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

[RoroCookies]

I’m still bothered by the fact that Venat sunder the ancients so that they can interact with dynamis easily but never once considered the cons that comes with it. I also don’t understand why sunder them then never told us about dynamis in advance so we could actually learn how to manipulate it properly before going head first into Meteion. If Meteion didn’t conveniently flex on us on the ship and if Thancred didn’t fight back we would’ve lost instantly because we never learned how to interaction with dynamis even though that was part of the reason why Venat did what she did. Unless the ability to interact with dynamis is just giving a whole bunch of nothing speeches and praying for the best outcome. Power of friendship…. Yay.

[ApolloGenX]

I’m still bothered by the fact that Venat sunder the ancients so that they can interact with dynamis easily but never once considered the cons that comes with it. I also don’t understand why sunder them then never told us about dynamis in advance so we could actually learn how to manipulate it properly before going head first into Meteion. If Meteion didn’t conveniently flex on us on the ship and if Thancred didn’t fight back we would’ve lost instantly because we never learned how to interaction with dynamis even though that was part of the reason why Venat did what she did. Unless the ability to interact with dynamis is just giving a whole bunch of nothing speeches and praying for the best outcome. Power of friendship…. Yay.

Thoughts and prayers!

[Lauront]

Nah, Hermes specifically is, and only because he prevents his colleagues from dealing with Meteion, which Venat herself abets later on by not being forthright with what was going on.

[Jandor]

Nah, Hermes specifically is, and only because he prevents his colleagues from dealing with Meteion, which Venat herself abets later on by not being forthright with what was going on.

Yeah, half of the Ancients that learn about Meteion do crazy things in response. Hermes decides to side with her and "test" his people, and Venat decides to destroy her own civilization.

Meanwhile, plenty of sundered find out about Meteion, but you don't see any of them going off the deep end quite like those two.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Yeah, half of the Ancients that learn about Meteion do crazy things in response. Hermes decides to side with her and "test" his people, and Venat decides to destroy her own civilization.

Meanwhile, plenty of sundered find out about Meteion, but you don't see any of them going off the deep end quite like those two.

I mean....look at all the wars or messed up things that werent even due to any ascian involvement. Sildih zombification genocide for example lol. Considering the sundered didnt even last 2 seconds before giving into despair and mass turning into blasphemies i dont think its a very clear cut comparison. I dont really know what crazy things the ancients do though in response...unless you mean summon Zdoiark? In which case the sundered do effectively the same thing in the other timeline by being willing to sacrifice their entire timeline to bring the wol back.

[Jandor]

I mean....look at all the wars or messed up things that werent even due to any ascian involvement. Sildih zombification genocide for example lol. Considering the sundered didnt even last 2 seconds before giving into despair and mass turning into blasphemies i dont think its a very clear cut comparison. I dont really know what crazy things the ancients do though in response...unless you mean summon Zdoiark? In which case the sundered do effectively the same thing in the other timeline by being willing to sacrifice their entire timeline to bring the wol back.

Mate, the grand total losses the sundered suffered from the final days was some villages on the outskirts of Radz-at-han. Meanwhile, the Ancients went extinct.

It's clear we did loads better.

[Lauront]

Yes, almost like having layers upon layers of plot armour, much of which provided by the unsundered, plus an actual clear roadmap of what caused it and where to find it, helps. Although nevermind those souls completely devoured by the latest version of the Final Days.

As for your other comment, it is silly. Hermes is the cause of it, and was happy to once more usher in the end as a sundered, separate (by his own admission) person too; it is an intrinsic propensity of his soul by all accounts. Venat tied her own hands by restricting what range of options she had because of the uncertainty of time travel mechanics.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Mate, the grand total losses the sundered suffered from the final days was some villages on the outskirts of Radz-at-han. Meanwhile, the Ancients went extinct.

It's clear we did loads better.

You realize the souls that were lost in both thavnair and garlemald are erased right?The Ancients survived the final days, its Hydaelyn that made them extinct.Not to mention it wasnt exactly easy for us to win. They had to resort to major plot armor and contrivances to get us there, whilst also relying on said ancients that apparently did worse than us lmao.

[Lauront]

The ancients' souls were not consumed by the Final Days because of how dense their aether was, hence they were available to use to summon Zodiark and create a buffer (albeit as a last resort because they didn't know what was causing the crisis or what led to it spreading so rapidly), adequate to last at least 12k years even in sundered form, and also to revitalise the star with some more sacrifice. In a situation where souls are consumed wholesale, that just wouldn't be possible.

As to methods hinted at? Ktisis Hyperboreia allows for aetheric suppression, for one; uses of this could potentially be adapted and extended to allow them to more readily hone the ability to interact with dynamis. For another, use of better constructed familiars than Meteion. For yet another, selective sundering of some ancients rather than sundering the entire planet, and preparation of them to face her. It only took a few sundered to hunt down Meteion after she'd guzzled several stars' worth of despair. In addition, Elidibus in SoS is able to manipulate the power provided to him through prayer from summoned WoL fragments to fuel his LBs and shield himself from them, and we know there is an association between prayer and dynamis; primals are constructs of both prayer (a lot of which went into Zodiark) and aether and it is possible to turn into them and adopt some of their traits. These and other things they could've come up with in the span of 12k years or less were all potential workarounds...

[Lieri]

Remember that the story in Endwalker isn't just about the emo bird and holy adventurer mommy. Do you forget about Thavnair and Garlemald?
After ShB what else do you need to know about Hydaelyn or Zodiark anyway? the stories from previous expansions (ARR to ShB) have pretty much explained what they did and what they are. So in order conclude the arc, which is what Endwalker supposed to be, they need to explain something beyond Hydaelyn and Zodiark (it's no longer who or what but why). They did that by adding a rather lengthy story in Elpis.

Also don't forget that WoL slapped Zodiark in it's imperfect form.

And to answer why is the story in Endwalker plays out this way, it's because a group of competent people whose job is to create stories in a video game decided it has to be like this. Maybe it's also related to their plans for the future. So questions like "why didn't character A do B?" is a little bit silly. It's like asking why is Naruto's name Naruto and why are his clothes orange when there are so many colors to choose from.