Quote Originally Posted by Jeeqbit View Post
  • The mighty Zodiark was sundered and there is a version of it on the moon of each shard, so it was a lot weaker and wasn't itself. Was it actually designed for fighting in the first place when that wasn't why it was summoned?
  • Yes, that is the true cause of the Final Days. You're missing the point, which is that this "perfect" society was not as perfect as they believed it was. When faced with their own doom, they wouldn't know what to do because they have never had to struggle with anything before, so they just summoned a giant familiar to deal with it. When presented with Meteion's report, they would have been divided for the first time in their lives. Emet-Selch later tells us their ways would never had got them this far. By sundering them and making them struggle and contemplate doom regularly, they will know how to cope with division and threats to their existence.
  • As I said, if she mobilized the other ancients to end Meteion, they would be divided on what to do for the first time in their lives. Some of them may agree that they should be discarded and they would fight over what to do about the situation. The division would probably be as destructive as the final days itself. She did mobilize a small amount of people that she could trust, but had to be careful not to spread word to Fandaniel because she couldn't trust him with the information. How would she convince Emet-Selch when he was not even convinced the first time?
Considering the fact that Zodiark and Hydaelyn are described has having a nearly-apocalyptic battle with each other I'd say yes he was likely designed with the ability to fight in order to, I dunno, defend his summoners? You know, that's kind of why we summon things?

The final days being caused by "the amalgamation of despair" was a poor choice as it was likely made with the intention to drive home a moral lesson than actually giving us something interesting to latch onto. Hermes/Meteion were uninteresting villains. By that extent, Dynamis was also a ludicrous plot element thrown in at the last second in a way that only makes sense when you're surrounded by Endwalker-launch levels of hype or twitch chat. Did they take inspiration from Sailor Moon or something for this?

Venat's decisions do not make sense. The only way I can rationalize them while still liking her character is through personal headcanons. I disagree with your proposed theory as Venat could likely influence Hades by way of Azem seeing as how she likely still speaks to them, and they speak to Hades regularly. I do not believe the Ancients would agree they would be worthy of destruction. The most probable outcome of that scenario would be Hermes facing some kind of punishment and the others creating a more well-thought out plan to defeat Meteion. Again, Dynamis should never have existed.