New this week is filled – as might be unsurprising – with news of the successful arrival of the first colony ship at the life-sustaining Planet LV-777. Old news you might be saying, and why is that kind of current news appearing on a historical site like this one? Some of you likely already know the significance of the star LV-777 is in orbit around; Aeris's Eye. A quirk of interstellar dust and the strangeness of the universe gives the star a unique green glow, tying in with the mythological Aeris of Midgar.
Aeris of Midgar is a centuries old but still popular myth, adapted many times and used as the basis of many modern works (most notably the overly flashy Reunion Revisited which draws on one reconstruction of the myth. Many are excited by what has been currently revealed, but we're holding judgement until we can see how it all comes together in the end). A familiar enough story to most; the last of a mighty race born into abject poverty in a prosperous city, Aeris is drawn into the plight of the rebels. Together they stood against King Shira and his assassin Sefiroth. When Sefiroth cut down the wandering soldier Cloud, Aeris took up his sword and pushed back against tyranny to free the world.
These are the elements all can agree on in most pop-culture adaptations; the rise from poverty, taking up the fallen weapon and rising up to topple the corrupt king. No doubt you are acquainted with or familiar with the looser versions; the great love-affairs between Cloud and Aeris, or Cloud and Tia. The ground is muddied in places by differing versions refocusing the myth on Cloud himself (leading to an adjacent star named Cloud's Eye in a bid to find some balance) or the oft-alluded to Zack, sequels and even prequels to the original myth.
Recent research has uncovered older versions of the myth and excitingly these align more closely with other historical records. 'Aeris' it is implied is a corruption of the original glyphs and should be instead rendered as 'Aerith' (there are long articles on the errors introduced by haphazard or questionably motivated scholars). The version our modern depictions of the myth is heavily based on contains a lengthy prologue devoted to the character of Zak, entirely excised by translators. Curiously he bears the sword wielded by Aeris in the latter stages of the story, the weapon passing to Aeris from Cloud and Zak before him. Some mention is made of yet another owner still further back.
But even this is not the original version. This source has been found to draw on two separate interpretations. The first mentions the ancient city of Midgard as Aeris's home and surprisingly implies a relationship between her and Zak, though he does not pass on any kind of weapon to her, and vanishes from the text soon after. In this version, Aeris founds the rebel group and marries Cloud after King Sinra is defeated (there is no mention of Sefiroth here). The second version also includes more of Zak than anticipated and details his receiving of the sword before passing it onto Cloud. But never to Aeris. This version remains something of an oddity. As with a number of modern interpretations, the story focuses more on Cloud than Aeris, to the extent that Aeris dies about half-way through at Sefiroth's (here rendered as Sephiroth) hands. This does not prevent her from lending her strength to eventual victory, but is somewhat jarring given the more familiar versions.
Both versions can be traced further back, each showing minor changes in names and locations (and curiously enough, substitution of Aeris and Aerith through-out the text. Some outlandish theories of two people with the same names have been dismissed, but many of the recent discoveries were previously treated with similar disdain, so who can say what may yet come to light)?
The earliest source we have for both originating texts is surprisingly from a single author. Said author seems to have drawn from a familiar story (or possibly even actual historical event) for the basis, but still produced two similar, yet distinctly different versions of the same myth. The identity of this author is as yet unknown, the texts drawn from damaged and partly corrupted computer files and a surprise to find in as good a condition as they are.
Work is underway to locate more work by the same author or any other references to the same event, and in addition a new book is currently being written to further explore the strange similarities and divergences in the source text, and as above a new film version is set to go into production as celebration for the colony ship's success.
Let us all wish the colonists success on their new home; Spira.