Excalibur/Aegis [Spoilers Included]

[Phafi]

Quest Text

Ages past, a wise and just king reigned over all Ilsabard. A blade such as this graced his scabbard in times of peace, and brought terror to his foes in times of strife! And his shield? A twin to the one you hold, unwavering, unyielding, unbreaking.

So, we know that Ilsabard is home to the capital city of the Garlean Empire, Garlemald. We also know that Solus Zos Galvus was born there and became the ruler of Garlemald before naming himself emperor (such as a king.) Can we assume that referring to him as a just king for justifying his own actions or those of the Garlean people, thus possibly making Excalibur and Aegis the personal weapons of Solus Zos Galvus? Or should we be learning more about the past of Ilsabard to find kings before Galvus who Excalibur and Aegis would have belonged to?

[lololink]

Surely a King named Arthur!
There are no chances it's solus, zodiac heroes are too old imo.

[Enkidoh]

Hard to say, although I doubt very much it was in fact Solus's own blade that the story is referring to. 'Ages past' naturally evokes a far earlier time period than the 80 or so years that the Garlean Empire dates from.

However, if you take the common belief that Garlemald is loosely based on ancient Rome, then it starts to make sense. Historically, before Rome became an empire, it was a republic controlled by a Senate, just like Garlemald was before Solus consolidated his power and set himself up as it's autocratic Emperor. More interesting though, is the fact that the Roman Republic actually succeeded an even earlier Roman monarchy - the legendary 'seven kings of Rome'.

Perhaps, Garlemald's origins were far earlier than we first believed, and dated back to a time when it was a kingdom that gained control of Islabard, only to be overthrown and lose that power in the changeover to a Republic. Or else it might be that I'm just looking too far into it. But it's a nice theory either way.

[Kaiser-Ace]

Well, from what I've gathered, I'm guessing the Zodiac Braves were heros of the early Sixth Astral Era. Because they've been gone long enough to pass into the realm of legends while still being recent enough to be remember well by history and the common person alike. So considering the 6th astral era started over 1600 years before 2.0 (And Garlemauld didn't become the Empire it is untill around 50 years before the 7th Umbral Era) I'd say they date much earlyer than the 17th century of the 6th astral era. So I highly doubt even The Republic of Garlemauld was even a thought yet when this warrior was the King of Ilsabard.

[Anonymoose]

If these are weapons of the Zodiac Braves, and the Zodiac Braves are the legends of the "Warriors of Light" of a bygone era as told by those on Thavnair, I'd say it's safe to assume this was at least 1,577 years ago. At the very least, the Scholar weapon, Last Resort, is from that time, as it was wielded by the Nymian Golbas Rombas during the Sixth Umbral floods. By extension, if the other weapons were of the other eleven warriors at his side, they're all from the Sixth Umbral Era. Perhaps that's going too far, and there's weapons from every era - after all, the base relics were - but I haven't seen as much evidence for that as for "The Zodiac Braves" we've been getting books on as being one specific set of warriors (Sixth Umbral).

[Kaiser-Ace]

I think you're as close as we can get so far Anonymoose. After all the Legend sates all of them fought side by side so they'd have had to have been around the same era. And the Scholar's weapon moves my assumed date back even further because the Scholar was a Nymian. And I belive (As we've discused before) the nymians pre-date the Sixth Astral era. So the Zodiac Braves are likly aproching 1800 years old now if not surpassing it.

[ReplicaX]

And the Scholar's weapon moves my assumed date back even further because the Scholar was a Nymian. And I belive (As we've discused before) the nymians pre-date the Sixth Astral era. So the Zodiac Braves are likly aproching 1800 years old now if not surpassing it.

Could possibly be the Twelve Archons of Eld, but there is little info on them.

[Geist]

Perhaps that's going too far, and there's weapons from every era - after all, the base relics were - but I haven't seen as much evidence for that as for "The Zodiac Braves" we've been getting books on as being one specific set of warriors (Sixth Umbral).

I'm inclined to agree with you. They serve as archetypes for our relics, besides: it's quite telling that we have to go through similar trials to empower them as part of the whole quest, reenacting the process that led to the formation of the original legend (recreating/rebirthing the relic). The idea is safely stashed away (as a legend), while we materialize its potential -- just add crystals, in the form of raw soul power, materia etc.

That other Gilgamesh would have been amused, I guess... (insert random "Mongrels").