Goddess Sophia Lore posted.

[Nalien]

Sophia is Lightning.

She shows off three elements in the trailer, IMO. Obviously there is a lightning based attack, but when she drops something onto the scales to shift the battlefield, a green flame appears, then a red one. Wind and fire, naturally... Not exactly conclusive evidence, but meh...

I'm having a hard time remembering Sephirot... Did he have any ice based attacks? I want him to be primarily Earth and Water, and... Well... Look at the elemental wheel;

Earth to water, below that you have ice... Wind to fire, above that you have lightning... Probably nothing, and regardless that leaves a huge question mark on where Zurvan fits into that...

If we're tying them to Astrologian cards though... I wouldn't place Zurvan on the Spire, given he wields one, I'd go with the Spear instead... That's leave us with the Ewer, Arrow, and Spire... Err... Asura, Pandemona, Ixion? I strongly doubt we'd get another Triad though... The Triad itself is a very specific Final Fantasy VI reference...

[WhiteArchmage]

Sephi used Earth and Wind, there was a theory that he also used Water (since the growing orbs are blue and the arena ends up surrounded in water), which fanned a theory that Sephi and Zurvan would use each 3 elements while Sophia used Light and Darkness (unaspected, thanks to game mechanics but whatever) now that Sohpia will be out in no time that theory seems to be shot. We'll know when we know, I guess...

I also don't believe we'll get another triad since it's very much a FFVI reference. Maybe each member of the triad will use 2 elements, maybe they'll surprise us.

[Balipu]

My head-canon on the whole Eikon/Primal thing is that an Eikon is an ancient being of monstrous aetheric power, that has been powered to even greater strength through years of worship; seen as a God/Goddess in the eyes of their believers..

Whereas a primal is a weaker being, a bastardization of the original thing, a version very different that is viewed in that way because of their followers.

Sooo Eikons are the originals who weren't summoned with aether but actually existed? That's an interesting idea. And nothing actually contradicts this. They might need prayer to stay alive, but offical only claims that Sephiroth was created from a tree with prayer. No mention of aether or crystals. Also, no summoning. It sounds like they prayed to the tree that was still there, to come alive. And we have absolutely no idea where Zantetsuken came from. The Odin pet says it belonged to an Au Ra, but even that is just a theory.

I'm pretty sure I overlooked something that Anonymoose would point out if he weren't busy with the other Sophia Thread. I love consuming lore in whatever fictional universe I come across but in terms of Eorzean lore I'm like a piece of dirt compared to him. Granted he's been doing this since Legacy if I know correctly, but still. He's like a sentient lorebook.

[Anonymoose]

I'm pretty sure I overlooked something that Anonymoose would point out if he weren't busy with the other Sophia Thread.

I have a philosophy that it's tempting fate to get too confident in shooting down theories about a vague and open issue that is currently mid-way through revelation. Knowing too well "how it is" makes you look bad when "how it really is" arrives, lol. (I've been burned before.)

As for the eikons...

Right now, my headcanon is simply playing it safe - assuming the differences are small and mostly focused on distancing The Primals (bold, caps), the monstrous elemental demigods of the beast tribes, the fury of the Land given form, the mysterious antagonists of Version 1.0 and "the greatest threat to our world" from other entities that might not be elemental, might not be related to primordial creation myths, etc. The Warring Gods (toshin) might be different from the Barbarian Gods (banshin) in a purely philosophical way, with that manifesting in reality because mind-state and perception affect the outcome of a summoning ritual.

But it could be anything. Speculate, speculate, speculate. Debate polishes off the rough edges and hones in on Truth.

I love consuming lore in whatever fictional universe I come across but in terms of Eorzean lore I'm like a piece of dirt compared to him. Granted he's been doing this since Legacy if I know correctly, but still. He's like a sentient lorebook.

The reply I have to this is one line ... but it requires a novella of backstory to make any sense, lol. Apologies in advance.

When the forums first launched in Mar. '11, Version 1 had been very broken for over half a year, and without too much communication until the team-shift in Dec. '10. We all rushed in here as disappointed individual gamers to yell at each other about why it was actually bad and what it really needed. That died down, a lot of people quit, the rest of us started treating each other better and more like a community. (Re-launch put a bit of a crimp in that; General Discussion might not ever fully recover, lol.)

When I first started talking lore (because it was one of the things that had obvious potential and could be enjoyed even in the bad state of the game), I was content to think of it as setting up a campfire and BSing with whomever showed up. When Fernehalwes joined in, we all rushed into his campsite (Localization Bug Reports) and squatted there until they developed this promised land.

If anybody's better or worse than anyone else in the campfire loremongers, it's based on attitude and motivation alone; especially nobody's a spec of dirt because they haven't collected / memorized every tome in Eorzea. I'm out to build up a community, not myself.

Some people just haven't been sitting at the campfire as long.

[AstralKaos]

snip for item limit

I have a hard time putting this idea into words, but that's pretty much the idea, yes.

Though as I said, maybe not all Eikons are as such, though somewhat of the same concept - I will add that, if a primal is a cycle of summoning over and over, then the Eikon is something that is original and never left the realm (killed, etc) or has been summoned/created once and has retained that form since then. Whether it is a thing of flesh, a tree coming to life, a cultivated thing or an eldritch being, the concept remains the same.

And yeah, Anonymoose is awesome, the lore section wouldn't be the same without his well-thought out theories and great work.

[Balipu]

snip

Ahhh speak of the devil. Well I joined the game during the first Anniversary event between 2.3 and 2.4 (and really regret having nothing but youtube for the 1.0 story. The original Limsa opening and the 1.0 Hildibrand storyline really beats what we have now), so a lot of wood burned at the campfire. But I love stories. I don't care if I hear it, read it, tell it, play it, write it or watch it. And since the official lorebook won't come out till a month from now, I consider you the best source of lore I missed or didn't understand. I know you don't want to build yourself up, but the part of the community that's interested in lore look up to you. And with good reason.

[Toranja]

The elements are not in reference to their attacks.

Each card is connected to a heavenly gate. Seeing an element attached to a gate isn't a leap - they are on the cards.

You have:
Balance (fire)
Bole (earth)
Arrow (wind)
Spear (ice)
Ewer (water)
Spire (lightning)

And from the Gubal Library, we know that:
Chapter II─The Three Conquests, Boundless and Unwavering. Earth grounds Lightning. Water erodes Earth. Lightning boils Water.
Chapter III─The Three Submissions, Timeless and Unending. Fire is extinguished by Wind. Ice is melted by Fire. Wind is obstructed by Ice.

And... Nevermind, I fooked up.

[Theodric]

So, is it just me or does it look like she has a 'Third Eye'? It could be decorative, of course, but aside from the dark hue of her skin there's the stark white hair (another Garlean trait) as well as the name, 'Sophia' which matches the Garlean naming conventions.

It could be - and likely is - nothing of note but it's a curiosity I couldn't help but observe.

[Griffey]

So, is it just me or does it look like she has a 'Third Eye'? It could be decorative, of course, but aside from the dark hue of her skin there's the stark white hair (another Garlean trait) as well as the name, 'Sophia' which matches the Garlean naming conventions.

It could be - and likely is - nothing of note but it's a curiosity I couldn't help but observe.

It looks like part of her tiara to me. But you are right about the name, it says on he lodestone that her worshippers just knew her as the Goddess, but now she is called Sophia, implying the Allagans gave her that name.

[ZhaneX]

So, is it just me or does it look like she has a 'Third Eye'? It could be decorative, of course, but aside from the dark hue of her skin there's the stark white hair (another Garlean trait) as well as the name, 'Sophia' which matches the Garlean naming conventions.

It could be - and likely is - nothing of note but it's a curiosity I couldn't help but observe.

Yeah, you're right, it certainly does.
Now wouldn't that be something. If the ancient ancestors of the Garleans were complicit in the worship and summoning of an Eikon.
I want it to be true, just because I think Regula's reaction upon learning such a fact would be hilarious.