PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 43: Esfera, the Origin Sea

(A/N: Esfera is the Spanish word for ‘sphere’, referring to the Black Moon and White Sun that feature heavily in the story. These two celestial bodies correspond to the power of creation and destruction, which eventually fuse into the Black Sun, also known as Tenebris.

The Esfera storyline was heavily revamped in the NEXT update, which changed up a lot of the details and story presentation from the original version. A lot of these changes were focused on tying together with other storylines, such as the Silent Crusade 2 storyline released in the Milestone update, as well as fixing some continuity errors involving the Transcendent of Light and the reserve system. In addition, the story was updated to connect much better to the Kao timeline, as well as to give a much clearer character journey for Tana. If you want to see the original version of the story, see the pre-Destiny page here.)

Some time after Tana’s disappearance, Jean contacted the Adversary and explained that several suspicious people had arrived in the Morass, and that they were investigating the coral reef in the area. As they seemed to be following Tana’s trail of Erda, he explained that the group must be people from the outside world. He added that since he was still in an unstable state, it would be better for the Adversary to meet them personally before they arrived in Trueffet, noting that though the group didn’t seem dangerous, it would be best to avoid any unnecessary altercations.

Meanwhile, at the Morass, Ollie pointed out Trueffet to Shubert and Melange, explaining that the Adversary had likely gone there. However, Shubert noted that something seemed strange, as the Erdas of the Morass replicated memories, while the castle seemed as though it could disappear at any moment. Realizing that Shubert had a point, Ollie asked Melange to check the path to the Adversary again, though Melange replied that it was unnecessary, as the Adversary had just come to meet them. Ollie was thrilled to meet the Adversary, introducing herself as a Thunder Breaker and explaining that her mission was reconnaissance and guidance.

(A/N: Cygnus Knights get exclusive dialogue here, in which Ollie tells us that it’s an honor to be able to help us, adding that we’re someone that she’s only heard of before. She then says that she’s been practicing hard in order to distinguish herself.)

Shubert thanked the Adversary for saving them the trouble of searching for them and introduced himself as a Blaster, adding that his job was to keep the communication lines open to HQ, as well as providing technical support.

(A/N: The main Resistance classes and Xenon get some exclusive dialogue here, in which he explains that he’s heard a lot about us whenever he’d go to the Resistance headquarters, and so he’d been hoping to get the chance to work with us even just once.)

He then awoke Melange, who had fallen asleep, and nudged him to introduce himself. Melange then introduced himself and explained that his name was short for Melangioruiana. Ollie told the Adversary that Melange was a magician sent from Pantheon by Edea in order to create a dimensional gate back to HQ, as well as to follow the Adversary’s trail.

(A/N: Grandis classes have exclusive dialogue here, in which they note that they’ve never seen anyone of Melange’s species before in Grandis. Adele gets some additional dialogue, in which she wonders whether Melange’s species appeared during her time in the Void. Grandis classes then wonder whether another minor race has been found which can help stand up to Gerand Darmoor.

Personally, I think that Melange’s race was wiped out either by Darmoor. Based on how powerful Melange is, it’s highly likely that he’s an Apostle of Darmoor. The Apostles draw inspiration from the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, and since we all know what ended up happening with Judas, it’s highly likely that one of Darmoor’s Apostles is fated to betray him in a significant way. My personal headcanon is that Melange is working for Darmoor with the intention of betraying him as revenge for wiping out his race. I have no idea whether that’s how it’s gonna pan out, but regardless, it should be pretty interesting to see which one of Darmoor’s Apostles is gonna turn out to be the Grandis version of Judas.)

The Adversary was surprised to know that the Alliance had even sent out someone from Pantheon, though they were relieved that their letters had made it after all. Ollie told the Adversary that thanks to their letters, the Alliance had been able to successfully enter the Arcane River, though somewhat belatedly. She added that though it must have been hard for the Adversary to make it through the Arcane River on their own, they now had the support of the Alliance. She then revealed that in Maple World, the Alliance was gearing up for a full-scale operation against the Black Mage, and that the Adversary would be quite surprised to see it.

The Adversary asked Ollie about the state of Maple World, to which she replied that Maple World had been affected by the Arcane River’s appearance, though she would share the details after they returned back to HQ. The Adversary was surprised to hear that they were returning, with Shubert noting that Melange’s job was to create a portal back to HQ, and that they would continue their next mission at a later point. However, Melange told Shubert that there was somewhere else that they ought to go first, as he could feel the power of the Transcendents still lingering in the area.

As Melange began leading them towards a doorway, Shubert began fretting that they were going off-script for their mission, while the Adversary realized that there may be a clue to Tana’s whereabouts somewhere. Because of this, they told Ollie and Shubert that Melange’s lead was worth investigating, though they realized that they ought to speak with Jean first. While Ollie and Shubert chased after Melange, the Adversary met with Jean in Trueffet, where they explained the situation and asked him to come with the Alliance to follow Tana.

However, Jean told them that Tana’s influence on his form had been stronger than he had thought, and with his body showing no signs of reverting, he believed that it would be better for him to stay behind, as the echo of Trueffet would revert back into its original coral reef much faster without his presence keeping it intact. Realizing that Jean was right, the Adversary decided to rendezvous with their allies. However, they asked Jean whether they would meet again, to which Jean laughed before reminding the Adversary that their allies were waiting for them. After the Adversary left, Jean spoke aloud and thanked the Adversary for giving him hope. Noting that his role was at an end, he wished aloud for the Adversary to take care of the rest.

(A/N: Before the Arcane River storyline revamp, the Flying Fish originally had a role in Tenebris, in which he regained his original form and rescued both Ollie and the Adversary during the battle, culminating in him sacrificing his life to bring the Adversary to the Black Mage (although he’s later brought back to life). With the changes to the Limina storyline, the Flying Fish carrying the Adversary to the Black Mage can’t happen anymore, and so the revamp pretty much ends his story here, where he continues to exist in Jean’s form permanently.)

The Adversary then arrived at the dungeons of Trueffet, where they found Ollie and the others standing in front of a sealed door with light pouring out of it. Ollie noted that the door gave her a strange feeling and wondered whether it was truly the power of a Transcendent like Melange had said. Realizing that they hadn’t informed the Alliance about what happened in the Morass, the Adversary quickly filled them in about Tana and Arkarium. Though Ollie wondered who Tana could be, Shubert pointed out that they had to worry about the door first and resolved to blow it open with demolitions. However, Melange told Shubert that there was no need to force it open, as they already had the key, pointing to the Adversary.

As the Adversary approached the door, a great rush of energy blasted it open from the inside, revealing the same Erda portal which Tana had used to leave the Morass. With the portal sucking everyone in, Shubert quickly called two scout ships, while the Adversary was dumbfounded that Melange had fallen asleep once again in such a moment. Thanks to Shubert’s timely intervention, the group was able to regain their footing as the scout ships flew over the skies of Esfera. As the Adversary wondered what kind of place they had fallen into, Ollie pointed out the large black orb looming in the sky.

As they looked up at it, Melange immediately noticed how strange it was that there was no sun. At everyone’s confusion, Melange explained that the black orb wasn’t a sun, but rather, it was a Black Moon. Just as he attempted to clarify, he suddenly stopped upon sensing an incoming threat. To everyone’s shock, an unknown enemy attacked with powerful dark energy, causing the scout ships to explode mid-air.

The Adversary and Ollie awoke on the surface of the water, with Ollie realizing that it wasn’t ordinary water, as they were able to stand upon it. Having been separated from Shubert and Melange, Ollie wondered whether the attack had been from a Commander. The Adversary replied that though they couldn’t be sure, they were certain that the Black Moon was where the Black Mage awaited them. A surprised Ollie realized that the time of the final battle was fast approaching, with the Adversary noting to themselves that their long struggle against the Black Mage was finally coming to an end.

(A/N: Grandis classes get some exclusive dialogue, in which they note to themselves that defeating him will also take them one step closer towards defeating Gerand Darmoor, which will allow Grandis to know peace once more. Khali gets a slightly modified version of this dialogue, in which she notes that defeating the Black Mage will bring her one step closer to Darmoor and “him”, which is a reference to Ypsilon.)

However, the Adversary couldn’t help but wonder what the ‘sun’ that Melange had spoken about referred to. Ollie then told the Adversary that they should first rendezvous with Shubert and Melange by firing a signal flare and waiting for them to fire one in response so that they could pinpoint the others’ location. Just then, Ollie realized that her flare had fallen out of her pocket. They then turned to find an Ahtuin monster eating the fallen signal flare. At Ollie’s request, the Adversary hunted the Ahtuin monsters and recovered the flare, which Ollie fired into the air.

Upon receiving a response from Shubert, the pair made their way over to Shubert’s location, where they found that he and Melange had constructed a base camp using the ship wreckage. Shubert greeted them and pointed to a sleeping Melange, revealing that he had fallen asleep through the landing and even falling into the water. As Shubert began repairing the communication system, the Adversary woke Melange up and asked him what he had meant earlier about there being no sun. Melange replied that he had seen Erda remnants in the area and suggested that the Adversary seek them out in order to find out for themselves.

Believing that the Erda remnants had been left behind by Tana, the Adversary and Ollie - with the directions which Melange had jotted down for them - soon came across an anomaly radiating with Erda energy. Reading through Melange’s directions, Ollie told the Adversary that they needed to stabilize the anomaly by injecting it with Erda from the surrounding area. The Adversary harvested Erda Fragments from the nearby Bellalion monsters and infused them into the anomaly, transporting them into one of Tana’s memories.

Inside the memory, Tana walked alone through Esfera, which was eerily dark without a sun, and soon collapsed from utter exhaustion, wondering where the Black Mage was. Suddenly, Will appeared before Tana and promised her that she would meet the Black Mage soon, though he added that she would only meet him if she fully complied with the ritual. He then welcomed Tana to Esfera, explaining that they were standing in the Origin Sea, where Tana would be reborn as the sun, serving as the foundation of a new world.

Confused, Tana asked Will who he was, to which Will introduced himself and explained that he was a guide who would lead her. He then told her that time was running out and invited her to follow him to enact the ritual before ‘the intruders’ appeared. After a pause, however, Tana channeled her powers and refused to go with Will, claiming that she had come to meet the Black Mage in-person. Amused, Will asked Tana whether she had had a change of heart, reminding her that only the Black Mage could grant her wish. Though Tana agreed with Will’s words, she declared that she had no intention of becoming his puppet. Upon seeing Tana’s resolve, Will laughed and noted that though he didn’t wish to hurt her, he had no choice but to go all-out in order to face someone like her.

As the two began to battle, the memory suddenly ended, leaving the Adversary and Ollie shocked at what they had seen. Ollie explained that the man in Tana’s memories was Commander Will. Upon seeing the Adversary’s confusion, Ollie noted that she wasn’t surprised that they didn’t know him, as Will had never made a direct appearance in Maple World yet. She added that the Silent Crusade had determined that Will was the one responsible for the strange dimensional cracks which had recently appeared in Maple World. Ollie then told the Adversary that though they weren’t sure about Will’s abilities or what he had been up to, they could be sure that the fact that he had come out of the shadows held great significance.

(A/N: The Heroes get some exclusive dialogue here, in which they note that the closer they get to the Black Mage, the more Commanders they find that hadn’t been there centuries ago. All the Heroes except Evan wonder how long the Black Mage has been laying the groundwork for all this and note that they need Freud now more than ever. Evan instead wonders whether they’ll be able to make it through and asks himself what he would’ve done at a time like this if he were Freud.

The Demon has similar dialogue, in which he notes that new Commanders are appearing one by one as he gets closer to the Black Mage. He realizes that the Black Mage has grown stronger, but he also notes that things will be different this time, vowing to succeed for Damien’s sake.

Zero also has some exclusive dialogue, in which Alpha and Beta tell Ollie that they know Will personally. They note that Will looks different from how they remember, as he used to hide behind a friendly façade, though he’s now taken off that mask. Alpha and Beta then think to themselves that they’ve always wondered where Will had gone ever since the day they escaped Mirror World before they start wondering what he’s scheming.)

Ollie then pointed out that Will had called Tana the sun and wondered what the Black Mage was planning between a new sun and a new world. Realizing that either Tana or Will must have been defeated from their battle, the Adversary decided to look for them. Ollie noted that if the attack which had destroyed the ships had come from the Black Moon, it was likely that Tana must have been captured already. Just then, Shubert reached out through the repaired communication system. Though he was shocked upon hearing about Commander Will, Ollie reassured him that a single punch from the Adversary would be enough to defeat him.

She then asked Shubert whether it was possible to contact HQ through the repaired communication system. Shubert patched them through to HQ, though he warned them that the system was barely functioning. The pair then made contact with Neinheart, whose voice was distorted from the barely functioning communication system. Nevertheless, the Adversary noted to themselves that it felt surreal to hear Neinheart’s voice so far from Maple World. After Ollie reported the situation, Neinheart managed to tell them to protect Tana and stop Will’s ritual, just as communications fizzled out.

The Adversary and Ollie then prepared to head out, unaware that one of Will’s spider monsters was watching them from Mirror World through the water’s reflection. After reaching the next Erda anomaly that Melange had noted, the Adversary gathered more Erda Fragments to stabilize it, allowing them to see more of Tana’s memories. They watched as Will prepared to begin the ritual with a captured Tana, noting that her power was truly incredible, and that he would have met the same fate as Arkarium if she had been at full strength. However, he added that given how emotional she was, he wondered whether she could still be considered to be the same as the Black Mage.

Though Tana attempted to resist, Will amusedly told her that it was too late before ordering her to remain silent and become the sun of the new world. Nevertheless, Tana’s immense willpower allowed her to push back against the ritual. As Will attempted to push harder, he suddenly grew serious as a portal opened, from which a powerful beam of energy shot out towards him. Though Will managed to dodge the attack, the disruption to his concentration resulted in Tana plunging deep into the Origin Sea. Noting to himself that losing Tana hadn’t been part of the plan, Will turned to face the unknown assailant as they shot more beams of dark energy at him.

With the memory ending, Ollie and the Adversary realized that thanks to the ritual being interrupted, Tana had fallen out of Will’s clutches somewhere in the Origin Sea. As the Adversary began to wonder whether Will’s assailant had been the one who had destroyed their ships, Will himself appeared and unleashed a powerful attack on the Adversary, though Ollie stepped in between and barely managed to dispel it with her sword. Will then laughed and told Ollie that he had come to see the Adversary.

The Adversary demanded to know what Will was planning, to which Will told them that the Black Mage had once said, “The ultimate light can only be found in the ultimate darkness,” adding that it would be time for the Adversary to face him by the time they understood those words. Suddenly, he told the Adversary that it wasn’t the time for them to have a leisurely chat, adding that though he normally enjoyed the anticipation, this time felt special to him. Though the Adversary attempted to stop him, Will teleported away, leaving them to wonder what the ‘ultimate light’ and ‘ultimate darkness’ were.

(A/N: Zero gets some exclusive dialogue while encountering Will. When he first appears, Alpha and Beta start threatening him to back down, to which he laughs and says that he had only come to say hello. When they demand to know what he’s planning, Will tells them not to be impatient and jokingly suggests that they catch up over a cup of tea. The dialogue then transitions back into the generic script that has him talk about the ultimate light and the ultimate darkness. After that, he tells Zero that though he normally enjoys the anticipation, this time feels special to him, adding that it might be because of them. He then calls Zero an incomplete Transcendent split in two and tells them not to make him wait for too long before disappearing.

In regard to Zero being an incomplete Transcendent, the reason for this is because Alpha and Beta awakened as full Transcendents when Rhinne gives them the full power of the Transcendent of Time within herself. However, this results in both her and Mirror World disappearing, for which Alpha and Beta use the power which she gave them to keep Mirror World intact and resurrect Rhinne in the body of a human child. As a result, all of Rhinne’s power is being used to maintain Mirror World, leaving Alpha and Beta with a fragment of their power from the Goddess Teardrops collected in their class story.

The Heroes also get some exclusive dialogue here. After Will disappears, all the Heroes except for Luminous consider Will’s words about the ultimate light and the ultimate darkness, after which they wonder whether Luminous knows anything about it. However, Luminous has nothing intelligent to say on the topic, as he just wonders aloud, “Ultimate light and ultimate darkness…” and leaves it at that.)

Unable to figure out what Will meant, the Adversary turned to Ollie, who seemed strangely distracted. They then looked to see that Ollie had been injured from Will’s attack, with a shaken Ollie wondering whether the Adversary had really been facing such powerful enemies the entire time. She then turned to the Adversary and assured them that she was fine. In the air, a masked figure watched the pair before teleporting away. Elsewhere, Will noted that he hadn’t expected ‘that child’ to have gotten involved, though he believed that it would change nothing. Nevertheless, he noted that the experience brought back unpleasant memories for him.

(A/N: Please note: the following text reveals the identity of the masked figure. If you don’t want spoilers, skip to the end of the author note.

The child that Will is referring to is Orchid, the masked figure. The unpleasant memories that he’s experiencing are most likely from when he failed to prevent Alpha and Beta from awakening as the Transcendents of Time. Will really can’t catch a break from handling Transcendents, first with Zero, and now with Tana. Ironically, he’s faced this same situation before with Fang. Just like how Orchid is a Spirit of Darkness, Fang was a Darkling, with both of them intervening at different points in time to stop Will from succeeding in carrying out his plans with Zero and Tana.

I remember back when Esfera first came out, people had a lot of different theories about who the masked figure could be. A lot of people correctly guessed that it was Orchid because the way that the masked figure destroyed the Alliance ship was exactly like how Orchid destroyed the Retoxin bombs in Black Heaven.

However, there was also a popular theory going around that the masked figure was Cassius from Zero’s storyline, as Cassius had been revived by the Commanders and it would’ve made a lot of sense for him to show up in Esfera with Will. Honestly, I really wish that the masked figure had ended up being Cassius just so that his story could’ve been resolved. I think that if they wrote it well enough, they could’ve had both Cassius and Orchid show up in Esfera, which would’ve let them kill two birds with one stone.)

Though the Adversary was worried about Ollie’s condition, Ollie assured them that she was fine and added that their priority was to secure Tana before Will could recover her. Just then, Shubert contacted them and asked about the loud noises which he had heard from afar. Upon hearing that Ollie had been injured by Will, Shubert urgently suggested that they return to HQ, though Ollie promised him that she had patched herself up with bandages. With Shubert having restored short-range communications, Ollie told him that in the event of an emergency, she would prioritize saving the Adversary over herself. At the Adversary’s shock, Ollie reminded them that they were the one who would face the Black Mage.

With Melange heading over to reinforce them, the pair pushed deeper into Esfera, where they were shocked to find that the scenery had changed into withered trees, chains falling from the sky, and the water turning purple. As they wondered what had happened, Melange arrived and explained that the power of the mirror had touched Tana, causing it to flow throughout the Origin Sea. At Ollie’s confusion, Melange explained that from what he understood, Will used the power of mirrors to create his own Mirror World, which was completely cut off from the outside world. He added that conducting the ritual using the power of Mirror World would make it extremely difficult for others to interrupt from the outside.

However, he revealed that since Will’s ritual had been interrupted, the power was flowing out with the Erdas. He then told them not to worry about Will for the time being, as he was being overwhelmed by Tana’s power. He explained that as long as Tana continued to resist, the power of the mirror couldn’t be used where they currently were, as Tana’s power conflicted against Will’s. He added that from what he had heard, Will was quite weak without the power of Mirror World, though he warned them not to let their guards down, as he suspected that Will’s true strength lay elsewhere.

Ollie asked Melange whether he could track down Tana, though Melange added that it would be difficult, as Tana and Will’s powers had collided and spread outward, making it hard to feel her presence. However, he noted that Will seemed to be tracking them down as well, for which he suggested following the spiders. The Adversary asked Melange whether he was coming with them, to which Melange explained that he had something else that he needed to take care of first, though he added that they ought to find more traces of Tana along the way.

After Melange left, the pair prepared to head out when Ollie’s injury began stinging once again, though she insisted to the Adversary that she was fine. Elsewhere, a gravestone was created from Tana’s memories alongside two beings - an Executor of Light and an Executor of Darkness - who declared that the spiders were their enemy. Meanwhile, the Adversary and Ollie fought through the spider monsters that Will had created before running into a battle between the spiders and several Keepers of Light and Darkness, which the Adversary realized had been created by Tana.

Upon entering it, the Adversary witnessed Tana and a girl who appeared to be her twin appearing before the Executors of Light and Darkness, with the Executors telling the girls to create with the power of light and destroy with the power of destruction. The Executors declared that there were two forces and two candidates before them, with Tana’s sister using the power of darkness to destroy a tombstone in front of them before Tana used the power of light to recreate it.

Tana then noted that there was darkness because there was light, while Tana’s sister noted that there was light because there was darkness. Tana asked her sister whether they were also like that, to which her sister noted that though it was possible, it didn’t matter, as they couldn’t coexist together, as that was the fate of the Transcendent of Light. The Executor of Darkness then declared that destiny would soon be decided, while the Executor of Light wondered which of the two candidates would be chosen. Suddenly, both Tana and her sister began to hear a voice in their heads, thus beginning the selection. The Executors told the two girls that the one who would not be chosen at the end of the selection would be known as Tana, while the chosen one would be known as Aeona.

The memory then ended, leaving the Adversary to wonder about Aeona and the Transcendent of Light, while Ollie pulled out a top-secret document. Ollie explained that after the Adversary had entered the Arcane River, the Alliance had begun to reinvestigate the Black Mage from the beginning, particularly his power as the Transcendent of Light. She revealed that the Alliance had gathered a great deal of information about the Transcendents, including Grandis’ Transcendent of Light, Aeona. She presented the document to the Adversary, who read that the Alliance had hoped to learn more about Aeona in order to understand the Black Mage’s powers, though they had found no information at all about Aeona or her whereabouts.

(A/N: Grandis classes get exclusive dialogue in place of this. Upon hearing the name ‘Aeona’, they immediately realize that Aeona is Grandis’ Transcendent of Light. They then reveal to Ollie that no trace of Aeona has been found on Grandis, and that there are rumors that Aeona had even faced Gerand Darmoor in the past. Ollie then pulls out the top-secret document to present to the player, although her explanation about the investigation into the Black Mage is omitted. After reading the document, Grandis classes note that the information isn’t much different from what the people of Grandis know.)

The Executors then led the pair deeper into Esfera, where they came across Keepers of Light, which the Executors explained had been created from a small portion of Tana’s power. They explained that in order to fight Will, they needed to gather Erda, to which Ollie noticed a bookshelf floating in the water, just as the gravestone had been. With the Executors claiming that there was little time, the Adversary and Ollie entered Tana’s memories and discovered Tana and her sister facing each other in a battle.

Tana noted to herself that just as light and darkness were one, she and her sister were destined to embark on the same path, despite having different powers, noting that it may have all been planned. After killing her sister, Tana wondered where it had all gone wrong, realizing that she and her sister had not been allowed to coexist. With the death of her sister, Tana was given the title of Aeona, the Transcendent of Light, with the power of the Transcendent flowing into her. Suddenly, Tana began to hear a beautiful yet cold voice in her head and realized that she could not refuse its call.

With the memory ending, an amazed Ollie noted that they had just seen something incredible, noting that in the end, Tana had become Aeona, the Transcendent of Light. However, she noted that there were still so many questions left, such as why Aeona wasn’t the one with the power of darkness. The Adversary agreed, adding that Tana also called herself Tana, rather than Aeona, despite the fact that her sister was the one who should have been called Tana as the candidate who hadn’t been chosen. They noted that it seemed as though there were still questions about the Transcendent of Light that they did not yet have answers for, such as why they had begun fighting in the first place.

The Executors answered the Adversary’s question by revealing that the two had fought because they had been divided. They explained that there was always light where there was darkness, and vice versa, the simultaneous coexistence of the two forces was not inherently out of balance. However, they revealed that when the two were not one, not everyone could hear the voice. They then added that everything adhered to the will of the world, leaving the Adversary and Ollie confused even further.

(A/N: Tana’s backstory was changed pretty significantly in the revamp. In the original storyline, only Tana’s sister was able to hear the voice of the Overseers - also revered as the ‘will of the world’ by several groups in Grandis - allowing her to awaken as Aeona, while Tana was passed over as her reserve. The original lore explained that the Transcendent of Light could only wield light or darkness, with the opposite power being held by the reserve.

Over time, Aeona was forced by the Overseers to wipe out over seven races on Grandis for unknown reasons, and when Tana learned this, she believed that her sister had gone mad with power. For this reason, Tana fought and killed Aeona, and with the death of the Transcendent of Light, Tana’s role as the reserve made it so that she became the new Transcendent. After Tana heard the voice of the Overseers and felt herself bound to their fate, she realized what her sister had been talking about when she had talked about having no choice in committing genocide, and because of this, Tana refused her to be controlled by the Overseers and spent the rest of her life attempting to escape her destiny.

There are three major reasons why this backstory was likely changed. The first is that Tana killing Aeona contradicts a pretty major lore point introduced later in Cernium, which is that higher beings like Transcendents and Ancient Gods can only be killed by other higher beings, or with objects containing the power of said beings, such as how the Adversary kills the Black Mage with the Seal Stone, containing the Overseers’ power. Since Tana was only a Transcendent-in-reserve, rather than a full Transcendent, there’s no way that she could have killed Aeona as a mortal.

The second major reason for this change is also because of the reserve system. The fact that the Transcendent of Light must have a reserve created an open plot point about who the Black Mage’s reserve was, as well as why he wasn’t replaced by his reserve after his death. Most people speculated that his reserve was Luminous, who was created from the power of light that he discarded when he embraced the power of darkness. However, this opened up the can of worms that I mentioned earlier about how Tana could kill her sister with her power of light, while Luminous didn’t seem to have the power to kill Transcendents, necessitating the Black Mage’s plan to create an Adversary.

As of the revamp, it appears to be the case that the Transcendent of Light can have either one or two candidates, such as the White Mage or Aeona/Tana, and in the case that there exist two candidates with opposing powers, a selection takes place between the two candidates, with the Overseers granting the power of the Transcendents to the one who reigns victorious. Meanwhile, the concept of there being a Transcendent-in-reserve has been removed from the Transcendent of Light’s lore, with Cygnus being the only known Transcendent-in-reserve in the game for some unknown Transcendent’s position.

The final reason is likely because the mechanics of how the Overseers control the Transcendents has likely shifted in the story team’s new version. The original version of Aeona being compelled to commit genocide for unknown reasons was written in order to justify why the Black Mage resented the Overseers, as it makes a lot more sense for him to have wanted to remove the influence of entities who can compel the Transcendents to commit genocide. However, as the story has progressed, the Overseers’ purpose has slowly been fleshed out more as beings who exist to maintain order and control, creating a morally complex system where they did good things in the most terrible ways. Wiping out entire races doesn’t really serve much purpose to the Overseers according to their current narrative, and having them be able to override the free will of Transcendents falls somewhat flat now that we have the Black Mage, Tana, and Darmoor as three Transcendents who have managed to resist the Overseers’ will.

Please note: the following text contains major spoilers for the Shangri-La storyline. If you don’t want spoilers, skip to the final paragraph of this author note.

In the Shangri-La storyline, it’s even revealed that the Overseers are capable of exerting their influence upon the elders of Grandis, who were given the Overseers’ blessings when they were tasked to create Adversaries to seal the Ancient Gods away. It’s explained that the elders can feel an imposed sense of duty and responsibility that the Overseers had forced upon them, and that several elders have joined Darmoor in order to find a way to escape the will of the world upon them, as Darmoor himself is a Transcendent and feels those same chains upon him. With so many different people being able to resist the Overseers, the idea of them being able to override free will falls a lot more flat than it used to, which is probably why it was removed from the game altogether.)

However, the Executors told the pair that there was no time to waste, as they needed to hurry and save Tana. As they kept moving, however, the Executors suddenly stopped and revealed that they could go no further, as Tana had created a barrier that prevented them from moving ahead. However, they revealed that destroying the nearby Keepers of Darkness would allow the Keepers’ power to flow into them, thereby giving them the power to break through Tana’s barrier. As they could not harm the Keepers themselves, the Executors asked the Adversary to defeat the Keepers for them.

After the Adversary defeated the Keepers of Darkness, the Executors absorbed the Keepers’ power and broke through Tana’s barrier. The group then proceeded ahead to an empty region, where the Executors revealed that Tana was directly below them at the bottom of the sea. Shubert then called and told Ollie that she would need to dive down and recover Tana with the diving gear that he would transmit to their location. With the Adversary manning the pulley system, Ollie dove down and recovered Tana, who was sleeping inside a glass coffin, with the Adversary pulling her back up to safety right before the monsters below the ocean attacked.

As they prepared to move out, however, Ollie’s bandages came undone from diving into the water, revealing a spider mark that Will had given her with his attack. (A/N: Zero gets exclusive dialogue here, in which they recognize the spider mark on Ollie.) Upon seeing the spider mark, the Executors designated Ollie as an enemy and immediately began to attack her, gathering other Light Executors to eliminate the perceived threat. The Adversary fought off the waves of Executors and contacted Shubert, telling him to quickly prepare the short-range teleportation system for their escape.

With Ollie injured from the attack, the Adversary prepared to send them back to the base camp when Will arrived, noting that Ollie didn’t look so good. Though Ollie told Shubert to extract Tana, the Adversary ordered Shubert to instead extract Ollie, declaring that they would keep Tana safe from Will. However, Ollie refused to leave the Adversary behind, revealing that her mission had been to protect them from the beginning, much to the Adversary’s shock. Though Ollie attempted to stand up, she quickly collapsed once again from her injuries, to which Shubert - at the Adversary’s insistence - quickly extracted Ollie back to base camp.

Laughing, Will then used his power to bind the Adversary with his powerful magic. The Adversary was surprised that Will could still fight, as Melange had told them that his powers were being suppressed by Tana. Will revealed that the Adversary was the one who had weakened Tana’s power by destroying the Executors, thereby allowing him to use his abilities once again. The Adversary realized that Will had marked Ollie on purpose, which Will confirmed, explaining that he had hoped to use them in order to weaken Tana’s power, as her resistance had been far stronger than anticipated.

He mockingly congratulated the Adversary for putting the world at risk just to save Ollie, adding that she had merely been a pawn to sacrifice in the Adversary’s place. At the Adversary’s confusion, Will explained that they were the great Adversary - the only one with the power to face the Black Mage - and that the obvious choice was to sacrifice others to save them if necessary. He then called out for the masked figure, who was hiding in the shadows, to reveal themselves. He told the masked figure that he had seen through their plan of trying to have him use the power of Mirror World by fighting with the Adversary. He then gave the masked figure a choice between saving the Adversary and stopping the ritual before throwing the bound Adversary into the Origin Sea.

The masked figure immediately moved to save Adversary, allowing Will to escape with Tana. The Adversary recognized the masked figure from Tana’s memories and realized that they were the one who had been fighting Will. The masked figure asked the Adversary whether they could still fight, to which the Adversary asked the masked figure why they had saved them, though the masked figure merely told them to answer the question. However, the Adversary insistently noted that the masked figure had interrupted the ritual and demanded to know what they were after. The masked figure replied that in order to destroy the Black Mage, they needed an Adversary.

They then warned the Adversary that Will was planning to resume the ritual with Tana, and that unlike last time, they would not be able to interrupt him again, as Tana was no longer able to resist and disrupt his concentration. They added that with Tana having lost consciousness, there was only one way to wake her up again. Before the Adversary could do anything, the masked figure ordered them to chase after Tana while they finished their own work, teleporting the Adversary back to the base camp. Vowing that they would face they Black Mage soon, the masked figure disappeared as well.

Back at the base camp, the Adversary looked up to find that the White Sun now appeared in the sky alongside the Black Moon. They then met with Shubert, who revealed that the poison inside Ollie was spreading. Melange added that poison was enchanted, and that only its creator could cure it. He pointed to a mirror that Will had created, revealing that it was the only way to reach the White Sun, and that it was an obvious trap, for which he decided to follow the Adversary on their path to Will.

Before they left, Neinheart contacted the base camp and, through the static, warned the Adversary not to fall into Will’s trap and explained that reinforcements were coming soon. Upon hearing from Neinheart that the Adversary’s survival was paramount, however, the Adversary recalled what Will had said about Ollie being a sacrificial pawn, causing them to ask Neinheart whether he was the one who had ordered Ollie to protect them. At Neinheart’s silence, the Adversary declared that they would go in themselves and told Neinheart not to stop them. Though Neinheart’s signal began cutting out, he warned the Adversary that there was still a way and asked them not to hesitate when the time to choose came.

Vowing not to make the same mistake twice, the Adversary entered the mirror with Melange and appeared in the same temple which the Adversary had seen in Tana’s memories. Melange revealed that they were inside a replica of the Radiant Temple within Mirror World. (A/N: The Radiant Temple is called the Temple of Light in KMS, which I personally feel is more appropriate, especially with the Black Mage being in the Temple of Darkness in Limina.) The Adversary asked Melange what they should do next, as it was clear that Will was intending to pass on Tana’s powers to the Black Mage. Melange explained that in order to figure out what to do next, he needed to examine Tana’s memories within Mirror World.

Though the worried Adversary reminded Melange that they needed to hurry, Melange warned them to have patience, claiming that they would undoubtedly lose if they rushed into things. The pair then moved forward and encountered Executors of Light created with the power of Mirror World. Melange revealed that the Executors were a minor race from Grandis who served the Transcendent of Light, though no details about that race existed. He supposed that it made sense that information about the Executors would be scarce, as they were affiliated with the Transcendent of Light, whose actions were also unknown to Grandis.

(A/N: Before the story revamp, Melange would explain that the Executors had gone in search of the domain of the gods, and that the other races of Grandis had mocked them for their ambitions. However, this was later retconned into the explanation above.

Grandis classes get exclusive dialogue here, in which they’re surprised to hear about such a race existing, noting to themselves that they had never heard such a story before. They then wonder how Melange knows so much about them.)

The Adversary then told Melange that there should be Erda traces for him to read Tana’s memories, to which Melange told them that he had been analyzing Mirror World’s power leaking out into Esfera, and that he believed that if they were able to access Tana’s memories from the objects which had manifested in Esfera from Mirror World, they ought to be able to access more memories from within Mirror World itself. In order to help Melange concentrate, the Adversary defeated the nearby Executors of Light, allowing Melange to access Tana’s memories.

The pair watched as Tana, following her awakening as the Transcendent of Light, left the temple in order to escape fate. However, she noted that she could still feel the chains placed upon her by the will of the world, and that she knew that those chains could never be broken. Though she wandered all over Grandis, she could still hear the beautiful yet cold voice in her head that constricted her tightly enough that she felt dizzy and disoriented. However, Tana declared that things wouldn’t go as planned and vowed to live as herself no matter what, even if the price was to lose everything that she had.

With the end of the memory, Melange told the Adversary that unlike the Transcendents of Maple World, the Transcendents of Grandis were actively involved in shaping their world, and that Aeona - unlike the others - had left no trace of her actions, though he added that he hadn’t known about the details of her circumstances until now. He explained that he now understood why she had called herself ‘Tana’, the title for the candidate who hadn’t been chosen by the will of the world, rather than her given title of ‘Aeona’ that signified a fate which had been forced upon her.

(A/N: When Melange tells Grandis classes about the Transcendents of Grandis, he also precludes his explanation with a disclaimer that they might already know what he’s about to say.)

However, Melange noted that there was one thing that still bothered him, as he found it strange that the Black Mage wanted to take the powers of a Transcendent of Light when he himself already was one. Thinking back to the Executors’ explanation, the Adversary realized that if Tana held the power of light, then that meant that the Black Mage held the power of darkness. Just then, Melange noted that he could feel the White Sun drawing closer to the Black Moon, though he noted that there was still time to stop the ritual. However, he told the Adversary that he still needed to access one more memory in order to understand the Black Mage’s true purpose.

After the Adversary defeated the Executors of Darkness, Melange used his staff to pull them into the final memory. To their surprise, however, the pair found themselves in a celestial dreamscape that appeared much more vivid than the memories which they had seen earlier. Melange immediately realized that Tana must have brought them into her mind herself, likely because she had something important to show them.

They then watched a memory of Tana speaking with the Black Mage, with Tana asking whether he could really give her what she wanted. She wondered whether it was really possible for the Black Mage to so, noting that even with his Transcendent powers, such a thing would be even more impossible specifically because he was a Transcendent. The Black Mage replied to Tana by revealing that he had a plan as the Tana’s memory of the Black Mage appeared before her in her dream.

Tana noted that he was cold and dark like a black moon and asked him what he wanted, to which the Black Mage explained that he wished to change destiny by combining light and darkness. Upon hearing his words, Tana noted that he shared the same fate as hers. The Black Mage then ordered Tana, addressing her as Aeona, to go to Kritias, claiming that in the vortex of desire, she would be reborn as the White Sun. Tana agreed to comply with the Black Mage’s request, explaining that she would do it as long as she could live as herself.

Though the memory faded away, the Adversary and Melange still found themselves within Tana’s mind. Melange noted that what he had seen was incredible, as he had never thought that something like that could happen between two Transcendents. The Adversary then noted that Will had mentioned how the ultimate light could only be found in the ultimate darkness, to which Melange noted that Tana was light and the sun, which represented the power of creation. The Adversary then realized that the Black Mage was darkness and the moon, which represented the power of destruction, and that he intended to use Tana in order to gain both opposing powers, though they wondered what the Black Mage intended to do with Tana’s powers, as they had believed that the Black Mage had simply intended to destroy everything.

Suddenly, a projection of Tana herself appeared before them, revealing that the Black Mage had promised to grant her wish by putting an end to the world and her life alongside it. However, she explained that after meeting Jean, she had realized that she hadn’t wanted to die, and that she still wished to have more time. Because of this, she asked the Adversary to lend her their strength so that she could take them to Will immediately. She then begged the Adversary to stop the ritual, claiming that only they had the power to do so.

After leaving Tana’s mind, the Adversary and Melange discovered that Tana had created a portal to her. Melange then revealed that based on everything he had ascertained, the Black Mage’s ritual would result in the power of the Transcendents of two worlds becoming one, and that they would have no chance of winning against him if he were to succeed. He explained that the portal which Tana had created would lead to a Mirror World within Mirror World, though he added that the Adversary would have to face Will alone, as he was unable to fight within Will’s Mirror World.

(A/N: Zero gets some exclusive dialogue here. Alpha notes that they can finally take on Will face-to-face. Beta adds that it had taken quite a while for them to reach this moment and asks Alpha if he’s nervous. Alpha admits that he is, as he’s gone through the cycle of brainwashing so many times at Will’s hands. However, he notes that he’s not alone now, to which Beta agrees and says that they’ll always be together.)

The Adversary then entered the portal alone, where Will noted his impressment with them managing to chase after him all the way. However, he revealed that the only way that they could stop the ritual was by killing Tana, causing the Adversary to realize that Neinheart had been talking about that moment. Will then told the Adversary that he was interested in seeing what kind of person they were and asked whether they would kill an innocent girl to save the world, or to put the world’s survival at stake in a hopeless battle against a being who had transcended the Transcendents themselves.

Upon hearing Will’s words, the Adversary realized that they had already made a mistake and put their allies and countless others at risk. Vowing that they wouldn’t fail again, the Adversary declared that they would defeat Will and put an end to Tana’s life if they had to. An amused Will noted that a person’s true nature was revealed at the most desperate moments of great choice, and that no matter which they chose, what would always remain was the fact that the decision was always in their hands.

After a fierce battle, the Adversary managed to defeat Will, who admitted that he had been cleanly beaten, for which he used his magic to erase the enchanted poison inside Ollie. However, he then reminded the Adversary that the only choice left to make was to kill Tana. Upon hearing his words, Adversary realized that though they had been able to save Ollie, countless other would be put in danger if they failed to stop the ritual. However, they then thought back to Tana’s words about how she didn’t want to die, just as Tana called aloud for help as she dreamed.

Hearing Tana’s plea for help, the Adversary realized that Tana had suffered immensely in her attempts to escape her fate, though they nevertheless noted to themselves that they couldn’t hesitate and risk any more lives. Just then, Tana called out for help once again in her dreams, though she instead called out for Jean to save her.

Suddenly, the Adversary recalled what Kao had told them about how one of their memories had been about someone in pain and how they had been regretting something. They also remembered Kao’s warning to them about not making any decisions that they would regret, and to make their own choices without being swayed by anyone else. Because of this, the Adversary instead chose to spare Tana’s life instead. An amused Will asked the Adversary whether they knew what they were doing, to which the Adversary replied that they were fully aware that they would be allowing the Black Mage to gain the power of two worlds’ Transcendents, and that they would nevertheless find a way to overcome their odds.

Will was impressed by the Adversary’s choice and admitted that he couldn’t help but be amazed, just as Tana disappeared. As the ground began to shake, Will revealed that the ritual had begun, and that there was no way to stop it once the White Sun and Black Moon fused together. However, he explained that the Adversary’s choice hadn’t mattered from the beginning, as the outcome would have been the same no matter what. He revealed that he had merely been interested in which choice they would make, and though he noted that they were too dangerous not to be eliminated, he told the Adversary that he would never forget their decision.

(A/N: Before the Esfera revamp, Will was far more shocked by the Adversary’s choice to spare Tana, as both he and the Black Mage had expected them to choose to kill Tana, with our choice to kill Tana being the reason why we were able to derail the Black Mage’s plans. The exact reason why our choice to spare Tana was significant was never explicitly stated in the game, although the current version of the story made it so that our choice to either kill or spare Tana would have made no difference to the Black Mage either way. However, our choice to spare Tana’s life did have some important consequences to Limina which the Black Mage hadn’t anticipated, resulting in us being able to successfully defeat him.

The Silent Crusade 2 storyline involved Will testing us to determine which choice we would make in a similar situation where we had to either kill or spare someone who may or may not have been an innocent person turned into a monster. Similar to Esfera, our choice there didn’t make any difference to how the story playing out, with the only change being that we’re explicitly told that the monster was always a monster, rather than a person forcibly turned into one. Although I have my personal suspicions that Will’s experiment took place specifically in our current timeline after Kao’s failure, it’s more likely than not that Will had conducted the experiment more out of intellectual curiosity to figure out the Adversary’s personality when faced with a difficult decision as a prelude to seeing what kind of choice they would make when the stakes were even higher.

The Adversary’s choice to save Tana here strongly ties into the events of the Morass storyline, especially with the idea that Tana had been suicidal for a long time before meeting Jean. By now, the Adversary has had a significant glimpse of Tana’s life. They’ve seen the tragic way in which she was forced to kill Aeona, only to find that in the end, she lost not only her sister, but her freedom as well.

They’ve also seen the way that the price of her resistance to the Overseers led to a lifetime of excruciating pain, as well as the fact that for the entirety of her life, she’s been used and exploited by everyone around her - first by the Overseers, then Hekaton, and now the Black Mage. All the while, she’s kept losing everything and everyone who matters to her, and at this point, she’s lost so much that there’s no one left in her life who still cares about her.

When Tana calls out to Jean in her dream, it’s because he’s the only person in her life who’s ever stayed and tried to help her. It was because of him that she was able to care about herself again, and his promise that he would make sure that she wouldn’t disappear is something that stayed with her long after his death. Even her being asleep right now in a glass coffin and begging to be saved is meant to parallel Snow White and her prince, which mirrors the fairy tale that Jean would read to her about a brave knight rescuing a trapped princess.

Her calling out for him to save her, even though he’s dead, is what ultimately makes the Adversary realize that they just can’t take her life when that’s all that she has left to take. At this point, Tana, in spite of all the trauma and suffering that she’s experienced in her life, has nothing left except her will to live, but she also knows that there’s no one left who can help her when she can’t help herself. Here, the Adversary’s choice isn’t just sacrificing one person for the many, it’s their choice to stay true to their commitment to protecting everyone, no matter the cost.

During Black Heaven, Mihile gets an exclusive scene with Cygnus, who makes him promise her that every single person will make it out safely in the battle. While this line isn’t common to every class, it’s an idea that gets thematically echoed throughout the Adversary’s journey. In Tenebris, we see this idea that the Adversary harbors the weight of what being a hero truly means, which is their belief that they have to save everyone no matter what. While that’s not presented as something erroneous, what is erroneous is that the Adversary is convinced that they have to be ready to end their own life so that everyone else can live.

The way that I personally see it, the Adversary sees a lot of themselves in Tana. The destiny of being an Adversary was forced onto us when the Alliance made a wish on the Seal Stone to save our life, which is something that we never asked for. This isn’t to say that we’re unhappy about this, because for one thing, we don’t even know that we’re the Adversary yet, and for another, even when we do learn about our destiny, we accept it gladly because it means that we have the power to save the people we love.

But the problem is that somewhere along the line, we’ve come to believe that it’s our duty to be the embodiment of a perfect hero who can save every single person on our own. The Labyrinth of Suffering storyline exposes a lot of the burden that we’ve been secretly carrying, which is that we’ll do absolutely anything to keep the people we care about from getting hurt - we’ll throw ourselves in harm’s way as a body shield, we’ll irreparably traumatize ourselves, we’ll even force ourselves to stop wanting to be alive if that’s what’s keeping us from giving up everything that we possibly have for the sake of everyone else.

Even though our desire to be a hero is something that we truly believe in, ever since we were saved at Black Heaven, we’ve been psychologically rewiring ourselves to stop feeling like we matter. We’re charging in from area to area completely alone, hurting ourselves over and over again without caring about what happens to us, all because we think that it’s worth it if it means that we can stop the Black Mage before he hurts anyone else. But as we find out in the labyrinth, there’s a part of us that resents us for what we’re doing to ourselves, and we start pushing back against this toxic mentality that our destiny as a hero has to end in our self-destruction, eventually culminating in us finally abandoning this belief and awakening the Seal Stone.

In regard to Tana, we’ve seen that she’s struggling to escape a destiny that she never wanted either, and we’ve seen that her only desire left is to stay alive. All around her, everyone has their own selfish agendas about how they want to use her. The Black Mage wants to take her powers for himself, and the Alliance only cares about putting itself and its own survival over whatever happens to her. In choosing to save her life, the Adversary is making the choice to advocate for her right to live when no one else will.

Our decision to spare her life is an affirmation of our commitment to not only embody the ideals of a savior and an Adversary, but it’s also us implicitly recognizing the pain of having our choices taken away from us and choosing to give one back to someone in the same position. We see ourselves and our feelings of helplessness in her, and just like how the Alliance made the selfless choice to save us at the cost of letting the Black Mage return to full power, we’re now making the same selfless choice to save her at the cost of letting the Black Mage double his strength, giving her the chance to live just like we were. And just like her, we also have that same desire to live, but whereas we’ve suppressed it and accepted that we have to die in order to save the world, we believe that just because that’s our destiny, it doesn’t have to be hers.)

After Will disappeared, the Adversary was faced with an endless onslaught of spiders. As they grew overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies, Ollie appeared to defend them, revealing that she had anticipated that while they would have no trouble dispatching Will, he would not have gone down easy, for which she had asked Shubert to transport her to them directly. She then revealed that it was the Empress, not Neinheart, who had given her the mission to protect them, as she had known that the Adversary’s tendency to shoulder all burdens alone would overwhelm them, for which she had asked Ollie to lend them her strength when the time came.

Ollie noted that while all of them were weaker alone, the reason why the Cygnus Knights and the Maple Alliance existed was so that the collective strength of everyone would allow them to protect each other and fight together. As she spoke, Neinheart arrived with the Alliance reinforcements - the Chief Knights and the Resistance leaders - breaking through into the inner Mirror World and quickly dispatching Will’s spiders. Neinheart revealed that Shubert had fixed long-range communications, and that Melange had opened a gateway for the Alliance to enter, just as he had planned.

Melange then reported that Will had fled into the innermost part of Mirror World, to which Neinheart suggested that they quickly evacuate before the White Sun fused with the Black Moon. As the Alliance retreated, an injured Will collapsed in the innermost part of Mirror World, noting to himself that not even Melange would be able to follow him inside. Though he lamented not being able to offer the Adversary to the Black Mage, he took comfort in the fact that the time of Genesis was at hand, wishing that he could see the perfect world that the Black Mage would create, which would be free of chains and unchecked powers.

Just then, however, the masked figure arrived and confronted Will, who was shocked that they were able to follow him into the deepest part of Mirror World. The masked figure told Will that he could not escape, to which Will, realizing that he had no choice, decided to settle their conflict once and for all. As the two began fighting, the White Sun was absorbed by the Black Moon, transforming it into the Black Sun, Tenebris, and creating a massive storm that slowly began to grow throughout the area. Having gained the power of both creation and destruction, the Black Mage sent massive chains into the waters, pulling Maple World closer into the Arcane River and absorbing the Erdas within the Origin Sea in order to begin the Genesis Ritual.

Meanwhile, the Adversary met with Neinheart, who noted that they seemed downcast and asked whether they still blamed themselves for not being able to stop the ritual. He assured the Adversary that none of them could have anticipated that the Black Mage would have such a plan, though the Adversary replied that they had been unable to do anything but watch the ritual unfold in the end. Neinheart told the Adversary not to blame themselves, noting that just knowing what the Black Mage was planning was already a huge advantage. He then told the Adversary to take heart, as the real final battle was about to begin.

Elsewhere, in the deepest part of Mirror World, Melange secretly arrived to find the region empty after Will’s battle with the masked figure. Noticing that Will’s book had fallen, Melange used his magic to copy its contents into his own book before noting that all the walking that he had done had made him sleepy. He then opened a portal to return back to the real world.

(A/N: Please note: the following text contains major spoilers for the Limina storyline. If you don’t want spoilers, skip to the end of the author note.

At the end of the Limina storyline, it’s revealed that Melange is a servant of Gerand Darmoor, and that he had been tasked with monitoring the Alliance’s battle against the Black Mage. After the Black Mage’s death, Melange returns to Darmoor and presents Will’s book, which contains important records about the Black Mage’s plans and prophecies, which he believes Darmoor will find useful for his own goals.)

(A/N: After you finish the Esfera storyline, you can start encountering Dimensional Cracks throughout the area that reveal the details of Kao’s timeline. Although most of Kao’s memories can be viewed in Esfera, the rest of them can only be accessed after finishing Limina and traveling to the entrance map to fight the Black Mage.)

After the mission to Esfera, the Adversary encountered a Dimensional Crack. Upon hearing voices from the other side, they proceeded inside and encountered the memory of their past self and Ollie using the staff to learn how the masked figure had interrupted Will’s ritual, causing Tana to fall into the Origin Sea. They then watched as Will himself appeared before the pair and told them about how the ultimate light could only be found in the ultimate darkness.

The Adversary noted that though the memory seemed familiar, there were certain differences, such as their past self putting themselves between Ollie and Will, rather than the other way around, as well as the way that Will had greeted them. Suddenly, they realized that the memory must belong to Kao. As much of their memories had been the same, they began wondering where it was that Kao had gone wrong.

Proceeding further into Esfera, they found another Dimensional Crack and entered inside, wondering whether this memory would be as similar to theirs as the first. They then watched as Kao and Ollie recovered Tana from beneath the Origin Sea, after which the Executors had noticed the spider mark on Ollie, causing them to see her as an enemy. To the Adversary’s surprise, however, Kao was unable to protect Ollie from the Executors, who fatally wounded her, after which Shubert teleported them back when Will arrived.

Upon seeing what had happened, the Adversary realized that Kao had been weakened by Arma, and that the effect of this had first begun to show for Kao in Esfera. They then sought out the next Dimensional Crack and entered inside, where they watched as Kao was teleported back to the base camp, where they found Ollie slowly succumbing to the poison. Kao rushed to her side and apologized to her for their weakness, to which Ollie told them not to, as her mission had been to protect them all along, and that she had been prepared to die from the moment that she had received her orders.

She asked Kao not to cry, telling them that if her sacrifice would let them save the world, then it was good enough for her. She then asked them whether she had been helpful, to which Kao immediately told her that she had, thanking her for protecting them. Satisfied, Ollie asked Shubert and Melange to carry on in her place, after which she passed away. Kao immediately began blaming themselves for her death, lamenting that if they hadn’t been so weak, they would’ve been able to protect her.

Both Shubert and Melange reassured Kao that they were powerful, but they reminded Kao that they couldn’t protect everyone. Kao replied that they knew that, but they explained that people like Ollie were completely willing to die for them, simply because of who they were, which they could not allow anymore. Upon finishing watching the memory, the Adversary began understanding that the difference between themselves and Kao had been Ollie’s death, which had severely affected Kao’s mental state.

They then entered the next Dimensional Crack hesitantly, knowing already that they wouldn’t like what they were about to see. Inside the memory, they watched as Neinheart contacted Kao right before they were about to enter Mirror World. However, Kao told Shubert to cut the signal, completely disinterested in what Neinheart had to say.

As Neinheart protested amidst the static and asked them to listen, Kao curtly told Neinheart that Ollie was dead, and that they already knew that Neinheart must’ve been the one who had given her the order to die for them. Neinheart began telling them that he understood their anger, though he asked them to promise not to hesitate when the time came to make a choice. After the signal faded, Kao vowed to never fail again and proceeded to enter Mirror World.

After the Adversary entered the next memory, they witnessed Kao confronting Will, who told them that they would need to kill Tana in order to stop the ritual. The Adversary felt Kao’s thoughts dwelling on Ollie’s death, as well as how they had already jeopardized the fate of the world because of all their mistakes. Vowing not to make the same mistake again, Kao challenged Will, who merely laughed and told them that it was when faced with a difficult decision that a person’s true self was revealed, adding that he was eager to see what kind of ‘hero’ they truly were.

The Adversary then entered the next memory, noting that everything was weighing down on Kao at that point - their lack of power, Ollie’s death, and all their mistakes. They thought to themselves that they were afraid for Kao, as they knew all too well that hesitation only led to more pain. They then witnessed Kao defeating Will, who amusedly told them that there was only one thing left to do.

(A/N: I think it’s really funny how we were able to defeat Will after being drained by Arma, but somehow stopping a few extra Executors to save Ollie was too much of a struggle. It’s probably because we couldn’t defeat them fast enough to extract Ollie before the poison spread, but even then, I can’t imagine that we would be so weak that we can’t handle a dozen mobs when we could beat Lucid and Will without it turning into a protracted battle.)

Kao then turned to face Tana, preparing themselves to end her life, though they felt sorry for her upon realizing just how much she had suffered. As they raised their weapon, hoping to free Tana from her pain, they heard her call out to Jean for help. Kao began struggling in their convictions, while Will asked whether they were thinking about sparing her life. He pointed out the consequences of making such a rash decision, explaining that he didn’t care whether they were an enemy or an ally, as he simply wanted to see them think things through and make their choice.

He told them to think about Ollie, how she had risked her life to cross the Arcane River in order to protect them, and how, when the moment had come, she had sacrificed herself without hesitation, all just for their sake. He asked Kao whether, after having allowed her to die, they were truly prepared to throw her sacrifice away, pointing out that Ollie wouldn’t be the only sacrifice, as the Black Mage would hold the power of two worlds’ Transcendents, for which the Alliance would need to bear countless sacrifices in order to send them anywhere near him.

The Adversary began hearing Kao’s thoughts, how they had regretted allowing Rino to trick them, and how their weakness had prevented them from stopping Ollie’s death. Realizing that they couldn’t give in to hesitation, Kao attacked Tana and attempted to kill her. Will immediately began laughing at how they had chosen to stab Tana simply from a small nudge on his part.

Kao angrily asked Will why he was laughing when they had just ruined everything for him by stopping the ritual. However, Will explained that far from thwarting him, they had been dancing to his tune the entire time, explaining that they were in his web, no matter what they did. Suddenly, Kao turned to find that Tana was reforming herself. Will asked whether they were seeing the power of the Transcendents for the first time, adding that the grimace on their face told him that it was.

He explained that they didn’t have the power of the Adversary at the moment, laughing at whether they had thought that simply having a Seal Stone would be enough to kill a Transcendent. As Tana channeled her powers, she painfully asked to be saved, to which Will told her that he would, using the Black Mage’s power. He then turned to Kao and thanked them, explaining that their actions had removed the final variable, thereby clearing the way for the ritual to begin.

As the memory began fading, the Adversary realized that everything finally made sense, as Arma stealing Kao’s power and Ollie dying had started a domino effect, resulting in Kao turning angry both inwardly and outwardly, which had resulted in them making the decision to stab Tana. They noted to themselves that it explained why Kao’s memories had appeared so fuzzy, as Kao must have been attempting to subconsciously hide and erase those moments of guilt and shame.

Suddenly, they realized that Tana hadn’t died, which meant that the ritual had taken place, just as it had in their own timeline. They wondered whether it had anything to do with the variable that Will had mentioned, as well as what the power of the Adversary was. They noted to themselves that even after learning so much, there were still more questions left unanswered.

(A/N: While I hate the Adversary storyline as a game mechanic, I really enjoy the Adversary as a narrative concept and how they directly exist as a foil to the Black Mage. The Black Mage wanted to deliver salvation to the world by making the Overseers lose their hold on the universe, such that they would never again be able to cause widespread suffering in the name of balance by allowing humanity to destroy itself helplessly, or to incite mass death by enslaving the Transcendents and forcing them to wipe out entire races.

In order to do this, he was willing to sacrifice the lives of millions for the sake of creating a future where no one would ever have to die needlessly again, and in doing so, he lost sight of the value of the very life that he sought to protect. In contrast, the Adversary has consistently prioritized saving everyone, pulling out miracles in order to do so every single time. Unlike the Black Mage, who distanced himself from the world and worked in the shadows, the Adversary has always put themselves on the front lines and risked everything for the people whom they protect.

The Black Mage’s defeat at the hands of the Adversary is a symbolic victory of the human spirit, demonstrating that those who deserve to pave the future are the ones who put others first and refuse to sacrifice their morals, even in spite of how the odds are stacked against them. In Kao’s timeline, everything that makes the Adversary special is slowly stripped away from Kao bit by bit. In this way, Kao ends up bringing themselves down to the Black Mage’s level by compromising their values and losing sight of the value of life, just like the Black Mage did.

Because of this, Kao was fated to lose the moment that they chose to kill Tana, not because of the physical circumstances surrounding their situation, but because they’ve fallen from grace in the same way that the White Mage did when he embraced the ultimate darkness and cast away his light. The White Mage chose to give up everything that made him human for the sake of becoming a Transcendent, believing that he had no choice but to become a god in order to defeat another god. Similarly, Kao threw away their commitment to saving everyone, no matter the cost, and in this way, they symbolically severed their ties to their humanity, and in doing so, they lost their right to be an Adversary.

With all that being said, however, the Adversary as a game mechanic still manages to ruin all the strong points of this narrative by overriding every classes’ individuality with the same carbon copy personality of a generic protagonist. This analysis of the Adversary works really well from the perspective of a blank slate character, but there’s not enough money in the world that Nexon can shell out that would ever convince me to believe that Lara would murder an innocent person with her own hands. I don’t care what the circumstances were, there’s nothing that could possibly justify the writers’ claim that someone like Lara could ever slaughter a defenseless girl.)