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

[PawPaw]

I think, if I'm remembering right, the revelation in 5.2 was that Hydaelyn's auto-message was meant to hit anyone who awakened to the Echo, immediately, to her voice and her Blessing - to the point that the in-universe lorebooks attributed the Echo itself as "a gift from Hydaelyn." So, uh, her intent was probably to confuse the issue, honestly, what with how determined she was to completely erase the Ancients from history and keep them erased.

I remember that part of 5.2, but it also says in the wiki that many people mistakenly associate the Echo as being bestowed by her when, in "fact", all her shouting has done is awakened the fragment of the ancient within you which in turn unlocks the latent Echo, their power. I put fact in quotes because I honestly have no idea anymore.

[Lauront]

I remember that part of 5.2, but it also says in the wiki that many people mistakenly associate the Echo as being bestowed by her when, in "fact", all her shouting has done is awakened the fragment of the ancient within you which in turn unlocks the latent Echo, their power. I put fact in quotes because I honestly have no idea anymore.

True but when you take that into consideration, given that the MC is there when Urianger elaborated on its true nature, it makes the character's answer in that scene you linked even more baffling. Unless they just switched their braincells off whenever the echo was discussed?

[PawPaw]

True but when you take that into consideration, given that the MC is there when Urianger elaborated on its true nature, it makes the character's answer in that scene you linked even more baffling. Unless they just switched their braincells off whenever the echo was discussed?

[Brinne]

Mm, this is my understanding of it:

- The Echo is a remnant of Ancient powers, and awakens when a strong memory is triggered of their lives as an Ancient/the Final Days in particular. This is why Elidibus used the meteor showers in 5.2 and 5.3 to prompt a mass-awakening of the Echo to create Warriors of Light.

- Only people with the awakened Echo can hear Hydaelyn's voice.

- Hydaelyn has an automated message constantly on loop, so her voice is the first thing anyone who awakens to the Echo hears. She also, perhaps, instant-slaps the Blessing of Light on them.

- In-universe scholars, because the two are conflated so closely, attribute the Echo as originating from Hydaelyn as well - missing the fact that what actually triggers it are "meteor showers," with Hydaelyn instead being a force jumping in on an opportunity created by an awakening she doesn't actually have anything to do with.

- If the Echo is Hydaelyn's gift, no need to look further in and potentially discover it's actually because we're fragmented pieces of an ancient civilization that Hydaelyn destroyed, and the automated message + automated Blessing ensures that anyone who awakens the Echo is at least inclined from the start toward the path of being a warrior of light. Two birds with one stone! Venat is very efficient.

[Lauront]

Mm, this is my understanding of it:

- The Echo is a remnant of Ancient powers, and awakens when a strong memory is triggered of their lives as an Ancient/the Final Days in particular. This is why Elidibus used the meteor showers in 5.2 and 5.3 to prompt a mass-awakening of the Echo to create Warriors of Light.

- Only people with the awakened Echo can hear Hydaelyn's voice.

- Hydaelyn has an automated message constantly on loop, so her voice is the first thing anyone who awakens to the Echo hears. She also, perhaps, instant-slaps the Blessing of Light on them.

- In-universe scholars, because the two are conflated so closely, attribute the Echo as originating from Hydaelyn as well - missing the fact that what actually triggers it are "meteor showers," with Hydaelyn instead being a force jumping in on an opportunity created by an awakening she doesn't actually have anything to do with.

- If the Echo is Hydaelyn's gift, no need to look further in and potentially discover it's actually because we're fragmented pieces of an ancient civilization that Hydaelyn destroyed, and the automated message + automated Blessing ensures that anyone who awakens the Echo is at least inclined from the start toward the path of being a warrior of light. Two birds with one stone! Venat is very efficient.

I think the error could be forgiven for your regular scholar, who wasn't present through all of what the WoL went through, but in their case specifically, it's a bit more difficult to justify the confusion. The understanding that the Echo is what shielded from primal influence is something Zenos discusses when relating the powers of the Echo, and the decision to deploy the likes of Arenvald and Fordola to deal with primals is ultimately driven by the protection the Echo or its mimicry provide, so that much is established. With 5.2, the WoL is privy to the fact that the Echo itself is activated through visual triggers of the Final Days, so putting those facts together, surely the assumption ought to be that the Echo is what is providing that protection, and not the Blessing.

[Brinne]

I think the error could be forgiven for your regular scholar, who wasn't present through all of what the WoL went through, but in their case specifically, it's a bit more difficult to justify the confusion.

Oh, yeah, don't ask me to account for the WoL's reaction in that specific scene in Elpis. I got nothing. (I got nothing for a lot of instances of the WoL's reaction, but nevertheless.)