What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[Theodric]

Okay so what else could or should she have done within the limits of the story?

Any number of things, given that her own world view was supposedly a belief that there was no such thing as 'impossible'. Not only had she successfully put a tracker on Meteion during the confrontation with Hermes, she had already confirmed the existence of witnesses to Hermes having sent his flock of Meteion's on their mission. Furthermore, using a variant of the Echo Venat was able to glean valuable insight by tapping into the memories of an event which helped show the Warrior of Light what had transpired.

If that isn't enough? Both Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus were aware that their memories had been tampered with. They simply didn't know what, exactly, the missing memories were. Yet even in the face of being told of the threat of the Final Days at the hands of a time traveller, before his memory was wiped...Emet-Selch stated outright that it was his duty to investigate any threat to the Star. With that in mind, then, it felt rather forced for Venat to conveniently avoid going to the Convocation with information that could have helped avert the disaster.

Given that a Sundered Zodiark was able to hold the Final Days at bay for so long, one can only imagine how much longer an Unsundered variant would have been able to do so - and with extra time and Venat not deliberately holding back knowledge, it doesn't strike me as a stretch for the Convocation, Venat and Azem to come to some sort of beneficial solution given enough time.

Much like how things play out in the Sundered world given that even where problems arise, the solution isn't to rid the populace of their free will, memories and right to choose...

You are in a situation where people still believes Covid 19 is fake and you are expecting Venut can do a really good job convincing her people on something only she remembers?
/clap

Venat was a highly respected figure within the Ancient world. Had she been open and honest, there would be little reason to doubt her words. Yet even so, no society is obligated to bend over backwards to appease the likes of Venat and Hermes when their 'solution' is to wipe out their own race and civilisation.

[SDaemon]

Venat was a highly respected figure within the Ancient world. Had she been open and honest, there would be little reason to doubt her words. Yet even so, no society is obligated to bend over backwards to appease the likes of Venat and Hermes when their 'solution' is to wipe out their own race and civilization.

Said civilization had zero qualms about throwing away half their population twice over and were perfectly willing to commit genocide of every new life born into the world just so they wouldn't have to feel sorrow or despair and recluse themselves into ignorant bliss of "paradise". The rest of the Ancient population making decisions aren't exactly of high standing moral character either.

[Theodric]

Said civilization had zero qualms about throwing away half their population twice over and were perfectly willing to commit genocide of every new life born into the world just so they wouldn't have to feel sorrow or despair and recluse themselves into ignorant bliss of "paradise". The rest of the Ancient population making decisions aren't of high standing moral character either.

I think that particular portrayal is rather disingenuous and doesn't really align with the established events. For starters, the first and second round of sacrifices were willingly given and actively supported. Had they not happened, Etheirys would not have recovered from the Final Days.

As for the third round of sacrifices it isn't explicitly highlighted what the 'new life' entails though if it were the creations of the Ancients themselves, then it would be the equivalent of arcane constructs. Which is what they were in comparison to their creators.

I'd strongly suggest completing the side quests in Elpis if you have not done as much already. They don't exactly paint a picture of the Ancients being callous, cold and uncaring. They show emotion, they show concern for the Warrior of Light (despite believing him to be a familiar) and they also clearly show concern for each other and their creations. So I disagree with the idea that they aren't of 'high moral standing'.

I'd also note that the Sundered engage in far more active and open depravity. From slavery, to attempted genocide, to actual genocide, to theft, to murder, to wiping out entire species for trophies and trinkets to all manner of other things. All of which, I note, came about as a consequence of Venat's decision.

[TaleraRistain]

As for the third round of sacrifices it isn't explicitly highlighted what the 'new life' entails though if it were the creations of the Ancients themselves, then it would be the equivalent of arcane constructs. Which is what they were in comparison to their creators.

This is from Ere Our Curtain Falls, the same story I referenced in my previous comment

"The people were divided, unable to decide what to do with the future that now stretched out before them. Many wished to trade the new life which had sprung forth to reclaim those lost in sacrifice to Zodiark. No small number, however, insisted that the fate of our world should be entrusted to those selfsame freshly minted souls. "

So, this new life had souls and they wanted to sacrifice it to get back what they had.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Said civilization had zero qualms about throwing away half their population twice over and were perfectly willing to commit genocide of every new life born into the world just so they wouldn't have to feel sorrow or despair and recluse themselves into ignorant bliss of "paradise". The rest of the Ancient population making decisions aren't exactly of high standing moral character either.

How is sacrificing themselves for the betterment of the planet throwing lives away? I guess most of the protagonists in the story are just as bad as them then considering they’ve done that time and time again. It wasn’t every new life form. It was a portion. Hythlodaeus says as much so less not try to force a narrative that isn’t there hm? Besides, how exactly is this any better than committing genocide to all life on the planet, and and causing mass murder?

[SDaemon]

How is sacrificing themselves for the betterment of the planet throwing lives away? I guess most of the protagonists in the story are just as bad as them then considering they’ve done that time and time again. It wasn’t every new life form. It was a portion. Hythlodaeus says as much so less not try to force a narrative that isn’t there hm? Besides, how exactly is this any better than committing genocide to all life on the planet, and and causing mass murder?

I'm not forcing any new narrative. Its established that they were willing to sacrifice the new life that was born unto Etheirys after the Final Days. I also never said it was better than what Hydealyn/Venat did, nor was I attempting to.

[Momo_Kozuki]

snip

You forgot that there were people who witnessed Emet, Hyppo (forgot his name), Venat, and a so-called Azem's familiar entered the lv77 dungeon. People only knew that there was some problems with Kaitos that deleted memories of Emet, Hyppo and Hermes - the culprit himself. Even if Venat shows up and tells the truth, then people will just think that her memory got fumbled by the memory wiping device. Let's say Emet, Hyppo believed her and try to rally their people. It might make some noises, but the ultimate end is that people would just conclude these three having unreliable memories due to the incident. After all, it was 1 person who knew the truth, 2 people who had zero memory about what happened that just followed the flow vs the whole race who just wants to play god to perfect their star. And obviously, WoL could not stay there for too long to re-tell them the stories cuz the time-travel magic is running out right after the lv77 dungeon.



So Venat had two choices: try to change things, face a lot of opposition cuz no one trusts her, which could led to a future where she had zero mean to save the star, be it with the Ancient or with the new mankind. Or just make sure everything happening the same according to WoL's future, which she certainly believed would happen because WoL time-travelling to Elpis with her magic on him was the undeniable proof that that the sundering method was the right path that she needed to take. She needed Hermes in the 14th so that he would eventually contribute to the summoning of Hermes. She needed Emet to stay with deleted memory so that he would become the melancholic unsundered Ascian who built the Garlean Empire, which researched Black rose, which resulted in G'hara time travel to the First, which results in Elibidus getting absorbed by the tower who later provided information and a mean to travel to the past, then Fanadiel who opted for Zodiark's destruction, which led to WoL to the moon where he heard the word Elpis from the Watcher and received aid from the moon rabbits. And she needed to sunder the world so that everything above would happen, for a fighting chance against the threat nested in the edge of the universe.



Remember that she actually tried to reason with the Ancients, who was so absorbed with sacrificing to return to the blissful day instead of accepting suffering as part of their life and move on. And if you think they can "revive" the dead that easily, just look at what happened to the lamia girl who was the daughter that was killed and revived by Laskmi back in SB - an empty husk without soul. Zodiark is a band-aid for Final Days and a dead-end for the Ancient. A dead-end for the star vs a chance to fight back, Venat took the latter, and admitted there was no justice in her action.


And if you still think she just wanted to play Goddess, then what was the point of playing Goddess if your ultimate fate was the fuel for Ragnarok?