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

[tokinokanatae]

But we already know the purpose he served--to point out the weakened celestial currents. Even if a hypothetical replacement isn't as knowledgeable about celestial currents as he is, they can still point she or he in the right direction from the beginning. Of course, someone else might have figured out that the attack was coming from outside the planet, as the four working together did in Elpis. Curious that synergy didn't happen again, huh? Almost like Hermes was sabotaging from the very beginning...

[linayar]

But we already know the purpose he served--

Venat didn't. We also don't know everything that Hermes contributed, just that one main point.

[PawPaw]

But we already know the purpose he served--to point out the weakened celestial currents. Even if a hypothetical replacement isn't as knowledgeable about celestial currents as he is, they can still point she or he in the right direction from the beginning. Of course, someone else might have figured out that the attack was coming from outside the planet, as the four working together did in Elpis. Curious that synergy didn't happen again, huh? Almost like Hermes was sabotaging from the very beginning...

Exactly. The knowledge needed to begin forming a plan of action was already known by Venat and they would have had even more info had Emet-Selch's memories been restored (which from what we have been shown should be entirely possible to do). I still see no reason to use Hermes getting a bit upset as a reasonable excuse for not telling the Convocation what she knew. Would it have been nice to have an "expert" around? Sure. But I have a hard time believing that a workable solution couldn't have been found without him using the information that was already available. Or would have been had it not been kept secret.

[linayar]

I still see no reason to use Hermes getting a bit upset as a reasonable excuse for not telling the Convocation what she knew. Would it have been nice to have an "expert" around? Sure. But I have a hard time believing that a workable solution couldn't have been found without him using the information that was already available. Or would have been had it not been kept secret.

Yes, we could talk about possibilities, but Venat probably did not have that luxury, and when you're dealing with something that most of them hadn't ever dealt with on a scale that could cause a worldwide extinction, she had to make a choice based on the potential risks.

[PawPaw]

Yes, we could talk about possibilities, but Venat probably did not have that luxury, and when you're dealing with something that most of them hadn't ever dealt with on a scale that could cause a worldwide extinction, she had to make a choice based on the potential risks.

And she made the choice to withhold the truth and let her people die instead of taking any kind of chance to save them and the world she claimed to love so much. Then killed the rest when they didn't respond the way she wanted them to. Sounds fair. Why take the risk of letting the world leaders know what you know and seeing if you can collectively find a way to avoid the destruction of the world when you can just weigh your options and decide that not trying is the best route to take.

[linayar]

And she made the choice to withhold the truth and let her people die instead of taking any kind of chance to save them and the world she claimed to love so much. Then killed the rest when they didn't respond the way she wanted them to. Sounds fair. Why take the risk of letting the world leaders know what you know and seeing if you can collectively find a way to avoid the destruction of the world when you can just weigh your options and decide that not trying is the best route to take.

Because one of those world leaders could potentially oppose you when unity is what's needed.

[tokinokanatae]

Venat didn't. We also don't know everything that Hermes contributed, just that one main point.

If she didn't know then I'm surprised she can remember anything, considering we explained it to her twice. Also, it is possible that Hermes was key to the Zodiark defense in some way or another, but what if without him, they could bypass Zodiark all together?

Because one of those world leaders could potentially oppose you when unity is what's needed.

Was it dumb when the WoL then came back from the moon and explained to all the world leaders what had happened, including the one that had been directly hostile and a hindrance to their goals?

[linayar]

If she didn't know then I'm surprised she can remember anything, considering we explained it to her twice.

Are we talking about the same thing here? It is impossible for us to tell Venat everything that Hermes did to help because we weren't there.

Also, it is possible that Hermes was key to the Zodiark defense in some way or another, but what if without him, they could bypass Zodiark all together?

Interesting idea, but I don't think Venat wanted Hermes's help specifically for Zodiark.

Was it dumb when the WoL then came back from the moon and explained to all the world leaders what had happened, including the one that had been directly hostile and a hindrance to their goals?

I think so and I still say that time travel was a terrible idea, but that has nothing to do with Venat.

If you want to talk about the problems with time travel, I don't have much to say other than I hope they don't use it again.

[Sicno]

Because one of those world leaders could potentially oppose you when unity is what's needed.

And so they remained united in hopelessly seeing the world fall to ruin. Who gives a damn about the genocide of your kind as long you can stay united. Oh btw, she went and made a decision for all of humanity when she sundered them. So much for "unity".

[PawPaw]

Because one of those world leaders could potentially oppose you when unity is what's needed.

In what reality does the fear of alienating a single man stand above the lives of the greater whole? He did not matter. He couldn't have done anything to them. And if he tried, like the fool he is, then that's what Pandamonium exists for. And then you get back to the important matter at hand. It's an incredibly stupid plot point and holds no water whatsoever.