PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 42: Esfera, the Origin Sea

Some time after Tana’s disappearance, Jean contacted the Adversary and explained that several suspicious people had arrived in the Morass looking for something. He added that the group had been heading towards the dungeons, and that he would look into what else they had been up to. The Adversary went to the dungeons, where they found a Cygnus Knight, a Resistance member, and a strange magician trying to open the sealed door with light pouring out that they had found earlier.

The Resistance member offered to blow the door open, but the Cygnus Knight argued against it, reminding him that their priority was to meet the Adversary first. The Adversary then approached the group, who all introduced themselves. The Cygnus Knight introduced herself as Ollie, a Thunder Breaker assigned to the Arcane River in order to protect and provide guidance.

(A/N: Chronologically, we were first introduced to Ollie at the end of the Yum Yum Island storyline, in which she reported to Neinheart and Cygnus before leaving with the expedition team, but this was her first actual appearance in the game. 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.)

The Resistance member introduced himself as Shubert, who had been tasked with keeping the communication lines open to HQ and keeping their gear running, as well as providing demolition services.

(A/N: Shubert is a Blaster. It’s a bit ironic, given that he used to work underwater in a submarine. 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 woke up the sleeping magician, who introduced himself as Melange, which was short for Melangioruiana.

(A/N: They used to refer to Melange with female pronouns until they went back and corrected it during the release of Tenebris.

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.

Personally, I think that Melange’s race was wiped out either by Aeona or Darmoor himself. 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.)

Ollie explained that Melange was a magician from Pantheon who could create a dimensional gate back to HQ. The Adversary was surprised to know that the Alliance had even sent out someone from Pantheon, adding that they hadn’t expected this kind of support.

(A/N: Grandis classes get exclusive dialogue in place of this line, in which they instead note that they hadn’t expected to see Alliance soldiers in the Arcane River, and especially not from Pantheon, as they know how bad the situation over there currently is.)

Ollie told them that in Maple World, the Alliance was gearing up for a full-scale operation against the Black Mage, which she added had been years in the making. The Adversary then looked at the sealed door and asked if it was the reason why they had come to the Morass. Ollie clarified that though the team had been looking for the Adversary, Melange had examined the door and had learned that the power of the Transcendents was sealed behind it.

Suddenly, the door opened, causing a powerful force to start drawing them in. Shubert barely managed to call their airship before they were all sucked inside. Their ship was quickly pulled into the currents and began ascending vertically, causing it to launch out of the Arcane River and float in the air above Esfera. (A/N: Esfera is the Spanish word for sphere, referring to the Black Sun and White Moon that will eventually fuse into Tenebris.)

In the distance, a masked figure clad in black and white saw the ship resurface and used their powers to blow it up, scattering the group. The Adversary and Ollie were separated from the rest of the team and wondered what had caused their ship to explode. The Adversary suspected that some sinister force was behind it and wondered if it was linked to the large Black Moon in the sky, where they could sense the Black Mage’s presence. The Adversary then noted 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.)

Before they headed out to search for Shubert and Melange, Ollie gave the Adversary a letter from Neinheart, which she hoped would answer a few of their questions. However, Neinheart had simply written that he would only be able to answer their questions by linking to the secure Alliance communication network. The Adversary wondered how Neinheart knew about the Origin Sea, to which Ollie explained that Neinheart had grown obsessed with learning about the enemy’s plans after the World Tree incident.

In order to regroup with the others, Ollie planned to fire off a flare until she realized that she had dropped it. They then saw an Ahtuin monster running off with it, and so the Adversary hunted down the flare from the flock of monsters. After getting the flare back, they realized that it was wet and unusable, and so they collected white firewood that grew off the backs of the Atus monsters in order to dry it. Ollie then fired the flare and received a response from Shubert and Melange.

They found Shubert and a sleeping Melange setting up a base camp in the ruins of their ship. Shubert began telling them that the uplink had been damaged in the fall, just as Melange awoke and told them that something was wrong with the sky. He pointed out that there was no sun, which bothered him.

Ollie was confused by his words, and so Melange gave her his staff, which was able to play back memories. They followed the staff’s magic towards an area rich with memories, where Ollie told the Adversary that as per the instruction manual that came with the staff, they needed to charge it by defeating monsters so that it could absorb the magic released by them.

(A/N: Someone on the lore server described Melange’s staff as a “violence powered murder staff”, which is how I’ll be mentally calling it in my head from now on. We also learn here that Ollie had always wanted to be a magical girl ever since she was little, with her yelling out, “In the name of love and justice!”, right before using the staff.)

The Adversary hunted Bellalions in the area, activating the staff and allowing them to see a memory of Will with a captured Tana, whose memories and sanity had finally returned. Ollie was surprised to see Will, as he was the only Commander whom the Alliance knew nothing about, since he had never been seen in Maple World. She added that the only records of Will had been obtained in a special library, meaning they had no intel on his actions or abilities.

(A/N: Most likely, the library that she mentions is the Grand Athenaeum, which has the Shadow Alchemist story that serves as a prequel to Zero’s storyline.

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.)

They then watched as Will cast a spell on Tana in order to transform her into the sun of the new world. Just then, a mysterious portal appeared, from which a powerful laser beam was shot at Will. Just as Will dodged it, he lost his hold on the glass coffin containing Tana, which fell into the Origin Sea. Ollie and the Adversary realized that Tana was the sun that Melange had been talking about and wondered what Will was up to.

Just then, Will himself arrived and launched an attack on the Adversary. Ollie immediately came between them and blocked the attack with her sword. Will merely laughed and told Ollie that he had come to see the Adversary, adding that he was reminded of the words which had inspired him, “The ultimate light can only be found in the ultimate darkness.”

He told them that they could only face him after learning the truth behind his words, after which he disappeared. After he left, Will thought to himself that he didn’t expect ‘the child’ to have gotten involved, though he believed that it would change nothing. Nevertheless, the experience brought back unpleasant memories for him.

(A/N: Zero also 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. That last line adds more weight to the idea that Zero isn’t a proper Transcendent.

I mentioned it before in Zero’s section, but the story direction shifted during the Arcane River storyline such that the endgame of the overall story is heading in the direction of all the Transcendents being destroyed. It’s almost certain that Zero was never originally intended to be considered a defective Transcendent because of their division, as Rhinne never says anything about it, but given that the Black Mage’s plan to destroy the Transcendents was said to have succeeded with his death, I really can’t see any other way around reconciling that fact, other than accepting that Zero isn’t a real Transcendent.

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.

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.)

The Adversary asked Ollie if she was alright, as she had been wounded by Will’s attack. Ollie quickly told them that she was fine before changing the subject and asking what Will had meant by the ultimate light and the ultimate darkness.

(A/N: Luminous just says “…”, while every other class notes that Will must be trying to tell them something, as Commanders don’t just speak nonsense. You’ll find that a majority of Luminous’ exclusive dialogues in Esfera don’t reveal anything meaningful, which is very frustrating when he should’ve had the most amount of dialogue with all the lore being dumped about the Transcendent of Light in this storyline.)

Just then, Shubert called and asked for a status update. After hearing about the situation, Shubert told them that he had fixed the transmitter for short-range communication, though he needed lubricant for the long-range array. The Adversary collected Animal Fat from the Bellalis monsters nearby and returned to Shubert, who was able to patch together a barely working array. They connected with Neinheart at HQ, who asked them for a status update. Ollie told them that only the Black Moon appeared in the sky, and that Tana had sunk into the Origin Sea. Just as the communication uplink fizzled out, Neinheart managed to tell them to protect Tana and stop Will’s ritual.

Before they headed out, the Adversary asked Ollie about her injury. She showed them that she had patched it up with bandages and then told Shubert that should the situation turn dire, he needed to prioritize saving the Adversary. The Adversary began to protest, but Ollie told them that they were the one fated to fight the Black Mage. They then headed out and found that the waters had slowly grown dark and purple.

Just then, Melange caught up and explained that Tana had touched the power of the mirror, causing it to flow throughout the Origin Sea. He also told them that creating a sun through the power of Mirror World made it hard to break from the outside, but since Will’s ritual had been interrupted by the masked figure, the power was flowing out with the Erdas.

Melange decided to head back, but he reassured them that they didn’t need to worry about Will for the time being, as he was threatened by Tana’s Mirror World. Ollie was confused by what he meant, and so he clarified that as long as Tana continued exerting her power, Will couldn’t access the power of the mirror himself, as the two powers opposed each other.

Shubert then chimed in through the communication device and told them that it sounded similar to radio interference, in which two signals broadcasted on the same wavelength. Melange warned them that even though Will was weaker without the power of the mirror, he still possessed enough strength to be a formidable threat. After Melange left, Ollie felt her injury sting, though she hid it from the Adversary.

As they continued onward, the pair encountered several Aranya spiders sent by Will. (A/N: Along with Esfera being the Spanish word for ‘sphere’, 'araña is the Spanish word for ‘spider’. Aranya, as well as Aranea, are spelled the same way that the word is pronounced.) After thinning out their numbers, the Adversary found Ollie listening to something in the distance. She told them that it sounded like a fight, and so they headed over to find several Aranea spiders fighting Keepers of Light and Darkness. As they watched the Keepers pull back, Ollie supposed that they were Tana’s creations.

The Adversary then noticed a grave below them in the water and wondered if it was also a fragment of Mirror World. They suggested to Ollie that they use Melange’s staff on it in order to see if they could learn more about Tana from the memory. They then hunted the nearby Aranea spiders in order to charge it. Using the staff, they saw a memory of Tana and her sister coming into existence inside the Radiant Temple, being told to only follow the voice. They also witnessed Tana’s sister hearing the voice of the Overseers and being granted the title of Aeona, with Tana being passed over as the reserve.

(A/N: Grandis classes have some exclusive dialogue here, in which they recall rumors that Aeona had once faced Gerand Darmoor, although we can’t be sure whether they’re referring to Tana or her sister, as Tana later claims the title of Aeona.

Both Tana and her sister have honestly had it rough from the very beginning. The mages of Kritias viewed Tana as an object after she lost her memories and emotions, but right from her very creation, both she and Aeona were dehumanized by the Overseers. Their names - Aeona and Tana - aren’t even names, but rather, they’re just titles that label them as the Transcendent of Light and a Transcendent-in-reserve. From the moment that they were brought into existence, their identities were basically just the purpose for which they were made. To the Overseers, they’re not even real people - they’re things that were assigned identifiers based on what utility they serve.)

Ollie immediately recognized the name ‘Aeona’ as that of Grandis’ Transcendent of Light. She told the Adversary that they had just seen the Temple of Light, adding that she couldn’t believe that she had seen Transcendents with her own eyes. She noted that both of them had seemed just like normal girls and asked whether the girl on the right had been Tana. The Adversary recalled that Tana had power over Erda itself and wondered whether that was the power of the Transcendent of Light.

(A/N: There are a few minor changes to this script for the Heroes. For Luminous, Ollie omits the line about it being incredible that she had seen Transcendents with her own eyes, instead just noting that both girls had looked normal and wondering if the one on the right had been Tana.

The following line, in which the Adversary speculates about Tana’s power over the Erdas, is very slightly changed for Luminous, who notes that Tana has incredible power over Erda and wonders if it’s connected to the power used by the Transcendent of Light, rather than wondering if her power over the Erda itself is the power used by the Transcendent of Light.

All the Heroes except Luminous then get exclusive dialogue, in which they wonder whether the light that Tana uses is different from the light that Luminous uses, although Luminous, once again, has nothing to say on the topic.)

Just then, a Light Executor appeared and explained that light and darkness were merely analogies. He led them closer towards the mirror’s power, where Keepers of Light surrounded them. The Light Executor told them to charge the staff with the Keepers of Light, but when Ollie asked whether it was okay for them to attack his own people, he merely told them that he followed only the voice.

After charging the staff, they used it on a bookshelf in the ocean, where they saw a memory of Tana reading a book about the Transcendent of Light. As she got to the part that detailed why an awakened Transcendent could only wield one of the two powers of light and darkness, Aeona appeared and destroyed the book.

Aeona told Tana that she was tired of the Executors, who put her on a pedestal as a Transcendent, though she claimed that they really just used her instead. She then sarcastically told Tana that the reason why they only get one of the two powers was so that no one would be able to recreate such a boring book again.

She noted that Tana’s life as a reserve seemed much nicer, as she wasn’t stuck with a power that she never wanted, and she wasn’t forced to do anything against her will, as she could simply live as herself. Though Tana was confused, Aeona asked her sister to enjoy her share of life as well before leaving. After she left, Tana used her powers of creation to restore the book and read that the reason why an awakened Transcendent only held one of the two powers was because their reserve held the other.

(A/N: This would have been the perfect place for Luminous to have exclusive dialogue that reveals him to be the reserve for the Black Mage.

The way that Aeona was presented in these flashbacks made her seem like she was an antagonist, given the way that she behaved, which is an interpretation that never really sat right with me. I’ve always seen her bitter and cutting personality as a result of her being heavily traumatized from having her free will stripped from her and being forced to wipe out countless races, including children, and the fact that there wasn’t a single person in the world that she could talk about it with, as Tana had no idea what she was doing, and the Executors couldn’t care less about how she felt or what she wanted.

You can tell from the way that she spoke just how much Aeona hated her existence, especially with the way that she’d seen through all the pomp and glamor of being worshiped as a Transcendent and realized that she was little more than a slave. I think that looking past her superficial resentment, you can see that she really did care about Tana in her own way. Destroying the book and telling Tana to keep enjoying her life for both of them seemed like her just trying to keep Tana safe from getting caught up in the Overseers and their manipulations, rather than because she had a bad attitude.)

The Adversary and Ollie then understood that the Transcendent of Light had the power of either creation or destruction. Based on that information, Ollie figured out what Will had meant about the ultimate light and the ultimate darkness, realizing that the Black Mage’s goal of achieving the ultimate light through the ultimate darkness was destroying the world and recreating it.

(A/N: Like I’d mentioned previously, the Adversary should’ve already known this when the Erdas told them about it, as well as when they witnessed Lucid’s memories in Lachelein. This is most likely an oversight on the writers’ part, but it’s kinda funny how shocked our reaction is at something that we’d been told multiple times before. We can be sure that the Adversary isn’t a mage because we clearly have no stats put in INT.)

Having served his purpose, the Light Executor told them where to find Tana. Ollie asked why he was helping them, to which he explained that it was Tana’s will, as the enemy of an enemy was his friend. He then led them closer towards Tana, where he told them to defeat the Keepers of Darkness in order to weaken the forces of Mirror World. Ollie was concerned that Will would be able to use his powers if Tana’s power was weakened, but the Light Executor reassured her that the Keepers were only a portion of Tana’s power, while the Executors held the most substance.

After getting past the Keepers, Ollie contacted Shubert and told him that they had reached the area where Tana had sunk into the ocean. The Adversary operated a pulley system tethered to Ollie, allowing her to dive deep into the Origin Sea and recover Tana, who was sleeping inside a glass coffin.

As they prepared to take Tana back to the base camp, Ollie’s bandages came off from the water, revealing a spider mark from Will’s attack. The Light Executor immediately recognized Will’s mark and, believing Ollie to be a threat, summoned more Light Executors to destroy her. The Adversary managed to defeat them all and began to help Ollie up when Will arrived.

(A/N: Zero gets exclusive dialogue here, in which they recognize the spider mark on Ollie.

In Kao’s original timeline, the power deficit created from Arma draining a portion of their power resulted in Kao being unable to protect Ollie, who succumbed to both her injuries and the poison. I’ve covered part of Kao’s timeline at the end of this section, with the rest covered in Limina and Aftermath.)

Ollie contacted Shubert and told him to extract Tana while she held off Will for the Adversary to escape. Though the Adversary told him to instead extract Ollie while they defended Tana, Ollie told the Adversary that her real mission was to protect them. Nevertheless, Shubert listened to the Adversary and extracted Ollie back to the base camp.

Will then launched a powerful attack on the Adversary, which surprised them, as they had believed that Will was weaker because of Tana’s power. However, Will explained that they themselves had weakened Tana’s power when they had fought off the Light Executors attacking Ollie, as the Executors held more of her power than the Keepers. He then laughed that Ollie was merely a pawn to sacrifice in the Adversary’s place. When the Adversary expressed 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 Adversary into the Origin Sea.

The masked figure immediately moved to save Adversary, allowing Will to escape with Tana. The Adversary asked the masked figure why they had saved them, rather than Tana, to which the masked figure replied that in order to destroy the Black Mage, they needed an Adversary.

(A/N: To absolutely no one’s surprise, GMS once again did a bad job with localization and mistranslated this line as Orchid instead saying, “To destroy him… I need to create an Adversary,” which makes no sense when the Adversary was already created during Black Heaven.)

The masked figure then teleported them back to the base camp. In the sky, they saw that Tana had become the White Sun next to the Black Mage’s Black Moon. Shubert told them that though Ollie had been recovered, the poison in her system was spreading. Melange added that it was an enchanted poison that only the creator could cure. He told them that Will was inside the White Sun, and that the only way inside was through a mirror that Will had created, though Melange warned them that it was a trap.

Just then, Neinheart contacted them and, despite the static, they were able to make out that he was warning the Adversary not to act hastily, and that support would be there soon. He also emphasized that the Adversary’s survival was the main priority. Remembering Will’s words about Ollie being a pawn, the Adversary asked Neinheart if he had ordered Ollie to protect them. When Neinheart didn’t reply, they decided to go after Will themselves. Neinheart managed to convey that there was still a way and asked them not to hesitate when the time came to make a choice, just as the signal cut out.

The Adversary and Melange then went into Mirror World, where they found that Tana’s power had transformed the whole place into a replica of the Radiant Temple. In order to learn the purpose of the ritual, Melange told them that they needed to examine the memories in the space. They soon encountered Light Executors, which Melange explained had lost their names and forms. He told the Adversary that the Executors were a minor race of Grandis that had left in search of the domain of the gods, though they had been mocked by the other races for it.

(A/N: Grandis classes get exclusive dialogue here, in which they note that Melange’s explanation is completely new to them, and that they don’t think that anyone alive has ever seen the Executors before.)

After charging the staff, the Adversary witnessed a memory of Tana confronting Aeona for having destroyed seven races of Grandis. Aeona had replied that she couldn’t help it, as it had been her job. Believing that her sister had gone mad with power, Tana had decided to stop her.

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 specifically had left no trace of her actions, making it possible that even more than just seven races had been destroyed. He was also curious about her word choice, which implied that she seemed to have destroyed those races against her own will.

(A/N: All Grandis classes will ask Melange if there were more races in the past that they never knew about. When Melange tells them about the Transcendents of Grandis, he also precludes his explanation with a disclaimer that they might already know what he’s about to say.

Kain get some more some exclusive dialogue during this part, in which he wonders whether it’s possible that the Black Nova might have been one of the people that Aeona had wiped out. This line is interesting because it introduces the possibility that the Overseers sending Aeona to destroy those races might not have been random after all.

The Black Nova were technically just a cult, not a separate race from the Nova, but the cultists worshiped Satiras, who gave them a portion of his own power in the form of Malice. We know that the Overseers wanted to get rid of the Ancient Gods because their power and influence created chaos and unpredictability, and we also know that the Overseers weren’t just satisfied with defeating the gods - they wanted absolute certainty that the gods would never be able to influence the universe again, which is why they created the Transcendents to suppress them.

Since we know that the Black Nova kept a portion of their Malice, even after Satiras was sealed away, it’s possible that the Overseers sent Aeona to destroy them in order to ensure that not a single trace of the Ancient Gods or their power would remain in the world. If that’s the case, then it might just be that the other races that Aeona destroyed had also been given power from other Ancient Gods, similar to Satiras and his Malice, and that the Overseers had wanted to get rid of them entirely, which is why Aeona was said to have left no traces of her actions, as she had likely used her powers of destruction to completely and utterly wipe them all out, with the rare exception of the hidden Black Nova village where Kain and Luska were later born.

It also reframes the context of why the Transcendents of Maple World were said to have played a passive role in shaping their world. From what we know, the Ancient Gods didn’t seem to have had much influence on Maple World in the past, as the only gods that we know about are Abraxas and the god of the Karuppa, whose sacred tree was used to carve Pathfinder’s relic. Abraxas is a special case because he was just the embodiment of ruins that silently recorded history, while the god of the Karuppa’s relic lost its power until Kirston partially restored some of it by rewinding time until he hit Freud’s time barrier, which corrupted it with Kirston’s curse magic.

In both cases, the gods never left any tangible trace of their power after their disappearance, and so it makes sense why the Transcendents of Maple World were passive, as there’s nothing for them to actually do. When the White Mage reached the divine realm, he was angry when he learned that the Overseers were actively trying to force him to do nothing to help the world. His belief was that the Overseers were apathetic to the suffering of the people, but when you consider that the Overseers’ definition of order is just maintaining a predictable future, rather than stopping war and death, it makes sense why they would be trying to keep the Transcendents from doing anything, as they’ve already achieved their ideal future without the gods.)

They then moved on to charge the staff on the Dark Executors and witnessed the final memory of Tana having killed her sister, causing the Transcendent of Light’s power to flow into her - the Transcendent-in-reserve. Because of this, the Executors proclaimed that they had made a mistake, and that Tana was actually Aeona, the Transcendent of Light. Tana immediately began to hear the voice of the Overseers and realized that her sister was correct when she had told her that it was impossible to free herself of those chains. However, she vowed that she would still live as herself no matter what, even if it destroyed her. 

(A/N: Given the fact that Aeona couldn’t properly explain what she meant by it being her job, it’s likely that she was physically incapable of explaining that the Overseers were forcing her to obey them, especially if she couldn’t properly clarify the fact when she was right about to be killed because of it. The fact that Tana was able to kill a Transcendent suggests that she exists on a comparable level of power to one, as Darmoor mentions during Cernium that only gods have the power to kill other gods. It does bring up the question of why Luminous doesn’t have the power to kill the Black Mage if he does happen to be a reserve, although that can probably be explained away as him being mortal, while Tana was created to be immortal.

A bigger plot hole that opens up is why the Overseers would allow someone like Tana to exist as a reserve in the first place when they can’t control her. The reason why they removed the Ancient Gods and killed the Adversaries that they commissioned was because they wanted to remove every variable capable of influencing the universe on a large scale. With the Transcendents having their free will overridden, the Overseers effectively became the only beings capable of shaping destiny, which is exactly what they had wanted from the beginning.

As a reserve, Tana exists outside the Overseers’ control, as she’s not a Transcendent and her free will can’t be overridden. If Tana had really wanted to, she could’ve gone rogue and killed all the other Transcendents in the universe, which would’ve completely destroyed the Overseers’ system. The reason why the powers of light and darkness are separated is likely because giving a Transcendent the power to both create and destroy at once is too risky, as seen with what the Black Mage is planning to do.

It makes sense to separate out the powers, but that runs the risk of giving half the power to a being who can’t be controlled, which goes directly against the Overseers’ modus operandi of having absolute control over everything. The likely answer is that the Overseers were relying on the Executors to keep Tana trapped in the Radiant Temple, as we can see from the flashback that the Executors tried to stop her from killing Aeona after she learned the truth about the seven races, suggesting that they were capable of turning against Tana if she went against the Overseers’ will, despite being her servants.)

With the final memory, Melange was able to conclude that the Black Moon and White Sun would fuse, allowing the Black Mage to gain the power of both creation and destruction. The Adversary then vowed to stop the ritual by defeating Will. Melange told them that Will was inside a Mirror World within Mirror World, though he added that he couldn’t come with them, as he didn’t have the power to fight Will inside the mirror.

(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 mirror alone and confronted Will, who was impressed that they had actually come to face him. However, he added that the ritual had gone too far, and that the only way to stop it now was to kill Tana. The Adversary realized that killing Tana was what Neinheart had meant about the choice that they would have to make. However, they resolved to both defeat Will and save Tana, and engaged in battle against the Commander.

As the Adversary continued fighting Will, their battle took them deeper into Mirror World, finally leading them straight into its heart. After a fierce battle, the Adversary successfully bested Will, who was impressed by their strength. As a reward, he cured Ollie of the poison and asked what they would do next. The Adversary then turned to find that Tana was unconscious and in terrible pain.

Though the Adversary knew that they needed to kill Tana in order to stop the Black Mage, they nevertheless struggled to take her life. As they battled between their reason and their instinct, Tana suddenly called out to Jean in her dream to save her. Upon hearing Tana begging to be saved, the Adversary, against all odds, chose to spare her life instead.

Will, for once, was utterly shocked and asked the Adversary if they understood what the consequence of their actions would be. The Adversary told Will that they understood that the Black Mage would gain the power of the Transcendent of Light from two worlds, but they nevertheless reaffirmed their belief that they could still save everyone, including Tana.

(A/N: 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, believing that she’d gone mad with power and needed to be put down, only to find that in doing so, 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 and Kao’s memories expose 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.)

Suddenly, Tana disappeared as Will laughed that though he admired the Adversary’s conviction, the ritual could not be stopped anymore. As Tana’s power had faded, Will regained full control over Mirror World and summoned a horde of spiders to destroy the Adversary before disappearing.

As the Adversary struggled to face the endless onslaught, Ollie appeared to defend them. She explained that it was Cygnus, not Neinheart, who had tasked her with protecting them. She told them how Cygnus had told her that the Adversary was strong, though they tried to shoulder the burdens of the whole world. Though no one in the Alliance was as strong as the Adversary, Cygnus believed that their numbers gave them strength, and that even the weakest member had an important role to play.

Just then, a dimensional portal appeared in Mirror World and Neinheart arrived with the Chief Knights in order to finish off the spiders. The Adversary apologized to Neinheart for their reckless decision, but Neinheart told them that there was no need to apologize, as he already knew what the Adversary would have done.

Melange then found a book that Will had left behind and picked it up before creating a portal to the base camp, allowing the Alliance forces to escape the White Sun before it fused with the Black Moon. (A/N: This book contains key information about the Black Mage, his prophecies, and his goals, which Melange later takes back to Darmoor at the end of Limina.)

Meanwhile, Will retreated into the deepest recesses of Mirror World in order to prevent Melange from following him. Though Will wished that he could have presented the Adversary to the Black Mage, he took comfort in the fact that he would be able to witness the time of Genesis. He eagerly expressed his excitement to be able to witness the creation of a perfect world free of shackles and unchecked powers with his own eyes.

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 feud 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.

(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. Originally, I had all of Kao’s timeline in an author note at the end of the Limina section, since it felt easier to consolidate everything there, but after thinking about it, I realized that there were a few things suggesting that the Adversary was aware about certain details of Kao’s memories when they fought the Black Mage, and so I thought that it would be better to include it here. Most of Kao’s memories can be viewed in Esfera, but the rest of them can only be accessed after finishing Limina.)

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.)