Quote Originally Posted by Theodric View Post
I'm not in the habit of giving much weight to the policing of personal tastes. Nobody is obligated to like or support any given character. I don't particularly consider Hermes and his excessive empathy to be especially sympathetic, either - though it is Venat, rather than Hermes, who is responsible for the Sundering.

Before I played FFXIV, I played WoW. Obviously that's a different game, though after seeing Sylvanas getting away with the near destruction of an entire race that I liked I don't feel I'm under any obligation to support a character in FFXIV who is responsible for the complete destruction of an entire race that I like.

Subversive characters generally don't elicit much support or sympathy from me in general, though. Especially if I don't find their reasons or goals to be compelling.
Except it was to save other races. Which is worse, destroying a single race, or destroying multiple? Both are horrible, even Venat acknowledges the horrors of what she did when we met with her inside the planet. Venat had a good reason to save the other races, just as how the Convocation had a good reason to save their own.

There is no clear cut villain here, just shades of gray everywhere. Even Meteion's evil through despair was caused by Hermes innocently wanting the answer to the meaning of life. All we're left with are souls who were so badly damaged by their own circumstances that it rippled and made things worse for others.