Dualism

Dualism is one of the most common plot themes of the Final Fantasy series. This is often a theme of contrast between two drastically different elements. It also tends to involve the cycles of these two contrasted elements, cycles which the protagonists' goal is often to break.
== Appearances ==
=== Final Fantasy ===
Garland created a time loop when he made a pact to live forever by having the Fiends of Chaos summon him 2000 years in the past when he is defeated by the Light Warriors. There, Garland sends the Fiends of Chaos to the present, continuing the loop. When the Light Warriors travel back in time, they kill the Fiends and confront Garland, who transforms into Chaos and is defeated. This act ultimately breaks the time loop.
=== Final Fantasy II ===
The Emperor's dark side goes to Hell when he is killed and takes it over, raising its capital, Pandaemonium, to Earth. As well, the Emperor's light side ascends to Heaven and enters Arubboth, Capital of Heaven. Firion and his allies kill the Dark Emperor, while Minwu and the spirits of other dead characters kill the Light Emperor, ensuring the Emperor is destroyed for good.
=== Final Fantasy III ===
The setting features a world of light and a world of darkness. Each world also has a group of heroes arise to save their world from being consumed by the opposing property. When Xande drains the Crystals of their power, he creates an imbalance between light and darkness. This causes the Cloud of Darkness to appear to return the universe to a state of nothingness. The Warriors of Light attempt to stop it, but are defeated. Through the aid of the Warriors of the Dark, the Warriors of Light overcome and destroy it.
=== Final Fantasy IV ===
The Blue Planet has two parallels: the Red Moon, and the Underworld. The surface world has four Crystals of Light, and the Underworld has four Crystals of Darkness. The Red Moon also has eight Crystals, four each of Light and Darkness. Cecil Harvey is a Dark Knight who becomes a Paladin by receiving the light-aligned power of his father Kluya. Golbez, Cecil's older brother, is aligned with darkness and uses powerful black magic to collect all eight Crystals in his quest for power. In the game's finale, Golbez uses a Crystal to attempt to subdue Zeromus, but fails as his heart is tainted with darkness. He thus passes the Crystal to Cecil, who uses his light to render Zeromus vulnerable and defeat him.
Cecil and Kain Highwind are childhood friends who parallel each other. Cecil and Kain both love Rosa though Rosa loves Cecil and Kain hides his feelings. Cecil is right-handed and Kain is left-handed. Cecil succeeds in defeating his dark side while Kain fails in defeating his dark side. When Kain is able to defeat his dark side, he gains holy power just like Cecil.
=== Final Fantasy V ===
Planet R was split in two to contain the power of the Void. Each world has a set of four Crystals, which are key to maintaining the worlds. When the warlock Exdeath escapes from his sealing, he destroys the Crystals, forcing the two worlds back together and unleashing the Void. The two generations of the Warriors of Dawn and Light combine their powers to destroy Exdeath and recreate the Crystals.
=== Final Fantasy VI ===
The War of the Magi 1000 years prior nearly destroyed the world. This conflict was caused by a war between espers and humans. In the present, the Gestahlian Empire is seeking espers to take over the world, but Terra Branford, a hybrid of an esper and a human, represents the hope that the two races could co-exist. Terra fights to defend the hopes of the orphans of Mobliz, who have given her life meaning. The antagonist Kefka Palazzo is an experimental Magitek Knight driven insane and power-hungry, who believes life is meaningless and that love and hope are illusions.
=== Final Fantasy VII ===
The typical conflict between light and darkness is replaced by a conflict between nature and humanity, and science and magic. Sephiroth, representing the power of science as a genetic experiment of the Shinra Electric Power Company, uses the Black Materia to summon Meteor to ravage the planet. Aeris Gainsborough, last of the magical Cetra, stands in opposition to Sephiroth, representing nature. She uses the White Materia to summon Holy which can stop Meteor.
The dualism between Aeris and Sephiroth is clarified in The Reunion Files, where Tetsuya Nomura states "as long as Sephiroth exists, Aerith must exist". The Lifestream also serves as a cycle, as all living things, even plants, have spirit energy that comes from the planet. When someone dies, their spirit energy returns to the planet and their knowledge joins the collective. Shinra is draining this spirit energy to produce Mako, and spirit energy is also the basis for the creation of Materia.
Sephiroth is also juxtaposed with Cloud Strife. There is a deliberate contrast between their sword types and hair styles. Cloud wanted to be a First Class SOLDIER hero like Sephiroth, and they both have the Mako eyes of a SOLDIER member. They both struggle with identity, and become willing to assume a new one to give their lives meaning and structure. They both go berserk at the revelation that they might not truly be the people they had identified as. Sephiroth can literally act his will through Cloud when Cloud is weakened, and the game's final, cinematic confrontation represents Cloud expunging Sephiroth's influence from him.
==== Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- ====
Zack Fair's quest to become a hero contrasts with the same quest Genesis Rhapsodos undertakes, but whereas the latter's feelings of entitlement to the moniker of "hero" lead to obsession and downfall, Zack's quest to "become a hero" has less to do with personal glory and more with making the world a better place. Zack's will to become a hero motivated him to think for himself and to be guided by his moral compass and sense of justice, whereas Genesis's obsession with becoming a hero drove him to challenge those he saw as hindrances and a need to prove himself as superior to others. Both joined SOLDIER inspired by stories of the hero First Class Sephiroth, striving to emulate him, and both fall from Shinra's graces after learning of the company's corrupt ways. In an inversion of a typical hero-villain story dynamic, Zack dies whereas Genesis lives. Whereas Zack is implied to have ultimately gained the status he had sought, Genesis gives up his quest for glory and instead adopts Zack and Angeal Hewley's wish to protect the world. 
Genesis and his copies are associated with black wings, whereas Angeal and his copies are associated with white wings, alluding to angel/fallen angel imagery. Both struggle with the man/monster dynamic, Genesis embracing it as it gives him special powers he can exploit to attain his goals, whereas Angeal begins to loath himself. Zack never believes Angeal has become a monster, and begins to see the "monstrousness" of ordinary humanity in the workings of Shinra.
=== Final Fantasy VIII ===
Squall Leonhart is opposed by his arch-rival Seifer Almasy. Squall wears a short black jacket and while Seifer's is long and white. The two use gunblades to battle, each having their own preferred model and fighting style, Seifer's being dark in color and Squall's being light. Their scars mirror one another. They both had the same love interest, and whereas Squall ends up leading the SeeDs in a battle against a sorceress, Seifer leads the G-Army to oppose him.
Likewise, the love interest of Squall, Rinoa Heartilly, is contrasted with the main antagonist, Ultimecia. Both are extremely powerful sorceresses; one easy-going and innocent while the other is cruel and heartless. Rinoa is symbolized as an angel with many references to angels ranging from her dog, Angelo, to the pattern of white wings on the back of her duster. Ultimecia on the other hand sports black wings and even has her own Griever, an evil leonine being, on her side. Her hairstyle gives her the appearance of having the devil's horns contrasting with Rinoa's angel imagery. Rinoa is characterized by the blue of her duster, the black of her hair and the rest of her clothing, and the white of her angel wings. Ultimecia's color scheme is the opposite: she has a red dress, white hair and black wings.
=== Final Fantasy IX ===
There are two worlds: Gaia and Terra. The Terran world was destroyed millennia ago so its people attempted to assimilate Gaia by sealing themselves in sleep and gradually replacing the souls of Gaia with those of Terra's. To assist them, the villain Kuja was created as an "Angel of Death" to incite death and war on Gaia and speed up the process. Later, a second Angel, Zidane Tribal, the main protagonist, was created.
The contrast between Terra, the dying world seeking to rejuvenate, and Gaia, the living world that is slowly dying due to losing its souls, is shown with the colors red and blue, respectively. Terra is the red world, its crystal shining red, which also gives the color to Gaia's second moon, the one originating from Terra. Thousands of years ago, when Terra attempted to absorb Gaia's crystal, the Fusion process failed and Terra shifted to the inside of the planet of Gaia its moon moving onto Gaia's orbit giving the planet two moons: the blue moon of Gaia and the red moon of Terra. The Final Fantasy IX Ultimania mentions that when the moons' orbs overlap and the blue moon of Gaia eclipses the red moon of Terra, the red moon is hidden from view entirely due to its dimmed glow from Terra's weak crystal. When the red moon eclipses the blue it gains a blue aura. This may symbolize Gaia having dominated the attempted merge of the two worlds, hiding Terra from view.
The black mages and the Genomes are artificial beings created for a specific purpose who do not procreate. Vivi Ornitier and Kuja parallel one another. Due to their short lifespan, both fear death, but while Vivi becomes confident and lives life to the fullest, Kuja becomes insane upon learning of his short lifespan and seeks to destroy everything.
In Crystal World, the crystal from which all worlds are born from is surrounded by two streams of light: one blue, one red. At the end of the ending credits the two worlds appear to merge and become one, seemingly transforming into the crystal that is the . Additionally, the red planet, Terra, appears on Zidane's side, representing the world he originated from. Likewise, the blue planet, Gaia, appears on Garnet's side, representing her home planet.
=== Final Fantasy X ===
The monster Sin was created by Yu Yevon to destroy any machina-based settlement that grew too large. A summoner is able to hold off this destruction by summoning the Final Aeon to destroy Sin. When this happens, the spirit of Yu Yevon within Sin possess that aeon, transforming it into a new Sin and continuing an endless cycle. When Summoner Yuna and her guardians kill Yu Yevon, she ends the cycle and destroys Sin for good. However, in the process, the world that had been dreamed up by the fayth is also destroyed, causing Tidus to disappear.
The corporeal world and the spirit world are thus juxtaposed. The spirit world is represented by Tidus's Zanarkand and the Farplane, as well as the fayth and the aeons, the unsent, and even some fiends. The corporeal world of Spira is where mankind makes its living. Multiple characters breach the gap between the two; namely, the ones who become unsent, and Tidus who is a dream of the fayth yet finds his way to Spira.
Yuna's and Tidus's characters may allude to the Chinese concept of the yin and yang. In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang are concepts used to describe how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent, giving rise to each other as they interrelate. Many tangible dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, and male and female) are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality of yin and yang.
Yin is the negative/passive/female principle in nature, and may allude to many other concepts e.g. the moon, shaded orientation, something covert or concealed, "of the netherworld", overcast or sinister. Yang is the positive/active/male principle in nature, and may allude to many other concepts e.g. the sun, open, overt, and "belonging to this world". This could be represented by Yuna's readiness to die to complete the Final Summoning, and thus others treating her thusly. Tidus on the other hand is full of life and wants to find a way to save Yuna, though in the end he is the one to fade away. The sun and the moon themes are represented in the couple's names and the crests needed to empower their Celestial Weapons.
Yuna and Seymour Guado also parallel one another. Both are biracial, and both had a parent sacrifice themselves to defeat Sin. Whereas Yuna's biracial heritage is not readily apparent and she is accepted into society, growing up in a loving and supportive environment, Seymour grows up in a hostile environment and adopts a negative view of life, becoming nihilistic. Both become summoners, but whereas Yuna's goal is to defeat Sin for good to end Spira's suffering, Seymour seeks the same goal by trying to become Sin himself and destroy Spira. Both Yuna and Seymour display aspects of Jesus Christ: Yuna is willing to die to defeat Sin, and in one scene she walks on water when performing the sending, a ritual that "saves the souls of the dead" by sending them to the Farplane; when Seymour is killed he assumes the pose Jesus is often depicted on the cross, and soon "rises from the dead" by becoming an unsent.
==== Final Fantasy X-2 ====
The concept of dualism is present in the form of Yuna and Shuyin: Yuna is a human seeking for her lost lover while also being a witness of new Spira rising, Shuyin is an unsent wishing to destroy Spira as his grief and anger to avenge his lover's death.
The rival factions, Youth League and New Yevon, parallel one another with their leaders being good friends. The Youth League seeks to uncover Spira's secrets hidden in spheres while New Yevon hides Spira's secrets. The Youth League members are known for being thugs who starts fights while the New Yevon members simply hide secrets.
=== Final Fantasy XI ===
The enlightened races—those races believed to have been created by Altana, the Dawn Goddess, a good deity—face off against the hordes of beastmen—races created by Promathia, the Twilight God, who is twisted and evil—on Vana'diel.
=== Final Fantasy XII ===
The conflict between despotism and self-management is represented in two aspects: the main characters witness the rise of the Archadian Empire and its conquering of the Kingdom of Dalmasca, and sequentially ally themselves with the Resistance force against Archadia.
The main antagonists' also seek to free mankind from the divine control of the undying Occuria—who intervene in its history—and give mankind their own means, which are comparable to the gods', to craft its future. Archadia acts as social commentary on democracy and gives the Occurian rule some credibility as demonstrated through the constant power struggles. Vayne has arguably noble intentions of wishing for humanity's future to be governed by man, but in his actions, he is replacing one dictator with another. Vayne loses sight of his original goals in his madness, shown by disregarding his younger brother's counsel and fighting him. In the end both the Occuria's and Vayne's oppressive means of autocracy are ended by the heroes, implying a new dawn free from dictatorship is at hand.
=== Final Fantasy XIII ===
The two lands of floating Cocoon and the lowerlands of Gran Pulse, two separate worlds that both view the other as corrupt or evil plays on the dualist theme. Cocoon is a highly advanced planet with modern technology while Gran Pulse is a primitive planet with natural wildlife. The roles of fal'Cie and humanity on each world is also reversed in that on Cocoon, humanity relies upon the fal'Cie for survival, while on Pulse the fal'Cie are almost indifferent.
==== Final Fantasy XIII-2 ====
During the events of the sequel, there are still two worlds, but with a different dualism approach: the passage of time. While Gran Pulse and Cocoon are in constant movement with time paradox appearing within their timelines, Valhalla is a place where past, present, and future intersect, meaning that time doesn't flow "as it should" there. Another, plainer example of dualism are the characters Lightning and Caius, whose goals are complete opposites: Lightning wants to save the goddess Etro and protect the world, while Caius wants to kill Etro and trigger the apocalypse.
==== Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII ====
The two worlds of the previous games have been mixed together into the world of Nova Chrysalia, which itself is violently divided: two of its four landmasses are populated cities, while the other two are wild, untamed and mostly uninhabited. The continents themselves are also opposites of each other; while Luxerion is a religious capital of prayer and Yusnaan is a pleasure city where the inhabitants enjoy their days to the full, while the Dead Dunes are comprised of rolling dunes and ruins and the Wildlands are covered in forests and vegetation. The color themes of black and white are apparent throughout the artistic style of Nova Chrysalia, representing Lightning and Bhunivelze respectively.
=== Final Fantasy XIV ===
The world has constantly undergone periods of abundance, known as Astral Eras, followed by catastrophes known as Umbral Calamities that destroy entire civilizations. The times of scarcity and unrest after a Calamity are known as the Umbral Eras. At the start of A Realm Reborn, Hydaelyn is in its Seventh Umbral Era and transitions into its Seventh Astral Era with the defeat of the Ultima Weapon.
The Mothercrystal Hydaelyn is contrasted by her counterpart, Zodiark. They embody the elements of Light and Darkness, respectively. As Zodiark grows stronger, Hydaelyn weakens. The Word of the Mother and later Emet-Selch elaborate on this phenomenon; each Umbral Calamity is aspected to a different element that devastated seven of the thirteen shards split from the Source as part of the Ascians' Rejoinings. 
During Urianger Augurelt's time on the First, he discovers the process of the Rejoining phenomenon, as well as the Source's understanding of astral and umbral aether to be reversed; Light, or umbral aether, is associated with passivity and stagnation, while Darkness, or astral aether, is associated with activity and growth. The Source named them after their effects, while the First named them after their generation, the latter which Urianger believes to be the correct one.
=== Final Fantasy XV ===
The world is contrasted between modern elements and magical elements, such as Crystals and Astrals, and the modern nation of Lucis and the "fantasy kingdom" of Tenebrae. The Niflheim Empire seeks a magical power as well to rival Lucis, but gains power through magitek from daemons instead, the antithesis to the power of the Crystal.
Playing on the dualism theme, Noctis Lucis Caelum and Lunafreya Nox Fleuret (dressed in black and white respectively), hail from the kingdoms of Lucis ("Light") and Tenebrae ("Darkness"). Luna, whose name mean "moon" in Latin, is an Oracle who keeps the darkness of he Starscourge at bay with her powers, stopping the world from being swallowed in an eternal night, similar to how the moon offers a point of illumination in an otherwise dark night. Noctis's name is the genitive singular form of the Latin word nox meaning "night".
The darkness and light theme extends to the concepts of life and death. Lucis's emblem is a , and the nation was said to openly worship figures of death in the old concepts when the game was known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII: this concept remained though its overt expression was reduced. The revering of death remains as a theme, with the past kings lending their powers to their ancestors, and the royal tombs being places opened for the current king to receive this blessing from the dead. In juxtaposition, Niflheim also gains power from death in the form of daemons, but this is a dark power that at least in Ardyn Izunia's case prevents one's ascend to the afterlife. The Ring of the Lucii, a Lucian royal heirloom, gains power through death as the Crystal's power is transferred into it when the ring-bearing king dies. The True King can restore light to the world by sacrificing his own life.
The powers of light and dark, and life and death, are represented as the Crystal and the daemons and the plague that plunges the world into perpetual darkness: Starscourge. The Crystal is said to hold the soul of the world of Eos, the world's name itself referring to the theme of light and dark: in Greek mythology, Eos is a Titaness and the goddess of the dawn. The Oracle uses their powers to extend the life of the world and its people by keeping the Starscourge at bay, while the King of Lucis must use their own life force to wield the Ring of the Lucii.
The high-ranking Niflheim officials dress in white, whereas Lucians dress in black. Ardyn Izunia's attire uses both colors, and in many ways exists as juxtaposition to Noctis. When Ardyn uses powers similar to Noctis's, he glows red as opposed to Noctis's blue. He represents the forces of darkness where as Noctis is the King of Light. Ardyn is unable to truly die and enter the afterlife, whereas Noctis must sacrifice himself to free the world of Ardyn's influence. Angel and demon imagery is part of this, the evil and darkness being represented by daemons, whereas divinity is associated with angels and angel wings, as with the Messengers, the Oracle and the motifs on royal arms. The angel and demon juxtaposition can also be seen with Ravus and his sister Lunafreya, the latter being depicted with an angel wing in the logo and in the painting of the prophecy, and Ravus who ends up turning.
Shiva and Ifrit parallel one another while their elements are the opposite. They were lovers in the past. Shiva initially hated mankind, while Ifrit cared for them, and seeing Ifrit's passion changed Shiva's heart as well. However, Ifrit ended up hating mankind due to being wronged by them.
Lunafreya's magical Messenger dogs, the black Umbra and the white Pryna, also refer to the light and dark dualism theme. Whereas Umbra is associated with a corporeal presence, delivering physical messages between Noctis and Lunafreya and literally transporting the player to return to past areas of the game, Pryna is associated with dreams and visions. Pryna and Umbra, as well as Lunafreya and Noctis, could be likened to from Chinese philosophy, where here yin is the negative/passive/female principle associated with the moon, shaded orientation, and hidden and sinister and overcast things, and yang is the positive/active/male principle in nature, also representing the sun, openness and "belonging to this world". Yin is represented by black whereas Yang is represented by the color white, but the light/dark dualism is represented as inverted in Final Fantasy XV, also seen with the colors of the Crystal, Lucis, Tenebrae, and the Niflheim Empire.
=== Final Fantasy Brave Exvius ===
There are multiple instances of dualism in the game's universe. During season one, the world of Lapis is paralleled to the world of Paladia, a technologically and magically far more advanced world. Paladia had two major races: Aldore who revered science, and Hess that revered magic. Both sides lived in peace until Vlad declared himself the first Emperor of Aldore and Hess began to be discriminated against, the strife culminating in a global war between Aldore and Hess, led by their lieutenants, the Sworn Eight of Paladia and Hess' Eight Sages, respectively. 
The war caused massive casualties, so Raegen, the leader of the Sworn Eight, devised a plan to seal the sages of Hess in Crystal and make the Sworn Eight the strongest power in the world to force peaceful negotiations. This backfired when Vlad betrayed his men and used the Eight Crystals and an interdimensional gate to transport the landmass of the battlefield into Lapis, causing a major cataclysm in the latter that caused millions of deaths. The stranded Paladians ended up intermixing with the Lapisians, and for the next 700 years the Paladians would steer Lapis's development through technological advancements or by founding kingdoms. The two worlds remained separated as the gate was closed and the Eight Crystals of Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Lightning, Ice, Light and Dark were used as anchors so that the landmass remained in place.
The rebranded Sworn Six of Paladia eventually attempted to destroy the crystals to return to Paladia and enact revenge on the empire that betrayed them. Hess Sages were freed from their slumber, and the sage that would become known as Dark Fina emerged as an amnesiac girl simply called Fina. She had Rain and Lasswell, two Knights of Grandshelt, to embark on a journey to stop the Sworn Six and eventually learn more about their own world and the circumstances behind the current battle. Rain's natural talent and easygoing attitude is juxtaposed to Lasswell's more serious and disciplined approach. The two are also complements, as Rain aligns with Fire and Earth, whereas Lasswell aligns with Ice and Wind. Thorough a ritual performed by Sakura, Fina and Dark Fina separate yet remain bonded. Fina was about to be erased from existence as a "fake", prompting Dark Fina to become the new Earth Crystal, thereby allowing Fina to live as her own person.
Following the climatic battle against Sol, a mad sage of Hess who serves as a foil to Rain both in name and personality along with his Chaotic Darkness, the two were lost. The party prepared an expedition into Paladia through the Invincible, the only airship sufficiently powerful to travel through the interdimensional gate to find Rain and bring him home, establishing the setting for season two. The mysteriously revived members of the Sworn Six join the party to confirm the state of their homeland. Paladia is found under a perpetual Aldorian dictatorship, first established by Vlad who took advantage of the absence of any power that could stand up to him, causing strife for 700 years. Both Aldore people and Hess lived under the iron grip of the global empire, with the people of Hess at the bottom of the caste.
The parties split into two, Lasswell's party looking for Rain, while Raegen's party tried to overthrow the tyranny. Both parties ended up fighting the new lieutenants of Aldore, the Orders, whose membership comprised of 16 Battle Stars, seemingly a nod to both the Sworn Eight and Hess Sages who together sum 16.
The beastman nation of Gungan udnerwent their own civil conflict split between two parties, the Natura comprised of nature-loving beastmen who stood in all fours, and the Shibyra that revered technology and adopted bipedal postures. The two sides had different rulers with King Yashka of the Natura being a beastman, whereas the Shibyra leader King Palte was a human raised by the previous king and a brilliant scientist on his own right. The two sides made peace after Lasswell's and Raegen's parties thwarted the plot of Nazuu of the Orders, with Gungan uniting under the leadership of the two kings. The parties separated again to fulfill their objectives.
Rain and Lasswell were revealed as the legitimate heirs of the Aldore and Hess, respectively, as Rain and Raegen are descendants of Aldore's true kings, King Varenis and the to be successor Rubens, both assassinated by Vlad who took over as Emperor. Lasswell, meanwhile, was the son of Rowen a Sage of Hess and himself the son of Yuraisha the Mother of Hess. Yuraisha raised an infant Raegen as her son to protect him from Vlad's evil grip. In turn and after the global war, Raegen would free Rowen from his crystal imprisonment, who would marry the daughter of a farmer and give birth to Lasswell, who was left orphaned after a monster attack killed both his parents, making Raegen adopt him, the same way Yuraisha did with him, but keeping the secret of their origins hidden from both children. Both Raegen and Rowen mirrored Rain and Lasswell as step-brothers and rivals.
As Rain learned of his heritage through Crimson, a former aide to Raegen, the town of Sacher in which he resided succumbed to a civil fight as the two sides of Aldore and Hess in the town fought over Rain with the Aldore side trying to protect him, and the Hess trying to kill him as revenge for the historical discrimination. The town was destroyed by Aldore forces, leaving Rain devastated at the loss of Mirfas, a young Aldore girl, and Kyanos, a Hess warrior who tried to overcome the desire for revenge. Crimson's life was lost, causing Rain to take Crimson's sword, the Centuria, and Kyanos' scarf to try overcome the Aldore Emperor. This failed and he adopted the identity of Hyoh as a member of the Orders.
When Rain returned to his original party, his disgust over the methods of the Children of Hess, a group of Hessian revolutionaires, causes a drift between him and Lasswell, who is their legitimate leader by inheritance. The dualism between Aldore and Hess comes in full display when Rain and Lasswell's dormant bloodline powers resonate and repel one another. Rain abandoned the party to embrace his persona of Hyoh and declared his opposition to Hess.
As the new war developed, a new element threatened to change the tide of a battle. Aldore discovered an ancient machine capable of genocidal destruction, prompting both Aldore and Hess forces to race for the Weapon. The Aldore Emperor tried to use it to annihilate all life other than himself while the Children of Hess advisors sought to eradicate Aldore once and for all. A new member of the Orders, Physalis, was the rare breed of both Aldore and Hess parents, granting her tremendous power to serve as the key to activate the Weapon. Sol joined Hyoh in his quest to return the latter to his true self to restore the rivalry between them, bonding in the process. Although the Weapon was terminated and Sol killed during a battle against the Emperor, the parties rejoined with Hyoh and Lasswell making peace after seeing Physalis as living proof of their opposing bloods being able to reach one another. They become Aldore King Rain and Hess King Lasswell, leading the parties into a battle against the Aldore Emperor and Vlad, who had underwent an immortality process and had served as a shadow ruler all along. They terminate his tyranny once and for all, and Rain and Lasswell become the legitimate rulers of Paladia.
Season three introduced new concepts of dualism. The Hollow was a force of nothingness that could devour everything and anything—living beings, material things or even concepts—from the worlds in the Farplane. The Will of Oblivion was opposed to the Will of Light, a force responsible for nurturing life, both forces creating a balance. As the Hollow started ravaging worlds with its wormholes, the Will of Light recruited Fina to go on a journey across the Farplane to restore the worlds to normalcy. Fina was tasked to guide a mysterious and magically powerful baby, known as Roca. Fina and her new companions she recruited from different worlds became the Hollow Breakers, opposed by a group known as the Hollow Keepers who protected the Hollow, convinced the Hollow's power improves their worlds.
Fina and Dark Fina were revealed to be creations, or "daughters", of the Wills, with the purpose to keep each opposing force in check. Roca was the reincarnation of Dark Fina who disappeared in the previous season as a result of using time traveling powers to allow the party to truly defeat Vlad. However, her disappearance created an imbalance that made the Will of Oblivion to go out of control in its quest to reduce all worlds to nothingness.
== Etymology ==
== Citations ==
Category:Recurring story elements