We're one trailer in, and contrary to what I expected from the marketing for the next Xenoblade game, I think if you analyze said trailer it signaled to us surprisingly clearly that in one form or another Pneuma and Logos will be present in Genesis.

  
I'll explain why I believe this one Trinity Core at a time.

  
***Pneuma:*** 

There is of course the shape of Pneuma's monado when the crystal is inserted into the sword, but that's hardly *all* there is. *"Every force that gave shape to this world was a manifestation of the Anima that flows through the land"* says the narrator, as we are shown a green, yellow, and red energy within a *fire*, followed by the camera panning upwards with the sparks rising into the night sky in a shot very reminiscent of XC2's campfire scene.

https://preview.redd.it/sc8q42m6lboh1.jpg?width=1818&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d693d81ffbd10a6ea081ab742a89eff27744dcdd

https://preview.redd.it/jkb4i0n8lboh1.jpg?width=1104&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6cfd5f5cfc62f66a480b962d6b46430d54352b50

In Latin, "anima" is a feminine noun which means soul, spirit, or breath. In Greek, the word is "pneuma". In the Trinity Processor, Pneuma is the equivalent of the Holy Spirit. While in discussions we use "anima" to refer to things in the series which are in reference to the aspect of real-life Jungian psychology, in-universe in the Xenoblade series, the one time before Genesis that the word capital A "Anima" has been mentioned is specifically linked to the Trinity Core capital P Pneuma, with Nia's Anima Swords. Again, we are told that the world of Anshar is a manifestation of Anima as we are shown within *fire* a green, yellow, and red energy; a color combination that is extremely specific to P&M/Pneuma (even moreso than just that teal green alone, which is really saying something), seen not only obviously in P&M and their Pneuma form themselves, but in the energies they produce. The most obvious other example we have of green, yellow, and red fire is of course Pyra's sword, but in Torna, we see Mythra, piloting Siren, create a burst of energy with these colors to destroy Malos's Gargoyles, and then again we see it when Mythra has her breakdown and creates Pyra, with the latter even having those sparks. The Genesis trailer also mentions how Anima is the source of the elements, which relates to something we've seen Pneuma do before: she can make her power any element. In fact, we can see Pneuma giving off a rainbow energy similar to that seen in the trailer while using her level 3 Special, Genesis Saber.

https://preview.redd.it/nivqi11ymboh1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4e4256b65495b8c737222608c5fa3a7d1ad9a41

https://preview.redd.it/bgj6ahy4nboh1.jpg?width=530&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccc32ed6399d579d2e14c3170bba5ed1f366f631

Although more of purely a gameplay mechanic, we also see this color combination in XC3 as the objective markers leading the Ouroboros gang (though maybe they really can see them because of their Irises?), with Ouroboros itself being how Pneuma's power manifests in Aionios.

https://preview.redd.it/urv3lqvhnboh1.jpg?width=1921&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b5e23b90aaacca8a720a758ba61fa2290aa3703

https://preview.redd.it/vkyyqrqlnboh1.jpg?width=423&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3eeb1f208d1c3f63a04dc3fe79cbe92e76e4a58c

Overall, it would seem that Pneuma is perhaps the foundation of Anshar in a similar manner to Ontos being the foundation of Bionis and Aionios.



***Logos:***

Takahashi himself stated that "for now" Malos/Logos is dead/has disappeared, but cannot yet explain how he came to exist in Aionios as N's sword. Within the Trinity Processor, Logos is the equivalent of the Son, or Christ. In real-life scripture, Jesus died for humanity's sins on Friday, spent Saturday in Purgatory, and resurrected on Sunday, which is considered to be the first day of a new week not only in Japan, but in the Bible. Malos died in XC2 embodying the hatred Amalthus felt for humanity and its sins and even told Rex that he needed to be defeated in order for the world to be redeemed, then in XC3 he spent time as an inanimate object in the purgatorial realm of Aionios, and now we see a very interesting sword appearing in Genesis, which will be the first game in a new saga of the series. The sword's appearance is perhaps the biggest and clearest hint within the trailer itself, with that distinct hole in it, sporting a black, gold, and purple color scheme and a combination of sweeping and spiky shapes very reminiscent of Malos/Logos's monado in XC2 right down to the little bits of gold detailing, only more slender, similar to A's more slender version of Ontos's monado.

https://preview.redd.it/yz9pc4teoboh1.jpg?width=1077&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=744e8459d3ab067831c3e97441524076c9bcbf63

https://preview.redd.it/0kzkdq0zoboh1.png?width=489&format=png&auto=webp&s=5e4c0f8f480218cb60e5438a2a004e1a4e86abd0

https://preview.redd.it/9bx5cw50pboh1.jpg?width=1181&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d034c500f6b2a63cb073ec71f4b989c69a2f6c0

This is honestly such a dead giveaway that, again, I'm shocked it's in the game's first trailer. The sword alone kinda says it all; the only things that could make it any more apparent what this sword's deal is are if it just straight up had a Logos core on it or if the sword yelled "INDEED!" every time it's swung. Like with Pneuma, we also have three colors associated with Logos: magenta, purple, and blue. After playing the new MOMO quest, I'm more intrigued by that magenta hue than ever, but that'll be for a later post to go over. Anyways, at least from what I gather from the trailer, it seems that after having a game that heavily features a sword (or I guess swords) powered by Pneuma, and technically *two* games that heavily feature a sword powered by Ontos, we're perhaps finally getting a game where the main sword is powered by Logos.

  
On a more meta level, there is another factor to consider that could help support that these things shown in the trailer are connected to Pneuma and Logos: the year of Genesis's release. With no story expansion for XC2's 10th anniversary coming next year, it makes sense that Genesis instead would be where we see Pneuma and Logos more directly spotlighted again. Now granted, on its own I would not consider this a solid enough reasoning to bring up, but with there now being concrete hints given to us in an official trailer that can be pointed to, I do feel it's fair to mention as a supplement to my argument.

  
Finally, I will preemptively address thoughts I'm sure some people are having now that they've read this:

  
***"Are you saying you're certain that Pneuma and Logos will appear as proper returning characters (P&M and Malos)?"***

Not really. To be more specific, Malos I think has the greater chance here because of the resurrection of Christ parallels I mentioned earlier, but with P&M I think it's more of a coin toss. I do have an additional reason why I think P&M might physically appear related to the "vengeful god" mentioned in the Genesis trailer, but theorizing about exact plot points of the game's story and specifically \*how\* Pneuma and Logos will be involved is for the most part outside the scope of this post. If not in the base game though, then 2028, the year we would expect Genesis's DLC to release, will mark the 30th anniversary of Xenogears, and by extension "Xeno-" as a whole, so I could see such high-profile returning characters being saved for that instead. Characters as high-profile both in-universe and to the fanbase as Malos and especially P&M would be wasted in minor roles; the Trinity Cores are just too powerful and important to work as mere cameos, so it's better to save them for when they can be of real importance to the story, and otherwise have them be without their physical forms like in XC3. Even in the event that they don't appear in their physical forms in either the base game or DLC, an involvement in Genesis makes it much more likely that the Trinity Cores will continue to be relevant throughout the rest of this new saga, so there will be more opportunities.

  
***"Okay but then what about Ontos?"***

No idea. I've seen speculation that the weird Ouroboros/Moebius-looking enemy in the trailer may be related to Ontos in some way, but having gone through the trailer at least a dozen times now with a fine-toothed comb I'm not seeing anything that is a clear indicator of Ontos's presence like I am with Pneuma and Logos. Maybe a future trailer will change that, or maybe like in XC2 Ontos will be sitting this one out, or maybe we'll see such and indicator once we play the game but it'll just never appear in the marketing; "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" and all that.

  
***"But what if it's all just misdirection?"***

I can't completely rule out the possibility, but I don't think it's likely either. We must look at the trailer for what first and foremost it (or any trailer) is: *marketing.* They give us these hints because people are excited by them; they're things from the series that we already know we like, and it draws people in just as the marketing on social media saying you won't have to have played the previous games to understand the story of Genesis does. These aren't mutually exclusive where either we have Pneuma and Logos involved OR the story can be understood by people new to the series. In fact, by doing both they cast the widest net for people to buy the game. It's one thing for Takahashi to say that Genesis will defy our expectations, and honestly just from the trailer it already has begun to do so with the high fantasy aesthetic, but I don't believe it's likely that they would pull a marketing move like so specifically hinting at something that excites longtime players only to then turn around and deny those players it by having it have been just misdirection.

  
And so until my follow-up post is ready, that's all! Thanks for reading!

Why I feel certain about Genesis involving "THOSE TWO" in some form