The Griffin

[Anonymoose]

I guess the whole idea "Griffin is Gaius" just started when people noted the pose the Griffin made during his speech.

I can only speak for myself, assuming Team Suggesting It Might Be Gaius even goes beyond me. But for me it was thinking, [Huh, they sure use a lot of fire imagery for the Griffin.] as the guy giving out the Shepherd's stuff said, "I heard he's pretty scarred and Garlemald seems to really have it out for him." That made me do a double take and squint at my screen. Could the True Griffin be taking orders himself?

I don't even think it's Gaius (as in, I'm not proposing we accept it). I won't say, "I told you so!"; I'll laugh if someone does to me.

The nuances just seem to have a wider spread, so to speak, than the heavy-handed Ilberd hints, and if they have deeper meaning (foreshadows hidden in "meaningless" rumor), it interestingly aligns with a different fallen foe. I only spoke up because of the eyes of Nidhogg and the community's inkling that they might be used to power Omega. It sets my piqued paranoia aflutter. Who could bridge the Griffin to Nero? Who could make Nero behave as if he'd reverted from his character development in the Crystal Tower arc? Why is all of this looking backwards, with fire imagery...?

Judging by the accidental - but thorough - derailing of the thread, I should have kept it to myself for the time being, lol.

That said, I have to pinpoint some flaws on it

But seeing as I can't unring that bell, anyway...!

Only that Gaius certainly was doing what Varis is exactly doing; capturing the primals for their power. <...> Both came to conclusion that Allagan's method to capture the primals thus preventing them from being summoned again is the most effective way to end the plague. In addition, they're willing to mass genocide the beast tribes to prevent any new summoning attempts of new primals.

Well struck! Gaius explicitly says that he's using the power of the eikons, and both he and Varis stress the importance of capturing them in a way that breaks the cycle of rebirth. I went digging through my annotated transcripts for any reason to not entirely abandon this angle of the tension between them (and admittedly because I was curious how I'd arrived at the assumption in the first place) and I found but one thing: a curious choice of words.

When Gaius and co. refer to the power of Ultima, they say they will "cast down" the eikons and "rid Eorzea" of them forever. They seem confident that they can capture any primals that have been summoned and purge the realm of any who would summon them again before Ultima has spent that energy. The goal here is annihilation, and they are relying on the feedback loop to accomplish it.

When you come across Varis and co. in the Sea of Clouds, he uses oddly different terminology. The emperor seeks the Allagan secret of "binding the eikons to their will", to "bring them to heel". Regula would "capture the eikons alive" and see them "shackled". Varis seems to have more utilitarian (and dangerously arrogant) ideas. The difference is small, but one avoids Allag's mistake, the other repeats it.

But it proves nothing, and it points out another tier in the house of cards. Point: Robin!

And while I don't remember there's any mention to Gaius' relationship to the current emperor, the fact that both of them were against Meteor project can imply that they're of the same mind. Since Varis is quite a renowned military leader like Gaius, I have trouble to picture Gaius opposing his ascension; if anything, he'd be glad to come serve under him, both share the same goal to conquer Eorzea not destroy it, even if he may get some punishment for his rash actions before.

Now this angle I can account for.

Meteor would have reduced Eorzea to ash. The Emperor openly supported Meteor; Gaius openly opposed it; Varis (EDIT: vocally opposed it, but) secretly worked to undermine it. Gaius openly supported the Emperor's rule; Varis secretly opposed it and laid clandestine foundations to subvert it. Varis and Gaius saw eye-to-eye on a two crucial issues. [1] Eorzea should be rightfully conquered, with only as much destruction as is merited to bring about order. [2] The invasion of Eorzea must be precisely timed due to the causal relationship between desperation and primal strength.

When Gaius "found" Ultima, he moved immediately, by the time the High Legatus (Varis) recognized the need to bring the Black Wolf to heel, he'd already slipped his leash. It might even have been more purposeful than that; if Gaius mistrusted the royal family aside from the rightful crown prince (mysteriously dead), he might try to seize power for himself once he realized that there was no hope that Solus, or his will, would survive.

For the world of man to mean anything, man must own the world. To this end, he hath fought ever to raise himself through conflict─to grow rich through conquest. And when the dust of battle settles, it is ever the strong who dictate the fate of the weak. <...> Only a man of power can rightly steer the course of civilization. And in this land of creeping mendacity, that one truth will prove its salvation.

Come, champion of Eorzea, face me! Your defeat shall serve as proof of my readiness to rule!

Anyroad, Gaius activated a cell of Garlean sleeper agents in Eorzea (The Ivy), and with their aid, he was able to spring up castrums in strategic locations without serious challenge. However, the Ivy was loyal only to herself; she stalled the Eorzean Alliance on behalf of the XIVth, then sold the intelligence on the XIVth back to a shadow faction of the Alliance to prolong the conflict and reap the profits. In the end, Varis not only cut the rogue legion loose to fend for themselves, but paid the Ivy to sabotage the Eorzean campaign. He fed Gaius to the Alliance while seizing the Emperor's throne for himself ... and we still don't know how the rightful crown prince conveniently died and let that happen.

I can see where all of that might have hit a nerve.

I'm still not convinced that the Griffin is Ilberd. He and the Braves are fugitives because of his actions, something that I doubt the Braves were happy about; they betrayed the Scions because promise of coins, not for some dreams to liberate Ala Mhigo. I imagine he'd have his hands full dealing with them, and it'd take even more effort to persuade them to join his cause, or get away from them.

Sweet, merciful Nymeia,we haven't all entirely forgotten about Not-Gaius! I don't think it fully registered with me until now that the Crystal Braves were still technically a unit when last seen spiraling out of Lolorito's control. I could make either case, really. You've already made a good case for the one, of course.

The other would be that, in Ilberd's last scene, he seems to be declaring a fresh start. He says he's spent twenty years in servitude and earned nothing, that the Alliance, Scions, and Braves - like everyone else - make pawns of all, while he would now be free. He only has Laurentius and Yuyuhase, and neither seem to have an issue with his "For Ala Mhigo!" speech; I suppose because they've burned all their bridges and have nowhere else to go.