#skyabove

I've had this sitting in drafts for a while now, long enough that I've gained more information and come to a (somewhat) new conclusion about the winged lights we encounter

So the stars we see in the Isle murals are, presumably, the Elders, given that canon lore has them as the stars that fell and made a new home in the clouds (and the devs have stated that winged light =/= stars)

The devs have also stated in livestreams that we have a connection to and relationship with the character represented by the imprints of children of light, and most notably, have also referred to the imprints as belonging to a singular child

We also need to consider some info about the King/Eden Elder. Some of this comes from hints given by Ash, a member of TGC staff. First, the king's not around to be saved anymore. Second, despite not being able to be saved, he does play an active role in the story of Sky, just not in the way you might think. He's an important figure, just not present in the same way as the spirits we encounter

Then of course, we need to consider my theory/headcanon that, given certain aspects of the game (the friend constellation and the final scene in Vault, for instance), our sky kids are actually bits of the King. I've also heard that the glowing child we encounter after dying in Stormlock is labeled in the game files as "King," but I don't have the pictures to prove it

Why am I bringing up the King and that theory?

Because now I think our sky kids aren't the only pieces of the King. I think the winged lights we collect are also pieces of him. Or, at the very least, pieces of a different aspect of the King

Since my last posting about the winged light (which was a long time ago), I had changed my mind about them. Rather than thinking of them as underdeveloped spirits, I started thinking of them as a different "half" of a soul. I've noticed that media featuring souls often divides them into two aspects: the memories (in other words, the core of a person), and the energy (the animating force of a soul). Fullmetal Alchemist is an excellent example of this concept. The spirits we encounter are the "cores" of the Sky Kingdom's citizens, held in the world by a strong memory and the darkness, while the winged lights are "energy" instead

Given this, it's likely that, when the King was rendered unable to be saved like the spirits and elders we encounter, he was divided into these two aspects, and then these aspects were both shattered into countless pieces. His "core" would become the sky kids, while his "energy" would dissipate around the Sky Kingdom and gather in a variety of locations as the imprints

I had already thought of these imprints as being more a place for energy to gather before learning about the connection we were supposed to have to them, given that any lost winged light return to where they were collected, and that they leave behind a silhouette that can recharge our energy, so this really just provides an explanation for their existence for me

Going back to your question, I would argue that their most prominent scenes being in Eden and Orbit makes more sense if they really are pieces of the King, as those would be the places with the greatest connection to him. And if we really are made up of bits of the King, then that adds another layer to our actions. This isn't just us trying to help the spirits and Elders. This is the King fixing his mistakes and righting his wrongs, albeit indirectly

Adding onto this, we need to consider the symbol present on both the Home constellation table and the gateway into Eden: the wing constellation. These are the only places they show up, and unlike the other constellation gates, the one barring the way into Eden is dependent on how many winged lights you have, not the number of spirits you’ve found. The Home constellation table is also the only place we can access the Friend constellation, which we’ve already established as having a connection to the King/Eden Elder

The constellation table in Orbit, on the other hand, has the same symbol used for accessing the Elders’ constellations, as well as the physical door leading into Eden (both at Home and in the first part of Eden). Since constellation gates are otherwise keyed exclusively to the Elders, why change it to winged lights (besides obvious gameplay reasons) unless they had a connection to the Eden Elder?

I have another concept we could bring into this, that the King drew the majority of his power (at least at first) from his connection to the Sky Kingdom's people, perhaps through the Elders themselves (as they seem to be tied to the spirits of their constellations, and there is the matter of the symbol on the Eden door and the Orbit constellation table). What is a King without his people, after all? By using the energy gifted by winged light shepherded to Orbit (Ascended Candles), we change the spirits from the blue of isolation to the gold of connection, and this is necessary to help the Elders reach Orbit as well

Additionally, if we consider that flight was apparently granted to the King by an elder creature sharing its flame (per the concept art), perhaps these imprints are made up of a blending of the King's energy and the elder creature's flame, hence why they allow us to fly and can increase our flight power