Is 'Hydaelyn' a misnomer based on a misconception?

[Lersayil]

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I don't think it makes sense to attribute that specific power of breaking up Zodiark just to her elemental affinity though? Umbral and astral are depicted as polar opposites, and one has no distinct (known) advantage over the other. If we assume that Zodiark is stronger, and that he fought back at all, it wouldn't make sense that he lost in one "hit" (or at all).

If she was summoned to "keep Zodiark in check", then one would assume the summoners gave her specific powers that would make it possible, given the difference in strength. I guess keeping him in check technically includes slicing him and the world up, sealing him, but then that would imply that she was either designed to do so from the start, or that her creators miscalculated somewhere, did not expect this outcome, and Hydaelyn came up with a convenient solution by herself which ignores the difference in power.

Or, as mentioned, its possible that Zodiark just didn't resist at all. After all, for all we know Zodiark might've been just a mindless wish fulfillment device (which might also explain why the effects of his tempering seem to be as lax as they are). If such is the case then I fully agree with your train of thought.

[Cilia]

I don't think it makes sense to attribute that specific power of breaking up Zodiark just to her elemental affinity though? Umbral and astral are depicted as polar opposites, and one has no distinct (known) advantage over the other. If we assume that Zodiark is stronger, and that he fought back at all, it wouldn't make sense that he lost in one "hit" (or at all).

If she was summoned to "keep Zodiark in check", then one would assume the summoners gave her specific powers that would make it possible, given the difference in strength. I guess keeping him in check technically includes slicing him and the world up, sealing him, but then that would imply that she was either designed to do so from the start, or that her creators miscalculated somewhere, did not expect this outcome, and Hydaelyn came up with a convenient solution by herself which ignores the difference in power.

Or, as mentioned, its possible that Zodiark just didn't resist at all. After all, for all we know Zodiark might've been just a mindless wish fulfillment device (which might also explain why the effects of his tempering seem to be as lax as they are). If such is the case then I fully agree with your train of thought.

This is getting pedantic.

... Hydaelyn - She who was to serve as [Zodiark's] shackles. To bind Him and hold Him in check.

[Zodiark] would restore to us those brethren whose souls had fed His strength, and together we would resume our role as stewards. There were, however, those who disagreed with this plan. They argued that enough had been sacrificed to Zodiark─that this new world should belong to the lives newly born. These dissidents surrendered their life energies in the creation of Hydaelyn, an incarnation of their opposing belief.

Hydaelyn was created to imprison Zodiark; defeating him would be part and parcel with that, and as per Emet-Selch's account they did fight for a long while. The sentiment behind doing so was that life should exist on its own terms and not as livestock for Zodiark's followers to use as fuel for him. (Specifically not to be used as fuel for hypocritically resurrecting the dead in order to protect the cycle of life.)

How did Hydaelyn do as much? It's not entirely clear given she would have, at most, marginally less than 1/4 of the energy that was used to create Zodiark, but aside from being an existence opposite to him (having the opposite polarity, if you must be so pedantic) her more specialized purpose may have made her more energy efficient. ("Do whatever we want you to" vs. "Imprison the other guy.")

Again, I would posit that Hydaelyn's Light element polarity is a major contributing factor to her ability to defeat Zodiark, and that the Sundering was an unintended side effect of sundering Zodiark in order to fulfill her directive of imprisoning him due to his whole being too powerful.

This is the most that can be derived from the available information. More information is required to get a clearer picture of what happened and how it happened.

[LineageRazor]

This is the most that can be derived from the available information. More information is required to get a clearer picture of what happened and how it happened.

Bear in mind, too, that Hythlodaeus does NOT provide a corroborating source to accompany Emet's - he's the SAME SOURCE. Even if independently willed, Hythlodaeus was created by Emet, from Emet's own memories and beliefs. While Hythlodaeus might be more open and unbiased about what Hydaelyn and her purpose is, if Emet believes that Hy is one thing, then Hythlodaeus will believe the same. If Emet is outright WRONG about what Hydaelyn is, then Hythlodaeus will be, as well.

We definitely need more information, and an independent perspective. If Hydaelyn is on trial, right now we have only her own testimony and Emet-Selch's. We need an unbiased third party before we can make any kind of judgment.

[MoofiaBossVal]

I am interested in seeing how Zodiark might be characterized, if he is brought back. (I don't see how Zodiark can be brought back without destroying the remaining Shards, and it'd feel anticlimactic if he was introduced as a new character in the last few hours to serve as the final villain to the mega story. I think it's more likely that Elidibus will become the avatar of Zodiark, or Zenos will consume Zodiark's power).

He was initially created to save the world, born out of the desperation and self sacrifice of the Amaurotines. You'd think that Zodiark would be more protective of life? We know that the Convocation were planning to feed the newborn life to Zodiark, but we have no indication as to Zodiark's thoughts on the matter. The Ascian's have painted him in a bad light as the generic Evil God, but for all we know he could've been pretty chill.

The backstory implies that the Convocation thought that they could somehow get Zodiark to accept the sacrifices. Zenos was able to dominate Shinryu (and thinks he can consume Zodiark's power, though we don't know if that is Zenos power tripping, or if he intends on mastering his abilities or formulating a plan to make that possible), but Zodiark seems so awesomely powerful that he might be able to resist any form of mind control. Maybe if the 13 remaining Convocation members combined their strength, they would have had the power to dominate Zodiark? This was back before mankind got split, when they were at 14/14 of their full strength, rather than the 8/14 seen in most of the Source's inhabitants and the 1/14 seen on the rest of the Shards.

[YianKutku]

I am interested in seeing how Zodiark might be characterized, if he is brought back. (I don't see how Zodiark can be brought back without destroying the remaining Shards, and it'd feel anticlimactic if he was introduced as a new character in the last few hours to serve as the final villain to the mega story. I think it's more likely that Elidibus will become the avatar of Zodiark, or Zenos will consume Zodiark's power).

He was initially created to save the world, born out of the desperation and self sacrifice of the Amaurotines. You'd think that Zodiark would be more protective of life? We know that the Convocation were planning to feed the newborn life to Zodiark, but we have no indication as to Zodiark's thoughts on the matter. The Ascian's have painted him in a bad light as the generic Evil God, but for all we know he could've been pretty chill.

The backstory implies that the Convocation thought that they could somehow get Zodiark to accept the sacrifices. Zenos was able to dominate Shinryu (and thinks he can consume Zodiark's power, though we don't know if that is Zenos power tripping, or if he intends on mastering his abilities or formulating a plan to make that possible), but Zodiark seems so awesomely powerful that he might be able to resist any form of mind control. Maybe if the 13 remaining Convocation members combined their strength, they would have had the power to dominate Zodiark? This was back before mankind got split, when they were at 14/14 of their full strength, rather than the 8/14 seen in most of the Source's inhabitants and the 1/14 seen on the rest of the Shards.

Zodiark already accepted sacrifices. The first sacrifice was half of their number going "please make this stop", which is tragic, but doesn't actually say anything about Zodiark. But the second sacrifice, of a further half (ie one quarter of the original number), was done to restore the environment, and I can't imagine a being powerful enough to do that and yet "protective of life" would consent to that, unless influenced by another source. So I'm wondering if the Convocation had already imposed their will on Zodiark by that time.

I've always said that we know nothing about Zodiark's will, whether good or bad, but it's very clear that the self-proclaimed representatives of Zodiark have all been very badly-behaved when it comes to leaving us be to live and let live. Given Emet-Selch's assertion that Zodiark tempered his summoners, it's not looking good for Zodiark, but it would be foolish to accept an Ascian at their word anyway, so there's always room for doubt. (Ascians don't usually speak outright falsehoods; they just speak in a way that is actively misleading, by deliberately withholding key context.)

[Elladie]

Zodiark already accepted sacrifices. The first sacrifice was half of their number going "please make this stop", which is tragic, but doesn't actually say anything about Zodiark. But the second sacrifice, of a further half (ie one quarter of the original number), was done to restore the environment, and I can't imagine a being powerful enough to do that and yet "protective of life" would consent to that, unless influenced by another source. So I'm wondering if the Convocation had already imposed their will on Zodiark by that time.

I've always said that we know nothing about Zodiark's will, whether good or bad, but it's very clear that the self-proclaimed representatives of Zodiark have all been very badly-behaved when it comes to leaving us be to live and let live. Given Emet-Selch's assertion that Zodiark tempered his summoners, it's not looking good for Zodiark, but it would be foolish to accept an Ascian at their word anyway, so there's always room for doubt. (Ascians don't usually speak outright falsehoods; they just speak in a way that is actively misleading, by deliberately withholding key context.)

I have always assumed it was nothing to do with Zodiark wanting sacrifices, only that massive amounts of aether were needed for every stage. The implication has always been that the first sacrifice was to have enough aether to create Zodiark, the second to have enough aether to power him up to create new life on the star. The third would have been to have enough aether that he could somehow restore the lost friends and family (retrieve them from the aetherial sea somehow? We've never had any clear answer of how this was going to work. We do know Emet Selch can pull the lost from the Lifestream like he did with Y'shtola so maybe it was this on a massive scale)

It has always seemed obvious to me that the reason Hydaelyn is so much weaker than Zodiark is that she wasn't created with the huge amounts of aether that he was. Zodiark wasn't accepting sacrifices, in the first instance he didn't even exist (as far as we know) This was Amaurotine creation magic on a massive scale

[LineageRazor]

I've always said that we know nothing about Zodiark's will, whether good or bad, but it's very clear that the self-proclaimed representatives of Zodiark have all been very badly-behaved when it comes to leaving us be to live and let live. Given Emet-Selch's assertion that Zodiark tempered his summoners, it's not looking good for Zodiark, but it would be foolish to accept an Ascian at their word anyway, so there's always room for doubt. (Ascians don't usually speak outright falsehoods; they just speak in a way that is actively misleading, by deliberately withholding key context.)

The behavior of the Tempered does not necessarily reflect on the character of the Primal. Ramuh taught us that. He disapproves of Tempering and of being summoned, and yet his Tempered do these things anyway.

Tempered are slavishly devoted to their Primal. They work toward the interests of their Primal, and work to ensure that their Primal be summoned. This means that they might do things that their Primal would expressly disapprove of - were that Primal around to speak its mind.

Sadly, with Zenos in the picture, we might NEVER know Zodiark's true feelings, if he even has any and is not just an emotionless wish-machine. I'm pretty confident that Zodiark will be summoned at some point, and that Zenos will take command as he did with Shinryu. And when that happens, we'll know as much about Zodiark's thoughts and feelings as we know about Shinryu's.