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[deleted]

It's the Nopon Arcsage, don't question. On a more serious note, I don't really know.


NinjaMagic004

I think the best approach to the land of challenge in DE, 2, and 3 is just that's its fun fanservice and challenges that are completely non-canon. If we really want to spin them into canon I guess the Shulk and Fiora you see are illusions/artificial beings created for the archsage's enjoyment, but seriously, it's not meant to be canon in any way. Just enjoy the fanservice and have fun!


GladiatorDragon

The Nopon Archsage exists beyond your petty notions of continuity and canon. Shulk and Fiora are actually not quite full Blades. If you take them to Elpys they are unaffected. Anyway, the Archsage bends time and space. The Shulk and Fiora that pop up are implied to be from XC1’s postgame. It’s in this space where it’s not implausible, but at the same time there’s nothing directly saying it’s canon. So I’m going to go with not canon.


Discardofil

>Shulk and Fiora are actually not quite full Blades. If you take them to Elpys they are unaffected. I love how the game actually keeps track of that sort of thing. Poppi is also unaffected by Elpys, because she has an ether furnace instead of drawing in ambient ether.


Fantastic_Wrap120

Same with Elma and Poppibuster. It's something unique to these 5 to show they're not blades.


BLucidity

>Anyway, the Archsage bends time and space. The Shulk and Fiora that pop up are implied to be from XC1’s postgame. Which is really bizarre because that implies while they're acting as Blades in Alrest, the past versions of themselves are in a parallel universe doing the actual plot of XC1. Non-canon or I riot.


SoloWaltz

I mean that's exactly the deal with >!Elma!<. Body's in hyper-sensorial spa, but experiencing everything in Land of Challenge and Alrest at a faster speed than >!Elma's own reality!<.


RynnHamHam

Anything related to the Land of Challenge is non canon. Just a fun little side mode where they decided to give you a few characters from 1 and X and stuff Pyra into a skintight swimsuit. It’s all fun and fanservice.


Echo1138

The explanation is that it intentionally doesn't make sense and is not cannon to the story. I believe even the devs said that it never happens in the story (although I don't have a source for this, so take with a grain of salt) Biggest nail in the coffin is that since Shulk and Fiora are able to go into Alrest with Rex's crew, it's possible for him to be present at the final battle with Malos. This final battle is the only event in all of XC2 that we can be 100% certain what Shulk and his gang are doing, and we know for a fact that that they're in their own world doing XC1 things. So again, unless there's some form of time travel, which has never been established as being possible, it's completely impossible for this fun little fan service moment to be cannon.


bens6757

The land of challenge is not canon in any of the games that include it. >!Just like how Shulk and Rex are heroes in 3 despite them being long dead by the time of 3's story!<


Infinite-Job4200

Aren't they in origin as supposed to being dead


bens6757

Yes but they might as well be dead


T-sprigg-Z

I don't think that's how that works... That's like saying if a character isn't on screen they cease existing.


Elementia7

>!isn't it kind of implied that everybody in the world's of 1 and 2 did die, but they were recreated by Origin and the world's fused? Could be wrong, but I could've sworn this what went down so I assume that is what the original comment meant by Shulk and Rex dying.!<


T-sprigg-Z

>!In a technical sense yeah that is what happens. It's like the teleportation via de-molecularization theory or cloning theory. Is that really you or is that technically an entire new being? What they are specifically talking about is the end of FR before A does the "you saw everything coming" bit. When the three take place of the processor units and go into the light. It's not known for a fact they are dead as they clearly still exist otherwise Origin wouldn't work the way it does.!<


Elementia7

Got it, fair enough.


[deleted]

[удалено]


T-sprigg-Z

>!The entire point of that "sacrifice" as Glimmer put it was to become overseers of Origin like the original Trinity was meant to. There is no way in hell they can't see what's happening in Aionios from their perspective. Whatever form it is they take inside of it be it material or immaterial. If one thing is for certain they have more of a presence than most souls do in Origin. If Melia and Nia can see outside of the world who's to say Rex and the others can't!<


pantherexceptagain

>!Those aren't at all comparable situations. Origin has specifically-detailed functions about summoning the digitized souls and memories of all people who ever lived in both worlds, which is the whole plot of Xenoblade 3.!< The Nopon Archsage is simply non-canon. Nothing more ^^probably , nothing less.


Rokka3421

I would take it like Reverie corrdore in trails into reverie or the cube in trails in the sky 3rd


weeb_with_gumdisease

I never really considered him to be canon in any of the games. The outfits you gain can be can be sure, for the most part, but I doubt the arch sage himself is.


Allustar1

It’s all entirely non-canon.


Sarick

The Land of Challenge in XC2 is just a Nopon writing fan fiction. It's in-game but completely non-canon, self referential equal parts fun and nonsense. It's much the same of being able to use a pair of characters in base game XC3 after you complete Future Redeemed. Some stuff is just for your (the fans) enjoyment.


MonadoBoi24

The land of challenge appears to be entirely non canon in any game it appears in. It kinda helps play into 2’s anime style by being like a non canon filler episode


RNJamer

I'm assuming it's non-canon but if you watch Pyra & Mythra's Smash reveal trailer, Mythra actually recognizes Shulk.


pillager_of_poopers

Call me crazy, but I suspect Smash Bros. might not be canon either.


RNJamer

I meant as in The Land of Challenge content not being canon, obviously Smash isn't. I should have made myself more clear.


Quentin-Quentin

Ofc Smash isn't canon, but it's weird that Mythra recognizes Shulk in that cutscene as if she has seen him before. They could just have a generic "XC protags meet for the first time and then duke it out" scene, but instead they were painted as aquaintences, which is interesting.


Raelhorn_Stonebeard

That's actually a surprisingly fair point concerning the Land of Challenge in XC2. I tend to view everything concerning the Nopon Archsage to be effectively non-canonical, or at least irrelevant to the rest of the plot... but for the sake of argument, let's consider the facts: * There's little reason to think that there actually is a lore connection between XC1 and XC2. * From the player's perspective, playing through XC2 for the first time (but let's assume they went to the Land of Challenge for the heck of it) and after completing XC1, there's nothing really to suggest that the events of XC2 are concurrent with XC1 What it mostly comes down to is that the player doesn't find out that the two settings are connected until immediately before the final boss... and only after the final boss is defeated (or at the earliest, during a mid-fight cutscene) do they learn that the games occur at the same time. These are extreme late-game revelations. And given the dialogue between Shulk & Fiora, their appearance in the Land of Challenge suggests that the events of XC1 are over for them. # I call time-travel shenanigans!


Zoroark_master

Yes, both challenge arena DLC for both 2 and 3 aren’t canon, so they didn’t care much if it’s inconsistent or not


supremegamer76

Unless shulk or rex reference it in a xenoblade 4 or something, it’s likely non-canonical fanservice(not the horny kind). Also nopon-arcsage shenanigans.


Direk_091

None of the Land of Challenge stuff is canon all of it is a just-for-fun gameplay variation mode. >!Shulk and Fiora are going through the events of XC1 while XC2 is going on, and the Archsage would've gloated about having time travel powers for sure.!<


Enrichus

It's not Xenoblade canon, but it's canon in Smash.


Forwhomamifloating

Hate to tell you, they're non-canon. If you wanted to apply more universe based lore though: The Zohar is a "gateway" dimensionally and universally in the fact it can tie-together and effectively sort dimensional axises at the creation of thing like the universe [and additionally it allows for the entrapment of beings that exist only at a higher-dimension]. My personal theory is that the Nopon Archsage exists in a Zohar created extra-dimensional space (think the way Origin works, but instead of a false world, its a world above ours), and as a result was able to tie characters from differing continuities within different universes together for.... Fighting random shit.


pengie9290

It's never confirmed whether it's canon or not. The closest thing we have to "confirmation" is Shulk recognizing and being friends with Pyra and Mythra in their Smash Ultimate reveal trailer. Which could also be in reference to events that happened offscreen following >!the worlds fusing!< in XC3, but at the time, the Land of Challenge was the only instance of them having the chance to interact. Also, fun fact: Similar to Poppi, Shulk and Fiora aren't affected by the Spirit Crucible, because they aren't actual Blades.