The Reasoning behind The Sundering? (*6.0 Endwalker Spoilers*)

[Kofufu]

We learn (around the lvl 88 quests I believe) that by being sundered, the people of Etheirys are not only better able to interact with dynamis due to their decreased aether density, but have also been given the means to find purpose through the harsh trials and tribulations of life. As Hydaelyn said, "No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk." That whole cutscene seems to imply Her choice to sunder Etheirys was directly in response to her countrymen and their sacrificing of yet another half of the population in an attempt to reclaim their "paradise." That the catalyst that pushed Her to those lengths was the need to bring everyone down a notch, so to speak, in order to allow the people to thrive and oppose Meteion\\'s despair.

She gives this same reasoning when we defeat Her in the lvl 89 trial, but at the very end there is one line where She mentions how The Sundering was used to weaken Zodiark as well.

What bugs me is that my understanding of The Sundering this entire time, prior to Endwalker, was that it was done specifically to weaken Zodiark. I understand that the revelation of dynamis wouldn\\'t come until later, but weakening Zodiark is kind of a big reason in and of iteself. It now feels like it was just an afterthought.

So, my question is, which reasoning truly guided Her to sunder Etheirys? Or, to put it another way, which reasoning came first? Did I miss something somewhere that explained her train of thought more detail? Was the whole "he shall walk" thing just the proverbial straw that broke the camel\\'s back? Both reasonings work but they\\'ve never been presented *together* as far as I\\'m aware.

Apologies if I got any details wrong or if this is a silly question, but it just bothers me.

[SpectrePhantasia]

The Sundering before now was framed in a number of different ways up until Endwalker. The first we hear about it in regards to Zodiark is in the Antitower, where we are told that Zodiark 'coveted power' and so she banished him--an event which we now know to be the Sundering, for that reason. We learn this was not really true. The second time the Sundering is brought up is when Emet-selch describes the events, who makes it seem like the Sundering was almost collateral from Hydaelyn's final blow against Zodiark, and there was room to argue that it was not a conscious decision. The Unsundered didn't even really know why she did it.

Now with Endwalker, the Watcher tells us that Hydaelyn wanted to weaken Zodiark but not kill him, so that he could continue to forestall the Final Days, but not have the strength to reclaim his former glory as the will of the star. Though with the revelations of Elpis, even this seems secondary in regard to her actual motive. The chief reasons why Venat did what she did was supposedly to both save the 'lives newly born' from being sacrificed to Zodiark by the Convocation, and to create lives able to more freely manipulate Dynamis and thus stand a chance of opposing Meteion. Granted, this is not what she wanted to do from the beginning, it seems her first goal was to attempt to reason with the Ancients of the Unsundered world, but when that met with failure, she fell back onto the Sundering, burdening the generations of the distant future with this problem. Now, whether that was the right thing to do is up for debate, I certainly don't think so, but that was the reasoning that she devoted herself to following, alongside maintaining the future of which was described to her by the WoL

So to summarize, in her view, there were many reasons to do what she did, including weakening Zodiark, and though the main presented reason is that the Ancients did not have the will to endure tragedy, it is essentially all of the reasons you listed at once, even if not explicitly said.

[Kofufu]

The Sundering before now was framed in a number of different ways up until Endwalker...

I appreciate this thorough reply. I had a hard time putting my thoughts into words when I wrote this post, but ultimately I think what I was getting at was that I feel they didn't place enough emphasis on the Zodiark reasoning through Endwalker. Obviously Hydaelyn had no choice but to sunder Zodiark, as evidenced by her severe weakening with each Rejoining. This was needed to keep him locked up on the moon. But beyond that, it wasn't mentioned much and the focus almost exclusively went in the dynamis/suffering direction towards the end. It just felt like I was missing something but I suppose I'm thinking too much into it. Thanks!

[SpectrePhantasia]

I appreciate this thorough reply. I had a hard time putting my thoughts into words when I wrote this post, but ultimately I think what I was getting at was that I feel they didn't place enough emphasis on the Zodiark reasoning through Endwalker. Obviously Hydaelyn had no choice but to sunder Zodiark, as evidenced by her severe weakening with each Rejoining. This was needed to keep him locked up on the moon. But beyond that, it wasn't mentioned much and the focus almost exclusively went in the dynamis/suffering direction towards the end. It just felt like I was missing something but I suppose I'm thinking too much into it. Thanks!

Yeah, I think there's certainly a bit of rewriting going on as to the reasoning behind the act, I'm not denying Zodiark most definitely used to be the main cause but, as we can assume they go bit by bit in writing the stories, things change, as does our understanding of presented information.

[AlexionSkyllark]

The chief reasons why Venat did what she did was supposedly to both save the 'lives newly born' from being sacrificed to Zodiark by the Convocation, and to create lives able to more freely manipulate Dynamis and thus stand a chance of opposing Meteion..

The main reasons for her doing that are, yes, to diminish our Aether so we could have a chance at manipulating Dynamis so we could oppose Meteion, but also, and that's an even bigger reason, the fact that by expelling us from the paradise and making us into less-perfect creatures who "don't fly, and instead walk" as she puts it, she FORESTALLED OUR END. The civilization of the unsundered world was on a sure path to become one other of the myriad ones in the cosmos who would meet their end - they were following in the footsteps of the Ea and the 17th planet (the one from the 3rd section of the dead ends dungeon). Upon achieving perfection, they'd fall into apathy and probably "return to the star" en masse, commiting mass suicide and ending their civilization. They ALREADY HINTED during the Elpis arc that it's par for the course for them to just kill themselves when they feel their task in life is accomplished. So, by making us flawed and imperfect, she gave our world a new lease on life, an eternal struggle towards perfection that is unattainable, incomplete as we are.

I would wager that the Sundering is the main reason why Etheirys managed to avert sharing the fate of the other planets in the cosmos, and become the "sole beacon of hope in the cosmos", as Midgarsormr puts it.
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[KizuyaKatogami]

The main reasons for her doing that are, yes, to diminish our Aether so we could have a chance at manipulating Dynamis so we could oppose Meteion, but also, and that's an even bigger reason, the fact that by expelling us from the paradise and making us into less-perfect creatures who "don't fly, and instead walk" as she puts it, she FORESTALLED OUR END. The civilization of the unsundered world was on a sure path to become one other of the myriad ones in the cosmos who would meet their end - they were following in the footsteps of the Ea and the 17th planet (the one from the 3rd section of the dead ends dungeon). Upon achieving perfection, they'd fall into apathy and probably "return to the star" en masse, commiting mass suicide and ending their civilization. They ALREADY HINTED during the Elpis arc that it's par for the course for them to just kill themselves when they feel their task in life is accomplished. So, by making us flawed and imperfect, she gave our world a new lease on life, an eternal struggle towards perfection that is unattainable, incomplete as we are.

I would wager that the Sundering is the main reason why Etheirys managed to avert sharing the fate of the other planets in the cosmos, and become the "sole beacon of hope in the cosmos", as Midgarsormr puts it.
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There’s not really anything pointing to them not being able to combat Meteion though. Especially with the knowledge Venat had, she simply could have told them and they’d be able to find a way. It’s not that outrageous considering we know they were able to manipulate dynamis to some extent already, and that they had an entire facility they could use to hone their usage of dynamis. We already know they had imperfections and suffered. We’re shown this via numerous Elpis side quests and even Pandaemonium.

[AlexionSkyllark]

The main reasons for her doing that are, yes, to diminish our Aether so we could have a chance at manipulating Dynamis so we could oppose Meteion, but also, and that's an even bigger reason, the fact that by expelling us from the paradise and making us into less-perfect creatures who "don't fly, and instead walk" as she puts it, she FORESTALLED OUR END. The civilization of the unsundered world was on a sure path to become one other of the myriad ones in the cosmos who would meet their end - they were following in the footsteps of the Ea and the 17th planet (the one from the 3rd section of the dead ends dungeon). Upon achieving perfection, they'd fall into apathy and probably "return to the star" en masse, commiting mass suicide and ending their civilization. They ALREADY HINTED during the Elpis arc that it's par for the course for them to just kill themselves when they feel their task in life is accomplished. So, by making us flawed and imperfect, she gave our world a new lease on life, an eternal struggle towards perfection that is unattainable, incomplete as we are.

I would wager that the Sundering is the main reason why Etheirys managed to avert sharing the fate of the other planets in the cosmos, and become the "sole beacon of hope in the cosmos", as Midgarsormr puts it.

I am happy because Yoshi-P pretty much confirmed all I said here in the Live Letter 68 that happened yesterday <3
I think we can nail that coffin once and for all in this front.

[KizuyaKatogami]

I am happy because Yoshi-P pretty much confirmed all I said here in the Live Letter 68 that happened yesterday <3
I think we can nail that coffin once and for all in this front.

Confirmed what? All he said was Venat believed the ancients would probably be heading for the outcome of the other civilizations. That’s without her even intervening though. Had she let the truth out perhaps they would have flourished. Instead she allows the calamities to take place and for millions to die.

[Cleretic]

Confirmed what? All he said was Venat believed the ancients would probably be heading for the outcome of the other civilizations. That’s without her even intervening though. Had she let the truth out perhaps they would have flourished. Instead she allows the calamities to take place and for millions to die.

He confirmed a lot, actually, the answer to that question was LOOOOOOOONG. And part of it was, indeed, 'this was the only plan that would have worked for the end she was going for'. Venat's plan was the only way to stop Meteion.

However, then you come to the question of 'was stopping Meteion necessary', since Zodiark was essentially indefinite protection; she was a non-factor until Amon made her one. There is no one answer to this question, because both Venat and Emet-Selch were flawed and imperfect people with flawed and imperfect outlooks. Neither of them were 'right', morally speaking.

But Venat's plan was the only one that would have worked to stop Meteion. You can't just declare there to be a magic better option, going against the writer, director, and all voices in the narrative itself if you're intending to have a constructive conversation about things; Yoshi-P, with extensive information from Ishikawa, declared that to be the only plan that would've worked, and the entire story says exactly this as well. Declaring all of those sources to be wrong basically just leaves you writing fanfiction.

And that's without going into specifically how you've decided things would've turned out to be better, because 'telling everyone' is pretty much the very first thing Venat shoots down after Ktisis, for the very good reason of 'this would make people freak the hell out and not do anything productive'. The Ancients are not as a whole rational actors, or if we're honest really all that smart. They do not handle extremely bad news especially well, as we see directly in the post-Elpis cutscene.

It is not useful, productive, or even true to declare there to be a secret, better third option.

[Absimiliard]

tl;dr:
Venat condemned her own race to extinction based on lots of supposition and the word of some dude from the future.