Ulan-Tan's thesis states that because the Traveler is inherently good, the Darkness must be inherently bad in order to maintain cosmic balance. By his logic, this could mean that anything associated with the Traveler is good and anything associated with the Darkness is bad. Thus, maintaining balance. However, it is merely one of the many philosophies put forth by Guardians over the years regarding the nature of the Traveler and its Light. This is the main issue. These systems of thought have only been from a position within the Light. With recent developments about the Darkness, namely this new power Elsie calls Stasis, I think it's important to rethink some core elements of these philosophies.
Light is a paracausal radiation emitted by the Traveler. This radiation is refined into three forms that have been classified as Arc, Void, and Solar. Throughout the history of Lightbears, there has been much debate, both scientific and philosophical, on which of the three is superior. This can be especially seen during the Dark Age, with conflicts such as the Void Curtain and the Solar Inquisition. It is the latter of the two however, that's been of much philosophical debate rather than scientific.
Solar Light has long been thought to be the purest expression of the Light. Solar Light, and fire by association, has been interpreted as the Traveler's will. According to several books in the Cryptarchy, fire has been viewed as a symbol of divinity, knowledge, wisdom, control, and superiority in ancient Pre-Golden Age history. These concepts have persisted throughout the Dark Age and even to certain groups of today, namely the Praxic Order. So, it's not hard to see the fanaticism of early Lightbearers.
Where am I going with this? The previously mentioned ideas are some of the reasons why Solar Light has become the most refined form of Light out of the three. Of the three classifications of Light, only Solar Light requires some form of physical construction to channel said energy across all the guardian subclasses. For example, Sunbreakers use Solar Light to forge hammers of various sizes. The hammers themselves are a sort of container for the Light and upon impact, said Light will explode into massive tornadoes of flame.
Dawnblades take a slightly more complicated approach. While they follow the same principle as the Sunbreakers, their methods are different. Like the Sunbreakers, Dawnblades forge a sword out of Solar Light. However, rather than just the sword containing the Light, their body also becomes a container. The sword then becomes an extension of the body, becoming a method of directing the Light. When swung, the sword releases wide arcs of fire. Out of the three Guardian classes, warlocks have the most raw connection to the Light and thus are able to easily gather the most amount of Light in their bodies in the shortest amount of time. Regarding Dawnblades, excess Light is released from two paracausal "vents" near their shoulder blades. This excess Light is the flaming wings one sees when they activate their super. When activating the Well of Radiance, the Dawnblade concentrates all of their Solar Light into the sword. When plunged into the ground, the sword becomes a "fountain", the Solar Light flowing up and outward. When the reservoir of Light is expanded or the "fountain" is destroyed, the super ends.
Hunters arguably have the most refined technique when harnessing the Light. Out of the three Guardian classes, every Hunter subclass requires a physical construct. In the case of Gunslingers, the primary super used is the Golden Gun. Forging the Gun is actually a rather complicated process despite what Warlocks and Titans think. When constructing the gun, that also means constructing all the other inner mechanisms typically seen in a hand cannon. The remaining Light is thus condensed into bullets. However, because the bullets are so concentrated, they are extremely volatile if they are even slightly mishandled. Thus, the hand cannon itself must be forged with the same concentration as the bullets so that the shots can be contained. Due to this process, many Gunslingers will use regular hand cannons for the Golden Gun. These hand cannons serve as a catalyst for the super as it is easier to reinforce the cannon with Solar Light to contain the shots rather than forging one from scratch. Regarding Blade Barrage, the Hunter concentrates Solar Light into both of their hands and must then divide and shape it to form individual knives. These knives are not simple containers for the Light. While this phenomenon is difficult to describe, they can be compared to a Solar grenade, formed to resemble a knife.
I had to keep these methods in mind when I first came to Europa. Since I was the first "official" Guardian to explore the unknown potential of these new abilities, I couldn't think in the limited view of sticking to a single Guardian class. I had to liberate myself from the typical mindset of a Hunter and think how a Warlock and Titan would when given this new power. What I found is that Solar light and Stasis both require almost the exact same method of application. They both require a physical construct to channel its power. In fact, based on my experimentation, I would go as far to say that each new Stasis 'ability' is a mirror image of its Solar counterpart.
It's interesting that apart from application, Stasis seems to contradict everything I've said up to this point, reinforcing Ulan-Tan's Symmetry thesis. As stated earlier, Light is drawn from a defined, external source. Whereas the Pyramid here on Europa tells me to reach deep inside myself and pull out the dormant power from within, to impart my will on the physical realm. The Ghosts, shards of the Traveler's will, choose those who are to be blessed with the Light but Stasis? I believe this is where Ulan-Tan's thesis falls short. With Elsie's guidance, I've taught numerous Guardians how to wield Stasis and there seems to be no discrimination on who gets to wield this power. The question then becomes, why? If we are to follow the logic that these powers have defined sources, then where does Stasis come from and how does that fit into the good versus bad narrative? We can start by asking another question, who are these Guardians?
From what I understand, the Awoken are former humans who were exposed to the clashing energies of the Traveler and the Darkness that ultimately created a wormhole leading to a pocket universe with altered space-time. Because of the situation they found themselves in, it gives them a good disposition to both Light and Dark related powers, Stasis in this case.
Exos are in a similar predicament. After our raid on the Deep Stone Crypt, we discovered that our vital fluid is actually Vex radiolarian fluid exposed to what Clovis dubbed 'Clarity'. This Clarity is the same, unrefined energy that permeates the Europa pyramid; Darkness. Since Exos are human minds uploaded into robotic frames filled with two elements associated with the Darkness, we also have a disposition to both Light and Dark.
Now with regular humans, things get a little bit interesting. They haven't been exposed to extra-dimensional energies like the Awoken. Nor do they have literal Darkness running through their synthetic arteries like Exos. Just normal everyday people. But despite not having any special circumstances attributed to them, they can still effectively wield the Light should they be chosen. So how is it possible that they can also use Stasis?
Perhaps you don't need to be able to use the Light to effectively wield Stasis. Maybe you don't need to be chosen by the Traveler at all. Maybe it's not related to the dichotomy of Light and Dark. Maybe it has something to do with the inherent nature of both humans and former humans. Humans can wield Stasis, so can Awoken and Exos, who are also former humans. So, is there an inherent Darkness in all humans? With the idea that Darkness and Stasis by extension, is the opposite of the Traveler and its Light, then perhaps it's possible. We aren't born with the ability to use Light, we are chosen. What's the opposite? Being born with it. 'It' being Darkness, the opposite of Light.
When I shared my findings with Indra, I initially thought that Stasis was simply cosmic ice, but he said it was something more. He described Stasis as frozen space-time. We impart our will onto reality by freezing the space-time continuum in place and giving it form. Our will, pulled from within and out into the open. The opposite of the Traveler, imparting its will into Ghosts and they bestow it onto us. One could then say that Stasis is the purest expression of Darkness, the opposite being Solar, the purest expression of Light.
Ulan-Tan's thesis was only partially right. There is a symmetry present between Light and Dark. Not because there has to be a balance between the two, that the Traveler is inherently good, and Darkness is inherently bad. But because humanity, the Traveler's current choice of bearers, has an inherent Darkness. We don't have to give up our ability to wield the Light to destroy the Dark. We are already born with the Dark.
~Journal entry number 12, Vendrick's second week on Europa.