light brought new customers to the cafe and reignited hope in the once-lost race, Elysion would change and grow as a result of the changing interactions with dynamis.
Locations[]
Aetherytes[]
Ultima Thule contains three aetherytes:
- Reah Tahra
- Abode of the Ea
- Base Omicron
Areas[]
- Ostrakon Deka-Okto - A recreation of the Dragonstar, the 18th civilization encountered by the Meteia. Midgardsormr's kin that remained behind on the Dragonstar suffered unspeakable atrocities at the hands of their alien oppressors, who forsook their ruined star upon victory, leaving the dragons with naught but anguish and shame.
- Ostrakon Tria - A recreation of Deneb III, the 3rd civilization encountered by the Meteia. The Ea were a race who pursued infinity through knowledge and science, unlocking the secrets of immortality to escape the grasp of death. However, the truth of the inevitable doom of the universe proved too much to bear, and both their knowledge and immortality became monuments to futility.
- The Wellspring of Regret
- Hollow of the Flesh
- The Tube - A reactivated transportation device created by the Ea long ago. It houses the Portal of Wisdom, which connects to the Clouded Portal.
- Ostrakon Deka-Hexi - A recreation of Alphatron, the 16th civilization encountered by the Meteia. The Omicrons of the Alphatron Star once wore weak and frail bodies. In order to contend with the stronger races that persecuted them, they took to augmenting their flesh, before forsaking them altogether for superior mechanical ones. In so doing, they found purpose in evolution through contending with dangerous foes, but when they reached the peak, became stronger than anything they had faced, they lost their goal to strive forward for.
- Clouded Portal - An Omicron portal that connects to the Tube.
- Fallow and Empty Portals - A pair of Omicron portals linked to each other.
- Lambent and Unmemoried Portals - A pair of portals connecting Base Omicron to the path to Ostrakon Hena.
- Ostrakon Hena - A recreation of the 1st civilization encountered by the Meteia, or what was left of it, for this and many other stars were already dead husks when Meteion arrived.
Settlements[]
Reah Tahra[]
A recreation of a dwelling of dragons that had remained on the Dragonstar following the war with Omicrons. Unlike the shades that prowl the surrounds in madness, these dragons have lost the will to do anything.
Abode of the Ea[]
A recreation of a "village" of the Ea, a species that were able to forsake flesh to exist as immortal aetherial entities. The name has long been lost due to the inhabitants losing interest in such things. It consists of rock formations with crystalline bulbs, which serve as "dwellings" for the Ea.
Base Omicron[]
A recreation of an Omicron war camp, whose inhabitants carry out specified duties while awaiting new orders that will never arrive.
Weather[]
Ultima Thule may exhibit any of the following weather conditions:
Weather | Frequency or conditions |
---|---|
Fair Skies | 70% |
Umbral Wind | 15% |
Astromagnetic Storm | 15% |
Places of interest[]
The Ragnarok[]
The starship originally created by the Sharlayans to serve as an ark for their exodus to the silver moon. With the aid of both the Loporrits and the Garland Ironworks, it has been significantly improved and now serves the purpose of ferrying the champions of Etheirys to deliver them from doom.
The Vitrified Fort[]
An abandoned fort left by the mechanical invaders of the Dragonstar.
Ahm Nohl[]
The remains of a nesting ground, the spoiled land giving rise to malformed abominations when any eggs manage to hatch.
Elegia[]
What amounts to a graveyard for the Ea, a place where they wrote down their final epitaphs before extinguishing the spark of their lives. Many others did not deign to leave such writings.
Stigma-1[]
The main body of one of the six strategical command matrices that oversaw the function of the Omicrons.
The Tree of Life[]
The sole organic lifeform present in Deka-Hexi, taken from its homeworld as a token of conquest. It has somehow managed to survive in its environment despite all odds.
The Lost Hydraulic[]
A platform floating in the void disconnected from the rest of Ostrakon Deka-Hexi.
The Nekropolis[]
The ruined buildings of a dead civilization. The structures are whole but hauntingly empty - as if all life had come to an abrupt end.
The Last Dregs[]
A cafe set-up in the Nekropolis by Loporrit Jammingway alongside Omicron N-7000 and Stigma-4 in an effort to recover data of the lost civilizations encountered by Meteion.
Absolute Horizon[]
The closest point to Meteion's nest, it was orignally a barren rock, but the power of hope influenced the blooming of radiant Elpis flowers.
The Dead Ends[]
Meteion's nest, a dead sun within which lies the memories and despair of countless dead stars.
The Final Day[]
This region exists within the depths of the Dead Ends and serves as the location in which the Endsinger is confronted. It resembles the vast void between the stars.
Beyond the Stars[]
This location exists at the core of Meteion's nest and serves as the arena for the final battle between Zenos Galvus and the Warrior of Light. It resembles a vast sea under a starry sky.
Elysion[]
A star born from the newfound hope Meteion spread throughout Ultima Thule. As a creation of dynamis, it is very susceptible to the emotions of sentient beings.
Activities[]
Duties[]
The Dead Ends |
Here, at the edge of the universe, await as many stories as there are stars in its sea. Of rises and falls, of beginnings and ends...of a little bird who left home with hope, yet nested in sorrow. Hearken unto these tales to be told... |
The Stigma Dreamscape |
For the first time since the fall of its civilization, the warmongering Stigma-4 is awake, its unbeating heart set on conquering a distant star─yours. Omicron N-7000 believes that the most effective means of deterrence is to convince its subconscious circuits of how poorly it would fare against Hydaelyn's champion, and has opened a path to allow you to implant a pseudo-memory of just such a contest. Thus does it fall to you to answer the question─of what do matrices dream? |
The Final Day |
Meteion and her sisters took to the stars in search of hope; they found naught but despair. Wishing to free mankind from his vain struggle, they began to sing, their chorus borne upon the invisible winds of dynamis to usher in the Final Days. Against all odds, you have arrived at their nest at the edge of the universe. In this place, where emotions dictate reality, the hopes of your comrades have opened the way forward, and it falls to you to take the last step. Transforming conviction into strength, you sally forth upon dragonback to confront the Endsinger and silence her song of oblivion. |
FATEs[]
Name | Level | Location | Time limit | Objective |
---|---|---|---|---|
Description Spawn conditions (if any) | ||||
Omicron Recall: Comms Expansion | 89-90 | Ostrakon Deka-Hexi (x29 y25) | 15 minutes | Deliver scrap material to N-6205 |
Omicron N-6205 seeks to recover data from an earlier model known as Chi. Establishing a connection, however, will require the collection─or creation─of copious scrap material with which to augment its transceiver. | ||||
Omicron Recall: Secure Connection | 89-90 | Ostrakon Deka-Hexi (x33 y26) | 15 minutes | Defend N-6205 |
Transceiver successfully augmented, N-6205 now moves to establish a connection with the Chi unit. It requires time, however─time uninterrupted by the overflow units operating on a contradictory protocol.
Spawn conditions:
| ||||
Sound and Fury | 89-90 | Ostrakon Deka-Okto (x10 y23) | 15 minutes | Defeat the maddened dragons |
Sorrow begets anger. Anger begets violence. Even amongst brothers does this cycle of loss perpetuate itself, unto the end of time...or such time as a more powerful foe arrives to end their suffering once and for all. | ||||
(No) Wind beneath Our Wings | 89-90 | Ostrakon Deka-Okto (x16 y28) | 15 minutes | Defeat the maddened wyverns |
Without the wind to guide them, the younger wyverns and their symbiotic kin have lost their way─existentially speaking─and live for naught but the fleeting rush of violence. The only solution is, naturally, more violence. | ||||
Wings of Glory | 89-90 | Ostrakon Deka-Okto (x12 y35) | 15 minutes | Defeat Ahl Ein |
Though past his prime now, Ahl Ein nevertheless wishes to relive those glory days through combat with a skilled opponent. He and his kin have long awaited a worthy challenger capable of bringing his memories to life. | ||||
Only Just Begun | 89-90 | Ostrakon Deka-Okto (x8 y18) | 15 minutes | Defend the the dragonets |
Though their elder kin would not see them live to experience suffering, the few dragonets that remain unmarred by mechanical malevolence take a rather different view on their own premature demise, and beg assistance in staving it off. | ||||
Far from the Maddening Horde | 89-90 | Ostrakon Deka-Okto (x20 y35) | 15 minutes | Defeat Than Oskh |
Though Than Oskh may not be the most tragic figure cast to bitter winds in the wake of war against the machines, he is one of the most fearsome. If his senses cannot be restored, he must be stopped─ere he guides his horde to crush what few signs of life yet linger in their forsaken home. | ||||
Dead Inside | 89-90 | Ostrakon Tria (x17 y11) | 15 minutes | Defeat the deranged Ea |
Overcome by melancholy at the thought of how little justice exists in the universe, a collective of Ea has elected to part ways with conscience entirely, and now drifts uncaringly from misdeed to misdeed. Where right and wrong hold no meaning, however, carrot and stick will do... | ||||
Beacons of Lost Hope | 89-90 | Ostrakon Tria (x30 y7) | 15 minutes | Defeat the luminions |
Luminions who failed to regain their corporeal forms and have subsequently come to regret their choices now roam Ultima Thule, and must be prevented from finding─or creating─company for their misery. | ||||
Fallen from Grace | 89-90 | Ostrakon Tria (x20 y7) | 15 minutes | Defeat the Ea |
Several consciousnesses that have tried and failed to regain a suitable corporeal form are showing remarkable persistence in becoming their best selves─regardless of whose self is currently ensconced in their flesh of choice. | ||||
Staring into the Void | 89-90 | Ostrakon Tria (x27 y15) | 15 minutes | Defeat the other ones |
Fiends of unknown origin and sinister nature have arrived upon this plane, calling darkness down upon all who have the misfortune to meet their eyes─those soulless, hollow eyes... | ||||
Nevermore | 89-90 | Ostrakon Tria (x27 y15) | 15 minutes | Defeat Poe |
From some shadowed corner of the universe hails Poe, an elegant creature that has lured many a victim into the lightless cask of their undoing. Like all great horrors, it is best put to rest before it can be fully understood. | ||||
Omicron Recall: Killing Order | 90 | The Lost Hydraulic (x34 y21) | 30 minutes | Defeat Chi |
Unit N-6205 has successfully established a connection with Chi─which has arrived with offensive protocols fully primed. It would seem that the only way to retrieve its data is to defeat it in combat.'
Spawn conditions:
|
Behind the scenes[]
The aether currents in this zone only appear in Ostrakon Tria and Deka-hexi. This is because the wind in the region only appears after Estinien's sacrifice to open the path in Deka-Octo.
Musical themes[]
The theme of the zone is "Close in the Distance", sung by Jason C. Miller. When first arriving in the area, a muffled and distorted version of the song known as "Echoes in the Distance" plays and changes as the story is progressed, first to an instrumental version, before staying in its lyrical form after the main scenario quests are completed. The default Endwalker overworld combat theme does not play in this zone.
Another arrangement of the field theme, known as "Cradle of Hope", plays in both Elysion and the Last Dregs after the Omicron tribal quests are unlocked.
Etymology[]
Ultima means "the last" in Latin and many Latin-based languages. The word is an inflection of ultimus which is the superlative of ulter, which means "that is beyond". In the Spanish versions of many Final Fantasy games, the spell Ultima's name is written as "Artema", a close transliteration of the Japanese katakana.
"Thule" is a Latin and Ancient Greek term referring to the northernmost location in the known world, which to the Romans and Greeks was Scandinavia. Together, the terms mean "The farthest Thule" and refers to any location beyond the regions of the known world, befitting a region at the edge of the known universe.
ostracon, is a Greek word for a shard of pottery. In archaeology, ostraka are potsherds or stone fragments that were reused or repurposed to inscribe a message, with writing on the surface added after the original object broke. In classical Athens, when votes were cast by citizens on the exile of a person, they were cast and counted in ostraka; this practice was called ostracism.
Ostrakon (plural ostraka), alternatively written as