Idea for a New Expansion: Gaius van Baelsar lives... and he needs your help

[Cilia]

We need to remember that Varis has essentially been isolated.

Grief and loneliness do not reduce Varis' culpability in acting as an accessory to Elidibus' plans. If the Warrior of Light really had given into their wrath and murdered Asahi in cold blood, they'd still be guilty. Same concept.

While Eli does appear to be a long-term schemer, whether or not he could deliberately set up events that would guarantee van Hydrus' death in the manner it occurred is... unlikely. The Warring Triad was awakened in response to King Thordan trying to take power from them; Eli's response to the final outcome suggests it wasn't something he intended ("Now it falls on me to deal with the consequences..."). van Hydrus being up on Azys Lla with the Triad awakening would certainly put him in danger, but without direct intervention there's no way to guarantee him becoming a casualty. Unukalhai was dispatched to try and prevent the Triad from awakening. Without further evidence van Hydrus was just an unfortunate battlefield casualty, and that is an occupational hazard for a soldier.

Possibilities (in this instance for how Eli could have directly affected the events surrounding the Triad) are endless; I do not see the value in discussing them.

That isn't to say Eli wouldn't seize the opportunity to take advantage of van Hydrus' death; on the contrary, it's just the sort of thing he'd capitalize on. That said, that he could deliberately engineer events guaranteeing van Hydrus would be a casualty on Azys Lla is... pretty unlikely.

[Remedi]

I just want to know something.

We are still considering the endorsement of the meteor project canon right? It's still canon that Solus approved the destruction of Eorzea?

[Cilia]

I just want to know something.

We are still considering the endorsement of the meteor project canon right? It's still canon that Solus approved the destruction of Eorzea?

... what was the phrase? "Not necessarily?"

Sarcasm aside yes, it is canon that Solus approved the Meteor Project. Some secondhand efforts were made by Lolorito to dissuade the Imperials from going through with it, but wanting to retain the Emperor's favor they fell on deaf ears. Some Garleans covertly opposed it, but nobody known openly denounced it so they could (once again) retain the Emperor's favor.

[Anonymoose]

We're left to assume that Solus approved of it because he didn't like the idea of dying with the "purification" of the Three Great Continents unfinished, and Eorzea was getting worse by the year. Better to wipe the slate clean than risk dying while it continues spiraling out of control. However, considering how often Nael reminded Gaius, "No one cares if you hate this plan, it is the will of the emperor." I imagine it must still be canon, lol.

[AriaeYlisse]

Elidibus\\\\\\\\'s whole schtick is that he\\\\\'s "doing what\\\\\\\'s best for the planet"... every time Elidibus acts against an unexpected imbalance he implicitly suggests that if he ever acts against you it has been for the greater good. Because they "want the same thing", Varis is... letting it happen. Frankly, he\\\\\\'s an imbecile for not being more critical of how many possible interpretations there are for what Elidibus says, and how many of them in the long run are not in man\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor.

Everyone who has let Elidibus convince them that the intended interpretation of his words is the most obvious, the one that leads to an outcome the interpreter would find beneficial, has - if they even lived long enough to do so - regretted it.

So after reading this I cant help but think how fae like Elidibus is. Like almost everything Anonymoose said is typical behavior for a fae.

[Remedi]

Doesn't that makes Solus technically worse than Varis in that case especially if moose theory is correct? Not saying that Varis is excused about killing the beast men tribes ofc, but flattening the entirity of eorzea because it's purification cannot happen with him alive sounds horrible, much more so than Varis the needs of the many overtakes the needs of the few mentality

[Cilia]

Doesn't that makes Solus technically worse than Varis in that case especially if moose theory is correct? Not saying that Varis is excused about killing the beast men tribes ofc, but flattening the entirity of eorzea because it's purification cannot happen with him alive sounds horrible, much more so than Varis the needs of the many overtakes the needs of the few mentality

Technically, yes. But Solus was a patron of the arts! Nobody who likes theater can be bad!

Sarcasm aside again... I assumed it was because he was going senile, though I suppose ambition is more respectful.

As for Varis... I'm not sure I'd consider him a utilitarian, not without more evidence.