MSQ question

[Iscah]

For instance, Emet-Selch saw the convergence immediately, and even mentions that when MC and Hyathlo walk to the fake one. Yet instead of cutting short Hermes' interminable speech, snapping his fingers and jumping out, he simply allows himself to be memory-wiped.

Consider that we have described the future to him. Assuming he believes us despite his outward denial, he has learned that (1) he will act in ways that don't make sense with the knowledge he has gained today and (2) the only long-term way to save the world is to ensure that you get back to your own time with the information you've learned here.

Perhaps there's a degree of resignation in there, recognising it to be in line with his foretold fate that he must lose this memory.

We also don't know enough about convergences and how stable they are. Maybe it was only big enough for one or two people and they couldn't hope to have everyone else get through, so it's a matter of deciding who is most important to escape – which logically would be us, for whom the future is still a blank slate and the outcome relies on us keeping this memory intact.

That said, I've never been happy with the fact that Venat escapes along with us. The whole story would work better if she also had lost her memory, and this scene probably would have played out better if we alone escaped through a tiny crack, perhaps only able to slip through because of our weak aether.

I also think in general that things in the story "really" happen faster than they play out on screen, because the writers do love their drawn-out farewell speeches.


To be clear, I am not happy with how they handled the Elpis arc either, but I prefer to justify as much of the existing story as possible and just have thoughts on how they could have better approaches to certain details.

Emet doesn't see the confluence right away. As he says it was never anywhere until where it is the instant he makes it visible.

Going from memory, but I'm pretty sure he said it was never anywhere other than where it is – i.e. he knew it was in that place all along, but was pretending it was somewhere else.

Still an incredibly contrived scenario. Distracting Hermes? From doing what, exactly?

From blocking us when we try to escape through the confluence, seems the obvious conclusion. Perhaps it wasn't going to be open for very long once it was cracked open. And more immediately-but-hypothetically perhaps, distract Hermes from noticing the location of the real confluence (if it was visible to someone with average aetherial sight) by pretending there was one somewhere else that only the people with strong aetherial sight could see.