Goddess Sophia Lore posted.

[Rocl]

so Sophia is basically, like, Elidibus' wife?

[Nalien]

"All Eikons are Primals, but not all Primals are Eikons", is how I've always understood it.

That's what I've always gone with... Sadly, I keep finding my self coming up blank for what could make them special enough to be distinct...

Best I can come up with is that it has something to do with faith in the primal... According to the Sightseeing Log, the Allag were studying the link between faith and primal summoning, so I could imagine that study resulting in the classification "Eikon"...

Specifically, the idea that's been kicking around my head for a while, is that an eikon is a primal with the complete support of his worshipers... Odin remains an oddity there though, but the rest? Kinda fits, perhaps... Maybe... I mean, the Sylph all believe in Ramuh, but not all of them want to summon the old geezer... Thus he is just a primal... Meanwhile, 100% of the "remnants of Sephirot" perhaps wanted to summon Sephirot, thus he is an eikon... Absolutely no way to tell if that's true or not though, and Odin might not even be a wrench in that idea... Zantetsuken is the real eikon, and it tempers a single individual... That one tempered individual could be the sole believer in Zantetsuken, then he'd have 100% of his believers behind him...

IDK, after the Sightseeing Log I'm convinced it has to be something related to faith, but it could equally just be a distinction made based on utility... An eikon is just a primal with a power the Allag could harness for some purpose... Odin bugs me there though, granted you could view using him as a weapon as a purpose (and there is even some lore supporting that he was kinda used in that way), but then don't all primals become eikons? Trap them in Auracite and have yourself a party, unless "Does not require Auracite" is a key point...

As for Sophia... I wonder just how much of a dialog we'll have with her... We got very little from Sephirot, and based on what we did get, he mistook us for Allag? Would be nice to see Sophias reaction to the fact that her enemy is long since dead...

[Cilia]

From the sounds of it, Sophia may have been a benevolent-ish deity like Ramuh.

Gilded chains are still chains, though...

[Balipu]

so Sophia is basically, like, Elidibus' wife?

What? No! How did you get to that conclusion?


As for this whole Eikon thing, the way I understand it:

Primal: Creature summoned with aether and prayer.
Elder Primal: Very old Primal.
Eikon: very Powerful Primal.

As far as we know Bahamut is the only known Elder Primal, while The Warring Triads and Odin are Eikons.
Garleans just call everything and their grandmother Eikon cause they are dumb and like to pretend they are as badass as the Allagans.

[Frederick22]

So multiple races worshiped Sophia, then we can confirm that not only the Miqo'tes were the only spoken race living there. This leaves to the 'beast tribes of Meracydia summoned the warring triad' to its end.

So hype too see that among those races, there were elezens. Can we assume that Sophia may be a twisted version of what they thought was actually Hydaelyn or some of what know today as one of the twelve?

I'm so curious too know the relation that Plegethon had with the godess, since it seems that her worshipers shared the same gear.

[Wolfandre]

Not much to input so far, but I'd just like to posit that, despite being potentially(?) older than Bahamut Prime, the Warring Triad does not need followers kept in torpor to sustain them. At least as far as we know, anyway. Did we get any info on this? It could be a clue as to what distinguishes an Eikon from a Primal. Perhaps an Eikon is self-sustaining? Would make some sense, as someone mentioned that at least one Eikon is bound to a physical object (Odin) and another is hinted at being a living thing (Sephirot).

Also, I think the Garleans are using an antiquated term improperly. The primals the Allag dealt with were definitely Eikons. But since the Battle of Silvertear Skies, primals as we know them have emerged. Primals are Primals and Eikons are Eikons, but to the Garleans, they're one in the same.

Edit: terrible terrible typos

[Rocl]

What? No! How did you get to that conclusion?.

Ahaha, forgive me, it was a rather poorly timed joke. "Equilibrium must needs be restored," is a favorite quote of Elidibus, and Sophia's blurb uses the same word and idea of 'balance' that he seems to use for evening out Light v Dark.

the Warring Triad does not need followers kept in torpor to sustain them.

We actually have Unukalhai telling us there were some Sephirot's worshipers kept in torpor nearby after our confrontation with the eikon. So I'm not so sure this is it.

On our path to the control chamber, we discovered a number of dormant thralls. It would seem the machines that preserve their forms also hold them in a state of torpor. We need not fear them summoning their deity anew.

[Balipu]

Ahaha, forgive me, it was a rather poorly timed joke. "Equilibrium must needs be restored," is a favorite quote of Elidibus, and Sophia's blurb uses the same word and idea of 'balance' that he seems to use for evening out Light v Dark.

True. It would be funny if Elidibus showed up screaming: Noooo, you killed my waifu!!!!!

[Griffey]

Calling it now, Goddess worship came to Eorzea via miqo'te and over the years changed and got mixed up with other beliefs and eventually became what we now know is Azeyma. Too tired to explain but it makes sense if you think about it.

[Nalien]

I'm so curious too know the relation that Plegethon had with the godess, since it seems that her worshipers shared the same gear.

Phlegethons model was reused as trash in later instances as well, don't forget... One quick chat with Rammbroes;

You wish to learn more of Phlegethon? Certainly. His story is quite compelling...

Phelegethon was the scimitar-wielding colossus who served as the final bastion of the Labyrinth of the Ancients, and until recently, was oft mistaken for a similar guardian known as Acheron. In Phlegethon's day, he was but a mortal man who sought to bring revolution to the Allagan Empire.

The empire lasted more than a thousand years, but that is not to say its reign was entirely peaceful. It was especially during the later days of its supremacy that imperial rule found itself under constant challenge.

Famous even among these endless conflicts was the rebellion led by the mighty general Phlegethon. Imperial annals paint him as a murderous villain, but the writings of the commonfolk reveal Phlegethon's status as a hero of the people.

Adored though he was, the revolutionary leader was eventually captured by agents of the empire. Scholarly records give a chilling account of how his body was forcibly altered through sorcery and science, his mind broken and conditioned to obey.

An example was made of Phlegethon, a hideous warning of the fate that awaited those who refused to kneel. When [Player Name] gazed upon the general's unnatural form so many centuries later, s/he was afforded a glimpse into the darkness of which the empire was capable.

Two points to make from this;

1. It sounds like he was a hero to the people, not a primals thrall... I would assume he rebelled in a more central location, rather than the empires latest domain, so I'm doubtful he had any relation to Sophia or the people who worshiped her. Entirely possible he was from Meracydia anyway, but I'm left wondering how we have the peoples accounts of him were that the case...
   
2. He was altered... People have been speculating for a while that Sephirots growth might have been harnessed to make the Crystal Tower bosses larger, well... I think this might be further proof... The adds in the Sophia fight might well be her thralls, but I think the resemblance to Phlegethon is more to do with the experimentation that led to the augmentations we see in Crystal Towers bosses...

Those are effectively Acheron prototypes in Containment Bay P1T6, would be my guess...