The State of the Ascians (Assume Spoilers as of TODAY)

[Starkbeaumont]

(Continuation of the above.)
[LIST][*]We carry Emet-Selch’s wish. The Angel of Truth considered us worthy of knowing the history of the world and the nature of Hydaelyn and Zodiark. He hoped to come to a point in which bloodshed was not needed, that mankind might once reach the heights of the Ancients, and that both sides might come to understand and respect one another. We, as half-mortal-half-Ancient, are the best bridge Emet could have ever wished for, and by our deeds it has been many times shown that mankind can be brought together and achieve great feats, just like the giant Talos in Kholusia.

I really have to wonder why he founded the garlean empire and run it for so long when he wanted peace and friendship after all

[Morningstar1337]

I really have to wonder why he founded the garlean empire and run it for so long when he wanted peace and friendship after all

Presumable because he wanted Auamrot back more, and knew that fascist empires were the fastest way to causing the chaos needed for the rejoining. and He also expressed disdain at the sundered, considering them inferior in a way that seems like master race ideology (incidentally something that also seems prominent to Garlemald, considering their disdain for the "beastmen" and that they use their "savagery" as justification for their subjugation).

Put simply, if he wanted peace and friendship, it certainly isn't with those he considers beneath him. Else he would've done more to find a way to achieve the Ascians goals without the massive chronic loss of life the Calamities entail. Enthralled to Zodiark or otherwise.

[JeanneOrnitier]

I really have to wonder why he founded the garlean empire and run it for so long when he wanted peace and friendship after all

He wants peace and friendship in Amaurot. He made it clear he doesn't consider the people around now to be truly alive and as unworthy successors.

[Enkidoh]

He wants peace and friendship in Amaurot. He made it clear he doesn't consider the people around now to be truly alive and as unworthy successors.

^This. For all Emet's cultural posturing he was simply using the Archons and the WoL/D as tools in his greater scheme to restart the 8th Rejoining, he didn't want "peace and friendship" with them at all (hence his glee about the WoL turning into a sineater - he knew if that happened it would kill two birds with one stone - not only wipe out those pesky Archons, and cause destablization in both the First and the Source enough to put the 8th Calamity back on track as well, it was win-win to him!

Through everything he didn't consider anyone other than himself "truly alive" and thus a worthy successor to the Ancients and his legacy, it was only his defeat (thanks to Ardbert's deus ex machina) that we finally convinced him when we brought him down.

But until that very moment, he was completely indifferent to everyone not an Ancient/Ascian - billions of lives lost was nothing to him, as he didn't consider them truly 'alive', and the countries he founded like Garlemald were just tools to be used and discarded, which he did. Only in his final moment, after having an Axe of Light punch a hole clean through him even as he was unleashing his dark burden at full power.... did he finally accept them as worthy of existence, which is why he allowed himself to fade away - he no longer had to shoulder his people's burden and legacy any longer, it was up to the Wol/D to "remember them".

[Veloran]

I think that's a mistaken viewpoint. His talk of you "not truly being alive" was, to me, posturing more than anything, something that he wanted and needed to believe, even as he simultaneously wanted to be proven wrong. Remember, he had loved and had friendships with mortals in the past, was very taken with the arts, grieved badly when his first son as Solus had died, and I think it's even implied he tried to make Zenos Ancient-like so he wouldn't lose him as well (which was an unmitigated failure). At the same time, from a certain perspective, all the lives spent trying to ressurect the Ancients was worthwhile - Mortals are, of course, mortal. Every person his actions killed would ultimately only have lived for a maximum of a hundred or so years anyway. Returning people to their rejoined selves would save potentially infinite lives from natural death, to say nothing of how prone mortals are to killing each other. And even with all that, he still WANTED to be proven wrong and for mortals to prove themselves.

[ShadowMeowth]

^^^
This, exactly. It is hard to understand the Unsundered, not to mention Emet because of his antics, because their point of view, their experiences, are extremely different to what mortals can even fathom. Only after the whole Amaurot shabang the WoL/D and the Scions begin to understand their plight, and when Elidibus comes to play, then it is they who try finding common ground with him (which sadly is impossible because of Elidibus' very nature, as a primal he has a duty and he is going to stick to it) instead of the other way around. Because lest we forget, and Y'shtola kindly reminds us just before going to Eulmore for the specters of Light's assault, it was Emet-Selch who first tried to find common ground with the Scions. I am replaying again 5.0 with another of my alts and considering in how high esteem the Scions came to beheld Emet (Y'shtola and Alphinaud openly appreciate his attempts to cooperation, Urianger mentioning that their parting in the Ocular would only be complete with the Exarch and Emet-Selch "smirking in the wings") it is easy to forget that at first, their behavior towards Emet was hostile at best. That is, until he steps up to rescue Y'shtola and then after the Ravel's revelations, which of course piqued their interest. Amaurot is a major turning point for everyone, in-game and for players in general, and even if they went there to save G'raha and stop Emet, the Scions then make the effort to reason with Emet. At that point it was pointless, Emet was still reeling from having his hopes yet again dashed by the WoL/D's failure to contain Innocence's Light, and he was in great denial. Again, a coping mechanism for what he believed he had to do. He sees Azem in us after Ardbert merges with us and his emotions get the best of him for a moment, and he forces himself to dismiss it as "a trick of the light". It goes well with Emet's love for theatre, and more specifically, probably the oldest of its forms: Ancient Greek theatre, where all the players wore masks to interpret their character. Emet hides beneath the mask of Hythlodaeus' antics, he hides beneath a mask of indolence, beneath the masks of all the lives and names he has lived, because it makes it easier for him to do what he believes needs to be done. Even the Emet-Selch title is a mask that he removes before battling us as equals, and in 5.3 it is evident he has cast away all of these masks, except the traditional white Amaurotine mask: he is no longer Emet-Selch of the Convocation of Fourteen, but simply Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

Curiously, Emet's disappointment with mankind can be described with the final verses of Dragonsong:

Children of the land, answer this;
Why must you turn to empty bliss?
Tell me why break trust, why turn the past to dust
Seeking solace in the abyss?
Tell me why create a circle none can break?
Why must you let go, the life you were bestowed?
This I fear I'll never know