Is this a plothole? Question about the Endless

[KylePearlsand]

Otis is noted to be an odd case in story, given that he was basically the first test subject for the process. Robot-Otis is clearly Otis's Soul+Memory Aethers, so (Proto?)Endless-Otis can safely be assumed to be a copy of Otis's Memory Aether data pushed into some blank Aether rather than the original after being essentially surgically separated like later Endless.

As for Erenville and his mother, he's just being hopeful even though the whole process of making an Endless involves an accelerated version of the natural process of things where the Soul Aether is reborn while the Memory Aether is lost, outside of deeply traumatic events that end up "scarring" the Soul Aether like witnessing an apocalypse.

Another notable detail about Otis is he seems to clearly remember the bad memories. Seeing the actress playing Sphene "dead" triggered what seemed to be PTSD and a flashback to that memory. This is a trait other endless don't seem to share as the system intentionally sets them up to live their happiest memories and seemingly deletes the bad to set up those situations.

[Lady_Silvermoon]

Simple - the expansion is about "Testing and Acceptance" for us (the players behind the 4th wall). For Erenville in the game at that moment, he's just experienced the loss and is in denial.

What did we have to test and accept? That was everyone else's mom being deleted, not ours. So basically, you want me to accept a character that has been consistently intelligent and rational has fallen into complete delusion with a big grin on his face in a post-credit scene because he's so sad?

I refuse. I think what happened is in this conflated and contradictory lore they've crafted it's the writers who aren't sure where Cahcuia is.

Another notable detail about Otis is he seems to clearly remember the bad memories. Seeing the actress playing Sphene "dead" triggered what seemed to be PTSD and a flashback to that memory. This is a trait other endless don't seem to share as the system intentionally sets them up to live their happiest memories and seemingly deletes the bad to set up those situations.

The players are doing more work than the writers to dehumanize the Endless to make the final zone work. The only tampering we've been told about is that Sphene was programmed to preserve the Endless, that's it. The system setting up reunions doesn't mean that it's been tampering with the minds of all the Endless. If that were the case, then Cahcuia shouldn't be able to exist in the way she does. She's an Endless that hates being an Endless. That finds a way to exist outside the system and lead a rebellion against it. And pushes for the destruction of the system she's in. If the system was altering memories to make people happy, it did a terrible job given Cahcuia is a literal rebel leader. Also, Krile's parents have been looking for ways to delete themselves and remember who Krile is and giving her up seemed like a pretty painful memory for them. Those examples, plus Otis seem to suggest the Endless have their full minds intact. It's the living people of Alexandria who have their memories manipulated to spare them grief.