I can't imagine the Garlean Empire would ever be completely destroyed. Right now, it is the most influential nation on the entire planet, and when you consider just how much land the Empire has conquered and how large it is, it would probably end up killing itself before anyone else kills it.
Sounsyy's theorycrafting here would have us not even touching Garlemald's land beyond Ala Mhigo until at least the third expansion. We're looking at the year 2017 here. Maybe further. Now, tossing out the concept of time here, would we ever get to the point where we push into their own territory and start wrecking faces? Sure.
But even if we outright defeat them in every sense of the word, the Empire will not die. Empires don't die that well. Just look at Rome. It 'died' in the 400's, but it truly didn't die until at least a thousand years later because of the Byzantines.
My theory suggests that the Garlean Empire will, in defeat, change. They will evolve into something else. They won't vanish from the face of the planet. They will instead become their own Byzantines.
What I hope will happen over the coming months/years is that they show the Empire in more of a grey light versus a black light. I've never been convinced that the Empire is truly evil. They just have bad apples. Eorzea is no different. Right now the only thing separating the two is point of view. I would like for them to highlight that more.
(04-11-2015, 03:12 PM)Sounsyy Wrote: My guess:
3.0 Heavensward = "Sky" - Ishgard arc + Dragonsong War and Ul'dah close.
4.0 Ala Mhigo = Eorzean Alliance (finally) supports the Ala Mhigan Resistance and battles to secure Ala Mhigo before the new Emperor puts his full force behind the assault on Eorzea. This would secure a fortified foothold to fight the Empire from and drives the Empire mostly out of Eorzea. Opens up more of the Shroud, and old Gridanian wounds and lore about the Autumn War and the nations' treatment of the Ala Mhigan refugees. And finally having most of Eorzea opens the next expansion up for...
5.0 = "Sea" Limsa Lominsa story arc that's been in the background since 1.0 days. With Ala Mhigo retaken, Garlemald confronts Eorzea on all fronts, and it's up to Limsa blockade to weather the storm while the rest of the Eorzean Alliance fights Garlemald on land on the Ala Mhigan front. This expansion would open up the continent of Meracydia to the south, Thavnair to the East, and the New World to the West. This is our "exiting Eorzea" expansion, but not quite pushing into Garlean controlled areas.
Sounsyy's theorycrafting here would have us not even touching Garlemald's land beyond Ala Mhigo until at least the third expansion. We're looking at the year 2017 here. Maybe further. Now, tossing out the concept of time here, would we ever get to the point where we push into their own territory and start wrecking faces? Sure.
But even if we outright defeat them in every sense of the word, the Empire will not die. Empires don't die that well. Just look at Rome. It 'died' in the 400's, but it truly didn't die until at least a thousand years later because of the Byzantines.
My theory suggests that the Garlean Empire will, in defeat, change. They will evolve into something else. They won't vanish from the face of the planet. They will instead become their own Byzantines.
What I hope will happen over the coming months/years is that they show the Empire in more of a grey light versus a black light. I've never been convinced that the Empire is truly evil. They just have bad apples. Eorzea is no different. Right now the only thing separating the two is point of view. I would like for them to highlight that more.