Quote Originally Posted by Fenral View Post
G'raha stuff:
G'raha outright says that there are no contradictions in his memory, which I believe means his Source self was asleep at the time of the transfer. His Source self's memories end at the time he sealed the tower (and presumably found a cozy corner for a catnap), so the only new memories would be waking in the Eighth UE, getting sent to the First, and then returning to the Source. It's a single, unbroken chain of events with no divergence, therefore no opportunity for Source!G'raha to exist as a separate individual. Which I guess still sounds awful if you write it all out, so that's probably why they didn't.
I think I'm going with my own earlier take on it though - and because it's logical, not just because I want to ignore an alternative.
If we were talking senitent clones, which is the thing these sort of conundrums tend to pop up in fiction, then yeah the clone is a separate person and isn't simply the property of their genetic original. But G'raha can know his own mind on such a prospect, and is able to think "yes, I would have been happy to accept this back when I was the age that my other self is now" - and because there's no divergence between the two selves, simply two points on the same life, he is genuinely able to speak for his other self's wishes.

It's still sort of convoluted, but I think it works out okay. Though perhaps they shouldn't have included the idea that there was a risk of damaging both souls... it's not like there were any real stakes to the transfer in the end (unless we're in for a nasty surprise later). Just perhaps make it a risk that the Exarch's soul might not stick properly though G'raha's will still be fine.

I'm kind of surprised they didn't just go the route of transferring the Exarch's memories without his soul, though. I think it would have made the death scene more poignant, but at the same time I think I'd be stuck wondering whether he truly died (i.e. body considered dead, soul free to return to the Lifestream) or whether his soul would remain trapped in his crystalised body. That said, I had contemplated that as a potential ending for him - fusing with the tower completely and watching over the Crystarium forever - but then there's the running theme over the story that immortality is actually pretty miserable.