Knights of the Round (Final Fantasy XIV)

The Knights of the Round are a group of primals from Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward in the form of Archbishop Thordan VII and the Heavens' Ward, using the power of Nidhogg's eye to assume the form of King Thordan and his Knights Twelve.
==History==
==Characteristics==
===Appearances===
The Knights of the Round are based on the ultimate summon from Final Fantasy VII, though are no longer the actual Arthurian knights. Thordan is the most unique among them, with all the rest bearing similar appearances to one another, save for mage knights sporting different dress from the martial knights.
In the "alternate timeline" of , after absorbing Hraesvelgr and Nidhogg's eyes, King Thordan becomes Dragon-king Thordan. As Dragon-king Thordan, his armor becomes organic and scaled with a white glow, and wields three copies of the sword Ascalon, with one held in the mouth of a long draconic tail.
==Gameplay==
King Thordan and the Knights Twelve are fought as the final bosses of Heavensward expansion at . They wear armor and use abilities similar to those seen in the Final Fantasy VII summon. While King Thordan is the main enemy in the encounter, he uses an attack called Knights of the Round to summon the other knights (who then use one of their own moves, often being a holy or upgraded version of an existing job's abilities) throughout the fight and uses Ultimate End as a last ditch attack towards the end.
In addition, Sers Adelphel, Grinnaux, and Charibert, are fought as individual bosses within the instanced dungeon.
In the Minstrel Ballad version of the fight, Thordan uses Knights of the Round in the last phase several times, calling different knights to his aid each time.
King Thordan is briefly fought in the Solo Instance during Elidibus's test against the Warrior of Darkness.
King Thordan and the Knights Twelve are fought multiple times in in Endwalker. Sers Adelphel, Grinnaux, and Charibert are the first encounter of the raid. King Thordan is first encountered in the "main timeline" in the Singularity Reactor. He is fought again in the "alternate timeline" after saving Haurchefant Greystone from his death in the main storyline. After reaching a low percentage of his health, King Thordan will plead for mercy. If spared, he returns to absorb Hraesvelgr and Nidhogg's eyes following their defeat, becoming the final boss of the encounter, Dragon-king Thordan.
==Musical themes==
The battle theme of the Knights of the Round is titled "Heroes". A live recording of "Heroes" is the sixteenth track on the A New World: intimate music from Final Fantasy - Volume II album. In , Dragon-king Thordan is fought to the Eorzean Symphony rendition of Revenge Twofold.
==Gallery==
FFXIV Knights of the Round artwork.jpg|Artwork.
FFXIV Thordan Painting.png|Painting of King Thordan I and his knights.
FFXIV Knights of the Round.png|Thordan VII and his knights.
FFXIV Ultimate End Charging.png|King Thordan casting Ultimate End.
Dragon-king Thordan from FFXIV.png|Dragon-king Thordan.
==Etymology==
In the Japanese version, King Thordan has a different title: "Kishin Thordan" (騎神トールダン). Rather than a king, his title literally translated to "Knight God".
Category:Primals in Final Fantasy XIV