Quote Originally Posted by Scintilla View Post
'Should become'? Since when has becoming both apathetic and cynical been compulsory for any immortal being, with the lack of such characteristics being considered abnormal and the result of some unnatural interference (in this case, tempering)?
Should is most likely the wrong word to use there since this sort of thing is highly subjective. That said, the archetype of the jaded immortal has been used in works of fiction time and time again. One might even say it's one of the most commonly used tropes in stories that feature excessively old and/or powerful immortal beings. The archetype is typically invoked when an immortal is of such age that even other immortal beings in the same setting seem young by comparison. We've no clue just how much the tempering changed Emet-Selch, but I do believe he could reasonably have developed much the same personality as what we got to see in-game without ever having been subjected to it at all. That man (if you can call him that) is, at least according to himself, even older than Zodiark and Hydaelyn.