With dedicated leitmotifs and lyrics written from the perspective of various characters, the music in Final Fantasy XIV is as integral to the game’s story as any cutscene—and after two years of speculation, we finally know which character is behind the gut-wrenching main theme of Endwalker, “Close in the Distance.”
Apparently, it’s none other than dear Ardbert, the poster boy of the game itself and the narrator of Shadowbringers, one of FFXIV’s most critically acclaimed expansions. Japanese game news site GAME Watch first reported on the revelation in their coverage of the recent official concert, “THE PRIMALS Live in Japan – Darkest Before Dawn,” where the Japanese VA for Ardbert was invited onstage to MC the beginning of the event.
While GAME Watch first touched on Ardbert’s role as the speaker of “Close in the Distance” in their initial coverage of the concert on Sept. 21, it was their retrospective piece published earlier today that garnered the attention of the English-speaking fanbase. A prolific Japanese FFXIV news blog called Umadori News highlighted the Ardbert reveal in the GAME Watch article—their X post on the topic has since hit the community like a meteor, filling its quote retweets with utter emotional devastation.
“Close in the Distance” is, in essence, a heartfelt letter to the player character from beyond the grave, encouraging the Warrior of Light to “forge ahead till the end.” The revelation comes as a surprise to many fans, as the main candidate for the song’s speaker has been Emet-Selch so far—the main narrator of Endwalker and also a bygone friend who leaves their legacy with the WoL.
It’s no wonder fans are falling apart—while difficult to fully explain without spoiling the story of Shadowbringers, a sentiment like “through you, we live” is a gut-wrenching thing to hear from Ardbert in particular. Two years after the song first devastated everyone, many players will have to re-learn how to not tear up every time they revisit Ultima Thule.
