Raziel
In Avernus Cathedral, Raziel explored the Earth Forge and the Avernus Catacombs. From the murals in both, he finally understood that the Ancient Vampires had worshipped the Elder God, but the Elder abandoned them once they were cursed by the Hylden. The Hylden were bitter adversaries of the Elder God. Suddenly, Raziel's "resemblance to the Vampires' enemy no longer seemed so accidental". The Elder God spoke to Raziel, and agreed he was indeed the Hylden champion.
In the catacombs, Raziel stumbled upon a ceremony being led by the Death Guardian, Mortanius. It involved the offering of a blood sacrifice to a 'god', Hash'ak'gik, who lived at the bottom of a deep pit. Curious, Raziel got too close to the pit's edge, and was knocked in by a telekinetic blast. Raziel soon discovered that Hash'ak'gik was actually Turel, the vampire lieutenant of Kain who had eluded his wrath in Soul Reaver. Turel was being possessed by a number of Hylden, and was simply an impressive-looking vessel they used to command their worshippers. Turel demanded blood to strengthen himself against their control, and when none was given to him, he attacked Raziel.
Raziel killed Turel, and devoured his soul. He then emerged from the pit and found Mortanius. If Raziel needed any further convincing that he was the Hylden champion, Mortanius was happy to oblige; apparently he also believed it. From their conversation - during which Mortanius struggled against the possession of the Dark Entity - Raziel learned that Mortanius had resurrected Kain using the Heart of Darkness, hoping to create the Vampire champion: the Scion of Balance. The Necromancer believed Kain was destined to be Raziel's destroyer.
Raziel left the catacombs, and ran into Kain, who was just arriving at Avernus Cathedral. Raziel now knew that Kain would have to die for Janos to live. Also, when Raziel absorbed Turel's soul, a green tendril had been mixed in with it. It seemed, as a result of that, Raziel was being influenced in a limited way by the Hylden. They were heightening his rage against Kain; his bitterness at being a 'pawn' in Kain's game, expendable when it suited Kain's whim.
Kain tried to unsuccessfully to reason with Raziel, re-iterating that Raziel had a choice, and (for the first time) explicitly describing the nature of Raziel's free will. Because of his execution and "remaking" in the Abyss, Raziel was the one creature who was not shackled to the Wheel of Fate. He had free will all the time, unlike Kain and everyone else. It appeared that the Reaver paradox was not necessary for Raziel to alter the path of history, except perhaps for momentous changes, but this was not clarified.
They fought. Kain managed to subdue Raziel after a while, but Raziel restarted the battle, attacking ferociously. Kain intercepted what could have been the finishing blow by grabbing Raziel's wrist; unintentionally causing Raziel's soul to start transferring into the physical Reaver through Kain's body. Raziel saved himself, and won his revenge against Kain by plunging his claws into Kain's chest, and tearing out the Heart of Darkness. Raziel then threw Kain through a portal using telekinesis, presuming he was completely dead at last, wherever he ended up. Raziel reflected that he "felt no elation, no sense of victory", and was certain he had once again walked into a trap.
Raziel returned to Vorador's Mansion. There, he encountered Moebius, who congratulated him on his victory over Kain. The Time Streamer said that it did not matter which hero - Vampire or Hylden - Kain and Raziel convinced themselves they were, as long as the outcome was the same: that they would fight and Kain would die. Kain's destruction was the only important thing, and Raziel had achieved that. Moebius gloated that Raziel had been successfully compelled into performing the task, despite having the free will to choose otherwise. Moebius departed to oversee Vorador's execution, leaving Raziel to battle the vampire hunters that blocked Raziel's route between the library and the garden crypt.
Raziel returned Janos' heart to his body, and resurrected the winged Ancient Vampire. Luckily, Janos' memory was intact, although he was shocked to find out that he had been dead for five hundred years. He tried to hurry Raziel into action, but after so many delays and misdirections, Raziel was not exactly co-operative. Now Janos was alive again, without the Sarafan beating down the door, Raziel wanted answers: How could he be the Vampire saviour if the Reaver was designed to imprison him? Raziel unsettled Janos further by showing him the wraith-blade - he already held the Reaver, but not in the way Janos had been expecting. Despite all this, Janos continued to believe in Raziel, and teleported them both to the Vampire Citadel.
Raziel's argumentative mood continued, even as Janos protested that there was no time to explain everything; the Pillars were in peril. At Raziel's insistence, Janos briefly described the history of the Vampires, how the Hylden curse of immortality had "banished [them] from God's grace," and how the Pillars came to have human Guardians. Eventually, Janos convinced Raziel to explore the Spirit Forge, promising him answers there.
The Elder God intervened in the Spirit Forge, forcing its tentacles through the floor around the altar and pulling it down, deeper into the earth as Raziel tried to activate it. However, Raziel completed the task, and the forge summoned the souls of Ariel and her Balance Guardian predecessors to itself to imbue the wraith-blade with Spirit. As she was absorbed into the wraith-blade, Ariel told Raziel that he must "unite what has been set asunder". Only then would the Scion of Balance - Kain - "be armed for his true endeavor". Believing Kain was gone for good, Raziel wondered what hope there was for Nosgoth. Kain's "true endeavor" could never be embarked upon. Raziel was even more confused, if that were possible, so he returned to Janos.
Janos was watching the Pillars from the Vampire Citadel's council chamber. Very soon after Raziel arrived back, the Pillars exploded in a flash of cataclysmic lightning. In that instant - in the Pillars clearing - the fledgling vampire Kain had just refused to sacrifice himself, as he did in Blood Omen. The Dark Entity - the Hylden Lord - who had recently been using Mortanius' deformed body to fight Kain, suddenly possessed Janos.
Janos fought the possession, but could not shake it off. The Hylden Lord said that Raziel had "played [his] part flawlessly" - in resurrecting Janos and murdering the Scion of Balance he had invaluably helped the Hylden's cause. Janos managed to reassert his own will just long enough to ask Raziel to kill him, before the Hylden regained control. Raziel refused to let the Hylden Lord leave the Vampire Citadel without a fight.
Raziel fought Janos/the Hylden Lord, and eventually knocked him to the ground. Raziel stood over Janos' body, but even though the Ancient Vampire pleaded for Raziel to end it, before the Hylden came back, Raziel could not bring himself to destroy Janos. Raziel's inaction gave the Hylden Lord enough time to consolidate his power. He used magic to obliterate Raziel's current physical body, and sent him back to the Elder God.
In the Spirit Forge, in the Spectral Realm, the Elder God told Raziel there was nothing more for him to do, now that Kain was gone. The Elder was going to keep Raziel imprisoned in the Spectral Underworld - permanently this time - as he was "undying" and his soul could never be returned to the Wheel of Fate. Raziel's future looked very bleak as the Elder summoned Moebius to converse with it the Spirit Forge chamber.
Unknown to Raziel, Kain had survived their Avernus battle and awoke in the demon dimension. He defeated a number of demons before a portal appeared to allow his escape from that "shadowy realm". He made his way to the Spirit Forge, and floated down behind Moebius, who was standing at the bottom. Kain impaled Moebius on the Reaver, and as the Time Streamer died, Moebius found himself in the Spectral Realm. Not realizing that Raziel was standing behind him, Moebius told the Elder that Kain still lived, and started to ask his god to restore him to life again. Unfortunately for him, Raziel mimicked Kain's earlier action, and thrust the wraith-blade through Moebius' spirit body. His sight 'purified' by the Spirit-imbued blade, Moebius saw the Elder God's true form for the first time, before Raziel finally opened his cowl and devoured Moebius' old soul.
The Elder God was unconcerned about the loss of Moebius, but Raziel started to understand that he was not as powerless as the Elder claimed. Kain had survived - something the Elder God appeared to have missed. Also, although there had never been any hope of exposing the "unseen" Elder God's deceits, the Spirit Reaver had allowed Moebius to see his master for what it truly was. Piecing together these revelations with what Kain, Janos and Ariel had previously told him, Raziel made a terrible but necessary choice. He was both 'Redeemer and Destroyer', with the potential to be both the Hylden and Vampire champions. Kain, the Scion of Balance, was neither; Mortanius had been wrong in believing otherwise. Raziel decided to do what Ariel had said, and exert his free will one last time to arm Kain for "his true endeavor". He would sacrifice himself to give Kain the power to see and fight the Elder God.
Using Moebius' corpse as a host, Raziel re-entered the Material Realm. Kain, seeing only Moebius, attacked instinctively, running 'Moebius' through with the Reaver, and using so much force that the sword tip became embedded in the rock behind him. Raziel manifested fully, and Kain realized his mistake. He tried to withdraw the Reaver, but Raziel stopped him. Raziel placed his hand on Kain's chest, allowing the Spirit-imbued wraith-blade to disperse into Kain and heal him of his wounds, both physical and spiritual. Raziel's final words before allowing himself to be absorbed by the physical Reaver both forgave Kain and established Raziel's renewed loyalty to his maker. His physical form flickering and fading, he said:[1]
"The Soul Reaver - pure of all corruption - this is what it is for. This is what I am for - the two become one - both Soul Reavers - together - and the Scion of Balance is healed. And I - am not your enemy - not your destroyer - I am, as before, your right hand. Your sword. And now you will see - the true enemy - "
Raziel's sacrifice did indeed let Kain see the true enemy: the Elder God. After a brief battle - where it was seen that the newly-created Soul Reaver was an effective weapon against the Elder's tentacles - Kain left the Spirit Forge before the enraged Elder God could bury him in its rubble. In the Vampire Citadel's council chamber, Kain paused to look across Nosgoth, towards the ruined Pillars. He reflected that Raziel had given him "the first, bitter taste of that terrible illusion - Hope". Thus concluded Raziel's story within the Legacy of Kain series. It is very unlikely he will return in any recognizable physical form, although as the spirit of the Soul Reaver, he remains a crucial element in Kain's continuing pursuit of his true destiny.
References
- The Defiance team FAQ
at the Eidos Forums
and