Who knew the 6.15 Omega Quests… (Spoilers)

[EaraGrace]

Yes, but this is specifically because of the heat death of the universe. It is an inevitable end to everything they care about, that would leave them drifting eternally due to their effectively immortal nature. They gave up because they realised their ultimate fate is either suicide or something much worse, with this understanding coming as a result of the fight that gave them purpose. No other encountered race in the setting has faced anything near that, and the only way to avoid it is to die before it's relevant.

So in your eyes the Ea made the right choice in self-terminating? Lets imagine the Ancients also discover the heat death of the universe, having already succeeded at "perfecting" Etheirys and completing their purpose. Would you say its only logical that they also self-terminate?

The quest where you read epitaphs from some of them highlights this pretty well I think, there's one that talks about how they fought to leave their planet, how they fought to travel between dimensions, and how they fought for nothing. These are people that will live so incredibly long that the current age of the universe would be a tiny blip to them, they will live to see everything they have ever loved or cared for die, and they have absolutely no way to avert this fate. They give up when encountered with the incontrovertible fact that there is no actual hope for them to change this, no matter how hard they tried.

And Endwalker is all about what we do when faced with ends that cannot be forestalled.

As fragmented, imperfect beings. Yours is a neverending quest. A quest to find your purpose knowing your end is assured.

I'm not aware we're given any information that suggests the Ea were somehow unhappy before they reached this state? The fact that the sundered are not as competent at achieving their goals as the Ea were is why they don't struggle with this same issue, they simply have not advanced to a stage where it's even worth thinking about. The responses we do see from them regarding the topic suggest they're just entirely unequipped to even try tacking the problem at all, outside just refusing to acknowledge it.

So the question stands is it preferable to be the Ea and feel that the only option is oblivion, or the Sundered and perhaps through ignorance (and perhaps through something else) live to flourish and have fulfilling lives?

I don't think the setting as provided allows for a happy ending in the extremely long term, outside maybe some exceptionally low maintenance immortals just living in giant time travel loops, I guess. Or as some weird suffering obsessed culture that refuses to fix many problems and views their inevitable death as a good thing, maybe, but that's just cenobites crossed with the ancients.

By this logic we can say nothing is lost in the destruction of the universe then, as all are doomed to unhappy endings anyway. This is of course Fandaniels position.

Meteion was wrong because she was (they were?) attempting to take away any autonomy from people or civilisations regarding how they would meet their end, but they were correct about the fate of all life. I don't believe denial of that is a virtue, and I do hope that if there's more quests like these omega ones they might touch more on the Ea, as they're fairly unique in this context.

One doesn't have to deny entropy in order to believe fighting for tomorrow is worth it. One can accept its inevitably, and much like death to mortal beings, make use of the time we have to its fullest extent. The journey, not the destination, so to speak.

Personally I imagine I'll die somewhere in my early 80s, or maybe my 90s if I'm unlucky enough, but if you're planning on living past 10,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000,​000 years old I can understand why you might have a different take to me on this stuff.

I don't plan on living that long either. But I do concern myself with those future lives because I also believe they should be fulfilling and good as possible. Which is why I would hope to ensure those lives don’t feel as if self termination before they need to is the better option.

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.

We do have her factions quote asking for the Ancients to relinquish stewardship to those new beings. Given what we know about her goals, and her actions that followed that suggestion, I think it logical to conclude that this was a possibility for her. However, two major issues need to be resolved before this is a solution.

1. The Ancients would have to agree to let those beings live their own lives free of interference or control. In order for them to strike against Meteion they would need to develop their own outlooks, reasons and motivations for existing as mortals. Interfering would compromise this.

2. Efforts would have to be taken to separate mortals and the Ancients in order to prevent conflict. The Ancients held sway over the star for millenia. Watching mortals make mistakes and ruin things would be excruciating and given the Unsundereds reasons for hating the Sundered conflict is almost inevitable. Likewise, should mortals come to know the Ancients and their power, they may try to do the same thing they did to the dragons. I'm imagining Thordan 2.0.

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.

I wouldn't be so quick to presume the writers aren't addressing this chance. This expansions Tales and the Myths of the Realm are still incomplete.