The Nature of the WOL (Spoilers)

[Cirdan-Faust]

Hey thanks for the responses guys. But as a follow up why are you all saying 8/14 or 9/14 of a complete soul? Are you saying that us plus our 7 buds for every fight are canonically shards of the WOL? Or are you saying that because of the rejoinings that have happened in thus far?

On that note, I hadn't considered that each rejoining would change everyone the way Ardbert changed us. After each rejoining everyone becomes more whole.

Now if that is true doesn't that throw into question Emet Selch's plan for restoring those ancients lost to summon Zodiark? He says once the rejoinings are complete he would sacrifice the lesser people of the source to Zodiark to restore the ancients consumed to summon him. But if we are taking about after the final rejoining wouldn't the denizens of the source be restored ancients? Even after all rejoinings he would still see them as lesser? Is that because the 13th was lost? Or just because he is a dick?

[Alleo]

Hey thanks for the responses guys. But as a follow up why are you all saying 8/14 or 9/14 of a complete soul? Are you saying that us plus our 7 buds for every fight are canonically shards of the WOL? Or are you saying that because of the rejoinings that have happened in thus far?

On that note, I hadn't considered that each rejoining would change everyone the way Ardbert changed us. After each rejoining everyone becomes more whole.

Now if that is true doesn't that throw into question Emet Selch's plan for restoring those ancients lost to summon Zodiark? He says once the rejoinings are complete he would sacrifice the lesser people of the source to Zodiark to restore the ancients consumed to summon him. But if we are taking about after the final rejoining wouldn't the denizens of the source be restored ancients? Even after all rejoinings he would still see them as lesser? Is that because the 13th was lost? Or just because he is a dick?

Well even in the past when everything was still whole they were quite ready to sacrifice the new life to get the old life back (even if they gave their life willingly to give the new life a future). This of course could either be because they could not get over the loss and are stuck in the past or because they are tempered and Zodiark needed more power. This was the reason why some of the Ancient summoned Hydealyn because they wanted all this sacrifice to stop. So yeah he just sees those he knew and that sacrificed themselves to Zodiark as those who should live and the rest are always just meant to be lambs ready to be sacrificed.

We are at the beginning 8/14 souls because 1 source soul and then 7 rejoined souls. Thats why we are probably also able to take in that much light without it killing us. (Even with our gift there should have been a limit) One could even say that this should mean that everyone one the source should be 8/14 complete. With Ardbert who gave us his soulpart we are now 9/14. And with more of our soul complete we probably reminded Emet of the Ancient one.

And yes everyone probably becomes more whole but with the sacrifice of all those soul parts that rejoined with the source one. These cease to exist as a single living part and all those people also needed to die before that could even happen so for me at least the rejoining is quite bad.

Possible spicy opinion but I actually think Hythlodaeus is us, we were Hythlodaeus. Literally no one else can see Ardbert, except us, until Hythlodaeus confirms they can see him too, albeit faintly, commenting on how recognizable the hue of our soul is. Emet-Selch acts astonished to see an Ascian before him when we rejoin with Ardbert, briefly seeing us as our fully "restored" self.

The japanese version makes it more clear that he is talking about "our" Ancient self as a different person than him. Of course this could again just be a trick but I doubt they would do that and later also show our Ancient form too. I think Emet and our Ancient ones were just good friends with the shade and he recognized only the color, he could not really see Ardbert himself. I just think that this part was a hint that we were a special Ancient one which could lean towards the theory that we once were the 14th.