What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[PawPaw]

I recall at the time thinking it was weird that Hythlodeus claims the WOL was "shocked" by how coldly they transformed the butterflies into clothes.

This was so strange to me as well, I remember thinking "...OK? Thanks for the robe, man!" It was so awkward that this was clearly meant to be a moment where the writers assumed I'd be horrifically offended; but I wasn't at all, nor did I think that my character, who murders animals all of the time for FUN and PROFIT would be rattled in any way. She definitely would not be be judging others for it. I was also obviously supposed to be utterly offended at being called a "thing" but again, who the hell cares? To them I was a creature unlike any they had ever seen before. I look nothing like them or the humans they know, not even like any familiars they know, so there's no reason for them to see me as anything but an unusual entity. The attempts to move me to Twitter levels of outrage over the way the Ancients viewed life were clumsy as shit.

[Iscah]

I haven't done the Studium quests, but before you can claim that statement as proof of an eventual natural rejoining, it's important to define the "original state" that the currents are supposedly returning to. Are they talking about the pre-sundered state or simply the state immediately before both the pseudo-gods who have been stabilising the currents for millennia dissipated into the aether?

Also, if the aether currents are unique to each shard, then their state wouldn't directly have anything to do with them rejoining or remaining apart.

Narratively I think a natural rejoining would be very unlikely after they've staked so much on the value of the individual souls of each shard and that it would be a tragedy to lose them.

[Rulakir]

Still, I could see that rectification becoming something to 'stop', sadly. Unless it were to take place over a long time frame...

Unfortunately. Although, the only reason it was 'necessary' to be able to interact with dynamis was because of Meteion who's no longer a threat. However, I wouldn't put it past them to write Venat as having known this. Given her concern for the shards appears to be little more than collateral damage, it could hint that she knew the sundering would be temporary.

Yes, had they not destroyed a number of stars in pushing the plotline they did, that may have been less of an issue. Now they've pretty much just got the reflections and maybe more distant stars.

I hadn't thought about it, but you're right. I'm not keen on visiting other planets that have nothing to do with Etheirys. It was different in WoW where Outland was integral to the history of Azeroth, but the only places I know of in FFXIV where that might be true would be the dragon star and possibly Omega, both of which were used in EW.

Narratively I think a natural rejoining would be very unlikely after they've staked so much on the value of the individual souls of each shard and that it would be a tragedy to lose them.

It depends on how it's written. More personal headcanon, but I like the idea that the aetherial sea between the Source and the shards is re-connected, so those who die on the shards end up funneled back to their original souls. Eventually, this leads to everyone being whole again and reborn on the Source.

I suppose I should've clarified I see this as a long process, not a sudden boom all 4-5 shards collide into the Source causing the calamity to end all calamities. The Ascians may have found a MO that worked through polarization necessary to break through the barrier, but without that being the case now it might just be a slow trickle of aether from each one back to the Source that takes ages to even be noticeable. Probably starting with things like reduced magical ability and eventually lifespans. Once everyone's funneled back to the Source, by the time the shard fully rejoins there likely wouldn't have been anyone living on it for years due to the decreased aether. All just speculation though. :P

[Sicno]

From what I recall from the FSH quests it's not that the aether currents are "correcting themselves to a previous state", it was that the aether released with Zodiark's death caused a surge of aether in the currents and affected the fishes. And we need to give him a pre-Zodiark fish to compare the differences in aether levels.

But I may be wrong, it's been a while.

Speaking of the Studium quests, I think my favorite story in this entire expansion (MSQ included) has to be about making bread.

[Lauront]

To me, it's morally grey if they expect us to suspend all critical thinking abilities and not look at how the sundered, or humans for that matter, kill lesser creatures for much less. I don't doubt that they were, to some extent, pushing this idea that they're not "perfect", although whatever the intention, even with all that in mind, the ancients are about as close as a species can come to it, IMO.

This was so strange to me as well, I remember thinking "...OK? Thanks for the robe, man!" It was so awkward that this was clearly meant to be a moment where the writers assumed I'd be horrifically offended; but I wasn't at all, nor did I think that my character, who murders animals all of the time for FUN and PROFIT would be rattled in any way. She definitely would not be be judging others for it. I was also obviously supposed to be utterly offended at being called a "thing" but again, who the hell cares? To them I was a creature unlike any they had ever seen before. I look nothing like them or the humans they know, not even like any familiars they know, so there's no reason for them to see me as anything but an unusual entity. The attempts to move me to Twitter levels of outrage over the way the Ancients viewed life were clumsy as shit.

I mean I was doing the sidequests on a reaper, with an avatar sidekick that devours the souls of beings for fuel, and did the main quests with a relic weapon forged from crystallised misery, having routinely partaken in the outdoors slaughterfests known as fates. At this point, if they're expecting me to take the character's "shock" seriously, it just paints them as delusional.

[PawPaw]

I mean I was doing the sidequests on a reaper, with an avatar sidekick that devours the souls of beings for fuel, and did the main quests with a relic weapon forged from crystallised misery, having routinely partaken in the outdoors slaughterfests known as fates. At this point, if they're expecting me to take the character's "shock" seriously, it just paints them as delusional.

Right? "Pardon me, my good fellows, I must take my leave as apparently there is an S-Rank beast in this zone that needs to be attacked and murdered for no real reason AND I'd like to get the orchestration roll for Elpis so I'll need to follow that up with the mass slaughter of every animal that I find within these pink spots on my map. You guys are so cruel to arcane entities though, btw, do better. Cheerio!"

[Lauront]

Right? "Pardon me, my good fellows, I must take my leave as apparently there is an S-Rank beast in this zone that needs to be attacked and murdered for no real reason AND I'd like to get the orchestration roll for Elpis so I'll need to follow that up with the mass slaughter of every animal that I find within these pink spots on my map. You guys are so cruel to arcane entities though, btw, do better. Cheerio!"

And do be sure to pay no mind to the egi that may or may not die in the process.

[Ixon]

And do be sure to pay no mind to the egi that may or may not die in the process.

Care to join me in Frontlines where we slaughter our allies and countrymen for fun? XD

[Lauront]

Care to join me in Frontlines where we slaughter our allies and countrymen for fun? XD

Already had my fill of that today... I think by the 5th or 6th time of telling people to open their maps and that, no, tunnel visioning the team that's 300 points behind isn't really a good idea when the other one is 200 ahead of us... today was another episode of the dead ends of FL.

[Lauront]

That is because for the MSQ, and even during the sidequests, the MC is pretending to be a familiar, which generally would be arcane constructs devoid of a soul, and with rather limited cognitive capabilities compared to an ancient; a bit like comparing a chimpanzee, with its rudimentary reasoning faculties, to us... Any assessment of one possessing a soul is said to be a complex matter, no less because familiars can be woven with their creator's aether. It is only through further interactions that some of the ancients begin to question whether you're really a familiar, indicating that you're behaving in ways more complex than they're generally capable of... Emet-Selch eventually is suggested to have come to see the sundered as child-like beings. I'm not sure what people expect for a race with all the faculties of the ancients to think of much shorter lived, ephemeral beings.