Primals Unquestionably Bad

[Anonymoose]

My guess if that if one of the 12 was summoned the same way as the mog king (ascian method) then the same can happen.

Perhaps the true reason Louisoix used our prayers to conjure only their strength...

This theory of how primals work has really picked up steam around here, but even if I did play a role in it, I'm not ready to accept it whole-heartedly. All of the early promotion for FFXIV focused on the embrace of the Twelve on Eorzea, and SE doesn't usually lie so hard so fast. Even in FFXI, the religious mythology of those who defiled the heavens and had their homes cast into the sea as an act of divine retribution ended up being pretty damn close.

Of course, we haven't heard much from before the time of the Allag and most of the lore of the wandering races has them showing up long after their fall. The lore says that Eorzea belonged only to the Twelve when the wandering races arrived and that they protected us out of appreciation of our resilience... and this is where I see some possibility. Think about it - if the land belonged only to the Twelve when we showed up, but the Allag ran the show before that... maybe Acheron wasn't the only giant, augmented Allag guardian that survived the Fourth Umbral. If other Allag guardians were the original basis for the legends of the Twelve, then we wouldn't be wiping the floor with SE's mythology and we'd have support for the theory of summoning that we're building, which would be comforting... but right now we don't have much to go on, and nowhere near enough for me to make that claim.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Actually, I'm more intrigued about the cosmology of the Primals and the Twelve rather than their respective moralities. It seems to me that it's implied that the Twelve can be summoned in more or less the same fashion as the Primals, and that leads me to wonder if the Twelve aren't themselves entities of materialised aether, much like the Primals.

Are they "gods" in the world-creating sense, or "gods" in the sense of being extremely powerful beings? By this, I'm referring to the very different way the Japanese think of "gods", in contrast to the Judeo-Christian West. What makes the Twelve different from the Primals? In terms of power, it seems to me that the Twelve are apparently on the same level of elder Primals like Bahamut.

And if we were to continue the discussion on morality, I would highlight the strong clues that Rhalgr of the Twelve doesn't seem like a particularly benevolent entity. In fact, it seems that Ala Mhigo, whose citizens worshipped the Destroyer, was once very much a belligerent power in Eorzea, and its last ruler was apparently a cruel tyrant brought down by revolution.

So, if nothing else, it suggests that the Twelve aren't necessarily "good" powers in the strict sense. I, for one, would suspect the benevolence of Halone as well, given the way the zealous worship of the Fury has warped the politics of Ishgard.

I haven't completed the main story yet, so perhaps there will be answers by the end, but going by some of the discussion here, I reckon that the bigger questions about natural philosophy haven't quite been answered. Am I right?

[jomoru]

Perhaps the true reason Louisoix used our prayers to conjure only their strength...

This theory of how primals work has really picked up steam around here, but even if I did play a role in it, I'm not ready to accept it whole-heartedly. All of the early promotion for FFXIV focused on the embrace of the Twelve on Eorzea, and SE doesn't usually lie so hard so fast. Even in FFXI, the religious mythology of those who defiled the heavens and had their homes cast into the sea as an act of divine retribution ended up being pretty damn close..

Its not so much that people believe the 12 are innately evil just that the Ascians summons are innately corruptive. Perhaps there is a second tier goal the corruption of these entities by the summons, poison Ifrit by repeatly summoning him until he is something.. darker do so for all the primals and the mother crystal becomes the dark crystal.