I...am the bearer of the memories of Queen Sphene of Alexandria, and my desire to protect my people transcends all others! For them, I will do anything! No price is too high!
Sphene
Sphene [ˈsfiːn] is a character from Final Fantasy XIV, introduced in the expansion Dawntrail. She is the Queen of Reason of Alexandria, motivated by a strong will to protect her people that brings her into contact with Tuliyollal.
History[]
Before Dawntrail[]
Sphene was a princess of the kingdom of Alexandria located in another reflection of the Source, which Hydaelyn split from Etheirys. She was loved by her people even after she became the queen; her people's happiness became her happiness. Alexandria eventually became embroiled in a war with the neighboring kingdom of Lindblum after the discovery of electrope, a material able to absorb lightning-aspected aether and change that aether's elemental affinity. This war, revolving around securing access to electrope as its use in society became more common, became known as the Storm Surge. As the war broke out, Sphene's parents died, forcing her to quit her studies of magic and become queen, despite wishing to fight alongside her two loyal knights. During the war, Sphene contracted levin sickness, induced by a lightning aether-based superweapon built by Lindblum to end the Storm Surge. Her sickness worsening until it became terminal, the Alexandrians were told that she succumbed to the illness and passed away.
In truth, Sphene's body was placed into a casket made from electrope by Calyx and his organization Preservation, where she was kept in cold stasis, alive and not aging, unbeknownst to the rest of the kingdom.
When the kingdom of Lindblum activated their lightning aether-based superweapon, Preservation saved Alexandria by covering it in a dome of electrope. They sought to bring Queen Sphene back, and through the study of electrope, learned how to separate and store a deceased being's soul and memory. This knowledge was used to preserve Sphene's memories and implement them into machinery, creating an artificial simulacrum of the original. Instead of keeping her as she was, she was reprogrammed with a desire of maintaining her people's happiness no matter the cost. Sphene was "reborn" as an entity called an Endless, and reinstated as the queen of Alexandria. The same procedure was done to many other deceased Alexandrians; they, too, were brought back as Endless. They lived in eternal bliss within Living Memory, a physical realm reserved exclusively for them, with Sphene keeping them happy.
However, despite their supposed utopia and whether or not the Preservation and Sphene were aware of it, their method of using souls ultimately cut themselves off from the Lifestream, breaking the cycle of life, death and rebirth. In this, the amount of birthrates within Alexandria began to decrease. In contrast, Preservation understood very well that the aetheric cost to maintain Living Memory began to outstrip their ability to meet the demand. The Endless required a constant supply of aether from souls to continue existing, and when her world started to run out of souls to source from, Sphene sought new sources of aether. A gateway to the Source was constructed, with the intention of killing its denizens and harvesting their souls. The other side of this gateway wound up in Tural, inside the Skydeep Cenote in the forests of Yak T'el. Two Preservation scientists, objecting to this plan, defected from their group and transported both the key required to open the gate and their infant daughter to the Source. They were received by Dawnservant Gulool Ja Ja and Galuf Baldesion, with the latter adopting and raising the child as his own. Bereft of the key, Sphene could no longer open the gate once it closed, and the plan was put on hiatus.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail[]
The nation of Tural held a rite of succession to determine its next Dawnservant, who would succeed Gulool Ja Ja as its leader. Each participant's final challenge was to find the fabled "golden city", which, in reality, was the gateway to Alexandria. One such participant, Zoraal Ja, was disqualified during the rite of succession, but nonetheless conspired with his assistant, a seer named Sareel Ja, to steal the key and gain access to the gate. After reaching the gate, the two heard Sphene speaking from the other side, promising them power in exchange for opening it. Desiring to keep this power for himself, Zoraal Ja attacked Sareel Ja before fulfilling Sphene's request and traveling through the gate alone.
Zoraal Ja was eventually crowned King of Resolve of Alexandria, with Sphene becoming his Queen of Reason. Using interdimensional fusion they took two parts of Alexandria—the Everkeep metropolitan area, and the region of Heritage Found—and moved them directly onto the Source, on top of the region of Yyasulani in Xak Tural. The electrope dome was transported with them, and the existing residents of Yyasulani assimilated into Alexandrian society. Zoraal Ja launched an invasion to Tuliyollal, killing his father alongside many civilians, all the while Sphene watched over the carnage with apprehension. When newly-appointed Dawnservant Wuk Lamat decided to strike back, she, the Warrior of Light, Alisaie Leveilleur, G'raha Tia, Erenville, and a now-grown Krile Baldesion broke into the dome. Only three days passed in the Source between when the dome appeared and when it was breached, but due to time discrepancy between the Source and its reflections, this was equivalent to thirty years within Alexandria. After the barrier was broken, the flow of time stabilized between the two regions.
While traversing through the now-lightning-filled atmosphere of Heritage Found, the aforementioned party met Sphene, who took them to the Outskirts to learn about her people, their use of electrope, and the role of soul regulators in their day-to-day lives. While not revealing her true intentions, she was civil and courteous to the group despite their wariness of her. Sphene requested their assistance in overthrowing Zoraal Ja; she had come to see him as a threat due to his desire for personal power over the happiness of the Alexandrian people. She granted them passage to Solution Nine, the ninth level of Everkeep that acted as a residential zone. In Solution Nine, Sphene served as a guide to the Warrior and Wuk Lamat, and they got to know Sphene better as she told them about the story of her world, the Storm Surge in particular which the Warrior compared to an Umbral Calamity.
When word reached out that Zoraal Ja was about to continue the invasion of Tuliyollal, Wuk Lamat, the Warrior of Light, and Alisaie proceeded to Vanguard to face him. Zoraal Ja revealed Sphene's true identity as an Endless, and that she desired the invasion of Tuliyollal as much as he did, as it would supply Alexandria with more souls to maintain their way of life. He ordered for the invasion to continue, but this time Tuliyollal fought back with the help of Dawnservant Koana, the (publicly disbanded) Scions of the Seventh Dawn, the residents of neighboring Shaaloani, and dragons Vrtra and Azdaja from Radz-at-Han, ultimately routing the Alexandrian forces. This drew Zoraal Ja over the edge, and he ordered the people of Alexandria be slaughtered and their souls extracted, hoping to attain further power by absorbing them himself. Sphene became outraged and desperate, but the adventuring party decided to save her people, as even though Sphene's crimes were unforgivable, her people were innocent. They fought their way through Solution Nine while saving those they could. Sphene was reunited with Otis, whose soul had been transferred into a mechanical body centuries ago. He protected Sphene from a wild fiend, but the strain was too much for his old mechanical body. After quelling the carnage for the time being, Sphene stayed behind to look after her people, while others prepared to pursue and challenge Zoraal Ja.
At the top of Everkeep and engaging in a fierce battle with the mad King of Resolve, Zoraal Ja was killed ending his reign of tyranny. He dropped the key only for Sphene to appear behind the party and seize it. She redeclared her intention of using lives from the Source to sustain the Endless in Alexandria, and used the key to open another dimensional gateway to Living Memory. She took to the key with her, closing the gate behind her to prevent anyone from following. After the Scions determined where she had gone, they returned to the original gateway in Yak T'el and used Krile's clover-shaped earring—in reality a data storage device of Alexandrian design, which contained a code for the gate—to open the gate to Living Memory.
Once they arrived, the party proceeded to the central Meso Terminal, where Sphene was preparing for her ultimatum. Wuk Lamat tried one last time to get through to her, believing that in her heart Sphene did not want to massacre the people of the Source. She admitted that she did not, but saw no other recourse, and intended to erase the original Sphene's memories so that her kind personality would not serve as a hindrance to do what she felt must be done to maintain the Endless. She refused to reevaluate this stance even after G'raha Tia pointed out that this course of action would be merely delaying the inevitable: should she succeed and continue, there would come a time when there would be no more souls to harvest, and then the Endless would cease to exist no matter what. Sphene retreated to the Meso Terminal to enact this plan; in the meantime, the party began shutting down the other terminals in Living Memory used to keep the Endless active, essentially "killing" them (though the people whose memories were used to create them had already passed long ago).
The party proceeded into the Meso Terminal, and fought their way through its defense systems before reaching Sphene, whose original personality was now almost fully erased. She kicked out all party members save for the Warrior of Light, whom she engaged directly due to their higher perceived threat level based on the Elminator's assessment. They, in turn, summoned reinforcements using the crystal of Azem. Partway through this battle, Wuk Lamat reentered the battlefield, reaching out to Sphene one last time and causing her rewritten personality to be partially restored long enough to reaffirm that this plan was what she wanted, unable to bear losing her people again.
After being defeated, Sphene reappeared, glitching as the Meso Terminal could not maintain her for long. In her last words she admitted that she was only delaying the inevitable, and that despite her aims, she enjoyed her time with the adventuring party and admitted that under different circumstances they would have been able to live on in happiness and harmony. Sphene gave the key to the Warrior, believing they would keep it safe. Sphene accepted her death and left her people's future into the hands of Tuliyollal, bidding farewell to her kingdom she loved so much.
Post-Dawntrail[]
With the disabling of Living Memory, the Alexandrians could no longer forget those who passed away. The same was true with Sphene, and Alexandria mourned heavily over the loss of their beloved queen. The new king of Alexandria, Zoraal Ja's son Gulool Ja, ordered a funeral to be held for Sphene in Solution Nine. The Warrior, Wuk Lamat, Krile, G'raha, Alphinaud, and Alisaie also took part, the Warrior and Wuk Lamat in particular since they were directly involved with Sphene's death, even if she was merely a simulacrum.
Not long after the funeral Sphene appeared in Solution Nine, and none of the Alexandrians, save for those who didn't wear regulators, remembered that a funeral had been held for her memory, instead believing the ceremony had been to honor those lost in Zoraal Ja's attack. Sphene offered a solution to the people to use the new type of neo-regulators to become Endless, having five thousand of them ready. The Warrior and Wuk Lamat, however, were not convinced this was the real Sphene, as they knew she would never be content to save only a part of her people. Wuk Lamat angrily demanded to know who she really was. She bluntly answered: Sphene, the Queen of Reason. Without any concrete evidence to prove otherwise, the Warrior and Wuk Lamat walked away so as not to confuse the people any further.
Due to Living Memory's shutdown, the stasis casket, which held the original Sphene, also shut down, releasing her. She stumbled out from Meso Terminal, disoriented due to her levin sickness, wondering where she was and if her people were safe. She then collapsed, just as Y'shtola and Shale found her.
Y'shtola and Shale brought Sphene to the Source and into the Backroom in Solution Nine. Krile brought the Warrior and Wuk Lamat, so they could see her themselves. Both were shocked, with Wuk Lamat initially thinking she is the impostor Sphene. But Y'shtola, with her aether-bound sight, determined she is flesh and blood and also possesses a soul, thus concluding she is the original Queen Sphene of Alexandria. Alisaie had used her porxie to administer the tempering treatment to cure her levin sickness, since levin sickness is similar in that regard, as it is capable of curing aetherial imbalances.
Wuk Lamat wondered, how can this woman be Sphene, since it was told she died four centuries ago. Sphene then woke up, insisting she was not dead, yet she was disoriented and confused, wondering where she was and who were the people around her. Alisaie calmed her down and explained she has been sick and told her not to strain herself. Y'shtola said they were going to tell her everything she wanted, but first she confirmed her identity as Queen Sphene of Alexandria. She warned her that some of the things she was going to hear may be unsettling, but Sphene nevertheless wanted to hear.
Shale explained they found an electrope casket where she was held. According to the Oblivion's records, Sphene was reported dead due to levin sickness four hundred years ago, yet now it was clear she was preserved. This revelation was hard for Sphene to accept, but she did not think anyone was lying. Everyone in the room told her about recent events: Alexandria fusing with the Source, Zoraal Ja's attack on Tuliyollal, Endless Sphene and her goal. It was a lot to take in, and it was hard for her to come to terms with all of it. Gulool Ja suggested she go out and see modern Alexandria herself. Although a little anxious, she accepted, and the Warrior and Wuk Lamat offered to come with her.
After dressing up into a more suitable garb, which allowed her to blend in and keep her face hidden, she was ready to head out. Shale said they should first address the matter of multiple Sphenes: she would be called Sphene, the former Queen of Reason as Endless Sphene, and the impostor now posing as Queen as a "simulant". Sphene promised to keep her identity a secret.
Gulool Ja led them to Scanning Port Nine, where he explained the basic knowledge about Solution Nine. Sphene was delighted that some things, like leynodes, were being used again, since Alexandria had to stop using teleportation via aetherial currents during the Storm Surge. She was also happy how Tuliyollal and Alexandria were connected with a railroad, like Alexandria and Lindblum were in the past, before relations soured. She was apprehensive about regulators though, since she never wanted to forget those she cared about. They headed to Mosaic café where Sphene had a Dali coffee. She sat with the Warrior and was happy to see her people were alive, yet she felt they were not her people anymore, since she did not know them. A boy came and asked her if she was Queen Sphene. She denied it, claiming that she merely looked alike. Not knowing the people made her feel lonely.
After finishing their drinks, Gulool Ja suggested they return to True Vue. As soon as they arrived, they encountered Malachite, an usher having been stricken with pain by his memory of dying in Zoraal Ja's attack. The Warrior rallied his spirits and he then explained he was delivering keepsakes for the people. Gulool Ja offered to help, and Malachite accepted. Sphene, the Warrior, and Gulool Ja went to deliver keepsakes to the people in True Vue, while Wuk Lamat went to help Malachite. One of the recipients was Lithander, the former Arcadion fighter, who begged the Endless Sphene to reopen Arcadion even though she had no authority. But since then he turned his life around after wjat Endless Sphene said to him. Everyone accepted the keepsakes, yet they all felt different about them.
Sphene, Warrior, and Wuk Lamat returned to Malachite and told him about the keepsakes. As Malachite left, Sphene wondered if she had a place in the new Alexandria. Just then Wuk Lamat noticed the simulant Sphene looking at them. She walked away, indicating she wanted them to follow her. Suspecting a trap, the companions nevertheless followed her.
As they approached Neon Stein, the Warrior was struck with an enormous bolt of lightning, which paralyzed them and turned down power from the immediate area. Above them, a screen activated, showing a silhouette of a man, who was disappointed the Warrior had lived. Sphene recognized the man's voice. The simulant landed and demanded the Warrior to return the interdimensional key, which the Warrior outright refused to hand over. The simulant tempted Wuk Lamat, who almost attacked her out of anger, but composed herself as her striking down the Queen of Alexandria would cause diplomatic crisis between Tuliyollal and Alexandria.
The Warrior demanded to know what he intended to gain by turning everyone into Endless. He claimed that humanity has ever evolved through survival, but as result of that resources had become scarce and conflict ensued. Thus, he believed mortal vessels were outdated, and he needed the key to set the next stage of evolution. Sphene realized the man was Calyx, the young genius who had mastered electrope technology and founded the Preservation. She noticed Calyx was still the same, always looking to the future. She demanded he stop deceiving Alexandrians, but the simulant mocked her, referring her as an obsolete being, who could die at any moment. Calyx told the Warrior to hand over the key or there would be consequences. He cut the transmission and power was restored to the area, but the simulant was nowhere to be found.
The companions returned to the Backroom to inform Krile, G'raha, and Shale. With the Preservation having revealed itself, they concluded they would need more information. Shale tracked down the transmission Calyx had used to the foundation sector, where the old Alexandria Castle still resided. Everyone was certain it was a trap, but they had no other leads to follow. Sphene asked to come along, since she knew the castle better than anyone.
The Warrior, Wuk Lamat, Krile and G'raha ventured ahead to the foundation sector and cleared the path for Sphene and Shale to follow. As they expected, Calyx had set up ambushes to test their strength. Venturing deeper into castle, Sphene reminisced her past: about how she walked the halls to see her loyal knights, Otis and his second-in-command, Zelenia, spar, remarking that the Warrior knew Otis. She said she loved to see them spar and dreamed of fighting by their side with magic, studying under her tutor. But when Sphene was fifteen years old, the Storm Surge erupted: her parents died and she had to ascend the throne, as the kingdom couldn't let her die without a successor, thus her dream of fighting with Otis and Zelenia was denied. Yet even though in the end she could barely walk, she felt regret for not going out and fight. Everyone were sorry about her loss, but she apologized for darkening the mood and urged they continue. But as soon as they did, both her and Warrior disappeared.
Sphene and the Warrior suddenly found themselves in the castle's throne room, where Calyx and the simulant were waiting. The simulant only expected the Warrior to come. Calyx then intended to test the Warrior further, with the intention of gaining more information about them. He summoned a large, mechanical knight, whom the simulant called "Zelenia", shocking Sphene as this mechanical monstrosity was, in a perverse way, her loyal knight. Simulant said they were unable to preserve Zelenia's original memories and so this machine was created from Sphene's own memories of her. Sphene was livid and disgusted how Calyx and simulant were using her memories of people dear to her to create mockeries of them and use them as playthings, and turned towards the Warrior and begged them to destroy the machine, not least of all for Zelenia's honor. For a brief moment, the Warrior felt like the Endless Sphene was asking this of her, like she had in the past. The Warrior, without hesitation, proceeded to fight machine Zelenia, and used the crystal of Azem to summon their allies. Sphene provided the Warrior counsel of Zelenia's fighting style and couldn't help but be impressed how the machine Zelenia's bladework was almost identical to that of the original. The Warrior eventually defeated the machine.
Calyx analyzed the Warrior's fight with machine Zelenia and claimed that he got what he needed. The simulant then declared her purpose has been fulfilled, but Sphene and the Warrior held their leave. Sphene declared the simulant and Calyx were unworthy of carrying the treasured memories of Alexandrians and noted she will nevee see eye to eye with them. Calyx claimed he didn't want to use tge fruits of his research this way, but he will as long as the Warrior clings to the key. He didn't understand, why the Warrior would be so eager to oppose his plan, thinking that by harvesting aether from the Source and other reflections, they could bring salvation to the people of the Ninth and others as well by turning everyone into Endless. The Warrior knew all too well, what this meant and resolved to not let Calyx touch any of the reflections. Before disappearing, the simulant addressed Sphene, that what she and the Warrior believed for immaterial and that the people of Alexandria have already found hope in transcending death. Calyx then left them a gift, as he and the simulant vanished: Endless Sphene's tiara.
Sphene watched over machine Zelenia, as Wuk Lamat, Krile, G'raha and Shale found them. The Warrior explained what happened and Krile was somewhat worried about Calyx's goal but also about how he knows about the reflections. Wuk Lamat said they came upon a library while searching and Krile asked Sphene if they could take some tomes with them in order to learn about the old Alexandria. Sphene allowed it. Shale then led them to the terminal behind the throne. Wuk Lamat noticed the Endless Sphene's tiara on the throne, Shale believing it is a type of regulator which Calyx used to create the simulant. Sphene took the tiara and asked if she can hold on to it, as it contained memories of her other self. The Warrior, Wuk Lamat and Shale agreed to let Sphene hold it. They then returned back to Solution Nine, with Sphene saying final farewell to Zelenia.
In the Backroom, the companions took a stock of what they had found and the Warrior contacted their allies. When the Warrior said Alisaie had been treating Milos, a boy with severe levin sickness, Wuk Lamat wanted to go see him and Sphene wanted to come along too. At Milos' apartment, Alisaie was applying the final touches on Milos and his mother was happy to see him getting better. She had hoped Milos might become Endless to be free of suffering, but now she didn't think it anymore. Alisaie told her that while Milos should be fine now, a relapse is possible, so she advised that Milos should keep distance from lightning infused objects, including regulators. Milos' mother agreed but also considered moving from away from the dome, and Wuk Lamat said they can move to Tuliyollal if they so wish. Milos thanked Alisaie and as the companions left, he asked them to come back soon, Sphene as well.
Outside the apartment, Sphene mused how the Endless Sphene gave Milos the strength to hold on, with Wuk Lamat pointing that despite the fact they had to fight her, her love for the people of Alexandria was very real. Inspired by this, Sphene intended to carry on that part of her Endless counterparts legacy, to assist the people of Alexandria, even if she is queen no more. Out of Sphene's suggestion, the companions decided to head to Nexus Arcade to do some gift shopping for their friends before heading to the Backroom.
Just as they exited the apartment complex, an announcement was made that the distribution of neo-regulators has been concluded and that everyone should register the device. The announcement finished by claiming that soon they will reach the next state of evolution and enjoy the benefits of eternal life. As the companions pondered what this meant, they overheard citizens talking about neo-regulators. From this, Sphene realized what the simulant meant: the Alexandrians having lived for years without any knowledge about the nature of death, only recently becoming aware of it, couldn't handle the emotions from it. Thus, fear of death spreads among them easily and it wouldn't be difficult understand that they would take on any opportunity to be free from that fear. Wuk Lamat added that the Endless Sphene's funeral was supposed to help the people to come to terms with death and eventually move on, but anyone who wore a regulator that day had their memories of the funeral erased. Sphene cut their shopping short and urged they return to Backroom at once.
In the Backroom Shale and Gulool Ja were relieved everyone were alright, as the announcement was worrying, and people were on edge, but then Nostalgia rushed into the room and informed that a citizen was killed by a mechanical soldier in True Vue. This shocked Gulool Ja, as only he with the King of Resolve's authority could give an order like that. Shale tried to learn why, but she couldn't access the core system, determing that Calyx must be behind this. Sphene suggested they should go and see for themselves. The Warrior got a call from Erenville that a mechanical soldier had killed a citizen in the outskirts too. The call was cut, when Erenville claimed even more soldiers were coming and he ran off, attempting to lure them away. Shale told the companions to go and help out Erenville while she directs the Oblivion in Solution Nine.
At the outskirts, the companions split up, with Sphene and Gulool Ja providing whatever help they can to the people. The Warrior eventually rescued Erenville and a Shetona citizen. As everyone gathered, Sphene informed that she and Gulool Ja ran to Malachite again and that he had a very peculiar story to tell. He had been called to treat the killed citizen, but once he arrived, there was no corpse to be found, only a pile of dust that was scattered in the wind. The people still remembered the person who was killed, deepening the mystery, as no one believed the body could just simply vanish without anyone noticing. All the Scions' linkpearls then rang, each getting a message from other Scions inside Solution Nine: machines of all kinds had started to go out of control, vehicles crashing, mechanized soldiers attacking the people and so on. Sphene yelled they have to help the people and she ran back to Everkeep, with Wuk Lamat following her. The Scions split up, with the Warrior and Gulool Ja running after Sphene and Wuk Lamat.
The view in Solution Nine was all to familiar, as it was like Zoraal Ja's attack all over again. Wuk Lamat directed the Warrior to Sphene, where they found her mourning over a slain citizen. She was angry about all of this, declaring this is all wrong.
After the situation had calmed down, the Scions took a stock of the situation. They were certain Calyx was behind all this, but the reason was unclear; was it simply to just spread the fear of death among the people to get them to register their neo-regulators? Y'shtola suggested that Gulool Ja shut down all the mechanical soldiers so that this can't happen again, but it wasn't that simple, since the mechanical soldiers don't act only as guards, they are also used in many other tasks, such as food production. Gulool Ja nevertheless made it so that they can no longer use any weapons. Sphene then spoke, claiming she can no longer bear to be powerless. Declaring her intention to protect the people of Alexandria, she asked for the Scions' strength for what is to come, and all of them agreed. In the Backroom once more, Sphene then proclaimed her intention to retrain herself in magic with Y'shtola's and Alisaie's help, getting the opportunity as one of the tomes they brought back from the old castle was a grimoire she used to train with. She first intended to focus on healing magicks to better help the people.
Characteristics[]
Sphene appeared in multiple forms throughout the story of Dawntrail. To distinguish these versions, Shale proposed a set of identifiers for the Warrior of Light's allies to use:
- Sphene's name, as is, referred to the original, living Sphene.
- Endless Sphene (先王, Sen-Ō?) referred to the Queen of Reason encountered during the interdimensional fusion with the Source.
- Simulant (シミュラント, Shimyuranto?) referred to the new Sphene that appeared after Queen Eternal's defeat.
Appearance[]
Sphene takes the appearance of a young Hyune woman with olive eyes and medium-length gray hair that curves when it reaches her shoulders. The tips of her hair are dyed yellow. She wears a brightly-colored yellow and teal dress and long stockings. As to be expected of royalty, she wears a small teal-colored crown.
When forced into a final confrontation with the Warrior of Light within the unlost world, Sphene takes on the form of a giant mechanical locust that possess impressive reality warping abilities and drone weaponry within the Meso Terminal.
The original Sphene, after being released from her stasis, initially wore a beige silk pyjamas while recovering. Afterwards she began to use a black-beige coat with a hood to conceal her identity, denim shorts, long black leggings and yellow boots.
Personality[]
The Endless Sphene[]
Sphene appears as gentle and kind, and has a lighthearted and easygoing disposition. She deeply cares about the people of Alexandria, and is always ready to help anyone in need. In a similar vein to Wuk Lamat, Sphene endeavors to interact and know the people under her rule, making her easy to approach and speak with towards the Alexandrian citizens. Alisaie noted that Sphene reminded her of Wuk Lamat, as she expected a queen to be colder. However, her lighthearted disposition is a facade, as she is anguished and troubled by her people's suffering and of the means she has to employ to maintain their happiness. When Wuk Lamat takes notice of her troubles, Sphene quickly changes the subject while trying to act cheerful again.
After her true goal of massacring and plundering other worlds of aether is revealed, Sphene is shown to be unyielding and determined in her objective, willing to go to extreme lengths to protect and preserve Alexandria and its people, especially the immortal Endless, refusing to allow them to fade. Nevertheless, she does so with guilt and reluctance, believing she has no alternative option, so much that she needed to suppress her gentle nature via reprogramming to confront the Warrior of Light, accepting to be "history's most brutal queen" if it means to protect her people.
Sphene abhors Zoraal Ja, trying her best to mitigate the negative effects that his cruelty and greed have on the Alexandrian people. She only suffers his presence as the King of Resolve because of their covenant, which allowed Alexandria to invade and draw aether from the Source to begin with. Though she attempted to reason with the King of Resolve for a peaceable solution to his feud with Wuk Lamat and the heroes, when Zoraal Ja's cruelty extends towards the Alexandrians she deems it goes too far and Sphene forms a truce with Wuk Lamat and the Warrior of Light to stop him. Sphene was mystified by the Scions' willingness to help her protect the Alexandrians from Zoraal Ja's massacre despite knowing she had deceived them.
Sphene, upon her revival as an Endless, was modified by Preservation to prioritize the well-being of the Alexandrian people above all else, regardless of how the Preservation's intended methods affected others. This programming is likely the root of her inner turmoil, as her gentle nature conflicts with the lengths she has to go to fulfill this prime directive. The Preservation's programming makes it impossible for Sphene to accept any alternative to the Preservation's plan of plundering the aether of other worlds to sustain the Endless, despite knowing that maintaining the Endless is unsustainable and is only delaying the inevitable.
Sphene has deep empathy for the suffering of others and does want to minimize pain and death, at least within her domain. She shows compassion to the people of Xak Tural who became trapped within Heritage Found, helping find ways to preserve their culture and way of life as best she can. When the Warrior of Light defeats her, she forgives them and entrusts them with the well-being of her people, believing them to be in good hands.
The original Sphene[]
The original Sphene was similar in personality as the Endless Sphene, since the Endless Sphene was created from her memories. She loved her people, and was particularly close with two of her most loyal knights, Otis and Zelenia, wishing to fight alongside them with magic. The death of her parents denied that, forcing her to become queen and lead Alexandria during the Storm Surge.
After being released from her cold stasis, she is initially afraid and confused, and as she is being told about past events, she finds herself uncertain of her place, but is nevertheless willing to learn about her kingdom's current state. As she sees that her kingdom has survived, she bonds with the Warrior of Light, telling them she is happy yet feels lonely as she doesn't know the people, nor do they know her.
Despite having to keep her identity a secret, Sphene nevertheless is eager to assist the people of Alexandria, not just because she feels it's right but also to find her place within this new world. Unlike most Alexandrians, Sphene opposes usage of regulators, as she doesn't wish to forget any of the people she had cared about, yet she also doesn't want to impose her beliefs on anyone.
Sphene compares herself to her Endless counterpart regularly, as a source of inspiration, although she doesn't agree with her ultimate goal of plundering Source and its reflections of aether. This becomes apparent, when she clashes with Calyx and her simulant self. She loathes how they remade Zelenia as a mechanical mockery of herself, declaring that it must be destroyed and asks the Warrior to carry it out.
Disagreeing with Calyx's goal of making everyone Endless, she swears to stop him and with unyielding determination, which was also apparent with Endless Sphene, retrain herself in magic.
The simulant[]
The simulant Sphene is, in short, complete opposite to the personalities of the original and Endless Sphene's. She doesn't possess an actual free will, and she even acknowledges that she is just a pawn for Calyx. Despite this, she acts with whatever mannerism is needed of her. For the people of Alexandria she appears just like the Endless Sphene, their beloved queen, who has the best interests for her people. But in order to fulfill Calyx's goals, she is ruthless and cruel and has no qualms to attempting to kill the Warrior of Light. She even goes as far to tempt Wuk Lamat by playing her feelings towards the Endless Sphene. She proves to be nothing like original Sphene, as she twisted Sphene's memories of Zelenia into a machine, and Sphene declares her unfit to be trusted with the memories of Alexandrians.
Gameplay[]
Sphene appears as an ally NPC in the duty instance of 
The Protector and the Destroyer, initially removing an obstacle in the way but otherwise is a non-combatant interacting with other NPCs. In her stunned state during the final battle of the instance, she is protected by Otis.
Sphene has voice lines throughout 
Alexandria, reflecting her memories of the past. Sphene is fought as Queen Eternal in 
The Interphos and its optional Extreme mode, The Minstrel's Ballad: Sphene's Burden, which was added in patch 7.1.
In Recollection, voice lines of Sphene serve as combat advice during the battle.
Behind the scenes and etymology[]
During promotion for the release of Dawntrail, Sphene was referred to as the Enigmatic Maiden, with her description intended to withhold spoilers about her role in the story.
Dawntrail features many references to Final Fantasy IX, with Sphene's character based on Garnet Til Alexandros XVII, princess and eventual queen of Alexandria. Sphene, better known as titanite, is a green and brown neosilicate mineral. Garnets are also neosilicates. The writing on Sphene's clothing gives her full name as "Sphene Alexandros XIV", which references Garnet's full name and the number 14 as the fourteenth main game in the series. Sphene shares the general beats of Garnet's storyline as a young ruler forced to ascend the throne during a time of calamity for the kingdom of Alexandria, gaining the strength and resolve to protect those in need in the process.