Quote Originally Posted by Seraphor View Post
Did you forget about the Warriors of Darkness?

Zodiark requires life sacrifice to use his powers. That's a Death Cult by definition.
I never said he was evil, but he is a tyrant, like most primals, as his base nature is to impose his will, by default he forbids free will.
He was created as an authoritarian control, to prevent the misuse of creation magicks. He's an iron fist, that's his nature.
Hydaelyn's creation was a rebellion against that.

And I think it's much more likely that Hydaelyn and the sundering created the lifestream, given that it's the only thing that seems to transcend the 14 shards, and is probably what sustains her, in a 'renewable energy' sense, as opposed to massive and irreversible sacrifice like Zodiark and other primals.
All primals require sacrifice to use their powers. Lesser ones simply make do with aether from crystals rather than requiring living sacrifices.
- Nothing confirmed about Zodiark thus far implies or denies a tyrannical nature. We don't even know if the tempering was intentional, as many primals don't actually seem to be able to control that.
- Where does it say Zodiark was created as a means of control? Zodiark was born to save a dying world by rewriting its laws to correct the underlying issues. The second summoning - again requiring a large sacrifice just so that he'd have enough power - healed the planet of its inability to sustain life whilst (presumably) giving rise to new species to inhabit it. I do not recall reading anything about Zodiark ruling with an iron fist or what have you, though we know for a fact he tempered. The runaway powers of the Ancients were a result of their dying world, not the cause of it.
- Hydaelyn's creation was in response to the 13 wanting to sacrifice the life Zodiark created at their behest to free the souls of their brethren from within him. A group of Ancients believed that these new lifeforms deserved their fair shot and so begat Hydaelyn as a means of combating Zodiark. While we do not know at this time if any of these organisms were sapient, anecdotal evidence appears to suggest that they were not. Further information is needed to confirm.

We do not know what created the lifestream, but we do know that it does not transcend the shards. Each lifestream is unique unto itself - the cycles of life and death between individual shards bear no overlap. Each shard is essentially a mirror of the Source. Any differences between them are the result of whatever events unfolded there. Recall the cave paintings of Zodiark and Hydaelyn? The many ruins? Those are missing from the Source as a result of its own history leading to their destruction and/or loss.