Finished the MSQ - Feels bad, pushed to do evil [Spoilers inside]

[Kaecilius]

Her genociding us was always the plan to solve her energy problem even before she came to our world. She just had to change strategies when Zoraal Ja betrayed her.

This is true, and I agree this was her plan. But the Scions are an element that can alter the plan, that's the frustrating part. They could offer her a wealth of knowledge she doesn't have as I mentioned before from allies in the First, the Thirteenth, and the alien races. And then she could reject the help anyway and force us to do what must be done, but we didn't even get to try. Thus, all the other constructs in Living Memory (that didn't have any say in this plan) must be erased whether they wanted it or not.

[Loggos]

This is true, and I agree this was her plan. But the Scions are an element that can alter the plan, that's the frustrating part. They could offer her a wealth of knowledge she doesn't have as I mentioned before from allies in the First, the Thirteenth, and the alien races. And then she could reject the help anyway and force us to do what must be done, but we didn't even get to try. Thus, all the other constructs in Living Memory (that didn't have any say in this plan) must be erased whether they wanted it or not.

Yeah I completey agree with that sentiment. As I said, I think the writers' decision to conveniently "forget" all the solutions we could have offered is a terrible self-serving decision to make their plot "work" (although it clearly doesn't). Same goes for Alexandria itself. You can't tell me a nation that built an interdimensional gate so great Y'shtola could never even come close, that recreates the process of the aetherial sea, revives the bodies of their people, alters their memories and that has magic stone that can conveniently used for every- and anything...cannot cure a disease we cured in ShB without a lab?

I just mean to say, "canonically" (if we "accept" the story as it is told to us) then I think our WoL had no choice (bc Sphene would eat endless worlds for her immortality project). But of course it's only fair and right to question if the logic of the writers actually holds up (no).

They tried hard to be "philosophical" without understanding the implications of what they were writing and what we get is this mess.

[Shialan]

This is true, and I agree this was her plan. But the Scions are an element that can alter the plan, that's the frustrating part.

But she did not want that. She wanted to help her people RIGHT THEN RIGHT THERE.

How does almost no one understand this? Did it look to you that she was willing to listen to the WoL about some maybes?

[Kaecilius]

But she did not want that. She wanted to help her people RIGHT THEN RIGHT THERE.

How does almost no one understand this? Did it look to you that she was willing to listen to the WoL about some maybes?

She wasn't ever going to listen, no. We needed a final boss.

But my issue is with the characterization of the Scions, scholars and sages, that don't even stop to ponder and wrestle with the implications of what they're doing. They are just told these are copies and run with it, despite one of the copies clearly displaying emotions, sentience, learning capabilities and enough autonomy to operate outside of the system in the Source itself. There is even a child in one of the yellow quests that says he is inspired by the WoL to learn more and see the world... and then is summarily erased.

The party only struggles with shutting off the servers, so to speak, when the NPC involved is personally related to them. Sphene was never going to listen, but the Scions didn't even *try* to consider an alternative.

[GrizzlyTank]

She wasn't ever going to listen, no. We needed a final boss.

But my issue is with the characterization of the Scions, scholars and sages, that don't even stop to ponder and wrestle with the implications of what they're doing. They are just told these are copies and run with it, despite one of the copies clearly displaying emotions, sentience, learning capabilities and enough autonomy to operate outside of the system in the Source itself. There is even a child in one of the yellow quests that says he is inspired by the WoL to learn more and see the world... and then is summarily erased.

The party only struggles with shutting off the servers, so to speak, when the NPC involved is personally related to them. Sphene was never going to listen, but the Scions didn't even *try* to consider an alternative.

Because there was unfortunately no time to wrestle with the implications since given enough time. Schene would have become a umbral calamity in itself, eating away at the other shards til there was nothing left. Which would also have resulted in her own death unless she did like in the Matrix, which she would be against doing since even those humanoid battery husks would have to be uploaded to the cloud.

Schene by the point we meet her, is a black hole.

[Kaecilius]

Because there was unfortunately no time to wrestle with the implications since given enough time. Schene would have become a umbral calamity in itself, eating away at the other shards til there was nothing left. Which would also have resulted in her own death unless she did like in the Matrix, which she would be against doing since even those humanoid battery husks would have to be uploaded to the cloud.

Schene by the point we meet her, is a black hole.

The thing is that we did have enough time to go on flying capybara rides and put on a theater play with Otis. We could have had a conversation about trying to save the Alexandrians, and decide we had to do something terrible for the greater good.

[Eyrilona]

The thing is that we did have enough time to go on flying capybara rides and put on a theater play with Otis. We could have had a conversation about trying to save the Alexandrians, and decide we had to do something terrible for the greater good.

This. We are told two conflicting things -- that there is not even time to consider alternatives, but also that there is no sense of actual urgency at all. We have over five minutes and two cutscenes about eating actual literal popcorn in the middle of this segment!