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

[TheMightyMollusk]

One of the big problems that shows up a lot in Endwalker is that, likely as a result of condensing two expansions' worth of story into one, they end up telling us a lot of things instead of showing them. Not only does it throw pacing and proper storytelling out the window, it also breaks a lot of the points they're trying to make, because we're not given the context to see how things ended up the way we're told they ended up.

For example, if they'd kept the point about the Convocation being tempered when they first summoned Zodiark, then it would've made more sense that Venat had been forced to go against them like that, because they would've been completely incapable of changing their course no matter what she said. They could've even made an argument about how many of those second set of sacrifices were actually voluntary versus tempered, if they wanted to keep the whole thing more morally gray. Still far from a perfect solution, but at least it would've had some sense of logic behind it.

[Nayukhuut]

One of the big problems that shows up a lot in Endwalker is that, likely as a result of condensing two expansions' worth of story into one, they end up telling us a lot of things instead of showing them. Not only does it throw pacing and proper storytelling out the window, it also breaks a lot of the points they're trying to make, because we're not given the context to see how things ended up the way we're told they ended up.

For example, if they'd kept the point about the Convocation being tempered when they first summoned Zodiark, then it would've made more sense that Venat had been forced to go against them like that, because they would've been completely incapable of changing their course no matter what she said. They could've even made an argument about how many of those second set of sacrifices were actually voluntary versus tempered, if they wanted to keep the whole thing more morally gray. Still far from a perfect solution, but at least it would've had some sense of logic behind it.

Actually I would have been okay with that too. I come from a long history of liking the villains, and I do not mind a good tragic tale. If the story had shown us that the Ancients were actually beyond saving instead of showing us that they were reasonable, caring, and generally just like us, it would have been much easier to accept the way the story went. My main disconnect comes from so many of the quests and the scenes showing us one thing, but then the written part of the story telling us something different.

Edit: I still would have been irked that Venat didn't tell her people what was up and let it get to that point, mind you. However, if the actual people had been shown to be Tempered into a corrupted shadow of their former selves by the time the Sundering happened, it would have changed the story, and my response to it, quite a bit.

[Absimiliard]

For example, if they'd kept the point about the Convocation being tempered when they first summoned Zodiark, then it would've made more sense that Venat had been forced to go against them like that, because they would've been completely incapable of changing their course no matter what she said. They could've even made an argument about how many of those second set of sacrifices were actually voluntary versus tempered, if they wanted to keep the whole thing more morally gray. Still far from a perfect solution, but at least it would've had some sense of logic behind it.

I think they intended for this to still be in play, but they wound up absolutely shooting it in the foot through Emet-Selch's activities. It's very difficult to sell the Convocation as properly tempered when you've got this dude over here making it abundantly clear he does whatever he wants, up to and including repeated attempts to discard his duty in favor of simply living with the sundered. Of the three unsundered, only Lahabrea really came off as tempered, but it turns out that had less to do with his tempering and more to do with the fact he'd have been out of his mind with or without Zodiark's influence.

If nothing else, we're shown any sundered they chose to elevate would become hopelessly tempered the instant they took on their original self's memories. So it's there, it's just... I guess the ancients kinda didn't give a good damn?

[TheMightyMollusk]

If nothing else, we're shown any sundered they chose to elevate would become hopelessly tempered the instant they took on their original self's memories. So it's there, it's just... I guess the ancients kinda didn't give a good damn?

Didn't work out that way for Fandaniel, though. (Or Gaia, but we could argue there that Mitron was half-mad from his time in Eden and screwed up the process.)

[Absimiliard]

Didn't work out that way for Fandaniel, though. (Or Gaia, but we could argue there that Mitron was half-mad from his time in Eden and screwed up the process.)

True, Fandaniel seems to have escaped that fate. Gaia at least had mitigating circumstances on her side. Both are yet more cases of the story telling us one thing but showing another entirely.