Part 4 and final part. We've focused on opposites, we've focused on the Dominants and Eikons themselves and we've focused on how everyone is connected to Clive. That leaves the remaining pairs to go through, which is what I'll be doing here. But first, our customary list:
Clive Rosfield: Ifrit - fire
Joshua Rosfield: Phoenix - fire
Jill Warrick: Shiva - ice
Cid Telamon: Ramuh - thunder
Benedikta Harman: Garuda - wind/air
Hugo Kupka: Titan - earth
Dion Lesage: Bahamut - holy/light
Barnabas Tharmr: Odin - dark(ness)
And then there's Leviathan the Lost, the water element, but they have no Dominant
And if in the previous post I didn't go over Jill, in this one we won't go over Clive, for obvious reasons. Anyway, let's start.
1. Joshua and Jill - Clive's bodyguards
So, I've already gone through their relationship a little bit in my first post, but I didn't develop much since Joshua isn't Jill's actual opposite. That's Clive.
As for these two, like I said, in the spectrum, Joshua stays at the middle, for he has fire's personality, but the abilities of ice. This draws him to Jill in a different way from Clive. And by that I mean that their ability to create makes them a sort of bodyguards to Clive. They create protection for him.
Besides that, it's a very sweet friendship. Love them.
2. Jill and Cid - the human Eikons
There isn't a lot to go through between these two, but it's interesting to note that they are Shiva and Ramuh, which are the more human summons in the series (accompanied by Odin, but that ain't needed now). Them and Ifrit make the main three, but Ifrit is obviously less human. So it's interesting that Clive's first companions have human like Eikons while he has a beast. It's literally them trying to calm a beast down.
And on a side note, Odin being human-like too and Barnabas himself being a shadow of Clive kinda shows how despite being a beast, Clive is still human behind it all. Just an extra since it didn't come to me during the last post.
3. Joshua and Dion - flying duties
I've even seen a little thing showing how Joshua and Dion are similar, same for Jote and Terence, and it's true. Both are princes with flying Eikons, one is the reviving flames of Phoenix, the other the guiding light of Bahamut. People look up to them as beacons of hope. No wonder they seem best friends.
Both have duties with the world to fulfill, which in the end resumes to protect it from Ultima. Speaking of which, both have been greatly affected by them, Joshua since he literally keeps Ultima trapped inside himself and Dion since he's been manipulated by them (and that gave birth to the customary redemption arc of dragoons. Damm you Kain). Therefore, it's no surprise these two are the ones that accompany Clive to Origin for the final fights, and are among the Eikonic powers Clive calls during the final fight (all of the chosen powers are those with a bigger relation to Clive: Bahamut, Phoenix, Shiva, Ramuh and Odin).
4. Barnabas and Cid (and Benedikta) - losing the spark
So, while all Dominants in general have very interesting relationships, I think Barnabas has some of the most interesting, because for one, he had them but then lost, and now he only has himself.
We know he once had Cid and Benedikta by his side, but Cid left him when he noticed something was wrong and their shared objective was no longer shared, and Benedikta left because that's how she is. It's interesting to notice that Cid and Benedikta are the Dominants of Ramuh and Garuda respectively, Eikons with powers related to the skies, while Barnabas has Odin, which isn't exactly a flying or sky-related Eikon (though he can walk on air nonetheless. More on that further). Having had Dominants of the skies by his side, it's funny how his nemesis is Bahamut, the King of the skies. I honestly don't have much more to go from here, nor do I have further stuff for Benedikta.
But I do for Cid! So, apparently, Ramuh's related lands are that of Waloed; however, the king/ruler of Waloed is Barnabas/Odin in the game, whose lands are those of Dzemekys. It's no coincidence when you remember Odin always had a relationship with thunder throughout the series, usually as his weakness, but he has also appeared as Thunder-elemental instead. There's a few things to go through from this. Odin has the thunder lands, basically, and Cid himself had been an ally before. This connection still maintains itself here. Furthermore, Odin, or more specifically Sleipnir, can walk on air by walking on thunder in fact, further strengthing the connection. Honestly, I don't think I'd be too wrong for assuming Barnabas and Cid had a relationship before Cid left. We know Cid is bisexual (why else would he say Clive is pretty but doesn't make his style? Which, considering how Clive and Barnabas are a bit similar is funny) and Barnabas is so messed up that he likely is too if that crazy bedroom scene is anything to go by. It totally happened. But anyway, they definitely had something, Cid was Barnabas's commander (as it's said Sleipnir is filling Cid's role), but obviously darkness doesn't do with light very well and so they separated. The divorce arcs in this game really are something else, I tell you.
And that was it. I see no further connections for Hugo besides the ones I've gone through already, though it really messes with me how he also appears in that crazy bedroom scene, but we never really get any impression that he has a relationship, or at least a strong one, with Barnabas (at least, not from just the main story). I also got nothing more for Leviathan, though that could come to change with the upcoming DLC about them.
And that concludes the main parts. I have a bonus part in my plans and perhaps a tiny second one. But I guess we'll see. Anyway, mayhaps you have any information to add to mine in regards to what I talked here.