"I am salvation given form. Mankind's first hero, and his final hope."
Though Elidibus is speaking as the original Warrior of Light here, he's also--unknowingly--speaking his own truth.
We learn in elpis that the World Unsundered was (at least to the majority of mankind) a utopia. Peaceful, beautiful, stewarded by loving and disciplined people. A world that had no need for heroes, until the Final Days.
And the hero that stepped up? Not venat. Not azem. Venat waited; she knew she had to. Azem walked away and chose neutrality (likely at Venat's behest).
Themis. Elidibus. The youngest member of the Convocation, the analytical and gentle Emissary. HE stepped up and said "I'll become whatever is necessary to save our world." And he did.
And 13,000 years later, with his memories deteriorated to near nothing, that was what he had left. That one duty. Become whatever is necessary. Mankind's final hope.
And he brought that single-minded determination against us, because he couldn't remember that he once loved us.
I know people say the Scion Traveler’s Attire headpiece looks like it might suggest Azem’s Convocation mask design and maybe even suggest their glyph when compared against the summoning circle we see in 5.3 but I haven’t seen anyone point out this little nugget, traced in orange…
What have y'all named your Azems, and why? Personally I was originally gonna go with Athena, but then the Pandaemonium raids happened and threw that out the window, so I named her Ariadne instead because I figured Square wouldn't use that one (also the whole idea of the thread and guidance and the opportunity to make "grapes good wine better" jokes)
Hi. I want to talk for a minute about why I think G'raha subconsciously identified the WoL as a shard of Azem. It all hinges on a handful of lines in 5.3 that have haunted me ever since. It's all in the scene where he's following his hero up the Crystal Tower...
...and I wish I could remember all the lines exactly to be able to post them here, but in particular the one he ends on...
"I made my choice for reasons which seemed obvious to me, but may not to anyone else."
G'raha belongs to the clan of Miqo'te known as Seekers of the Sun. And for anyone who may not be up on their Sun Seeker lore, they are so named for their reverence and devotion to Azeyma, Eorzean goddess of the sun. They see her as the ultimate guiding force in all things.
Azeyma, whose name so closely resembles the title of the Fourteenth Seat. Azim from the Steppe, as well, shares this similarity, while also being associated with the sun by his followers. Curious.
Anyway, the Convocation stones all carry depictions of constellations. Except for Azem's, which instead bears the alchemical symbol for the sun. I think, on some subconscious level, G'raha recognized this similarity, after seeing what a beacon the WoL had become even posthumously. And he chose to latch on and seek that out, as felt only natural to him. Letting his own personal "sun" guide his every deed.
Someone on twt also mentioned:
"Yours is the star by which I shall chart my course"
And honestly this just sort of solidifies the theory for me. Imagine seeing the WoL as a small, budding guiding star. Then you wake up and that tiny pinprick of light has become absolutely blinding in its brilliance, and you realize... it was the sun all along...
Emmanellain being the first person to know Haurchefant has been resurrected can be so powerful actually. What's another secret kept so the other doesn't get in trouble? It's more than playing marbles out of sight and it's more than Haurchefant sneaking out and yet it's still the same, isn't it?
It's been two years and the world's moved on without you and the hole you left has been smoothed over but you can still keep secrets with your little brother and by the fury will he do his best in his own way, as he always has.