Zodiark's Codex entry what do we think about it?

[MikkoAkure]

No I meant Venat with her massive crystal of aether she's leached from the life stream after she sets up there after making herself a primal and entrenching herself in the aetherial sea

She lives in the Aetherial Sea, but I don't remember dialogue about harvesting from it. I was under the impression that she IS the Mothercrystal and that it contained and was powered by the souls that were sacrificed for her summoning, with the souls being completely used up specifically because she didn't sip the aether of the world.

[Kozh]

She lives in the Aetherial Sea, but I don't remember dialogue about harvesting from it. I was under the impression that she IS the Mothercrystal and that it contained and was powered by the souls that were sacrificed for her summoning, with the souls being completely used up specifically because she didn't sip the aether of the world.

Nah, mothercrytal is aether from the aetherial sea she harnessed and crystalized over the years after she "became the will of the star". She probably did it little by little as to not damage the Star (that much). She hide behinds it every time she called people there, so people assume that hydaelyn = mothercrystal.

[MikkoAkure]

Nah, mothercrytal is aether from the aetherial sea she harnessed and crystalized over the years after she "became the will of the star". She probably did it little by little as to not damage the Star (that much). She hide behinds it every time she called people there, so people assume that hydaelyn = mothercrystal.

I looked up the scene and she says that after she became the Will of the Star, the aether drawn there began crystalizing to create the Mothercrystal and it became the Will of the Star in her place as a "faceless, omnipotent force of nature", which is probably the truest sense of "Will of the Star" over herself and Zodiark. She doesn't say anything about doing it herself or parasiting aether.

[tokinokanatae]

You would think it would be the easiest thing in the world to state clearly and definitively, "Genocide is never justified."

So, yeah, it does get frustrating when the conversation twists itself into, "It's okay to do a genocide if you really, really didn't want to" or "My favorite character can have just a little genocide, as a treat!"

As pointed out, the problem is with the writing itself, sheepishly trying to cover up the stench of dog shit by covering it with a pretty rug.

[Brinne]

You would think it would be the easiest thing in the world to state clearly and definitively, "Genocide is never justified."

So, yeah, it does get frustrating when the conversation twists itself into, "It's okay to do a genocide if you really, really didn't want to" or "My favorite character can have just a little genocide, as a treat!"

As pointed out, the problem is with the writing itself, sheepishly trying to cover up the stench of dog shit by covering it with a pretty rug.

The revelation of discovering the argument that not only can there be necessary genocides, there can be selfless, loving genocides.

Grim.

[RyuDragnier]

The revelation of discovering the argument that not only can there be necessary genocides, there can be selfless, loving genocides.

Grim.

Thinking on it, I can KIND of understand the logic behind Venat's decision, if we assume our going to the past didn't originally happen. She may have been looking at it through the lens of their civilization, that they were shepherds of the planet, and the planet's needs came first. It gave the new life souls, so it wanted that life to live. The Convocation was willing to throw that life away, ignoring their sworn duty, and depending on how long she had tried to reason with them before, she may have come to the conclusion that they threw away the very goal their civilization had. So she performed the last deed that followed that mindset...she Sundered all life and Zodiark to seal him away and safeguard the planet. No more would any dictate the planet's will, the planet itself would decide what it wanted, and life would flourish as needed.

She may have tried to lessen the mental load of it with the thoughts that it was essentially going to be fission, dividing the one into many that will ultimately resemble the original.

[Ayche]

There is no real dilemme here btw, since new life is born into the world free of sin.

[tokinokanatae]

Thinking on it, I can KIND of understand the logic behind Venat's decision, if we assume our going to the past didn't originally happen. She may have been looking at it through the lens of their civilization, that they were shepherds of the planet, and the planet's needs came first. It gave the new life souls, so it wanted that life to live. The Convocation was willing to throw that life away, ignoring their sworn duty, and depending on how long she had tried to reason with them before, she may have come to the conclusion that they threw away the very goal their civilization had. So she performed the last deed that followed that mindset...she Sundered all life and Zodiark to seal him away and safeguard the planet. No more would any dictate the planet's will, the planet itself would decide what it wanted, and life would flourish as needed.

She may have tried to lessen the mental load of it with the thoughts that it was essentially going to be fission, dividing the one into many that will ultimately resemble the original.

Sure. Maybe that's what was going through Venat's head when she decided on her path.

But, to quote Alphinaud, "It doesn't matter."

It doesn't matter if she was gleefully rubbing her hands together at the thought of a brand new world, or sobbed for a million days and nights at the thought of ripping a single created butterfly in 14 pieces.

There is no "manslaughter" designation for genocide. We don't have to take into consideration her mental state, because the point is that the impact on the hypothetical individuals overrides that consideration. People seem to be able to grasp this just fine when it comes to (correctly!) pointing out the sins of the Ascians. It's only when the player character is the beneficiary of the same violence do people hem and haw and look for excuses.

[thegreatonemal]

No they did not expect to return, it’s clear in EW and was implied in shb. Third sacrifice is nothing more than the survivors of a broken world mourning their loved ones and then seeing a not-impossible way to bring them back.

A method that would cost souls. Because animals and trees weren't getting sacrificed. It would have been beings being created that were capable of getting souls. This caused a massive disagreement that came to blows and the zodiark faction lost said fight. Something I doubt those who gave their lives to save the planet would want.

[jameseoakes]

A method that would cost souls. Because animals and trees weren't getting sacrificed. It would have been beings being created that were capable of getting souls. This caused a massive disagreement that came to blows and the zodiark faction lost said fight. Something I doubt those who gave their lives to save the planet would want.

But who's getting sacrificed here, there were no other groups to sacrifice and the world was functionally dead and needed to be rebuilt when Venat struck so I do see who they're meant to be killing

Edit: Besides if Venat cared about about the sacrifices she would have said something about rather than passing judgement on them for believing in her idology as we see in the scene where she murders everyone we see no evidence that Venat in anyway cared about this before forsaking and damning her own world to remake it along her ideology