Tales from the Dawn #3: "A Question of Life" (Hermes)

[Zero-ELEC]

Another week, another tale, Tales from the Dawn's third chapter, "A Question of Life" follows the perspective of Hermes, during, before, and after the events on Elpis.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes.../sidestory_03/

No big revelations, or anything but its neat to see the Meteia's creation and Hermes' perspective post Kairos.

[aveyond-dreams]

None of this has helped me feel more sympathetic to Hermes in any way shape or form. The guy needed to man up, I hope to never encounter another "sad boi" as some have dubbed him in the MSQ again. A thoroughly unlikeable character to the last.

[Cleretic]

None of this has helped me feel more sympathetic to Hermes in any way shape or form. The guy needed to man up, I hope to never encounter another "sad boi" as some have dubbed him in the MSQ again. A thoroughly unlikeable character to the last.

He DID man up, that was the problem. He normally just kept his feelings quiet, this is the one time he didn't.


Nothing here is surprising, though: he's still very clearly depressed and still clearly not getting the outreach he needed. There's neat info on Meteion's makeup, though, and confirmation she actually was peer-reviewed, which... frankly makes the Ancients look even dumber; seriously, how was Emet the only person to notice the problem?

Genuinely disappointed that we got Another Goddamn Ancient Story, though. We hit up four societies in Endwalker (well, four plus Ultima Thule which is difficult to quantify), that actually would've fit quite perfectly into the batch of four, but now either Thavnair or Garlemald is getting shafted; possibly both, I still can't count out that the fourth will be 'what does Emet-Selch think about this'. And we're gonna get more of the same insufferable discourse.

[Enkidoh]

Hidden among the usual extrapolation about the story's spotlight character is an interesting tidbit unrelated to Hermes, is perhaps a hint as to why other worlds fell, and it all goes back to Dynamis as an energy source - it appears that just like Etheirys/Hydaelyn is extremely rich in aether, some parts of the universe Dynamis is far more potent - one such sector identified by Meteion in that story seeming to hint as to Ultima Thule's location, and hence why she ultimately made her nest there.

Other than that, there was no real groundbreaking revelations to be had - other than confirming Hermes has always suffered from crippling depression from day one. Far be it for me to crucify him for that (I would never hold it against anyone who suffers from the 'black dog', instead only giving sympathy, compassion and understanding), it just underlines his actual failing and that was simply messing around with something that he did not understand (Dynamis) - everything that went wrong in the world, all goes back to that one stupid decision. But, that's life I guess.

It's going to be interesting to see what the final story will be about - something to do with Garlemald's fall and the Alliance mission there? Or maybe the finale in Ultima Thule?

EDIT: and I just realized... the final story is going to be about Zenos, I just know it....

[Lustre]

I can't stand hermes, dude's as deep as a puddle and comes across as nothing more than an over-emotional manchild who didn't deserve the position he held. This just confirmed what I already thought. They made him three characters in one and it was still hard to care about him, other than to express annoyance at the illogicality of his actions

[Lyth]

Repressed emotion seems to be a recurring theme for Amaurot. The aether vs. dynamis dichotomy seems to mirror this as well. Hermes is very much a product of Amaurotine society.

[Carin-Eri]

Whilst I understand it was probably written with the WoL from the trailers/cinematics in mind, I'll admit that - reading from a player perspective - it did bother me a little that this was written as it was:
"Azem's familiar ─ or so it had been initially claimed. In truth, he was a traveler from the future, from a time long after civilization as Hermes knew it had ended"

Surely it would've been better to have worded said sentence as "in truth, they were..." because reading this story as someone who played that part of the game and whose character is female, I can't really relate to that part of. It breaks immersion somewhat.

[Cleretic]

It's going to be interesting to see what the final story will be about - something to do with Garlemald's fall and the Alliance mission there? Or maybe the finale in Ultima Thule?

I'm really hoping for a story about Garlemald's fall; that's not entirely untrodden ground, of course (it'd basically be reiterating on Quintus' and Jullus' stories), but there's still parts that haven't gotten light shined on them, and Garlemald's storytelling was top-notch if brief. And thinking more pragmatically, Garlemald is the one corner of Endwalker that's getting no focus at all in 6.2; Sharlayan and Amaurot are sharing Pandaemonium, Ultima Thule is getting the Omicron tribes, Mare Lamentorum's sharing some of the spotlight in both Hildibrand and the Omicrons, and Thavnair's getting both the MSQ and relic weapon focus.

If not, a story about Thavnair falling to the End of Days would be good. Maybe focusing on Nidhana, she's fun and also oddly unaccounted for during most of the Thavnair revisit. That's a gap to fill.

[Enkidoh]

Carin, there is an option in the top-right hand corner of the page that allows you to change the WoL's gender in the story to suit your character (all stories that mention or hint at the WoL have that function).

Garlemald is the one corner of Endwalker that's getting no focus at all in 6.2; Sharlayan and Amaurot are sharing Pandaemonium, Ultima Thule is getting the Omicron tribes, Mare Lamentorum's sharing some of the spotlight in both Hildibrand and the Omicrons, and Thavnair's getting both the MSQ and relic weapon focus.

Oh I agree, although the Role Quest lines did converge and have their finale in Garlemald, so there is that. But more story content in Garlemald (such as a reconstruction) would definetely be welcomed too.

[EaraGrace]

I really liked this one. I’m of course biased to love the first story as well, but this I think gives a lot more insight into what happened at Ktisis.

While to each their own about whether it’s convincing, I think the story objectively adds further nuance to his character. I personally always found him sympathetic, but not defensible, and this story has only reinforced that. Onto the specifics!

Oof that first paragraph. Bitterness drips from it , though I can’t lie and say I don’t relate. Theres a line to be drawn between how he felt his feelings were treated and how he felt disagreements are treated as well. Both are minimized, limited in scope and intensity, and ultimately washed away.

Some of the parts feel intensionally written to answer some of the criticisms of his character. Others were involved in Meteions creation, though it seems largely limited. Still, the fact that others knew of the plan and agreed to it kind of undermines the point that he was acting irresponsibly. It’s clear he did recognize the hypocrisy in releasing the creations, and in placing such a burden on the Meteia. Does that eliminate the problem? Not really, but it definitely makes it clear he was aware but felt his back was against the wall. Meteions report really was his last hope, and for that he was ready to give anything to see it delivered.

That throwaway descriptions of the dynamis worlds Meteion came across are very interesting. A pool of aether that resembles the aetherial sea, filled with memories, surrounded by a storm of dynamis? Metal.

Nothing here is surprising, though: he's still very clearly depressed and still clearly not getting the outreach he needed. There's neat info on Meteion's makeup, though, and confirmation she actually was peer-reviewed, which... frankly makes the Ancients look even dumber; seriously, how was Emet the only person to notice the problem?

Because we’re trying to apply an understanding about existence that is completely antithetical to the one the Ancients were operating on. To them life was a joyous thing, meant to be experienced and then relinquished happily without the kinds of extreme emotions that characterizes our own experiences. They couldn’t accept that the answer would be bad, because they have no reason to believe that’s a possibility.