Are the Ascians truly wrong?

[RitsukoSonoda]

Pretty much this. The ascians are certainly allowed to want their original world back. You can't fault them for that. Killing literally everyone on all the shards, and most of the population of the Source, to make it happen though? That puts them very solidly in the 'no, bad, wrong' category.

That also falls on perspective. To them we were considered slightly more than insects that made homes on the broken pieces of their home they were trying to rebuild. As such in their eyes they likely viewed it similar to humans removing nests of hornets, mice, rats, etc. Something we would readily label horrific when done to us but often commit to other forms of life in the name of progress or whatever.

[frostmagemari]

That also falls on perspective. To them we were considered slightly more than insects that made homes on the broken pieces of their home they were trying to rebuild. As such in their eyes they likely viewed it similar to humans removing nests of hornets, mice, rats, etc. Something we would readily label horrific when done to us but often commit to other forms of life in the name of progress or whatever.

Sorry, falling back on perspective (in this case, defaulting to the ascian perspective) is just a dishonest argument. There is nothing that can be said to argue against perspective aside from perspective, and even with that there is nothing that can push the weight to one side or another because the perspective of the one making the decision is always correct in their eyes. (Anything and everything can be justified if you base it on the perspective of the one taking actions)
We are looking at the XIV world from the top down, not behind the eyes of another person or entity that is living within that world. We can see the Ascian's motivations, their actions and the results of those actions and judge them accordingly without any direct emotional investment of the events themselves that would cloud judgement.
Now, if you are arguing that the Ascians are in the right to cause untold chaos across several worlds and knowingly kill countless sapient individuals in order to revive a different set of sapient individuals; that's something we can talk about, but pleading that it's okay to do because the Ascians think it should be okay is not even an argument.

[Enkidoh]

Spoilers abound.

They might be more sympathetic now, but their actions are still entirelly unjustifiable

(and even among the Ancients that manner of thinking was considered objectionable too - it's why the 14th member of the Convocation resigned in disgust, a person strongly hinted to be us, and the one responsible for summoning Hydaelyn as a counterweight in response).

The Ascians just come across as being stuck somewhere between Denial and Bargaining on the Five Stages of Grief (grief over the loss of their original world) - they stubbornly refuse to accept their world and loved ones are gone, and are doing everything they can to try and get it back, even at the cost of sacrificing others in the process.

We however are at the final stage of grief: Acceptance, we accepted the old world is over, that a new one has risen from the ashes, and are defending the right for the 'new' life that formed on this new world after the Terminus to exist in peace and with freedom of will to choose their own path, life that is destroyed constantly every time a Rejoining happens (when a Shard is sacrificed to the Source), and which all life would eventually be sacrificed once the Final Shard is Rejoined to allow Zodiark to be fully reborn.

The Ascians are stuck living in memories of a long-gone past that can never return (look at Emet's self-indulgent reconstruction of Amaurot, a reconstruction he outright admitted he went overboard with in the details). The world however has moved on and thus this world now belongs to the new life, which we represent and, as the Warrior of Light, protect and defend. Life that the Ascians don't even regard as 'life' (witness Emet's little racist rant about the residents of the First being "mere halfmen" (to use his words), and that although "we tower over our lesser kin", we're still just a convinent tool to further his own ends at best and an empty shell at worst to him - hence his attempts to turn us into an 'instrument of destruction' by allowing us to be turned into a sineater simply to put the 8th Calamity/Rejoining back on track.

So again, although they are not without sympathy, they are still however the enemy of life. Their actions result in the loss of countless lives and their plan threatens the very existence of Hydaelyn as we know it. So they will remain the enemy of life, the enemy of our star. And thus we will have to resist them, every single time.

[Theodric]

It's ultimately a matter of perspective. I'll be vague to avoid spoilers since you haven't finished Shadowbringers yet but you'll get a lot of the answers you're looking for and it's left to the player to make up their own minds on the matter. The game lacks meaningful factions, so obviously we can't side with them, though we certainly understand their point of view.

[RitsukoSonoda]

It's ultimately a matter of perspective. I'll be vague to avoid spoilers since you haven't finished Shadowbringers yet but you'll get a lot of the answers you're looking for and it's left to the player to make up their own minds on the matter. The game lacks meaningful factions, so obviously we can't side with them, though we certainly understand their point of view.

Essentially yes. Up until events in Shadowbringers we only see part of the picture with the Ascians which is the acts they commit on the source both in the present and also some references to the past. We finally get a glimpse into the reason for it and the goal they were trying to achieve.

[Nyxn607]

To be quite honest, I am on ascian's side for this. We get a brief look into their lives through Emet Selch's eyes. We get to see a portion of their society in the tempest and what their society accomplished. While some of their experiments were grotesque, they really don't vary much from what we see in current day real life experimentation (that which is public information). All the ascian's want is to live in peace again with their family and friends. From my perspective they see us, exactly the same way we see them, as villains trying to destroy everything they know.

To tie this in with Thanos, his idea was logical. Get rid of half the universe's population to benefit the other half long term and potentially short term. The method to which he carried it out was also the most logical choice, as it was truly random; he did not pick and choose who lived and who didn't. The method he implemented to achieve this was where Thanos screwed up. People are going to fight back if you simply tell them you will take away half of all living things, all while killing them getting the items you need.

I understand why the scions don't want the rejoining. I know that innocent people would die while not so innocent people would also die. My problem with the logic the WoL and scions are using is that the logic is flawed. We have only seen 2 worlds in the ffxiv universe. We know some of the worlds are already consumed, and are no longer able to produce or sustain life. What we don't know is the other worlds that are still life bearing. What is going on in these worlds? Perhaps they are suffering immensely from the worlds being separated? Perhaps they are fighting to rejoin the worlds as well? Time will only tell, I for one am looking forward to how the story plays out.

[Xau]

What we don't know is the other worlds that are still life bearing. What is going on in these worlds? Perhaps they are suffering immensely from the worlds being separated? Perhaps they are fighting to rejoin the worlds as well? Time will only tell, I for one am looking forward to how the story plays out.

as far is know, every reflection is generally ignorant what they are but one piece of a whole world what existed once, so no, i don't tink so what one or more of the other reflections are working to make a rejoining
as for the part of suffering, that usualy happens by ascian intervention most of the time, they say the right words to the right person, and you know what happens after

[YatoShishi]

While I understand Emet Selch's motives I have to say I cant agree with his methods. Its pretty much like Dragon Age with Solas, they F***ed up in the past, I dont see any reason why anyone in the present has to pay the price for it.

[Gemina]

The Ascian's are doing what they feel is right. To them, we are the villains. The conflict basically comes down to two opposing PoVs, with the victor being the one who gets to say they're right.

That's the easy way to look at it.

How I see it is that I could be more sympathetic towards their cause if they had some kind of moral conflict with the rejoining. Something, anything that says they don't really want to sacrifice so many lives, but feel it is for the greater good. For the most part though, they see Hydaelyn's faithful as inferior; a disease upon the star and needs be cleansed.

I don't want to spoil too much for the OP, but I will say that it's in Ascian nature to destroy, even themselves. It's also pretty easy for me to side with the living, and to let the dead stay that way.

[Berteaux_Braumegain]

So let's discuss this shall we, in a civil manner please. Are the Ascians wrong for wanting to bring about the Rejoining?

Yes. There is no net positive that results from mass genocide across multiple worlds.