Quote Originally Posted by Kaecilius View Post
I think most of us will agree with this. The argument is that they are an entirely new being based off the memories, able to undergo new experiences and display sentience, and that does not make them any less valid for being a machine intelligence.

The main Endless we interact with is all too happy to euthanize the entire thing, *she* wants it to be done. But she does not necessarily speak for every single one of them.
I do find the argument "they are AI's" is probably accurate to an extent. They are not sentient, nor "alive" in any way that would make someone challenge their core beliefs of what murder or genocide is. They are just "software" that can only maintain a tangible existence powered by aether.

The game kind of muddies up the distinction between "Soul" and "Aether", considering how it was explained to us in the 13th and in the 1st. If the 13th is "endless" because the laws of physics in that reflection do not let a soul return to the aetherial sea because none exist (they can only thus "die" if they actually come from the 13th to the source. Being summoned just returns them to the 13th once the summoned vessel "dies" in the source.

Again it is somewhat muddled. If I'm getting the intent correctly, the idea is that the "endless" are not unlike the voidsent. Where the voidsent need a physical vessel in the source to exist, the endless need an aetherial vessel to exist, even in the reflection they are in. Sphene's ability to just take over a robot at will, the entire final zone being one giant facade that fades when the aether power is turned off, mirrors all of that.

Where I think the developers/writers may have screwed up the intent is the emphasis on "what" the endless are. Are they powered by Aether? Are they powered by Souls (note the writing shift to just saying "Aether" and not "Souls" after the Meso terminal activates.) Too late now.

Maybe post-DT Cid will come along and go "hey we can power Living Memory back up", and everyone will be like "but we already euthanized the endless, won't that be like raising them back from the Aetherial sea against their wishes?"

Which again, the developers muddled up. Terminating the Living Memory wouldn't do any of this. Those memories aren't returning to the Aetherial sea. The souls are also long gone. There is nothing "to return". For all intents Living Memory is nothing more than an Aether-powered Holodeck.