I want to ask something (SPOILERS FOR EW MSQ)

[PerrinTaveren]

Meteon wasn't made of dynamis, she was made intentionally light on aether so that she could make use of dynamis.
Zodiark is there to promote dark aether, growth. Left unchecked that would be destructive as well, see the Void. Hydaelyn being weaker than him is actually important as that allows her light aether, stasis, to only slow him down rather than turn everything into a mess like the First.

oh i thought she was created with dynamis. my bad then. that explains it for me yeah ^^ smol IQ here

[KageTokage]

It was mentioned that compared to other worlds, Etheriys had an abnormally high level of aether, but dynamis is actually the dominant energy in creation.

It's suggested that some of the worlds basically brought their own Final Days unto themselves as the low levels of aether allowed their negative emotions to corrupt the dynamis to a point where it poisoned the environment and made life unsustainable.

I really liked the whole concept of dynamis because it provided an explanation to the inscrutable levels of strength us and others demonstrate that the Ascians were oft dumbfounded by as their assumption has always been that the sundered should be weaker by logic due to their lower levels of aether, but were blind to the fact that it makes us more capable of harnessing dynamis.

[EusisLandale]

I really liked the whole concept of dynamis because it provided an explanation to the inscrutable levels of strength us and others demonstrate that the Ascians were oft dumbfounded by as their assumption has always been that the sundered should be weaker by logic due to their lower levels of aether, but were blind to the fact that it makes us more capable of harnessing dynamis.

Honestly, I'm kind of fascinated by the possibilities of the stuff now that it's a known factor and Zodiark's out of the way. Thancred and the Garleans can't use aether, but they could always put dynamis to use. Just hate someone hard enough to pseudo-Fire IV them or something, voila Garlean Black Mages.

[van_arn]

Shouldn't the skies still have been back to normal, though? Or are you saying this was her beginning her opposition at the initial summoning of Zodiark?

Yeah, she's clearly not upgraded yet. Venat is Venat.

[wereotter]

yeah that was where i was confused too. since there were final days after they created zodiark in that flashback and people were literally praying for zodiark to stop it and bring back the paradise they had. so i don't get how imprisoning zodiark made a change. it is hinted summoning hydaelyn stopped it maybe? but then again, how is the question. since after she took matter in her hands, world is saved. But we don't know how.

Zodiark did stop the final days by basically creating a shield of aether around the planet so that Meton's dynamis couldn't get through to corrupt creation magic, and from what we can tell, it did work, but the problem became when after half the population sacrificed themselves to summon him, then another half was needed to be sacrificed again to sustain him (so think they were willing to sacrifice 75% of all living people just to protect the world) Venat and her followers thought this was unacceptable and summoned Hydalen to keep Zodiark in check. The aether shield created by Zodiark was still in place on the Source and all its reflections, and he needed to continue to exist in order to maintain it, but in order to stop the human sacrifices, Hydalen sundered and imprisoned him.

She knew it was only a temporary solution, but it was she deemed the right action to save more people from being sacrificed.

[wereotter]

Yeah, she's clearly not upgraded yet. Venat is Venat.

I was more questioning the timeline. Hydalen was summoned after Zodiark, we know. And Zodiark did temporarily forstall the Final Days, so my point was we shouldn't still be seeing the sky as red if Zodiark had been summoned already at the time of the cutscene.

[DontReadThis]

Here is my understanding of the events:

(MASSIVE SPOILERS: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED)

Meteion begins to assault the people of the planet with her telepathy, instilling negative emotions which causes Dynamis to overpower the aether shrouding the planet. This weakens the flow of aether and causes the ancients' creation magic to go out of control.

The ancients didn't know about Meteion (aside from Venat), and Dynamis was something known only to a few. All they knew was the fact that the final days were linked to a thinning of the aether shrouding the planet. This is why they chose to create a primal aligned with darkness, because darkness is linked to activity. This was explained in the MSQ after the Zodiark trial.

They create Zodiark, the planet is shrouded in aether, and the end of days is stopped for the moment. This is because aether overpowers dynamis, which was explained in the MSQ when Hermes talks about the flower.

People wish to sacrifice the new life which has been born and is now thriving on the planet to revive everyone, but Venat doesn't want that to happen, so she becomes Hydaelyn, a light-aspected primal linked to stasis. She imprisons and preserves Zodiark because his existence is keeping the planet safe from Meteion.

Then she sunders everyone because, as Yshtola explains after the Hydaelyn trial, the sundered souls have less aether, so they are actually able to influence Dynamis unlike the ancients whose aether was too dense. This gives them a fighting chance against Meteion if they ever choose to challenge her.

Because Hermes wiped everyone's memory when Meteion escaped, Emet and the others had no idea about Meteion. Hermes as a sundered mortal had lived and died many times, and his first death cleansed his soul of the memory-alteration he performed. When Emet found him and restored his memories as the seat of Fandaniel, he remembered the revelation he had back when Meteion revealed the futility of life. This is why he wants everyone, including himself, to die. This was explicitly stated in the MSQ after his 2nd defeat. He played along with the other ascians' plans because each rejoining weakened Hydaelyn. His ultimate goal was to free Zodiark, take Elidibus' place as the primal's heart, and then get himself killed to remove Zodiark's protection from the planet, triggering the final days once more.

Meteion's plan was to extinguish all life, accelerate the eventual heat death of the universe, and divert the flow of souls into a dead sun. According to her this would provide everyone with the mercy of never being born as the cycle of reincarnation would be broken, and it would end all suffering forever, because life is simply the longest and most painful road to death.

The only question I have is what the "sound" which preceded the final days was. If it was answered, then I must have missed it. I'm guessing it was Meteion's telepathic "song," although I'm not sure if it was explicitly stated anywhere.

[Rinhi]

I was more questioning the timeline. Hydalen was summoned after Zodiark, we know. And Zodiark did temporarily forstall the Final Days, so my point was we shouldn't still be seeing the sky as red if Zodiark had been summoned already at the time of the cutscene.

zodiark did forestall the first attempt at the final days, I think what we see, with hyth saying goodbye to emet to offer himself, was the 2nd and final attempt, which succeeded in a sense due to venat sundering the world

that's how I understood it, at least

The only question I have is what the "sound" which preceded the final days was. If it was answered, then I must have missed it. I'm guessing it was Meteion's telepathic "song," although I'm not sure if it was explicitly stated anywhere.

I think this is touched upon in the post MSQ cutscene