So recently pulling together that in Xadia there were initially only the first elves, then there were primal elves, and then eventually there were no more first elves... we've been left with the question of how and why did primal elves come into being, and correspondingly, where did the first elves go?
To get a sense of timeline: if Aaravos is, as he claims in the Book One novelization prologue, one of the first elves, there were presumably still at least a few around as recently as 1000 years before series time—at least, if we're to believe that Ziard's "one of the great ones" answer for who gave him the staff is obfuscating that it was Aaravos for anyone other than the audience (which it may not be). The shift from "first elves" to "great ones" implies that they are, at the least, vastly inferior in population to the primal elves. Then by 300 years pre-series, all but Aaravos are gone—when push comes to shove, only the archdragons contend with him (there are none of his kind standing against him) and he has no allies (there are none of his kind standing with him).
The neatest, though by no means only, conclusion to draw is that the first elves somehow became the primal elves. But why would they do that? By all accounts, it's a definite step down—Aaravos can draw magic from any primal source, but we have yet to see a primal elf with magic beyond their own primal. Star, if it can truly be considered a primal source, is also implied to be stronger than the others, so cutting it off in order to dedicate yourself to another single primal isn't doing you any favors. And I mean, come on—primal elves are mortal, and we're given to believe the first elves were not. If some of the first elves became the initial primal elves, it seems like it would have to have been either a significant sacrifice on their part or something that was done unwillingly. Which means we're getting juicy.
Here's five far-fetched but 100% serious theories:
Theory 1: Primal elves for primal stones
This depends a bit on the exact relationship between the first elves and primal magic, which we don't know for certain—one possibility is that the first elves had equal access to all available primal sources as well as deep magic, but another is that primal magic was the sole domain of the dragons and other mortal creatures of Xadia. Aaravos has mastered magic of all primal sources, but I have to wonder if that was only because he was "fallen" and stripped of much of his natural power. Given that we see him cast primal magic with runes, it seems possible that primal magic is not native to the first elves the way it is to the dragons—Zubeia doesn't need a rune to cast Vocare Nimbum. If first elves had a similar natural ability with deep magic, that could put them on par with the archdragons in their power... and even if Aaravos was stripped of his deep magic ability, becoming an archmage of all primal sources would still make him a formidable opponent for Avizandum and Zubeia.
Anyway, if there were the first elves, with only/primarily deep magic, the dragons/creatures native to Xadia with only primal magic, and then humans with no magic, giving the suffering humans access to primal magic as a leg up makes sense in that it puts them on equal ground with their peers (the other mortals of Xadia) without elevating them too far. So what if, to craft the first primal stones and teach humans primal magic, Leola and her cohort had to become primal elves and bind themselves to a single primal source in order to understand it so thoroughly that they could trap it for use? I've theorized before that creating a primal stone requires star magic, but it definitely also requires magic of the primal that is being stored—if the first elves were not naturally primal mages, it may have been a necessary sacrifice. This would also complicate the "gift" of primal magic in that not only was it not intended for humans to receive, it wasn't Leola's to give in the first place.
Theory 2: Punishment that suits the crime
a.k.a. "well if you love primal magic and mortals so much, why don't you marry them"
Short and sweet counterpart to Theory 1: the punishment for Leola and her cohort after giving humans primal magic was to have most of their power and natures removed through becoming primal elves, mortal and chained to a single primal source.
Theory 3: Pacifier for the archdragons
At the time of the show, the primal elves don't seem to worship the archdragons, but they do serve and revere them. However, it's strongly implied that at least some primal elf cultures worshiped at least "their" archdragon—the specter of Sol Regem is basically inextricable from Sunfire elf rituals, and Rex Igneous demands extensive tribute essentially in sacrifice to him. Also, if there's one thing we know about archdragons, it's that they're proud to the point of arrogance. With the first elves as their peers, how would the dragons feel about humans directing their attention and worship to the stars? Probably not thrilled!
In that situation, it's possible that the first elves decided to create new elves in their own image, but bound to the primal sources and subservient to the archdragons, as a gesture of goodwill (possibly while rolling their eyes) to keep the peace (and stop their whining). Those primal elves then multiplied, formed their own societies, etc.
This one does leave the question of "... then what happened to the first elves?" but still. Though it could coexist nicely with the next...
Theory 4: Imitation is flattery
Honestly kind of stupid counterpart to Theory 3: it's the archdragons who decide to create their own primal servant copies of the first elves. Could they do that? Big shrug. Could they do it with the help of Someone(tm) among the first elves? ... slightly less big shrug.
Theory 5: A Lost Midnight War
I fully admit that I'm going kind of insane, BUT hear me out. In Patience, Aaravos asserts that after the gift of primal magic:
Humans would come to build great cities and fell great foes. They would thrive.
"Build great cities?" Yeah yeah, Elarion, we've all seen it... but wait, what was that second part? Exactly what great foes were humans felling? That seems kinda important, given how the politics of the time are described, but Aaravos chooses not to elaborate.
Then in Midnight Star we have the story of a situation where Elarion, in her tenacity and kindled power, attracts the ire of the dragons and is abandoned by the stars that she thought were her benefactors—except for Aaravos, who gives the saving gift of dark magic. The poem has a kind of compressed and figurative timeline, in that (as known from Ripples) humans received primal magic before Elarion's rise, so the impending doom in Midnight Star can't be the calamity of Ripples. That was also a punishment meted out by the stars rather than the dragons. The threat in Midnight Star also can't be the implied razing of Elarion concurrent with or following the human expulsion, because the implication is also that this is when Aaravos offered dark magic—he can't be only just now offering the thing that was the cause of the dragon's wrath in the first place.
So here's a theory: sometime in the intervening however many thousand years between humans receiving primal magic and dark magic, some kind of conflict arose between the remaining first elves and the archdragons. Humans having been given primal magic by some faction of the first elves (whether or not they were punished for it) and their subsequent rise did not help matters, and could possibly even have been the cause of the conflict in the first place. The archdragons, for whatever reason, came out on top—maybe there was internal strife among the first elves, or maybe their numbers had already diminished. The remaining first elves are given the choice of submitting to the archdragons as primal elves ("donned their masks") or leaving Xadia forever ("turned their backs"). Either way, humans were abandoned to their fate, and Aaravos is the "last" star remaining on Xadia proper.
The poem is very figurative overall, but particularly in its final stanzas—Elarion is a "dying husk," but Aaravos's gift revitalizes her to be more powerful than ever. My interpretation is that for the entire poem, "Elarion" has been a stand-in for humanity in general, possibly without any relation to the city of Elarion at all, and what is being described by "dying husk" could be the period of human suffering that preceded dark magic. We know that Elarion had a prolonged rise and golden age of literally a thousand years before humans were expelled from Xadia, and yet we are told that before dark magic, humans were weak and starving—either that's a straight-up lie (entirely possible) or something happened to cause human fortunes to change from good to bad. Something like... a period of direct and brutal punishment and oppression from the archdragons and their servants. Maybe at the time the poem is describing, Elarion the city was destroyed or hadn't even been built yet, and the eventual flourishing city humans are exiled from is built on the strength of dark magic, after all. (As I mentioned elsewhere, it's getting more and more to a point where the timeline simply doesn't make sense if Ziard was truly the first dark mage ever, rather than just the first one Aaravos manipulated into causing problems on purpose.)
Anyway: the first elves, facing defeat, either assimilated as primal elves or left Xadia entirely. (Or a secret third thing, as with Aaravos, possibly related to his "fallen" status.)
Also "elves either depart the world forever or choose to become mortal" is another very Tolkien thing, like just saying.
Bonus cursed theory: primal elves are the extremely unlikely offspring of first elves breeding with humans. I'll actually be really mad if the real answer is something that garbage, but if I have to think about it then you do, too.
Double-bonus EXTRA-cursed theory: primal elves are the extremely unlikely offspring of first elves breeding with dragons. I'd still be mad about this one but also kind of impressed that they went there for real.
This photo is from tales of xadia, it is mentioned here that the Moonshadow elves have a song about the Startouch elves. Now I'm not sure if it was mentioned in the series but I don't remember Rayla say anything about it and I wonder why. Rayla is a moonshadow elf, she was suppose to know this song, I know it's just random and not an actual information but it is something. You can interpret this song as something that talks about the mysteries of Startouch elves, they are the only ones here with their full name and not the primal source name, so there is a seperation between the startouch and rest of the elf races, it's still something about them. So why Rayla didn't say anything?
Something interesting I noticed in season 4 episode 3, Breathtaking, that I haven’t heard mentioned yet.
First, Zubeia says “In the name of the Dragons and the First Elves, I declare this the most delicious jelly in all of Xadia!” when she tries some of the giant jelly tart, post-shablow.
This was super interesting to me because I can’t recall hearing about the First Elves at all otherwise. Am I missing some extra lore ? (Very possible! I have not read the novelizations and have not seen all the interviews and q&a’s with the cast and crew so I very well could’ve just missed something. Pls correct me if so!!!) but from my knowledge of the show itself (having rewatched it about 3 times now) I don’t recall them being mentioned or expanded on any further. So yeah, interesting. Maybe they’re simply ancestors of the elves of today? Or maybe they’re a sort of elf council that converse with the dragons and make declarations as Zubeia is demonstrating ?
But then, in the very next scene, something else caught my eye.
This is where Claudia enters the treasure chamber of the storm spire. She passes by piles of coins and treasure, but then gets to the center of the room where a multitude of mannequins are set up neatly in a circle (I think I counted 11?) and some of them are dressed up in elf regalia- most notably there are mannequins that seem to be dressed in tidebound, earthblood, and sunfire themed garments. There are a couple others that couple possibly be sky elf themed or maybe moonshadow themed. I’m not totally sure. But they stand out regardless.
Also, this scene reminds me of the recent interview the lead writers of the show did- they mentioned Claudia’s amulet specifically and how they tried to show something about the area she found it in. It seems like they’re talking about these mannequins- so that tells me there is definitely something intentional going on here.
From the aforementioned interview, we know this amulet is a dragon scale. And we know that it will come into play later in the show.
But what I’m wondering is that maybe these two scenes were put one after another on purpose, and that they’re connected somehow.
Right now, my theory is that the First Elves is (or was) a council of elves (1-2 representatives from each group ) that worked with the dragons and maybe even lived with them or had regular meetings with them at the storm spire. And these are their outfits (or what remains of them).
I think Claudia’s amulet most likely belonged to one of these First Elves, too. As it is a dragon scale, maybe it was a gift to First Elf from the dragon they worked with. Maybe dragon scales are magical somehow in this world. Maybe this amulet will be important to freeing aaravos? (This is a stretch but Maybe Soren’s joke about dragon scales earlier in the episode was foreshadowing?? ) or maybe it will have a different significance and I’m overthinking it haha.
Either way, these details really stuck out to me as I was rewatching this episode and I would love to hear your thoughts about it too!
Again, it’s very possible that I’m missing key lore info, or that I’m even just stating the obvious and this has already been talked about, but I wanted to open the conversation up to you guys anyway cuz this sort of stuff is fun.
So please let me know what you think! Just be kind and patient with me please :) I’m not super well versed in making big posts like this. But I’m excited to learn more regardless!
This was almost certainly the moment that sowed the seeds of Aaravos' downfall. There's no way that the dragon known for being resentful and bitter would 1) forget about this admission and 2) would immediately start investigating and observing every single First Elf so that he could uncover exactly who betrayed their kind.
In Tales of Xadia it was mentioned there is a song called 'The Epic of the Void' about the Startouch Elves in the library in Evenere. Now I wonder why Callum needed to go to Lux Aurea for information. He was the high mage of Katolis for two years. I know he doesn't like dark magic but he did read about dark magic in those years and he did study it so he could approach to the other high mages in the other kingdoms. Having connectioins is important, he could have just ask for help from the other mages to analyze the stuff in Viren's chambers. I know Evenere is in chaos but Callum could still ask their high mage for help and ask her questions. It's seems off he didn't try and get informations and expand his horizons with other mages. Season 5 proves us he did study dark magic even if he never plan to use it, so he should have done it. In the few days between season 4 and 5 Callum should have sent crows to all the high mages in the other kingdoms to find information. I know the Evenere mage doesn't have a reason to tell him about the poem, but he could have tried the other human kingdoms, he had information about Aaravos in the Katolis library the others might have some books as well. Sure, if they also have books about startouch elves the writing could have disappear anyway, but he should have tried it. Maybe the Evenere mage would have approve for him to go and read this poem. I know the poem is not very informative but he could be important like the book with the ocean sonnets. I think this poem will be important, maybe they will go to look for this poem next season and we finally going to see Evenere, there is a reason it was in the Tales of Xadia for sure.
Since there is era of the first elves, does that indicate that humans were native to Xadia?
I don't think that's indicated from the timeline, per se. The timeline we got (a few years ago now) shows a 3000 year gap between the First Elves and the rise of the human city of Elarion. And in a world with magic, a lot can happen in 3000 years.
While we can take plenty of guesses as to what those things might've been, they're really just guesses. Xadia is a fantasy land, and we can't say for sure which "real world" rules it uses and which it ignores or replaces with different magic rules, until we get that information in canon form.
Maybe Xadia has an evolutionary process like our planet does, and sentience developed over millions of years. Maybe it works like Middle-earth and entire races just woke up under the stars one night. Maybe it's something in between, or something completely different. Maybe there are portals, or workshops, or wishes, or magic snail slime or something.
Xadia is a land of magic and wonder! As long as it stays consistent within its own rules, it's not obligated to follow any Earth rules it doesn't want to. Your guess on human origins is literally as good as mine.
Personally, I have no strong preferences about the humans' origin story. But I do have a lot of fun thoughts about it, because I do want to know what it is. And if we never get that information in canon, then at least I had some fun years entertaining myself thinking about it.
