Disappointed in one Endwalker Aspect [SPOILERS]

[Alleo]

Why would Emet sacrifice his own people he's trying to make whole again through rejoinings? He says to the WoL during the lift cutscene, "Should you survive the remaining calamities, you will become our equal. A complete existence in a complete world."

Well he said it so who knows. Maybe we as the Wol being Azem were special and he may have hoped that we would join them again. But he says that the rest of the source will be sacrificied and when everyone looked angry he was all like "are you angry that you will be offered to Zodiark?". So yes for me that means that he included all the people that would have survived.

And about the second sacrifice. The races that seemingly exist on the first and the source (and the 13 shard too seeing those survivors) must have existed before the sundering to be on all those split planets. For me it makes the most sense that they existed either as new races when Zodiark brought life back or they were created as kind of familiars by the Ancient.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Except it was to save other races. Which is worse, destroying a single race, or destroying multiple? Both are horrible, even Venat acknowledges the horrors of what she did when we met with her inside the planet. Venat had a good reason to save the other races, just as how the Convocation had a good reason to save their own.

There is no clear cut villain here, just shades of gray everywhere. Even Meteion's evil through despair was caused by Hermes innocently wanting the answer to the meaning of life. All we're left with are souls who were so badly damaged by their own circumstances that it rippled and made things worse for others.

And in “saving” the other races, beings were made susceptible to age,illness, what have you, multiplied across the shards. I truly do wonder how much death has been caused by illness and age in 14’s world which is all due to the sundering…

[RyuDragnier]

And in “saving” the other races, beings were made susceptible to age,illness, what have you, multiplied across the shards. I truly do wonder how much death has been caused by illness and age in 14’s world which is all due to the sundering…

Better than the end of all existence frankly. Not saying it was a good move, but it was the lesser option of multiple evils there.

[Illmaeran]

If the souls of the original Ancients who sacrificed themselves to summon Zodiark were still present within Zodiark, were the souls of all the other Sundered people collected within Zodiark with each Rejoining? If Emet-Selch had been successful in killing all humanoid life on Norvrandt, wouldn't those souls have joined with the ones inside Zodiark?

Or, were the souls within Zodiark un-Sundered as they died before the Sundering?

[Ryaz]

If the souls of the original Ancients who sacrificed themselves to summon Zodiark were still present within Zodiark, were the souls of all the other Sundered people collected within Zodiark with each Rejoining? If Emet-Selch had been successful in killing all humanoid life on Norvrandt, wouldn't those souls have joined with the ones inside Zodiark?

Or, were the souls within Zodiark un-Sundered as they died before the Sundering?

I'd guess the souls within Zodiark were whole when they were sacrificed, but were sundered when HE was sundered, and are probably trapped across his reflections. So, with each rejoining they'd regain part of their soul, but still be trapped inside him. But given that they still have the form of the ancients, it's possible there's still a connection between them across reflections that keeps them somewhat whole.

[Cleretic]

I'd guess the souls within Zodiark were whole when they were sacrificed, but were sundered when HE was sundered, and are probably trapped across his reflections. So, with each rejoining they'd regain part of their soul, but still be trapped inside him. But given that they still have the form of the ancients, it's possible there's still a connection between them across reflections that keeps them somewhat whole.

We meet Hythlodaeus' soul in Mare Lamentorum, and he seems fine and whole, so I think that while Zodiark himself was split apart, the souls within him sere separated without themselves being split. So basically there's a cluster of unsundered Ancient souls inside a Zodiark arm somewhere around the First.

To answer Illmaeran, though, Zodiark himself didn't actually get any sundered souls with any Rejoinings; instead, those souls were reunited with their equivalents in the Source. The Ascians were aming to do as many Rejoinings as feasibly possible, and then sacrifice the still-partly-sundered population left over to Zodiark to do the rest of the job. And then bring back the trapped unsundered souls within him. ...and then reconstruct the civilization itself. Look, the Ascians were never up-front about it but even in their own plan they were gonna have to perform so many more sacrifices to Zodiark that I'm not sure they would've ever been capable of saying 'okay this is the last one, we're done'.

[SquigglesMajor]

Hydaelyn is a villain. She took it upon herself to decide the fate of the star for us. She knew that her plan to sunder the world would fail, because we told her before she even set out on it. And she decided to go with it anyways. We're supposed to believe that she had faith in mankind to live for tomorrow, but she didn't have faith in her own people to even try and help them avert the final days? She willingly withheld information, and actively worked against her own people because she was convinced that we were doomed. It's the exact same logic Hermes used to justify killing everyone. Except Venat's plan was to slowly suffer and die until Meteion eventually came to kill us. Venat didn't have a plan to stop the final days. She didn't believe it could be done. She only planned to have us run away so we could suffer some more. If suffering is supposed to make us stronger why is the plan to run away instead of fight? Surely we aren't suffering for the sake of suffering. But we are. She doesn't offer any reason for why suffering is necessary, we're just told that it is and we should totally trust this person who has been keeping secrets and putting us in danger of extinction.

[Cleretic]

...the Sundering plan worked, though. Like, it literally, verifiably worked. It took a long damn while, but it worked.

We're supposed to believe that she had faith in mankind to live for tomorrow, but she didn't have faith in her own people to even try and help them avert the final days?

I know you're not really listening to Venat's angle, but Emet-Selch directly says that her plan worked when the Ancients' wouldn't have.

It's totally valid to argue that what Venat did was awful, something that horribly wronged her people and she perhaps shouldn't have done, and that is in fact an intended angle written within the game; we're supposed to question that either the Zodiark or Hydaelyn side was morally right on that day. But it can't be argued that her plan failed, or that someone else had a better idea; that's just not what happened.

[AlexionSkyllark]

I came into the story hoping that Hydaelyn was actually going to be the villain of the story all along and we have been doing her bidding because we were "tempered" to her

Lots of people were betting on that. It would be a predictable course. ANd frankly, the "the patron/mentor/guardian was the villain all along" is such an overused trope. It wouldn't be good storytelling, on the contrary, it'd be cliché as hell.

Also: FF7 is not a masterpiece

[sidurgu-12]

Also: FF7 is not a masterpiece

THEMS FIGHTING WOR...... yeah, have to agree with you there. imo theres quite a few tonal whiplashs and dragging moments. its good but no masterpiece.

Lots of people were betting on that. It would be a predictable course. And frankly, the "the patron/mentor/guardian was the villain all along" is such an overused trope. It wouldn't be good storytelling, on the contrary, it'd be cliché as hell.

this was my biggest fear going in but happily that didn't happen. now im just afraid that's whats gonna happen for myths of the realm.