<aside> đź“Ś
Thank you to both https://www.tumblr.com/ffxivtranslations and Myrmidonne/wd3ncha on Bsky for sharing these Japanese and German retranslations/clarifications of dialogue with me for use in this reference. (If any French-speaking fans would be interested in sharing additional direct scene translations or commentary on Zenos’s French dialogue, please do reach out to me on Bsky, I would be glad to add more! Same with fans who may have more German and Japanese dialogue to fill in the direct comparisons table below, I am all ears.)
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| English Localization | Japanese Direct Translation | German Direct Translation | Commentary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zenos: Does the pursuit of prey you have bested before excite you? |
Of course not. Absent the challenge, the thrill, your prize is a hollow victory. Butchery. | Zenos: Are you interested in hunting prey that you have already hunted before?
I’m sure you aren’t. At best you would just easily slaughter it for want of meat or pelts. | Zenos: What appeal is in a quarry one has already hunted?
Exactly: None. Without the agitation of the hunt the hunter only does a butcher's work. A craft without a smallest glimmer of artistic expression. | Interesting that the German translation brings up a comparison to art alongside hunting vs butchering (also somewhat relevant that in GER, Zenos calls the WoL “my hunter” (”Mein Jäger”) instead of “my enemy” which deepens the metaphor…) | | Perhaps you think that to be the extent of my promise. I have no doubt fallen in your estimation since Ala Mhigo. Fair enough.
But do not let your disdain deprive you─deprive us─of an opportunity to craft an even more majestic moment of euphoria.
I have been honing my craft as I set the stage for our reunion. | You feel the same about me. Since your victory was decided in that garden, you must feel that I’m unworthy do you not? That doesn’t matter to me.
However, if you’re not in the mood, I won’t be able to have a battle with you that is better than the last.
So, at the same time as I sharpen my fangs, I must needs make you feel like fighting me again. | You must see it similarly. Since our fateful encounter high above the rooves of Ala Mhigo, your admiration for me must have certainly suffered a bit. I have to live with that.
And if you don't pick up the scent, we will never experience this moment of exaltation again.
For this reason I'm doing everything to stoke the fire within you. While I'm sharpening my claws impatiently. | We have a sliding scale of apathy (”that doesn’t matter”) towards malding (”I have to live with that”) from JPN → ENG → GER in the third sentence/line… But no matter which language, the underlying desperation/need from Zenos for the WoL to be absolutely focused on their battle shines through. | | Wheresoever there is suffering and despair, you appear, to fulfill your duty as defender of this star.
The chaos and destruction that my hordes have wrought...are my gifts to you alone.
At a loss for words? No matter. As you will learn, I have only just begun. | Hero… that is one who risks their life to fight in a place where grief and terror swirls.
Therefore, I tried breaking things here and there for you… how was it?
Well, don’t worry for now. I haven’t even finished stoking the fire yet. | One thing can be relied upon: Where misery and despair are rampant, you come running to play your ridiculous role as protector of this planet.
Yes. The chaos and destruction, with which my horde covered the land... served only as bait.
Have I thrown you for a loop? Apologies, I am a horrible host. | Japanese Zenos reads more like he’s interrogating the broad ideal and term “hero” (literally just 英雄/eiyuu) versus calling out the WoL as the specific “defender/protector of the star” phrasing in ENG/GER.
The last line in German in this section is unusually sardonic/snarky (or is it voiced as if he’s dead serious?) relative to the others. | | Fandaniel: Oh? Will you not finish your meal? | Fandaniel: Oh my, are you already finished with dinner? | Fandaniel: "Have you dined enough already?” | | | Zenos: There is only one thing that can sate my hunger, and it would seem my friend has lost her appetite.
I had hoped this display of civility might prove an entertaining diversion, but clearly we are above such pretensions. | Zenos: In front of my dear friend, no matter what I eat I will just be starving. And it looks like they aren’t hungry either.
I decided to give being “friendly” to you a try, and went along with his suggestion but… it seems that you and I aren’t like that after all. I apologise for inviting you to a boring supper. | Zenos: My hunger can only be quenched by one thing. And my loyal friend has seemingly lost his appetite.
This boring meal isn't befitting our reunion - in doing so I only wanted to try something different for once. Luckily, I have something else that will be far more to you liking. | The Japanese translation/localization here has an extra degree of yearning that I find fascinating relative to ENG/GER and even includes a direct apology… | | While my lifeless body was in the possession of the Ascian, I too claimed another's as my own.
It was an enlightening experience, to fight in an unfamiliar form. Flaws and failings in my technique were plain to see.
Whence rises one's true strength? The flesh? The soul? Perhaps you should like to discover the answer for yourself. Or...together. | Before I took this body back from that Ascian I had to use another’s body.
I learned a lot from that experience. Fighting in a different body allows you to see your own idiosyncrasies.
Does strength lie in the soul or in the body? I gift to you the chance to find out for yourself. So! Come and try to get your body back! | Before I got my body back from that Ascian, my soul found a place in another's.
The fight in another's skin was an illuminating experience. I felt my own weaknesses so keenly like never before.
I asked myself: Where does true strength lie? In flesh and bones? Or in our souls. Well, now you'll experience it yourself. Follow me, if you want it back. | ENG Zenos is less verbally confrontational in how he ends the scene vs JPN/GER | | [What will you say?] • Enough, Zenos! • Get away from them, you bastard! | [What will you say?] • That’s far enough, Zenos. • Get away from the two of them! | [What will you say?] • That's enough now, Zenos. • Leave my friends out of this... | | | Zenos: The gods themselves will be my meal. Your dear companions my dessert. Upon this world I'll feast, and death shall follow in my wake. All your hate, all your rage, you will render unto me. | Zenos: I will eat that strongest god, and tear apart your friends and the world… This time I will make you hate me to the point of wanting to kill me. | Zenos: I will devour the gods whole and nothing, neither your friends nor a mote of dust of this world will remain. Hate me. More fervently than ever before. | |
| English Localization | **Japanese Direct Translation** Cutscene Video with English Localization, JPN VA | German Direct Translation | Commentary | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | That I should lose again… How disappointing. | Ah... it seems I have lost again... ...How frustrating. | | | | Never have I understood those around me. Understood their obsessions.
Besieged by their banality, the world was a mire of tedium and trivialities. | I have never... understood the value of things that people around me were so attached to.
Everything in this world was the same to me, like mud... so boring, so ugly, so trivial. | I never understood why the people around me attached such value to trivial things…
This world resembles…a foul swamp, desolate and barren… | JPN/GER leans more directly into the swamp and mud metaphor, also calling back to the “Color of Joy” cutscene where Zenos used the same comparison. | | But in these fleeting moments, there is...a spark. Blinding, brilliant...
Gone...too soon... | But just occasionally... like this, a fire... would bring me pleasure...
Oh it's so... so infuriating... | Only now and then I could escape it, and for the spark of a moment feel true lust.
[Brief laugh] A quick, fleeting pleasure… | German translation has me shaken to my core (and also includes a sad little laugh in the line that is NOT present in the ENG voicing of the scene oh my god). There is a slight chuckle to the second line in JPN as well, which can be listened to in the link at the header of this table. | | What of you, my mirror? Born into this world, bestowed name, bid to seek out strife and adventure...
Was this life a gift...or a burden? Did you find...fulfillment?
I... | What about you... born into this world, given a name, living...
Walking to this point... what did you feel.... Did you enjoy it to your heart's content?
I... | And you? Were born into this world to experience one incredible adventure after another.
Your life…was a miracle… So much better…than mine…
I… | His direct regret/admiration for the WoL’s life voiced in German hurts my heart, OW |
<aside> đź’¬
For deeper analysis of various German localization lines and language nuances, Florest/@stranger-garden has provided a translation and commentary thread on Bluesky (linked below with permission).
Florest 🌿 (@stranger-garden.bsky.social)
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| Scene / Context | English Localization | Japanese-based Direct Translation | German-based Direct Translation | Commentary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Lady of Bliss” Quest, Confrontation with Fordola | Zenos yae Galvus: “Alas, you do not. Indeed, you are weak. And born of this weakness is a blind fervor. A raging inferno which threatens to consume not only you, but everyone around you.” | "Indeed... your strength was not enough... But this ambition burning in you has always been of interest to me. How it'd set the world - and itself - on fire, just to shine bright for once." | ||
| Zenos’s attitude towards Fordola reads as much more respectful or even empathetic in the German localization | ||||
| “A Breath of Respite” Quest, Zenos traveling back to Garlemald to confront Elidibus & Varis | Katana-bearing Centurion: “Mayhap if Father... Nay. I am a stranger to him in this body.” | "As for my father... oh, for this body he is a complete stranger after all. Let's attribute my lack of feelings for him to that fact." | Far greater degree of bitterness and self-analysis both in the German line, wow. Completely new addition that’s not hinted at in any of the preceding/following English localization lines | |
| “Reflections in Crystal,” Zenos pining and waiting for the WoL | Zenos yae Galvus: “It has been too, too long, my friend...and insufferably dull in your absence.” | [Google Translation] | ||
| “Come back at last, my dearest...Life is so incredibly dull without you...” | ||||
| — | ||||
| “Komm doch endlich zurück, meine Teuerste...Das Leben ist so ungemein öde ohne dich…” | Yes, if you are playing a female WoL he actually refers to your WoL as “meine Teuerste” / “my dearest” in this damn cutscene. Screenshot attached below for proof | |||
| “Death Unto Dawn,” Zenos and Fandaniel planning | Fandaniel: “Which does of course raise the question of where we are going to procure the requisite amount. The obvious solution would be to draw on resources a little closer to home, though that would require our dreamer to dream a trifle more deeply...” |
Zenos yae Galvus: “So be it. The dreamer will not complain.” | | Fandaniel: "This sadly means that we'll have to strengthen our efforts. I'm afraid for a while his dreams will be somewhat... more intense. But that certainly won't be a problem, right?”
Zenos: "Not in the slightest. He seems to enjoy it." | | | | | | | |