The State of the Ascians (Assume Spoilers as of TODAY)

I lurk here all the time, but rarely post. However, this post got me considering something rather important, which I dont see anyone talking about.

The Ascians, as we know, are trying to bring about the Rejoining by causing Calamities on the source. This being the case, what exactly are the Transmigrationists attempting to accomplish on the shards? What are their missions, and how do those missions effect the bigger picture? Why not just congregate at the source, and focus all attention there?

Bear in mind, I havent completed 4.5 MSQ yet, so if that is explained in game, my apologies.

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Originally Posted by Aeternal

Bear in mind, I havent completed 4.5 MSQ yet, so if that is explained in game, my apologies.

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No worries, you still raise a good point. We don't know.

I assume that the Ascians are just wailing on the wall from both sides. That assumption may or may not have merit.

Slightly diverging from the main topic, but since Rejoinings involve consuming one shard into the Source, I imagine the Ascians would need to have some control over which shard got consumed and when. I suppose they would do their thing until a shard is primed for absorption, then move back onto the Source and trigger whatever doomsday plot they've been priming. Unless, of course, some jerkwad on the Source end of things gets in the way, in which case they're left with a severely destabilized world that could be lost at any moment unless the Ascians can successfully improvise a replacement Calamity. (Which could explain why they've been getting so sloppy, er, SLOPPEH.)

That might even be why Solus is at the First right now. (Is he? My memory is telling me that was never outright stated.) He may be plotting to use the abundance of Light there in conjunction with unleashing Black Rose on the Source (which is somehow compatible?), in order to trigger a Light-aspected Rejoining. With the First Rejoined, Minfilia would be free to return to us, and the areas immediately surrounding the epicenter would presumably take on that Light-scarred look we've been seeing in previews. I still think both time- and intershard travel are a bit of a stretch while so much of the present world has yet to be filled in.

I've been thinking about this a bit and I'm wondering if the case could be made that what Elidibus and Lahabrea are shocked about 2.55 is not Ascians being unmade at all, but Ascians being unmade somewhere other then the Lifestream. As in... the Warrior of Light succeeds in killing an Ascian with nothing more then a concentrated burst of aether on the Source.

All that we currently know about Ascian existence seems to indicate that the Ascians have died half-way. Their souls have left their original bodies, but haven't gone on to the Lifestream. So going to the Lifestream would probably cause them to naturally die for good. I would not be that surprised if other people have killed Ascians in such a way before. As in... effectively commuted suicide to bring an Ascian to the Lifestream. Traveling through the Lifestream/Aetherial Sea isn't see as being particularly difficult, just risky as hell if you do it wrong. Only when it comes to trying to take an Ascian down with you, teleporting wrong (using something like Flow on purpose?) might not be a bad way to attempt to kill one permanently.

The WoL effectively reverses that idea. Instead of bringing yourself (and maybe an Ascian) to the Lifestream, we bring the Lifestream to us. The problem being, that takes time, so we need to prevent the Ascian from going anywhere while we charge it up. I could see us succeeding at doing something like that being made to be what shocks everyone.

I don't think that's right.
Lahabrea specifically says "that which should rightfully be eternal."
As in, their existence should continue, unceasing. He wouldn't believe such a thing if Ascians had previously been killed.

And even assuming that's true, the timeline still doesn't hold up because Galuf would not have the knowledge that an Ascian's soul can be unmade in the first place. Even we weren't positive about it until we tried in an emergency.

Nor would Emmerololth appear in 2.3.

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Originally Posted by CyrilLucifer

Emmerololth being male is apparently just an English localization error.
She has female pronouns in French.

Une fois vaincu, notre ennemi n'a pas été en mesure de fuir dans l'interstice dimensionnel. Tout immortelle que fut son âme, elle n'a su résister aux impéteux courants d'énergie déchaînés.

That fixes that (and further confirms the 2.3 scene is a huge mess), but the timeline issue is still baffling.

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Sorry to step in but even if Emmerololth is female in French, this sentence is not a proof. The female pronoun here could refer to "âme" (soul), which is a feminine noun. In fact, "ennemi" only could suggest their gender for sure and it is masculine, in this sentence. So it contradicts the fact that "elle" refers to Emmerololth and thus must refer to "âme".

A translation would be

Once defeated, our (male) enemy was not able to leave the interdimensional rift. Although his/her soul was immortal, it could not resist the impetuous and unrelenting stream of energy.

Updated Ascian cheat-sheet image to v2.0 due to a request for a lighter font on names (context still "background info"), and that I noticed I added too many L's to Emmerollolololth.

(Yes, the tentative 3rd "???" is still there, just because I find it to be more parsimonious, unless more "revelations" come along.)

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Originally Posted by Yasminou

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No, it's probably my bad! I appreciate the correction.

Perhaps it’s Galuf being an unreliable narrator? Not too much is known about the Ascians to the general public, and those in Sharlayan scholasticism would be only limited in knowledge. Perhaps he only heard one name from an Ascian underling and just assumed it was him?

Another theory might well be that the ascian wasn’t actually killed at all, and t was merely mistaken for being dispersed. Despite the fact that exposure to the Lifestream should be annihiation, perhaps the wards (assuming they existed- have to go back and watch the cutscenes again) meant to preserve the Students of Baldesion ended up keeping our Ascian friend alive?

Just theorycrafting here: the lore is so great in this game, this kind of brainstorm is half the reason I love being invested in the world like I am.

Galuf might've done it in deseration or came up with an idea he didn't really know if it would work but ended up doing so anyways. Honestly, Eureka story is super messy.

Might I ask, which quest exactly is the cutscene where we first learn about the Isle of Val, in case anyone knows. I'd like to revisit it, my memory of ARR (specially anything before 2.4) is hazy and I would love to revisit it.