Part 61: Von Muir p. 95-102: "Chapter 13: Edward and the Avatar of Hatred"

Von Muir p. 95-102: "Chapter 13: Edward and the Avatar of Hatred"



Zeromus is the Esper of Gravity, associated with the sign of Cancer. His is the familiar story of a police officer, soldier, or executioner who is a little too happy with his job. Once the very embodiment of righteous fury, his hatred twisted his purpose until punishment became more important than justice. Eventually he thought to damn the gods themselves for their sins -- for indeed, where would the evils of the world be had the world never been created? In his blind hatred, he had become that which he hated, and the gods struck him down and took his badge and gun.

Zeromus is said to be sealed in the Stilshrine of Miriam for seeking power to overthrow the gods, and that power is in turn offered to the party member who bonds with him. Vaan can gain two points of Magick, Balthier can reduce his spell costs by 10%, Fran can learn to wield the Volcano T, Basch can learn the Shear and Addle Technicks, and Ashe can gain an extra 270 HP.

Writing Assignment 11

Choose a summoner for Zeromus and, in 100 words or less, explain why that character is the most appropriate choice. Tag spoilers and show your work. Remember that this is an essay contest, not a popular vote!

Writing Assignment 11 due!

There were some compelling arguments this time around for placing Zeromus with both of the two most vengeful party members -- Ashe, who is even now struggling with the question of balance between retaliation and rehabilitation in her quest for justice, and Vaan, who tied up so much of his emotional stability in the guilt of a man he had never seen, much less taken measure of, that it blinded him to the obvious mysteries that surrounded him. But David Corbett came in at the end with a reminder that Fran can approach this Esper from the perspective of the disproportionately condemned. She may not make note of it on a daily basis, isolated from her detractors as she is, nor will the plot pay any attention to it from this point onward, but we have seen the pain she is resigned to carry, her futile attempts to argue her own case after already being tried and judged, how she fights to keep her sister from breaking laws she knows to be unjust to spare her the punishment, and the crushing loneliness that even Balthier cannot fully soothe. Let her bond with Zeromus be a solemn reminder that no number of overthrown despots or slain gods will guarantee the solution to everyone's problems, and that there is more to justice than simply punishing the unjust.