The WOL and Mass Murder

[sidurgu-12]

The problem is, the expanation about what the soul really is in the context of FFXIV's lore is... constantly changing and often contradictory, so this is where the confusion is coming from. For the longest time it was mentioned and assumed that the soul was just entirelly aether, that it indeed returns to the Lifestream after physical death and assimilates back into the mass of aether that constitues it to be "reborn" in a new form at physical birth, (indeed like how the Lifestream works in FFVII)... but Alphinaud's explanation in ShB about the fae changes things.

Namely there is a second inner layer to the soul in addition to the aforementioned outer layer of aether, there is also a seperate 'core' of aether within it, that appears to be what consitutes a person's memories and personality (with the outer aether layer simply life energy), and which seems to live on in the Lifestream, and this is what is reincarnated in a new form (this is where the fae come from - due to the First's leaning to Light and thus stasis, there is a tendency for these soul cores on the First to linger and naturally coalesce on the surface in ambient aether into a fae, rather than pass onto the Lifestream and reincarnate normally).

This would explain neatly how memories are erased too, the process of reincarnation would probably 'reform' this core to wipe it clean like chalk on a slate, but some lingering fragments may still remain, which is how the Echo is awoken - by drawing out those lingering traces of pre-Sundering life restores it.

honestly i just stick with my headcanon- aether reincarnates, dynamis (or akasha) goes to an afterlife.

[Cilia]

... because not all souls get plunged into the depths of the Aetherial Sea and blended up. Strong-willed individuals don't go too deep and are reborn.

The Ancients we meet who comment on our soul "color" also don't say our soul is exactly the same, just very similar. Perhaps that's due to dilution, but perhaps that's because even Azem wasn't able to fully avoid the pull of the Lifestream.

Regardless, that doesn't preclude the planet creating new souls, something from the Ancients' plan to sacrifice new ones to Zodiark for their brethren's back in return hinges on.

[DPZ2]

Oddly enough, I was playing through the Main Story Quest "In from the cold" yesterday on an alt and ran across this interesting bit at the start of the duty:

"The tempered imperial has breathed his last ...
You offer a silent prayer for the deceased.
Were you in possession of your own body, you may have had the capacity to subdue rather than slay this tempered soldier."

Those who tend toward the belief that the Warrior of Light is a blood-thirsty murderer, take note.

[Lord_Umbra]

Oddly enough, I was playing through the Main Story Quest "In from the cold" yesterday on an alt and ran across this interesting bit at the start of the duty:

"The tempered imperial has breathed his last ...
You offer a silent prayer for the deceased.
Were you in possession of your own body, you may have had the capacity to subdue rather than slay this tempered soldier."

Those who tend toward the belief that the Warrior of Light is a blood-thirsty murderer, take note.

In Stormblood after taking the bridge we hunt down cowering Imperials who had fled barely able to stand defend themselves & murder them only for few quest later to save an Imperial after shoot their own during battle & again later we kill more after Castrum before Ala Mhigo that hiding in shadows, the game constantly sends mixed messages.

Also you get option in Heavensward to say you'll rip out Zepheryn heart & give Thordan & boys a cold death stare as he questions what we are.

[DPZ2]

Also you get option in Heavensward to say you'll rip out Zepheryn heart & give Thordan & boys a cold death stare as he questions what we are.

I chose that particular option in Heavensward, and meant it ... Revenge for a loved one's demise is neither cold-blooded nor murder.

Cold death stare for Thordan? More like a call-back to this: "An NPC explains that they're called 'Warriors of Light', because those who try to remember the faces of the heroes from The Battle of Carteneau always see the warrior's faces shadowed by a bright light behind them."

[source, PapesseLudovique, 2013, in this forum entry https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...iors-of-Light]

[Wyssahtyn]

In Stormblood after taking the bridge we hunt down cowering Imperials who had fled barely able to stand defend themselves & murder them

that's some revisionism, lol. they're retreating enemy forces who also immediately take up arms against you upon discovery rather than surrender.

[thegreatonemal]

In Stormblood after taking the bridge we hunt down cowering Imperials who had fled barely able to stand defend themselves & murder them only for few quest later to save an Imperial after shoot their own during battle & again later we kill more after Castrum before Ala Mhigo that hiding in shadows, the game constantly sends mixed messages.

Also you get option in Heavensward to say you'll rip out Zepheryn heart & give Thordan & boys a cold death stare as he questions what we are.

Hunting down the enemy is like rule 102 of war. Besides every single one of them decided to fight rather than give up once caught. Pretty sure we were taking out patrols for those last two examples you're talking about. Standard war things.

[SentioftheHoukai]

Hunting down the enemy is like rule 102 of war. Besides every single one of them decided to fight rather than give up once caught. Pretty sure we were taking out patrols for those last two examples you're talking about. Standard war things.

Why specifically rule 102? You got a handbook somewhere I don't know about? ;3

[DPZ2]

Why specifically rule 102? You got a handbook somewhere I don't know about? ;3

Rule 102: The enemy remains the enemy until the Articles of Surrender are signed and an Armistice declared. "We beat them in the battle" is no excuse to continue to let them live to battle another day.

And yes, our mission in Garlemald was a Rescue Mission, not a series of battles to force the already decimated Garleans to surrender. The Xth essentially did that (surrender) before we attacked the Tower of Babil.

[SentioftheHoukai]

Oddly enough, I was playing through the Main Story Quest "In from the cold" yesterday on an alt and ran across this interesting bit at the start of the duty:

"The tempered imperial has breathed his last ...
You offer a silent prayer for the deceased.
Were you in possession of your own body, you may have had the capacity to subdue rather than slay this tempered soldier."

Those who tend toward the belief that the Warrior of Light is a blood-thirsty murderer, take note.

That's about control, not brute force. It refers to finesse, it says nothing about the WoL's state of mind or preferences. We didn't knock out the Praetorium soldiers, why would we spare these particular Garleans?

And 'afore you go on about how they were in control of their wits in contrast to these ones being tempered, one can easily argue that the guys in the Praetorium were ALSO brainwashed. By Emperor Solus' and Garlean nationalist propaganda. It tends to happen when you subjugate virgin territories and raise your enemies children to bring their parents down. ;3

In Stormblood after taking the bridge we hunt down cowering Imperials who had fled barely able to stand defend themselves & murder them only for few quest later to save an Imperial after shoot their own during battle & again later we kill more after Castrum before Ala Mhigo that hiding in shadows, the game constantly sends mixed messages.

Also you get option in Heavensward to say you'll rip out Zepheryn heart & give Thordan & boys a cold death stare as he questions what we are.

Personally, I headcanoned that my WoL vowed to slay them ALL, not just Zephirin. Let's just say that Lord Horse Fart's demise was a GREAT narrative point to finally pick up that DRK crystal and actually use it, hehe~ ;3