So, it's time again to launch a bunch of related questions into the Lore forum and see what comes back. This time, the topic is on Primals.

So, the Primals are supposed to be a manifestation of an entity that exists within the aether. We also know that the Primals we've seen thus far require quite a bit of crystals to summon. Rather, attempts to summon them can be linked to shipments of crystals being stolen, so we know that it takes a *lot* of crystals just to do the initial summoning. And that was for Ifrit SM, which is by far the easiest of the Primals.

While the Primals are alive and summoned, they consume aether. Presumably, since there's always talk of aetheric imbalance, they primarily consume their own element. That is, Ifrit prefers fire, Garuda wind, and so on.

When the Primals are defeated, this aether is released back into the world, and the being returns to the aether (if they even started there. Silly moogles).

But here's where it starts to get fuzzy. My initial question was going to be "If a primal absorbs all of their element in the world, wouldn't they starve and return to the aether anyway?" Then I realized that the question had way too many assumptions and unknowns involved.

First: If the Primals are truly bent on consuming as much of their own element as they can, why do the arenas we fight them in still bear so much aetheric energy in those selfsame elements? Why is Ifrit surrounded by unabsorbed fire? Why is Garuda surrounded by a whirlwind? Why does Leviathan's mere presence not suck the aether from the seas?

Are they truly absorbing their own element, or are they converting the other elements into their own? This almost sounds silly, but remember, Garuda tried to steal the strength of Ifrit and Titan by defeating them, and there's nothing saying that if the Ultima Weapon hadn't intervened it wouldn't have worked. Clearly Garuda and the NPCs have reason to believe that she could have absorbed fire and earth and powered up her own wind.

And then, of course, you have Moggle Mog, who has no element. We know that he creates an aetheric disturbance like the others, but is it only in how concentrated aether in general becomes when he's summoned? After all, there seems to be no reason to believe that he's strengthening one element over the others. Same goes for Odin and probably Bahamut.

I'm assuming there's a limit to how quickly a Primal can absorb aether. In the amount of time it takes us to travel the world and find an item that will allow us passage into Garuda's domain, she doesn't really get very powerful, and she still inhabits a whirlwind. Instead, her big power upgrade comes from the Ixali summoning her again with even more crystals. Is the summoninig itself really that big a determinant of how powerful a Primal can become?

When the Primals attack with their elements, are they weakening themselves? Does that aether return to the environment? Can it then be re-absorbed by the Primal? Could a Primal --in theory-- exist in balance with the environment? Does the amount of aether required by a Primal depend on how powerful they are? Could they then weaken themselves to make supporting them easier?

When the Primals were sealed beneath Silvertear Lake (and Urth's Font and Dalamud and in Ultima Weapon), was that in itself the cause of an aether imbalance? They are, after all, at least allegedly beings of the aether. To have them cut off from the aether like that seems damaging. What about all the aether required to bind Bahamut and being absorbed even now within the coils (also, I've barely touched second coil, but am not averse to any spoilers)?

Would the summoning of Primals at places of over-aspected crystals differ signifiacantly from normal summoning? Would it be a way of rebalancing the crystals? Does the actual aspect of crystal matter at all when summoning Primals, or does it simply make it easier?

Speaking of Ultima Weapon, does he literally summon the Primals back out to use their attacks, or is that just a visual used for the convenience of the player? If it's literal, he must have caused aspect whiplash during the fight, not to mention how he could summon Garuda back out without her trying to destroy everything (or, heck, flee). Also (something of an opinion question, maybe), could Ultima Weapon have defeated the Ex Primals? How much worse would his fight have been then?

It's a lot of questions, and my research ability is limited at the moment (can't log in because SE sites hate Korean IP addresses, or something). At any rate, I hope this stirs some discussion. . .