Learning Betrayal | Over Analyzing Houseki no Kuni Chapter 10 

I never really saw Phos as betraying Rutile when they took Padpa to the moon. I think that it is more that Phos didn't understand Rutile and only saw things from Padpa's point of view. In Padpa's first scene, they tell Phos that they don't want to be a burden on Rutile and that they want Rutile to stop trying to fix them. Then, when Phos is taking gems to the moon, they do what they can in order to fulfill that wish. Phos still tried to get Rutile to come with them to the moon, but Phos didn't understand what really motivated Rutile. They thought Rutile just wanted the puzzle that was Padpa to be solved and would go to the moon for their technology and knowledge. However, when Rutile eventually refused the offer, Phos decided to ease the burden on Rutile by taking Padpa, not understanding the Padpa was Rutile's purpose and only motivation. Looking at things from Rutile's perspective, Phos did betray them, but Phos didn't have any malicious intentions and was just trying to do what they thought was the best for everyone.

Sorry this is long, I got lost in the sauce. Tl;dr- Phos's body can be recovered, the missing big pieces were held by the admirabilis, Aechmea, and the ice floes. The small bits chipped off are probably what made the stones at the end sentient, they are gathered up in the ship in the latest chapter. It is probably planned for Phos to come back together in the end by Aechmea, Kongo, and Kongo's brother and their cooperation is symbolized by Lapis's eyes, one held by Aechmea and one held by Kongo which is given to his brother to inhabit to guide Phos in the end. I went back a reread this chapter and it made me read the whole series again to see how things could link. I think that the involvement of the admirabilis with the lunarians goes even deeper than just this betrayal. The big thing is that the vessel was destroyed, so Phos's legs fell off with them. This is confirmed in chapter 51 when the descendant meets Phos and says they smelled his "stinky" legs in the sea the night before. In chapter 10 they chose to send Phos back with the agate instead of the original legs. From there I started keeping track of the rest of Phos. The arms were taken by the ice floes so they are also intact in the sea. Phos's head was taken by the lunarians but we never confirm that it was dusted. Phos's core remains with Phos. Those pieces being in different peoples' custody instead of destroyed makes me think Phos can and will come back together in the end. In chapter 89, Aechmea says that gem memories prefer inhabiting ice and says "speaking of ice" but interrupts himself because he can't explain it in time, he needs to go to earth. This chapter is also where Aechmea reveals the third eye, it could be symbolic but we also know he's been holding onto Lapis's left eye so I think that he implanted it in himself to record everything he does, much like Kongo's eye. In chapter 83, Kongo seems to be talking to the ice floes and pulls out Lapis's right eye. It doesn't show him giving the eye but he does say "the ambient temperature is rising," out of nowhere. I think he was explaining away the ice floes melting, really the memories making up the ice started inhabiting the eye which explains Kongo's brother appearing in an eye form later on. I think here the ice floes tell Kongo about Aechmea's plans and convince him to give up the eye. When spring comes, Kongo is shown looking at the moon repeatedly. One of the first things he does is gather parts from the chord shore with Euclase. When Euclase starts heading back he is holding a basket full of gems, we can't make out the color in black and white but I feel like those pieces are important. Kongo looks at the moon again and says "Aechmea?" I think maybe Aechmea broke Phos's head into pieces and put them there for Kongo to find to confirm the plan that the ice floes told him. For the parts of Phos chipped off, there's all the rocks that Phos talks to after ascending. Phos wonders if their connections are somehow affecting the stones around them but there's no precedent for that, plus after countless years until the supernova why are there so few sentient stones? Phos's connections are shown to be compatible with a lot of different minerals so I think over time the unaccounted for fragments bonded with other stones. At the end of the latest chapter we have those stones(which may hold bits of Phos), Kongo's brother(who may know where Phos's head, arms, and legs are), and Phos's core all in the ship at once. The ending I'm hoping this sets up for is Phos burning away the humanity and becoming whole again

phos is calling shinsha strong for being able to not forgive at the end of this chapter, which contrasts with phos, whosse only option is to forgive.

i think dia only ever cared about phos because of its admiration with him, dia is a egomaniac after all.