Where's the aether? (Spoilers)

[NegativeS]

We know that, in the beginning, each ancient Etheiran had their soul divided across ten and three reflections (and the Source) by Venat. So aetherically dense were these ancients and their world compared to how we are now, compared side-by-side we are mere faded specters of a will.

With each reflection Rejoined to the Source, so too does the life on that reflection perish in a world-consuming cataclysm. However, the souls of these lost lives do not immediately seek their Source counterpart to rejoin with--instead, we know that they enter the Lifestream again to be born anew. This was the sole goal of Golbez in the 6.X patches, who attempted to force a Rejoining by literally breaking down the barrier between worlds--the ramifications of which would still be unknown, as previous Rejoinings have only resulted in the reflection's aether flooding the Source, not the world itself actually colliding with the Source.

However, despite seven reflections having been Rejoined up to our current point in the story, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the Source and the reflections. We've traveled to two (three if you count Alexandria) thus far, and despite their obvious problems, the people there seem no more or less 'complete' than us. You'd think, the Source having been rejoined seven times, the denizens and worlds of Norvrandt, the Void, and Alexandria would be as faded to us as we were to the ancient Etheirans of Elpis. In fact, they pose just as much a threat to us as any being from the Source does.

So, the aether from Rejoinings isn't going into the people of the Source or its new life, nor does it seem to be suffusing the world. Hydaelyn certainly wasn't getting any of it (or she wouldn't have been on death's door since the end of ARR).

So, uhhh... where's the aether?