Sq. Enix held its annual Fan Fest in Anaheim final week and premiered a brand new teaser trailer for Ultimate Fantasy 14’s subsequent enlargement, Evercold, which will likely be launched in January 2027.
The trailer exhibits the Warrior of Gentle and his companions Estinion and Alphinaud touring to the Drive Shard, a land coated in ice and dominated by terrifying giants who’ve compelled their folks to take refuge within the sky.
The trailer additionally highlighted an enormous World Tree, and eagle-eyed followers on Reddit started to attach the dots as to what occurred to the Fourth earlier than we arrived. Provided that this enlargement takes inspiration from Norse mythology, we are able to solely assume that this world has some type of Fimblewinter occurring. And it is as much as us to heal the world and save our folks, similar to we did in The First in Shadowbringers.
The World Tree isn’t a game-specific idea, however continues to stare at us. In a publish over a 12 months in the past, Reddit consumer /u/Kaellian identified the numerous references to the World Tree in Eorzea and its shared relationship via a number of completely different shards. With proof like this, we should always see the seeds YoshiP and the narrative group planted all these years in the past lastly take root.
What’s the World Tree Concept?
That is going to get difficult, so please collect round. Etrian Odyssey is a reasonably complicated board of crimson threads that connects Ultimate Fantasy 14’s numerous lore threads. All through the sport’s many patches, timber, snakes, and different allusions to Norse mythology are concerned.
Followers consider that Ultimate Fantasy 14’s World Tree is being established to operate equally to Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. Yggdrasil is what unites the 9 Kingdoms when the serpent dragon Nidhogg gnaws its roots. With each Hydaelyn and Zodiark already lifeless, the characters are warned that recombination is going on organically and that the items are about to collide with the Supply.
Evercold’s new trailer focuses on a big tree-like construction. That is additionally similar to the Crystal Tower from Shadowbringers. This might additionally trace at how the Warrior of Gentle is ready to journey to this shard.
The Etrian Odyssey has all the time existed as a part of Ultimate Fantasy 14’s lore, nevertheless it was by no means actually a spotlight throughout the story. We had been first launched to the Guardian Tree in Black Shroud of the Twelvewoods, however in case you’ve by no means performed via the White Mage job quest line, you will have missed this a part of the lore. Throughout the tank quest in 6.0, we additionally realized tips on how to reconnect historical sentinel timber to revive the etheric stability of a area.
Nonetheless, Dawntrail has not too long ago targeted on this subject due to the Arcadian Raid sequence and the brand new Vana’diel Alliance Raid, which leads into Ultimate Fantasy XI’s enlargement, Seekers of Adoulin. This world tree options two twin world timber. One is prospering, the opposite is dying, with roots unfold throughout completely different zones world wide.
Including to the hypothesis, one in every of Daybreak Path’s key places, Resolution 9, is modeled after Ultimate Fantasy IX’s Leafa Tree, and serves an identical objective of redistributing life into lifestreams. Talking of Lifestreams, the brand new teaser trailer for Evercold particularly mentions the Promised Land, a location talked about in Ultimate Fantasy VII, and there was a give attention to Lifestreams there as nicely.
We must always lastly see the seeds that YoshiP and the narrative group planted years in the past take root.
Going additional again into Ultimate Fantasy 14’s lore, we additionally discover the existence of the World Tree in Melasidia throughout the Warring Triad quest line in Heavensward. Director Yoshi-P continued that he had deliberately kept away from revealing particulars in regards to the places as a result of it will reveal too most of the sport’s secrets and techniques. A pleasant NPC can even inform you in regards to the World Tree within the ninth shard of Conde Petit. This might recommend that there are different Timber of Life which were torn into completely different dimensions, now withering away with out the Zodiark controlling the movement of the ether.
Followers have been following all of those hints for the previous 12 months, assuming we’ll be constructing our personal model of Yggdrasil in Evercold, serving to us journey between completely different shards and restore them.
With the threads hanging round all of this, we’ll seemingly see a few of this symbolism lastly repay within the subsequent enlargement.
How Dawntrail Foresaw Evercold
Because the launch of Dawntrail, we have seen numerous allusions to the mythology of the North. This prepares us to go to related tales in future content material.
A current patch launched two members of “The Winterers”, Calyx and Halmalut, warning that the “Withering” is about to happen and are taking drastic measures to make sure the survival of a portion of humanity. In Harmalt’s preface, she warns the Scions that Hydaelyn, who tore the world aside within the first place, is gone, the Supply longs to be entire once more, and the remaining reflections search to rejoin.
These reunifications could be vastly completely different from what the Assians had beforehand induced via the Umbral Plague, and would as a substitute return Etheiris to a state by which people had not but emerged. It is nearly the identical as in Fimbulwinter, the place solely chosen people survive contained in the World Tree till the tip.
Studying of this, Harmarut visits Drive Shard, a world already frozen in ice, the place persons are making an attempt to construct a brand new civilization within the sky.
A current sequence of raids additionally lends credence to this being the route Evercold is headed. The brand new Stadium Raid tells of an eerie premonition. “The lifestream that sleeps within the depths slowly sheds its outdated pores and skin. Finally, the lifestream will devour its personal tail and use it to create a brand new physique. The ache will shake the earth, the mountains will crumble, and the rivers will dry up.”
That is more than likely a metaphor to explain the umbral and astral cycles that the Lifestream represents, nevertheless it might additionally consult with an thrilling occasion throughout the Lifestream that occurred on the 4th day or might happen in our world.
He additionally launched “chilly stasis,” a know-how that retains the human physique in a state of suspended animation and halts the development of intractable illnesses. We’re knowledgeable of a illness referred to as psychological necrosis that degrades an individual’s soul and results in inevitable demise. The one remedy for this illness is the Drop of Life, which may solely be discovered inside the guts of the nice snake Lindwurm.
I am unsure if it is a foreshadowing of how difficulty #4 would later get better from its cold-induced panorama, however it will be an effective way to tie the raid into the primary story.
Actually, there’s sufficient obscure hypothesis right here to maintain Elden Ring followers entertained for months to return, however with the reveal in 7.5, it is protected to say we’re beginning to see the items come collectively.
Within the newest patch, we realized extra about Azem’s Stone, which helped us get again to quantity 13 within the newest patch. Maybe, with this stone and Harmalt paving the way in which for us to the Fourth, we will help construct the bridge to this new place.
It is also attainable that Yggdrasil will by some means attempt to join all the shards collectively as a stand-in for Yggdrasil, whether or not it is by actually connecting the World Tree of various shards or symbolically. Like how the unique Crystal Tower was used as a catalyst to guide us to that reflection.
After Harmalt was arrange within the newest patch, followers are betting that she’ll play an identical function to Emmet Selk within the upcoming enlargement, changing into a catalyst for why the world is the way in which it’s whereas guiding us throughout the Shards. The attainable deviation this time is that Harmarut is probably much less of an adversary and will assist set up Yggdrasil for this shard.
It’s troublesome to know now whether or not this analogy of the snake within the lifestream will stay metaphorical or whether or not one thing will likely be revealed from it. Some followers consider there are hints that one thing is poisoning the Lifestream now that Zodiark is gone, and with references to the Promised Land, this might be a approach to introduce Ultimate Fantasy VII’s secondary villain, Jenova, into the story.
Both manner, Sq. Enix has completed an important job of getting the fanbase excited for the following enlargement after going through a lull after Dawntrail’s quick launch. With Yoshi-P hinting that he is eager to reboot Ultimate Fantasy 14, it is attainable that Evercold is gearing up for a significant overhaul of the sequence and the way in which it seems to be on the world.