Live Letter Thoughts

[Jojoya]

This is a disingenuous way to phrase it. It's been made very clear that the Ancients sacrificed themselves to summon Zodiark and that they did so willingly, the story never supports that they were forced nor brainwashed into it. Whether the Convocation could be still considered responsible for their sacrifice is an interesting question, but it's certainly not as clear cut as the way you say it.

A lot of this conversation comes about only because the writer decided this is the way things should happen and didn't pour over possible consequences like players are.

What was made clear was that the Amaurotines had a belief that death renewed life so self-sacrifice was revered. No mention was made of the other societies with their own autonomous governments we know had existed on Etheirys thanks to the 5.0 side quest. Can we be certain that they also sacrificed themselves willingly, or is that just something being told to us by a member of the Amaurotine ruling class who held the belief and had a difficult time giving due consideration to others who didn't share that belief? You know, the same guy that had told us that he decided we weren't truly alive so it wouldn't be murder to kill us. Was all that something overlooked by the writer in creating the story?

If Venat's plan hinged on the Convocation summoning Zodiark, why would she remain silent instead of speaking with them? The WoL was told in Elpis that while their actions on Elpis would not change the WoL's past, they could change the future of the Amaurotine-era Etheirys. You would think that Venat would have done everything possible to make certain her plan had all the i's dotted and t's crossed. Was that also overlooked by the writer?

Then there's Argos, which is the supposed proof our timelines truly did converge. Did it not strike anyone else as weird that while Argos refused to carry us at first despite Venat's request, it had no problem immediately carrying Y'shtola, Thancred and Urianger at the Watcher's request? Again, perhaps another detail overlooked by the writer.

Again, it's a story. What happens in the story is all fiction created for the writer's purpose. You guys are allowing yourselves to get too worked up over it. There's a big difference between saying "Venat is evil" and saying "I don't think the writer did a good job of convincing me that I should view Venat favorably".

One thing that makes me very curious: assuming these were actual events and not a writer's imagination, what do you think would have happened to Etheirys if Venat had simply stepped aside and done nothing at all?

You didn't major in Literature, did you? :P

You're right. As much as I love to read, I got tired of being told by instructors that there's only a single way to interpret a given piece of literature and so crossed that out on my list of possible majors. I loved those occasions I could find statements by the author that it was up to the individual reader to decide the meaning and still I'd be told I was wrong (despite one of those statements actually being included in the author's preface to the book of his short stories).

Being closeminded to other opinions is a sure path to stagnation. You don't have to agree but at least listen in case something is said that might give you a different view and give credit when their argument is constructed well.