Is anyon else tired of Ascians story?

[Kesey]

We have no real evidence that the sundered Ascians are tempered. Fandaniel's behavior would suggest just the opposite, really.

There is no real evidence that they are not tempered. Emet stated they were. That being said, he can be seen as an unreliable source.

Furthermore, I'm not sure we can take a villain (Fandaniel) who has had 4 scenes of screen time as proof he isn't tempered. What we can take from his limited screen time is that is up to something bigger, and that clearly involves Zodiark, so even though this isn't the best evidence, how can say you he definitively isn't tempered?

[Hatfright]

There is no real evidence that they are not tempered. Emet stated they were. That being said, he can be seen as an unreliable source.

I took it as the Convocation was tempered, before the whole Hydaelyn stuff. We can't be sure if fragments of the once tempered soul stays tempered after the sundering or not. After Eden I'd say it's more in favor of "no, they're not". That, of course, if Emet was saying the truth about them being tempered in the first place.

[Veloran]

how can say you he definitively isn't tempered?

I said his behavior suggests he isn't tempered. First because he's positively elated at the idea that Elidibus is dead, as it means he's now free to do whatever he wants, if he was tempered obviously he'd be bound to Zodiark still. Secondly, because his stated motivations and goals aren't compatible with serving Zodiark, as he just intends to cause as much death as possible and then die himself.

Unsundered Ascians are tempered, but question remains if sundering or rebirth canceled the tempering for others.

We can very definitively say that it does. Random people aren't born tempered to ancient Primals, and Gaia is a pretty explicit subject case showing that the sundered souls of the Convocation members didn't just stay tempered after their deaths. Emet himself is also very indicative of this given that as he reappeared from the Lifestream, he directly worked against Elidibus and therefore Zodiark by saving WoL during the Seat of Sacrifice, suggesting that his soul is no longer tempered either.

The question then becomes, are the sundered Ascians tempered, and if so, how? The current state of Zodiark is pretty up in the air, and it's very arguable as to whether or not whatever current existence he has is capable of tempering anyone. Since the sundered can't have remained tempered from his original summoning like the the Unsundered, given they all died, how could it have happened to them?
Looking at the sundered in the recent story, we kind of have the indication that they aren't tempered at all. Fandaniel I talked about before, but the more pertinent case is probably Mitron. His goals in Eden have nothing whatsoever to do with Zodiark, and in fact directly oppose the Ascian's plans relating to him. Condensing all time down into a single moment to live out eternity with the woman he loved is really not advancing the cause of Zodiark in any regard.

I think, and this is just my theory as the game doesn't spell it out in so many words, but Ryne doesn't have the echo like Minfillia had because she did, she'd be able to travel back and forth between the source and 1st like the WOL does.

It's not the Echo that allows WoL to do that, it was being successfully summoned by G'raha.

[Vulcwen]

While the Ascians were an antagonistic organization up to this point, I don't think it will remain so. Without leadership, the sundered Ascians will choose different paths, so we might end up finding allies among the remaining Ascians, ones that oppose Fandaniel's mad nihilistic plans.

[Jirah]

They used to be as boring as ...well Zenos with just being harbingers of chaos cuz “we evil” *spoilers*

ARR taught us they are immortal in most angles except ...one

HW taught us they have had a hand at humanity destruction for eons

SB taught us they govern the very enemy of the world. The Empire

SHB taught us they are beings yearning for the world they lost and just like that it adds so much to them

TBA so far had side lined them to a more ....lack of better terms boorish approach with these one dimensional villains that I hope are given justice

[Rosenstrauch]

If Emet-Selch says the Ascians are tempered, I'm inclined to believe him. It's not as if the story has made that a point of contention, either. Nobody ever questions if the Ascians are really tempered, like Ardbert does with himself and the WoL when it comes to Hydaelyn. Nobody ever uses it as an argument against them, either. It's treated more akin to a piece of trivia. That's kind of weird, but then so are a lot of moment to moment beats in this game's plot. I'm still not entirely over Ryne's random "I've never heard Hydaelyn's voice" line in 5.3, when right at the end of 5.2 we had that big scene where it turns out Hydaelyn is actively calling out to anyone who can hear Her.

I'm still waiting for the trigger to be pulled on that one. But I also expect and fear that 5.5 will be the last time we ever see or hear from Ryne, and that's if we actually get to see that follow-up festival.

But that's a tangent for another thread and another time. The point I wanted to make is that there's a lot of leeway when it comes to the way a primal's thralls behave. There has to be—they wouldn't be capable of infiltration otherwise (see: 4.1's Lakshmi appearance). Heck, the Serpent Reavers are a band of pirates explicitly under Leviathan's thrall, and yet Captain Madison is a pretty normal guy aside from that. Even in his second appearance, where he's ten feet tall with a kraken for a head, he acts about the same.

[Kesey]

I'm still not entirely over Ryne's random "I've never heard Hydaelyn's voice" line in 5.3, when right at the end of 5.2 we had that big scene where it turns out Hydaelyn is actively calling out to anyone who can hear Her.

I'm still waiting for the trigger to be pulled on that one. But I also expect and fear that 5.5 will be the last time we ever see or hear from Ryne, and that's if we actually get to see that follow-up festival.

I think, and this is just my theory as the game doesn't spell it out in so many words, but Ryne doesn't have the echo like Minfillia had because she did, she'd be able to travel back and forth between the source and 1st like the WOL does.

That being said, the implied meaning of the joke the WOL can make to Gaia at the end of Eden arc about how she can go tell Thancred and Urianger what ended up happening, implies that Gaia can hop worlds, and by extension take Ryne with her.

So there is the possibility to bring her back if the writers what to. Also she may become a major player in the new story line on the 1st, but we'll just have to wait and see how that pans out.

[Erendis]

Unsundered Ascians are tempered, but question remains if sundering or rebirth canceled the tempering for others.

[Lium]

I didn't take that scene to mean that Gaia could take Ryne with her. Just that since Gaia is an Ascian, once she learns how to control her powers, she can shard hop. I don't think Ascians have the ability to take people with them. That's why Ardbert and his WoLs had to give up their flesh (die) in order to come to the Source.