Revelations from Patch 6.4: The Dark Throne

[Iscah]

One more thing on Pandæmonium:

Erich talks about choosing to defy the Convocation and not become part of the sacrifice to summon Zodiark, which has implications about the "willing sacrifice" previously described. If it is voluntary, there shouldn't be anything wrong with him refusing. Is this awkward translation? What does it say in other languages?

Also, are we supposed to assume that Pandæmonium itself is still out there? Or did Erich simply not conceive that it might cease to be?

[Denishia]

One more thing on Pandæmonium:

Erich talks about choosing to defy the Convocation and not become part of the sacrifice to summon Zodiark, which has implications about the "willing sacrifice" previously described. If it is voluntary, there shouldn't be anything wrong with him refusing. Is this awkward translation? What does it say in other languages?

Also, are we supposed to assume that Pandæmonium itself is still out there? Or did Erich simply not conceive that it might cease to be?

I was just about to bring that line up because it's very interesting (without being remotely surprising to me)

Back in ShB when Emet Selch, known creator of more than one genocidal empire using realworld eugenics rationales to address the player character and who occupied one of the ultimate positions of power in his world asserting that the first two sacrifices were completely voluntary (and the third decidedly not) was always suspect. I still don't think Erichtonios's words imply that the first two were outright coercive or done via conscription. But just as the soldiers in WWI (and others) weren't initially via conscription but peer pressure and societal pressure combined with nationalism and/or religious indoctrination, there was public shaming to refuse (which only compounded the extreme survivor's guilt of the survivors and why they were unwilling to healthily rebuild and look towards stopping Meteion). The only other confirmed Zodiark Sacrifice was Hythlodaeus, who was another government employee that wasn't one of the Convocation. None of the Thirteen are designated to become fuel for Zodiark aside from the one that will be the core piloting it, but a safe extrapolation would be that all Bureau underlings were encouraged to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the star and as to be exemplars to the rest of the city's population. Erichtonios as Lahabrea's son might have even had more pressure not just from his dad but as a public show that the Convocation members were making the same sacrifices that they were asking of others. One would think Erichtonios and other Pandaemonium wardens would be classified as necessary essential workers to keep the horror jail from adding to the Final Days threat - Erich does but his bosses don't.

[SannaR]

One more thing on Pandæmonium:

Erich talks about choosing to defy the Convocation and not become part of the sacrifice to summon Zodiark, which has implications about the "willing sacrifice" previously described. If it is voluntary, there shouldn't be anything wrong with him refusing. Is this awkward translation? What does it say in other languages?

Also, are we supposed to assume that Pandæmonium itself is still out there? Or did Erich simply not conceive that it might cease to be?

That phrasing shows up in Zodiark's codex entry log like twice.

[Denishia]

That phrasing shows up in Zodiark's codex entry log like twice.

"at the order of the Convocation of Fourteen, half of the star's surviving population gave their lives to bring Zodiark into being"

that's ambiguous enough that it could just be the Convocation giving instructions on how to carry out the task of converting souls and aether into primal fuel. I still don't think any actual overt coercion was involved for the first sacrifice and probably the second, but definitely the general desperation and more importantly societal peer pressure on who was urged to make the sacrifice and who wasn't.

My question is did Lahabrea know Erichtonios was defying the Convocation and staying behind or did he think his son was one of the imprisoned in Zodiark? Did he ever run across a shard of his son on either the Source or the many reflection planets he wiped out?

[SannaR]

that's ambiguous enough that it could just be the Convocation giving instructions on how to carry out the task of converting souls and aether into primal fuel. I still don't think any actual overt coercion was involved for the first sacrifice and probably the second, but definitely the general desperation and more importantly societal peer pressure on who was urged to make the sacrifice and who wasn't.

My question is did Lahabrea know Erichtonios was defying the Convocation and staying behind or did he think his son was one of the imprisoned in Zodiark? Did he ever run across a shard of his son on either the Source or the many reflection planets he wiped out?

It definitely is ambiguous. As until now we get oh well people joyously chose to sacrifice themselves. It was all voluntary both times. Yet we get that line and Erichtonios's words of I'm going to be disobeying the convocation and choose to stay and make sure the dangerous crap in the facility don't get out. The whole entry could probably use its own thread cause man did it bring up some questions.