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

[Skyborne]

Hard agree on the Zenos/Hermes stuff and the Elpis sidequests. What's a headscratcher to me is all the people who came out of that thinking "Wow! Hermes is literally the only person in the world who feels! Everyone else is a cold unfeeling robot!"

As an aside

The Unsundered struggling 12,000 years appreciating their lost home is proof Venat was right!

On the contrary I think they had that spark the whole time and didn't need a self-proclaimed supreme deity to take credit, especially in the aftermath of her despairing her people 'couldn't' change ever (as Unsundered)... especially with the Q&A emphasizing it was her opinion. What's also funny is, Hydaelyn let herself just poof out of existence with her soul consumed when she felt 'satisfied' that her purpose was done and that we were all big boys now or something. Very much an Amaurotine to the end. I guess it's fine because she had her unga bunga fighty time though? Apparently it's just not valid for people to put their passions in and burn their candles with non-unga things...

If some truly external force came along like say, the Omicron, I think the ancients would have survived that. Probably better, given it's not obscure feely energy from the edge of the universe and no one withholding vital info with everyone actually being on even footing. I also think the ancients succeeded the ridiculous 'test' via Zodiark's big darkness boner telling the Meteia "bullshit", playing Limp Bizkit on his phone, then walking off.

edit: Now that I think about it, Venat is basically a more static ancient Zenos with a thin layer of warm gooey sugary glitter. ohnononono I'm gonna laugh for 30 aeons now