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

[Jandor]

...Yes, that would be why I specifically mentioned the blessing. However, the individual I was responding to appeared to be implying direct intervention on Venat's part, which she did not offer. Her ward did the work.

Specifically mentioned the "blessing" you mean.

Cleretic might have been implying direct intervention, but it comes across like you're implying that Hydaelyn's help wasn't important. Absorbing the Lightwardens wouldn't have been possible without her ward, that's a little more than just 'technically' helping.

[Absimiliard]

although it's implied to be as much because of the WoL's own ridiculous power as it is Hydaelyn's "blessing."

Note the "as much" here.

[Cleretic]

She actually didn't. We instead burned through all the light we'd absorbed from the Lightwardens over the course of the adventure, which was enabled via Ardbert willingly rejoining his soul - or rather the fragment of Azem's soul he represented - with the larger "whole" from the Source.

Well, I suppose one could technically say she helped in the form of her ward protecting the WoL from having their aether fouled too badly by all that light, although it's implied to be as much because of the WoL's own ridiculous power as it is Hydaelyn's "blessing."

So I was a tad unclear when writing that, but I wasn't referring to the axe, but rather the final ring of light for the last phase in the Hades fight. I previously made the claim that one wasn't the Blessing and got corrected, and it's certainly unclear in the script we usually see if it really is the Blessing or if it's Lightwarden Juice, but the buff itself (including what it gets replaced with if your team struggles enough that it runs out) makes it clear that's Hydaelyn's doing. Hades also has more script than he gets through in your average Normals, where it becomes clear that the ring of light you're fighting in for that last stretch is Hydaelyn's work, and he recognizes it as the light that split his world.

[Jandor]

Hades also has more script than he gets through in your average Normals, where it becomes clear that the ring of light you're fighting in for that last stretch is Hydaelyn's work, and he recognizes it as the light that split his world.

'That Light split the world, and every life upon it!'

He's proper raging by that point too. Emet (and Elidibus) voice actors were proper on point.

[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.
.

[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.
.

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.

[vehere]

I still don't get why Venat thought not telling the Convocation or her followers about Meteion or about Dynamis was a good idea.

Like even though Hermes changed his memories so he would believe the Meteia exploded, he still created a new form of life that interact with a form of little studied energy. Given how much the Ancients liked studying and how much they respected and put weight on Venat's opinions and words, surely this would have helped them learn more about the true cause of the Final Days and possibly come to another conclusion that would have satisfied Venat's test (that nobody knew they were taking). If the issue was the Ancients wanted to return things to how they were, then shouldn't the Ala Mhigans be judged for wanting their city back instead of just accepting its loss? Why should Ishgard decide to pursue the old peace with dragons if this is just an attempt to return to a more peaceful past?

Even with the extra sacrifices, I feel that the Ancients would not have been able to return to their past how it was before. The memories would not vanish, the truly dead will not come back, and the children born afterwards would need to grow and overcome the trauma of the earlier generation's catastrophe.

The idea that the Ancients would have fixed everything and gone back to their perfect society is an assumption that the game doesn't confirm (and it doesn't confirm my assumption either, to be honest.)

The idea of Venat yelling "A TEST OF YOUR RESILIENCE!!" is funny though.

[Layte_Aeon]

snip

If I remember rightly the argument she gives against telling the convocation is that Hermes is liable to find out. As one of the few scholars on Celestial aether and a handful of those with even a passing knowledge of dynamis, if the truth made it to him he would likely either become useless or actively impede any solution to the final days. Also a lot of what we see dynamis is capable of doing, aether can do similarly enough, the few big differences being not really seen as worth consideration if the general reaction to the Elpis flowers are any indication.

As for Ala Mhigo and Ishgard, a big part of their stories is that they can't go back to the way things were, and shouldn't: Ala Mhigo can't be a monarchy again, because it would take just one Theodric and they'd be back at square one, hence why they start discussing how they should govern now in 4.1.

Ishgard persues peace not for the sake of returning to the past, but because the Dragonsong war benefited no one, and so they began to change for this new future, even if may look superfically like something in the past, and even if those currently living might not truly see the end result.

But the ancients after the final days did truly hope to not just return to a sense of normalcy, but to act as if their tragedy never happened, sacrificing new life that arose after Zodiark's second invocation to restore those who died to create and empower him so that they may resume their stewardship of the star... their perfect paradise as one ancient called it.

[vehere]

If I remember rightly the argument she gives against telling the convocation is that Hermes is liable to find out. As one of the few scholars on Celestial aether and a handful of those with even a passing knowledge of dynamis, if the truth made it to him he would likely either become useless or actively impede any solution to the final days.

Hermes erased his own memories though, Venat's a smart woman she doesn't need to go "Hey Hermes remember when you erased your memories after sending the Meteia out to cause our world to self destruct?" She could have found a more conductive way to guide the Convocation into investigating the true source of the cause of the Final Days. They started disregarding her because she refused to open her heart to them and apparently wouldn't tell them anything besides insisting they were wrong to do what they were doing, but offered no way to solve things, and they sensed she was hiding something from them.

As for Ala Mhigo and Ishgard, a big part of their stories is that they can't go back to the way things were, and shouldn't: Ala Mhigo can't be a monarchy again, because it would take just one Theodric and they'd be back at square one, hence why they start discussing how they should govern now in 4.1.

Ishgard persues peace not for the sake of returning to the past, but because the Dragonsong war benefited no one, and so they began to change for this new future, even if may look superfically like something in the past, and even if those currently living might not truly see the end result.

They are specifically using the past as their inspiration for a better future. They aren't disregarding the truth that Man and Dragon once lived together. They, including dragons, are hoping that these times will return again. Ala Mhigans still wanted to return home and did not accept they had lost it. They did not want to build a better future elsewhere, they wanted to build a 'better future' in Ala Mhigo. They still clung to their past.

But the ancients after the final days did truly hope to not just return to a sense of normalcy, but to act as if their tragedy never happened

There's absolutely no indication that it would have returned to normal. Just as Ala Mhigans hope for a better future where the pain of Garlemald's invasion will be forgotten, so did the Ancients work. But we know that the invasion will not be forgotten, and we know that the Ancients would not be able to forget the catastrophe. They in fact had no time to really recover and come to this realization because Venat's group started the Sundering, so all we have are the recordings of what ghosts say and Emet-Selch's weird "yeah Venat was right the entire time, we never would have won", even though the Convocation was working with not even half the information Venat had and purposefully withheld from everyone (including her own followers).

[Cleretic]

Hermes erased his own memories though, Venat's a smart woman she doesn't need to go "Hey Hermes remember when you erased your memories after sending the Meteia out to cause our world to self destruct?" She could have found a more conductive way to guide the Convocation into investigating the true source of the cause of the Final Days. They started disregarding her because she refused to open her heart to them and apparently wouldn't tell them anything besides insisting they were wrong to do what they were doing, but offered no way to solve things, and they sensed she was hiding something from them.

Hermes is also a smart person, though, if you give him enough clues he'll figure it out and fall into either useless depression or outright switch sides. And if you tell the Convocation to look into the thing out in space sending dynamis waves to murderize the planet, eventually Hermes will draw the connection to the fleet of dynamis-capable creatures he sent out into space and never heard back from after Kairos freaked out, and go look into that. And given he's needed for putting together Zodiark, that's a big problem.

And that's putting aside the notion that the Convocation probably aren't going to keep any secret you tell them, anyway. Emet-Selch is both the most likely person to listen, and the most likely to tell Hermes, because he's such a stickler for the rules that it caused this whole mess in the first place.