For those who have not completed games in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, this page contains spoilers regarding the plot. Discretion is advised. |
- "If such a place did exist, maybe we could all live in peace, without the need to fight."
- — Rex
Elysium (Japanese: 楽園, Rakuen, lit. Eden, Paradise) is a location in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It is a fabled paradise supposedly located at the top of the World Tree in the center of Alrest. Rex and Pyra's quest to Elysium, and the struggles they face to reach it, form the main premise of the story.
The Aegises are able to visit an imaginary version of Elysium in their dreams, created from their own memories. This distant memory appears multiple times during the course of the game.
Story[]
During the year 20XX, Elysium functioned as the residential area of a research institution located in orbit: the First Low Orbit Station, Rhadamanthus. After the Conduit was activated by Klaus, all the inhabitants of the station, including half of Klaus's body, disappeared, and Elysium became a barren wasteland devoid of life.
As new life began to settle in Alrest, legends of Elysium spread among the people. Amalthus followed the legends and climbed the World Tree with the expectation of reaching Elysium and meeting the Architect. However, despite being able to reach it, Amalthus found Elysium to be empty, and took the two remaining Trinity Processor cores, Logos and Pneuma, back with him as proof that he had been to the divine realm.
Due to the psychological scars that they had suffered during the Aegis War, Pyra and Mythra wished to go back to Elysium so that they could ask the Architect to allow them to die, as their condition as Blades made them immortal. They asked Rex, a Leftherian salvager who wished to reach the place of legends, to take them there on the promise that, by doing so, he would be able to save Alrest, as the Titans that formed the land were beginning to die out.
Once the party reaches Elysium, they find it in ruins, but by following the sound of a church bell they find the abandoned Old Temple. Inside of its altar they uncover a hidden path to the Architect's Room, where they meet Klaus.
As Artifice Aion is defeated and Klaus begins to disappear, he removes the Cloud Sea and instructs the Titans of Alrest to form a new land in the ocean of the old world. Once the Conduit disappears following Klaus' death, the World Tree begins to crumble. To save Alrest, Pneuma uses the last of Aion's power to annihilate Rhadamanthus and the Beanstalk, destroying the ruined Elysium in the process.
As the party returns to Alrest and eventually reach the new titan landmass on Azurda's back, Klaus' final gift to the world, they realize that this land was the true Elysium they were searching for.
- "So Elysium was... here all along..."
- — Rex
The Legend of Elysium[]
The legends spread through Alrest stated that humanity had once lived on Elysium along the Architect, but that they had been expelled to the surface due to unknown reasons. The legend also states that Titans were sent by the Architect for humans to live in after he took pity on the them due to the tough circumstances of living on the surface, and that this was how Alrest came to be.
Despite not seeming like so at first, several points of the legend of Elysium could be identified with elements present in the real story. Humans did once live at the top of the World Tree, and literally vanished after the Conduit, a "divine gift", yielded unexpected results when activated. Due to the destruction caused in the surface of the planet by the battle that had taken place, as well as the Conduit's activation, Klaus recreated life, and Titans were one of the first steps of his plan, being sent to the surface in the form of Core Crystals.
Dialogue[]
Etymology[]
In Greek literature, Elysium refers to an afterlife paradise separate from the underworld. It was created by the gods for heroes and mortals related to the gods. Unlike in the underworld, those admitted into Elysium were said to have a happy and blessed afterlife.
Trivia[]
- Despite there being no map and Skip Travel being disabled while Rex is in the dream Elysium during Chapter 1, the dream Elysium is internally considered to be its own unique area, being named Dreamworld Elysium.
- In New Game Plus, Dreamworld Elysium's name can be briefly seen next to the quest marker after defeating the Megalo Aligo fought in the Ancient Ship. This can only happen if the Megalo Aligo is defeated with only spike damage from the party.
- Using a walk through walls glitch, it is possible to explore very large, inaccessible regions of Elysium, including a suspended highway that provides an aerial view of the ruined city. The "zombie hover" exploit can then be used to visit cutscene-only locations such as the Conduit's room and the escape pod hanger.