As a WMG subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Alinua is the Emissary of a primordial goddess of life magic
Given that she was born with extraordinary amounts of life magic, was able to actually control it only after seeing some vast being of life energy, and that she is able to heal and frighten the Void Dragon, it stands to reason she is linked to a god somehow. It would be doubly ironic, since people believed her to be a spirit and offered sacrifices to her, and before meeting Kendal, was Godless.- Practically confirmed when a large green figure manifests around Alinua (who becomes part of its face) and tells Dr. Jolon that it "twisted" her.
- It has been confirmed that Alinua is Life's vessel.
Falst will join the party in Chapter 11.
I mean, come on. At this point Kendal is a little kid holding a former enemy in his hands and asking Alinua, “Can we keep him?”- Confirmed.
The Collector created the Chimeric Plague
Based on the lore pages, it's known that a female scholar disappeared after discovering Life's true name, and not long after the first recorded instance of the Chimeric Plague occurred. I wonder what could've possibly happened to the scholar...?- Called it.
- Given what we now know, I don't think she created it (why would she?) It's more likely she caused it indirectly by awakening Life and deciding to kill all life in her name.
The dragon we saw responding to the Void Dragon's awakening and the paladin we saw fighting a cave-crawler serve the "Other" of the Void Dragon, which is also the source of souls in this world.
Whatever force they interact with seems to think/speak in the same font as the Void Dragon and Alinua's green entity, and is associated with a bluish-white color not yet seen associated with elemental magic, but which is similar to the flash of light seen in the prologue when the Elder Races suddenly gained free will. In addition, the eyes of the "Paladin" looked very much like a light blue version of Erin's eyes when the Void Dragon was possessing him. Furthermore, I believe that this "Other" sired the Twins either on its own or together with the Void Dragon. Since the Void Dragon is the embodiment of withering and consuming, it seems strange that it would be able to create the Twins (especially from within its prison) to serve it. Once the Void Dragon began manipulating the Twins, the Other either stepped in to intervene or else was a strong enough influence on the twins that it was either directly or indirectly responsible for the Elder Races receiving their souls and free will.- Confirmed as far as serving the 'other' goes. The Light Dragon is confirmed to be both the entity possessing the dragon and the being the Paladins serve, but she doesn't seem tied to soul energy, since it can be any color, not just white and blue.
The Collector is the former Elemental Magus.
It's been mentioned that the last Magus, who was female, supposedly died a little over a century ago. The Collector has been seen to use at least three elements, appears nearly human (only humans can be Elemental Magi), and has been actively stealing souls for just under a century.- Jossed. She is only a Life Mage. Albeit, the Life Mage that discovered Life's true name, but a mere Life Mage nonetheless. Her other elemental powers come from a hack where she "heals" their decayed bodies.
Something is causing the Primordials to awaken, and the others are also going to play active roles in the story.
The Void Dragon and Life aren't unique in becoming active in the way they are; the Primordials aren't dead — or at least aren't dead anymore — and are beginning to become active in response to something, probably the Dragon's own stirring. Since both Life and the Dragon are acting through mortal hosts, it's likely that Stone, Fire, Wind, Lightning and Water will do so as well. The Void Dragon is an intrinsic part of creation, and cannot be destroyed.
The lore entry on the potential seventh element rather clearly hints that the Dragon's essence is intrinsically tied into living things, enough so that creatures made without tying its nature into them do not function as true living beings. They key aspect here is that the Dragon's nature is consumption — that is, the ability to feed on things and make them part of yourself. Without it, it's not possible to actually feed — this is why artificial homunculi cannot heal and grow, as they cannot ingest fresh energy or matter into themselves.Given this, what would happen if the Void Dragon were destroyed? Without it, its associated "element" might not continue to exist — and thus life would no longer be able to consume and incorporate fresh resources into itself, making it impossible to have a metabolism. This would be a bit of problem, and the while the Void Dragon needs to remain sealed it also needs to remain a living part of the world in the same manner the Primordials do.
- Except that the other Primordials are canonically dead (at least in the Lovecraftian "even-death-may-die" sense) and, in fact, have to be dead to allow the world to be (hence the Collector's doomsday plot). So really, "killing" Void (again, in the Lovecraftian "even-death-may-die" sense) will probably make him a "living" part of the world in the same manner as the Primordials.
There are actually eight elements.
It is well established that it is commonly believed, in universe, that there are six elements (Stone, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Water, Life), each of which plays an important part in life-as-we-know-it. Red herself has stated, both on Tumblr and on official lore pages, that Void (Dragon) is an element as well, and it is heavily implied that it is also necessary for life-as-we-know-it.Do you know what else is necessary for life-as-we-know-it? Soul. This one, like Void, is not recognized as an element in-universe, probably due to the difficulty in controlling it and the fact that it just appears, but it makes sense: It can't be constructed as a combination or subtype of other elements, it's a tangible substance unlike gravity (the other thing that "just happens"), it even has a Primordial attached to it!
Granted, that last bit is pure speculation at this point, but I have a feeling that the Paladins' Dragon of Light is actually the Soul Primordial (much the way the Void Dragon, their Dragon of Darkness, is the Void Primordial).
The Void Dragon is dying.
As a semi-direct counter to the theory above V.D. is slowly, but surely, dying. It's been mentioned that the Singing Caves are becoming more inhospitable for the residents still living there and cave corruption is seen on the surface in times of famine, almost as if Void energy is leaking from the dragon and not returning. He hasn't fed upon anything for thousands of years so he's losing energy outwards and not replenishing it. While the primordials died with a bang, he may die with a whimper.I know he said that he does not wither, but honestly would you consider him to be a reliable narrator? He may not even be aware it's happening to him, either though arrogance or ignorance.
Alinua/the Chimeric Plague is a countermeasure to the Collector
While we don't know precisely when the Collector became what she is now, we do know that the Chimeric Plague was first recorded about 300 years ago. Since Life seems to be doing this consciously, it is likely this started after she was awakened.In addition, when we see Life's true name here
it is identical to the mark on Alinua's arm. In contrast, the flashback to the kid with the plague has a similar but not identical mark. This seems to indicate that Life needed multiple attempts to get the mark right.She is likely doing this to stop the Collector's plan to awaken her fully, as we know the two are not on the same wavelength. Life might have seen the Collector's goal, realized "this fool is going to ruin everything", and found a way to stop her.Tess and Erin are siblings
- Somewhat confirmed. Erin's father bought Tess to be a playmate for Erin and they seem to have had a sibling-like relationship.
Erin's father had the Soulshaper monks make Erin an Elemental Magus
What we know about Erin's father doesn't paint a very flattering picture of him. We know that he bought Tess, even if it was for somewhat good reasons. We also know that Erin doesn't trust the Aseran mage community, which he is a part of, not to experiment on the Void Dragon. Thus, he has questionable morals and prioritizes knowledge. Erin doesn't specify what his family did with them, but says that they are discreet.- Tess reacts with confusion when Falst refers to Erin as the Elemental Magus.
- It would terribly convenient if the natural Elemental Magus was just born into wealth and power instead of anything else. Also, supposedly they're only born every few hundred years, and yet the last one died within the last century. How could the process have possibly been sped along..."
Tess was accompanying Erin to the Elemental Storm and he ghosted her after getting possessed
Tess was near enough nearby to see the Voidsplosion so it makes sense that she and Erin went there together. She starts looking for him because they didn't meet back up like planned.- Jossed. Tess was doing her own thing and only went looking for Erin after Al (whoever that is) sent her a message about how no one had heard from him since he went to the Storm.
Dainix is the Fire Demon that destroyed his town
His town was ravaged some type of vague fire demon that remains a threat even after it burned itself out and Caliban for some reason has taken an interest in him. Dainix also seems to possess a type of fire-based ability that he keeps a secret for unclear reasons and in the sketches page it shows him with the right side of his body engulfed by flame, including his missing eye.The incident where Tess got her spark involved a storm god or something similar.
Based solely off this page. Life and Void are not the only ones looking for a vessel - all the Primordials are!
In Fire's case, the demons are his equivalent of the Chimeric Plague. Unlike Life, he (I think that one's a he...) has at least two gods (Caliban and Tahraim) to help with the temper. Unfortunately, they are working at cross purposes. It wasn't until Dainix that Caliban realized the true nature of demons, and decided to hone one rather than sunder it.Then there's Lightning and their (I think that one's a they...) Chosen by the Sky. The problem here is that the process of Choosing also grants the Spark, so everyone of the Chosen has that pesky free-will, and is often newly free to boot. It takes a special kind of stunted metal-caste to become a willing vessel after being Chosen and freed.
The Light Dragon, of course, has the Paladins to choose from, if she hasn't already.
And, of course, Life and Void have Alinua and Erin.
That leaves the known material elements - Stone, Water and Wind - yet to be explored. I would not be surprised to find a sekrai or an elf, or whoever else, with unusual primordial powers joining the group.
There are seven Primordials
The ones we know of, and the Void Dragon who is the Primordial of Death, as a foil for Life, who is also the Paladin's White Dragon.- It would be more accurate to say that the Void Dragon is the primordial of, well, Void, rather than death. Life is already one of the existing six primordials. Of course, that would leave the Light Dragon as an eighth primordial of something else entirely.
Tahraim was the discoverer of Fire's truename.
Red confirmed that the fire mage who discovered Fire's truename was an Ignan, which lines up with the marking on his cheek and his friendship with Caliban. Fire's higher property is transmutation, which I believe is how Tahraim uniquely became a god when he was originally human. There's also how he seems to be intimately familiar with Crucibles, which are only documented to have started occurring after Fire's truename was discovered. Finally, his speech bubbles are written in the same style as the Collector's despite being a god: the bubble is colored, but the text itself is still black.The Void and Light Dragons are two aspects of one being.
In these two pages Dainix's Crucible form produces bright white flecks when hit by the Void Dragon's attack. This one shows the Void transforming into the white where it touches him, which comes with a bright blue corona- the colors of the Light Dragon and her paladins. Fire's property of transmutation lets it turn different forms of an element into each other, while remaining the same substance. If fire can do this, then Void and Light would be two forms of the same element.Dainix is Caliban's emissary
Caliban and Taihram seem unusually invested in Dainix, specifically, and given what we know about gods in relation to mortals, this would only make sense if Dainix was somehow connected to them -and given that Dainix has specifically been referred to as Caliban's champion, the only way this would make sense is if Dainix was Caliban's emissary. The fiery transformation lines up with Caliban being the god of fire-influenced people, and letting Dainix figure it out on his own instead of just telling him makes perfect sense for a trickster like Caliban. In addition, emissaries are never mages, as they're born with a link to a god instead of a link to an element -and Dainix is not a fire mage, which is very unusual for an Ignan, and Erin explains that Dainix was likely born with it because his soul couldn't handle such an extreme change otherwise.Falst will lose his right arm somehow
This theory is a little out there, but it makes a surprising amount of sense when you really think about it. First off, Life magic can't heal old wounds because of the soul barrier, and because Ferin have a healing factor and are sturdier than normal, this is something Falst has to actually worry about. His arm has been broken for several hours, and he's stated that it's only going to take a week to heal -so, with this in mind, there's a good chance that if Alinua attempts to heal Falst's arm, it won't work as expected, if at all. It's also been established that the Soulshaper Monks can help people who have lost limbs, and while it could be flavor text, it would line up with the fact that the group is currently going there. In addition, losing an arm would fit well with Falst's character arc because it wouldn't disrupt anything else going on in his arc and, given Falst's consistent issues with being vulnerable and asking for help, suddenly being put in a position where he needs help with more things more often would interact with his flaws in an interesting way and encourage character development. Finally, this page has dialogue that could be interpreted as foreshadowing.Erin had to become the Elemental Magus because of a problem with his soul.
Based on little hints given throughout the story, it's very likely that Erin did not have magic as a child. Erin knows enough about what the soulshaper monks do and how it works that it's likely he went there himself, and he mentions specifically that they help people with incomplete or malformed magical links. Based on this theory, if Erin had such a problem and the resulting elemental corruption made him sick, it'd make sense for him to have been made the elemental magus to treat that issue -especially knowing that his family likely has enough power and influence to afford any medical treatment Erin needs no matter how complex. Finally, Erin's magic doesn't work the same way as everyone else's magic, as Erin is the only character who consistently needs to touch his tattoos to activate his magic. If Erin's tattoos are there to make it possible for Erin to control his magic in the first place, it'd make sense that he would need to disable the sealing effect whenever he wanted to cast magic.In Chapter 22, Dainix will get hit with a psychic attack while fighting the slime thing and it will cause him to lose control
An "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight between the boys would be heart-wrenching and give Falst a chance to verbally express vulnerability. However, we know enough about Crucible form to know that it would not make sense for this to happen without a reason. We also know that the slime thing that Dainix is currently fighting is able to withstand Dainix's Crucible form enough for it to be a fight, which means there's a good chance the slime thing will try to use a psychic attack again. Dainix already has trouble controlling himself in Crucible mode even in the best of conditions, so getting emotionally destabilized like that might cause him to fully lose control.- Jossed.
Void Dragon will try to sneak into the caves in Chapter 22 while everyone is focused on another problem
An entrance to the caves is right in the room where Dainix and Falst are currently fighting the slime thing, which could be a problem for Erin. However, given that past attempts to brute force everything have not worked and Erin spelled this out for Voidy at the start of Chapter 21, Void Dragon will likely take Erin's advice and change tactics. Whatever else is going on when Erin and Alinua reunite with Falst and Dainix will probably be a big enough distraction that Voidy could attempt to take over and disappear into the caves while everyone is focused on dealing with that.- Jossed.
Alinua's biological parents aren't as bad as she believes them to be
All we really know about Alinua's backstory is that she was thrown off the Flying Archipelago as a baby. Alinua's adopted parents and Alinua herself assume her birth parents did it fearing she had the chimeric plague, but there's no definite proof this is the case, and Alinua was too young to remember that day.Was it her biological parents who threw her off? Or was it the doctors who delivered her that recognised the mark and took action? Did the god of the archipelago have a hand in the matter? A chimeric plague event could devastate those islands and their godly realm irreparably, so they would definitely want her gone. Alinua's birth parents might have agreed with this course of action, or they may tried to fight it but were unsuccessful.
'Aurora' is the Light Dragon's truename, and auroras are a sign of her presence
And the aurora in the sky when mortals were being created is a Meaningful Background Event; the Light Dragon was watching the Void Dragon's plot the entire time, just waiting for the right moment to stick a Spanner in the Works.
- As a comedic corollary, all the Primordials have similarly mundane names; the magic isn't in what the name is, but in knowing that it is theirs. So the Void Dragon really is named Walter.
- Based on the colors, the aurora at the start of the story is made of energy from the six elements, like on the lore page about the storm.
