#there's a character that is animal like in poe1 and i might not remember his name but i love him so dearly | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

herearedragons · 2 months

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...so yesterday I noticed a fun Pillars of Eternity thing.

There are 11 companions in POE1. There are also 11 gods in Eora.

So, naturally, I decided to see if you can match every companion's themes/aesthetic/general plot to a god, and, you kind of can? So I'm going to put the list of matches I ended up with here, and more detailed explanations under the cut.

The List

Edér - Eothas

Aloth - Berath

Sagani - Rymrgand

Kana - Wael

Durance - Magran

Pallegina - Hylea

Hiravias - Galawain

Grieving Mother - Woedica

Maneha - Ondra

Zahua - Skaen

Devil of Caroc - Abydon

(disclaimer: this is not the "every companion secretly represents a god" theory. this is just me having fun and seeing how far I can take this idea. some of these are A Stretch)

(another disclaimer: I'll be referencing both the first game and the short stories, so, uh, spoilers)

(also special thanks to @solas-backpack-mug for helping me brainstorm this)

Evidence

...the first thing I should probably mention is that, to make things easier for myself, I assumed that every character we know to be devoted or otherwise connected to a specific god will be representing that god. That mostly worked out (I'll get into my reasoning for Hiravias later), and in some cases there was even additional evidence to support this.

So!

Edér - Eothas

the theme of rebirth/second chances is all over his dialogue, storyline and even combat abilities (his Second Chance armor). you could argue that the warrior ability that allows you to constantly regenerate Endurance is also kind of relevant, but that's a stretch

Eothasian

Aloth - Berath

like Berath, his soul has two aspects, male and female (the Usher and the Pallid Knight vs Aloth and Iselmyr)

his quest is literally called "Two-Sided"

in his short story, he brings up the fact that the Aedyran priesthood of Berath, specifically, opposes animancy - which he also does

also in the short story, he for some reason chooses to pray to Berath in a moment that's important to him, and it might be a cultural thing, but I also think this is the only time we've seen him pray at all?

Sagani - Rymrgand

general arctic theming

this is one of the shakier associations, but once I started looking into it I realized that the themes of futility and deterioration are kind of present in Sagani's story. She references in her short story (and I'm pretty sure in the game as well, though I don't remember) how she's growing older and more distant from her family the longer her search takes, being literally worn down by time. And in the end, she finds Persoq as a dying animal who can't understand her; under a certain interpretation you could say that her search was futile, though that's definitely not the only reading (and it's not my personal interpretation, but for tinfoil-hat purposes, it counts).

you could argue that her hunting down a reincarnated soul is kind of like Rymrgand's entropy coming for every soul eventually

Kana - Wael

his entire character is based around different aspects of knowledge: knowledge preserved, knowledge newly discovered, knowledge lost

has a humorous streak

seems to have a tendency to wander and defy the existing order of things

Durance - Magran

I mean

Pallegina - Hylea

she's an avian godlike

I guess you could say she's devoted to the growth and prosperity of the Republics, which resonates with Hylea's theme of nurturing?

but it's mostly the godlike thing

Hiravias - Galawain

worships or used to worship Galawain, depending on your choices

druid, strongly associated with beasts and nature

he could end up as a follower of Wael, which by my own rule would qualify him for the Wael parallel, but: a) I think Kana fits Wael's thing better, b) I think that, regardless of your choices, Hiravias' quest is ultimately still about survival. Either he proves himself to Galawain by surviving his trials, or he walks away and chooses a better god to follow - but that, too, is a form of self-preservation.

Grieving Mother - Woedica

was "destroyed" when her cipher powers backfired and now lives as a lesser form of herself, can be restored to her full power depending on your choices

manipulated the minds of an entire village to hide the truth about the Hollowborn from them, and protecting secrets is very much a Woedica thing

Maneha - Ondra

instantly qualified by being an Ondrite and a Giftbearer

is a coastal aumaua, for extra ocean vibes

wants to forget a murder she committed, just like Ondra wants her murder of Abydon to be forgotten

I'm pretty sure that Maneha and Devil were at least a little intentionally written to mirror Ondra and Abydon respectively, so I'm feeling pretty good about this one

Zahua - Skaen

mutilation or self-mutilation as a means for achieving a Noble Goal (revenge for Skaenites, enlightenment for Zahua)

seeks to liberate his enslaved people

Devil of Caroc - Abydon

murdered and reborn in an artificial body

depending on your choices, her story either ends with rage or with sinking into the ocean and being forgotten (which kind of mirrors the restored untempered/not restored Abydon endings; sure, he's not forgotten in the unrestored ending, but the whole "sinking into the ocean" does fit the "Ondra wins" vibe)

again, pretty sure she's an intentional parallel to Abydon. she's also the only one who doesn't need any extra help to survive striking the crystal with Abydon's hammer at the end of TWM2

#pillars of eternity #edér teylecg #aloth corfiser #sagani #kana rua #durance #pallegina mes rèi #hiravias #grieving mother #maneha #zahua #devil of caroc #herearedragons meta #this was surprisingly fun to put together

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