The Way is a philosophy created by the Seraphim that declares all should embrace peace and tranquility, which was then taught to what eventually became the Aeon Illuminate. It is said that the Way is so advanced, it shifts the perception of those who learn it. So much so that one cannot help but share it with others in what is described as "something wonderful". The Seraphim, as a result of the empathic energies, are rendered completely unable to terminate life, thus they employ Warriors that voluntarily sever their connection to The Way, making them emotionless killing machines. According to the religious customs of the main Seraphim civilization, only their species can truly follow the Way, ascend and become perfect.
After the exiles on Seraphim II were infected by a bioweapon, they taught as much of the Way as they could to the nascent Aeon Illuminate before their deaths. Despite this, the Aeon could not fully understand the Way and therefore could not master it. Instead of universal peace, the Illuminate began to perceive it as the ultimate philosophy, and those who do not follow it are to be cleansed. The long centuries of the Infinite War allowed the corruption of the Way to fester and propagate across much of the Aeon military.
The princess of the Aeon soon realizes the error in her people's thinking— that they have wrongly interpreted the Way in order to turn it into an excuse to destroy any and all non-believers. She hoped to correct their path by using Black Sun to spread a message of peace across the galaxy, but with the arrival of the Seraphim and the emergence of the Order of the Illuminate in Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, this excuse was unfortunately twisted even further to be used to even kill any Aeon who refuse to submit to their rule combined rule.