Interpretation of an Endwalker Plot Point (Spoilers for the Entire MSQ)

[Theodric]

The idea of losing your individuality is frightening to many people.

...and yet that was exactly the fate that she forced upon every last one of her people without their consent, so I daresay she met a fitting and rather poetic end after all was said and done.

[sidurgu-12]

...and yet that was exactly the fate that she forced upon every last one of her people without their consent, so I daresay she met a fitting and rather poetic end after all was said and done.

um, thats the fate of people even before the sundering but like the cetra they saw it as the best fate for your soul.

[Theodric]

um, thats the fate of people even before the sundering but like the cetra they saw it as the best fate for your soul.

The Ancients had a system in place where, when they felt the time was right, they would willingly give themselves to Etheirys. Hythlodaeus speaks of it at length during the Elpis story segments.

Venat, however, inflicted a non-consensual death upon every last Ancient (barring the three Unsundered) which involved identity death, loss of memories, separation from loved ones and all sorts of unpleasant factors such as a forcibly altered body, lower intelligence, less strength, a shorter lifespan and other elements.

As such, I think it's only fitting that Venat went out the way that she did - burning through the very candle of her life. As much as I think that her overall plan was flawed, the last burst of her energy helped get the player character and the Scions to Ultima Thule and the lingering remnants of the Mothercrystal served to bestow Zenos with the ability to follow in their footsteps.

I'm not saying it isn't a bleak end for her because it very much is, though Endwalker was very much pushed as the conclusion of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark arc and such a conclusion seems fitting to me.

[sidurgu-12]

The Ancients had a system in place where, when they felt the time was right, they would willingly give themselves to Etheirys. Hythlodaeus speaks of it at length during the Elpis story segments.

Venat, however, inflicted a non-consensual death upon every last Ancient (barring the three Unsundered) which involved identity death, loss of memories, separation from loved ones and all sorts of unpleasant factors such as a forcibly altered body, lower intelligence, less strength, a shorter lifespan and other elements.

As such, I think it's only fitting that Venat went out the way that she did - burning through the very candle of her life. As much as I think that her overall plan was flawed, the last burst of her energy helped get the player character and the Scions to Ultima Thule and the lingering remnants of the Mothercrystal served to bestow Zenos with the ability to follow in their footsteps.

I'm not saying it isn't a bleak end for her because it very much is, though Endwalker was very much pushed as the conclusion of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark arc and such a conclusion seems fitting to me.

the convocation retirement right? the point still kind of stands. when an ancient feels complete they rejoin with aetherys which results in personal non existance. this still applies to all souls in universe.

[MediocreIndigo]

Venat, however, inflicted a non-consensual death upon every last Ancient (barring the three Unsundered) which involved identity death, loss of memories, separation from loved ones and all sorts of unpleasant factors such as a forcibly altered body, lower intelligence, less strength, a shorter lifespan and other elements.

I know what you're referring to when you mention lower intelligence but I'm not sure if it's true. Emet-Selch claims that the sundered are less intelligent than the unsundered, but I don't recall seeing any actual evidence of this. The people of the Source and people of the shards don't seem to be very different save for their aetheric density. I think it's possible that he could've come to this conclusion after seeing the sundered Ancients go from a utopia to warring with one another, but as we see in Elpis, while the society of the Ancients was for the most part peaceful, they weren't as perfect as Emet-Selch made them out to be.

[MediocreIndigo]

...and yet that was exactly the fate that she forced upon every last one of her people without their consent, so I daresay she met a fitting and rather poetic end after all was said and done.

In a way, yeah, that's true. It could be argued that she spared them the fate of eventually being destroyed by Meteion, but that's an entirely different conversation.