At my parent’s house, there are always these congregations of solitary mud-daubers. They never build nests or engage in grooming, they just fly around and huddle together. Inat said they were zimmerman’s mud-daubers, but I couldn’t find a single source online with any info about this social behavior. Any info about it would be greatly appreciated, they’re very gentle and don’t even dive bomb me when I film.
I woke up in a cold sweat from a nap with an epiphany: what if Idrila isn’t physically real? Before I explain, please know that I have absolutely no evidence for this theory other than vibes and how they’ve been presented thus far in art and lore. Thanks.
So, we know that all the aeons ascended from a being or object or thing that fully embodied a concept, and in every piece of artwork we have of the aeons they’ve got a physical body. Nihility is a literal black hole, Nous is a supercomputer, Qlipoth is a mass of amber, Yaoshi is one massive plant with each of its blessed or creations being an extension of itself, Even Mythus has a physical body with defined characteristics. Who is the only aeon (so far) we cannot fully perceive? IDRILA! They’re always shown as hands (argenti’s lc), or a vague bust (argenti’s splash art), or a collection of things, (broken glass, thorny vines, crumbling ruins - i’ll get back to that). This has intrigued me for as long as i’ve been playing the game, and I think i’ve figured out why.
Idrila isn’t real. Not in the sense that they never existed, or that they’re dead/split like Tazzyronth or Ena. Idrila is an aeon ascended not from a being, or a thing, but a thought. They are imperceivable because they have no form. They are “The pure goodness of the material world sensed and defined by intelligent lifeforms”. In short, they are a literal philosophy ascended to aeonhood. Their form, how they appear to others, is entirely subjective. That would certainly explain all of the mirror motifs. This leads me on to my next point: The mirror holders will be considered the true followers of the beauty.
Now, much to my dismay, we haven’t yet met a mirror holder. But from the dialogue we have, we can infer that they seem to be the exact opposites of the knights of beauty. The knights have a very concrete understanding of their aeon: Idrila is definitely missing, they exist in everything, and by espousing Their virtue they will somehow bring them back to “life”. The mirror holders on the other hand, they resolutely proclaim Idrila to be dead - yet they still follow them. I think this’ll probably align itself with the story when beauty becomes more important, but my personal theory is that the mirror holders want to embrace a modern, all-encompassing form of beauty by collecting all of the shards of the mirror. They want to turn Idrila into an aeon that serves whatever their goal is (not counting on them being generally good, but it feels like it), in contrast to the knights who are futilely treading worn paths hoping their efforts will bring back the past.
In each region, we learn a lot about a new aeon. Just by the storytelling alone in penacony, I gathered that the game is setting Xipe up to be an antagonist, if not an anti-hero-ish aeon. Learning that they create stellarons only confirmed my theory: They do not want true harmony, but instead coerced assimilation into what they consider their own harmony, with little respect for the differences between organisms. The stellaron was the missing piece for me: they grant all of your human wishes, allowing you comfort, safety, unity, all of the things harmony is supposed to uphold; but in the process they melt all that exists. They’re just a more palatable, kinder form of destruction. I have a sneaking suspicion absorbing Ena caused this part of their philosophy, because true harmony is when different people and cultures can live side by side, acknowledge each other’s differences, and still support each other. Yet the family and just the general vibe of Xipe makes me feel otherwise (totally vibes based though. Feel free to clap back, i’m not a lore expert.)
Disclaimer: fanfiction ahead
What does Xipe have to do with beauty, though? Well, we know that we’re in the endgame of the universe. The war among the aeons is here, and I think we’re going to see Xipe either side with destruction, or remain neutral (equally bad). Since they’re one of the paths foretold to bring the universe to an end, I think their goal isn’t to help prevent it but to assimilate all life into their philosophy before it comes - which I’m sure I don’t have to tell you stands directly opposed to not only the trailblaze, but also the beauty. Idrila represents the inherent beauty of everything: all of the individual distinctions and banalities of anything are precious to them. My view of the Harmony stands directly opposed to what the beauty stands for, so I’m thinking when we have to face Xipe in the future, the mirror holders (and maybe the knights) will come in clutch with their completed mirror, and create their new version of beauty to oppose Xipe (who in my head is just another type of Ena). Maybe that new aeon will be a new path, maybe it’ll be the same old Idrila, maybe they’ll overlap with trailblaze and be absorbed, or maybe the other way around.
What do you guys think? I’m pretty sure the beauty is supposed to be an allegory for a renaissance period, which would certainly explain why they’ve inexplicably disappeared. Renaissances come and go, and are never meant to embody one value or philosophy forever. This feels important too, because I think the knights are chasing a golden age that no longer exists, while the mirror holders are looking forward to create a more beautiful “renaissance”. Also it’s aesthetically pleasing, what with the roses and the statues and bells and all that.
Feel free to poke holes in my theorizing, I wrote this all in one go and I am by no means a lore expert. I just have a sense that the beauty is going to be a lot more important later on than we’ve been led to believe.