Endwalker Main Scenario Commentary & Feedback

[Theozilla]

Eventually though as Montichaigne said souls “are reduced to pure aether, coalesce with that of others, and create souls anew”, in addition to staying whole and returning to the corporeal world through reincarnation (the prime example being that of the WoL).

I really liked how Montichaigne argued that both processes are at work in the Aetherial Sea/Lifestream, as it allows for both traditional reincarnation to occur but also allows for entirely new original souls to be born as well.


As for whether the Souls inside Zodiark had been sundered along with him or not, the devs may or may not choose to further follow up on that, but I don’t think it’s super important if they do or don’t. Also I presume killing the sundered Zodiark on the Source also ends up destroying the literal missing other pieces of Zodiark in the other shards I guess? Or do those other pieces still exist in their respective shards?

Anyways even if there are unsundered souls now existing in the Aetherial Sea/Lifestream, I wouldn’t expect to see new individuals born with the power of creation magicks, at least from a Doylistic narrative perspective expectation.

[Vuro]

Endwalker was truly a phenomenal, hauntingly beautiful story, but I’m really having trouble stomaching how poorly Zenos was handled.

His development was shafted in just about every way, and I’m puzzled why the writers gave him so many loose threads after Stormblood that ultimately lead to nothing - his dreaming of Amaurot, Elidibus calling him an invaluable test subject, and Fandaniel wondering “Could Emet-Selch have found a way…?” in regards to his dreams…none of this addressed. There was incredible potential for him to be one of the most compelling characters in this story, but he served as more of a footnote than anything else.

What’s most frustrating is that we’re never, ever allowed to show Zenos a modicum of sympathy (which is especially gut-wrenching if you’ve read this canon short story, which really should have been shown/mentioned in-game before his death.) He was instrumental in our fight against The Endsinger, and we can’t even thank him. We just…abandon his body to the edge of the universe. What does that mean for his soul? Did it endure once more due to his Resonant abilities, or was he somehow perma-killed? And if it’s the latter, does he get to return home to Etheirys’ aetherial sea for an opportunity to try again, or is he just drifting out there in the dark expanse? He got exactly what he wanted in the end, but the fate of his soul may be even unkinder than that of Amon’s, who wrought significantly more damage.

Old villains who have done equal harm (or more!) are treated with much more grace by the narrative, particularly if they help the WoL at some point. Even before knowing Fandaniel as Hermes, the game implores us to try to understand him via that exchange with Estinien pre-EW. Why is Zenos not afforded the same courtesy? If we weren’t going to approach him in such a way, particularly with all of his loose threads, he should have stayed dead after Stormblood.

I shared these thoughts on my twitter, and got a few replies that were essentially, "there's no way we're done with Zenos, yet - he's coming back for sure." and while that wouldn't make any sense whatsoever with the finality expressed during that fight, I can't help but hope the same thing because of how badly he was bungled in a story that otherwise flawless. ...I want to teach him there's more to live for. :(