Sundering and specific character questions. [Spoilers]

[Vyrerus]

It's one of those things that's fascist coded, but with the information we got in SHB we learn that he was indeed being literal. It just sounds like dictatorial madness at the time, because it was supposed to, sort of like a, "Is the villain actually a villain sleight of hand maneuver?"

I saw it for what it was at the time, because it's a magical world and they don't insert that stuff just for the sake of it, usually.

[Theozilla]

It's one of those things that's fascist coded, but with the information we got in SHB we learn that he was indeed being literal. It just sounds like dictatorial madness at the time, because it was supposed to, sort of like a, "Is the villain actually a villain sleight of hand maneuver?"

I saw it for what it was at the time, because it's a magical world and they don't insert that stuff just for the sake of it, usually.

Oh I completely understood/saw the fascist coding/subtext for his spiel too. I just was also wondering if from the Watsonian level of text, he meant it literally or metaphorically/politically?

And it seems you do think Varis was being literal though?
Do you believe Varis’ presumption was correct though? That if all the rejoinings had been allowed to occur, would all the (native) sapient races in The Source be magically turned into the same physiological race/species?

[Vyrerus]

Oh I completely understood/saw the fascist coding/subtext for his spiel too. I just was also wondering if from the Watsonian level of text, he meant it literally or metaphorically/politically?

And it seems you do think Varis was being literal though?
Do you believe Varis’ presumption was correct though? That if all the rejoinings had been allowed to occur, would all the (native) sapient races in The Source be magically turned into the same physiological race/species?

If they lived through the process, yes. It's clear blow for blow in the game text, and you even see some of the Eorzean Alliance leaders' main beef be, "There will be no one left!"

Of course, though, the Sundering occurred after the Final Days, and they still haven't given us any missing link for the, "New Life" that Zodiark made/caused, so I assume if what races there are now were post Final Days but pre-Sundering we might also stay the same, physically.

Of course, all of the playable races and even a few of the ones that aren't are capable of breeding with each other, so we already are the same species, really. We just look different cause this magical world is magically jank like that, yo.

[Theozilla]

If they lived through the process, yes. It's clear blow for blow in the game text, and you even see some of the Eorzean Alliance leaders' main beef be, "There will be no one left!"

Of course, though, the Sundering occurred after the Final Days, and they still haven't given us any missing link for the, "New Life" that Zodiark made/caused, so I assume if what races there are now were post Final Days but pre-Sundering we might also stay the same, physically.

Of course, all of the playable races and even a few of the ones that aren't are capable of breeding with each other, so we already are the same species, really. We just look different cause this magical world is magically jank like that, yo.

While the ability to breed is often a marker of speciation, it’s not the sole determining factor. There are hybrid animals that occur naturally (though rare and the fertility of the offspring can be variable) from parents of two different species. So I think it could be argued that the different “races” in FFXIV are more accurately different species.

And while the Alliance leaders were reacting in horror, I believe they were more reacting at the hypothetical loss of life that would be necessary for 5-6 more rejoinings, than of the prospect of there literally being only one (native) sapient race/species.
I feel like if Varis was being literal, it seems more likely he was incorrect in his presumption of all races magically turning into the same (biologically and physiologically), as I never really got the impression from Emet-Selch in 5.0 that the rejoinings affected more than the souls/longevity/aetheric power. I didn’t feel like Emet-Selch ever implied that the races would magically become the all the same literally.