Quote Originally Posted by Theodric View Post
On Hydaelyn:

I guess it ties in well with what I stated earlier in regards to Tempering. There's a handful of posters who seem to have convinced themselves that Hydaelyn could not possibly be anything other than the 'Benevolent Mother' that they choose to view Hydaelyn as even after Hydaelyn has been revealed to be a Primal. It could go either way, though I don't think it'd be a mistake or 'bad storytelling' for Hydaelyn to turn out to essentially be a threat, either directly or indirectly.

At the end of the day, Hydaelyn is the reason why the original world ended up being Sundered. She needs to answer for that and Hydaelyn's desire to try and eliminate the Ascians and prevent the truth of the world from coming to light is very much at odds with the promise made to Emet-Selch in regards to remembering his people and honouring what once was.

As many here are quick to remind everybody, FFXIV is a classic JRPG that fully embraces some pretty stereotypical tropes. With that in mind, it may very well choose to go in the direction where the supposedly 'benevolent' deity is anything but. Putting aside the simple fact that many Hydaelyn enthusiasts were falsely making Zodiark out to be some sort of blood god upon the reveal of Amaurot, if the intention is for expectations to be subverted then as far as I'm concerned it'd be inherently more interesting for Zodiark to turn out to be the truly benevolent figure out of the two Elder Primals.

We'll see how things go, but as ever I urge everybody to keep an open mind!
On Zodiark:
I have a feeling Zodiark, should it have a mind of its own, has been heavily conflicted from the start. It's very likely it wanted the new life to grow and be happy, but also wanted the same for the old life. It could just have an innocent mindset of "I just want to save everybody and for them to be happy!" Considering we know that Elidibus was a child at the time of his sacrifice, if his mind was made the template for Zodiark's personality as a primal...then it's likely a very innocent tragic figure. This may change how we view Hydaelyn...or may be part of what influenced her to Sunder instead. If Zodiark could not control its own power or was causing issues with the planet's balance without realizing it (again, this goes if it has an innocent mind), then the Sundering may also have been an act to protect Zodiark from hurting itself. Though this is all Wild Mass Guessing, it gives some serious food for thought. But we'll find out for certain at 5.55 at the earliest on her mindset for it.