tl;dr at the bottom (search TLDR)
Note: Tagged as spoilers so people can feel free to reference later parts of the game freely, (and show how wrong I am). This theory is not directly a spoiler, in that it obviously is not confirmed directly by the story.
My aim here is also not to provide some canon/perfect proof of a theory - but instead, a theory which I believe has enough evidence to stand on, and could be understood from the knowledge the current in-game scholars have (which as we know, are not always reliable). My hope is that even if this doesn't feel "quite right" to everybody; it's at least another interesting take on things that provides another way to think about the world that isn't simply baseless.
So one of the key things I've been trying to figure out, since we first see the Sagahin Priest being given the "gift of immortality" (the echo), moving bodies, and then being consumed by Leviathan - is how exactly all these mechanics tie together: The echo, aether crystals, auracite, and even the rejoinings.
With that, I believe I've formed a baseline "theory of aether" - which gives a solid explanation of how aether acts, and why all these various events are possible - and also, which explains them all as related phenomenon.
Aether
So first, some things we know:
From this, we can firstly see that Aether is not consumed or destroyed - it is merely moved from one form to another; the aether that makes us is fundamentally the same as the aether in the crystals and in our magick.
Importantly, from the conjuror's quests, we can also see that as an Aetheric being - we are able to manipulate any other Aether around us, and bend it to our will - as long as we are "strong" enough to do so. (This is the main thread that will be better shown below)
The Echo and Primal Conjuring
This is where things may feel more like leaps & conjecture, but it's also where I believe this theory provides a good baseline for understanding all other events.
So we know that using magick is manipulation of Aether (see first section), Amaurotines were able to use it to create new life, and Ascians showed the beastribes how to do this to summon their Primals. That itself, confirms the idea that Aether if concentrated and given a will (humans/beastribes/amaurotines) can manipulate other Aether to bend it to their will (cast magic, summon primals, etc.)
So what is the difference between us and the Aether we use for magick? This is the leap; but I'd suggest that it's simply a concentration of Aether given a coherent goal/will. This is the core idea, which I suggest as "Sentient Aether".
When we use magick, the more Aether we have concentrated the stronger magick we can use. In effect, the more Aether that makes us up, with a single will, the more Aether we can control and manipulate.
This is backed up by the Sagahin Priest with Leviathan for one. Although the priest has been given the knowledge to understand how to manipulate their internal Aether to act as one, and as such - not dissipate on death; they think they should be immortal. They find it easy to switch between bodies with less powerful beings (their mates); but when Leviathan arrives - they are slowly sucked into him, becoming a part of him.
Here, we can explain it as; the strong Aether concentration - that has a coherent will - (Leviathan), is able to manipulate the Aether around him (of the Sagahin Priest) and force it to his will. As such, the Sagahin Priest has now become part of Leviathan, by way of his Aether being manipulated.
We can then expand on this; the same mechanic can be applied to tempering. Strong beings like primals; made of masses of Aether with a single will (imparted to them by their creator), can manipulate the Aether of (much less) powerful others to their will. Instead of simply consuming them though, the Primals use this mechanic to provide themselves an easy return. By forcing the will of the other Aether to follow their command, they force it to remember the Primal's form and Aether - and work to return it every time the Primal is destroyed.
This same mechanic works across the board, and explains a lot of how Primals and "gods" work here. If the Aether contains memory, is "sentient" (has a will) and can exert it's influence on other Aether nearby - most things can be explained.
Quick Sidenote
There's far too much to cover in one thread, during a work-day.But a quick further example that fits into this framework/can be explained more easily with this idea - is the Zodiak Braves.
Using Auracite weapons, they were able to "slay gods" - potentially by trapping their aether in crystal weapons (the same as we have for Soul Stones). However, it's known that they slowly became corrupted by the Aether "leaking" out of the crystals and then turned into monsters themselves.
If instead of considering the crystal Aether as "leaking out" and affecting them in some unknown way - we can explain it as the Aether in their Auracite still had some of it's original willpower (it would still be concentrated and not dissipated), and as such slowly manipulated the user's existing Aether as it slowly joined them/leaked into them (the same way as bringing a new friend into a group - changes the group dynamic slightly, as much as it changes that person too).
Over time, their original will would then have been polluted by enough outside influence, that they started taking on the form of monsters/whatever form their Aether collectively saw itself as.
TLDR; Sentient Ether
Aether is not simply an energy like we have on Earth. It is a sentient energy with it's own willpower. In high concentrations this will-power is enough to act on other Aether and "persuade" (manipulate) it to do what it wants.
That is, there is no separation between "beings" and "Aether"; the being's willpower IS part of the Aether - and as such Aether can corrupt or manipulate other Aether to do what it wants and take the form it wants. Including swallowing it up.
The ability to use Aether in this way, is the "knowledge" Elidibus talks about early in the game, almost all phenomenon are explainable in this framework.
If this has any grounding in reality, there are some major plot points that can be very well explained in terms of motive (that each would need their own write up). For example, that rejoinings allow Hydaelyn to bring more Aether back under her control in one place, that Primals are bad for her because they have concentrated enough will-power that she cannot manipulate them directly, that the 13th has become useless to her because all the Aether is tied up in "primal-like" monsters/concentrations that she cannot control (so rejoining is worthless), and that Zodiark's influence was spread across 13 shards leaving him without enough concentrated will anywhere to do his bidding (rejoining being the way to bring these small pockets back together in a way they can act together).
Apologies in advance for the semi-incoherent wall of text. Even if this is badly formed, I do believe there is something to be considered here; and while it may not be perfectly rounded - I'm hoping it may be a basis other people can expand on (it already uses a lot of ideas that are floating around the community). Of course, if there's some fundamental thing that simply contradicts it all - it would be very interesting to hear it.
submitted by /u/HuntingHorns
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...
Note: Tagged as spoilers so people can feel free to reference later parts of the game freely, (and show how wrong I am). This theory is not directly a spoiler, in that it obviously is not confirmed directly by the story.
My aim here is also not to provide some canon/perfect proof of a theory - but instead, a theory which I believe has enough evidence to stand on, and could be understood from the knowledge the current in-game scholars have (which as we know, are not always reliable). My hope is that even if this doesn't feel "quite right" to everybody; it's at least another interesting take on things that provides another way to think about the world that isn't simply baseless.
So one of the key things I've been trying to figure out, since we first see the Sagahin Priest being given the "gift of immortality" (the echo), moving bodies, and then being consumed by Leviathan - is how exactly all these mechanics tie together: The echo, aether crystals, auracite, and even the rejoinings.
With that, I believe I've formed a baseline "theory of aether" - which gives a solid explanation of how aether acts, and why all these various events are possible - and also, which explains them all as related phenomenon.
Aether
So first, some things we know:
- Aether is the energy that makes up the world, it is the reason for all magic and life as far as we know.
- When people die, their Aether is returned to the lifestream [shown in full by ARR minfilia]
- When people die, some of their Aether also remains in the ground [ARR MNK questline gives us aparatus that proves Aether remains after battles, or events where a large loss of life happens. It's explained that the crystals around Eorzea for example, are a mix of bahamut's expended Aether and all the people who died]
- Casting magick "uses" Aether, which can come from your "lifeforce" (the Aether that makes you) [ARR Conjuror's Questline - if you use your own "healing magick" you eventually kill yourself. It's explained that you need to use the Aether of the land around you instead]
From this, we can firstly see that Aether is not consumed or destroyed - it is merely moved from one form to another; the aether that makes us is fundamentally the same as the aether in the crystals and in our magick.
Importantly, from the conjuror's quests, we can also see that as an Aetheric being - we are able to manipulate any other Aether around us, and bend it to our will - as long as we are "strong" enough to do so. (This is the main thread that will be better shown below)
The Echo and Primal Conjuring
- Primals are extremely "strong" aetheric beings "conjured" from the "Aetherflow" by "worship" and mass amounts of Aether
- Primals can "temper" people, forcing them to constantly worship the Primal and attempt to bring them back.
- The "Echo" lets you live forever, by gaining a fundamental understanding of how to control your own aether, letting you move from body to body. [Sagahin Priest at Leviathan, Elidibus explicitly mentions what is needed is "knowledge". We also know from ShB, that giving people the echo is not particularly hard, as the Ascians cause an entire village to wake up to it.]
- The "Echo" lets you see into the past at times, and view events that have happened to other people who would be otherwise unrelated to you. [Every, single, headache]
- The Amaurotines were able to use creation magick, to create entirely new lifeforms regularly out of Aether. Including Emet-Selch who was able to entirely re-create a virtual version of Amaurot, with a sentient friend included.
This is where things may feel more like leaps & conjecture, but it's also where I believe this theory provides a good baseline for understanding all other events.
So we know that using magick is manipulation of Aether (see first section), Amaurotines were able to use it to create new life, and Ascians showed the beastribes how to do this to summon their Primals. That itself, confirms the idea that Aether if concentrated and given a will (humans/beastribes/amaurotines) can manipulate other Aether to bend it to their will (cast magic, summon primals, etc.)
So what is the difference between us and the Aether we use for magick? This is the leap; but I'd suggest that it's simply a concentration of Aether given a coherent goal/will. This is the core idea, which I suggest as "Sentient Aether".
When we use magick, the more Aether we have concentrated the stronger magick we can use. In effect, the more Aether that makes us up, with a single will, the more Aether we can control and manipulate.
This is backed up by the Sagahin Priest with Leviathan for one. Although the priest has been given the knowledge to understand how to manipulate their internal Aether to act as one, and as such - not dissipate on death; they think they should be immortal. They find it easy to switch between bodies with less powerful beings (their mates); but when Leviathan arrives - they are slowly sucked into him, becoming a part of him.
Here, we can explain it as; the strong Aether concentration - that has a coherent will - (Leviathan), is able to manipulate the Aether around him (of the Sagahin Priest) and force it to his will. As such, the Sagahin Priest has now become part of Leviathan, by way of his Aether being manipulated.
We can then expand on this; the same mechanic can be applied to tempering. Strong beings like primals; made of masses of Aether with a single will (imparted to them by their creator), can manipulate the Aether of (much less) powerful others to their will. Instead of simply consuming them though, the Primals use this mechanic to provide themselves an easy return. By forcing the will of the other Aether to follow their command, they force it to remember the Primal's form and Aether - and work to return it every time the Primal is destroyed.
This same mechanic works across the board, and explains a lot of how Primals and "gods" work here. If the Aether contains memory, is "sentient" (has a will) and can exert it's influence on other Aether nearby - most things can be explained.
Quick Sidenote
There's far too much to cover in one thread, during a work-day.But a quick further example that fits into this framework/can be explained more easily with this idea - is the Zodiak Braves.
Using Auracite weapons, they were able to "slay gods" - potentially by trapping their aether in crystal weapons (the same as we have for Soul Stones). However, it's known that they slowly became corrupted by the Aether "leaking" out of the crystals and then turned into monsters themselves.
If instead of considering the crystal Aether as "leaking out" and affecting them in some unknown way - we can explain it as the Aether in their Auracite still had some of it's original willpower (it would still be concentrated and not dissipated), and as such slowly manipulated the user's existing Aether as it slowly joined them/leaked into them (the same way as bringing a new friend into a group - changes the group dynamic slightly, as much as it changes that person too).
Over time, their original will would then have been polluted by enough outside influence, that they started taking on the form of monsters/whatever form their Aether collectively saw itself as.
TLDR; Sentient Ether
Aether is not simply an energy like we have on Earth. It is a sentient energy with it's own willpower. In high concentrations this will-power is enough to act on other Aether and "persuade" (manipulate) it to do what it wants.
That is, there is no separation between "beings" and "Aether"; the being's willpower IS part of the Aether - and as such Aether can corrupt or manipulate other Aether to do what it wants and take the form it wants. Including swallowing it up.
The ability to use Aether in this way, is the "knowledge" Elidibus talks about early in the game, almost all phenomenon are explainable in this framework.
If this has any grounding in reality, there are some major plot points that can be very well explained in terms of motive (that each would need their own write up). For example, that rejoinings allow Hydaelyn to bring more Aether back under her control in one place, that Primals are bad for her because they have concentrated enough will-power that she cannot manipulate them directly, that the 13th has become useless to her because all the Aether is tied up in "primal-like" monsters/concentrations that she cannot control (so rejoining is worthless), and that Zodiark's influence was spread across 13 shards leaving him without enough concentrated will anywhere to do his bidding (rejoining being the way to bring these small pockets back together in a way they can act together).
Apologies in advance for the semi-incoherent wall of text. Even if this is badly formed, I do believe there is something to be considered here; and while it may not be perfectly rounded - I'm hoping it may be a basis other people can expand on (it already uses a lot of ideas that are floating around the community). Of course, if there's some fundamental thing that simply contradicts it all - it would be very interesting to hear it.
submitted by /u/HuntingHorns
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...