Tale of Emet [FF14 x Nier Reincarnation event story]

[Lurina]

In the absolute worst possible interruption of what Venat did, she planetary genocide. Once.

No offense to you personally - I get the point you were trying to make - but this quote might be peak FFXIV Lore Forums.

[Lauront]

No offense, but this quote might be peak FFXIV Lore Forums.

^This. That Q&A (and I guess now this crossover scene) really did a number on some.

[redheadturk]

Ya know what? I think "go touch grass" would be a good piece of advice for some of the Venat lovers in this thread. It's a gods damned video game

Now let's consider Emet's actions. He also committed planetary genocide. Eight times. Seven of those lead to an apocalyptic event on the Source which ended many more lives. He also created two brutally oppressive empires and while we don't know everything about the Allagans, Garlemald is built on a doctrine of racial supremacy. And he had nothing but contempt for the Sundered, finding them inferior beings, even another Unsundered was outplayed an inferior being

And ya know what? I don't blame him for his prejudice and contempt. There is a massive difference between real life bigotry [Which I stand against with every fiber of my being] and something in a video game where the man was legitimately correct when the prejudice began for him. He can see souls and could see these people were lesser than his own, and at the end of the day just wanted his friends back, something which even Alisae says she'd like as not do the same.

There is also the fact that they existed at the expense of his friends and loved ones. You can't tell me you wouldn't feel the same way in his shoes.

[SpectrePhantasia]

"My mass murderer didn't kill as many people as your mass murderer!"

We've truly reached ascended levels of conversation.

[Iscah]

Can we please not make this "Who Was Worse" episode 73, accept both sides did some awful things and focus on the question of whether he is accurately describing the bad thing that happened?

[Lauront]

There is also the fact that they existed at the expense of his friends and loved ones. You can't tell me you wouldn't feel the same way in his shoes.

Correct, throwing around terms like "racial supremacist", whilst ignoring the fact that the sundered are the result of slicing and dicing his people for a utilitarian purpose (the effects of which are apparently denied as and when suits a narrative), which he was left completely in the dark about, and who now exist at the expense of his people, is more than a little strange, in my eyes.

[SpectrePhantasia]

Alright, I'll bite. As someone who's an avid Nier fan and was playing Reincarnation well before this event was unveiled, the narrator of Mama does have a tendency to describe things as the character in focus sees them. As I see it, she's relaying information as if she's telling a story to the protagonist. However, I would agree with the idea that certainly not all of what is said in the text is reflective of how Emet would describe it. I'm afraid that landing on a square answer of what is objective and what is not is pretty much impossible, as the narrator is a very clear 3rd party that is equal parts describing surroundings as she is reading into the character's feelings.

[KariTheFox]

And ya know what? I don't blame him for his prejudice and contempt. There is a massive difference between real life bigotry [Which I stand against with every fiber of my being] and something in a video game where the man was legitimately correct when the prejudice began for him. He can see souls and could see these people were lesser than his own, and at the end of the day just wanted his friends back, something which even Alisae says she'd like as not do the same.

Emet-Selch is absolutely not "legitmately correct" about sundered people being "lesser" in some way. He is judging them on a completely arbitrary standard 'aetheric density' and dismissing them because they do not have sufficently dense souls, despite clearly being actual people. The only difference between this and real life bigotry is that aetheric density of souls is a made up fantasy concept.

And sure, he wants his friends back. Maybe I would do the same in his position, but I'm not going to be suprised when some people object to all the death I'm causing for the sake of my friends, and kill me for being the genocidal megalomaniac that I am.

Heck, even Emet-Selch accepts his L and takes it in stride, it's one of the reasons I actually quite like him. (And it's actually funny I get lumped in with "Venat lovers who hate Emet-Selch" so much. If you forced me to do a character ranking, I'd put Emet-Selch above her.)

[Lauront]

Alright, I'll bite. As someone who's an avid Nier fan and was playing Reincarnation well before this event was unveiled, the narrator of Mama does have a tendency to describe things as the character in focus sees them. As I see it, she's relaying information as if she's telling a story to the protagonist. However, I would agree with the idea that certainly not all of what is said in the text is reflective of how Emet would describe it. I'm afraid that landing on a square answer of what is objective and what is not is pretty much impossible, as the narrator is a very clear 3rd party that is equal parts describing surroundings as she is reading into the character's feelings.

All the more reason why this stuff should've been shown in XIV, and not using stylised, very perspective-driven scenes like the post-Elpis one.

[Cleretic]

All the more reason why this stuff should've been shown in XIV, and not using stylised, very perspective-driven scenes like the post-Elpis one.

So it's a good thing we got that, then. This is the exact same details we got from and through Emet's perspective, it's just that we got it across about four or five different scenes in two expansions, plus a short story or two. The Nier collab is just getting compressed into a few flowery passages with no interruptions.

If you REALLY want to wring useful FFXIV lore we didn't have before out of this collab, then the most you'll actually get is the story of A-towa-cant in Thyrus' weapon story, which actually does have a few new pieces, as well as gathering details that actually aren't especially forthcoming in XIV itself.

You could also see that depiction of the End of Days and the Sundering and notice that it's basically the same as Venat's own flashback, which is useful in confirming that the two accounts do corroborate and validate each other as sources. Which for the most part is probably not needed, but it's a useful point for at least one person I can think of.