Revelations from SHADOWBRINGERS

[Rufalus]

I'm so glad this expansion finally got back to the heart of the story. For so many years we lacked the most basic information on the origin of our enemies. Had the other ascians in the past been as open about their motives as Emet I may have sided with them . Sometimes when I'm depressed I think about real life as an ascian would, that there are so many problems in the world wouldn't it be convenient to raze it and begin anew (with the guiding hand of the intelligent elite survivors).

Even if ascians don't do the genocide thing, there would just be auto death and pain due to the affliction of mortality and aging. To restore a world of harmony and happiness, isn't it worth the cost? However... how do we know the rejoining would be a success? I may have missed something in the story; did they explain why there was an apocalypse with demons and rivers of blood? That whole thing could just occur again after the rejoining so it's unfortunately not very convincing to back the ascian plan of a better world. The need for primals could just arise all over again and end up dividing the world into reflections again lol.

[Alleo]

I'm so glad this expansion finally got back to the heart of the story. For so many years we lacked the most basic information on the origin of our enemies. Had the other ascians in the past been as open about their motives as Emet I may have sided with them . Sometimes when I'm depressed I think about real life as an ascian would, that there are so many problems in the world wouldn't it be convenient to raze it and begin anew (with the guiding hand of the intelligent elite survivors).

Even if ascians don't do the genocide thing, there would just be auto death and pain due to the affliction of mortality and aging. To restore a world of harmony and happiness, isn't it worth the cost? However... how do we know the rejoining would be a success? I may have missed something in the story; did they explain why there was an apocalypse with demons and rivers of blood? That whole thing could just occur again after the rejoining so it's unfortunately not very convincing to back the ascian plan of a better world. The need for primals could just arise all over again and end up dividing the world into reflections again lol.

But with siding with them you are making the conflicts even worse. Then it wont just be a war, it will be a mass genocide of whole worlds. Razing something to the ground is also in no way a good decision. Not only will you kill massive amount of people that were good but you would also need to take away their will otherwise it will just happen again. Heck even the ancient ones werent without problems and those intelligent elite survivors just created something that needed mass amount of sacrifice too..

Some might see it as a better way to live without death (but the Ancient ones are just never aging, they can still die) but who is to choose that for the whole life? I dare to say that there are also quite a bit people that are fine with how life is and do not want to live forever.

[NoblePigeon]

Emet-Selch related question:

I'm getting the impression that the body (or rather the "image") Emet-Selch has wasn't someone else's and is in fact his original (which has quite a bit of implications for Garlean purebloods). Or at the very least is a form that wasn't stolen from someone else. Is anyone else getting that impression too?

[Cilia]

Emet-Selch related question:

I'm getting the impression that the body (or rather the "image") Emet-Selch has wasn't someone else's and is in fact his original (which has quite a bit of implications for Garlean purebloods). Or at the very least is a form that wasn't stolen from someone else. Is anyone else getting that impression too?

Erm, if anything, Emet-Selch's "true form" would be similar if not identical to the phantasmal Amaurotines, or otherwise his base Hades form (as his second Hades form is hopped up on power from other Ascian souls).

[EdwinLi]

Erm, if anything, Emet-Selch's "true form" would be similar if not identical to the phantasmal Amaurotines, or otherwise his base Hades form (as his second Hades form is hopped up on power from other Ascian souls).

I can only assume the Shades are only just Shades of the people since he is not powerful enough to fully reconstruct their actual Physical Appearance.

Rebuilding a entire city is one thing but to recreate a large amount of different people's physical appearance is something beyond his powers.

We most likely will get a much clearer view on what they look like later in the storyline since this will most likely also relate to the WoL's Origin story involving the Original Soul of WoL.

[Dualblade]

I can only assume the Shades are only just Shades of the people since he is not powerful enough to fully reconstruct their actual Physical Appearance.

Rebuilding a entire city is one thing but to recreate a large amount of different people's physical appearance is something beyond his powers.

We most likely will get a much clearer view on what they look like later in the storyline since this will most likely also relate to the WoL's Origin story involving the Original Soul of WoL.

Given the whole extreme conformity thing that was present throughout talking to them he probably did create them the way he usually saw them in public. He was the only one we could be said to have seen in a private setting.

[Alleo]

Given the whole extreme conformity thing that was present throughout talking to them he probably did create them the way he usually saw them in public. He was the only one we could be said to have seen in a private setting.

Yeah there is a quest that shows that even children are forced to wear these robes and that wearing something else is against their system and really frowned upon. (So a big no for individuality in that regards)

[Gula]

Rebuilding a entire city is one thing but to recreate a large amount of different people's physical appearance is something beyond his powers.

Says who? You're giving defining limits to the extent of his power with no proof.

[Rufalus]

But with siding with them you are making the conflicts even worse. Then it wont just be a war, it will be a mass genocide of whole worlds. Razing something to the ground is also in no way a good decision. Not only will you kill massive amount of people that were good but you would also need to take away their will otherwise it will just happen again. Heck even the ancient ones werent without problems and those intelligent elite survivors just created something that needed mass amount of sacrifice too..

Some might see it as a better way to live without death (but the Ancient ones are just never aging, they can still die) but who is to choose that for the whole life? I dare to say that there are also quite a bit people that are fine with how life is and do not want to live forever.

It's a mercy, whether the present generation of mortals understand it or not, I would destroy them all in a heartbeat to save them and all future generations who would be born into a world of pain, conflict and death. The lives they cling to pale in significance to life in the perfect world they stand in the way of achieving. If I thought I could revert life to a garden of Eden type of utopia then I would find it extremely negligent to let anyone else be born into a fractured world of suffering.

If the mortal condition was but a choice, how many would opt to have a short lifespan, susceptibility to diseases and cancers, and the feebleness of age. People learn to cope with terrible fates because they think it is inevitable and beyond their control. If you don't sacrifice the people of the present, you condemn every future generation who will ever live to death by way of mortality so the death toll of your inaction is infinitely higher. The cycle of imperfect life can be ended, they think. I only agree with everything that I just said if it can be guaranteed that the utopia is lasting. If there's the slightest flaw in the plan which would undo the world as had happened before then yes the ascian objective is a shaky proposition.

[Ilenya]

It's a mercy...

This is interesting, because we only have the Ascian's word that it would work period. And considering the plan seems to be "Sacrifice everything to bring back other people from the time before" that we have no idea if it would even work, just agreeing blindly to go along is taking a risk for basically no reward, and taking it upon ourselves to choose the fate of the Star. Assuming it all works, there's no guarantee the Calamity that struck the Amaurotians wouldn't just...Come back. For all we know, splitting the world was required to put a final end to it. All we have is partial information from an admittedly biased source.

If this all still makes it okay for you, more power to you, but to me, that's a lot of unknowns. Way too many for my liking.