I like the implications and I think it's an interesting theory, but I don't think it's right.
I'm assuming the elezen woman you're referring to is the one who appears @7:26 of the new Defenders of Eorzea Patch Trailer? While she puts off a sinister aura, I don't think its "obvious" at all of who she really is. She could just as easily be a new character in the 2.3 additions to the MSQ to whom we have not yet been introduced.
This is the image of Shiva that has been provided to us by SE:
Admittedly, similar color scheme, but still nothing that screams this is Shiva and can only be Shiva - to me, at least? Besides Yoshi-P saying at E3 that Shiva would not appear in game until 2.4, I think there are a few additional holes in the theory.
Firstly, the war between Ishgard and the dragons has been going on for about 700 years, since Ishgard's founding. I don't see what Shiva would gain from adding fuel to an already 700 year war? The war started because Nidhogg, King of Dragons killed Thordan and his son speared Nidhogg in the eye. They haven't seen eye to eye since. Buh-dum-psshh! If the dragons really were fighting Ishgard because of Shiva, this would mean 1) Shiva was the goddess Halone that appeared to the early Ishgardians 700 years ago, and 2) Shiva has been present and summoned in Eorzea for nearly that long? Which would kill the planet.
Secondly, if Shiva really wanted to temper the Ishgardian Archbishop and all the King's Men so to speak, she wouldn't have to do it in disguise. She'd just show up in her true form and temper them and force them to worship her. On this tangent, in order to be summoned in the first place, she would need a whole slew of devout nutjobs worshipping her, not Halone. I imagine if one were to stack a bunch of Ice Crystals together and pray to Halone, Shiva would not be the one to jump out of the birthday cake.
Thirdly, if Shiva were actually hiding out in Ishgard, the Scions and their fancy aetherio-detecting goggle thingies would be able to pick it up, like they were able to detect Titan being summoned in the heart of an active volcano.
Lastly, I wanted to drop this link wherein Fernehalwes drops some lore bombs on 1.0. The pertinent one to this discussion is:
Ishgardians, as brusque and zealous as they can be, are not beastmen. As such they do not worship Primals because they do not believe they were created by the Primals like the beastmen do.
If the dragons are a beast tribe, by process of elimination the only Primal left over from The Six Primals (Bahamut and Odin are Elder Primals, they aren't worshipped.) is Shiva and therefor most likely belongs to the Dragons of Dravania.
I'm assuming the elezen woman you're referring to is the one who appears @7:26 of the new Defenders of Eorzea Patch Trailer? While she puts off a sinister aura, I don't think its "obvious" at all of who she really is. She could just as easily be a new character in the 2.3 additions to the MSQ to whom we have not yet been introduced.
This is the image of Shiva that has been provided to us by SE:
![[Image: FFXIV_Shiva_Concept.jpg]](http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130901011222/finalfantasy/images/3/30/FFXIV_Shiva_Concept.jpg)
Admittedly, similar color scheme, but still nothing that screams this is Shiva and can only be Shiva - to me, at least? Besides Yoshi-P saying at E3 that Shiva would not appear in game until 2.4, I think there are a few additional holes in the theory.
Firstly, the war between Ishgard and the dragons has been going on for about 700 years, since Ishgard's founding. I don't see what Shiva would gain from adding fuel to an already 700 year war? The war started because Nidhogg, King of Dragons killed Thordan and his son speared Nidhogg in the eye. They haven't seen eye to eye since. Buh-dum-psshh! If the dragons really were fighting Ishgard because of Shiva, this would mean 1) Shiva was the goddess Halone that appeared to the early Ishgardians 700 years ago, and 2) Shiva has been present and summoned in Eorzea for nearly that long? Which would kill the planet.
Secondly, if Shiva really wanted to temper the Ishgardian Archbishop and all the King's Men so to speak, she wouldn't have to do it in disguise. She'd just show up in her true form and temper them and force them to worship her. On this tangent, in order to be summoned in the first place, she would need a whole slew of devout nutjobs worshipping her, not Halone. I imagine if one were to stack a bunch of Ice Crystals together and pray to Halone, Shiva would not be the one to jump out of the birthday cake.
Thirdly, if Shiva were actually hiding out in Ishgard, the Scions and their fancy aetherio-detecting goggle thingies would be able to pick it up, like they were able to detect Titan being summoned in the heart of an active volcano.
Lastly, I wanted to drop this link wherein Fernehalwes drops some lore bombs on 1.0. The pertinent one to this discussion is:
Quote:6. Do the dragons of Dravania worship a primal? And if so, who? Is it Nidhogg? Midgardsormr? Someone else?
Yoshi-p dropped a few bombs last week revealing that both Midgardsormr and Nidhogg were not primals, but dragon ‘kings.’ However, he also revealed that the dragons are a beast tribe...and that beast tribes have their own gods (primals)... So...
Ishgardians, as brusque and zealous as they can be, are not beastmen. As such they do not worship Primals because they do not believe they were created by the Primals like the beastmen do.
If the dragons are a beast tribe, by process of elimination the only Primal left over from The Six Primals (Bahamut and Odin are Elder Primals, they aren't worshipped.) is Shiva and therefor most likely belongs to the Dragons of Dravania.
