Aegis War

Mythra and Malos, both important participants during the Aegis War

The Aegis War is a cataclysmic war that happened five hundred years before the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The war involved both Aegises: Malos and Mythra. It is the main focus of Torna ~ The Golden Country and its legacy greatly shaped Alrest's history and plays a role in Xenoblade Chronicles 2's story.

Story[edit]

Cause[edit]

The initial spark is when Amalthus brought back two Core Crystals, Malos's and Mythra's, to Alrest after climbing the World Tree. Back in Indol, he awakens Malos, who breaks free of Amalthus's control and proceeds to start razing the entire world with his destructive powers. To contest him, Amalthus gave the second Core Crystal, Mythra's, to the Tornan royal family. Addam, Torna's prince, ends up awakening her as his Blade at the Olethro Ruins, after his uncle Zettar fails to do so.

Torna ~ The Golden Country[edit]

During the Aegis War, at least two Titans sank into the Cloud Sea, Coeia being among them, to Malos's rampage. At one point, Malos returns to Amalthus to taunt him and reveals that the Kingdom of Torna is his next target. At another point in time, the war spreads to Genbu, as evidenced by the battleground at Memorial Ruins. Judicium, and by extension the whole of Temperantia, is presented by Malos as "a casualty of the Aegis War". The fact that some of the Titan's modern day locations' names come from events that happened at the time hints that Malos was the one to devastate the Titan, a giant crater named the Aegishammer being found on its Central Plain.

Due to the destruction of Coeia, many of its troops were scattered around the entirety of Alrest, causing troubles in many nations, such as pillaging villages in Gormott. Torigoth Village is burnt to the ground by Coeian remnants. The Empire of Mor Ardain decided to take action against the Coeian remnants and round them up, resulting in fights between the two entities in multiple locations.

By launching an attack on Auresco, the capital of the Kingdom of Torna, Malos is able to steal the seal that kept the Titan from reverting to its true form. Deciding on a whim to wait for some time for the Tornans to prepare themselves, he finally unseals the Titan at The Soaring Rostrum, where its core is located. The Titan reverts to its true form, a dragon-like Titan. The party climbs all the way to the Titan's core, through its insides, and confronts Malos. The battle turns for the worse as both Aegises summon their Sirens and continue the battle over the skies of Torna, wounding the Titan, until Mythra ultimately loses control and launches an attack that both takes Malos down and destroys the Titan's core. Hugo, the Ardainian emperor, is killed defending the party and the Titan sinks below the Cloud Sea, after the party is rescued by an Ardainian flagship.

Legacy[edit]

Although Malos was defeated and the war ended, it left a huge impact on Alrest; people began to fear the power of the Aegises. Some nations desired that power while others wanted to destroy it. Amalthus, in the latter category, sent an armed expedition to Spessia, where many Tornan refugees had evacuated, in order to destroy Mythra. He then barred entry to the World Tree due to the war, and enlisted Ophion to guard it from any intruders. The Kingdom of Tantal was formed in the aftermath of the war, claiming to be the descendants of Addam. Jin and Malos form the Torna organization with the intention of obtaining the Aegis to open the way to the World Tree, in order to kill the Architect and destroy Alrest due to the role the war played in the death of Lora.

With both Coeia and Torna gone, the war also left the Empire of Mor Ardain greatly reinforced with only the Kingdom of Uraya left to challenge them, paving the way for the unstable situation Alrest is found in during the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

To keep the memories of the time of the Aegis War from being forgotten, Minoth, now Cole, writes a play telling its story, the "The Heroic Adventures of Addam". A tome recording Addam's deeds is written by an unknown person, ultimately ending up in the hands of the Tantalese royal dynasty.

In other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
English	Aegis War	—
Japanese	聖杯大戦 (せいはいたいせん)	Great Grail War
French	Guerre des Aegis	Aegis war
German	Aegis-Krieg
Spanish	Guerra de los Égidas
Italian	Guerra degli Aegis
Chinese (simplified)	圣杯大战	Great Grail War
Chinese (traditional)	聖杯大戰	Great Grail War
Korean	성배 대전	Great Grail War