#primal source

Once again, it’s affirmed that every single living creature was born with a natural connection to a Primal Source...except for humans. A sucky hand, for sure, but as Callum’s arc in s2 demonstrated, it may be a blessing in disguise, if it gives humans the freedom to connect to any, or even all, of the Primal Source. Definitely something the show will revisit.

Another thing to note is that it was only after humans were taught to use magic that they “created songs and poetry and other beautiful things.” So, the hallmarks of human civlization were virtually nonexistent before humans had magic. Which shows just how necessary having Primal Stones and even Dark Magic was to organized society in Xadia.

Speaking of which, humans were indeed taught magic by the unicorns, who took pity on them. They taught them to draw runes and to “speak the ancient words used by dragons to release that energy as magical spells.”

That actually strikes me as interesting for a number of reasons. First and foremost, spellwork is only one aspect of Primal Magic, so humans were still permitted only a limited range of magical abilities with the stones. That lays the groundwork for why some might be tempted to turn to Dark Magic to make up the difference.

The second is that this piece confirms that draconic words is how dragons release Primal Energy. However, we never see Sol Regem, Avizandum, or Pyrrah actually speaking when doing so. Maybe these words can be subvocal? And the way this sentence is framed implies one doesn’t need to speak in order to use these words. So, perhaps this is why Aaravos only needs to draw runes to cast spells (if at all).

Next is the piece about the “First Elves,” who are not cast in a really positive light here. For starters, they are content with following a sink-or-swim approach with humanity, cautioning the unicorns to not trust humanity-- “After all, if humans were supposed to use magic, they would have been born with it.” Damn, that’s some nasty Social Darwinism right there.

But for a time, it was good. The text spells out that most humans were good, even though some were not. And indeed, it looks like most of these humans used magic to take care of the most vulnerable among them. It’s not all that surprising as to why--most people really are good-natured like that.

Of course, though, there are a few bad apples who ruin the party for everyone. Dark Magic was invented, and unicorns were poached to extinction (or damn near close). And since those unicorns were sentient, “poaching” here seems an awful lot like “genocide.”

So, the elves and dragons were convinced to fight fire with fire, and thought that genocide in response to genocide was warranted. But at the last minute came the “Merciful Compromise,” which saw the humans cast out to the western half of the continent. And the rest, as they say, is history.

There are some people who are incensed by the fact that *checks notes* ...humans aren’t portrayed as completely innocent? Like, sure, the prologue makes it clear that humans were responsible for the unicorns’ demise (who were, again, thinking creatures not unlike you or me!). But this is qualified by the fact that, again, most humans were not taking part in this. So this “Merciful Compromise” comes across as a euphemism for, at best, an overreaction by those who did nothing to help humanity when it would have made a difference. At worst, it comes across as ethnic cleansing. Either way, framing this as “merciful” and a “compromise”  sounds exactly like the kind of word games that nations in modern times play as well (calling genocide “the Final Solution,” or calling concentration camps “internment camps”). So elves and dragons aren’t portrayed as the victims here.

And, of course, there’s the elephant in the room--all of this was written by Aaravos “of the First Elves” (just how old is this guy??). So, take the prologue with a grain of salt. Aaravos, who claims he “never lies,” has frequently been content with misleading others with his ambiguous statements. Here, he write “One human mage discovered a new way to use magic.” How did they discover it? Left unstated, but take three guesses as to who might have had a hand in that. 

There are a few questions we need answered about Primal Sources. Sure, nothing’s set in stone now (as we have many seasons, hopefully also a game or two too, to go through before we can begin to make a tangible theory on this) but Here goes. Activating Primal Sources. 

We already know it is possible for an individual to gain attributes required to use the Sky Primal Source. Callum doing the impossible through a very very creepy and mindboggling hallucination that later turned mind-numbing, was a very important part of the second season. However, that isn’t the important thing. Even the fact that apparently you need to go through extensive trauma isn’t. The actual important thing is: How do you do it on command?

How does one achieve a state of mind, on command and without outside interference or through events largely out of their own control, that will allow them to get access to a Primal Source they weren’t born with? And more importantly, can elves and humans both do it?

We already know Humans can. We already know one elf can. Let’s ignore the humans for now. The Elf. Aaravos. He controls all six sources. Presumably, he is at the very least familiar with, but most likely a master of, Dark magic too. The ritual he and Viren shared doesn’t seem like something a non-dark mage would know, much less do. But is Aaravos the exception or is he the rule?

The most likely answer is “he’s the rule”, if only because that’s probably going to be a moral of the show or some deus ex machina that magically (!) solves all problems between Humans and Elves in the final season. But what if Aaravos is the exception? and most importantly, what if Aaravos knows he is the exception among elves?

So, with that in mind, the reasons for the Exile of the Humans becomes much much more interesting. 

Hear me out. Aaravos is the exception. He knows he’s the exception. He’s the only elf, possibly also the only individual, that is capable of using multiple sources of magic. Through sheer coincidence, he finds a human that was also capable of doing the same. There can’t have been no single human in more than a thousand years’ worth of time to go through what Callum did. So anyway, he learns that a human has the capacity to use sources of magic without a stone. Logic demands that he assume all humans have the capacity. 

Aaravos isn’t an idiot. He sees what the ramnifications of an army of humans with Aaravos-level magic can do. So he gives them something else. Dark magic. He doesn’t give it to them out of the goodness of his heart. He’s no Prometheus. it’s a placation, an “easy way out”, so to speak, so that they won’t find that out. 

Therein lies the problem. The other elves don’t know what he knows. A common trope of the Wizard is that he never shares what he knows with the common folk. The Elves don’t know what an army of Aaravos-level mages who won’t keep to their ivory towers would actually mean. Without that necessary knowledge, without the knowledge that the sacrifice of animals is necessary for humans not to evolve into their potential, they inevitably go “A human squashed a leaf. Clearly they’re the most dangerous thing in this world. Let us banish all humans to a place where there is no leaf. Let us throw the person who gave them the know-how to squash leaves into a mirror and lock away the key”

And thus, Aaravos isn’t there to do damage control like he expected to. Elves are fucked. Without the illusion of magic, without the sacrifice of magical flora and fauna, a human is inevitably going to learn how to unlock a source. 

In a stroke of luck, though, humans never do that. Humans just don’t go after primal sources, even though the moon nexus is literally right in the backyard of one of their five prominent Kingdoms. They don’t try anything, because -just as Aaravos expected- they have their new toy and it’s too fun to let go of. Until that is, Callum. 

Of course, therein lies the question that how the fuck did nobody in a thousand years’ ever think “killing animals is icky. I must train like mad and get ”””””real””””” magic? 

Sure there’s a context to it, but the discovery isn’t a scientific discovery requiring stuff that wasn’t invented or discovered yet. It’s not even a “Theory of Magic” kind of thing requiring more esoteric types of knowledge. It’s an emotional discovery. 

But anyway, now Callum is out there. He’s unlocking new Arcanums. He’s discovering, personally, that Aaravos’ myth is not a myth but a recorded success. He’s inevitably going to unlock more sources. When he does, and he will, he won’t be subtle about it. Callum, god bless him, wouldn’t know subtle if it hit him in the ass. So he’s either going to let Elves know “There’s a human who can use primal magic” (which, in a pragmatic scenario, would require him getting thrown into the same mirror as Aaravos) or he’s going to let Humans (specifically, ambitious mages) know “ Your magic is icky, but I can use primal magic without a stone. Wanna learn how?”

And now, there’s nothing that can stop humans from doing the same. Which is probably why Aaravos is about to get out of his prison.