The Ethereal is a mysterious entity who describes herself as the "Judger of Kingdoms".
Appearance[]
She is a white figure who wears a white dress underneath another slightly more elegant white dress with old plating around the neck and shoulder area. She also wears a golden mask.
Personality[]
She seeks to test kingdoms to ensure they understand that what is truly important for a kingdom, being that they care for the people, though despite this seemingly noble goal she seems completely apathetic towards said people, being dismissive of their livelihoods, not caring for the destruction even the signs of her arrival could wreak, & completely uncaring of the suffering her actions could cause them, being perfectly willing to have her Cube murder them while she watches in detachment, & when begged for mercy she deflected responsibility for her havoc onto "the judged." When she observed that Jasmine truly cared for her people the Ethereal resurrected her, showing she can be helpful to those she deems worthy. She is not easily impressed or amused.
Power[]
She is seemingly invulnerable (at least to attacks from a freed Genie) and capable of flight. She also wields the Cube of the Ethereal which can destroy kingdoms by emitting lightning from the face-like sides of the Cube, though the Cube could be temporarily halted by a (possibly faulty) Spear of Agamota.
History[]
Background[]
Nothing is known concerning the Ethereal or her past, with her identity being a complete enigma and the only thing that seems to be certain is that she has been judging kingdoms likely since the dawn of civilization. The only recorded instances of her existence in books of legends and accounts are of the events revolving three kingdoms she previously visited, all three of which were passed judgement and deemed corrupt and unfit to exist, and the name of these kingdoms were Babylon, Atlantis and Pompeii.
The Ethereal[]
The Ethereal initially appeared as a golden mask at a merchant store but Jasmine sees her and hears a voice and begins to have a prophetic dream of ice falling through the sky, the Earth moving like an earthquake, light becoming dark as pitch black as the darkest night sky, creatures of destruction (like legendary giant desert scorpions) bringing forth their wrath and Agrabah in the future was destroyed. She then comes to life with a white robe and tells everyone she is there to judge their civilization and if it didn't prove itself worthy she would destroy them all. Jasmine and the sultan try to convince her while Aladdin and the others devise a plan to defeat her should Jasmine and the sultan fail. Ultimately, she deems the city unworthy and tries to destroy them using a giant cube with faces. However, when she sees Jasmine sacrifice her life to save the life of a young boy, she fixes the damage and resurrects Jasmine, saying the true worth of a civilization is its people.
Trivia[]
- Despite her amoral actions, her presence and demands acknowledge the fact that despite Agrabah's seeming prosperity and Aladdin and Jasmine's many heroic deeds, much of Agrabah still retained corrupt districts in a state of squalor with people and orphaned youths still living as unloved "street rats". With the Ethereal's actions against the people finally making Jasmine realize that the people of Agrabah are the land's true treasures, a fitting lesson for one of the final episodes of the series.
- Though given that Jasmine both became aware of & started working on solving Agrabah's internal issues at least as far back as season 1's Do The Rat Thing, & has long cherished & been willing to personally fight for Agrabah's citizens, it seems that the Ethereal's visit functionally accomplished nothing save further traumatizing Agrabah's citizens.
- Her unusual appearance and that of her "weapon" along with her dual nature of both compassion and wrath for the greater good may be angelic inspired, and even her "weapon" could be considered a reference to the Biblical Keruvim, angels with four faces each representing different aspects of life.