Van is making full use of Escaflowne in battles against Zaibach. But numerous mysteries still remain shrouded in its white Ispano armor. Although it is impossible to uncover all its secrets, it is easy to sense that it is an entity that humans do not have the capacity to control. Consider, for example, the episode where Van and Escaflowne reacted to each other too sensitively. But what this revealed was the fact that Escaflowne has enormous potential and is far more that just a mere weapon.
However, nothing is known about how or even when this entity called Escaflowne was created. Folklore says it was created hundreds of years ago, or even another thousand years back. Only one thing is certain: the Dragon tribe, who are said to have merged themselves with Gaea itself, ordered the Ispanos to make it in preparation for a major catastrophe to come...in order to protect Gaea, the land created by the power of their mind.
Escaflowne is a soldier and the one that guides Gaea's future. This seems to be what it was used for before it came into the possession of the Fanelia dynasty. Legends say that it was sometimes a black-shelled Guymelef, instead of its current white coloring. This assumes to be the result of the state of the mind of the pilot who forms a blood pact with it, but it could also have been used as a symbol of dread. Both these reasons seem likely to be the Dragon tribe's intent...because everything is a result of people's minds. And when Van and Hitomi realize this fact, they will know the true meaning of battle beyond all sorrows they currently suffer.