Albedo Piazzolla (アルベドˑピアソラ Arubedo Piasora) is a main antagonist of the Monolithsoft RPG Series Xenosaga. He is U.R.T.V. Unit 667, and one of the only surviving U.R.T.V.s from the Miltian Conflict.
Basic information
- Sex: Male
- Height: 6 ft 3 in [1]
- Age: 26
- Voice Actor (Japanese): Kōichi Yamadera
- Voice Actor (English): Crispin Freeman
- Voice Actor (Child, Japanese): Urawa Megumi
- Voice Actor (Child, English): Scott Menville
Name
Albedo was named in reference to his milky-white hair. In Psychology and Alchemy (1944), Carl Jung refers to Albedo, or "whitening", as one of the stages of the process of human individuation as symbolized in alchemic terms. Jung also described Rubedo and Nigredo as parts of this process.[2] An additional and more prevalent use of the term is seen in science, where the albedo of a body or surface is a measure of its reflectivity.
However, his last name has two different translations. In Xenosaga Episode I, his name is seen as "Albedo Piasora." In Xenosaga Episode II he is listed as "Albedo Piazzolla." Therefore, either name can be used to describe him. His surname is presumably a reference to Astor Piazzolla, an Argentinian composer whose surname is also best approximated as "Piasora" in Japanese.
Storyline
History
Albedo was created by Dimitri Yuriev as U.R.T.V. Unit 667, originally a conjoined twin with Unit 666, Rubedo. U.R.T.V. stands for U-DO Retro Virus, and are bioengineered weapons to fight against U-DO, a mysterious wave existence that acts as a virus. Most U.R.T.V.s, more specifically every unit under number 666, are all one united consciousness. However, numbers 666 through 669 are Variants, or U.R.T.V.s that have their own souls. These variants are Rubedo, Albedo, Nigredo, and Citrine. Of the four, Citrine is the only female type.
When Rubedo and Albedo were split, they both gained unique abilities, both rooting from the same concept. Rubedo gained the ability to control his body's aging, while Albedo could regenerate lost limbs, making him nearly immortal.
Albedo was high-strung and fearful as a child. He clung to Rubedo for protection, and lashed out violently against anyone who attacked Rubedo, once even going so far as to injure and nearly kill a fellow U.R.T.V., Number 623. He was devastated when he learned that Rubedo and Nigredo were not immortal, Nigredo being as vulnerable to aging and injury as any normal human, and Rubedo, despite being capable of stopping his own aging, was still susceptible to death by injury. The thought of living forever, all alone, without Rubedo to protect him, made him extremely sad and scared. This caused him to become mentally unstable, and he made a new hobby out of digging practice graves for Rubedo and Nigredo, as to not cry when they really died. Also, Albedo learned that, if he ever were to die, Rubedo would be the only one who could kill him.
However, one day, fourteen years before the game begins, the U.R.T.V.s head to Labyrinthos to do some anti-U-DO training. While there, however, Rubedo learned that if they were to complete this training, a chain reaction would go off, destroying everything in sight. Rubedo aborted the mission and cut off the mental link between him and the other U.R.T.V.s, fearing for their lives. This resulted in U-DO waves striking every U.R.T.V., causing most of them to be destroyed. Albedo had linked with U-DO as well. Because of this, Albedo went insane, created a large Space-Time Anomaly, and created two black holes, that had sucked the planet of Miltia, the planet that the U.R.T.V.s were currently on, into the Abyss. The Space-Time Anomaly created by Albedo also brought about the appearance of the Gnosis, mysterious alien mutants who had come out of Albedo's anomaly and seek the Zohar for unknown reasons.
Albedo disappears during his linking with U-DO, which later became known as the Miltian Conflict. After this, Rubedo and Nigredo set out and became the heads of the Kukai Foundation, under the new names of Gaignun Kukai (Nigredo) and Jr. (Rubedo). Although Jr. is older than Gaignun, he holds the appearance of a 12-year-old boy, so he declares himself Gaignun's son. Fourteen years after these events, Episode I begins.
Episode I
Albedo is first seen in the asteroid Pleroma, the base of Margulis, a commander of the U-TIC Organization. Shortly after MOMO and Ziggy escape Pleroma, Albedo shows up with a Kirschwasser, one of his minions, and Margulis tells him he's too late to catch MOMO. What exactly became of Albedo in the years between his dissappearance on Miltia and his reappareance on Pleroma is not revealed. However, as later proven on the Song of Nephilim despite being mentally unstable he is highly educated in a number of subjects including but not limited to philosphy, science, language and religion, perticularly ancient (in the Xenosaga universe) Christianity. He is also adept at complex strategic planning and anticipating his enemies moves well in advance of them making them. How and where he aquired his Ein Sof, E.S. Simeon is not known either. Some fans theorize that he may have had extensive and unseen contacts with Wilhelm during this 14 year period.
He's later seen with his Kirschwasser, once again, on Pleroma, interrupting a conversation between Margulis and his soldiers. He tells Margulis that he's going to retrieve MOMO himself, stating he'd do a better job than Margulis' "dogs". He boards his A.M.W.S., the E.S. Simeon, and leaves Margulis. He slowly follows behind the Durandal, a ship owned by Jr. Incidentally, MOMO is also on this ship.
While following Jr.'s group, Albedo constantly kept in touch with Margulis, and was delighted when Margulis told him that, if the need arises, Albedo was allowed to summon the Song of Nephilim, a dangerous space station that could play a song that drives the listeners insane. This would distract the Kukai Foundation and Second Miltia long enough to help him catch MOMO. Additionally, Margulis' superiors would manipulate the Federation to both allow Albedo to summon the Song and cover up U-TIC's tracks. When Margulis' plans fail, Albedo immediately summons the Song, and leaves the station to kidnap MOMO at the Kukai Foundation. He catches MOMO and brings her back to the Song of Nephilim.
Once at the Song, Albedo intimidates MOMO, hoping for her to faint so he can easily get the Y-Data, a mysterious amount of data placed into MOMO's mind by Joachim Mizrahi, MOMO's creator. To intimidate her, he rips off his arm and head, and quickly regenerates them with his U.R.T.V. abilities, and he kills all of the Kirschwassers and piles their corpses in his chamber. Once MOMO lost consciousness, Albedo began to absorb her mind, learning every thought and memory that MOMO ever had. He continues to absorb her mind until he is interrupted by Jr. and his group.
Once they show up, he taunts them, and finally takes part of the Y-Data from MOMO, showing him that Shion Uzuki and KOS-MOS, two members of Jr.'s team, are somehow involved with it. He climbs back into his E.S. Simeon and fights the group. This is a very difficult battle, because the E.S. Simeon is bigger and more advanced than the A.G.W.S. Units owned by Jr. and his group. Once they defeat Albedo, however, he gets out of the E.S. Simeon and shoots a blue aura at Jr., who retaliates with a red one. Their fight is interrupted by Lt. Virgil, the Blue Testament. The Blue Testament insists that Albedo get his job done, and stop playing around with Jr.'s group. Albedo leaves the Song of Nephilim in his E.S. Simeon while Virgil fought Jr.'s group.
Once Jr. and MOMO's group escaped the Song of Nephilim and boarded the Durandal, they tried to destroy the Song, but were in shock when their blast deflected off of it. Albedo re-enters the scene in his E.S. Simeon, and summons Proto Merkabah, a large space station that was once home to Joachim Mizrahi and MOMO, using the knowledge he had gained from MOMO's memories. The Song of Nephilim enters a port of Proto Merkabah to help power it, and several Gnosis are absorbed to use an energy source. He uses this station to blow up the entire Federation fleet of ships. He sets his next target to nearby planet Second Miltia. However, Jr. tells him to wait before he blows up Second Miltia, so that he can get to Albedo and finish the conflict once and for all.
Jr. and his group board Proto Merkabah and reach Albedo in the core room, and he shows the group his will, a shining power that exists within everyone. His, however, was very bright and large. He fights Jr. and the others personally, but he is defeated after a long and difficult battle. He reveals to the group his motive: To make Jr. pay for abandoning him and the other U.R.T.V.s fourteen years ago. He then reveals Sophie Peithos, a fusion of Proto Merkabah's core and the Gnosis absorbed by the space station. Albedo leaves Jr. to fight this massive beast, and returns to his E.S. Simeon in space. He watches from afar as the space colony plunges toward Second Miltia on a crash course, due to Sophie Peithos' defeat. He watches as the group escapes on the Elsa, and Proto Merkabah self-destructs.
Although there is a sense of completion at the end of Episode I, Albedo's summoning of Proto Merkabah was to distract the galaxy from the true intentions of Ormus, the organization seemingly behind the plans of U-TIC, and test the power of Shion, Jr., and friends, though details behind these motives are not given directly. However, Albedo is clearly thinking that he is acting on his own terms, which results in the Proto Merkabah incident. Virgil is insenced at Albedo's summoning of "needless toys," however the Red Testament, Kevin Winnicot tells him to let Albedo be for now. This is most likely so Wilhelm can guage Albedo's power and decide exactly what he wants to do with him in the time to come.
Anime
In the Xenosaga anime, based on the events of Episode I, Albedo has a similar role as he did in the game, with a few differences. He first shows up in his E.S. Simeon, watching the Woglinde, a Vector Industries ship that Shion resides on, get attacked by Gnosis. He charges at the Woglinde, crashing into it and entering the ship. His crash happens to knock Shion unconscious, who was with Albedo's escaped Kirschwasser. In the anime, he only has one Kirschwasser assistant, who had previously run away from him and disguised herself as a 100-Series Realian. By threatening the unconscious Shion, Albedo had managed to convince the Kirschwasser to rejoin him.
Albedo then heads to Pleroma to get MOMO, but he is greeted by Margulis, who tells him that MOMO had just recently escaped along with Ziggy. Albedo decides to go after MOMO himself. Albedo was sent to the Woglinde to get the Zohar Emulator onboard, but he tells Margulis he decided to grab his Kirschwasser instead, claiming that it didn't matter, because the Zohar Emulator is not the real Zohar.
Albedo leaves to find MOMO, but is instructed by Margulis to wait a bit before doing anything, as Margulis had already set a plan of his in motion, so Albedo returned to Pleroma and waited.
When told that he could step in by Margulis, Albedo quickly gets in the E.S. Simeon and flies to the Kukai Foundation, where he finds it under attack by Gnosis. He takes the opportunity and captures MOMO, after quickly defeating Jr.
Albedo summons the Song of Nephilim, then soon after summons Proto Merkabah, using it to absorb the Gnosis and the Song, as well as destroy 400 Federation A.G.W.S. Units.
It is at this point that Albedo begins absorbing MOMO's memories, hoping to get to the Y-Data, at the core of her programming. When interrupted by Jr., Albedo discovers that MOMO's data has traps within it thanks to Joachim Mizrahi, and Albedo is thrown back from MOMO. He summons his E.S. Simeon, and fuses it with his Kirschwasser, transforming the E.S. Simeon into a large Gnosis.
After the Gnosis is destroyed by KOS-MOS, Albedo escapes, watching as Proto Merkabah self-destructs due to the Kirschwasser's final act of bravery. He watches this from his E.S. Simeon, which has somehow been reverted back into a robot form.
Although the anime is official, it is not considered canon. Episode I has important plot points not touched on in the anime.
Episode II
Albedo is still in the E.S. Simeon the next time he's seen, as Gaignun Kukai contacts him telepathically to find out what he's up to. Albedo taunts Gaignun, who gets angry and causes Albedo's arm to explode. Albedo regenerates it and cuts off the mental link between Gaignun and himself.
Later on, on Second Miltia, MOMO undergoes maintenance by Juli Mizrahi. However, the process is interrupted when Albedo hacks into her mind and attempts to get the rest of the Y-Data. MOMO, however, starts to delete her memory to save everyone. The group dives into MOMO's mind using the Encephalon, and there they see a long series of Jr.'s flashbacks, because Jr. was the person closest to MOMO, and because Albedo was now a part of MOMO, a result of his absorbing her thoughts in Episode I.
Through the flashbacks, Albedo's full past is revealed. It is shown that Albedo was once very timid and weak, until U-DO had corrupted him. The signs of natural mental instabillity were also visible in young Abledo as well. Young Albedo has a deep attachment to Rubedo, almost a dependene at times and is slightly resentful of young Nigredo, though not overtly hostile to him. He treats the other "normal" U.R.T.V.s as inferiors, and does not see them as actual people. After one of them insults Rubedo he violently beats him in the U-DO simulator, almost killing him. He does not show any remorse afterwards, indicating his developing sociopathy that would manifest in his later life.
When he demonstrates his previously hidden regenerative powers to Rubedo and Nigredo by blowing his own head off with a manifested energy ball (with his service pistol in the Japanese version), Rubedo and Nigredo are horrified, so much so that Rubedo strikes him. He is chastised by them for putting himself in danger and how if he dies it would corrupt the mental link of the U.R.T.V.s. In Albedo's mind however he comes to the realization that he cannot die, yet Rubedo and Nigredo eventually will. Devastated, clings to Rubedo crying for him not to leave him alone. Later in a maddened state he quietly digs "graves" for Rubedo and Nigredo in the Yuriev Institute courtyard, while the real Jr. looks on and reflects to Shion and the others.
While Jr.'s group views these flashbacks in MOMO's Encephalon, the recent, true Albedo emerges and fights Jr. Once Jr. manages to defeat him once more, MOMO appears in her own mind and demands everyone stop fighting. Albedo takes this chance to shoot a large beam at her, gathering even more of the Y-Data from her. He leaves the virtual world of the Encephalon and reawakens in the E.S. Simeon. With more of the Y-Data, Albedo and the E.S. Simeon begin to glow, and they disappear from space. Jr., back on Second Miltia, states he can feel Albedo's heartbeat fading. This action led to the opening of the path that led to Old Miltia, the planet that Albedo had sent to the Abyss so long ago. Since Albedo cannot die, he survives as nothing more than a few particles, floating around in space.
Much later, Albedo returns by using his regenerative powers to bring all of his particles back together in the Ω System, a huge space fortress that was home to Ormus, along with the Original Zohar (the ultimate energy source) and Proto Ω, a large superweapon. Ormus' Patriarch meets up with Jr.'s group here, hoping to use Proto Ω, the Zohar inside of it, to destroy them along with whoever else stands in his way. Albedo appears at the scene, telling the Patriarch that the power of the Zohar belonged to him, and that the Patriarch had no need for it. The Patriarch refers to Albedo as "Yuriev's ghost." Albedo attacks the Patriarch, who responds by ordering Proto Ω to zap Albedo, apparently destroying him, but once again only reducing him to particles. When Jr.'s group defeats the Patriarch, however, Albedo is brought back by the Red, Blue, and Black Testaments, who speed up the process of Albedo's regenerative powers. Albedo immediately absorbs more U-DO waves from the Zohar and transforms the entire Ω System into a Space-Time Anomaly.
Jr. enters this anomaly, hoping to put a stop to Albedo's madness. Albedo manipulates the anomaly to taunt Jr., showing him revised memories to make Jr. hate him. Albedo constantly dared Jr. to kill him, almost as if he wanted to die. He claimed that Jr. was the only one who could kill him. Jr. finally reaches Albedo, and Jr. enters Red Dragon Mode, a powerful ability that only Jr. possesses. Albedo tells Jr. of his plans, to shove the entire universe into a higher-order domain, where everyone will be fused into one perfect existence. Jr. fights Albedo, who practically lets Jr. win, even going as far as healing Jr. when he was in trouble. As the Space-Time Anomaly crumbles, Albedo warns Jr. to beware Gaignun's shadow. Albedo fused with U-DO only because Jr.'s Red Dragon form is the anti-existence of U-DO, which is why only Rubedo can kill him, when fused with U-DO. As winged Kirschwassers arrive and take the now deceased Albedo away, he calmly says "Look, Rubedo...I'm free...". Albedo's death sets off a chain reaction that summons Abel's Ark, a massive Gnosis that contains planets inside of it, that quickly takes the Zohar.
Later on, Wilhelm, the CEO of Vector Industries and ex-Executive Committee Director, has a meeting with his three Testaments; Kevin, Virgil and Voyager. During this meeting, a new Testament arrives, clad in white. Wilhelm formally introduces the new White Testament as the "Weaver of the eternal circle of Zarathustra."
Testament
At the end of Episode II, Albedo finally got his wish as he was finally killed by Jr., the only one who could kill him. However, after his death, Albedo is brought back to life as the White Testament by Wilhelm. Few clues have been given throughout both episodes, until a recent trailer for Episode III confirmed that the White Testament is indeed Albedo[3].
The clues leading players to Albedo's identity as the White Testament are:
- Albedo's main goal was to be killed by Jr. Death is required to reach Testament rank.
- Albedo has told Jr. that all he seeks is to find "a whole new world". All Testaments reach a whole new level of power and existence.
- Albedo literally means "whitening". The White Testament is clad in all white.
- At the end of Episode I, Wilhelm and Kevin have a conversation about Albedo. In this conversation, Wilhelm says "It's a shame to relegate him to such a minor role...don't you think...?". At the end of Episode II, before the White Testament appears, Virgil asks what Wilhelm plans to do with him. Wilhelm says "I said it was a shame, didn't I?"
- Xenosaga: Pied Piper reveals that a quality Wilhelm seeks in Testaments is a "shining will". At the end of Episode I Wilhelm remarks of Albedo, "His will shines with such wonderous light."
Notes and references
- ^ Albedo ODM Translation. URL accessed April 11, 2006.
- ^ Zyworld: Alchemy. URL accessed January 4, 2006.
- ^ Fifth Xenosaga III trailer. URL accessed March 26, 2006.