Revelations from SHADOWBRINGERS

[SaitoHikari]

I just realized something, and I don't think I'm the first person to speculate this.

We never actually see what happens to Varis' body. No funeral procession or anything.

I'm not saying he's alive, at least not in a traditional sense. But consider that weird Ultima Weapon-like contraption. I expect Varis to be strapped to one of them, most likely the last boss of the Weapon trial series.

[RicaRuin]

I just realized something, and I don't think I'm the first person to speculate this.

We never actually see what happens to Varis' body. No funeral procession or anything.

I'm not saying he's alive, at least not in a traditional sense. But consider that weird Ultima Weapon-like contraption. I expect Varis to be strapped to one of them, most likely the last boss of the Weapon trial series.

I follow the principle of not thinking someone dead without seeing a corpse. While it is possible, I don't think the general public would accept the lack of a funeral. The Emperor is almost worshipped there as the parley suggested, and the Cutscene back in ARR suggested that Solus' funeral was kinda a great thing. If they buried an empty casket, however...

Fun thought excursion I have on Varis: Remember how the Legati often follow a theme from the Final Fantasy Main Title corresponding to the number of their legion? (e. g. Nael as Legatus of the VII. Legion -> Meteor, parallels between Zenos from XII. Legion and Vayne from FF XII...)
It was stated that before he became Emperor, he was Legatus of the II. Legion. Final Fantasy II had Emperor Mateus...

The Emperor who was killed only to come back.

[Enkidoh]

I follow the principle of not thinking someone dead without seeing a corpse. While it is possible, I don't think the general public would accept the lack of a funeral. The Emperor is almost worshipped there as the parley suggested, and the Cutscene back in ARR suggested that Solus' funeral was kinda a great thing. If they buried an empty casket, however...

Fun thought excursion I have on Varis: Remember how the Legati often follow a theme from the Final Fantasy Main Title corresponding to the number of their legion? (e. g. Nael as Legatus of the VII. Legion -> Meteor, parallels between Zenos from XII. Legion and Vayne from FF XII...)
It was stated that before he became Emperor, he was Legatus of the II. Legion. Final Fantasy II had Emperor Mateus...

The Emperor who was killed only to come back.

That was a really old theory from 1.0 that has since well and truly been disproven - not only did Zenos (the Legatus of the XIIth Legion) have virtually no connection to Vayne or the Archadian Empire from FFXII, or, anything from FFXII really, the Return to Ivalice raid introduced none other than Gabranth in identical armour to his FFXII version (or at least, a direct Garlean copy of him) as the Legatus for the IVth Legion. So, I think we can well and truly put a well deserved bullet behind the ear of this theory.

EDIT: Okay I guess Zenos did take control of Shinryu (essentually becoming a dragon of sorts) along the lines of how Vayne became the Undying, but even that's a big stretch.

Re: Solus. The original body Emet inhabited as 'Solus' really was buried/intered/cremated or whatever funeral tradition the Empire has, they had just cloned him beforehand, which is the body he was using throughout ShB (this was demonstrated towards the end of the SB patch story when Emet was first introduced - Varis shoots him dead, only for him to instantly show up in a brand new body identical to the one just killed. Gaius also confirms that the Empire has been using Allagan cloning technology at the facilities where Black Rose was being produced and that the cloning capsules were all filled with cloned bodies of "a young Emperor Solus".).

So it's pretty clear that the 'original' Solus is dead and buried, he just had himself cloned, and it is these cloned bodies which Emet has been using ever since (it should also be noted that it's only recently that Emet started 'body-surfing' unlike other Ascians, he outright mentioned that when an Ascian constantly switches bodies it actually drains their power, which incidentally explains why he was so much more powerful than Lahabrea had been despite both being 'unsundered' Ascians - Lahabrea was constantly jumping from host to host, probably for countless millenia, and that it affected him to his detriment (according to Emet anyway).

Emet however seemed to prefer to live in the one host from their birth (or at least from early in their life) through to their natural death and so was able to better preserve his power, which is why as Hades he was so powerful (and how our usual tricks when dealing with them... didn't seem to work). He had only now started moving into his clone bodies after his original 'Solus' body finally died from extreme old age, but still had all that power to burn accordingly, which he did at the Dying Gasp. But I digress...

[Eloah]

.Re: Solus. The original body Emet inhabited as 'Solus' really was buried/intered/cremated or whatever funeral tradition the Empire has, they had just cloned him beforehand, which is the body he was using throughout ShB (this was demonstrated towards the end of the SB patch story when Emet was first introduced - Varis shoots him dead, only for him to instantly show up in a brand new body identical to the one just killed. Gaius also confirms that the Empire has been using Allagan cloning technology at the facilities where Black Rose was being produced and that the cloning capsules were all filled with cloned bodies of "a young Emperor Solus".).

So it's pretty clear that the 'original' Solus is dead and buried, he just had himself cloned, and it is these cloned bodies which Emet has been using ever since (it should also be noted that it's only recently that Emet started 'body-surfing' unlike other Ascians, he outright mentioned that when an Ascian constantly switches bodies it actually drains their power, which incidentally explains why he was so much more powerful than Lahabrea had been despite both being 'unsundered' Ascians - Lahabrea was constantly jumping from host to host, probably for countless millenia, and that it affected him to his detriment (according to Emet anyway).

Emet however seemed to prefer to live in the one host from their birth (or at least from early in their life) through to their natural death and so was able to better preserve his power, which is why as Hades he was so powerful (and how our usual tricks when dealing with them... didn't seem to work). He had only now started moving into his clone bodies after his original 'Solus' body finally died from extreme old age, but still had all that power to burn accordingly, which he did at the Dying Gasp. But I digress...

This brings up a question that has bothered me for a while, what happened to the real Solus? He had a life before he was "possessed" at around 25 or so, so what became of him?

Did he die, similar to the humans possessed by parasites in the anime Parasyte. Was he alive and Emet-Selch was a "voice" in his head. Did he become like a vegetable, able to experience things but not able to interact because Emet-Selch was the dominant force controlling his body. Imagine being alive and unable to interact with the world, but by the time you were "free" you died.

I mean when Lahabrea possessed Thancred, Thancred didn't "die" so why would Solus? And Emet-Selch kept referring to Solus's body as a seperate entity. Why do that if the body was "yours"? So many unanswered questions.

[Alleo]

I mean when Lahabrea possessed Thancred, Thancred didn't "die" so why would Solus? And Emet-Selch kept referring to Solus's body as a seperate entity. Why do that if the body was "yours"? So many unanswered questions.

It is an interesting question. Thancred was not that long under his control and he had that crystal around his neck. Did Solus have that too? Or was he more like what Minfilia did to a lot of the other oracles, taking over their body completely when they gave up (thus either killing the soul or absorbing it, just like Ryne did with her at the end).

Its also horrible when one remembers that nobody had a clue that he was not Solus anymore...someone sleeping with him thinking its another man while its Emet using the body. The children thinking of him as their father while its just a body being used by someone that really does not care. (Other than that short feeling of hope) Family believing it to be their member while its just a imposter.

[Eloah]

It is an interesting question. Thancred was not that long under his control and he had that crystal around his neck. Did Solus have that too? Or was he more like what Minfilia did to a lot of the other oracles, taking over their body completely when they gave up (thus either killing the soul or absorbing it, just like Ryne did with her at the end).

Its also horrible when one remembers that nobody had a clue that he was not Solus anymore...someone sleeping with him thinking its another man while its Emet using the body. The children thinking of him as their father while its just a body being used by someone that really does not care. (Other than that short feeling of hope) Family believing it to be their member while its just a imposter.

The Tales from the Shadows gives us a small glimpse into his time as Solus from a slightly different perspective. It seems like Varis had some reservations about him prior to the info we know, from when Solus(Emet-Selch) was first Introduced. It seems that Varis father was considered a "giant" among Garleans. And in contrast, Varis reminded him of the pale reflections the world became. But Zenos seemed to give him "hope" for some reason.

Also going by the ages given, Solus was 88, Varis 46, and Zenos 26, meaning Varis was 20 when he had Zenos; the Tale supports this as he was only "well shy" of his twentieth namesday. Minusing Varis's age from Solus we get 42, which would mean his Son should've been 20-22 at that moment, meaning Solus's body was maybe 20-22 himself, when his son was born. It seems that Emet-Selch possessed him after Solus already sired a child. But the way he describes Zenos and the death of his "son" seems to indicate a "momentary lapse" of his ideals; almost like he sired the kid himself. Those are even his exact words, kinda, in the Tale. It seems like he almost gave way to accepting this new reality, but Varis seemed to remind him often of what he was fighting for.

[Alleo]

The Tales from the Shadows gives us a small glimpse into his time as Solus from a slightly different perspective. It seems like Varis had some reservations about him prior to the info we know, from when Solus(Emet-Selch) was first Introduced. It seems that Varis father was considered a "giant" among Garleans. And in contrast, Varis reminded him of the pale reflections the world became. But Zenos seemed to give him "hope" for some reason.

Was it Zenos that gave him hope? Maybe I remember it not right but I thought that flicker of hope came from the birth of his son (the one that died earlier thanks to illness) and not Zenos? Also seemingly the first born was more like an Ascian so I think that it was Emet in Solus body who sired him.

[Erendis]

Re: Solus. The original body Emet inhabited as 'Solus' really was buried/intered/cremated or whatever funeral tradition the Empire has, they had just cloned him beforehand, which is the body he was using throughout ShB

Ascians can't travel shards with bodies, so Emet-Selch was not using a clone on the First.

[Enkidoh]

Ascians can't travel shards with bodies, so Emet-Selch was not using a clone on the First.

Oh you are correct, but Emet was still using Solus's form on the First, Garlean third-eye and all (it's what sets Urianger's alarm bells ringing when he first appeared to them in the Crystarium, Urianger immediately recognized him as a 'young Solus' and even stated it, that "his visage can be found in any textbook of Garlean history", but that "by all accounts, his youthful vigor should have long since been spent" (paraphrased)).

Emet also outright said that Ascians (or at least himself) can actually change a host's body to whatever form they wish, which is clearly what he did on the First, a horrifying thought, knowing some innocent was possesed by an entity they would not have understood, that then proceeded to change their very physical appearence against their will - I just hope the unfortunate host was not conscious when he did so, that his possessing a host would effectively 'kill' the original person in mind and soul... but something tells me that would not be the case.