Azem Explained (Final Fantasy XIV Lore) 

Is this a video on Azem, or an excuse to show off your A+ GNB glams?

What little we learn about Azem makes them sound like a trickster god that likes to help people instead of screwing them over, and I think that's pretty cool.

Azem is someone who will ask a lemonade stand "do you have any grapes?"

A small detail about the vulcano incident is that in labirinthos we see the exact same grapes that azem worked to save, the famous low poli grapes XD

I think one of the best parts of the character of Azem is that any player is free to interpret their own version of them and they’re not wrong for doing so. We just only have the barest framework of the character so that we can fill it in. Azem was adventurous, a good friend, and always did things their way. Maybe liked their grapes more than most. I will however say is that I do hope eventually the devs will see fit to reveal Azem’s official mask or their glyph. It’s something that bothers me that I don’t know.

Personally? I say we shouldn't learn anymore about Azem UNLESS we manage to rejoin with more fragments like Ardbert. After all it wasn't until we joined with Arbert that Emet-Selch and Elidibus were able to see a hint of Azem in wol and not until defeat that they accepted it. So it's fitting that we the players only see a hint of Azem as well, unless we gain more fragments of our former soul and with it more memories of the past.

I kind of pondered on the relationship between our character and Azem. I mean, we are a reincarnated piece of their sundered soul, but the concept alone was always interesting to me. The more I've thought about it, I look at it kind of like when someone suffers complete and permanent amnesia. Effectively Azem's soul being split amounts effectively to ego death. While our WoL and the other pieces may certainly still hold mannerisms and quirks reminiscent of Azem, they have manifested into fully self actualized people separate of the original persona. The person Azem was is gone, but the person they became carries on.

I would love to hear more stories about Azem. Hythlodeus and Hades’s stories about Azem and their adventures - but no more than that.

What I love about XIV is how it integrates us, the player, into the story and make us feel important. As far as knowing more about Azem, I would like to learn more about them through stories and accounts of their adventures. One thing I would love, however, is if we could take on the name of Azem in the future. I always found it silly when ppl call us "Warrior of Light" in conversations. By taking on the title, ppl could refer to us as "Azem", yet we could also retain our created names. Imagine a character meeting us for the first time, and the conversation can be like, "Did you say your name was [ insert name ]?! I'd never thought I'd meet Azem, the great adventurer, in the flesh!" And by taking on the name, characters can refer to us by name in voice acting as well. The writing team has done such an amazing job building this mythos for Azem over the years that every XIV player has accepted that we are a part of them. Owning that title for our own would help us tie us even more into relationships and stories in the future. Great video, and I'm looking forward to more like this one from you!

I think of the whole “shard of so and so’s” soul as reincarnation. So for me my WoL is Azem reincarnated. They have the same personality quirks. Being a wildcard, mischievous and too kind for their own good. Luckily the Dark Knight quests taught this incarnation self care! 😂

From the way I interpret the lyrics of "Flow", the song that Venat sings to her "spark", I think she told Azem of her time everything that transpired in Elpis. And just as Venat thought of time traveling as something exciting that she'd do, I can only guess that Azem felt the same way about being split into 14 shards, then reincarnate again and again across millenia, living countless and varied lives, all in the search of adventure and salvation of their world. I say this because at first I thought "Flow" was about the meeting of Venat as Hydaelyn with our character - but upon repeat reads, the lyrics paint a picture of a soul carried to her in the Aetherial sea, recounting its adventures, before being set adrift to be reborn anew: "Hush, love, close your eyes, and in sleep abide As sun's distant light, echoes down to dreams, below Know you will wake, on winds rise again For this journey's end is but one step forward to tomorrow" And so, I think if there was someone who fully believed Venat's tale, it was Azem. And just like her, Azem was prepared for a sacrifice unlike any other - the willing embrace of his fate as a sundered, incomplete person. In fact, what could be more exciting to a Traveler if not the ability to live out countless different lives fourteenfold, until, at last, he and Venat would reunite at their duty's end. This is also why Venat's compatriots express dismay that they could not recruit Azem, but she seems unperturbed about the fact. It is as it should be.

If one stops viewing Azem as a separate character, and instead entertains the possibility that everything we are told about Azem is simply the retelling of our, the player characters exploits, a lot of the things we hear about Azem start making a whole lot more sense. Every time Azem is brough up ingame I become increasingly convinced of the fact that we are, or rather WILL BE Azem. We already hold (depending on if you have done the Dark Knight questline and count that) 8 or 9 thirtheents of a whole Amaurotine soul. And while this part is speculation on my part, I believe that just as the Ascians plan was to tip the scales to merge all remaining shards back into one, Azems soul will eventualy reach critical mass and simply reconstitute in full. We are already timetraveling to the past, so my theory is that the Azem of the past knows future events not because he/she can see them, but because WE are Azem. Azem doesnt see the future, the Warrior of Light simply remembers their past. Perhaps the biggest clue and supporting evidence for this theory, besides Azems gender and appearance changing to match the PC, is the fact that "The grapes are quite delicious, so Im saving the island" is something that would neatly fit both thematicaly as well as mechanicaly as a selectable anwser to a quest in a later expansion. Also summoning a "Deffinitely Not A Primal Fight" Ifrita and then defeating it to solve a problem sounds awfuly familiar. One could almost argue that Ifrita were a "trial" of some kind, one that you would probably need 7 of your bestest adventuring buddies to defeat. If my theory is correct, at some point in a future expansion we regain and reconstitute the remaining shards of our soul into one because we need to get back to the past for "reasons" similar to why we now return to the past to deal with the Pandaemonium raids. Yoshi-P never needs to worry about Azem not matching everyones headcanon if Azem IS the future "past" version of the Warrior of Light. Ordinarily I would argue that introducing timetravel into any story is VERY risky and thats why they wouldnt do it, buuuuuut since that ship has sailed... As far as Im concerned Elpis and Pandaemonium are both proof of concept and player introduction/warmup into this exact concept and idea.

My understanding of why Azem didn’t sign onto summoning Hydaelyn was that Venat told them everything - and knowing the entire situation with how their soul would have to be split, Azem accepted that they couldn’t be spared from the Sundering without ruining the timeline convergence Venat was working so hard to maintain. They knew they had to get sundered so that the WoL could come into being and return to Elpis later on.

I'd be interested in a story that suggests that Azem did, indeed, meet with Venat before she did the sundering. And, together they worked out a plan. In Endwalker, Venat/Hydaelyn, admits to Y''shtola that the main purpose of the sundering was not to stop Zodiark. That was, in fact, secondary. The primary purpose was to dilute the aether of man such that they could interact with dynamis and have a fighting chance by learning to persevere. The problem being that it was a balancing act. The champion of Hydaelyn (WOL) had to be strong enough to fill the role, but not so strong as to negate the interaction with dynamis. This threshold was met following the seventh umbral calamity. With the addition of Ardbert to our soul (which I might add was somewhat orchestrated by 'Minfilia" (Word of the Mother)...we became 4/7th of what we had once been. Then, in Endwalker, we found out that Hydaelyn has the ability to separate out a soul of the dead before it returns to the Aetherial Sea. She did this with Emet-Selch (she tells you this in the Tower of Babil...where she says an ally waits for you....the watcher...and one other who might come into play (Emet-Selch). What I'm getting at is the confidante talking to Venat in the recording is stating that Azem didn't respond to him...and Venat says nothing. It could be deliberate and wished to keep their plans private for some reason. I find this theory intriguing because even though it takes place over thousands and thousands of years, the timing of their one chance at winning required intricate timing. And, the WOL had to take the lead as Hydaelyn's strength waned. An 8th Umbral calamity was just one too many. Seven was just right....and Minfilia just barely holding off the flood of light in a temporary fashion was the point in which the WOL surpassed Hydaelyn in effectiveness and the WOL became the lead. There is also the cool irony of Azem passing the torch to Azem once more.

I like that when Elidibus transforms the shape he has is the classic Warrior of Light armour that, in Elidibus' own memories is revealed as being something his idol, Azem, once wore. (shown from the back to hide gender and any features though) It isn't shown whether Azem wore that back when they were still an Ancient or if it was a shard of Azem who reincarnated as likely the first Warrior of Light. Elidibus admired Azem so much that his transformed shape is just him dressed as Azem. Although his version of the look was less bright. The colours were muted and faded likely because Elidibus was fading as a person, gradually losing his memories and personality. When we defeat him, all he had left was his purpose as the heart of Zodiark and his desire to be like Azem.

I feel like we have reached a perfect opportunity to learn more about who Azem was. Especially now that we've reached a point where our WoL is about to start adventuring again. To see what the universe has to offer and provide our aid where we can in lands unknown to us.

I eat up what little Azem shit we can get. I love it. The kind hearted traveler shit is my jam. I got wanderlust at heart, so I relate on like a personal level. I imagine plenty of enjoyers of the game do, as well, making it brilliant what they did when writing them. They knew exactly what they were tapping into.

Tenzen is heavily implied to be another of Azem’s reincarnations. A traveler who helped people, a trickster and wildcard who did things he thought were right. Suzaku is even having trouble telling us apart from him in her confused state - she might have sensed that the soul was the same.

Wasn't the final Azem's crystal created in secret by Emet Selch? I'm pretty sure that the shade of Hythlodaeus in Amaurot says that Azem's decision not to side with the convocation about Zodiark meant that they could never have a crystal bearing their memories. It's suggested in that scene that the summoning magic in the crystal is something that the final Azem could do as one of his/her specialities, and it was contained in the crystal by the person who made it, and that the person who made it had to do so in secret because the convocation would not allow "defectors" to be remembered and honoured. Also, Emet Selch admits to being the bearer of the crystal for a while towards the end of Endwalker, and as the crystal was made during the summoning of Zodiark and the first Final Days, there would have only been one person who carried it - the person who made it.

The concept of Azem still excites me to this day. Not gonna lie when they handed me the orange stone I was like how is this gonna help me lmao. I was so wrong when I reached the seat of sacrifice, clutching the stone hard close to you heart and they handed you the azem seat the goosebumps is real

I love the fact that Azem stop a Volcano Eruption just because he liked the grapes grown on the Isle

I would love to see more of Azem's past and character, as it ties directly to our persona's in FFXIV. But SE cannot play their whole hand. Poker game analogy, they should slightly lift their cards, to give their opponents a taste of what hand they hold, without fully exposing it. We need to know more about the original Azem, But need to be left with a sense of mystery to him/her as well.

I'd like to hear additional stories of Azem but I think meeting them or witnessing them in action would be jumping the shark.

Just wanted to point out that it never stated that Venat specifically asked Azem to join them with Hydaelyn's summoning. It's more likely that that's what her followers were told when they asked about Azem joining and that Venat never expected them to but couldn't tell the others why.

When I heard that cutscene about Azem rushing headlong into an erupting volcano I drew the connection instantly to the WoL being a sundered Azem because that does sound like something we would do because we did dive into Hells Lid a while back before that.

I want the WoL to directly meet Azem in the past. The universe shattering Paradox would be worth it IMO.

7:04 🤣 Yeah the GRAPES which grow on that island were indeed rather... REMARKABLE alright... such a peculiar *shape* too... 🤣🤣🤣

I think Emet's reaction to seeing us in Elpis also implies that other incarnations of Azem have been showing up repeatedly.

I'm disappointed that we only get the see the summoning from Venat's point of view as it's said in Anyder that Azem flatly refused her group's invitation to be a part of team blue. Now with EW telling us that Azem was the personal protege of Venat, it seems more so than ever that Azem had serious reasons for refusing his/her own mentor. And if Azem wasn't part of either group, what in blazes was Azem DOING during the final days?!

Not sure if this said in the comments here, but the pronouns and description of Azem are based on your character. So if you play a female character, female pronouns, and vice versa for males. And our character is said to be a familiar of Azem. Also, Emet Selch says that we bare a resemblance to Azem.

Please allow Azem remain a mystery thru/into the FFXIV expansions. Its good for game play for the players to interpret how they view Azem & the lore. I imagine the grapes, some part of them might have been "champagne grapes."

Knowing what we know about Azem, he was probably too busy fighting Blasphemies around the world while the rest of the Ancients debated without care of the lesser tribes that live in the star. On another topic I think Tenzen deserves a mention as another shard or Azem

I remember at the end of SHB all we knew was Emet being vague and that one scene before the trial. Learning more about Azem was such a fun plot thread throughout post-SHB. Good job writers!

Azem reminds me a lot of the Doctor. They both use an alias (Azem using the name of the Convocation seat which I believe was the actual name of the first holder of the seat), whereas Time Lords make up their own title. They are both sort of renegades among their races, that don't follow the rules.

I wouldn't mind if we take up the name of Azem again. Since we are back to being 'just' adventurers again, we are basically back to fulfilling the duties of Azem anyway, and the title Warrior of Light doesn't seem to have a purpose, or even a place, anymore, so perhaps we should call ourselves by our old title. Would be pretty cool, and would certainly sound better than 'adventurer'. 'Adventurer' can refer to anyone, Azem is just us.

I love that they went with the name Azem. My in game name since 1.0 has been Azphel so it was a pretty exciting reveal for me

I love the way the character is handled, even if the lack of information leaves me starving for more. Every new arc brings a new sense of anticipation for another piece of the story, another facet of the person we once were and the life we once lived. At the same time giving the player the freedom to dictate the personality traits of the current incarnation lends the story a personal touch. We are this other person, this powerful influence on the world of a lost age, while at the same time we live our current life by our own choices unburdened by that past. In effect the exact opposite of the likes of Emmet Selch and Elidibus.

I think if we ever meet Azem, they will probably have the same model as our WoL. It will be cool if we actually got the chance to chat about each other’s adventures!

i know we won't but i would love to meet Azem someday ☀️

So much of Azem is tied up in what the player thinks Azem is. And YoshiP has always leaned on the importance our character has to us, the player. Meeting Azem would immediately destroy that 'customization' aspect. I'm glad that all we ever get to hear about them is second hand stories, tinted with a a slight flavoring of core aspects. It really puts it in the players hands to decide who and how Azem was.

I think this is one of your best vids, and a topic that I have been looking forward to learning more about. I appreciate that you dug into other resources to try to gain a better understanding of the lore. Nice work. Subbed.

honestly i like the idea of the warrior of light one day meeting azem either through time travel or us reuniting with our sharded selves and getting like a dream state message like azem left a message in our very souls

These 14 videos always light up my week. Keep doing what your doing my dude.

Since the Yoshi P said what Azem did during the original final days was up to me, my story is this: He learned from Venat that the WoL was a shard of his own soul as well as all the truths surrounding the Final Days and Venat's reason for the sundering. He agreed with her, but realized to have a shard of himself be the WoL, he couldn't be an ingredient of Hydaelyn. (I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that Hydaelyn was made in the same way as Zodiark, just less)

I want to see ALL the shards of azem rejoined, of course under the mind of your character

Very nice presentation. Thanks for enlightening me with the lodestone story stuff. Totally in agreeance with retaining the mystery of Azem.

This was an awesomely helpful video. By casually playing the game and watching cutscenes, it can be difficult to sort out/get a clear sense of the characters and their impact on the story. This made me understand and appreciate the Azem-aspect of the story on another level. Damn this game is amazing. Thank you! ❤

A weird part of me want to know just a little more about Azem but you're right, some things are better left a mystery.

what I like about Azem is that the little we know about them makes them sound like a typical mmo/trpg _player_ (rather than "character")- constantly on the move and driven by motives that the common might not even be able to even comprehend (from curiosity to the desire to gain EXP to OoC FOMO), to the point they don't bother trying

Since I found your channel one of the best parts of FFXIV is watching your videos ♥ thank you for your hard work! I'd love to know a little more about Azem, for me there's not enough history about Etherys and The Convocation!

I have my headcanon/crazy theory that WOL is just literally post-sundering Azem, who was "stored" somewhere by Venat or someone else for 13k+ years, until we are needed to close the time loop and fight Meteion. Azem lost their memories due to sundering and centuries of "cryo sleep". That would explain why everyone in Elpis say we are exact copy of Azem, even though reincarnation does not guarantee to keep the same gender and appearance, and Ardbert is so different from us, because his shard was reincarnated normally.

This video is so good, awesome work!

I still would like to see Azem directly. I needn't even know their words, as they can speak in the warrior's usual silent voice. I can fill the conversation between Saiya, my WoL, and the Azem of old on my own. I'd like to know more about them, because as you said, they are not me either. They have their own life, and I do feel can be given screentime respectfully. They even can share my Wol's face if necessary.

Knowing a mythic charactet via their incarnations and refractions is wayy more interesting than being presented with them plainly

The one event that I have had a hard time grasping. Great video!

Great video, I wish we had more info on the other WoL's of the shards and their adventures as parts of Azem, I liked how they used Ardbert a lot. Do you think you could do videos diving into like hidden meanings in the lyrics of the songs and such? Or some analysees on characters and story arcs etc.?

I was wondering, in EW the Blessing of Light and the Echo was muddied in how and why the work. Can't we just separate them into two categories? Wouldn't the Echo literally be an echo of a soul's past unsundered self and the power they had? For example us as Azem. Wouldn't our ability to understand any language or view the past be the same useful abilities Azem would need to do what they needed to do to fill their seat on the convocation. On the other hand, the Blessing of Light is just what Venat told us it was? A traveler's ward, to protect against one's aether to be corrupted and power/healing during perilous circumstances

Love your channel dude keep up the good work

FINALLY my answers about Amon and Hermes got answered! Thank you soooo much! 🥰 My head literally broke thinking about that.

damn your vids are high quality, really deserve more subs

Azem has been with us every step of the way since the beginning.

Im still convinced that the Azem everyone knows is actually just us from a far flung future where we experience all that there is to experience so we get bored with there no longer being adventure in our life. So we use the crystal tower to travel back in time to a moment to meet a pre-EW Venat and become her replacement Azem so we will sundered to re-experience all our adventures over again. While only feeding information to the right people to ensure the same outcome happens.

Great video, thanks for all of that

Thank you for this lovely video! As others have said, I would love to know more about Azem, but not in a very detailed way: just more stories and hints that we can use to weave into our own characters. One thing I've been thinking about for some time, though, is G'raha's possible place in all this. On the First, he's shown as having the same power to summon allies, and Elidibus mentions that his soul is also surprisingly dense. He's also innately drawn to adventure, especially in relation to the WoL, whether first-hand or just even hearing/reading stories about this (the same way Venat asks to hear of our own travels). Granted, his existence is... complicated, to say the least. But the version of him awakened in the future and sent to the First is the one that has these powers of summoning allies, and that future is one where the WoL is no more and only their tales remain. So perhaps that version of G'raha is another shard/reincarnation of Azem, with this power triggered/fueled by the Tower? When his memories/soul are reincorporated into his present-day body, he no longer has the summoning power (that we know of), but that strong pull toward adventure remains (as shown when you approach him at the start of 6.1). Anyway, this might all be nothing, but the hints are intriguing, and I wonder if we'll ever delve more into that aspect of his character.

Personally speaking, i like my own idea of my WoL's Azem. i think Azem should just remain as speculations, little tales and myths we hear rather than someone we can meet. i've had fun thinking about how She was and what was she like to the others really. Hell, even if this isn't canon, i'd like to think the reason why my WoL has white hair and blue eyes is because her Azem was Venat's daughter, it adds another layer to the story and makes it more somber even.

I love the fact that my character's 'sign/god' is the traveler. It let's me full-on believe that my character is Azem's sundered self. I made this connection after hearing Venat use a different gender identifier on a streamer. There were so many blatant clues that could easily make me think so, but that only brought me to 90%. The last 10% was knowing that Azem dialogue is based on your character. It honestly enhances my enjoyment of the story a ton to know my character is essentially Azem...Emet's reactions are also made that much better (even though they are amazing in the moment as well.)

What got me interested about Azem is the way Azem’s gender changes depending on your WOL’s gender. Can you expound on that a little bit more.

My headcanon is that Zero is our Void shard, so at some point we'll rejoin with her and maybe learn more about Azem. Just a hunch, but hey, I like to think Azem would be amused at such speculation

Azem has been on the forefront of my mind ever since I played and beaten Shadowbringers then went on to Endwalker. Azem is essentially the player's past life or rather, their Ascian counterpart that existed as fragments in the other Shards of the Source. Hence why the Warrior of Light and Ardbert were so alike and even managed to 'merge' in a sense because their souls were just parts of Azem. I wanna know when we might be able to meet Azem and if they might possibly share the player's face.

"I have a familiar?' - Azem on the phone to Emet

Azem is a previous incarnation of the player character. It is meant to be similar to us in more ways than one. Not the same, but so blatantly similar his 2 friends admit there's definetely some of their personality in us. For this reason, they can't show us Azem, or let us meet them. The moment they do, they have to fully decide what type of person Azem is, why they did what they did, what they truly thought, and what they tryed to do during the Final Days. And if they do that, they sever the connection between the player and Azem. They will never do that. We must consider that with the few dialogue choices they give us, they already let us define our WoL in many different ways. They can either be a funny troubleseeker, a serious seeker of justice, a battlethirsty warrios searching for challenges, an empathic person who resorts to violence as a last resort, and a mix of all those things in different amounts. As such, Azem can be a mix of all those things in different amounts. It's not that they are secretive on writing Azem. They CAN'T write Azem. They can be too many different things at once.

My opinion is that the more parts of the soul are unified the more like the unsundered soul it becomes. I think what Azem was up to during the Final Days should be explored but otherwise leaving it vague is the best option.

Emet Selch seems to take such an interest in us particular that I'm not sure if he knew we were a sundered shard of Azem all along and was shocked at the fleeting mistaken thought that Azem Prime had been restored upon our rejoining with Ardbert, or if he had no idea that we were a shard of Azem at all until that moment.

Great video !

I'm very curious to hear more about Elidibous' connection with Azem because of the little bit of information we've already been given by Themis. Seemingly, the Pandaemonium raids are happening some amount of time before we came to Elpis to meet Hermes. Themis states that the person who predicted our arrival, who we assume to be our progenitor Azem from all the context clues given, works with them as a part of the same organization and the reason why they didn't come themselves is because it would attract too much attention. We were also told directly by Emet-Selch that the only people who wear white robes are the Emissary Elidibous as well as Ancients who step down from their role on the Convocation but choose to not return to the star, serving instead as advisors with trusted judgement. The fact that Themis is wearing a white robe but doesn't seem to be Elidibous yet (and is definitely too young to have stepped down from the Convocation) suggests to me that both he and our progenitor Azem possibly served under the current Elidibous of the time in the same fashion that others serve under Lahabrea as his "Words." Them already being in close proximity to the Convocation would certainly afford them an easier opportunity to meet other Convocation members and eventually join up themselves.

What happened to Azem right before the sundering and any part he/she had in events that happened during it and immediately preceding should definitely be made known. Everything else should pretty much be left to mystery. Basically, give us the last little bit of history needed to fully understand what happened and nothing else.

what if they make us play as Azem in a future expansion as a way to unlock our past life memories. Like animus in Assassins creed. It solves the problem....

I'd like to continue learning more of the shards of Azem personally. but hearing about Azem themself is a fun one. later I hope we are able to emote our "Convocation Mask"

I think the point of Azem is to be the wildcard. They are assigned the role of “The Traveler”. What is the point of traveling and seeing the world if not to see all viewpoints? What is their point if not to break rules and offer alternatives? To fight for the things everyone else has given up on? This is Azem. This is us. Our purpose. Make the impossible… possible. To convince others it is possible and to play their parts, too.

Maybe not Azem but I'd love to meet the other shards of Azem. Especially with Y'Shtola trying to find a way to travel to the reflections. Iirc our WoL is 8 times rejoined and with the 13th reflection now the void then by my count there are 4 more reincarnations of Azem from the 4th, 8th, 9th and 11th reflections. Could meet em in our travels :D

I want to know a little more about Azem, mostly some of their adventures. I'd also like there to be a stronger insinuation that you're not the same person to ensure they remain a separate entity without it all getting tangled up.

Perfect explanation, best I've seen so far... I had precisely the same thoughts when learning more about Amon-etc... In a replay I am trying to imagine that Emet can CLEARLY see the color of my WOL/AZEM soul... and KNOWS it, but is ignoring it, yes... not telling the others of the Ascians but also... a little bit this may be why at this moment in 5.0+ he chooses to test. Also something to explore... Hades may have known (you) before you were Azem, and made the promise to 'come whenever you call' BEFORE he was made into Emet Selch... as the Hades who comes to your rescue is not Emet Selch... but a Shadow-Pre-Emet-Hades, possibly created by Hades in the same way he had created Hytholodaeus in fake-amourot(sp). Or was a spell wrote millennia before, that was sent BY Hades... either way... so amazing. If I had Yoshi-P nail anything down after the full Mystery of the 12 is revealed... I'd be curious about that.

I had no idea about the Grapes! I chose that dialogue option because Grapes are my favorite fruit. lmao You have good taste Azem!

I definitely think they should use a very light touch, they can provide more colour and myth but should probably never truly have some direct unveiling. It would be super cool but it would box your WoL into a specific backstory.

I hope we never see or learn exactly who Azem is. I will never meet my ancestors, but through stories, their legacy, and my own life, I can see glimpses of who they might have been. Sometimes that's good enough.

Fantastic video

The funny thing is the shattered/shar'ed hero is a staple in Tokukasu. Its almost as Azem is more of that civilian Hero that populates Japanese Live Action. A few heroes or series, Ultraman being one of them. Another being Kamen rider and a few: Kamen Rider Decade, and Build. Both character's have amnesia and when faced with the truth of who they are...they come to a realization that while they may be that person, they are not that person. Azem is the same way, we may be the multitude of reincarnations of Azem (Tenzen being the only other reincarnation on record we know of in the four lord story quest). His aether may embody the WoL's soul but the Azem that our past friends knew has been dead for some time. Knowingly fracturing himself and leaving enough of his personality, skillls and memories to give his progeny a chance to do good. As who told him, as with any time travel story, Venat is the candidate who told the current Azem of the source of what was to transpire and only up to the point they meet where both the past and future bisect each other. In this case it wouldnt be too far fetch that stories of heroism and the Warrior of Light were made specifically to embellish both Venat and current Azem's exploits but give a secondary blanket of hope to people a beacon of light.

Something I'd add. The warrior of light that Elidibus fights you as during Seat of Sacrifice is in my opinion him, desperate in his nearly broken state, imitating Azem. He falls back on one who he idolized and saw as able to do anything.

I think Azem did know about Venat plan. and he purposely not join her. because he know he need to die. he need to be sunder. he need to become the Warrior of Light.

I feel if we ever do meet Azem face to face it would probably be as part of an event similar to the end of 1.0 before they shut down servers.

That Tales from the Shadows story is hilarious. All of Hades's reactions just OOZE "Ughhhh, not this shit again Azem..."

I would love to see some more about Azem but not everything, I do like the mystery around Azem but things like their mask and glyph or what they were doing during the final days I would love to find out about, or maybe just more about things they did while they were in the Azem seat like the Volcano story and maybe how they died was it when the sundering happened or did they maybe die Noble 6 style fighting hordes of monsters until they had nothing left against an endless onslaught.

I think Azem is a stand-in for all PCs. They have all the powers a PC has: knowledge of the past and future, plot armor, infinite retries, infinite personalities, the ability to summon their friends from "other dimensions", etc. I don't think they should ever define/show the character. Because then that would break the illusion that they are all FFXIV players at once.

as we learn from many of the ancients Azem was an aloof character very whimsical and did things at his own discretion much to the disdain of his colleagues. but according to Venat his teacher he was also very gifted and tactical always reading between the lines to see openings. and according to hythlodaeus Azem was also a very good friend and loyal to those he endeared in his heart. while it never stated why Venat named him her successor as well as what she said to convince the convocation he was the right man for the job, we can assume they took Venat's student in because they possessed a very rare trait that being the visions or echos which allowed them to see events of past and future, making them the perfect fit for "councilor of the world" it can then be inferred that these visions is what guided this new Azem towards their destiny because and this is my speculation and understanding of it these visions came from their further future self so they were experiencing essentially a road map created by themself. now thats not to say they followed everything to the letter cause being lead is just not their style but the end result would be the same regardless of how things got done. and for this reason i think that is why Azem turned their back on the convocation cause their future self already saw the damage Zodiark would inflict upon their friends and didn't wish to be someone who aided in their misery. similar to Venat's side who defied the convocation Azem most likely saw what would become of them and didn't wish to sully their hands in the deaths of so many and for those they deeply cared for so Azem resigned themself to walk the difficult path alone so that they could find a different path to take and indeed probably believed that their future self had already found that path and thus elected to become sundered in the hopes their shards would link everything together and bring about a new dawn for those left behind to follow. and little did they know that Venat would be there as well to give them a push if they ever wavered in their conviction because she too chose to believe in the path her student walked and felt remorseful for her actions in the sundering of their people and guided this newly reborn Azem to seek out destiny and put a stop to both Zodiark and Meteion. and tho she failed the world 8 times she never doubted that her Azem would succeed where she had failed and they proved her right everytime for each time Azem was reborn with a shard of themself they grew stronger and more wise til eventually they finally reach her and she can leave the rest in their capable hands.

The whole Sundering business reminds me a lot of how a person in Kingdom Hearts will split into 2 or more separate and distinct beings when their heart is “unlocked.”

It makes sense to me that the traits that Azem felt most strongly about or were very central to who they were would pass on as "themes" for their...successor souls. The similarities probably became more pronounced with each rejoining, at least on the Source - even then, the one other character bearing Azem's soul that we meet has a similar disposition to our own WoL...helping people, seeking new experiences, occasionally being a tricky trickster...

A ten thousand year tale of Elidibus trying to keep Emet-Selch from choking a bitch.

Good video. Though the whole "this needs to never be known" angle was a weird shift.

I think its super interesting you bring up the idea of Azem’s echo and their potential for the ability of future sight, bc I think it stands to reason that maybe Azem not only had this ability but had a more complete version of it. What if Azem had both the power of past and future sight and was capable of willfully using it? As the PC our echo give us past sight and a bit of precognition (our aoe markers in game) so we can assume the original Azem had this as well and we learn through mikoto and zenos about other versions of the echo having different or enhanced functionality. While you called it unlikely I think it holds up better than you give it credit for

I'm okay to have a lot of mystery surround Azem for a time but they're gonna have to drop the veil on them eventually.