Quote Originally Posted by KageTokage View Post
I don't feel comfortable saying we know exactly what it is considering that we still don't know the specifics of how Ancient souls differ from ordinary ones. If all souls are gifts from the star, why they got the special treatment is something I'm hoping we get an answer to.
I would say that the more useful way to describe that question isn't 'why do we get the Echo', and more 'why does someone like Alisaie not'; we've got a full explanation for our own situation, but one that doesn't adequately explain everyone else. An explanation would be nice, but I think it's more 'Encyclopedia Eorzea territory' than anything else; I don't want to know because it's super-important, I mainly want to know so I can sufficiently explain why my roleplaying character would look at a starshower and awaken to nothing more than a realization maybe she shouldn't look directly at something like that.

As for why the Echo looks painful... I believe it was Futurama that once described an idea as 'a headache, but with pictures'. Maybe that's just how the Echo feels; like a very narratively-dense hallucinatory migraine.