Is the "Sun God" who grants ascention to the Shurimans somehow related to the "Celestials" who turn Targonians into Aspects?
While the ascended and aspects have differences, they are similar enough that they could be connected.
Ok, this is how it goes.
Aspects People who climb Mt Targon turn into the avatar of an aspect They stay the same and do not alter their bodies All they get is the power the aspect brings them.
Ascendants People who complete the sun ritual are turned into an ascendant They turn into anything depending on their human life, like personality or job. They are immortal and get the powers of their ascendant form.
Pretty much, they aren't the same when it comes to connecting the two together. I guess being an ascendant is better because you can bash out more power and you have a more powerful body to contain and release a much larger magnitude.
an Ascended is like a Demi-God while being Aspects is a mortal wil immense power.
Ascendants have to undergo the ritual and being deemed "worthy" not by an entity but by the energies flowing into them catalyzed by the Sun Disc. Their "worthiness" is connected to their mental status, purpose and how the ritual was set with some unknown specifics (we read in Azir and Xerath lore that the ritual was "crafted" in a way that suited Azir).
Aspects are chosen by an "alien" entity which puts them under trials to test the subject, if surpassed they are granted a "fixed set" of powers that usually don't mean a change in their form and physiology (we don't even know if their lifespan gets increased).
They are both beings able to meddle with Cosmic powers but in different ways/forms.
What we know about the Ascended is that the Sun-Disc is not powered by gods, but instead powered by the will of the Emperor of Shurima, as it stated that after Xerath destroyed Azir and the capital, that the Sun-Disc collapsed without the power of the Emperor to upkeep it. What this tells us is that the Sun-Disc most likely draws energy from the sun, but the actual mystical nature of it is connected to the royal family of Shurima or to the will of the people as a whole; Maybe a sort of magical manifestation of the ideas, dreams, hopes, beliefs, and whatnot of the people. This would explain why there is a need for the Ascended to be proven worthy, as only a society would be able to judge who is exalted above others. Either way, Aurelion Sol stated that both Targon and Shurima were crawling with demigods, meaning that the Ascended and Aspects are on par with one another, though if my theory proves correct, one is powered by extraterrestrial beings and one by the collective wills of the people.
I posted questions about this is the new Shurima Q&A but didn't get an answer. There are also sun priests in both regions, and a certain focus on gems/crystals that I think has to overlap somewhere. I wonder where the connections lie.
