Nael Van Darnus -- A Love Story

[HiirNoivl]

I've always enjoyed Villians, for me they make a game. But Van Darnus was the right sort of mix of righteous, mysterious, brutal and straight crazy. And I enjoyed seeing him develop over the game. Still there is a hole that I hope someone can help me fill. I hope this isn't too tall of an order, since Darnus is a 1.0 character and there shouldn't be any spoilers for ARR.

In the Beginning Van Darnus seems to pop out of the aether. Even though, Cid Garlond was the center of Meteor project, he's shocked when he gets wind of Van Darnus in the beginning.

"I know little and less of this new legatus... Who is this Nael van Darnus?" -- Cid (Appetite for Destruction)

This seem strange because in Into the Dark, he leads his troops directly into Ishgardian territory like a knife through butter. The Ishgardians are just wondering what happened, and they still don't really understand how he could totally penetrate through their defenses and cut off any entry to their own establishment after the whole thing is over.

I like Nael because he can waltz in like a boss and then promptly is the boss. I just find it weird that no one seems to know who he is or where this guy comes from.

Nael is also charismatic. Ever the recruiter, he'll enlist just about any living being to his cause, even Hiir, who snickers uncontrollably every time he uses the word "taint". And whenever someone refuses his offer, his argument boils down to, "You don't join me because you suck, and I don't want you anyway." What's not to love? But the more I got to know him the more confusing he was.

Darnus appears to have rode in on Dalamud's power alone, saying it could destroy all the primals in Eorzea. That's what most people think is his reasoning. But behind that is the crazy that says destroying Eorzea is actually better because if there's nothing there, then the potential is endless. This pitch drives away Gaius, Cid and Hiir, of course. Darnus freely wheels between both of these for quite a while before he settles for the whole destruction of everything else BUT Dalamud.

This appears to occur sometime shortly after the Grand Companies are formed, but WHY Darnus has a change of heart over the whole "destroy the primals, get the Eorzea" scheme still baffles me. Cid hints Van Darnus may have made a new discovery after you reveal his crazy talk of annihilation in Two Vans Are Better than One. After all, just a little bit ago, they were trying to look up tomestones to bring down meteor and Van Darnus tried to assassinate Cid for not telling him what he knew. So even though Cid had info that Van Darnus thought was useful at that time, once he had a change of plans, he no longer felt that Cid's knowledge was even necessary.

Gaius knew more about this than us, separating the mission of killing the primals by the emperor from the mission of bringing down of Meteor by the Darnusm'n. In "Don't Hate the Messenger" he makes it clear that Darnus has been using the Empire for his "Purity Scheme" and that this wasn't always the case.

Gaius Van Baelsar: I will not deny that the primals have proven a great nuisance. They have delayed our advance. It was to break the stalemate between us that Nael van Darnus sought to bring down Dalamud. The impact of the red moon would destroy the primals in an instant. Little wonder that His Radiance embraced the scheme.

But Dalamud is no mere rock, despite what van Darnus would have us believe.
It is a great red sin (me say: primal?), exiled to the skies by ancient Allag. There it has long festered, becoming something far more vile than we ever supposed. I see proof of this in van Darnus. His manner is...altered. He is anxious. Uneasy. He deceives His Radiance.

****

I think this is the new information that Darnus got but it's unclear what was the little bird that told him this. Cid was astounded too because he thought that all the information in the Tomestones was destroyed or useless.

We don't see Mr. Darnus until United We Stand. He's quite Altered indeed. In his long spiel, he seems to have turned, not just against the Empire but even against all humanity. He says that someone named He has willed that it be so, and so must it be that all human beings need to be destroyed to stop the endless cycle of eras.

Since when did PEOPLE become the enemy of Darnus? Wasn't "foul taint" (lawl XD) supposed to be primals?

From United we Stand

Cid: And who's the mystery individual who commands his reverence? Somehow, I rather doubt it's His Radiance the Emperor.

Cid: Though I have no answers, these questions bring us closer to the truth. I'd wager van Darnus has a co-conspirator. Someone who has remained hidden from us until now.

Well he's still hidden to me. I can't find much info anywhere about the man behind the mask or how Darnus was converted to the faith of the primals. Was it really just Bahamut controlling him from the moon? If so, how did Bahamut get access to Darnus in the first place? Was it just a matter of him getting close enough? Why did Darnus start worshipping the red moon after he found there to be a Primal in it?

In To Kill a Raven, he laments the fact that he's the only one who seems to know the truth.

"Oh how I grieve for this world! This world beset by fools! And that the worst of them should hail from mine own land! Gaius van Baelsar, the Emperor, his beloved subjects -- fools, one and all! Blindly, they struggle to exterminate the primals in the name of conquest. Yet what worth is there in a realm bereft of the crystals' light? What has become of Garlean pride, that we must scavenge the leavings of false gods!?"

This is Darnus's last reference to his old goals of breaking the stalemate and continuing the conquest of Eorzea. He now views that as foolishness. But WHY?? This is what still eats at me about him. Why has he gone so tsundere for the primals he's supposed to have hated?

Could someone help me understand why Darnus had such a change of heart?

[Anonymoose]

Warning: I'm writing this after my first skim of the post. I will edit this accordingly if I realize I'm wrong after more careful analysis.

Garlemald didn't know what Nael was doing. As far as they were concerned, he was going to drop a space rock on Eorzea and save a metric ton of military strategy and paperwork.

Meanwhile, in Garlemald...

Gaius suspected what he was doing, but wasn't able to conclusively prove it until he observed it first hand from his position "on high" at the Battle of Cartenau.

Therefore, I don't think he has a change of heart at all - I think he's more confident than ever that he's the only one who truly understands "the truth." I think Nael's last words are that he pities the foolishness of The Empire for having a vision so much less than his own that they never even realized his true intentions. All they care about is the conquest of Eorzea and eradication of the Primals, whereas he understands the existence of the Mother Crystal and the goals of the ancient Allag.

This is a very rudimentary analysis, of course, because I've been doing the storylines in order and I have to get through the three intro scenarios in order to do the main scenario so I can do the Seventh Umbral Era scenarios... which is why it's so important that we tackle Lominsa as hard as possible as soon as possible ... so, uh, please accept this IOU for a full analysis of van Darnus at some point.

</em winces>

Please look forward to it? /ashamed

EDIT: Alright, you got me, hold on. It's time for a Lominsa break for a few minutes. I'm gonna do a YouTube playthrough of the Seventh Umbral Era and see what I come up with.

[HiirNoivl]

Therefore, I don't think he has a change of heart at all - I think he's more confident than ever that he's the only one who truly understands "the truth." I think Nael's last words are that he pities the foolishness of The Empire for having a vision so much less than his own that they never even realized his true intentions. All they care about is the conquest of Eorzea and eradication of the Primals, whereas he understands the existence of the Mother Crystal and the goals of the ancient Allag.

D= Are you sure?

His speech in It Kills With Fire is one step below your picture in levels of blatant patriotism. Garlmald is the savior of the world! The fulfillment of the prophecy of old Allag! They're the bold! The beautiful! The light!

How does he go from that to calling even his fellow Garlean's beasts and fools? Was it really all just an act? Also, Gaius words say that he was "altered" after finding out about Dalamud's true nature. How could he say he was altered, if he was always some sort of weirdo and traitor?

[Anonymoose]

D= Are you sure?

Never.

Such is the fate of lore analysis - frequent mistakes as you get closer and close to the truth. Hell, if you read the Loremonger for the opening cutscene to 1.X and then go back and read the GC Midlander thread, you'll see how the progression goes. My post there was basically my first guess, lol.

[cracks knuckles and opens YouTube]

The reason he rose so quickly was due to his own power, knowledge, and ruthlessness. It seems that he executed those directly above him to take their place. This new Legatus is placed in charge of a new Legion - built mostly with indoctrinated children of Ala Mhigo if I read it correctly.

It Kills with Fire
When we first meet him, he extends a "helping hand" on behalf of the Empire, claiming that their true goal is to eradicate a plague on the world - likely referring to the primals draining the planet's lifeblood. He gives false hope in the idea that through the Empire's grace, their "radiance" will cleanse the land and offer them the chance to rule with the bold and beautiful.

He then activates some sort of resonance with the aether, surprising even those of his own legion, and severs the aether line in the land. The fact that you know the prophecy's words but not its meaning angers him and says his ancestors are rolling in their graves; that he must explain it to you as a child.

The prophecy means that the moon will fall, that nothing lasts forever. His line stewards these truths and technologies of the Allag - there is no option but to serve them. Dalamud must come down, the land must be purged. This is the first hint that something is amiss; those two ideas are kind of mutually exclusive.

In for Garuda Wakening
Nael confesses that he sees the death rattle of Garuda as radiance, dismissing the Twelve entirely for how they stood by as corpses littered the battlefield while you alone took down the enemy of all: an Eikon. For this, Garlemald owes you a debt...

But the death of the primal is all Garlemald is concerned with. Nael, however, looks beyond this simplicity. The death of the primal has feed the planet's lifeblood to Dalamud, thus bringing the prophecy closer to completion. You believe that you are serving Eorzea, Garlemald believes you are assisting their cause, but in truth all that is happening is that the prophecies of old are coming closer - Naels raison d'etre is met.

Here he drops another key hint: "When the seal is broken..."

This is the second time the term "seal" has been used; the first being the aether under Mor Dhona, and the second the "lock" on Dalamud's "cage." In fact, this is sort of sounding like modern Earthly apocalypse theories and the "breaking of the seals."

Like Father, Like Son
Nael confronts Cid, demanding to know some specific, esoteric information on the Allag that has been lost to him. He implores Cid's nature as a patriot of his homeland and heir to his father's legacy as an attempt to get this information, but loses him when he refers to total destruction as "the purity of nothingness."

He then activates the aetheric control again, except this time it swirls around his wrist in runes similar to that of Second Dalamud during the attempt of the summoning of the Twelve (interesting...)

It's a shame that this quest was city-specific, because Nael confesses the truth:

"A new world awaits, and only by the strength of Garlemald will it be realized."

Remember, Nael is Allag - the Allag were of Eorzea. He is fulfilling the prophecy that dictates the future of this land, his home. The prophecy must come true - Dalamud must fall - the purity of nothingness must consume the land he holds as his own legacy, and the only way he can do that is to use the Garlean's power as his own.

Two vans are Better than One & Alive
These are not quite as important as Like Father, Like Son, but they show an important fact: even Gaius, who actively suspects Meteor to be more than it seems, still thinks that Nael believes he's serving Imperial interest.

It starts to become clear that Darnus has been manipulating the Empire's direction for some time. He convinced Midas that Dalamud's fall could be controlled, and when the true destructive power was seen at Bozja Citadel, he claimed they could be protected by the Tombstones, which, as we have been told, are quite possibly worthless.

Nael has no intention of protecting the Empire from Dalamud's legacy, but still tries to convince Gaius to remain subservient to the cause by trying to redirect his assertion that conquering a void is pointless into accepting that from a void is pure potential for creation.

It at least gets Gaius off his back for now, which forces Cid to point out how far Gaius has truly fallen.

United We Stand
As Dalamud begins to descend, filled with the aether of fallen Eikons as well as that which he was able to directly feed to it from crystal mines within Toto-rak, Mor Dhona, and the Dzemael Darkhold. On top of this, he rebuilds the Lunar Transmitter technology to control the moon's descent. However, once it's destroyed, Nael descends, too late, on the party and, in his frustration, spilles a little more of the plan.

"This realm has seen six cycles of death and rebirth, yet man refuses to learn from past mistakes. Ever does he find a way to defile the sanctity of creation, and so the cycle must persist. But, no more. But no more, I shall halt the turning of this wheel of darkness. He has willed that it be so, and so it must be!"

When he activates the aetheric power this time, the moon lends him power, filling him with a sense of purpose and acceptance. He abandons the need for man's technology and ascends to commune with the God who has accepted him.

We see here that purification doesn't simply come at the hands of indiscriminate annihilation, but at His judgment. How did the Allag become to tied into Dragon gods? Who knows... (Yet.)

To Kill a Raven
At this point, Nael feels like he's already won and descends into lunacy and the "bliss" of having done something at the same time destined but impossible. However, as he tries to enjoy the final descent, members of the Eorzean Alliance arrive to challenge him, and, against all odds, best him.

This paradigm shift in the situation shatters how he perceives what's going on. A moment ago he was ecstatic that he had fulfilled the prophecy and brought about His return, and now these wretches show up in an attempt to stop it as if they know nothing at all; they don't respect inevitable destiny and for some reason will not celebrate His return-the coming of purification. Only fools would not be able to comprehend it.

"...And that the worst of them should hail from my own land!"

In this phrase he's expressing his dissatisfaction with how Garlemald has handled the situation. When Darnus came to power, the Empire desired that he wipe out the primals and conquer Eorzea. He delivered them so much more. He wouldn't only conquer Eorzea, he would purify his homeland entirely by fulfilling the prophecy, bringing about His return, and leaving them the opportunity to rebuild the Empire in the ways of the Allag upon the void of creation left behind - but they understood nothing of it. All they cared about was that the land was conquered and the primals destroyed.

There is something that I think I'm missing, however:
The Circle of Knowing says that it is the summoning and sustinence of the primals that is killing the planet - so what does Nael mean when he says that the eradication of the primals will leave a land "bereft of the crystal's light" and the leftovers of false gods?

Anyway, Nael lost his faith in the Empire entirely and kept the truth about His return to himself, using the Garlean's power to achieve the fulfillment of the prophecy covertly instead.

[HiirNoivl]

*Fun* *Excitement!*

Thanks for your help! I hope this hole has something to fill it, that would be quite the discovery! ^_^/ Van Darnus is a wonderful character, and my ignorance of such a pivotal moment in his life is so irritating. I'm sure knowing why he changed will help us understand his final speeches. Especially this one:

"Deeds done for the good of all are rarely seen for what they are. Thus I am styled the villain. I have accepted my lot and do what I must."

[Ramesses]

You know, this is why I always enjoy reading up on Moose's analysis because however speculative they may initially seem, they eventually begin to sound very plausible because they possess an astonishing amount of cognitive thought.

First off, I agree with Hiir Norvl... I've always liked Nael and his charisma. He speaks and carries himself like a true noble, he is charismatic, arrogant, and dresses to impress (Yoshi...I still WANT that armour, Sir!). Chap is also very eloquent and knows how to be an exhibitionist...somehow, he vaguely reminds me of Prince Maximillian of the PS3 game "Valkyria Chronicles" (one of my fav games on that console).

He's not just that bad guy everyone loves to hate but he is very uncomplicated in his vision, focused and determined down to his very soul... and ravels in being "psychotic". Sure, I felt a huge amount of satisfaction bringing him down... but there are still questions that needs to be answered and it may take 2.0 AND an expansion for us to really understand what really made Nael's mind tick.

I think some of this puzzle could even be traced back to how he receives you at the final battle (To Kill A Raven). Nael's "bow" at the beginning of the battle is an excellent touch and strangely reminiscent of "Emperor" Vayne Solidor's creepily polite greeting when you come to challenge him on his Bahamut sky fortress (in FFXII).

It definitely is a wickedly spiffy scene... but then he begins to laugh devilshly as if there's a joke on us that we have yet to fully comprehend. He says to Dalamud... "Behold, base creatures have come to give Thee tribute. Hark not their honeyed words, fawning knaves-- For I thy most loyal servant will give you all thou cravest"

Sounds like he sees us as "lesser" races that are like a failed experiment only worthy of sacrificing our (aether essense?) to Dalamud. Did he have a belief that every other Age of races since the fall of the Allagan Empire (in the 4th astral era?) have just been baseline average?

Also his long (friendship or acquaintanceship?) with Van Baelsar seems to go much deeper than just a rivalry for the Emperor's favour... watch the GC quests "Alive" and "Two vans are better than One" to understand what I mean. I think Nael has a strange kind of "respect" for Gaius and realises that he needs his help to activate his secret plot.

Finally, like I suspected back before 1.0 servers shut down, I think its also important to note that with us having ("killed?") Darnus, I suspect that the Empire now has EVERY excuse to march on Eorzea... (heck, every time I saw the airships hovering over the cities back in 1.0, I thought they were going to attack us as part of retaliation for eliminating Nael).

But back to the issue, lets be honest... logically, I reckon that the murder of an Imperial Legatus of the great and powerful empire of Garlemald (even if he had gone rogue and however insane he may have been) will NOT go unpunished... and somehow, I have this weird feeling that His Raidance may not have been completely unaware of Darnus' intentions as we may have thought... he HAD to have had some suspicions of Nael's strange activities through some other spies we don't yet know about.

In the end, I'm very eager for the Garlean side of the ARR storyline because lets face it... politically, the Emperor needs to make an example of us to the rest of the world, and who else to send but the illustrious Baelsar? And how do the other Legatus feel about this? Jealousy that gaius might be victorious? Relief that he's not by the Emperor's side?

Or perhaps all this is a diversion for Gaius to unleash plans of his own? (yeah, hanging out with Darnus may have rubbed off some cunning-ness onto Baelsar as well) I sense one hell of a story coming up for 2.0; so yes the long term concept of Nael (or some other psychotic relative from the House of Darnus) returning as the bad guy holds some wicked potential.

Awesome thread btw.

[Anonymoose]

Only up to the city-specific quests so far, but I just got to a part whose importance I totally forgot. In the Ul'dah storyline's city-specific quest, Nael flat out tells you that he's using the Garleans to achieve his own goals. This is likely directly related to why he calls them fools in the end, so you might have your answer...

But I'll finish this, just in case.

Keep in mind - this is all speculation, and it's not even up to Loremonger standards for as long as I'm still stuck on the long-broken intro story arcs. However, I'm confident we can get the answer you want, at least.

[HiirNoivl]

But. If Darnus felt that Eorzea was his home why did he refer to the people of Garlemald as being from his own land?

What confuses me further is... if fooling the Emperor to fulfill prophecy was his only goal why did he even care what Gaius and the emperor thought?

I got the feeling that Darnus was genuinely sad (grieved ) that he was not understood.

[Ramesses]

Nods... he definitely had a higher purpose in mind and was completely ready to sacrifice himself to achieve it.

Perhaps he wanted to hasten a new Astral era and re-establish the Allagan empire because he no longer agreed with how the Garlean empire was evolving (corrupt aristocrats and politicians all waiting for the old Emperor to die so they can loot the treasury?)

Or perhaps there was even more to the assassination of his father than we thought...

[HiirNoivl]

There's no real doubt in my mind that Darnus was fooling the Emperor by the time Garuda was summoned...

But in It Kills he hardly refers to the death of Ifrit other that some brief kudos for winning. He makes no mention of the aether feefing the moon. He doesn't even really refer to the moon as more than a tool of the empire. I just didn't get a hint that he really understood the nature of Dalamud enough to have been a primal worshipper and Garlean traitor from the start.