Quote Originally Posted by MikkoAkure View Post
My current stance is that when a primal tells its indoctrinated and tempered followers that it will totally return all of the souls of the summoned in exchange for more aether, I'm disinclined to believe it, as I'm sure Venat was as well. Some of the Ascians definitely seemed to have been drinking the kool-aid more than others since Lahabrea outright referred to Zodiark as a god despite the fact he more than anyone else should know better while Emet-Selch treated his tempering casually as a matter of fact.
Primals are the will of their creators made manifest. There was no reason not to believe Zodiark could return the sacrificed Ancients when he'd succeeded in carrying out the Convocation's previous requests to cease the Final Days and restore life to the world. It's also been presented that primal tempering is essentially involuntary. It's for this reason I believe Hydaelyn tempers and will be rather irked if she's somehow the sole exception to a rule of basic survival instinct for every other known primal.

My opinion is everyone should be a lot more concerned that we've been carrying out a primal's will not only without question but with devotion when we don't know what Hydaelyn's will is. I've theorized that her primary objective is to stop Zodiark no matter the cost as opposed to protecting life as I'd argue the sundering was a violent act against nature, but it did serve to suspend Zodiark.