cylva / epilogue

After the events of Shadowbringers conclude, and once you have slain all four Cardinal Virtues, you're approached by the tavern wench Cyella. She claims to know much about the true villain of the Warriors' tale, and bids you join her on a walk through their past.

In Kholusia, where Lamitt met Ardbert, Cyella tells you that there was one other in their party — an elven woman named Cylva. This should come as a surprise, since only the five Warriors of Light journeyed to the Source to try and save their world, but it doesn't. In each of the role quests, you've had visions of the Warriors' past, and Cylva has been there, a clear member of the party.

So what happened to her? And what makes her the villain?

Cyella leads you to each region of Norvrandt you visited in your pursuit of the Virtues, and recalls the story of how each of Ardbert's companions embarked on their eventual path to become Warriors of Light. At the end, you come to Lakeland, where a vision assaults you...

Ardbert: Damn you, Cylva! We were comrades in arms! Friends!
Cylva: That we were and that we are. Everything I said, everything I felt─it was all true. You mean the world to me─
Ardbert: You're the bloody Shadowkeeper! What in the hells was this for!?
Cylva: For you─for every one of you! To forge you into heroes worthy of Her blessing, that she might choose you as Her champions!

The Shadowkeeper, the being behind so many machinations on the First, was in truth their companion. And in their suffering, she brought the world to the brink of destruction. Cylva hailed from the Thirteenth, a world overcome by Darkness she had failed to save, and believed the Ascians when they beseeched her to overwhelm the First with Light.

The last piece of the puzzle was for Ardbert to strike Cylva down and claim his place as the final Warrior of Light. And yet...

Cyella: It was not to be. I had misjudged Ardbert. His comrades before him had made their sacrifices in turn, and as their mirror I had grown stronger for it. Had he but embraced his role and struck me down, victory would have been mine...
But Ardbert, dear Ardbert, would not forsake his heart.
In the end, he chose mercy. He chose love, and I was undone.

Instead, Ardbert and his companions sought out the Ascians behind the plot, and in striking them down doomed the First to the Flood of Light.

As Cyella ends her tale, she comes to the true point of your meeting: she wishes for the death Ardbert would not grant her. But, of course, you are the Warrior of Light. You will not slay someone who can still be saved — who can still seek atonement, and repent for what she has done. Accepting this, Cyella decides her time is best spent preserving the legacy of her comrades — their true legacy.

All told, this story and its reveal is what makes the role quests worth it for me. Cyella's regret is palpable, and her love for her comrades still blindingly bright. She was a pawn of the Ascians as much as the other Warriors of Light were, discarded when she was no longer of use. Yet she endures, and can but hope it's worth it.

More importantly, though, it crystalizes exactly why Ardbert is the way he is. When given the choice, Ardbert is exactly as you would expect him to be: a hero who could never strike down one of his comrades, even when revealed to be the villain. He would have always chosen mercy — always.

The same way you would have.

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