Quote Originally Posted by Lyth View Post
Catching up on the discussion, I feel like we're no closer to understanding how sundering the world is equivalent to outright killing it.
I'll paint you a picture then. One that will never be seen in game, of course.

When the Sundering happened, it happened when Venat was fighting Zodiark at the end of their battle. If the whole of the world wasn't engaged in fighting her, then where were they? What were they doing? Think for a moment about the Marvel Cinematic Universe's portrayal of, "The Snap." Suddenly half of the world's population was deleted. This lead to things like planes suddenly missing both pilots and the planes crashing, killing any not disintegrated by The Snap. Car wrecks. Ship line snap back, suddenly bereft of crew, now causes mooring lines to bisect the rest of the crew.

Well... the Sundering did that too, albeit rather differently.

Suddenly, every Ancient Etheirysian and all life beyond them was split into 14 fragments, dumber and weaker than before, bereft of powers. Not enough Aether in the body to use Creation magicks. But we know the Ancients were always tending to dangerous life forms they'd created or guided through selective breeding. Everything physical reduced in size by about 3 times. Well, anyway, these beings that rely solely on creation magicks and most of who know not battle, are suddenly bereft of the means to defend themselves from the things they create. Many die this way.

Then there's the natural disasters we know still happen, ala the volcano. Natural catastrophes that could be stopped, are now split into 14 catastrophes instead, and now no one on the planet has the power or know-how to stop them.

What of the facilities that require excessive amounts of aether to levitate? Do they merely reduce down proportionally and stay aloft, or does their specific design still demand 14x the amount of aether than they now have access to because they are engineered machines, and they plummet, dooming all in the facility?

How about those working with toxic concepts? We know in our present there are many venomous things, some of which even exude toxic fumes. Whether by spell or natural resilience, the Ancients could resist and work with it. Now they don't have the power to project that spell nor the natural resilience. I haven't seen a gas mask in game, have you? They now asphyxiate on toxins and die.

What of those walking on the water as a favorite pastime, perhaps watching their dolphin-like Hpemde creations? The aether thins, and the spell holding them aloft breaks, their robe wet, drags them down, and they drown.

The last thing I can think of... there are some spells in the game that draw on a user's personal aether. As we understand them, the Ancients invoked all of their creation magicks via their own personal aether reserve. What happens then, post Sundering, to the Ancients who actually remember the invocations, and try to force to use them? They consume all of their bodily aether and die, attempting to do what they'd always done.

Of course, none of this is shown. It's merely the imaginings of a madman.

As far as your musings on Venat as Azem aka Naked Snake and The Boss analogy... ehhh.... It's a clear write in that seeks to force a more substantial connection between us and character we never really knew but wanted to know. It's an easy Shake n Bake method of, "We want you to like this character. They are and made you!" It falls flat completely right out of the gate for me, because it's telling, not showing. It's in the same vein as, "Here go get my dagger melded with materia. It's my weapon of choice." ala Minfilia, only to never seen actual Minfilia fight with that dagger. It's not a real development of her character, just a laundry list fact I have to take at face value.