Who knew the 6.15 Omega Quests… (Spoilers)

[Lyth]

Last I checked, Thancred was struggling to manipulate aether. Dynamis on the other hand...

Also worth remembering that in universe as a whole, there's significantly less aether than dynamis. We just happen to live in a place where there's a lot of the former.

...

We're effectively Azem, given that most Amaurotians that we run into seem to recognize us as such. It just serves as a universal noun for the player character, and WoL/WoD not only cumbersome but applies to other individuals as well.

Entelechy is a Greek term linked with Aristotle's philosophy. An entelechy is something that converts the potential to the actual (i.e. to bring it to completion). The word 'telos' (τέλος) means 'end' or 'completion', which you may recognize from the Endsinger's Aria in Telos/Telomania (a 'telomere' for example, refers to the end parts of linear chromosomes that get discarded on successive replication, and the telencephalon is the front end of the central nervous system.) In the case of Meteion and Elpis flowers, both of which are examples of entelechies, they make manifest the 'potentiality' of ambient emotion. I like etymology, it gives a lot of insight into language.

[Alenore]

It's worth remembering that in 'Follow, Wander, Stumble, Listen,' Emet is completely unable to even see Meteion when she decides to use dynamis to hide herself. The same is not true for Azem. Emet is entirely dependent on Azem to track her down so that they can douse the region with aether to make her visible again.

Now think about him fighting a god made of pure dynamis in a part of the universe where she has the home court advantage. You need to be able to manipulate dynamis to even breathe out there. No shot.

As for entelechies? An entelechy (telos = end) merely makes ambient emotion manifest as dynamis. It's the same reason why Meteion enjoys candied apples despite never eating one. The Endsinger experiences the ambient emotions of others as if they were her own, and turns that into something tangible. That's why she speaks for those civilizations who have previously died, just before the final fight in Ultima Thule. In order to challenge her and transform her realm, the Scions have to bring the power of their own inner feelings to bear against the ambient emotion of the place. To override despair with hope, and fear with joy.

This isn't an issue of pride. Meteion was the perfect weapon against the Amaurotians. This is a boss fight that they were designed to lose.

You don't need to be able to use dynamis to even breathe. We can, because Thancred actually wished it through Dynamis. So you need someone able to use that dynamis to enable everybody else.

Entelechies as described actually don't manifest Dynamis, they are just receptive to Dynamis and are able to affect it in some ways. They don't create it, they interact. That's why Meteion rides on Dynamis, send despair through it, and why the Elpis flowers change colours based on the surrounding dynamis state. It actually matches the real meaning of the world quite well.

Sundered beings are just Ancients with lower aetheric density, that don't cancel out Dynamis as much. Amaurotians alone couldn't fight it alone, but since Venat literally knows that, who could, what exact density (8 times rejoined seems to be a nice mix between dynamis and aether), she could tell literally everybody and either create beings able to fight her, like us, or have some ancients willingly go through sundering instead of forcing the choice on everybody. As to who would choose that fate, over 75% of the planet sacrificed themselves willingly, there should be ample candidates.

[Lyth]

Hm, I'll have to leave that for Pandaemonium to decide. The player character, then.

...

I don't recall using the term 'create'. A world in which the 'heat death of the universe' exists is likely subject to the laws of thermodynamics, so I would expect that there's an overarching energy conservation law that prevents you from doing any sort of de novo energy production using dynamis. The word manifest here means to 'make palpable or perceivable'. To give form to the formless. Entelechies can utilize dynamis, but their actions are a function of the ambient emotion, not their own.

I've seen people mention this 'selective sundering' business before. It might be possible, but the original sundering itself didn't sound like it was something that could be controlled with all that much precision. And you're still essentially using Venat's solution at the end of the day, because it relies on putting together a team of sundered heroes to address the problem. The team of characters who defeat the Endsinger are a product of everything that has happened to date. It's a bit like saying 'Amaurot could win if they just had the Scions' and then flat out refuse to acknowledge all the circumstances that made them who they are.

[Alenore]

Hm, I'll have to leave that for Pandaemonium to decide. The player character, then.

I don't recall using the term 'create'. A world in which the 'heat death of the universe' exists is likely subject to the laws of thermodynamics, so I would expect that there's an overarching energy conservation law that prevents you from doing any sort of de novo energy production using dynamis. The word manifest here means to 'make palpable or perceivable'. To give form to the formless. Entelechies can utilize dynamis, but their actions are a function of the ambient emotion, not their own.

I've seen people mention this 'selective sundering' business before. It might be possible, but the original sundering itself didn't sound like it was something that could be controlled with all that much precision. And you're still essentially using Venat's solution at the end of the day, because it relies on putting together a team of sundered heroes to address the problem. The team of characters who defeat the Endsinger are a product of everything that has happened to date. It's a bit like saying 'Amaurot could win if they just had the Scions' and then flat out refuse to acknowledge all the circumstances that made them who they are.

Sorry if I thought you did, "manifest as dynamis" sounded a lot like you implied it to my non-native speaker ears!

I don't think the sundering would be a bad solution if Venat gave a choice to people. Not "bad" in the sense that it doesn't work, but because she literally killed her whole race but 3 people in all but names. Their souls are still recycled and other life grows from it, but her solution wasn't any better on a life-cost point of view than Hermes' or Emet-Selch.

That could be sundered heroes along entelechy creations and supported from afar by ancients, for all I know.

I'm not blaming the writers really, it only shows that Venat is very much an Ancient and takes the same kind of drastic measures, just like the others. Hers are based on her love of humanity, Emet on his love of the Ancient society, and Hermes on life itself.
I just don't think saying "there was NO way the Ancients could have done anything, even if they knew what was happening" rests on any solid ground.

[Iscah]

We're effectively Azem, given that most Amaurotians that we run into seem to recognize us as such. It just serves as a universal noun for the player character, and WoL/WoD not only cumbersome but applies to other individuals as well.

We are not Azem, especially not when Azem exists in the story as a distinct (if unseen) character who is talked about separately. We do not have their powers or their memories, or even their entire soul. Emet and Hyth are long-term friends with Azem but have only just met us.

Just because we look like Azem and remind people of Azem does not make us Azem. We are the inheritor of their legacy but a separate person.

It doesn't serve as a "universal noun for the player character" because it refers to someone else.

[Shookbeast]

We are not Azem, especially not when Azem exists in the story as a distinct (if unseen) character who is talked about separately. We do not have their powers or their memories, or even their entire soul. Emet and Hyth are long-term friends with Azem but have only just met us.

Just because we look like Azem and remind people of Azem does not make us Azem. We are the inheritor of their legacy but a separate person.

It doesn't serve as a "universal noun for the player character" because it refers to someone else.

Well, we could still be that Azem - it just might not have happened yet (;

But I’m fine with us being called WOL for the time being…