Zodiark: Good or evil? thoughts

[MikkoAkure]

Looking at it objectively from what little we have in the game, those who have openly admitted to being tempered by Zodiark have caused the deaths of billions, and the destruction of seven and a half worlds over the period of tens of thousands of years since the Sundering, which most would consider an evil act.

Granted, what is considered good and evil is always going to change depending on your point of view. The ascians say that our lives don't matter compared to what life was like before, so our deaths are meaningless to them. The ascians (or at least the unsundered) believe that Zodiark will bring their old lives back if he is made whole again and all the new life can be sacrificed to bring back everyone who was sacrificed before. But I'm pretty sure that's a lie that they only believe because they're tempered.

Zodiark is a primal, and most examples of primals up to now have been focused on maintaining a supply of aether to continue their existence. Zodiark has asked his tempered followers to keep supplying more aether and then he'll totally return the past sacrifices but will he? Granted, Lakshmi wasn't nearly as powerful as Zodiark, but the person she brought back to life was an empty shell. And who is to say he would even give up all that aether and revive all of the lost civilization? The only other examples of primals who reject pure power are Hydaelyn and Ramuh. Hydaelyn was summoned with the specific programming to "protect the life of the world". So she spends her aether to make warriors of light to put down calamities, summonings, etc. via indirect influence rather than arising to smash them herself. She is rather weak despite sitting in the middle of the aetherial sea and it seems like she knows if she draws too much, it would be detrimental to the world. Similarly is Ramuh, who was summoned specifically as "a wise man who will protect the wood". Ramuh, through his programming knows that his own existence is detrimental to the forest and asks to be put down. I'm not sure if Zodiark will be the same, especially since now his "heart" has been destroyed.

It will remain to be seen when Endwalker comes out, but I'm still not sure why Zodiark gets such a following while Hydaelyn is often maligned on these forums. I don't think this game is as deep as some people think it is.

[Anvaire]

Looking at it objectively from what little we have in the game, those who have openly admitted to being tempered by Zodiark have caused the deaths of billions, and the destruction of seven and a half worlds over the period of tens of thousands of years since the Sundering, which most would consider an evil act.

Granted, what is considered good and evil is always going to change depending on your point of view. The ascians say that our lives don't matter compared to what life was like before, so our deaths are meaningless to them. The ascians (or at least the unsundered) believe that Zodiark will bring their old lives back if he is made whole again and all the new life can be sacrificed to bring back everyone who was sacrificed before. But I'm pretty sure that's a lie that they only believe because they're tempered.

Zodiark is a primal, and most examples of primals up to now have been focused on maintaining a supply of aether to continue their existence. Zodiark has asked his tempered followers to keep supplying more aether and then he'll totally return the past sacrifices but will he? Granted, Lakshmi wasn't nearly as powerful as Zodiark, but the person she brought back to life was an empty shell. And who is to say he would even give up all that aether and revive all of the lost civilization? The only other examples of primals who reject pure power are Hydaelyn and Ramuh. Hydaelyn was summoned with the specific programming to "protect the life of the world". So she spends her aether to make warriors of light to put down calamities, summonings, etc. via indirect influence rather than arising to smash them herself. She is rather weak despite sitting in the middle of the aetherial sea and it seems like she knows if she draws too much, it would be detrimental to the world. Similarly is Ramuh, who was summoned specifically as "a wise man who will protect the wood". Ramuh, through his programming knows that his own existence is detrimental to the forest and asks to be put down. I'm not sure if Zodiark will be the same, especially since now his "heart" has been destroyed.

It will remain to be seen when Endwalker comes out, but I'm still not sure why Zodiark gets such a following while Hydaelyn is often maligned on these forums. I don't think this game is as deep as some people think it is.

I do think there is an argument to be said around what tempering actually does. It seems that it causes the tempered aetherical polarity to be altered towards the primal and that it makes them devoted to the primal. The unsundered were already devoted to him though, Elidibus being the core of Zodiark and a primal made to find common ground between the two camps of people muddies whether or not he could be tempered at all.

But mroe than that i am reminded of Emet selchs words in the Quitana Revel.. "They are Primals after a fashion" I think there is a clear different between Zodiark and Hydealyn and primals and i think its probably to do with how they were summoned and the methodology of their crafting. The primals that are created and we fight were proven to drain the aether from the land as if they were incomplete, or the summoning was broken. I wonder if it is the lack of a "core" that causes this. Why would the ancients create a being to save them temporarily if that being would ultimately result in the destruction of their world? I think they didnt and instead, the creation magic they used was far removed from the summoning magic used to draw primals into being. I think this is further supported by the notion that primal summoning was spread by the ascians with the direct attempt to cause a calamity.