The Void & Time (SPOILERS FOR 3.5)

Okay, so Unukalhai's from the 13th world, which became the Void. The same Void that has been around since, at least, the Fifth Astral Era. Now I'm confused.

Did I miss something here? Unukalhai's really at least 1500 years old? Putting aside the question of immortality for what I'm assuming is essentially a soul that's already dead and separated from its original body, if he wanted to prevent the same catastrophe from taking place on the Source, which is where I'm assuming we are, why'd he wait that long before hopping over here? Or did he travel through time and hopping between the worlds also means time travel a la KH 3DS?

As Elidibus' servant, I'm... pretty sure he was just hopping around various other worlds to maintain the balance as well. Maybe. Sounds like the most reasonable explanation.

That raises other questions, like why he was sent to the Source instead of the First Shard (which was, and plausibly still is, in danger of becoming a Void), but that's the best I got.

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Originally Posted by Mysterysword

Okay, so Unukalhai's from the 13th world, which became the Void. The same Void that has been around since, at least, the Fifth Astral Era. Did I miss something here? Unukalhai's really at least 1500 years old?

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Allag utilized voidsent, as well, so we're talking at least 5000, even.

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Originally Posted by Mysterysword

if he wanted to prevent the same catastrophe from taking place on the Source <...> why'd he wait that long before hopping over

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Putting aside that Unukalhai really, really doesn't seem like he has 5,000 years of experience and thus may have been "asleep" or "moving through time" or something (for which there is no evidence aside from Zodiark allegedly having power over time's flow), Eli probably could have kept him busy trying to selectively indoctrinate him to the points of view. Elidibus is a master of which information to provide and which to act like is nonexistent as he gives you just enough of the truth to make you trust him.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

That raises other questions, like why he was sent to the Source instead of the First Shard (which was, and plausibly still is, in danger of becoming a Void), but that's the best I got.

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I think Elidibus might have gone with Unukalhai to the First if he thought it was really in danger of being lost to the Flood of Light. His plan banked on its imbalance to convince Hydaelyn's champions to turn against Her, and if everything went according to plan, it would have ended in Rejoining before it fell. Since a Rejoining is the only reason to ensure balance in the first place, no other actions were really necessary. It'd probably be like adding preservatives to something that'd be eaten within an hour.

Unukalhai seems to have been groomed to act as a agent of Balance for Elidibus. Personally I think he is just another tool in Elidibus's toolbox and as such has probably been shelved until now. As such I suspect he was sitting out of the flow of time till his Master needed him. This is also the reason I don't really see Unukalhai as an Ascian. Unukalhai doesn't seem to care about Zodiark. His entire drive is to maintain balance to protect the world he is on. It makes me wonder if he even realises the role Ascians probably played in his own world falling into Darkness. In the end, I think it doesn't matter to Elidibus if Unukalhai remains loyal, as long has he does his job of working to maintain balance.

Thanks for the replies. I do agree that Unukalhai seems way too immature to be a few thousand years old, and I can't recall any mention of him ever having visited other worlds off the top of my head, after the 13th fell. If it is the case that he went straight from the 13th to the Source, that's a gap of 5000+ years that we need to fill in, and if he was awake for that entire time, then Elidibus must've been really bad at manipulation if after all that time, Unukalhai is still as relatively normal as he is now.

But more than that, I'm just curious about what this means about the relationship between the Source and the shards, time-wise. Do they all run on the same timeline or timestream, whatever you call it, or do they run on separate, but parallel timestreams and hopping between worlds is like crossing from one stream to another?

Maybe when the thirteenth fell, it became time compressed? It touches all times on the other shards but doesn't experience it. At least, not how we experience it.

Is that why the Voidsent never seemed to dissipate? Despite the "insatiable hunger of the Void", their existences don't seem to disappear even if they can't feast on the aether of the Source and other Worlds.

I honestly think Time doesn't flow in a Void. Voidsent know *of* Time, sure, but I get the feeling they don't experience it at "home" anymore.

Could explain why Diabolos was surprised that 1500 years robbed him of some strength; perhaps a similar slumber in the Void is just like a pause, keep everything how it was before it started. Would also explain why Unukalhai is still young; that's how he was when the Thirteenth fell, but the Echo or Blessing kept him from turning into a Voidsent.