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

[Kozh]

A lot of the moon stuff didn't make sense to me. There's a barrier preventing it from being hit with an aether blast, but someone can just teleport up there any time and slice through Zodiark's bindings with a scythe completely unimpeded? Really? Given that Venat knew how these events played out you'd think she'd have better than half-assed protections. Hell, even the unsundered Ascians should've had some kind of failsafe in place if a being of Zodiark's power were that vulnerable to being released and controlled.

I know they have valid and made sense explanation for this, but it's just funny to me that this can be explained as Venat purposely made the questionable security flaw because she need Zodiark to die, thus re-starting the Final Days and "force" the WoL to look for answer in the past. All of these so the time loop won't be broken.

Not saying that this is the case, but....

[Rosenstrauch]

I have to wonder how long my forum access will hold out. It's been over a week now...

Well, the only real hopes I have for the story anymore are in regards to Pandaemonium. Best case scenario, the finale of the raid questline is what spins off a split timeline where things actually work out for the Unsundered World. Worst case scenario, it ends with the WoL singing "So long and thanks for all the fish" as they abandon them to their Hermes/Venat-induced Armageddon.

[Rulakir]

Worst case scenario, it ends with the WoL singing "So long and thanks for all the fish" as they abandon them to their Hermes/Venat-induced Armageddon.

Unfortunately, due to the stupid time loop I suspect this is what we'll get since Elidibus had to remember us from Elpis to send us there.

I still can't believe there was no alternate timeline/happy ending for the Ancients. I don't care that all the Scions survived at the end, I care that Emet and Hythlodaeus got screwed over and that my character was an active participant in it.

[Skyborne]

Unfortunately, due to the stupid time loop I suspect this is what we'll get since Elidibus had to remember us from Elpis to send us there.

I still can't believe there was no alternate timeline/happy ending for the Ancients. I don't care that all the Scions survived at the end, I care that Emet and Hythlodaeus got screwed over and that my character was an active participant in it.

Meanwhile, I still can't believe they did it. They repackaged Gaius van Baelsar in Disney sparkleprincess skin and got everyone to love, adore, and applaud it. I'll give Gaius some credit, though, he didn't kill billions and learned not to use a big shiny god-machine to force his ideals on people (mostly through it blowing up on his face).

[KizuyaKatogami]

I have to wonder how long my forum access will hold out. It's been over a week now...

Well, the only real hopes I have for the story anymore are in regards to Pandaemonium. Best case scenario, the finale of the raid questline is what spins off a split timeline where things actually work out for the Unsundered World. Worst case scenario, it ends with the WoL singing "So long and thanks for all the fish" as they abandon them to their Hermes/Venat-induced Armageddon.

To answer your forum access thing, i believe it’s two weeks of being unsubbed that you get locked out.

Split timeline wise, yeah it’s a bit funny to me the devs were willing to do it for the 8UC timeline but not the ancients, especially when the ancients had to endure and suffer far more than anyone else. I honestly think Elidibus had the worst of it out of any character in the game. Toils away for 12000+ years, gets betrayed by a friend and then sacrifices himself extinguishing his soul completely so no hope of reincarnation…and gets no praise for it whatsoever. And now we’re forced to go back and spend time with him as if he isn’t completely dead in our time. The devs are a bit sadistic in that regard, which is ironic to me because i’d enjoy something like that if it was for some of the protagonists since they never have to actually lose anything.

[Lauront]

I have to wonder how long my forum access will hold out. It's been over a week now...

Well, the only real hopes I have for the story anymore are in regards to Pandaemonium. Best case scenario, the finale of the raid questline is what spins off a split timeline where things actually work out for the Unsundered World. Worst case scenario, it ends with the WoL singing "So long and thanks for all the fish" as they abandon them to their Hermes/Venat-induced Armageddon.

My red line is if they use it to invent more ways in which the ancients would've been doomed "no matter what", and also if it just becomes more trite "Lahabrea bad" crap. More heavily weighted to the former, in all honesty. A split timeline would be cool but like Rulakir I do have some doubts as to whether they'd do it.

[Rulakir]

I feel like they already did that. It's surprising they considered The Plenty the path of the Ancients when it seems like treachery from within would have sabotaged them long before they were ever able to reach that point with Yoshi-P making it sound like it's just a very Ancient thing to do to destroy civilizations willy nilly.

What irritates me most about Elidibus is we never see his side of events. People are quick to mention we got Zodiark in ShB, but Elidibus' mind was so far gone he only talked about his duty. We learned little about his POV before, during, or after the Final Days. Meanwhile, EW was basically Venat's story. We didn't get both sides, we only got hers especially given that the Ascians were always missing crucial information.

Pandemonium so far has been disappointing. It doesn't seem it's going to change Elidibus' future and I don't care about Lahabrea's untalented son. I hope the whole thing isn't going to just be the Eric show with a Lahabrea cameo at the end. (I don't believe Eric is 'our' Lahabrea, I think he's pre-sundered Claudien.)

[Lauront]

I meant from something besides meeting the Plenty. With regard to that scenario, we can't say how they would've reacted had they been told the truth, since Venat withheld it on her belief that her people couldn't change - it's only with that in mind that they frame it as a probable outcome. I don't think it's a particularly plausible scenario in the first case, but at worst (=they don't take measures to avoid it), it'd mean the death of their civilisation since the star would eventually produce new life. What I found funnier is the fact that it was driven as a scenario by the very same impulses which sundered mankind shares and aims towards... so while it may not hit it in the foreseeable future, they will eventually risk arriving at such an outcome, and certainly any of the outcomes seen on the other dead stars, which are in much closer reach (Ea excepted), IMO. I didn't really take Yoshi P's comment as anything other than him trying to give Venat an out (particularly given how poorly it fit with what else we knew of ancient society), because while the potential for treacherous individuals existed, it'd only really become a problem if the one with knowledge of that further decided to hide it all, forced in part due to the time loop being thrown in for good measure to constrain her actions/distract her with fantasies about some romanticised world. Overall, a very frustrating combination of plot devices.

[Erendis]

At the very least it would have been nice to have a longer conversation with the Ancient souls residing within Zodiark. More importantly, however, it would have been pleasant to see the Scions acknowledge that Zodiark was the one who put in the majority of the effort where keeping Etheirys safe is concerned. As a gesture of respect to the fallen, they should be spreading that knowledge far and wide. They're certainly all too eager to demand credit for each and every little errand that they, themselves, perform.

Ironic that it was Zodiark who gave Etheirys peace and Hydaelyn gave strife.

[KageTokage]

It's a little depressing to admit that I feel a lot less excited about what's coming in the future MSQ after the LL Q&A gave more insight into the thought process of the writers and that they basically didn't expect people to do deep thinking about the story and that they're willing to just drop plot threads on a whim if they decide they don't want to work with them anymore.

Trying to theorycraft about anything that isn't explicitly being hint-hinted by Yoshi or the writers themselves seems like a potential waste of time now in light of those developments.