Quote Originally Posted by Lauront View Post
But it's not just their lifespans that are the issue for them - it's the fact that the sundered are the result of fracturing their star and people and creating out of that something unrecognisable to them - different to the extent that their lifespans are significantly reduced, the loss of the ability to use creation magicks, the echo reduced in what it could do, etc. It's clear some of them, like Emet-Selch, do feel some discomfort with the rejoinings (his perspective on the sundered is suggested to have shifted over time to seeing them as nearer to child-like beings), but it is ultimately genocide in answer to the genocide of their kind, to reverse it. While the game does point to their different perspectives on life at various points, it is emphatically not doing so with Elidibus in SoS

At that juncture, the character is trying to demoralise him, and Elidibus is reaffirming his resolve, in spite of his memory loss - the entire point here is his commitment to his people and willingness to fight to see that through to the end. Moreover, the game goes to no small amount of lengths to parallel Elidibus's resolve to the Exarch's, i.e. here:...



... This is directly paralleling Elidibus's devotion to his duty and his people. So again, I would say that both from his and Emet-Selch's own resolve, we can very readily argue that the ancients did understand life in the sense of the importance of fighting to preserve it against a premature end. Indeed, the entire Ascian struggle is to undo that end. The reason I brought up the dragons is because they're most comparable to the ancients in their span of powers, lifespan and defiance against a fate that would see them destroyed - all of which they do in spite being very long-lived beings.
I am definitely not denying Emet's and Elidibus' devotion to their people, and their duties. The latter in particular mirror's that of our own resolve. Not just in FFXIV, but the hero's resolve that pushes the protagonists forward in every FF game, and perhaps story telling in general. What I am attempting to point out is if the antagonists could see life as we do, i.e. from our perspective, then it removes the catalyst to our conflict. The longer vs shorter lifespans is very significant for this to take place. Both species value life to the point that they will go to extreme means to defend it, but there is also a profound attachment to the worlds they know, and lifespans are very much a part of those perspectives.

As for tempering? There's a number of problems with arguing that it directed their actions in service of their cause. First and foremost is that Zodiark's tempering is the result of the power that went into his summoning (see here for where this is implied.) The primal itself lacks the usual will primals do outside of its heart, and Emet-Selch himself is able to simply deviate from that path. Zodiark's return is in service of restoring the star and returning their people. All in all, there isn't enough for me to say it's what's the driving factor in their motivations.

Based on the lore we know, their tempering consists in alignment to the primal's aether, and yes, as per Emet, a desire to spread this aspect. It can evidently degrade memory and identity if those are not actively preserved (which Emet-Selch went to great lengths to do), but in both Emet-Selch's and Elidibus's case, they are strongly characterised as driven by their duty to their people, which Emet-Selch only forgoes because he lost (he even reaffirms this at the end), and likewise for Elidibus.
What troubles me here is Emet's incredulousness. Forsaking his own brethren, and then going on to dishonor their memory by recreating Amaurot were totally and completely beyond anything he could ever imagine himself doing. Venat and Hytholadeus expressed similar disbelief, but not to the point that it directly contradicts their actions that take place in the future. There isn't anything concrete here, and it is all just speculation. 'Desperate times, desperate measures' certainly serves to explain the summoning of Zodiark, and subsequently Hydaelyn; but Emet's theatrics on the first is something else entirely.

Elidibus is a bit more difficult for me to surmise as we don't get to interact with him during our time in Elpis along with the other three. My impression of Elidibus remains that he is steadfast and completely unwavering in his duty to his seat, but as the heart of Zodiark he is also exempt. I think it would be extremely helpful if we could see or interact with him prior to becoming emissary.

I am not bringing him up here because he is not relevant to the point of the acceptance of an "inevitable end", which was the point you raised in differentiating immortal races from those which are not. On that front? He in fact struggles to see purpose in life when faced with death as its eventual companion.
I didn't bring up Hermes to make a point of acceptance/unacceptance to an inevitable end. I brought him up because he asks the same questions we do when it comes to life. "Is there other life out there among the stars?" "Is there a purpose to living?" "What gives us the right to determine what lives or dies?" I didn't want to go too far into it, but even as Amon and the walking/talking contradiction he ultimately becomes, he remains the ancient that relates the most to us because he is exceptionally flawed. He is closer to how we are, while Venat is who we strive to be.

Poor poor ancients in general. The entire event was traumatic to the extent that it was seared into their memories such that even within the sundered, it can be reignited with the right trigger. Imagine then being the three survivors who didn't even have this context and then witness on top of this destruction, the fragmentation of their world and people, for reasons they were never given... it's tragic for all concerned.
Right here is a good reason why they can't relate to the sundered, who have come to know an entirely different way of living than the ancients. The unsundered are tragically left without a world to call home, and the sundered with the exception of Azem can never truly know the world their ancestors come from. I'm not dismissing the tragedy for everyone. I'm emphasizing that nothing could be done to avert said tragedy, even if armed to do so.