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

[Lauront]

What is this "Tales of the Dawn" you guy are talking about? I can't find anything about this anywhere.

The short stories due for release with the anniversary event in August. It's an assumed name as we don't know what it will be yet.

He didn't "change" course so much as he "detoured" it. I interpret Emet-Selch's actions to work the same as the concept of "inception" from the film of the same name. Basically, it's something that gets planted inside you, and no matter what you do or how you try to reason, the incepted idea always has influence over you. Emet-Selch could TRY to change...but only so far and so much.

Besides that, Emet was dead as of 5.3.



Possibly, but I don't put much stock into that, because the writers have 1) admitted before that they tend to just make stuff up as they go and then sometimes change their minds later and 2) have outright forgotten or contradicted things they've said before. I'm partial to believe that they fully intended for Zodiark and Hydaelyn's chosen (the Ascian and the WOL) to be Tempered. I think they also probably intended for that tempering to be as different from normal primals as gravity is next to a black hole versus next to the Earth. Over time, the idea probably just evolved into something else and got dropped completely.

That's my take, anyway.

Given what they've revealed through interviews about post-SHB writing, there is probably truth in that, but I am premising my arguments based on the position it has all been left in, whether what delivered that is outright retconning, changes of course or something else. I am sure one day into the distant future, when less is at stake, Yoshi will grace us with the truth of what happened with EW behind the scenes. Whether I even care to know at that point is another story.