Interesting Detail About Grani

[MediocreIndigo]

Spoilers for Shadowbringers and Endwalker below

I think one of the most interesting mounts in the game to me is Grani, which comes with the Collector's Edition of Shadowbringers. Looking at its appearance, it's a pretty cool-looking creature. It shows up on the cover artwork for Shadowbringers Collector's Edition which I think is neat. It takes the appearance of a skeletal horse with ornate barding and a large horn protruding out of its head. Its name is a reference to a horse from Norse mythology that was said to be the steed of the hero Sigurd.

What I find really intriguing about Grani is the small bit of in-game lore surrounding it and its implications. Grani doesn't play much of a role in the game's story and might initially seem to some to be an ordinary, albeit cool-looking, mount; however, when you actually look into the information the game gives on it, things become a lot more interesting.

Grani's mount description is "Possessed of a strength of both mind and body that is unmatched in the First, as a mount, Grani has no peer on land nor in the heavens. It is said, however, the noble creature will only accept a rider who has pledged to restore shadow to a land bereft of night." Pretty standard description, right? When taking into account the only time Grani actually appears in the game's story, this is when things become deeper than they initially seem.

During a scene in Endwalker taking place in Elpis, Emet-Selch can be seen riding Grani. Not only does this reveal that Grani existed prior to the Sundering, it also implies that Grani was originally Emet-Selch's familiar; but if Emet-Selch is Grani's master, then why is it that in the current era, it will only accept a rider dedicated to restoring night to the First? Emet-Selch's motive involves making sure the First has an imbalance of Light so that another Rejoining can occur.

I think that the natural implication here is that Grani ended up leaving Emet-Selch. The reason for which this might be is unknown, but judging from the fact that it will only accept a rider who actively works against Emet-Selch's plans, maybe it took some kind of moral objection to what he was doing? Is that even possible? I'm not totally sure, I just thought it was a neat possibility to think about. What does everyone else think?

[KageTokage]

With how prone XIV is to reusing models without attaching any context to it I feel disinclined to assume anything unless it's explicitly stated or hinted at in-game.

[Cleretic]

With how prone XIV is to reusing models without attaching any context to it I feel disinclined to assume anything unless it's explicitly stated or hinted at in-game.

In a lot of cases I'd agree (I do love the occasional bouts of reused-skeleton-spotting), but this one's weirdly specific. They very deliberately used Grani over any other mount in the game, the mount that was explicitly tied to 'his' expansion. And it's not even that it really fits him all that closely as far as visuals go in that cutscene; it's significantly more ornate and colorful than he is, it would've fit him better to have something like the megalotragus or black pegasus. I don't know exactly why they picked Grani, but I bet there was an actual reason.

What I'd want to see to really start figuring that out, though, is a more direct translation of the Japanese description. Not that I think the English translation is meaningless or anything, but it's been prone to getting a bit wild with mount and minion descriptions before, albeit mostly for jokes, so if you really want to build up Grani as important it'd be good to see what the original text was saying to be a bit more certain.

[Absimiliard]

I think that the natural implication here is that Grani ended up leaving Emet-Selch. The reason for which this might be is unknown, but judging from the fact that it will only accept a rider who actively works against Emet-Selch's plans, maybe it took some kind of moral objection to what he was doing? Is that even possible? I'm not totally sure, I just thought it was a neat possibility to think about. What does everyone else think?

I'm disinclined to believe it's anything more than a reused asset until evidence to the contrary emerges. As the previous poster said, the developers have a habit of reusing models without any explanation whatsoever. Though, I suppose the use of Grani here could also very easily have been with purpose. Who knows?

But if we shelve that for a moment, were I to take Grani at face value, I would guess maybe it's less to do with a moral objection and more to do with following Emet-Selch's heart over his actions? He took no pleasure in the things he did. One could even go so far as to say his modern counterpart was a far cry from who he'd been when the WoL met him in Elpis. This being the case, could not a familiar (assuming of course it was one of the all-too-rare intelligent familiars) remain loyal to the person its master used to be? After all, we saw quite plainly in Elpis how strongly Hades reacted to his future self's activities.

Could also simply be that Emet-Selch's mount was just one of many. After all, creations deemed safe would be released into Etheirys to survive on their own. Given how many modern monsters clearly found their start in the time of the Ancients, it's not exactly a long leap of logic to figure Grani is simply a derivative therefrom

Oh, as a quick note: The name Grani has its origins in Norse mythology. It was the steed of the hero Sigurd, obtained through Odin's guidance. Grani is generally considered to be a descendant of Sleipnir. Not to imply there's any kind of in-game connection between Grani and Sleipnir, of course. In any case, SE has a tendency to just throw names such as these around largely randomly. Once in a while, however, they'll do so with purpose.

[MediocreIndigo]

With how prone XIV is to reusing models without attaching any context to it I feel disinclined to assume anything unless it's explicitly stated or hinted at in-game.

That's definitely possible. I just thought that what I came up with was a fun little theory.

[MediocreIndigo]

Could also simply be that Emet-Selch's mount was just one of many. After all, creations deemed safe would be released into Etheirys to survive on their own. Given how many modern monsters clearly found their start in the time of the Ancients, it's not exactly a long leap of logic to figure Grani is simply a derivative therefrom

This could potentially be the case, but seeing as how Emet-Selch can use Grani to fly without transforming while Hythlodaeus and Hermes can't, I assumed that Grani was a familiar rather than a regular creation. From what I can tell, regular creations are akin to wild animals and are allowed to roam freely after approval, while familiars are more akin to pets in that they "belong" to a specific person.

[Iscah]

It could just be as simple as as "what mount should Emet use? How about the dark and scary-looking mount from the Shadowbringers bonuses to give it more significance, since it never actually appears in the game? Cool, that works."

[SentioftheHoukai]

In a lot of cases I'd agree (I do love the occasional bouts of reused-skeleton-spotting), but this one's weirdly specific. They very deliberately used Grani over any other mount in the game, the mount that was explicitly tied to 'his' expansion. And it's not even that it really fits him all that closely as far as visuals go in that cutscene; it's significantly more ornate and colorful than he is, it would've fit him better to have something like the megalotragus or black pegasus. I don't know exactly why they picked Grani, but I bet there was an actual reason.

What I'd want to see to really start figuring that out, though, is a more direct translation of the Japanese description. Not that I think the English translation is meaningless or anything, but it's been prone to getting a bit wild with mount and minion descriptions before, albeit mostly for jokes, so if you really want to build up Grani as important it'd be good to see what the original text was saying to be a bit more certain.

Funny, I recall Emet-Selch being significantly colorful in his Hades forme (a.k.a. his true self according to the Hermes transformation dialogue/explanation we bore witness to in Elpis) so I'd argue Grani fits his chosen color palette perfectly. A minor nitpick, to be sure but I personally felt it bore stating.

[MediocreIndigo]

You're probably right, I just think the lore implications that come with taking it at face value are interesting.

[Veloran]

I think that the natural implication here is that

Emet-Selch wanted WoL to win and restore the night, which is why Endwalker paired him with Grani to reinforce that idea.