It was just very badly written.

I have no issue with the fact we killed them all per se. I do have an issue that in previous expansions we would have gotten to think about it, talk about it, there would be doubts and the characters would look for alternatives, etc. I mean come on, we showed more empathy and understanding during Emet Selch's Amaurot, and that was legitimately NOT people/ascians in any form, more like a depressed dude rewatching a video recording of his dead loved ones. But here we come face to face with actual people, just in a different form, and yet we jump at the opportunity to murder them like it's nothing.

And I do have an issue with the fact that the game kind of contradicts itself in regards to what makes a living being. Did anybody read the lore tabs in Origenics? Or were we not supposed to do that or something? Because everything in Origenics basically proves that people originating from memories are just as legitimate as those originating from "soul". In the end it doesn't make a difference what order you put "soul" and "memories" together in. It still makes Aether of a living being.

Similarly Origenics brings up beings that are not really alive - aka a soulless body infused with multiple souls but no memories. THOSE are not alive. But as soon as proper memories come into play, along with a corresponding soul - you have a living being made of aether, same as any of us are.

If they wanted to put a focus on the fact that the Endless are not sustainable (which is a fact and a crucial one at that), then they should have done that. But they didn't. It gets mentioned like twice, and nobody bothers to elaborate or once again think of alternatives or of a smaller scale or anything at all. Cahciua basically tells you "don't think, there's no other options, just trust me on that, only kill" and we... go along?

It is my head cannon that the WoL is progressively more brain damaged with every expansion due to all the damage they sustain in battles. The WoL of now is a completely different person from the one I remember in Shadowbringers. Ardbert would give us a whopping if he could.