SPOILERS Chapter 9 plot points I'm confused about (**Spoilers, obviously**)

[sensei_mike]

Hey Guys,

So I just finished Chapter 9 when Noctis gets Leviathan's power. There are a bunch of things I don't really understand that I hope someone can help with!
1. Why/how did Luna get to Altissia?
2. Why did the empire show up when Luna was doing the summoning?
3. The empire should know that Noctis is alive by now....Why haven't they killed him yet?
4. Why dd that dude with the black hair kill Luna? (and why not kill Noctis too?)
5. Why were the bros trying to distract the empire from killing Leviathan when Noctis himself was actually trying to defeat (kill?) him too? Wouldn't it have been easier to let the empire shoot at leviathan also?

 

[Soulcorruptor]

pretty much the bulk of your questions besides one will be answered latter in some of the other chapters.

 

[Linnaete]

1. Why/how did Luna get to Altissia?

I'm guessing by imperial airship? The chronological timeline of events is strange anyway. She had already fled Insomnia at the end of Kingsglaive, managed to find time to change into a fresh dress in the intervening time between Chapters 1 and 2 as seen by an introductory cutscene where she reunites with Gentiana and the dogs somewhere on the road in Leide, AND also found time to return to her home nation of Tenebrae (as a later cutscene will show later on in the game) all before crossing over to Altissia and considerably ahead of time compared with Noctis and his crew. I guess since the wedding plans were a sham anyway and originally conceived by Ardyn, the Empire probably just shunted her onto an airship and quickly flew her over there.

Though having just said that, the earlier cutscene with the emperor declaring that Luna must be found and killed in order to claim back the ring she had absconded is strange if we presume that the Empire had in fact ferried her overseas. Once again, probably Ardyn's doing that Luna is kept away and under lock and key enough to continue to serve as a prop without being killed up to the point of Chapter 9 itself?

2. Why did the empire show up when Luna was doing the summoning?

To essentially kill Leviathan. Heck, they made it Ravus's job to be in charge of the operation, though obviously this was not what Ardyn actually intended, because his agenda is his own.

3. The empire should know that Noctis is alive by now....Why haven't they killed him yet?

You'll find this out later.

4. Why dd that dude with the black hair kill Luna? (and why not kill Noctis too?)

See above.

Also, Ardyn has dark magenta hair.

5. Why were the bros trying to distract the empire from killing Leviathan when Noctis himself was actually trying to defeat (kill?) him too? Wouldn't it have been easier to let the empire shoot at leviathan also?

This was the whole point of the covenant Luna had forged with Leviathan: the latter would pit Noctis in a gruelling trial with the aim of seeing whether the king would be worthy of the Hydraean's power. Had the imperials managed to achieve in their godslaying crusade first, Noctis would have been deprived of Leviathan's power and Niflheim would probably fly away with both a completely annihilated city AND the corpse of a giant sea serpent atop its swampy remains.

 

[Dionysos]

^ See Linnaete's post above for much of what we can tell you at the moment. There are certain things which you don't find out until you have nearly completed the game. There are further things which you won't ever find out unless you read up on the lore online after completing the game. FFXV is a strange game in that while its story is very good, it isn't told very effectively.

A few extra non-spoilery points (for where you are in the game):
There are (many many many) parts of FFXV's story that we never get to see. Lunafreya started her journey on the run after sneaking out of Insomnia with the ring. Luna then appears to resume her duties as an Oracle: she heals the sick, holds off the Starscourge, and starts the process of forging covenants with the Astrals on behalf of the prophesied 'True King' (Noctis). It appears that by the time that she reaches Altissia (or some time before) Luna is already reconnected with the Niflheim empire (and her brother Ravus). She's effectively a hostage once more like she had been for the ten years prior to fall of Insomnia, but her duties as an Oracle are also something which the Empire wishes her to continue in order to complete their own aims of slaying the Astrals.
Regarding the ring, there's more to it that you'll see as you continue the game.


The Empire wants to kill all of the Astrals, as Linnaete says. Niflheim wants to be 'top dog' and be the most powerful force on Eos, and so that is one of the reasons why they have decided to attack them. The reasons for Noctis fighting the Astrals are very different (although it can be rather muddled). The Astrals fight Noctis because they are angry gods being disturbed and they want to test the worthiness of Noctis as the claimed True King. Only once Noctis has proved his worth do they then forge a covenant and offer their spirits to aid the party. This is helped as Luna had been travelling about and negotiating with this Astrals on Noctis' behalf before the party had encountered them too.

As you will see, the Astrals have various physical and spiritual forms. As gods they are not restricted to one body. You can 'slay' Leviathan (or beat it to a pulp - I can't remember how defeated Leviathian is by the end of the battle) and forge a covenant with Leviathan at the same time, and the essence of Leviathan will still live and come to your aid if it desires it.

The wills of Astrals are all different as you shall see. Ramuh was an easy ally to the True King and didn't want to fight him. Titan and Leviathan needed more persuading. It sucks that they have such disregard for their surroundings (Leviathan ruined Altissia - which is basically Eos' Venice), but they are gods after all.