*Spoilers* Anyone feel joining Emet would have been better

[EaraGrace]

It's not hard to quantify what Venat did as genocide at all. To even deny that's what it was is to literally discount the Ancients' lives. Either all lives are precious, or some aren't. Can't have it both ways. There are similar philosophical branches we can travel down that paint the Rejoinings as not being Genocide, and in that same branch of thought lies the denial of Venat's deed too.

The philosophical questions surrounding the Sundering might spawn another 75 pages

But there is one hard thing the Sundering did that Rejoinings could never do. That is, it damaged the soul which is the core of an Etheirysian's being. At first it seems not to matter, we could even be generous and suggest that it's the same sort of deal IRL where the spirits housed in Eastern shrines are split and taken to other shrines to impart a growing spirit across all the lands. However, FFXIV's account of Etheirysian souls is too detailed for that to really hold water. Especially when the combining of the sundered souls restores power and vitality, as the soul approaches wholeness.

This(Ye Olde Sundering) made Etheirysians susceptible to, "true death" via Dynamis, and has lead to the only true deaths for Etheirysians with no possibility of reincarnation for such individuals (At least as shown currently, though I suspect with the writers wanting to maintain Hydaelyn's "inexorable" integrity they will throw the baby out with the bathwater yet again at some point in the near future. This will create its own host of new problems, probably).

You’ll be disappointed to find out then the writers see to have already have done so. Thancred and the Scions survived despite their aether being overwhelmed with Dynamis (much to Meteions surprise), the souls held by Meteion returned to their bodies (the dragons, Ea and Omicrons) after we defeated Endsinger, and from the role quests there seems to be more to the Blasphemies than we thought.

Not to mention the question of what she was supposed to do. If you view the Sundering as an unneeded genocide, then I can understand that position. But, if you believe the Sundering necessary, plus the fact she acted to prevent Zodiarks destruction and gave us the clues needed to get to Elpis, it would be hard to criticize her for those deaths when she did all she could to prevent them. I think I’ve made clear where I fall on that, thus I don’t agree with the criticism.