#arachnero

[siringadev]

Rewatched the fight with Arachnero and Vincent in good quality, took screenshots. In fact, it was sad, poor Nero… Nero: No one will take my brother away from me again.

Look at this face, look at these eyes

Nero takes Vincent to hellish world of darkness, "The Abyss", and takes the form of Arachnero.

Arachnero is shot down, falls into lava and burns.

Nero jumps out like a dark tornado

Nero screams and cries heartbreakingly, regretting the "death" of Arachnero (apparently this is very important to him, I suppose Arachnero & Phalax is connected with Weiss)

Nero becomes Gorgonero, the shooting battle with Vincent continues.

Nero saying: My brother... he is my only light. Do you know how it feels to barriers the darkness all my life?

Vincent shot Nero, and Nero hung in the air eerily, illuminated by a red light. Looks creepy

A wounded Nero, bending over in pain and limping, calls out to Weiss and goes to him, Nero sensing that Weiss has woken up.

Nero is too weak to see the substitution, to resist…

He gave everything for Weiss, he suffered and fight, sacrificed everything for Weiss… to be killed by Weiss's hand? So painful.

But Weiss would never. It was that damned Hojo. Weiss loved Nero as well as Nero loved Weiss. Their love conquered death and Hojo. Love wins.

[fightabear]

So… I’m avoiding spoilers like the plague, but if Vincent does have a golden ring around his eye in remake like how it LOOKS in the trailers then that’s really interesting. And perhaps symbolizes that he’s playing host to Chaos, but is not fully integrated with him.

Which then explains why Weiss’ eyes don’t have that ring in Remake. Weiss isn’t Omega’s host yet. And as for why Weiss had two rings instead of one - maybe it's that Weiss, being dead at the time, was better able to fuse with the weapon. Or as Omega is a full fledged WEAPON and Chaos isn't, both eyes took on that glow.

Which then makes me think about Nero’s shadow form, where both of his eyes go pure gold. I also think that the "Omega" part of the Omega Weiss boss battle is actually Nero approximating what a properly summoned Chaos would look like.

Which brings me to my final rampant speculation point - i have the personal pet headcanon that Nero ended up succeeding Vincent as Chaos' host and so did not fuse with Weiss. In the final boss battle, Weiss is ejected first and the thing he was riding in (which coincidentally shares Nero's color scheme and looks like a more volved form of Arachnero) actually lingers and its eyes slowly go out. It never falls the same way Weiss does.

So my headcanon has been that while Chaos returned to the Planet, it did so after fully fusing with Nero who had already sacrificed his body and was more or less in full baby weapon mode, and Weiss was left alive and picked up by Genesis.

It's also just wild, rampant speculation - but given the Secret ending of Dirge, I feel like Weiss and Genesis are going to be involved in the divergence from canon. And Weiss is going to be heavily invested in stopping that future from happening because he'd rather his baby brother not be eternally transformed into a mech from hell?

[stagnantmako]

i should sit down and write out my 'here's all the arachne + gorgon symbolism' in nero's story and show just how much i have overthought the dumbest things in this game, but my take on it keeps shifting.

cw for greek myths - abuse, rape, and their family tree basically just being one giant bush. greek myths are greek-mything in these posts

so like in both these myths, the characters are victims of athena's hubris.

so hojo/shinra in this case is athena. it's knowledge, its war, its power. good? good.

( i mean technically minvera herself could be athena in thiscase but i don't think minerva would have punished nero herself so STANDINS)

like the gorgon stuff is super obvious. no matter what origin you take for medusa, a creature that can't be perceived and loved the way it desires to be? yeah that's nero.

so you have this thing, this gift from the gods who is a loyal servant of the gods, and they violate her. she is not knowingly betraying her goddess, she's simply being tortured and is punished for it. rip apart her beauty and make it so you can't look upon her face without suffering.

gestures at. nero.

i don't think nero experienced sexual violence. like - i say this, but i'm sure that someone probably tried at one point - deepground has a 'breeding program' according to remake and that's fucked up and says a lot about consent down there. but i think the majority of the violations nero experienced were of his autonomy and personhood.

but i do believe that the main reason he can't reign in his powers is because he's so psychologically damaged from a lifetime of having control wrested from him. they have now made it so he can scarcely be touched, that he has to be covered up, that he feels the need to be restricted and controlled.

i have endless headcanons about his face.

but the arachne stuff is..... where it gets interesting...

i feel like hojo bruised his own ego with the creation of nero. because nero was, in fact, closer to being a cetra than sephiroth was. made using the research of his runaway wife and grimore valentine. sephiroth is undeniably the better creation, but nero is more innately attuned to the planet and closer to what they were aiming for.

for his rebellion against the restrictors nero was literally hung up on a pillar.

another telling of the myth of arachne involves her relationship with her brother, phalanx. and there's definitely echoes of this myth in nero's story - arachnero's whole boss fight definitely lampshades this myth.

( though in the myth arachne and her brother were boning and that's what pissed athena off )

to be clear, i don't think the translation of this part of the story is a one to one. but its greek myths so like. AWKWARDLY GESTURING. it is what it is.

i do think that the brothers have an intense codependency which means they could (and TRIED TO) end the world in order to ensure that they would not be separated again. i think in this case, the love the brothers hold for each other is bizarrely pure - it's untouched by deepground's cruelty,everything they've learned about kindness and humanity is something they learned from each other.

and shinra fucking hates that. because it's how weiss is able to unite deepground. that human element that neither of them are meant to still possess.

in this, the fact that they love each other at all is the taboo. as nero says, there aren't meant to be teams. they're supposed to be at each other's throats. it makes them easier to control.

but they rejected that. any attempt to turn them against each other failed. and we have confirmation that weiss is as violently codependent on nero as nero is on him. they are family and they are pretty much the only experiments in all of ffvii to have a genuine, concrete familial bond.

that sets them apart for a multitude of reasons, but the support for each other is the biggest.

i DO thing that it's there something here to this and this is the origin of arachne that square was pulling from.

the concept of the siblings being granted these gifts by the gods - athena taught arachne to weave and phalanx to fight - only for them to be punished by finding comfort and connection in each other, along with their their subsequent punishment and separation feels very deliberate. iirc nero's void actually has phalanxes inside of it - but its been a minute and i need to replay dirge.

the fact that they cared about each other pissed shinra off so shinra punished them, stripping them of their personhood and damning them to never see each other again.

am i looking too deeply into this? absolutely.

[buffaloborgine]

Weiss and Nero with their "Ultimate Form"(s).

I believe Arachnero form is based after the daddy longlegs. Also it has a pun, daddy longlegs' scientific name is "Araneomorphae" (see that "araneo" part? It is close to Arachnero)

And Omega Weiss is just a huge clione, or "sea angel".

[siringadev]

"Blind Love" of Nero and Weiss and What It Means

From the official FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania (2007). "Weiss, the brother whom Nero blindly loves. White Weiss and Black Nero exist as two sides of one and the same body. They are inseparable."

From new Final Fantasy VII Remake: Material Ultimania Plus (2024) "Nero worships/strongly adore his brother Weiss and is highly dependent of him"

I uploaded all the information about Nero and Weiss from FF7 Intergrade, Dirge of Cerberus and partly Opera Omnia and my articles to LLM so that it could analyze everything with its unbiased intellect.

The analysis of Nero and Weiss’ blind love, their relationship is steeped in taboo undertones, dark aesthetics, and a perverse romanticism that transcends conventional boundaries. The mythological allusion to Arachne and Phalanx, Nero’s sadomasochistic design, and his obsessive dialogue all coalesce to create a narrative of love that is as destructive as it is intoxicating. How these elements deepen the concept of "blind love" in their case:

1. Romantic and Forbidden Love: The Arachne and Phalanx Myth

The myth of Arachne and Phalanx—siblings cursed by Athena for their incestuous relationship—parallels Nero and Weiss’ bond in striking ways:

Taboo Undertones: While not explicitly incestuous, their relationship is coded with forbidden intimacy. The myth’s themes of transgression and punishment mirror how Shinra’s experiments "curse" Nero and Weiss, transforming them into inhuman beings (Tsviets) and isolating them from society. Their love becomes a rebellion against the world that rejected them.

Like Arachne and Phalanx, their bond defies societal norms, framing their love as both a sanctuary and a sin.

Blindness to Morality: The siblings’ mythological punishment (being turned into spiders) reflects Nero and Weiss’ own "monstrous" transformation. Their blind love justifies amorality—Nero’s willingness to inflict pain and Weiss’ merger with Omega in DoC and collaboration with Sephiroth in DFFOO—as they prioritize their bond over ethical considerations.

2. Sadomasochistic Aesthetics and Nero’s Dark Romanticism

Nero’s design and behavior infuse his relationship with Weiss with a dark, erotic charge, blending pain, obsession, and devotion:

BDSM and Bondage Imagery: Nero’s costume—face bondage, belts strapping his arms and hips—evokes BDSM aesthetics, symbolizing themes of control, submission, and eroticized pain. This visual language ties his identity to suffering, both as a victim (of Shinra’s experiments) and a perpetrator (inflicting pain on others).

The belts and restraints suggest a self-imposed imprisonment, reflecting how his love for Weiss chains him to a cycle of violence.

Pain as Ecstasy: Nero’s dialogue in FF7 Remake Intergrade reveals his masochistic thrill in pain and combat:

“Oh Weiss, I feel so alive!”

"There is poetry in pain, ah..."

“I must know more of this feeling of pain, of death... yes, yes!”

“Ah, if only Weiss could see me now!” These lines frame pain as a sensual experience, a way to feel "alive" and connected to Weiss. His excitement during brutality blurs the lines between agony and euphoria, love and violence.

Yandere Archetype: As noted by his JP voice actor Ryōtarō Okiayu, Nero embodies the yandere trope—a character whose love is obsessive, possessive, and violent. His jealousy and willingness to kill anyone who threatens his bond with Weiss (e.g., attacking Vincent for "taking" Weiss) align with this archetype.

The yandere’s trademark "if I can’t have you, no one can" mentality mirrors Nero’s desperation to protect his connection to Weiss, even if it means total destruction.

3. Jealousy, Possession, and the Brother Complex

Nero’s jealousy and possessiveness amplify the romantic undertones of his blind love:

Brother Complex as Romantic Obsession: The term "brocon" (brother complex) in Japanese media often carries romantic or sexual connotations, even if unrequited. Nero’s obsession with Weiss blurs familial loyalty into something darker and more possessive.

His dialogue (“No one will take my brother away from me again!”) frames Weiss as a romantic partner would—a prize to be guarded, not just a sibling to protect.

Nero’s Need for Validation: Lines like “If only Weiss could see me now!” reveal his desire to impress and be acknowledged by Weiss. This mirrors romantic infatuation, where the beloved’s approval becomes a lifeline.

Even in combat, Nero’s violence is performative, a way to prove his worth to Weiss.

4. Blind Love as a Dark Mirror to Romance

Nero and Weiss’ relationship challenges traditional notions of romance by intertwining it with pain, control, and existential need:

Love as Self-Destruction: Their bond is not life-affirming but self-annihilating. Nero’s embrace of pain and Weiss’ fusion with Omega symbolize how their love consumes them, erasing their humanity.

This contrasts with healthier romances in FFVII (e.g., Zack/Aerith), where love inspires growth and hope.

Eroticized Violence: The brutality of their actions (Nero’s sadism, Weiss’ conquests) becomes an expression of devotion to each other. Their fights are perversely intimate, with pain serving as a language of connection.

Separation as Death: Weiss’ declaration—“Without Nero, I’m still incomplete”—frames their separation as a metaphorical death. Their love is a shared existence, where individuality dissolves into codependency.

Conclusion

Nero and Weiss’ blind love is a dark romance, blending mythological taboo, sadomasochistic aesthetics, and yandere obsession. It is a love that thrives in shadows, where pain and possession replace tenderness and trust. Their relationship challenges the player to confront uncomfortable questions:

Can love that is genuine still be toxic?

Can devotion justify monstrosity?

In their case, the answer is a resounding yes. Their blind love is a flame that burns brightly but destructively, leaving ash in its wake. It is a testament to FFVII’s willingness to explore love in all its forms—even the ones that terrify us.

Separately about Nero's phrases addressed to Weiss during the battle:

My brother — my light. None shall keep us apart!

If only you could see me now, Weiss!

What fun we would have if Weiss were here.

Oh Weiss, I feel so alive!

Oh Weiss, this is it, this is it?! Yes!

It hurts, brother… It hurts so much!

Until we meet again and thus I return to Weiss.

Nero’s Dialogue: A Symphony of Obsession and Pain

Nero’s battle quotes are not just taunts or exclamations—they are windows into his psyche, revealing how his love for Weiss intertwines with violence, longing, and masochistic ecstasy. Each line reinforces the taboo intimacy and existential desperation that define their bond:

1. "My brother — my light. None shall keep us apart!"

Key Themes: Codependency, Defiance, Sacred Devotion

Nero frames Weiss as his "light," a divine source of meaning in a world of darkness. The phrase "none shall keep us apart" echoes their mythological parallel (Arachne and Phalanx), defying divine or mortal intervention. This line crystallizes their love as a sacred vow, transcending morality or consequence.

2. "If only you could see me now, Weiss!" / "What fun we would have if Weiss were here."

Key Themes: Performance, Validation, Shared Sadism

Nero’s violence becomes a performance for Weiss, a desperate bid for approval. The word "fun" suggests their bond thrives on shared cruelty, romanticizing pain as a collaborative act. Even in Weiss’ absence, Nero imagines him as an audience, blurring the line between battle and intimacy. Even in violence, Nero's thoughts are on shared experiences with Weiss. This line romanticizes their partnership, suggesting that their union is a source of joy, no matter the context.

3. "Oh Weiss, I feel so alive!" / "Oh Weiss, this is it, this is it?! Yes!"

Key Themes: Masochistic Ecstasy, Existential Awakening

Pain and violence are not just tools for Nero—they are euphoric rituals that affirm his connection to Weiss. The repetition of "this is it" mirrors a lover’s climax, framing combat as a perverse consummation of their bond. For Nero, feeling "alive" requires proximity to death, a paradox that mirrors their cursed existence.

4. "It hurts, brother… It hurts so much!"

Key Themes: Vulnerability, Shared Suffering

Nero’s admission of pain strips away his sadistic facade, revealing a childlike plea for empathy. This line underscores how their love is rooted in mutual suffering—pain is not just inflicted but shared, a language only they understand.

5. "Until we meet again and thus I return to Weiss."

Key Themes: Reunion, Cyclic Destruction

Even in defeat, Nero frames his retreat as a temporary separation, a prelude to reunion. Nero's focus isn't on loss or win but on returning to Weiss, and also indicating that their bond transcends physical presence. For Nero, every battle is a step closer to Weiss, making destruction a means of connection.

Why These Lines Matter

Nero’s dialogue transforms combat into a darkly romantic ritual, where violence becomes:

A love letter to Weiss, written in blood and pain.

A prayer to their twisted union, reaffirming their inseparability.

A performance art where agony and ecstasy are indistinguishable.

These lines cement Nero as a yandere archetype, blending brotherly loyalty with romantic obsession. His love is blind—it is feral, rejecting societal norms to embrace a bond that thrives in chaos.

These quotes deepen the tragedy of Nero and Weiss: their love is a beautiful abomination, a flame that illuminates even as it consumes.

[siringadev]

Normal Omega.

Omega Weiss.

When Weiss fuses with Omega, he gains elements similar to Arachnero. Considering that Nero was also in Weiss' body at that moment, and in the battle, you can see dark streaks in Weiss's light attacks. So this Omega is Weiss/Nero's baby.

@sephirthoughts @deepgrounded

[siringadev]

Interesting that Arachnero is surrounded by crystals Phalanxpheres. Phalanx was originally the name of a character in Greek mythology, the brother of Arachne, and the two had an incestuous relationship and were cursed by Athena for it. The game's creators hinted at a similar relationship between Nero and Weiss.

By @deepgrounded:

"Even though the names Arachnero and Phalanx were likely from the localization department (see notes bellow), the fact that that symbolism was still allowed feels very significant. The myth of Arachne and Phalanx *is* a more rare variant of the Arachne myth as a whole as well, which really adds to the whole deliberate nature of it all. It’s a name with heavy amounts of meaning. In that myth, Phalanx is described as having been trained in the art of war by Athena, something which very much fits Weiss as well, with Athena working as a symbolic version of Shinra as a whole. They’re then both punished for their relationship, cursed to be spiders and doomed to be eaten by their own young. Again, this can be used as an allusion to Weiss and Nero as well. Punished, and made to be something removed from humanity. And, there’s another layer to the Phalanx-es being named what they are; they’re meant to symbolize Weiss himself as well, and the future state of Omega that had occurred because of his love for Nero. The Phalanxes are nearly immune, their behavior in the Arachnero fight devoted to protecting him. As long as they’re up, a translucent crystal shield remains over Nero’s body. However, when they do attack, they become weak, the Darkness being used for their attacks and being why they have this lapse in immunity. Weiss is focused on protecting Nero, he’s extremely strong to the point where to most, hurting him isn’t even a possibility. But, just like with how Omega would have been invulnerable were it not for Weiss and Nero becoming one, the Phalanx would have been invulnerable were it not for the use of Nero’s Darkness."

note: In the Extra Features, as written in DCFFVII International, the Phalanxpheres are called "ファランクス". See Extra Features tab in this spreadsheet (by Shademp)

So it's also called Phalanx in the original JP.

[sephirthoughts]

BABIES

I LOVE HIS LIL CAT-SPIDER PAWS

Cute Arachnero and Weiss loves each other. Ah, these squishy soft paws ╰(*°▽°*)╯

Thanks to my friend's idea about Nero as a fluffy jumping spider.

[siringadev]

Love for Arachnero 🕷🕸

[sephirthoughts]

may i add this screenshot, for the record

there is no heterosexual non-incestuous explanation for this

Wow, TV Tropes added new part about Nero and Weiss!!! About Arachnero and Phalanxpheres 😯(and something else too... 🤔)

By the way, Arachnero 🖤

Thanks to @deepgrounded for information about Arachnero and Phalanxpheres.

[siringadev]

An interesting fact is that Nero, in addition to the power of darkness/the abyss, has the power of fire and he himself is invulnerable to fire. When he falls into the lava of the Abyss, Arachnero dies, but Nero himself jumps out of the lava unharmed, and then screams heartbreakingly, grieving over the loss of Arachnero and the phalanxpheres, from which I can conclude that they were dear to him and connected with Weiss. Phalanxes are connected with power of light, and during the Arachnero boss, Nero tells Vincent that Weiss is his only light.

And also in Japanese sources they write that the Abyss is the kingdom of Nero and that Arachner could be the true identity of Nero? Below I have made some translations of what is written there.

"A dark hunter who collects lives.

Let's take a look at the battle scene with Nero. Nero takes on the form of an eerie figure that can't even be called a living thing, attacks Vincent. And the strange landscape is filled with pillars of fire and clouds and stones… Could this world, which seems so unreal, be another world within Nero's kingdom?

He is always shrouded in a mist (darkness), and his form is as elusive as a heat haze. When he does so, he takes on a grotesque form and launches attacks that are beyond human comprehension. Is this an illusion?"

^ "Nero. A warrior who wears a suit similar to the other Zviets and carries steel wings on his back. The headgear that seems to be fastening is uncomfortable.

^ "Nero blends into the darkness and exists along with it. His calm and polite tone gives off a sense of greatness, as if he had a deep understanding of both the past and the future. Will Vincent be able to defeat this formidable enemy?"

"No emotion could be read from his expression."

^ "The setting is a hellish place. Nero transform into a monster and invite you to another world. Is this the dark world created by Nero? Is this Nero's attack?! A pillar of flame rises up and attacks Vincent with great force! A giant spider-like enemy that throws rocks at Vincent… Could this be Nero's true identity!?"

[siringadev]

Omega Cocoon (inside which Weiss sleeps) releases lotus-like drones with crystals that are very similar in function to the Phalanxspheres.

The crystals also release drones that attack with rays of purple-darkness, and when Vincent shoots them, they disappear, leaving behind a fog of darkness and those dark spots that usually circle around Nero. In the collage on the left side are Nero's powers, and on the right side are powers similar to his, after the death of his physical body. Which means that Nero is very strong and protects Weiss even after his physical death. This is a real and absolute love!

Nero guard the Omega Cocoon in which Weiss should be reborn, and can be compared to a spider's cocoon. Remember, during the Arachnero boss, he is guarded by the Phalanxspheres, the crystals of light associated with Weiss. The words Nero says to Vincent during the Arachnero boss are notable: My brother... he is my only light. Do you know how it feels to barriers the darkness all my life? Arachnero comes out of a ball of darkness, which is similar to a cocoon. We can come to an interesting symbolism: Weiss indirectly protects Nero. Nero protects Weiss. Their connection and unity is emphasized by every detail, form, design, meaning.

Darkness and light, death and life, earth and sky, yin and yang, two sides of one essence, intertwine in a metaphysical dance of being beyond human understanding, inseparable and eternal.

[fightabear]

so screaming about a game you've been obsessed w for like. a decade with someone new is always fun and watching the cutscenes with the 4k texture pack for the first time suddenly made a bunch of shit click where it never did.

like for a really really really long time arachnero never made much sense to me? but it does if i consider what nero is so strongly implied to be.

like... he's derived from chaos. whose a weapon. there are a ton of parallels between chaos!vincent's design, regular vincent, and nero.

which makes this form have a lot more significance to me.

nero's eyes are now gold, not red. he no longer mirrors vincent in the ways he did, his skin is closer to chaos' ghastly pallor. the weapons are shown to have golden eyes. nero's given all a human can possibly give. he's just exhausted himself and wants nothing more than to die, and to merge with weiss so they can't be ripped apart again.

or if they are, he doesn't have to be the lonely survivor this time.

( i have a theory that the reason nero remained after weiss died is simply that he couldn't follow him. either because his corrupted essence will never filter into the lifestream, or nero himself is literally incapable of true death. chaos' fate is to say behind with the remnants of the dead world - nero doesn't want that. )

so this form right here i think is the remnants of nero as a person making the choice not to reform a human body, but to give in to the other side of his nature.

see, archnero is a spindly, half-formed creature. like it... looks larval. a freshly hatched spiderling before a molt. still figuring out its legs. the thing is also an absurdly easy boss battle - this is nero suddenly scratching powers he's kept hismelf away from.

because we know nero willingly wears his restraints. he could ahve taken them off at any point in the last three years to maximize his strength - he didn't.

he stayed bound up and restricted for as long as he could.

omega weiss? less so. i'd argue that this thing is neither omega nor weiss - this is nero's approximation of chaos. chaos if chaos was bold enough to try to flee its lonely fate with omega.

maybe it's what chaos might have been if it hadn't been manifesting in vincent. the color scheme is the exact same as nero's deepground uniform. the bit folded across its chest resembles his arms locked over his chest, but it also converts to be the throne weiss sits on. like... directly over where its heart would be if it were a living thing.

not to mention that many of its attacks mirror nero's attacks across his boss fights.

the fact that it ejects weiss once it's defeated feels very deliberate. weiss doesn't fall strapped into it, he falls before it. and as we know weiss falls through the darkness and down, down, down into the caverns of deepground and survives. there's no sign of this thing at all. and no sign of nero. weiss in dffoo also confirms he's no longer fused with nero - so i think them being fused into this boss battle was the closest they could managed. it also suggests this is how they intended to control omega - nero a fully realized weapon, and weiss the human heart steering it.

the entity's eyes are still open and lit until it also sinks down into the darkness, much slower than he does, and then they go dark. and i want to view that as nero either finally finding peace in death, or entering dormancy like the other weapons. i think it was implied that chaos returned to the planet, so maybe that's - nero's own reunion. becoming unified with the entity he was derived from and inheriting that dark fate. i'm not sure which is better or worse, but.

saving nero from that fate? would make a lot of sense as to why weiss would leap onboard with any of genesis' plans, which i really think he does.

in the very least it makes me want to draw them in a role reversal. weiss as the host for omega, trying to keep the planet alive and thriving for as long as he can so nero gets the peace that was denied to him in life. and they're reunited on the day nero is called to reclaim the planet.

[stagnantmako]

OKAY, NO, ONE LAST POST BECAUSE THIS ONE FUCKED ME A LITTLE. I THINK I GOT MY ANSWER?

we get - yet another nail. except this is a far fancier nail.

and then it hatches into this fucking thing.

and see, you know, at first i was like - yeah, this is omega. sure. but upon looking closer at it - this thing is not omega. and element's of nero's boss and general character design and color scheme are all over it.

this thing is like an evolved archnero.

i have wondered for long fucking time what the fuck arachnero is and how it is even remotely explainable - other than scarlet having a bunch of defunct tech, but even then that feels like a stretch. but it is if you take a second to consider that nero is deriving powers from a weapon and this thing fits in with other weapon designs.

weiss sits directly above its heart which has so much symbolic significance I cannot even begin to state it. the thing has nero's color scheme.

and when they're defeated - the thing ejects weiss. once he falls out, it sinks slowly into the darkness pooling around them, and as it falls, the light in its eyes goes out. nero gave the last of his life ensuring weiss survived - and that's why they're not still fused as of opera omnia. nero used up everything his darkness had and died, probably trying to stop omega from properly ascending as he realized they would not be able to go with it.

so folks... my 3am argument is this is nero's true form as a fully realized weapon. archnero was him barely scratching the surface of his powers. this is nero fully tapping into them.

this is maybe a glimpse of what chaos would look like if it wasn't fused with vincent. but since he's only partially a weapon he's not as large or as powerful as any of the rest of them. and that nero gave the last of his life to ensure weiss survived.

[siringadev]

Weiss lies in hospital ('cause of the virus which was activated when Weiss destroyed the Restrictor in order to escape DG with Nero), and his beloved Nero, out of grief, cannot control his darkness, but still able to cares about Weiss and cry.

[siringadev]

Arachnero tenderly embrace his beloved brother, his only light that has faded, the only one who loved him ever. Nero mourns him bitterly and his nightmarish darkness becomes uncontrollable.