[Spoilers] Shouldn't the Ascians Have Given Up?

[Vexander]

We learn from Emet-Selch that the goal of the Ascians is to restore the star to it's original state by rejoining all the shards to the Source, and in doing so, restoring all the fragmented souls as well. The thing is, shouldn't this be impossible?

The 13th Shard fell to darkness and became the Void. It's impossible to rejoin it to the Source.

Doesn't that mean that there is no way to unite all the shards and restore the star to it's original state? That no matter if they can get all the other shards to join, that there would ALWAYS be 1/14th missing, and that the souls/lives would never be complete?

I suppose 13/14ths of a perfect being might be satisfactory to them, but still, seems like the end-goal became impossible when the 13th fell to Darkness.

[Anonymoose]

This is an open question to me, too. And the source of recurring theories that it might somehow being undone...but if we're destroying the voidsent threat (a most convenient source of plot fuel), I don't imagine it'll be soon.

[Jaywalker]

Honestly, even if they just shifted their priorities to fixing the Void first they could have postponed or avoided a lot of conflict with the WoL. Tbh I also wonder a bit if it might have been possible with the metaphysics to send some of the First's excess Light to the Void as a way to balance things out.

I'm still intensely curious about Unukalhai and his role in what comes next. Elidibus is gonna be dragged into the spotlight as the last unbroken Ascian, if we don't get to see that dynamic explored more along with Void lore I'll be shocked.

[Daralii]

Honestly, even if they just shifted their priorities to fixing the Void first they could have postponed or avoided a lot of conflict with the WoL. Tbh I also wonder a bit if it might have been possible with the metaphysics to send some of the First's excess Light to the Void as a way to balance things out.

I'm still intensely curious about Unukalhai and his role in what comes next. Elidibus is gonna be dragged into the spotlight as the last unbroken Ascian, if we don't get to see that dynamic explored more along with Void lore I'll be shocked.

I won't be too surprised if it turns out that Unukalhai is a fragment of the Convocation of Fourteen's deserter. I think Elidibus was still trying to win the WoL over in HW, and what better way to do that than to show them the truth by reuniting the memories of who they were?

[JeanneOrnitier]

I think so too. Whatever the case though I hope Unukalhai becomes relevant to the MSQ soon.

[Jaywalker]

I won't be too surprised if it turns out that Unukalhai is a fragment of the Convocation of Fourteen's deserter. I think Elidibus was still trying to win the WoL over in HW, and what better way to do that than to show them the truth by reuniting the memories of who they were?

Agreed 100% on Unukalhai possibly being another WoL fragment. I'm slightly unsure on if Elidibus was purely looking for WoL insurance, although you're probably right about it being a factor. Wonder a bit if he has any sense of guilt over what happened with the Void given Amaurot. He's a man of mystery atm.

[CaesarCV]

I mean, I see that as something of a mixture of tragedy and a reversal of the usual heroic resolve. The Ascians, particularly shown through Emet-Selch, are desperate to bring back their homeland. They will do quite literally anything to bring it back, even if it involves the destruction of billions of lives. They have continued their vigil for literal millennia, and why should they stop now? If they're so desperate, they want to do their very best to complete their goal. Tragically, they're basically screwed from the start due to this, but they're so stuck and stubborn in their goal that they just can't see any other way forward. On a different level, do we let the impossible stop us? Or do we look for a different solution? Why not the same for them?

[enthauptet]

Emet did want to take Graha with him because of his knowledge and how they time traveled across the rift with the tower so maybe they could use that to prevent it from becoming a void like we prevented the first?

[Anonymoose]

Regarding the "send the Light into the void" theories (which are getting to be prolific), how does everyone imagine it might work?

In my head, the void is already an empty space where a shard once was, filled with voidsent essences that can never know life or death. What could change that? What could cause the genesis of a new shard rooted within the empty dimension? If the energy from the First is "all elements tilted umbral (by Light)" and we sent that energy into the void, why wouldn't he voidsent just fight over who gets to eat it? If we sent Light itself into the void, which we know know is a force of stasis, how would that regenerate the essences there? Is there lingering Darkness energy there? Isn't Darkness a primordial aetherial force and there's no aether left after the Flood?

Wouldn't it be easier to just use the Crystal Tower + Alexander + Omega tech and ramp it up far enough to go back 11,000 years? (Ugh. Time shenanigans.)

Or just sacrifice even more people to Zodiark when He gets back and let the Keeper of Precepts work it out?

[Hezzlocks]

The Ascian's most immediate goal is the release of Zodiark. They only need 1 more rejoining for Zodiark to be strong enough to break free. Once he's out, they have a much better chance of succeeding, even with the 13th