"The Illuminati" The True mystery of "The Way

[Violent_Paradan]

Perhaps there is a plot based reason that Aionsluh is so much better than the others. It could be the chaos alignment of the transcendent auras, with Hatassasar representing law. Note that the graphics, and subsequently the names, for the defensive versions of the auras are in the EP5 picture folder; Cosmo = Rapture, Atoma = Pure Taint.

[Telephalsion]

Then I'd totally use pandamaare just because it's shadowy!

[Jabbo]

Yeah they're probably related to the plot somehow... but even so, Lun did a really good job in naming the transcendent auras. The four sword auras have really cryptic but cool sounding names (and did you know that all but Aionsluh have the same number of letters), and the defensive auras have cool names too (Pure Taint... awesome).

At this point though I think any conjecture made off the names alone has about as much foundation as Estrana (Ooh, bad... pun or something).

[nerx]

What if Aionsluh outclasses all auras because it's a mix of light and darkness! Maybe it's the true nature of Rhue's sword? Ok.. maybe not.

[itsdave693]

Aionsluh is the Atoma aura sword, right? Atoma is obviously referring to the word "atom", right? Atom, or a-tom, is a word meaning "unbreakable" that Democritus originally used to describe the basic building blocks of the universe. Today, it implies singularity. In comparison with Cosmos, the other transcendental element without an obvious symbolism, the Atomos element would seem to represent a moral code or alignment which is admittedly not good or evil but that is simply based on pleasing oneself (think anarchist or libertarian). Cosmos, in contrast, might symbolize the good of all at the sacrifice of the individual.

In the context of shadow swords and such, an Atoma sword would reflect one's own thoughts and desires (as in Rhue's own single-minded quest to find Serena), whereas the Cosmos sword would support Gaius's (the "perfect blade") belief that he has the right to judge whether The Way would be better off without certain wanderers (and the PS's, as well).

Think about it.

[Telephalsion]

Nice thoughts dave

So Aionsluh is egocentric. As focus only on your own goal and drive it through.
Hatassar (Cosmic) is then... egocentric in another fashion? As in placing oneself in the seat of power, commanding all others?

[Non-Sequitur]

Remember, Traziun also seems to be aligned with Atoma. I have been thinking about this for a while. It may mean that Traziun and Gaius are polar opposites in some way.

[Jabbo]

Hmm. There is definitely merit in that idea. If that's true, then they are polar opposites yet neither is a definitive good or evil. Aionsluh is the aura of introspection and self-understanding but is also the aura of greed. Hatassasar is the aura of sacrifice and noble ambition but is also the aura of hypocrisy.

First off, you've got to remember that Gaius has no special Cosmic alignment as far as his weapon and skills go; he's pure Transcendent. His actions seem to have a Cosmic alignment though...

But as far as Traziun being aligned with Atoma, you're absolutely correct. Traziun's also aligned with Oneness - Mind, and the two make a nice mix. See, Traziun has always stressed mind over body combat. In Lide, he lectures Rhue on making good decisions, and in the Plunge tournament in Episode 5, he makes sure that he gets his opponents (Strata) pissed off before fighting them. That's his Mind element. He also wants to become a Forerunner, become a better warrior, and avenge his mother [twice]. Ambitions, yes, but none of them are particularly knightly. And if anyone we've seen on the entire Way would know the inner workings of their mind, it'd be Traziun. It seems to fit together nicely.

[itsdave693]

I could have sworn that his weapon animation was at least called Cosmos something or other.

[Jabbo]

Oh wow, you're right. It is "Gaius Cosmo." As far as the weapon's actual attribute or his skills, nothing is Cosmic. But that weapon animation's as good as anything for this topic.

[Telephalsion]

Yeah gaius attacks in ep 5 look just like rhues hatassar.

[itsdave693]

So Atoma represents the small-picture-good (one's needs over many), and Cosmic the big-picture-good (many's needs over the individual's). What about Shadow and Light?

If we're going on who is using what element, it would seem that Slade's character is the best role model for Shadow. In keeping with the objectivist theme of several of The Way's dialogues (like the libertarian rant in E4), Slade's Shadow would appear to be the emptiness of his principles. He enforced a way of life without ever thinking about why his enemy was wrong, without questioning his assumptions.

This may be just a shot in the dark, but I won't even bother guessing at what end of the philosophical spectrum Lun will assign to the Light attribute. Hell, I could just be finding patterns that don't exist, making all of this eloquently stated bull manure.

[nerx]

I think you've made some really good points, Dave. If Slade came back, his aura would probably change, due to his huge cinematic revalation.

[Jabbo]

Maybe the light and shadow attributes are just that: light and dark. Light is the aura of openness and bright emotion. Shadow is the aura of concealed motives and dark emotion. Light generally pertains to a stereotypical good, Shadow pertains to a steroetypical evil, but neither aura has to be used as such. You could have an evil guy who appears happy and open or a good guy who appears dark and mysterious.

As far as Slade, Rhue got all four transcendent auras after his sword welded itself into Slade's body. Maybe there's a reason for that. Slade was a very strong character, and you really can place him under any and all of the four transcendent auras. Cosmic - He was a tool of justice. He always put the law over his own wellbeing. Atoma - Deep down, all of the justice and law was just a way of pleasing himself. He wanted to rid the way of all that was immoral and wrong, and he thought it would be best to do it by the law. Light - He was a tool. Every last one of Slade's moves was utterly predictable. Shadow - Slade's true inner motives were always concealed and he had a dark persona.

So maybe the reason Rhue's sword went crazy against Slade was because Slade's aurascape was like a feast.

Also note that in the attributes section, Lun's made an attribute called "Darkness" that's completely separate from "Transcendent - Shadow." Darkness is used in Gaius's Inner Darkness move, and probably would have been in Slade's Outer Darkness, except OD was scripted. I wonder if Darkness is supposed to represent evil, while Shadow is just mystery.

[Shindy]

Yeah gaius attacks in ep 5 look just like rhues hatassar.

yeah but see... gaius' cosmo attack is a lil different than Rhue's Hatassar... Gaius' cosmo attack has slightly whiter colors than Rhue's Hatassar... i wonder why. In Ep5 RM2K battle animations, you can see that. just go to Hatassar 1-3 and Gaius Cosmo in Battle Animations.