Quote Originally Posted by Absimiliard View Post
Alexander was contained almost immediately upon being summoned, and Ysayle never actually interacted with anyone she could temper while in her primal form. Truth told we don't even know how her tempering would've worked since she was an actual person transformed into the likeness of a primal through a similar process to summoning.
Agreed on this; the situations around Alexander and Shiva were unique. Shiva's pretty straightforward: primals temper those that summon them, Ysayle was the sole individual summoning Shiva, and Ysayle was immune to tempering.

Alexander's a bit more wonky; his "summoning ritual" was unusual in that he was summoned into an existing structure, rather than as a completely independent being. It's also entirely possible that the goblins responsible for the Summoning WERE tempered. Our perspective on it all makes it difficult to tell whether they are or not, particularly since Alexander had a big plan going on, and the behavior of the goblins may have been a part of it.

Certainly it's the case that just being around a Primal isn't enough to become tempered. The primal can do it to you anytime it wants, but it doesn't just happen. The tempering that occurs due to the summoning process, though, seems to be involuntary. Additionally, the Sahagin quests show that it's possible to temper individuals without the Primal in question even being present - Leviathan's not around, but the Sahagin are STILL "Drowning" their prisoners to make them Leviathan's thralls.

The involuntary tempering might have been something the Convocation built in on purpose, if one of Zodiark's purposes was to prevent uncontrolled Creation from occurring by directly taking control of individuals capable of it. By tempering themselves as part of the process, it was a gesture of good faith. "We know we're asking a lot, in suggesting that you allow yourselves to be enslaved to the Will of Zodiark. To show our sincerity that this is a necessary step, we will volunteer ourselves first!"

It should also be noted that the rejoining itself will - at least according to the Ascians - have the effect of making their sundered people not inside Zodiark whole again.
Even if they are whole, though, there's no guarantee that they will be their original selves, again. Presumably, there were many Ancient souls that got another piece during the Rejoining that occurred during the Bahamut calamity, but I don't think anyone suddenly started regaining lost Ancient memories, or anything. If the final Rejoining occurred, I think you'd have a lot of whole Ancient souls still inhabiting Rogadyn or Hyur or Sahagin bodies, with none of their Ancient memories restored. Likely Zodiark's intervention will be needed to actually transform these people into the same people they once were.

Loony as he might have been, this could have been what Varis was banking on: Himself, with a whole Ancient soul, now ready to stand toe-to-toe with the Ascians. And how does he know he's one of the few blessed with an Ancient's shattered soul? Plain ol' Garlean arrogance - OF COURSE he's one of the chosen. It would be absurd to assume otherwise!