Re-examining "Answers" and the nature of Ascians

[Catapult]

The song, Answers, is rather lore-rich, but it has been somewhat difficult to understand what the song means. We came to some conclusions in the past, but with the main scenario behind us ((WARNING:SPOILERS)) we can take a fresh look at it from a new angle.

I'll start with some background information, our known-knowns of context:

• The song was written well before Naoki Yoshida had a hand in FFXIV and, by consequence, was written with the original story plans in mind rather than the fall of Dalamud.
• The original story was essentially put on hold for the Calamity story following Yoshida's appointment. It was acknowledged that that original story would be returned to in the reborn realm, albeit from a modified angle.
• The lore masters had an exceptional level of control in the meaning the song conveys. This is because the intended message/meaning was conveyed first, turned into English Lyrics by Fernehalwes, and only then had music composed for it by Uematsu (this is unusual in SE music development).

The song is written as being from the perspective to two parties, though it is not revealed exactly who or what those two parties are. I originally thought those two parties were the Twelve and mankind (the five races), but I now posit that that are Hydaelyn and the Ascians.

Prologue
I close my eyes, tell us why must we suffer.
Release your hands, for your will drags us under.
My legs grow tired, tell us where must we wander.
How can we carry on if redemption's beyond us.

Verse 1
To all of my children in whom Life flows abundant.
To all of my children in whom Death hath passed his judgement.
The soul years for honour, and the flesh the hereafter.
Look to those who walked before to lead those who walked after.

Shining is the Land's light of justice.
Ever flows the Land's well of purpose.
Walk free, walk free, walk free, believe...
The Land is alive, so believe...

Chorus 1
Suffer [Feel] Promise [Think] Witness [Teach] Reason [Hear] Follow [Feel] Wander [Think] Stumble [Teach] Listen [Speak] Honour [Speak] Value [Tell] Whisper [Tell] Mention [Hope] Ponder [Hope] Warrant [Wish] Cherish [Wish] Welcome [Roam] Witness [Roam] Listen [Roam] Suffer [Roam] Sanction [Sleep] Weather [Sleep] Wander [Sleep] Answer
[Sleep on]

Verse 2
Now open your eyes while our plight is repeated.
Still deaf to our cries, lost in hope we lie defeated.
Our souls have been torn and our bodies forsaken.
Bearing sins of the past, for our future is taken.

War born of strife, these trials persuade us not.
Feel what? Learn what?
Words without sound, these lies betray our thoughts.
See what? Hear what?
Mired by a plague of doubt, the Land, she mourns.
Judgement binds all we hold to a memory of scorn.
Tell us why, given Life, we are meant to die, helpless in our cries?

Chorus 2
Witness [Feel] Suffer [Think] Borrow [Teach] Reason [Hear] Follow [Feel] Stumble [Think] Wander [Teach] Listen [Blink] Whisper [Blink] Shoulder [Blink] Ponder [Blink] Weather [Hear] Answer [Look] Answer [Think] Answer Together

Epilogue
Thy Life is a riddle, to bear rapture and sorrow.
To listen, to suffer, to entrust unto tomorrow.
In one fleeting moment, from the Land doth life flow.
Yet in one fleeting moment, for anew it doth grow.
In that same fleeting moment,
Thou must live
Die
And know.


To understand where I'm coming from, we need to understand what it is the Ascians are trying to achieve. Two points of the game are critical in explaining this. The first is our echo of the Battle of Cartenaux where we see Lahabrea speaking with his minion on the mountainside.

Their aim is to return the planet to its "true form" - a prior state. Next up, we can look at what Lahabrea tells us at the end of the Praetorium.

Lahabrea describes Hydaelyn as a parasite harming the planet that needs to be surgically removed. It implies she is alien to the planet and that the Ascians' existence pre-dates her (with her arrival possibly coinciding to the transition to the first Umbral Era). Putting "bringer of light" in inverted commas implies that you are misguided, as do his final words.

We are "bound" by the light of Hydaelyn. Imprisoned and Enslaved by Hydaelyn in his eyes.

Back to the song.

If considered from the Ascians' perspective, the prologue tells of their suffering under the confines and will of Hydaelyn. The reference to legs and wandering can be considered figuratively - the course of one's life is often considered a journey of sorts despite not having a destination.

Verse 1 is Hydaelyn singing her song to us, for we are her children and may we walk in the light of the crystal. Again, the figurative form of walking is used. She speaks as a mother who seeks to offer succor without withholding freedom (or at least so we would believe).

The Choruses I think of as the suggestions each party provides. On one side, we see the Ascians tirelessly working, provoking and acting on their plans to deal with the parasite problem. On the other, we see Hydaelyn telling us to Hear, Feel, Think in her defence - something the starshower made us familiar with.

Verse 2 is very insightful. It describes the Ascians' philosophy and argument. They are a shunned but determined race, not dissuaded by the agony they have been forced to suffer or the lies told about them being the root of all evil. Under Hydaelyn's light, they cannot live in their bodies and have been forced to discard them for a metaphysical existence (NIER-style). And meanwhile, the planet continues to suffer from Hydaelyn's invocation of a cycle of extreme polarities, now to the point where the damage of the seventh cycle will be permanent.

I've marked the epilogue as being from Hydaelyn's perspective, but it may in fact be from both. The future is in our hands and we must needs deal with the problems of the world if we are to survive.

My point:

Light and Darkness are not tantamount to good and evil. They are two sides in conflict, but neither is wrong. I am suggesting that this song portrays the Ascians as victims of Hydaelyn's arrival to the planet, seeking to return their world to a state before she existed. And we, the children of the Land, are faced with the dilemma of how this eon-old conflict is to be resolved, especially with the complication of having been selected by Hydaelyn as her champion in this war.

This is, of course, not helped by the fact that Lahabrea is trying to pull a Barthandelus.