Quote Originally Posted by Lady_Silvermoon View Post
ETA: Most the villains in FF14 were well-meaning. Thordan, Athena, the Ascians, all attempting to do what they believed to be the greater good.

They were wrong.

She is wrong.

The difference that disturbs me to no end though is while the game recognizes the others were wrong, it doesn't seem to realize that Venat's fascist agenda was also wrong. When Zenos is drawing in the lifeforce of all those people to give himself the resonance, we get that's wrong. But when Venat sets up entire worlds to be smashed back into the Source so that her super soldier can be born, for some reason people can't follow the exact same logic and realize that's also wrong. She made worlds of people for the purpose of being destroyed to feed our strength, both of character and of spirit.
You might feel that you're not saying that Venat made herself into a god for personal gain, but that is how it is coming off to others. Many in this discussion have said now and in the past that the sundering was a horrible act. Yet due to the world we play in and the type of game we are playing they have chosen to come to terms with how it happened in their own way. You and the others aren't wrong in wanting or wishing for an AU where they might have gotten a better ending or lasted longer. Or for wanting the characters to react the same way they did in the past to other events. Yet that isn't what we have been given. Does it suck that for some there is a disconnect that varies in how severe that disconnect is? Well yeah.

It's not the characters fault if the writer(s) didn't stick the landing on how readers should interpret their actions. The same way that people shouldn't get mad at an actor when they're dealing with a bland, lackluster or subpar script. Or a voice actor gives a deadpan performance if they're not given any indication of how their character is supposed to be feeling.

Venat did something that she knew would mean the star could continue. As it didn't look as though there was any way to convince the convocation to not sacrifice soul endowed life to Zodiark for a third time. Especially if we are to assume that everyone at the time still held firm the belief that souls should always be able to return to the sea. You don't replace souls with more souls.