I'm confused, please help explain (SPOILER)

[Ghald]

I'm up to the part just before I fight Meteion but not yet entering the fight.


So far in Endwalker, I'm able to follow the story and more or less understand it, albeit strongly dislike the direction the story is going.


I understand the gist of it up to the point when Thancred desire for the party to survive made Ultima Thule a place that can support life due to the abundance of Dynamis, however from this point onward the story seems nonsensicle to me.


Searching in the forums I see mostly praise for the story, many even say it's better than Shadowbringer, this lead me to think that perhaps my inability to comprehend this part of the story is due to my bias of not liking the story.


I really do want to like it but I can't. That's why it would be great if anyone can help enlighten me on some of the questions below. I feel like I need to understand this part of the story to make the final fight against Meteion have any meaning.


1- Why are there blockade in each area that have tie to negative emotion that require the sacrifice of your team member to progress? How did each member even know they suppose to sacrifice their physicle body to pave a way forward?


2- If several members already sacrificed their body to make way, why do they act surprise whenever another member doing the same, like they didn't see it coming. I'm I suppose to be emotionally invested when I know they are not permanently dead making all the drama extreamely artificial. Never since playing FF14 v.1.0 all the way to this point in game have I skip ahead dialogue as soon as I finish reading it, normally I'd wait untill the character finish delivering their lines or the speaking animation to stop when there's no audio. That's how little emotionally invested I am with the plot.


3- Why did WoL use Azem crystal to summon Emet and Hythlodaeus? I thought the Azem crystal have limited power and will not last indefinitely, wouldn't it make more sense to summon those close to you first, namely the party? I also don't understand what Emet and Hyth are talking about in that scene, it's like I went to watch a movie in its last 30min and haven't a clue what the characters are saying.


Thank you in advance for any explainations and your time to help this fool understand the story better because right now I'm hating the story so much I think it effecting my comprehension.

[Cybylt]

1 - Ultima Thule is a place held by dynamis, emotion, each one is countering a wish for nihility and everyone was mostly onto that by the time Estinien performed his own sacrifice which sealed the conjecture brought by Thancred's initial making the realm survivable. Each one meets a thematically equal and opposing wish to their own desires.

2 - They're not surprised. Both the game's presentation and the cast understand that this is not actual death, more they do not want the burden of pushing forward to be left to ever-decreasing shoulders. Alisaie spelled this out explicitly that it wasn't fair to WoL that everything was left up to them alone to fix by the time the twins make their push.

3a - You couldn't summon the party at that moment. They were held up in making Ultima Thule survivable. So instead you bring Emet and Hythlodaeus out to use Creation to make it a space of aether and not dynamis along with trying to dissuade Meteion by giving her a visual representation of the complex reality and hope of living in the form of the gift Hermes would give her.

3b - Emet literally says they're half-formed souls and that he will not suffer being reformed to full by Hydaelyn's magic. Azem's power of summoning help was not what was limited, what was limited was restoring form to the formless which is what you did for the Scions and what Emet rejects, stating that his time passing was the entire thing you fought about back in Shadowbringers.

[Ghald]

Thank you Cybylt for your explaination and your time.(/Eastern bow)
I've gain enough insight to move forward with this. Queuing for The Final Day now. Although anymore insight are welcome, I'm always keen to learn more.