he was, but in the form of a dream. People could still see him but he was kinda like an unsent in a way. A person that should have been in the farplane but was unsent and walked the real world as a dream of the faith. Thats why (SPOILER) when he dissapeared pyreflies came out of him in a similar way to that of Auron, Belgimine and pretty much everything else that shouldn't have been present in physical form.