I've read some parallel split timeline stories that slapped... But I do think closed loop is best for this setting.

That or Multiverse Theory, like with Dragon Ball Z. You can change *a* future, but not *your* future.

@@BlitzkriegOmega which is how it worked in shadowbringers

It's also good for protecting the integrity of the main plot without ruining it for people who do not do the raids. You can pretty much skip raids without realising the world almost got destroyed before you head into the next xpac

At the very least, azem knows about us because venat told them about working with us in elpis, the question is how much does azem know about us being another version of them, and how did azem know that we would be coming back to deal with pandæmonium? I feel like it's implied that azem has some sort of future sight/gift of prophecy. Which now that I think of it, also makes a lot of sense considering I believe it is stated that the summoning spell we have from azem's crystal was specifically made to summon "heroes from different ages" which would imply that azem had some form of time magics.

@@althelor Azem has to have future sight. It's the only way to explain them telling Themis where to stand so we'd land on them. Yes, our unsundered soul uses their immense power to pull pranks...An alternate theory is that Azem doesn't have future sight, but is the player character who collects all their shards and goes back in time to become Azem and so we're just remembering our past, it's not that Azem sees the future, which would make the entire game one endless time loop.

HERETIC!

I woulda found a new raid group lol

@1shogunate696 I mean it was partly on me because I did give them availability times that started right after work for me and it was patch drop day.

I've covered all of the raids now. You can find them all on this playlist. The Complete Story (FFXIV Lore): kzfaq.info/sun/PLthFUv-zRWno8hSmAemExPShjPCrFQT9n

😁😁 thanks ☕️ ☕️ is always appreciated 🙏

The original timeline was G'raha's timeline. They hadn't solved the Final Days, even 200 years after the Eighth Umbral Calamity.

​@ericbright1742 Which is kinda sad tbh. Poor Metetion is still suffering in the collective consciousness and the sacrificed ancients remain trapped on the moon

There is a huge difference between them. Athena was seeking perfection to see if she could do it. Emet-Selch was attempting to undo a vicious assault. The goal of the Ascians was to put their people back together after they'd be ripped apart and reduce their suffering as they are effectively being run through a torture machine. Reduction of suffering is my second highest moral value, so I understand Emet-Selch's goal, Athena was purposely increasing suffering, the same as Venat does (for the same reason, to create what they view to be a superior version of the human race). The reason I can't agree with Emet-Selch is because respecting the autonomy of other people is my highest value. Emet-Selch didn't do this, neither did Athena, neither did Venat, neither did Hermes. The Ancients as a people seem to have a huge inability to respect the rights of others. All of them are absolutely sure they know what's best for everyone and act accordingly. However, there is an exception to my highest moral that Emet-Selch arguably squeezes through. I don't believe you should respect the autonomy of those who are unfit to make decisions for themselves. Like I don't think you should let a baby stick a butter knife in a socket cause they want to. Or let someone hallucinating jump off a building because they believe they can fly. And given the human race after being Sundered were reduced to animals incapable of speech or complex thought, they were not in a position to decide if they wanted to be run through Venat's torture machine or put back together. It was up to the last three people of their species who were of sound mind to make that decision for them. The problem is...they re-evolved. And the thing is evolution isn't a on/off switch, they weren't apes one day, people the next, it's a gradual process. And Emet-Selch's entire arc in Shadowbringers is trying to figure out if we're people yet. That was what the evaluation was about. Sure he drew the line of personhood at something stupid like being able to hold light, but when the human race has been torn apart and mutated, by what metric does one use to figure out, "are these things people yet?" You can argue sentience, but the characters don't seem to view light wardens and voidsent as people even though they are sentient. After we fail his "test," he is distraught because he wants us to be people. He wants to be able to stop. But when he goes into the lifestream, he's gonna come out as whatever we are, so he has to fix the world as much as he possibly can because this lifetime is his only chance to do so. When we defeat him, he's happy, relieved. We've proven our personhood to him. While in most cases I'd argue we shouldn't have to prove our personhood to anyone, but in most cases no one has the ability to magically devolve any entire sentient species back down to apes.

I read your entire comment and thoroughly enjoyed your breakdown. Very well stated 👏

@@ChroniclerofLore Thanks so much. I watch your videos all the time and I really love your takes. Oddly enough, the idea Emet-Selch is just tempered is a very popular take on his actions even though he explains his reasoning point by point with visual aids in Shadowbringers. I love that story because it's more like real world conflicts where no one is 100% right or 100% wrong. He has a point that we're made out of parts of his people and he has the right to become a repo man. And we have a point that we didn't steal his people's parts, we were just born with them and to give them back requires our destruction and the destruction of everyone and everything we know and love. My favorite stories are the ones where the protagonist and antagonist are both trying to do what's best for everyone, but simply disagree on what that is given that's how most people really act rather than anyone being a mustache twirling villain. We are each the hero of our own story.

@@MissKashira Can I ask you a huge favor? I'm IN LOVE with Emet-Selch and the Ascians, but unfortunately I can't play the game. I'm narrating an RPG and I'm using the Ascians as a base. Could I ask you some questions about the lore? There's a lot I don't understand and I wanted to do something as faithful as possible.

@@mariannafriedrich9536 Sure, but you should know there are a lot of things left open-ended and I am highly biased towards one interpretation of events over the more accepted one given it makes more sense and is more consistent, while the other better fits the tone, but would require accepting several inconsistencies.