The Unbroken Thread

Quest giver: Lyna
Location: Lakeland (X:33.7, Y:27.5)
Quest line: Shadowbringers Main Scenario Quests
Level: 79

Experience: 228,960
Gil: 1,197
Previous quest: In His Garden
Next quest: To Storm-tossed Seas
Simple Gifts
His Own Medicine
Welcome to the Future
Made, Not Born
The Poet Doesn't Know It
Patch: 5.0

Main Scenario Progress: 639 / 953 (67.1%)

Shadowbringers Progress: 98 / 157 (62.4%)

“

Lyna urges you to follow her.

— In-game description

Steps

Head to the Ocular.
Speak with Lyna.
Speak with the aspiring amaro tamer.
Speak with Urianger.

Journal

Lyna urges you to follow her.

Lyna is resolved to unlock the door to the Umbilicus. She bids you return to the Crystarium, and meet her in the Ocular.

You enter the heart of the Crystal Tower and a vision from the past washes over you. The Echo stretches on for what feels like many long minutes as you witness the Exarch reveal the truth of his motivations to a stunned Urianger. G'raha Tia─for that is the steward's true identity─speaks of an apocalyptic future in the Source, and of a determined group's efforts to bend time and space so that your life, and the lives of countless others, might be spared. Overwhelmed by the enormity of the endeavor, Urianger grimly agrees to conceal the truth from his fellow Scions, and to prevent them from interfering with the Exarch's planned act of self-sacrifice.

As you recover from the shock of these revelations, Ardbert appears and helps guide you towards a possible course of action. First things first, however, you must report to Lyna where she awaits you outside.

You speak with Lyna, and ask for the most direct means of reaching the Tempest. Somewhat taken aback by the request, the guard captain directs you to the tamers at the Amaro Launch.

Your attempts to secure an amaro for the forthcoming journey are interrupted by the arrival of your concerned comrades. You discuss your intention to press on despite your delicate condition, and the objections raised by Ryne are met with an impassioned argument from Alisaie. In the end, your companions agree to accompany you to the Tempest─an endeavor which gains the unexpected support of the Crystarium citizenry. They have long suspected your role as the Warrior of Darkness, and it seems you will not want for allies in the days ahead.

Although impressed by your determination, Urianger hints that he may have a less strenuous way of reaching the ocean floor. Before you discuss his solution, however, he suggests you conclude any pressing business you might have in the Crystarium.

Dialogue

Quest Acceptance

Lyna: Come. Meet me in the Ocular, and I will unlock the door within.

Crystarium Gatekeep: Mistress [Forename]. The captain said to expect you.

Head to the Ocular

Lyna walks up to the Warrior of Light
Lyna: I have unlocked the door to the Umbilicus. You are free to enter.
Lyna: Once you have what you require, I'll see it sealed once more. Until then, I will remain without.
Lyna leaves
Books are strewn about everywhere, and once the Warrior of Light sees the umbilicus it triggers a flashback

Flashback

Urianger: A moment to collect my thoughts, I prithee...
Urianger: Thy true name is G'raha Tia, then.
Urianger: By thy claims, thou too art a native of the Source, though from an age beyond our own, when the Eighth Umbral Calamity hath visited devastation upon our star.
Urianger: Thou hast, by subtle means, reached across the boundaries of time and space to unsow the seeds of catastrophe, ere its creeping vines drag our champion unto an early grave...
Crystal Exarch: In essence, yes. A difficult story to swallow, I am sure... 

Urianger: I doubt not the veracity of thy words─not the account of thy coming, nor that of the fated Calamity.
Urianger: Yet my mind straineth still to apprehend the enormity of this tale. Wouldst thou favor me with a gradual unfolding of its chapters?

Crystal Exarch: Certainly.
Crystal Exarch: But where to begin? I should start with those great minds who survived the Calamity─Cid Garlond being perhaps the greatest.
Crystal Exarch: In hopes of staying the unending tides of war, he and his fellows pursued all manner of possible solutions.
Crystal Exarch: One of these was rooted in a theory which unified several fundamental principles discovered over the course of the Warrior of Light's adventures.
Crystal Exarch: It proposed a method by which one could enter the river of time, traverse the rift, and leap between worlds.
Crystal Exarch: Perfecting that idea, however, was a work which consumed their lifetimes. And thus was it left to future generations to decide whether theory would be put into practice.
Crystal Exarch: But all the while the world continued to burn. Hope was a feeble outpost, beset on all sides by thievery and misery and murder.
Crystal Exarch: People cried out in despair, “There is no hope. We are finished. Mankind is finished.”
Crystal Exarch: Then others raised their voices in answer.
Crystal Exarch: "Though we be beyond salvation, those who came before may yet be saved.“
Crystal Exarch: "We will forge a crossroads, and pave the way for a different future. By the wisdom of our forebears we will prevent this Calamity from ever having come to pass.“
Crystal Exarch: The fighting went on unabated, but some few took up Cid's research, and labored to realize those impossible ideas.
Crystal Exarch: After two centuries of labor, their descendants finally succeeded in awakening the Crystal Tower─an integral part of the process─and in doing so roused its caretaker. Me.
Crystal Exarch: By this stage, scholars had largely established the phenomena underpinning the Rejoining, and identified the First as the shard which precipitated the Eighth Umbral Calamity.
Crystal Exarch: This grand structure was already capable of storing the energies required to attempt the translocation. All that remained was to augment some few of its functions, based upon the theoretical models of Cid and his compeers.
Urianger: And by means of such technologies didst thou effect thine arrival in the First, to an age before this star had joined with the Source.
Crystal Exarch: Some while before, as it turned out. 'Tis all but impossible to predict how time will flow between one world and the next, and we missed our mark by almost an entire century.
Crystal Exarch: But this only worked in our favor. The sin eaters could not be defeated without the blessing of Light, and summoning the only woman who might stand a chance against them would require decades of preparation. (Urianger with a hand against his head)

Urianger: ...An undertaking of scarce credible endurance. That thou hast kept thy plan from falling into disarray these many years bordereth on the miraculous.
Urianger: Yet howsoever history be rewritten, thy present self was shaped by events which followed the Calamity.
Urianger: Should said catastrophe be averted, the very skein of thine existence will unravel. Surely thou hast foreseen this...

Crystal Exarch: I am aware of the consequences. 'Tis for that very reason Cid and his colleagues bequeathed their legacy as an offering...and not an edict.
Crystal Exarch: To give all of oneself for the happiness of others, and with no promise of reward? 'Tis a hard thing to ask.
Crystal Exarch: Harder still for those condemned to survive in a world which pitted brother against brother. Indeed, you were right to call the execution of this plan “miraculous”─though the force which held it together was nothing so inexplicable.
Crystal Exarch: It was [him/her]. The Warrior of Light has been our unbroken thread.
Crystal Exarch: Where others would stumble and fall, [he/she] would rise above. Where others would break and run, [he/she] would carry on.
Crystal Exarch: The Warrior of Light's tale is one of unyielding bravery. To tell it was to feel courage; to hear it was to feel hope. It was a breath of inspiration in an age of suffocating shadow.
Crystal Exarch: In the histories of a fallen nation was our hero hailed as its greatest ally.
Crystal Exarch: In the timeworn pages of a noble's memoirs were her deeds joyously retold.
Crystal Exarch: For many, these stories were the flame which warmed them through the coldest of nights.

Crystal Exarch: And so it should come as little surprise that the plan found no shortage of volunteers, concerning as it did the Warrior of Light herself. It was their chance to add their own verse to the hero's saga.
Crystal Exarch: [He/She] was the lodestar that brought them all together, to send their final message back through time and space...to her.
Crystal Exarch: "The light of your legacy was our torch in the darkness. Burn bright again...and live.“ (Urianger is looking intensely at the Exarch)
Crystal Exarch: I am merely the bearer of that wish, come to ensure it is safely delivered. (Urianger rests his head in both his hands, appearing frustrated)
Urianger: Wherefore sharest thou this burden with me and no other? What wouldst thou have me say?
Crystal Exarch: That you will be my accomplice?
Crystal Exarch: 'Twas you yourself who convinced me of your suitability when you spoke of how you learned of the Flood, and of your part in arranging Minfilia's journey to the First. 
Crystal Exarch: Your actions showed uncommon resolve. 'Twas clear you were committed to the cause of saving this world.
Crystal Exarch: I knew I could trust you to choose the right path forward...even if that choice came with a heavy price.

Urianger: ...What price? (Urianger looks at the Exarch, who looks down for a moment)
Crystal Exarch: When all is said and done, and the last of the Lightwardens lies slain, I will absorb their corrupted aether. And then I will die.
Crystal Exarch: Knowing what I know of your companions─not to mention your champion─they will try to stop me.
Crystal Exarch: But in saving one they would save none.
Crystal Exarch: Therefore I implore you to aid me in concealing my identity, and ensuring this tale ends as it must.
Crystal Exarch: To this end, I would have you take what I have told you of the Calamity and make of it a portent─a prophetic vision you beheld in the swirling chaos of the rift. (Urianger slowly blinks)
Urianger: ...Is this truly thy wish? (Exarch smiles and looks to the sky)
Crystal Exarch: History remembered the Warrior of Light, as I knew it would. And I will suffer no other to rescue the champion whose star has charted my course.
Crystal Exarch: I will see this tale to a happy end, my friend. There has been enough tragedy.

Return to present=

Ardbert is in the room with the Warrior of Light
Ardbert: Careful, now.
Ardbert: If you lose control again, the Light could claim you for good.
Ardbert: Although it's probably only a matter of time before you succumb to the change, in any case. 
Ardbert: What do you mean to do?

What will you say? I mean to hunt down Emet-Selch. / I mean to rescue the Exarch. / I mean to have a few words...with both Emet and the Exarch.  -> I mean to have a few words...with both Emet and the Exarch. 
Ardbert: (Ardbert's gaze lightens) Then we should be on our way. The Ascian mentioned the Tempest, did he not?
Ardbert: That's “the stormy seas around Kholusia” to you. His lair must be down there somewhere, hidden beneath the waves.

Speak with Lyna

Lyna: Did you find the answers you sought? If there is nothing more you need, I will go and lock the door...
What will you say? I need some directions... / I have questions about the Tempest... -> I have questions about the Tempest...
Lyna: The Tempest? That is the name given to the seas by which Kholusia is bound.
Lyna: If you make a request to the tamers, they will provide you with an amaro to fly you over the waters, but...
Lyna: ...Do you mean to leave right this moment? Alone?
Lyna: I am not sure that─ Nay, I will not seek to stop you. Go with the blessings of the shadow, and I shall await your safe return.

Speak with the aspiring amaro tamer

Aspiring Amaro Tamer: You require an amaro? Just a moment, and I shall saddle our swiftest beast to fly you to the island...
Aspiring Amaro Tamer: ...The open water? To the depths of the Tempest!? Our amaro can swim, yes, but to reach the ocean floor...
The Warrior of Light feels a flashback and/or headache

Urianger: Ah, we have found thee.
Urianger: Word reached us of thy recovery, and thus did we gather with all haste.
Urianger: Ah. By thy looks, I gather thou hast gleaned that which I came to tell thee.
Alphinaud: Urianger has shared everything with us─the Exarch's true identity and purpose. Urianger walks up to the Warrior of Light and kneels before them

Urianger: I offer no excuses.
Urianger: When I agreed to aid the Exarch with his plans, 'twas in full acceptance of the condemnation I would face when my duplicity was laid bare.
Urianger: ...Yet it is not rancor but resolve that I sense in thee. Thou art fully intent upon walking thy path to its end, art thou not?
Urianger: If thou canst forgive my deception─or, failing that, set aside thy displeasure for a time─I do beg leave to follow thee. What strength and wisdom I possess are thine to command.

What will you say? I forgive you. Let's go. / I am a danger to those around me. / No more lies.  -> I forgive you. Let's go.
Urianger: ...I thank thee. Doubt not but that I will do all in my power to repay thy kindness, and fulfill the Exarch's wishes.
Ryne: I'm sorry but...I don't think this is a good idea.
Ryne: Leaving the Crystarium, I mean─with or without Urianger.
Ryne: What I did for you won't last forever. There's no telling when the Light will break free again.
Ryne: Please, you must stay here, at least for a little while longer! We will find a way to cure this, I promise you!
Alisaie: How can you make promises!? We don't even know where to start!
Alphinaud: Alisaie, please. You know Ryne was only trying to help.
Alisaie: Of course I know! I know only too well! (Alisaie balls up her fists)
Alisaie: But making promises you have no way of keeping is not a kindness─it's a lie, plain and simple!
Alisaie: We've all searched high and low for an answer! And every one of us came back empty-handed!
Alisaie: I am not about to stand in her way now─not after failing her in her hour of need! No, the least we can do is...
Alphinaud: We will go with you, as well.
Alphinaud: There is naught to be gained by standing still.
Y'shtola: Indeed, we have exhausted every other avenue.
Y'shtola: Lead and we shall follow. If there is any hope to be found, then we will surely find it at your side.
Thancred: Are we all in agreement, then? (Ryne nods)

???: Is there aught we can do to help?

Katliss: Though we may not know the whole story, we do know you're in for a fight.
Katliss: And while the Exarch's away, it falls to the rest of us to see the Warrior of Darkness is given a proper send-off!

Alphinaud: You told them!?
Lyna: No! Well...not in so many words.
Glynard: Aye, we didn't need it spelled out for us. When the night sky appeared over whichever place you went to, it was harder not to put two and two together!
Bragi: From the moment I heard that you and the Exarch shared a homeland, I had my suspicions.
Bragi: Long had he been waiting for a certain someone to arrive...and I knew at once that it must be you.
Crystarium Gatekeep: Exactly! When he went out to meet you, 'twas clear it was no ordinary visitor.
Crystarium Gatekeep: That spring in his step spoke volumes. I could feel his excitement!
Moren: We do not fully understand where you or the Exarch hail from, or why you've all done so much to protect us.
Moren: But we are deeply grateful, nonetheless.
Moren: So if there is anything at all we might do to aid your journey, you need only name it. What would you have of us? Y'shtola smiles
Y'shtola: You might have invited them to join us, were there not so many. But come, they are waiting. What is your will, O Warrior of Darkness?

What will you say? Defend the Crystarium until we return! /  Leave it to us - we'll see the Exarch home safe and sound! / Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst... -> Leave it to us - we'll see the Exarch home safe and sound! (Everyone cheers)

Y'shtola: You might have invited them to join us, were there not so many. But come, they are waiting. What is your will, O Warrior of Darkness?
Ryne: There's nothing I can do to cleanse you of the Light's corruption...but I'll do everything in my power to keep it in check.
Ryne: If the Wardens' aether overwhelms you again, you will become a sin eater, so please, save your strength for when it really matters.
Y'shtola: The volunteers who journeyed to Kholusia have all been safely returned to their homes. They've also assured us that they will do their best to hold the eaters at bay in our absence.
Thancred: Gods know you've spent enough time charging into danger on our behalf. It's only fair that we return the favor!
Alphinaud: I once said that I wanted to fight for Estinien─that I wanted to save him, not let him be sacrificed for a cause. And now I say the same to you.
Alisaie: Just so you know, I will not look kindly on any further attempts to leave us behind. We do this together.

Speak with Urianger

Urianger: Thou didst plan to commandeer an amaro for thy journey to the open sea? I fear the following dive down unto Emet-Selch's underwater abode would drain even thy legendary stamina...
Urianger: Thus, during thy convalescence, we considered the most efficacious method for reaching the depths of the Tempest. And I believe we have arrived at an elegant solution.
Urianger: Yet ere we discuss this step, I suggest thou dost conclude such pressing business as remains to thee in the Crystarium. Once the sea closeth above our heads, we are unlikely to surface again until our grand deed is done.