slade, auras, the shadow swords, etc. theories

[mortalsoldier]

For the sake of theory, let's pretend these three things that are accurate in the game's context:

The shadow swords are essentially sentient. They have a pretty strong desire to absorb auras, shown by how the Phantom Slasher uses Jeruh's own self-deception and impossible quest for Serena to make "Rhue" into a glorified killing machine. Ghost Horror goes far enough to even choose it's next master [note: I don't know if all the shadow swords do that. Maybe each has it's own method to try and create a sustainable kill cycle? As in Phantom Slasher has Dream Estrana to organize auras and Ghost Horror freely chooses who wields it. Night Reaper also seems to have it's own world inside of it, seen in the Traziun/Kalmar conversation after Traziun kills him]. The idea that the Phantom Slasher seems to have it's own separate identity from Rhue furthers this, especially consider how it tries to keep Rhue in Dream Estrana with deception.

Slade somehow loses either his entire or a large portion of his aura when Phantom Slasher gets lodged within him. The two theories that support this involve how Slade becomes mute in Dream Estrana and how Slade seems to completely change after the encounter. Slade shows shades of self-doubt in short glimpses during the game but after the last encounter with Rhue he becomes inconsolable in self-pity and suicidal. Jopaga said that as shadow swords absorb auras and the dominant aura of the holder begins to lose power, the wielder usually cannot deal with the change and kills himself. Perhaps Slade losing his aura to Phantom Slasher (or at least a large portion of it), losing I guess what the aura represents (seemingly his "perspective") leads to his suicide?

"Rhue" is either the Mimic or Venge or both. This theory is pretty popular, but I'm going to assume it's the version of the theory that assumes that Mimic/Venge is without their own aura (which is generally the idea of the Mimic) and that's why Rhue does not suffer from the negative side effects of wielding a shadow sword (namely, suicide). I like this theory because it meshes well with the shadow swords being sentient; if both of these are true, doesn't the relationship between "Rhue" and the Phantom Slasher seem much more symbiotic? "Rhue" provides the Phantom Slasher a method to murder and absorb auras while Phantom Slasher gives "Rhue" a purpose using the auras it's collected. The Phantom Slasher's lie about being Serena also makes a good deal of sense, too, considering "Rhue" is purposeless without his hunt for Serena and therefore the concept of Serena protects "Rhue" even if it's all just an excuse for bloodshed. The Phantom Slasher in itself seems pretty fond of Rhue, wanting to protect him from the Truth in Dream Estrana as well as always returning to him (specifically after getting stuck in Slade).

Humor me and assume that all three of these are true.

Now, is it any surprise that Ghost Horror chooses Slade as it's next wielder? Slade essentially becomes the perfect puppet for a shadow sword just as "Rhue", a creature lacking an aura to guide it; if Ghost Horror were actually to be wielded by Slade as Ghost Horror seemed to intend, what would have stopped Slade from becoming the next Phantom Slasher? All he would need to do is kill someone with a purpose that can be twisted into a killing motive, have that aura become dominant and you have an identical situation. Perhaps this is why Kalmar has never faced the drawbacks of using a shadow sword. It's possible he went through something similar and has the dominant aura of whatever led or leads the Blana Sera, which seems to be a great dominant aura for any sword that wishes for blood.

Luckily and unluckily (for her), Lyrra gets her hands on the sword before Slade can and something different unfolds. I think the best evidence for Ghost Horror wanting to use Slade as it's puppet is shown in how Ghost Horror chooses Slade while Slade is in the mental state he is in. Assuming that Ghost Horror is out of the picture (as it is in the game, when Lyrra takes it), Slade does in fact kill himself. Now, are we supposed to assume through the general wisdom of the shadow swords that if Slade had picked up Ghost Horror, Slade would have been given a purpose and therefore continued to live (to perhaps kills Lyrra as she ran in, and then maybe go running after Strata with Lyrra's aura dominant, and then essentially killing and becoming Strata to plain ol' kill people out of jerkiness). It would seem rather foolish for a shadow sword to choose a man who's going to kill himself anyway, so I figure there has to be more going on there.

Agree? Disagree? Find a gaping hole in my theory? Been said before? Let me know.

[Sage Of The Wise]

I wouldn't compare Slade's suicide with the shadow swords knack of getting their wielders to kill themselves. Slade killed himself because of the massive depression he was going through, which yes was probably caused by the Phantom Slasher taking part of his aura or something. Shadow sword wielders are described as killing themselves because the connection between their body and their aura is suddenly snapped and the body starts making connections with all the auras flooding out of the sword, resulting in sudden insanity and death. Like a much less controlled version of what happens to Rhue when he switches auras. (I say switch but I think its more of a patch, but that theory is important here)

It might also be misleading to imply that the Ghost Horror waited until Slade was in the appropriate mental state before choosing him. Ghost Horror chose him at that moment because that's when Kalmar died. I also think Rhue's situation with the whole switching of dominant auras is a situation completely unique to Rhue and only happened because he was already aura-less, through whichever derivative of the venge/mimic theory you believe in. No one else who wields a shadow sword immediately becomes a new person, they just have their emotions manipulated to serve the swords purpose(ex: Jeruh and Lyrra). Its because of this Slade would be such a good choice. Slade is obsessed with upholding justice and trying to make up for all the girls he couldn't protect. That alone would be the kind of person who's going to be killing lots of people, let alone what might happen with some prodding by the sword. All Ghost Horror would have to do is make sure Slade doesn't kill himself. Look at your proposed situation of what would happen if Slade does get Ghost Horror. He wouldn't just kill Lyrra, become her, kill Strata, become him, etc. Lyrra would run in being chased by the blood lyn, Slade would kill the blood lyn to protect her, and then tada Slade's got a new girl he feels he has to protect, so hes gonna continue living in an extremely manipulate-able state.

Granted, I have no idea what effect his weakened aura would have on the whole situation, but most likely it makes him even more open to suggestion by Ghost Horror. And thats why Ghost Horror might want to choose Slade.

[mortalsoldier]

I apologize - I didn't mean to imply that Ghost Horror was waiting for Slade, just that as Kalmar died Slade was in the perfect situation. When it comes to "Rhue" being uniquely auraless, we actually see another character in the game surviving despite having no aura and that's Cade. Sure, in the brief moments we see him in the end credits of 4 he seems to have completely lost his humanity, but perhaps that's the path Slade was down as well? I guess the real question is what exactly was happening to Slade when the sword lodged in him.

I guess what I don't understand is how a sword connected to an auraless person (i.e. Rhue) jumps from aura to aura. As soon as "Midian" kills Jeruh, he becomes him due to Jeruh having more of a motive to kill than Midian, who with the death of Jeruh is essentially done. At least that's what I think is implied when people talk about "dominant auras", which essentially seem chosen either by the desire of something or straight up by the shadow sword. Let's say Cade, in his somewhat animalistic travels, came upon a shadow sword. Wouldn't Cade then be taken over by the next person he killed, since the aura of that person has to be stronger than his own (considering he doesn't have one)?

And yeah, it does seem far-fetched now that Slade would kill Lyrra unless the sword had complete control of Slade, which seems like it would have been unlikely due to Slade still having conscious thought and at least some part of his aura.

[Debacle]

One thing I never quite figured out was when Phantom Slasher was stuck in Slade and we got inside that "memory world".
Although the sword seems to be reading the painful info from Slade's mind, Rhue's aura is still there watching how those memories unfold.
The problem is: since Rhue is there, we can assume his aura would be attached to the sword and not the body. I can't recall the correct exactly, but I guess a while later is when Rhue washes up near the blood lyn fort. But if Rhue's aura is in the sword and Phantom Slasher is in Slade, how the body can act as if it were Rhue?
The body is obsessed to get back to the Sword - where any other possible controlling aura would lie. So who is in control of the body or maybe what is inside Slade's memories?

And also, I don't think a big part of Slade's aura was taken, given the fact that in Dream Estrana, Slade can't even talk.
All the body stuff, like shape and skills transitioned just fine, so I wouldn't say he doesn't know how to talk. He'd rather not have enough personality - which it's what the aura basically appears to be - in him to have any opinion outside of raw instinct. For a comparision of how little of him was taken, even in a state of amnesia, you would still talk.

[Sage Of The Wise]

Something I forgot to mention in my last post. I don't think the sword tries to keep Rhue in Dream Estrana. I think Dream Estrana is the last place it would want Rhue since its the only (or at least most likely) way he could learn the truth. The first two times he arrives there because of what I've always assumed was a side effect of the whole Jopaga incident and Rhue absorbing his own aura. The second time also probably having to do with the whole Slade thing. Both those times Rhue is ejected pretty quickly from Dream Estrana. The third time Gaius sends him there (some how). This time he stays much longer because Gauis keeps him there with whatever powers he has until Rhue learns the truth, at the end Gauis even shows up briefly to take him back out. The sword is just doing its best to keep Rhue from learning the truth since it can't get rid of him this time.

[mortalsoldier]

Something I forgot to mention in my last post. I don't think the sword tries to keep Rhue in Dream Estrana. I think Dream Estrana is the last place it would want Rhue since its the only (or at least most likely) way he could learn the truth. The first two times he arrives there because of what I've always assumed was a side effect of the whole Jopaga incident and Rhue absorbing his own aura. The second time also probably having to do with the whole Slade thing. Both those times Rhue is ejected pretty quickly from Dream Estrana. The third time Gaius sends him there (some how). This time he stays much longer because Gauis keeps him there with whatever powers he has until Rhue learns the truth, at the end Gauis even shows up briefly to take him back out. The sword is just doing its best to keep Rhue from learning the truth since it can't get rid of him this time.

This makes sense, but I'm still confused about the Lexus ending. In the Lexus ending the Phantom Slasher essentially gets exactly what it wants by having Rhue live in Dream Estrana while it controls Rhue's body, correct? Makes me wonder why Phantom Slasher tries to hide Lexus (ala how it tried to hide Lyrra due to Lyrra being the key to the Truth) when essentially Lexus is a way to keep Rhue occupied. It seems that when Rhue submits to staying in Dream Estrana, the Phantom Slasher takes over Rhue's body. Then again, the Lexus ending seems to be more of a deus ex machina ending for the Phantom Slasher, as the jig is just about up when Lexus intervenes. Maybe he just wants Rhue away from his allies, as it seems in the alternate normal endings where Rhue loses to Phantom Slasher that if Rhue dies in Dream Estrana Phantom Slasher also takes over. Explains a little why Slade, Lexus and (obviously) Lyrra are all hidden and Sorya isn't due to her being in disguise. The people who join Rhue early (Midian, Sacrifa) all seem to join him out of their own interests.

Of course, this all could just be a gameplay element, consider how E6 has much more focus on the game than the other episodes (but still has so much relevance to the story... this was done so brilliantly).

One thing I never quite figured out was when Phantom Slasher was stuck in Slade and we got inside that "memory world".
Although the sword seems to be reading the painful info from Slade's mind, Rhue's aura is still there watching how those memories unfold.
The problem is: since Rhue is there, we can assume his aura would be attached to the sword and not the body. I can't recall the correct exactly, but I guess a while later is when Rhue washes up near the blood lyn fort. But if Rhue's aura is in the sword and Phantom Slasher is in Slade, how the body can act as if it were Rhue?
The body is obsessed to get back to the Sword - where any other possible controlling aura would lie. So who is in control of the body or maybe what is inside Slade's memories?

And also, I don't think a big part of Slade's aura was taken, given the fact that in Dream Estrana, Slade can't even talk.
All the body stuff, like shape and skills transitioned just fine, so I wouldn't say he doesn't know how to talk. He'd rather not have enough personality - which it's what the aura basically appears to be - in him to have any opinion outside of raw instinct. For a comparision of how little of him was taken, even in a state of amnesia, you would still talk.

I was under the assumption that the aura Rhue meets in Dream Estrana is whatever was left of his aura after he walks into the scene of Slade stabbing Cetsa before his death. I thought that Rhue would be unable to really absorb Slade's aura considering the time period where Slade has the sword lodged in him Rhue isn't present. Of course, this brings up two bigger questions and the idea that my assumption may just be that; first, how does Rhue see Slade's memories without being present unless he had somehow absorbed some of Slade's aura, and second, how does Rhue get his sword back? Does he just go pick it up while in Phantom Slasher mode then, I guess, revert back wherever Rhue woke up? Or does the Phantom Slasher have sentient control over itself like the way that the other swords move around sometimes to find new masters? I don't know.

[Sage Of The Wise]

This makes sense, but I'm still confused about the Lexus ending. In the Lexus ending the Phantom Slasher essentially gets exactly what it wants by having Rhue live in Dream Estrana while it controls Rhue's body, correct? Makes me wonder why Phantom Slasher tries to hide Lexus (ala how it tried to hide Lyrra due to Lyrra being the key to the Truth) when essentially Lexus is a way to keep Rhue occupied. It seems that when Rhue submits to staying in Dream Estrana, the Phantom Slasher takes over Rhue's body.

Well the answer to all that depends on exactly whats going on in the Lexus ending. When Rhue decides to stay with Lexus, what takes control of his body? Is it the Phantom Slasher itself, or has the sword just once again changed the dominant aura now that the current one is useless? If it is the Phatom Slasher itself, then I can only assume it didn't try for this result because it was too risky, as you say yourself the PS was saved by deus ex machina. In the other case the whole situation isn't the big win for the PS as it might seem, but more of just a small bump in the road for it. The whole reason Rhue is the aura aloud in control is because of his quest for Serena. If he gives up he's useless. Which would explain why Lexus would be hidden away, and why in general the PS kills people who distract Rhue from his goal (there's a scene in the reaches ending that particularly exemplifies this). When Rhue decides to stay with Lexus he gives up his search for Serena and is no longer any use to the PS so it just pulls out a new aura and thats what we see fly off in the end.

I was under the assumption that the aura Rhue meets in Dream Estrana is whatever was left of his aura after he walks into the scene of Slade stabbing Cetsa before his death. I thought that Rhue would be unable to really absorb Slade's aura considering the time period where Slade has the sword lodged in him Rhue isn't present. Of course, this brings up two bigger questions and the idea that my assumption may just be that; first, how does Rhue see Slade's memories without being present unless he had somehow absorbed some of Slade's aura, and second, how does Rhue get his sword back? Does he just go pick it up while in Phantom Slasher mode then, I guess, revert back wherever Rhue woke up? Or does the Phantom Slasher have sentient control over itself like the way that the other swords move around sometimes to find new masters? I don't know.

Well, the Slade thing I have no real answer for, its one of the more confusing aspects of the game. But as far as Rhue and the PS goes, I never thought Rhue goes into 'Phantom Slasher mode' and does that stuff, but that the sword has sentient control like you suggest. A good example of this is when the PS breaks Rhue out of the blood lyn prison. Rhue's sword is not with him but outside the cell, so it can physically manifest a body to break him out which it does. The alternative of Rhue going into PS mode doesn't make sense because A. he doesn't have his sword and B. what could he have done from inside the cell as the PS that he couldn't do already?

[mortalsoldier]

I'll just scratch off "why does PS hide Lexus" from my questions list. Thanks.

[parallel]

Slade somehow loses either his entire or a large portion of his aura when Phantom Slasher gets lodged within him.

Now, i had always presumed Slade had gone mute in Dream Estrana due to losing part of his aura, or something similar, but discussing The Way with a friend who is replaying it says that there is a condition in battle that can cause Slade to say something in battle, appearing to be angry.

I'm currently checking for what he exactly says and the exact conditions for it but the fact he says something at all in E6 was a shock to me. It has caused me to think that maybe it isnt as complex as losing his aura but has simply psychologically lost the ability to speak due to the depressive state he's currently in. A personification of cotemplative self- pity perhaps?

[Sage Of The Wise]

In EP6, if Slade's HP is lower than it was the turn before 6 times in one battle, he goes into Rage mode. At which point he says one of 6 lines. Rage last 4 turns. It looks like he only says something the first time he goes into rage.