Azem Explained (Final Fantasy XIV Lore)

one of the greatest mysteries of the final fantasy 14 story is azim this has been my top request from viewers since i started covering the game's lore asm casts one of the widest nets of the entire game in terms of influence touching lives and affecting important events for thousands of years despite azim's importance though there's still much we don't know about them so let's break down everything we can find out about asm and speculate on the impact they could have in the future i really hope you enjoy [Music] let's travel back thousands of years prior to the main story to a time when ancients shaped the star it was known as aetherius in those days the ancients are a powerful race with incredible prowess over magic and advanced technology they use their vast pools of ether to create living beings to populate the star they also possessed much longer life spans than the races we know today and some could use special abilities like soul sight the ancients were ruled by the complication of 14 a council tasked with keeping order on atheros members of the convocation adopt their titles as their names during their time in office they operated in the ancients capital city of omarot each seat or office focuses on a field of expertise or a specific duty and while we don't have a complete picture of all of those roles yet we do know about the seat of asm the person in this office is known as the traveler of the world counselor to the people and shepherd to the stars in the dark their job is to explore the larger world of a theorist and become intimate with its people and cultures there are two people who have held the seed of asm that we know of the first is vana the ancient eventually responsible for the summoning of the primal hydeline and sundering the star she mentored the other asm we know of before they took over the seat unlike other ancients venat chose not to follow the tradition and rejoin the ethereal sea when her duty was complete so she's still around when the new asm takes over we haven't directly encountered this asm in the story all of our knowledge of this person comes second hand through stories from friends and colleagues azim's two greatest friends emmett selk and hithledius have a conversation with vana during the player's time in elpis it has been a while hithladeaus you look well less so emmett selk i dare say the lines upon your brow have both deepened and doubled in number a shame for one so young you must make an effort to frown less often easier said than done thanks to your unruly successor how is he if i may ask incorrigible as ever rushed headlong into a volcano on the brink of eruption just the other day i should be glad to share the tale in its entirety later if you're so inclined you know i am we don't get the full story in game but a chapter of tales from the shadows on the lodestone website gives us further details the air our curtains fall story happens in omarot the story is told from emmett selk's perspective as he and elidibus have a conversation about the volcano incident do you know of the volcano we'll be discussing at the next session i know that we're due for some pyrotechnics according to reports circulated among the convocation there had been unusual ethereal activity on the isolated volcanic isle which is to say an eruption was forthcoming the island had one village upon it and a wealth of fertile farmland all of which would soon be lost but that was simply the way of the world as in many such cases our role was merely to acknowledge the fact the islanders would do the same and those who deemed it prudent had likely already begun to move elsewhere while it was true that the convocation intended to discuss the matter the conclusion would be no less inevitable but then why had elitibus approached me well asm went there and resolved to stop the eruption naturally i felt my brow furrowing and fought to suppress a scowl that threatened to pull my forehead down over my eyes how i eventually managed you've heard of afrita yes the fire spirit la habre is masterwork an impressive concept even for him it is truly incredible the youth said with quiet fervency the determined line on his lips curving into a grin generally i found his art and admiration for the rest of the council endearing if embarrassing but at the moment i was rather preoccupied with the implications of his suggestion it's a wonder my brow ever recovered the frita a manifestation of concentrated fire ether i could see what azam was planning transform the volcano's ether into a freita draw her away and then destroy her elsewhere this would safely disperse the excess of course the plan required someone to procure the concept of a fritta for asm but if that someone was not lahabrea himself who else could it be as everyone knew concepts were stored in the bureau of the architect and not all could be readily removed for personal use the bureau of the chief however could grant access as he pleased who else indeed i pictured my friend cheerfully sending asm off to battle without a second thought for getting my mask i clapped my palm to my forehead in exasperation which elitibus dooley took as a sign that i understood if things get out of hand azim could be censored again and here the youth paused but i'm sure that won't happen not with your help my brow resumed its descent very well but are you certain it is wise for the emissary to ally himself with so divisive a figure oh i'm not he replied with practice deafness i'm simply giving asm's opinion on the matter equal weight the rest of the 14 have yet to reach a verdict after all on this point i could not argue though i wasn't particularly inclined to agree and so i shrugged musing inwardly that asm was lucky the current emissary was such a kindly soul before we parted ways however i couldn't resist asking one more question did you happen to find out why azam is so keen on preventing this eruption the youth frowned inevitably striving to recall his conversation with asm as accurately as possible it wouldn't do for the emissary to speak unadvisedly after all i waited politely if i recall correctly he began at length with the error of one about to reveal a grave truth the grapes grown on that aisle are particularly delicious or so asm said they must be truly remarkable indeed i couldn't bring myself to shatter his faith i did however vow to treat my friends to a lecture on priorities blissfully ignorant of my misgivings the young man smiled to himself again and bade me farewell as he wandered away i swore i heard him murmur something about asm's ever refreshing perspective it's clear from this story that asm was a wild card among the convocation they frequently did things their own way often breaking rules and regulations they were reckless and headstrong this means they were a controversial figure to some as elitibus mentions the convocation has publicly disapproved of asm's methods at times but not every member feels the same emmett's selk and asm were incredibly close despite their differences in personality emmit silk is bound by principle and duty he's responsible and a firm believer in due process he's also unapologetic and a little sour emmett sulk frequently expresses how annoyed he is with his closest friends hithladius and azen even so emmett sulk was compassionate and offered to aid in azim's endeavors before taking up their seat this continued after azim joined the convocation even though emmet selk is a stickler for following the rules we also get a sense of the respect elitibus held for asm in that story it's implied here that elitibus was the youngest convocation member at the time so it makes sense he'd admire asm for being a maverick in the organization we do see a brief glimpse of the moment elitibus was appointed to his seat in shadowbringers in an echo vision the other 13 are shown all but one are wearing red masks the outlier has a black mask it's heavily implied this is azim elitibus also sees the warrior as asm briefly when confronting them in this same cutscene emmett selk has a similar vision in shadowbringers one that nearly shakes his resolve to win a testament to how much asm as a figure and friend meant to them both no it can't be that trick of the light you are a broken husk nothing more hethledeius also holds azim in the highest regard each ancient chooses a duty or purpose as part of their society one that benefits the star and mankind ancients willingly choose to return to the ethereal sea when that duty is complete hethledeius's duty is to emit selk and asm his purpose is to help his closest friends rise to greatness it's why he goes to such incredible lengths to help the warrior in the past and future if you want to know more about hitler dayus's dedication you can check out my video about him one of azim's most defining moments happens when the song of oblivion threatens a theorist for the first time that's the massive wave of dynamis sent by meteon to twist the ancients creation magics into blasphemies they quickly ravage the star threatening mankind's extinction people are dying and the convocation must act swiftly fan daniel one of the convocation members theorizes that disrupting the flow of ether currents could prevent the final days from happening the convocation makes plans to summon the dark primal zodiac to be the will of their people he can avert the crisis but only with a terrible price half of the ancients must sacrifice their ether to zodiac the convocation debates and ultimately decides it's their only choice all of them except asm emmet silk tries to convince his closest friend that the sacrifices are necessary to preserve their society and future but asm disagrees and abandons their seat their former allies considered this defection emmett selk takes his friend's departure the hardest a weight he'd carry for centuries the first sacrifice to zodiac was successful but it did splinter ancient society into two factions those who supported the zodiac plan and others who allied with vana the convocation makes a second sacrifice to restore the landscape of a theorist and make the star habitable once more rumblings of a third sacrifice spread one that would call the new lesser beings on a theris to restore the ancients who gave up their lives the gnaw and her faction of rebels are making plans to summon heidelen a primal that could potentially stop zodiac she asks azim to join them in the summoning but they never get back to her with an answer it's important to note that the information we have implies azim didn't say no only that they never answered the call so if asim disagreed with the convocation's plans why wouldn't they try to help vannah it's not like them to snub their former mentor and close friend like that azim must have had a good reason and it's possible they knew more about the events to come in the pandemonium quests after finishing the main story of end walker the warrior of light encounters themis a white-robed ancient who is heavily implied to become the elitibus we meet in the story he's investigating a dread beast that had awoken and was waiting for his prophesized guiding star to help with his mission this takes place in the past in alpus themis recognizes the warrior of light's ether as that of a close friend who he was planning to investigate the threat with originally but themis says his friend told him it was unwise for both to go because it could raise questions since it was a restricted facility however themis says his friend promised a star shall fall before him in their absence the game never explicitly tells us this friend is asm but the gender of the friend changes depending on the gender of your player character other references to azim follow a similar rule so how did asm know the warrior of light would show up to help it's possible that asm possessed some ability to see into the future the echo for azm could function similarly as it does for mikoto her manifestation of the echo allows her to see prophetic dreams and divinations she can't see them at will and the visions are revealed to be events that cannot be changed so it's not far-fetched to think azim possessed a similar ability the likely answer is less interesting than future sight fanaa could have filled asim in on the knowledge of the final days in secret the two were close and she did say she would only entrust the knowledge with close allies maybe asm had faith in the warriors ability to change the future and chose to step aside during the sundering another possibility is that asm did intend to help with the summoning of heidelen but he was bogged down by another unseen threat maybe we'll get a clear answer someday azim's life effectively ends when heidel and sunders a theris into the source and its 13 reflections but that didn't stop their legacy from living on the sundering broke azim's soul into 14 pieces the piece from the first is reborn as ardbert a warrior of darkness who seeks to stop his world from being swallowed by light the main piece is reincarnated in modern times on the source as the warrior of light other shards of asm's soul combined with the warriors as they are rejoined over the course of time it's important to note that while these shards do share some similarities with the original soul the warrior and asm are not the same person just like the ancient phan daniel and his reincarnation of ammon are different now some characters do comment on some similarities in appearance between the two it's also worth noting that the warrior and asm share the same color soul hithledius and others with soul sight can see this that's why hitlideus and his shade refer to the warrior as his new old friend when they meet in omarot and on the moon azim could have influenced myths after their passing arianza speculates that they were one of the sources behind both azema of the 12 and the dawn father azim though he says this is just because of the similar names and the association with the sun there's no other evidence to support this but we may learn more about azema's origins in the upcoming raid in the 6.1 patch the warrior of light embodies much of what asms stood for they are heideland's chosen just like azim was selected by vana to take over her seat both fit the title of adventurers and make connections with countless civilizations azim's crystal is eventually passed down to us giving the warrior the power to summon allies across stars and dimensions to aid them in battle this is what azim used to do when solving problems both are people who help others in need those who will stand defiant against injustice there are other aspects that carry over but much of that depends on you the personality strengths and flaws you associate with your warrior of light asm is a mythical heroic figure that is largely a blank canvas for the players to paint and that's by design jrr tolkien said this about the character of tom bombadil from the lord of the rings mythos even in the mythical age there must be some enigmas as there always are tom bombadil is one intentionally i believe yashida and the development team look at asm in a similar way the mystery is what makes the character so compelling and i hope that remains in future story chapters meeting asm in the future would damage the mythos that they have built around them best to keep this legendary figure in the past and let their legacy be what shapes the story moving forward so what do you think about asm do you want to see more of them or should they remain a mystery let me know in the comments below you can also suggest topics for future final fantasy 14 lore videos and if you subscribe and hit that little bell it'll let you know when the next one comes out until then take care warriors and i'll see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Stout Helm

Views: 108,761

Keywords: ffxiv, final fantasy xiv, ffxiv endwalker, final fantasy xiv endwalker, endwalker, stout helm, final fantasy, ff14, final fantasy 14, ascian, ascians, ffxiv ascian theme, ffxiv ascian, ffxiv ascian lore, ascian theme, lahabrea death, pashtarot ffxiv, altima ff14, halmarut ffxiv, emmerololith ffxiv, azem ffxiv, azem ff14, ff14 azem lore, ff14 azem crystal, ff14 azem them, azem

Id: fBxhZoizBv4

Length: 17min 56sec (1076 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 08 2022