Who knew the 6.15 Omega Quests… (Spoilers)

[Iscah]

They willingly sacrificed themselves. Who said they wanted to return? Who even suggested it in the first place?

Indeed – and it's only Endwalker that frames them as "eternally trapped and conscious within Zodiark" and in need of being let out. When we were debating Shadowbringers I think everyone, or at least the majority, were under the impression that the sacrificed souls were essentially dead (whether absorbed into Zodiark or gone to the aetherial sea) and Emet's desire to resurrect them could never actually be fulfilled because there was nothing left of them to revive.

[Brightamethyst]

Indeed – and it's only Endwalker that frames them as "eternally trapped and conscious within Zodiark" and in need of being let out. When we were debating Shadowbringers I think everyone, or at least the majority, were under the impression that the sacrificed souls were essentially dead (whether absorbed into Zodiark or gone to the aetherial sea) and Emet's desire to resurrect them could never actually be fulfilled because there was nothing left of them to revive.

Yeah. That was very much new information that completely reframed the Ascian's motivations.

[Cleretic]

Indeed – and it's only Endwalker that frames them as "eternally trapped and conscious within Zodiark" and in need of being let out.

Actually, Endwalker doesn't frame them as that. There's one guy wanting out, sure, but everyone else is basically lamenting 'we put everything on the line, why isn't this working'. Which I can absolutely understand from my own life; it really sucks to put your all into something and then see it failing. We're also seeing them at a real low point, so it's impossible to extrapolate back to guess the overall mood of those souls at a time that was less dire.

I think what happened is that we saw people in a situation that some of us read as 'trapped', and then therefore wanted to free them because that's the natural response to seeing someone trapped. But in that point, we only had a conversation with one person: Hythlodaeus. And he seemed pretty chill about it all, really; he made his choice and never once regretted it. In fact, it's an outlook reflected by the Watcher, still believing in the heavy decision they made. Granted, both of them were sample sizes of one, but in a character-driven story, 'the testimony of one dude with a name' is kinda the most valuable way to gauge how you're supposed to feel about the group they're representing.

I don't think they were trapped, I think they almost all wanted to be there. it's just that they were hoping for a better result than Fantastic Dan and the Reaper Man trying to jack their Megazord.

[Iscah]

...

Fair point, if that is how it is phrased. I suppose even more then, the difference between what we pictured in Shadowbringers and what we now know from Endwalker is a shift from "the whole thing is tragic because they wouldn't even be revivable anyway" to "actually it would have worked, but they still shouldn't be doing it because the sacrifices volunteered to be sacrifices so others could live, and switching them out for the things that are alive because of their sacrifice is direly missing the point".

[Rulakir]

The souls on the moon before Hythlodaeus express a desire to either return to life or return to the star. I have no idea how that could be interpreted as anything other than trapped, especially given that was a fundamental part of their belief system. They may have willingly sacrificed themselves to Zodiark, but I doubt when they did so they realized they would be committing to a 12k year purgatory within him. Incidentally, Hythlodaeus himself uses the word "purgatory".

[Theodric]

The souls on the moon before Hythlodaeus express a desire to either return to life or return to the star. I have no idea how that could be interpreted as anything other than trapped, especially given that was a fundamental part of their belief system. They may have willingly sacrificed themselves to Zodiark, but I doubt when they did so they realized they would be committing to a 12k year purgatory within him. Incidentally, Hythlodaeus himself uses the word "purgatory".

Yep. If nothing else, when with the Scions willingly sacrificing themselves only to come back a few minutes later I can't say I care much for the idea that the Ancients should have been content to just sit around inside of Zodiark. Especially when the only reason Zodiark was conjured forth in the first place ended up being due to Venat's refusal to share the information she had of the impending Final Days.

I imagine no shortage of Ancients gave themselves to Zodiark for the sake of their loved ones. There's nothing inherently selfish about that - and certainly, I doubt they would be pleased to find that their loved ones were then brutally subjected to genocide by some nutter masquerading as a 'supreme deity'.

[Iscah]

Yep. If nothing else, when with the Scions willingly sacrificing themselves only to come back a few minutes later I can't say I care much for the idea that the Ancients should have been content to just sit around inside of Zodiark.

The difficulty there is that the Scions were able to be revived because the purpose of their sacrifice – supplying the aether to make Ultima Thule aetherially tangible enough for us to traverse it – was complete. Their aether was supplanted by Emet and Hyth's creation magic, and so they could safely be returned.

The ancients sacrificed into Zodiark (or equivalent aether, apparently) needed to remain in place until Zodiark's purpose was complete, and aside of any debate into whether they could have or not, the ancients did not achieve that. They may have just intended to leave Zodiark in place permanently if they couldn't figure out the base cause of the Final Days.

I also have to wonder if – given that we know Hydaelyn was powered by the souls as well as corporeal aether of her summoners – this logically must have been happening with Zodiark as well. Are prayers enough to sustain him or is he (by design or necessity) also slowly consuming the souls of the sacrifices to power that planet-wide shield? Would he eventually need more sacrifices to "keep the shield battery charged"?

[sidurgu-12]

The difficulty there is that the Scions were able to be revived because the purpose of their sacrifice – supplying the aether to make Ultima Thule aetherially tangible enough for us to traverse it – was complete. Their aether was supplanted by Emet and Hyth's creation magic, and so they could safely be returned.

The ancients sacrificed into Zodiark (or equivalent aether, apparently) needed to remain in place until Zodiark's purpose was complete, and aside of any debate into whether they could have or not, the ancients did not achieve that. They may have just intended to leave Zodiark in place permanently if they couldn't figure out the base cause of the Final Days.

I also have to wonder if – given that we know Hydaelyn was powered by the souls as well as corporeal aether of her summoners – this logically must have been happening with Zodiark as well. Are prayers enough to sustain him or is he (by design or necessity) also slowly consuming the souls of the sacrifices to power that planet-wide shield? Would he eventually need more sacrifices to "keep the shield battery charged"?

i think hes slowly consuming them but since he was supplied with a ludicrouse amount of souls its gonna take a while for them to be completely devoured.

[Theodric]

I also have to wonder if – given that we know Hydaelyn was powered by the souls as well as corporeal aether of her summoners – this logically must have been happening with Zodiark as well. Are prayers enough to sustain him or is he (by design or necessity) also slowly consuming the souls of the sacrifices to power that planet-wide shield? Would he eventually need more sacrifices to "keep the shield battery charged"?

Lauront has made some detailed posts on the subject in the past from what I recall, so I'll have to go and look for them when I have more time. With that said, it was outlined during one of the recent Live Letters - the 'clarification' one, I believe - that Zodiark was protecting the souls within him and unlike with Hydaelyn, did not opt to burn through any of them.

It lends credence to the idea, I suppose, that not only was Zodiark exceedingly powerful but he was able to shield not only Etheirys in his Sundered state but all the souls held within him as well.

[Lyth]

It's always interesting to see how people work with incomplete information. Most of our knowledge about Amaurot comes from two time points. One is on Elpis, prior to the Final Days, and the second is in Amaurot itself, while the Convocation is deliberating over whether or not to summon Zodiark.

There's a lot of missing information. Namely:

• Who was the index transformation that triggered the Final Days, and what were the circumstances around it? (i.e. Who was their Kahlzahl?)
• What discussions exactly took place between Venat's group of confidantes and the Convocation?
• What was the circumstances around Azem's departure from the Convocation, and what ultimately happened to them?
• What are the drawbacks to using Zodiark's powers? What are his upkeep energy costs over time and how were they planned to be paid? What happens to the additional souls that are sacrificed to him after his initial summoning, including the third set that the Convocation planned on making?
• What was the societal impact of being tempered by him, and were people still compos mentis to make decisions about sacrificing their lives to him?

As someone interested in lore, I'm actually much more interested in seeing the answers to these questions than I am about having the opportunity to pass a judgement. And I suspect the reason why some of these points are as yet unanswered is because of Pandaemonium and Myths, which is why you can't just simply fill in the blanks with your own headcanon.