"Only rarely do you respond in kind" -Gaius van Baelsar

[Inflorescence]

In the cutscene before the Praetorium fight against Gaius on the elevator, he says,

In Eorzea, the beast tribes often summon gods to fight in their stead--though your comrades only rarely respond in kind. Which is strange, is it not?

What's he referring to here? Regarding where I am in the story, we're currently moving the Scions to Mor Dhona, so if it's later on in the story, just tell me it is so I don't get spoiled, haha.

[Peptaru]

He was just saying that beastmen turn to their gods to fight on their behalf. But the player races generally don't try to get their gods to battle for them.

[Lusavari]

Only rarely does your comrades only rarely respond in kind: The young Ala Migans who tried to summon Rhalgar the Destoyer.

[Enkidoh]

Given the whole context of that speech though, it was obvious Gaius was referring to the Twelve - trying to mock the player character's beliefs by showing no distinction between the Twelve and the Primals. Like the Primals, he considers the Twelve to be 'false gods', and sees no distinction between them (hence the term 'eikon', which in 1.0 was stated as being a "derogatory term used by the Garleans to symbolize their belief that the Primals are not real gods, but mere beasts the misguided tribes mistakenly worship").

So yeah, it's just a "everything you know is a lie and I'm going to wave it in your face to show my smug superiority towards you and the rest of Eorzea" attitude. Of course, it backfires on him, horribly.

[Naria]

Also during the End of an Era/ARR opening cs we did in fact attempt to summon at least a part of the Twelve's power to contain Bahamut. That was what "Living on a Prayer" (name?) the last main storyline quest in 1.0 was about.

[Andaeron]

I think the implication is, "Which is strange, is it not, as you are but beasts yourselves." 'Cause he's a jerk.

[Lusavari]

In the end, it's referring to Louisiox trying to bind Bahamut and failing. He's just saying that despite having a way to fight back against the primal on equal grounds, the leaders of Eorzea are too scared to make use of their power. That's why he repeatedly says you're fit to be a ruler; you have power and are unafraid to use it.

[Inflorescence]

Sorry, I definitely should have specified more clearly; I was asking about how he says, "..only rarely do you respond in kind," like we tried to summon the Twelve before, like the aforementioned Living on a Prayer and Little Ala Mhigans. Are there any other times that summoning the Twelve has been attempted?

Also, now that I'm reading about Living on a Prayer, it seems like it was more just a prayer for strength? And Gaius was specifically speaking about "summoning to fight in their stead," which is a little different. I don't know, though; I never played 1.0.

[Enkidoh]

As far as I'm aware, that has never actually happened in 1.0, other than Louisoix's attempt at the Battle of Carteneau (the 'Living on a Prayer' quest was actually preparing for the summoning that ended up happening at Carteneau - it was Louisoix's 'Plan B' basically). In any event, it definitely doesn't endear them in Gaius's eyes either way even if they had been summoned before, it would have only confirmed his belief that the Twelve are the same as the Primals - he regards both as frauds.

Incidentally, the whole quote by Gaius in that scene was blatantly contradictory. He goes from mocking the Twelve by regarding them the same as the Primals, yet then mocks them for not being summoned to help those in need, unlike the Primals, then he says they will appear if they were fed aether and crystals like the Primals are. Either way, Gaius is a pragmatic atheist convinced that metaphysical beings are all the same, regardless whether they're a god or something less. This is the whole quote by the way:

“In Eorzea, the beast tribes often summon gods to fight in their stead - though your comrades only rarely respond in kind. Strange is it not? Are the “Twelve” otherwise engaged? I was given to understand they were your protectors. If you truly believe them to be your guardians, why do you not repeat the same trick that served you so well at Carteneau, and call them down? They will answer-so long as you lavish them with crystals and gorge them on aether! Your gods are no different from those of the beasts - eikons, every one! Accept but this, and you will see how Eorzea’s faith is bleeding the land dry.”

[Naria]

Its been a while since I've looked over "Living on a Prayer"--not since I did the quest actually, but the general impression I have is that we were trying a partial summoning--not a full manifestation like the primals we fight. I think the Archons thought summoning all of the twelve at once would be far too dangerous even as desperate as we were at Carteneau. Again, I haven't looked over the quests since I did them so I could be wrong. The impression is mainly from the fact that what was manifesting at Carteneau wasn't twelve figures but twelve signs, that then started to reform Dalamund around Bahamut. We are not even sure that the twelve are actually primals, and not some remnant technology/magic or corrupted legend from and earlier era--are they connected to the Allagan? The Dalamund summoning makes that seem possible and there are some theories about this on the boards.

2.1 spoiler below:

Of course as the Good King shows us, get enough crystals and faith together and attempt a summoning and something will show up.

That's not even bringing up the rumors in 1.0 that the Archons (Thancred, Yda, Papalymo, Y'shtola, Uriangier and Louisoix) are all in fact avatars of the twelve. . . which I just did.