Interpreting the Rising Poem

[Nalien]

I'm going to say you have it backwards, and that the Ascians simply want to end all mortal life.

Same thing, that's kinda what I meant. I'm not saying the Ascians want to make everyone immortal, I'm saying mortality is a error Hydaelyn created and they'd very much like to undo it to get back to the good old days... I'm sure I've explained this much better in the past, summer heat is not the best time for braining though... Hydaelyn created a cycle of death, thus facilitating life as we know it. Like you touched on, it perhaps explains why they can justify the Calamities/Rejoinings; "You're all going to die anyway, so why not die in a way that furthers our goals?"

Where it gets interesting is whether we're mortal or not... Since 2.2 it's seemed clear to me that the end point of the Echo (or at least a significant milestone in developing it) is immortality... I would expect Derplander to be here to go into that... They could be the Warriors of Light from Hydaelyn Dimension C-137, where sh*t hit the fan... Everyone died but them, and now Hydaelyn seems stupid while Elidibus seems compelling...

I'm certain I've likened this to Final Fantasy VIs ultimate plot in the past... Kefka went on a small rant about how stupid it is to live and rebuild, only knowing we'd die eventually... I expect something very similar out of Elidibus and Derplander... Not sure who'd give the cheesy "Death is OK because... Love!" rebuttal though... The cast we have all pretty much struggled with death at this point, but I'm not sure any have come to terms with it as a concept... They seem more likely to lean towards Elidibus' narrative IMO... I kind of hope they all do... Then we can have Garlemald steps in with "HERPDERP CONFLICT IS GREAT! MAKES US STRONGER! WE ACTUALLY LEARNED SOMETHING FROM THE ALLAGAN FALLING AND DON'T WANT TO LIVE FOREVER!", and then we nod with a meta "MMOs without conflict are boring!", and then Alphinaud is like "WTF is a MMO? Nevermind, you're right! If there was no conflict we'd never even have met Ysayle!", and then we friendship-punch Elidibus back to the moon...