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The GLAIVE is a separate Event from the player, yes, but also so much more!

If you're not holding it, the GLAIVE is by default an event which jumps around on the layer above the player randomly while making a lot of noise for 0.3s, whereupon it Plants itself, becomes still and is on the same layer as the player.  On Touch, it switches on HOLDING GLAIVE, which makes the GLAIVE invisible but now always floating at your co-ordinates.  Based on which direction you are facing, the invisible GLAIVE summons an IMAGE OF GLAIVE to float at the player co-ordinates and point in the right direction, while also sending all other "directional visuals" of GLAIVE back to their origins.  If you RECALL GLAIVE while holding it, it EMPTIES HANDS and makes it jump from your location again, and if you aren't holding it, the GLAIVE jumps to your co-ordinates and becomes available, bouncing around randomly for 0.3s until it Plants itself.

Edit: I'm a big proponent of "whatever works", but I'm assuming there'd be an easier way to do this.  In my own experiments though, this was the best formula (!?) and I tried other avenues as well.  I tried drawing the HERMIT+GLAIVE sprite, but it wasn't wide enough (or something), whereas my floating sprite mechanism let me place a quite-long GLAIVE over the HERMIT, one which lags ever so slightly behind him (due to player movement), giving it a pleasing sense of heft.