When Meteion is giving her speech about the civilizations that failed, the camera cuts to Venat as Meteion speaks of a Civilization that achieved perfection and fell to apathy because of it. That is Venat's reason for the sundering.
No, the reason she sundered is to stop Zodiark and the need to sacrifice 10,000 people Every Day to keep Zodiark alive to balance the Aether of the star...
@@NimootWhere did you get that nonsense? thats sound more like 40k no FF 14 ... There were 2 sacrifices and a 3rd planed, but prevented by the sundering ... Hythlo told us when we first talked with him in waiting for our permit in shb. The first time half the surviving population sacrificed itself to create Zodiark and stop the final days The second time half of the rest sacrificed itself to make the planet capable of supporting life again The 3rd planed one was to nurture new life on the restored planet and then when its bustling with life sacrifice as much of the new life to zodiark so it would return the people previously sacrificed back That was the one Venat and her group opposed ... The whole scene of Venat confronting some of her people is how they do not want to accept pain and suffering but want to go back to their "paradasie" of joy and bliss exactly as te civilization Metion reported on, its why Venat reacted like that she realized close to that her own people were Also at the point of the sundering Venat already was the heart of Hydelin .. she may have separated herself from Hydelin like Elidibus did, or it may just symbolize Hydelin trying to reach out to her people to sway them away from the math and Zodiark before she has to take the extreme option ... After all she told us she does not believe in an unchangeable future, and again in the convo before we left ... she will move forward taking nothing for granted ... so she would try things before going as far as the sundering
One small detail that people don't often notice is Hyth's expressions during the Final Days. He's smiling as usual when facing Hades, but as he turns around, he becomes scared yet resigned. He doesn't want to leave Emet (especially not like this since the trio promised to return to the star together), but since he's fully aware of his own limitations, he feels like it's the only thing he can do in that situation.
When Venat was taking that long walk of pain, I assumed it was her battling Zodiark. "And they fought, and they fought, and they fought..." And in the end, she was victorious. So said Emet back in ShB.
Everytime Venat was struck and covered in black blood was her experiencing a rejoining. So she actually felt the death of Etherius and all life on each shard 7/8 times. Imagine that pain.
Also worth noting, the only reason the blood was black to begin with was to avoid getting a higher rating. A little blood here and there is fine, but a character drenched in blood would instantly raise it.
10 years.... 10 years Answers kept it's lyrics meaning a secret. Yoshi had taken over and redirected the story's path by the time the servers shut down when this song first aired. That alone made this story for me and everything else was a blessing to experience. And Endwalker's message of hope and how they told this story was pure therapy sorely needed after these past few years.
Remember back in shadowbringers before the Gauntlet of Heros, the second starshower was happening and Amarot was above the sea, 2 men on the deck were effected by the echo. One asked if they heard a voice but the other man was crying not knowing why he feels so sad.The very same motions Hermies was doing during the final days.
When she staggers and turns darker, those are the rejoinings. She was weakened by each one until she could barely hold on and couldn’t even communicate with us well
But if you need pain to find meaning in life, then shouldn’t be oblivion, the state of nonexistence, better? I think that’s the conclusion she reached.
@@neitherlink6612 Is it better to have lived to know love and pain, or to have never existed and known neither? I guess depending on who you ask, you'll get different answers but I'm 100% in favor of the former, and I base this on real life experiences. Even if I was hurt, I would choose to repeat the experience. The good memories are more important than the hurt, and I would not wish these out of existence just to avoid the suffering... I feel the choice of nonexistence is a deeply immature one - and well, Meteion is an immature and imperfect being, so it's absolutely in character for her to have that reasoning.
That final scene with Venat is probably one of the best, if not the THE best, cutscene they've made in all of FFXIV's history. The voice acting, the choice of song, and the direction of the scenes, everything is just absolutely perfect.
@26:40 Every reaction I found on RUclips has been missing out on this witty self-aware humor coming from Emet Selch. Glad to find someone else whom had the same laugh/chuckle out of it.
I like how endwalker use answers as theme. And how you can compair the meaning of it to so much that happens in the story 1. The fall of dalamud. 2.the crys of help of the ancient and the people of our time
Overrated: Realizing Venat is Mom for WoL and the whole of the source and its reflections Underrated: Realizing Emet-Selch is Dad 29:40 - finally the answer to the big open question left by 5.3... why Emet-Selch chose to save you over Elidibus - he remember who you were and what you were fighting for 38:40 - if you look, you see the first slump in Emet-Selch's posture, at the moment he said goodbye to his friend
I love the absolute bit of silence at the end where you and your character are just processing what you witnessed, and the music of the occular almost reminding you to breathe
I think Hermes’s thought process is understandable. He was already not in a stable state of mind being plagued by thoughts of sadness. He created many familiars to send out into the universe to find meaning in life. Every single one of them found death and despair. It broke him. Who wouldn’t after hearing that not a single world out there gave him a good answer? Only a nihilistic one. But should it dissuade us to live and find happiness an meaning in our own way? Even if life makes us endure suffering in one form or another? People aren’t infallible, but they can find a way to live.
So yeah Venat shoulder all the pain, suffering and responsibility to save the world. No amount of sacrifice can surpass what she done to the world. Can you believe if someone said Hydaelyn will be their most favorite character in the game when FF 14 started? Man, can't believe how amazing her back story is.
There are lots of theories what those hits represent: My interpretation is that: The first where she looses he sword represents Rejoinings, and specifically the 7th Calamity, after which she became almost powerless, barely able to even communicate ... The second represents her protecting us, and taking some of the hits for us, and if I were to give a specific instance it would be her protecting us from Ultima in Preatorium ... Lahabrea even notes that shielding us exhausted what strength she had left. But yeah that was such a heavy and well done scene, and that ending flashing between her and us - echoing her words before we left Elpis "As you move forward so will I"... it was beautiful in a tragic way.
I heard that the black ooze on her by the end was meant to be blood, but that was changed in the final version to keep the PG 13+ classification. Not 100% sure if true, but I'm rolling with it for now
@@VkaraujoHusk I think its true, it would not be the first time they had to change things from their original intention to keep the raiting, like the sineaters cocoons
Something I didn't see mentioned in the comments but you've probably understood since this vid went up, Zodiark wasn't "evil" or a malicious actor, representative of suffering or anything. His purpose was to shield the world from the final days, which he continued to do even when sundered and trapped in the moon shard's moons. The ancients just got addicted to the idea of "if we offer up enough lives, we can press CTRL+Z as many times as we want!"
Hmm, I suspect however that the Ancients may have been becoming enthralled by Zodiark, much like the beastmen with their Primals, hence why they don't seem to see the senselessness in repeated sacrifices. Just a theory.
@@xen0bia That element of summoning was not present with the original primals, it was added by the Ascians when they gave the method to the beastmen. (This is mentioned in Endwalker before you go to the final map.)
@@paragonpaladin8105 Yeah, they aren't magically compelled to serve Zodiark like people are to Primals. But Zodiark's mere existence, serves as a huge temptation. Crops are bad some year? Just sacrifice to Zodiark and it's all fine. Natural Disaster? Just sacrifice to Zodiark and it's all fine. Love of your life died? Just sacrifice to Zodiark and it's all fine. That's why Venat makes the line about "From that temptation, I sunder us." She knows so long as mankind has access to Zodiark, people will always be tempted to take the easy way out and use him to resolve all their problems. They will never grow or move on from negative events in life, just keep "reloading the save".
Like the Elpis flower, Meteion react to all the emotions and memories each of them witness, and as seem during your time togather, she takes them all in to the degree that she cannot separate which is what taken in and which is her own. After witnessing countless tragedy, All that is Meteion's own is buried deep inside the torrent of dark emotions. Like Venat said, her shared consciousness is now despair incarnate.
This cutscene hits so hard. Venat didn't just help summon Hydaelyn. She alone summoned her to sunder our world, to keep mankind from killing themselves off in their attempts to keep fueling Zodiark. Singlehandedly, she sundered us, split our worlds, and using Zodiark's sundered body, shielded us from Meteion. That one day, we, her champion, would arise to save us all. And a final note.. remember what Hythlodaeus said, about remembering things once you die. Now remember Shadowbringers. The fight with Elidibus. When Emet brought us back. He did so... because in death, he remembered.
You can't take this cutscene as 100% truth on how the events unfolded. Venat had other supporters with her when they summoned Hydaelyn and she became her heart. She didn't do everything alone.
small fun fact: After you defeat Zodiark, in his final moments when Amon has his monologue of hopelessness he says "In death prove me wrong." or sth similar to that extent, even without his full memories he still knew what he did as Hermes, like it was branded onto his soul o: I find that fascinating, the writing is top notch giving us such a meaningful yet unsseming foreshadowing. I didnt fully get it until I was at this point, its freaking amazing
You can also see the scene of Hythlodaeus walking away in another way. Hythlodaeus and the other Ancients walked back, sacrificing themselves to bring back the Past. Emet-Selch and the other unsundered couldn’t accept that sacrifice and wanted to bring their friends back, also looking back to the past. Venat and those who followed her, however, decided to look to the future and keep walking onwards, despite the sorrow and pain.
that hits she takes is: 1) some says is representation of the rejoining 2) some says its the hit she took instead of WOL at Ultima wep fight and emit fight
its number one. the scope of the pain of feeling the death of an entire world far outweighs a simple hit she took for the WoL. A shield spell from a literal god can do the latter, nothing can shield the pain of the 1st.
Lyrics 46:55 . "To entrust unto tomorrow" + Visuals Answers not only says suffering and getting through it is the answer, it also says death is ok. You entrust the future to the next generation Scene shows Venat then WoL in similar states. Implies that she watched a human post sundering vs one of the peaks of Ascian power (Hades) fight, and the WoL wins. This ties into her lines after WoL beats her. "We'll find our way, Venat" > "Of that I have no doubt" and allows herself to die peacefully. Remember in Elpis, she says her purpose / reason she has not returned to the lifestream is that she feels she needs to guide humanity. WIth the WoL proving his/her worth, she decides her task is done
@@RicktatorRick was just interesting info I found added some extra weight to that, like really hit home how on the brink of death venat is and she’s still trudging forward
Leaving here incase anyone sees this in the future and are confused as Ricktator was during the intiial viewing. That cutscene is a metaphor or gross over simplification of what was going on during the actual Final Days, shedding just enough light into Venat during that time. First, the Ancients tried a LOT of stuff to fight off the coming destruction. They didn't realize it was external to the star, they thought the threads of aether were just unwinding. Second, they basically adjusted their creation magik to align more with what we know as summoning, eventually figuring out how to summon a primal. Finally, the Convocation decided to summon Zodiark. His one and only job was to stablize the aether shroud around the Star (initially). A lot of Ancients had already died, but of those left, 1/2 gave up their lives, willingly. Venat had to let this happen to allow the time needed for the "master" plan. This left the star stabalized, but still basically destroyed. So they sacrificed 1/2 of the now remaining to bring back life to the star. Then, the plan was to sacrifice all that non-ancient life to bring back all the dead Ancients. This is where Venat and her followers stepped in. Up to this point, we though she and her followers were just tired of the killing. But now we know, she did it to allow mankind to, simply put, control their feelings, aka learn dynamis. Even IF she informed the Ancients of meteion. Even if she revealed the threat was outside the star, the Ancients WILL ALWAYS LOSE against Metieon, because they can not interact with dynamis. When her followers sacrificed themselves, Venat became the heart of Hydaelyn, (like Elidibus became heart of Zodiark). She did physically fight Zodiark , eventually expelling him from the planet, and then sundering the world which split Zodiarks power, the Aether in mankind, and set forth the 13000 years for mankind to evolve and grow and through suffering, learn joy. The hits Venat takes are up for each persons interupretation. Most assume its sunderings, it could be more just fights in general where she helps the world advance. Regardless what the "hits" are, the 13000 years takes a toll, as she truly does love all life, but she has to endure watching them suffer to one day have a chance of living. She slowly burns through her aether, and thus the weekend steps. And after all the debates, the confusion, the wondering of where Hydaelon was all this time, we finally learn, she was there there, walking with us. Also, as a side note, Emet-Selch wasn't torn. He was alone. And you see the first trace of that desire to fix what happened, no matter the cost. When the plan to summon Zodiark was announced, the only member of the Convocation to be against it was Azem, who stepped down and left. No records show where they went during the final days, but it wasn't with their people. Then his best friend volunteered to sacrifice themselves as part of the 1/2. Finally, Venat , goes into open rebellion against the Convocation. His entire world, physical and emotional, fell apart.
Fun easter egg here, but if you play as the job that played through the end of Shadowbringers, the flashbacks to that moment will have your character in their equipment from that time. A pretty fantastic touch.
38:58 but he did pick a path. It was mentioned that the people of Aetherys highly revered the convocation so they are kind of like the last bastion of hope. That they would bring everything back together through Zodiark - this is of course implied but you can see why there are three of them that are unsundered. It was not specifically mentioned why there are only three of them, but the convocation was like first class citizens that can make things right. So Hyth, being a second class citizen, had to be sacrificed to zodiark, of course by his own will. Same with Venat's choice to not be fed to Zodiark.
You mentioned that it was the magics that were corrupted in the 1st final days. This is partially incorrect. Fear (dynamis) caused their magics to go out of control. The art of creation requires complete and total focus, stray thoughts can corrupt the process. Watching the world burn around you, people die, would cause the best defense they had to warp and twist in ways they couldn't control or understand.
This isn't right either. They make it clear that ancients can't be affected by the emotions of dynamis. Its why WoL can hear Meteion's thoughts but the others can't. Their magic is less aether-dense than their bodies/souls, so dynamis is able to corrupt it. Once this starts to happen it creates a negative feedback loop, causing them to lose more and more control over their magics due to their own fear and confusion, thereby leaving their magics more and more subsceptible to the dynamis. But at no point does the dynamis directly affect the ancients themselves, their fear is entirely their own.
@@debrucey Not true. Elidibus clearly shows they can exceed their limits as well. Hermes doesn't say they are incapable of interacting with Dynamis he says that they can not make practical use of it. If the ancients were unable to interact or be effected by dynamis please explain how the flowers would react to their dynamis?
@@chrisbaldwin8570 Dynamis is put in motion by feelings, and Ancients have feelings. So they’re able to emit dynamis, albeit without meaning to, or even being aware of it. But dynamis can’t interact with them, they’re too aether dense. So the song of oblivion didn’t directly affect them, it affected their magic. Also, if you are referring to Elidibus’ limit break, that doesn’t count. He was drawing on the power of sundered warriors of light.
I'm not 100% sure if this is correct, but it is believed that during Venat's walk through darkness the injuries she acquires are due to the rejoinings as each one weakened her and brought Zodiark closer to being freed.
Lol. I just noticed, as a conjurer type healer from the distant past, Venat was able to cast stone skin on you. Which is a spell that was removed from the game quite a while ago 🤣
the moments where she's taking damage while walking in the shadow represent the attacks against her and the losses of the shards to ascian machinations. Remember, over the course of the game's story she was growing weaker and weaker.
She suffered a lot for us, but I will point out that the way she decided to handle things was very autocratic. We know by fact that 50% of ascian were going to be sacrificed willingly. If we factor in the convocation members who were also pro-zodiark and the existance of neutrals parties, if there was an election, the Zodiark solution would have won. She also alienated the Convocation of fourteen. Yes, I understand her motives, but it is very possible that if they knew the reality of the final days they could have come with a better solution. Hermes was the only one who knew anything about dynamis, Emet was noted several times as having way more aether than anyone else, Lahabrea was a very prolific designer of concepts (Phoenix, Ifrita, and several others, most likely Zodiark design itself). For me, this explains why Azem did not join her faction in the end. She was acting in a very paternalistic way. It came from a place of love, but no one should just assume they are the only adult in the room, the only one who knows the way. Don't get me wrong, a love the character and the story, wouldn't changed a thing. Just saying she has her own sins too
In regards to alienating the convocation, she did explain her reasoning on your last meeting before going back. It would alienate Hermes within the convocation and no one knows if he's gonna be a friend or foe after finding out what he did. With the dynamis bit, they still can't do much about it because they are beings of dense aether with little to no possible control over dynamis. That's not even to mention that their utopian society would make it hard for them to find ways to deal with fear and despair as shown on that scene where they would rather live in ignorant bliss than deal with reality. Later on, it was also confirmed that the sundering was to allow us to better interact with dynamis and find ways to overcome despair so we can go pursue meteion. That's not to say I disagree, she definitely has her own sins too though I can't completely fault her for them. Biggest sin she has was causing the sundering after all. At least she stood by her decision and even if it caused untold number of deaths throughout the eons, it did get to a point mankind has the strength to find their way forward and overcome despair.
@@darkmirror21 this is one of those things that hits harder the more you think about it. yes, we all feel for emet because of what he went through, but venat went through so much more. emet at least had the ascians with him, venat had no one after a point. i sometimes think about her creating the loporits(spelling?),living way, and as Hydaelyn holds her in her hands, she wonders if the humans will find her adorable and non threatening, and if they would listen to living way. maybe talking to herself in a way that livingway is now used to after seeing her do it as she creates more and more bunnies. and as she sits alone, in pain and sadness, she might shed a tear or two, for her lost friends, for the many lives her decisions have cost, for her chosen who she has placed on a hard path, and for herself, because no one is above suffering, not even gods. wish my skills were better so i could draw that scene. i can see it in my head, but it doesnt translate through my hands.
Just remember, Emet Selch admitted at the end of EW, that they couldn't have brought humanity this far with their methods. The Ancients would have died as every other advanced civilization around the universe had died out due to their own mistakes in pursuit of perfection and utopia. Venat's path was literally the only way humanity could survive.
The Convocation might have come up with a better solution, but their society's hubris showed that they believed they were entitled to an existence of naught but bliss. Venat made the best decisions she could with what she had. At the end of the zone you see her literally weigh the possibilities, going forward. She was more than cognizant of all of this. She has her own sins, which she openly discusses in her trial and discusses in her narration of the last Elpis cutscene. She said that her decision was anything but kind, anything but compassionate - but that it was the only way to save the star. Also, I'm not sure you can say you know what Azem actually did. It's pretty much an assumption you've made, there. I can't say I agree that Venat's decision was "autocratic"'; I think both she and Hermes could argue that their very culture as a society was terribly lockstep, even autocratically enforced cultural mores of "be productive until you're ready to say you're done, then you die. it's an honor, really!" This sort of society did nothing for someone like Hermes, who was not content to just let his charges die just because a committee decided they didn't deserve to live because they didn't serve the star enough. He asserted that all life had inherent value, and no one seemed to understand him because of it. Would it have been autocratic for her to decide to let the star and all of its life perish? Where's the line drawn?
![Thou Must Live, Die, and Know | FFXIV Endwalker Reactions [Part 14]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NmII_11ryJQ/mqdefault.jpg)
When Meteion is giving her speech about the civilizations that failed, the camera cuts to Venat as Meteion speaks of a Civilization that achieved perfection and fell to apathy because of it.
That is Venat's reason for the sundering.
No, the reason she sundered is to stop Zodiark and the need to sacrifice 10,000 people Every Day to keep Zodiark alive to balance the Aether of the star...
@@NimootWhere did you get that nonsense? thats sound more like 40k no FF 14 ...
There were 2 sacrifices and a 3rd planed, but prevented by the sundering ...
Hythlo told us when we first talked with him in waiting for our permit in shb.
The first time half the surviving population sacrificed itself to create Zodiark and stop the final days
The second time half of the rest sacrificed itself to make the planet capable of supporting life again
The 3rd planed one was to nurture new life on the restored planet and then when its bustling with life sacrifice as much of the new life to zodiark so it would return the people previously sacrificed back
That was the one Venat and her group opposed ...
The whole scene of Venat confronting some of her people is how they do not want to accept pain and suffering but want to go back to their "paradasie" of joy and bliss exactly as te civilization Metion reported on, its why Venat reacted like that she realized close to that her own people were
Also at the point of the sundering Venat already was the heart of Hydelin .. she may have separated herself from Hydelin like Elidibus did, or it may just symbolize Hydelin trying to reach out to her people to sway them away from the math and Zodiark before she has to take the extreme option ...
After all she told us she does not believe in an unchangeable future, and again in the convo before we left ... she will move forward taking nothing for granted ... so she would try things before going as far as the sundering
No words, none...simply one of the best cutscenes of any game, any era, any system.
The depth of the writing was so good
One small detail that people don't often notice is Hyth's expressions during the Final Days. He's smiling as usual when facing Hades, but as he turns around, he becomes scared yet resigned. He doesn't want to leave Emet (especially not like this since the trio promised to return to the star together), but since he's fully aware of his own limitations, he feels like it's the only thing he can do in that situation.
When Venat was taking that long walk of pain, I assumed it was her battling Zodiark.
"And they fought, and they fought, and they fought..." And in the end, she was victorious.
So said Emet back in ShB.
Everytime Venat was struck and covered in black blood was her experiencing a rejoining. So she actually felt the death of Etherius and all life on each shard 7/8 times. Imagine that pain.
Also big hits like protecting us from Ultima, most likely
Just to layer this, when the blood drops, 7 "big" drops appear hinting at 7 rejoinings.
Also worth noting, the only reason the blood was black to begin with was to avoid getting a higher rating. A little blood here and there is fine, but a character drenched in blood would instantly raise it.
10 years.... 10 years Answers kept it's lyrics meaning a secret. Yoshi had taken over and redirected the story's path by the time the servers shut down when this song first aired. That alone made this story for me and everything else was a blessing to experience. And Endwalker's message of hope and how they told this story was pure therapy sorely needed after these past few years.
Remember back in shadowbringers before the Gauntlet of Heros, the second starshower was happening and Amarot was above the sea, 2 men on the deck were effected by the echo.
One asked if they heard a voice but the other man was crying not knowing why he feels so sad.The very same motions Hermies was doing during the final days.
Holy hell I never noticed that connection
When she staggers and turns darker, those are the rejoinings. She was weakened by each one until she could barely hold on and couldn’t even communicate with us well
They brought it all back to the lyrics of Answers. It still hits me like a truck.
"they found that joy lose its savor in the absence of sorrow."
You had your answer right there. Just need to get sorrow back. Can't be that hard.
But if you need pain to find meaning in life, then shouldn’t be oblivion, the state of nonexistence, better?
I think that’s the conclusion she reached.
@@neitherlink6612 Is it better to have lived to know love and pain, or to have never existed and known neither? I guess depending on who you ask, you'll get different answers but I'm 100% in favor of the former, and I base this on real life experiences. Even if I was hurt, I would choose to repeat the experience. The good memories are more important than the hurt, and I would not wish these out of existence just to avoid the suffering... I feel the choice of nonexistence is a deeply immature one - and well, Meteion is an immature and imperfect being, so it's absolutely in character for her to have that reasoning.
This hits so deep. XIV has a habit of teaching important Shinto life lessons.
That final scene with Venat is probably one of the best, if not the THE best, cutscene they've made in all of FFXIV's history. The voice acting, the choice of song, and the direction of the scenes, everything is just absolutely perfect.
It's incredible
@26:40 Every reaction I found on RUclips has been missing out on this witty self-aware humor coming from Emet Selch. Glad to find someone else whom had the same laugh/chuckle out of it.
Emet Selch is probably one of the greatest characters ever written. The voice actor nailed it too.
I like how endwalker use answers as theme. And how you can compair the meaning of it to so much that happens in the story 1. The fall of dalamud. 2.the crys of help of the ancient and the people of our time
Overrated: Realizing Venat is Mom for WoL and the whole of the source and its reflections
Underrated: Realizing Emet-Selch is Dad
29:40 - finally the answer to the big open question left by 5.3... why Emet-Selch chose to save you over Elidibus - he remember who you were and what you were fighting for
38:40 - if you look, you see the first slump in Emet-Selch's posture, at the moment he said goodbye to his friend
Emet is def dad. I guess that makes Hythlodaeus brother? Lol
@@RicktatorRick Hythlo is definitely the cool uncle.
I love the absolute bit of silence at the end where you and your character are just processing what you witnessed, and the music of the occular almost reminding you to breathe
It was so heavy...
I think Hermes’s thought process is understandable. He was already not in a stable state of mind being plagued by thoughts of sadness. He created many familiars to send out into the universe to find meaning in life. Every single one of them found death and despair. It broke him. Who wouldn’t after hearing that not a single world out there gave him a good answer? Only a nihilistic one. But should it dissuade us to live and find happiness an meaning in our own way? Even if life makes us endure suffering in one form or another? People aren’t infallible, but they can find a way to live.
So yeah Venat shoulder all the pain, suffering and responsibility to save the world. No amount of sacrifice can surpass what she done to the world. Can you believe if someone said Hydaelyn will be their most favorite character in the game when FF 14 started? Man, can't believe how amazing her back story is.
There are lots of theories what those hits represent:
My interpretation is that:
The first where she looses he sword represents Rejoinings, and specifically the 7th Calamity, after which she became almost powerless, barely able to even communicate ...
The second represents her protecting us, and taking some of the hits for us, and if I were to give a specific instance it would be her protecting us from Ultima in Preatorium ... Lahabrea even notes that shielding us exhausted what strength she had left.
But yeah that was such a heavy and well done scene, and that ending flashing between her and us - echoing her words before we left Elpis "As you move forward so will I"... it was beautiful in a tragic way.
I heard that the black ooze on her by the end was meant to be blood, but that was changed in the final version to keep the PG 13+ classification. Not 100% sure if true, but I'm rolling with it for now
@@VkaraujoHusk I think its true, it would not be the first time they had to change things from their original intention to keep the raiting, like the sineaters cocoons
You just with your head in your hands at the very end of the vid was such a mood-
That Sundering cutscene destroyed me
Venat took all of those hits for us in those trials.
Sadly ppl require justice where Venat didn’t resolve in full
That was my 4th wall realization for me and hit little harder because I have been raiding since day 1 in FF14.
Something I didn't see mentioned in the comments but you've probably understood since this vid went up, Zodiark wasn't "evil" or a malicious actor, representative of suffering or anything. His purpose was to shield the world from the final days, which he continued to do even when sundered and trapped in the moon shard's moons.
The ancients just got addicted to the idea of "if we offer up enough lives, we can press CTRL+Z as many times as we want!"
Yep! You're right! Also they wanted to go back to their "perfect" setup they had.
Hmm, I suspect however that the Ancients may have been becoming enthralled by Zodiark, much like the beastmen with their Primals, hence why they don't seem to see the senselessness in repeated sacrifices. Just a theory.
@@xen0bia That element of summoning was not present with the original primals, it was added by the Ascians when they gave the method to the beastmen. (This is mentioned in Endwalker before you go to the final map.)
@@paragonpaladin8105 Yeah, they aren't magically compelled to serve Zodiark like people are to Primals. But Zodiark's mere existence, serves as a huge temptation.
Crops are bad some year? Just sacrifice to Zodiark and it's all fine.
Natural Disaster? Just sacrifice to Zodiark and it's all fine.
Love of your life died? Just sacrifice to Zodiark and it's all fine.
That's why Venat makes the line about "From that temptation, I sunder us." She knows so long as mankind has access to Zodiark, people will always be tempted to take the easy way out and use him to resolve all their problems. They will never grow or move on from negative events in life, just keep "reloading the save".
At least Elidibus was a bit temperd, I think. He did lose himself after he became the Heart of Zodiac.
Like the Elpis flower, Meteion react to all the emotions and memories each of them witness, and as seem during your time togather, she takes them all in to the degree that she cannot separate which is what taken in and which is her own.
After witnessing countless tragedy, All that is Meteion's own is buried deep inside the torrent of dark emotions. Like Venat said, her shared consciousness is now despair incarnate.
Yea it's horrible...
This cutscene hits so hard. Venat didn't just help summon Hydaelyn. She alone summoned her to sunder our world, to keep mankind from killing themselves off in their attempts to keep fueling Zodiark. Singlehandedly, she sundered us, split our worlds, and using Zodiark's sundered body, shielded us from Meteion. That one day, we, her champion, would arise to save us all.
And a final note.. remember what Hythlodaeus said, about remembering things once you die.
Now remember Shadowbringers. The fight with Elidibus. When Emet brought us back. He did so... because in death, he remembered.
You can't take this cutscene as 100% truth on how the events unfolded. Venat had other supporters with her when they summoned Hydaelyn and she became her heart. She didn't do everything alone.
"Do not squander it. This legacy I leave you" hits so deep after what he said to us in Shadowbringers.
It does!!!
small fun fact: After you defeat Zodiark, in his final moments when Amon has his monologue of hopelessness he says "In death prove me wrong." or sth similar to that extent, even without his full memories he still knew what he did as Hermes, like it was branded onto his soul o: I find that fascinating, the writing is top notch giving us such a meaningful yet unsseming foreshadowing. I didnt fully get it until I was at this point, its freaking amazing
Oh I never considered that! Great catch and yea the writing is incredible!
@@RicktatorRick also im not sure if someone else said it alrdy, but Venat didnt sunder the world to stop Zodiark...not really but ull get there!
You can also see the scene of Hythlodaeus walking away in another way. Hythlodaeus and the other Ancients walked back, sacrificing themselves to bring back the Past. Emet-Selch and the other unsundered couldn’t accept that sacrifice and wanted to bring their friends back, also looking back to the past. Venat and those who followed her, however, decided to look to the future and keep walking onwards, despite the sorrow and pain.
Nice catch!
that hits she takes is:
1) some says is representation of the rejoining
2) some says its the hit she took instead of WOL at Ultima wep fight and emit fight
its number one. the scope of the pain of feeling the death of an entire world far outweighs a simple hit she took for the WoL. A shield spell from a literal god can do the latter, nothing can shield the pain of the 1st.
Lyrics 46:55 . "To entrust unto tomorrow" + Visuals
Answers not only says suffering and getting through it is the answer, it also says death is ok. You entrust the future to the next generation
Scene shows Venat then WoL in similar states. Implies that she watched a human post sundering vs one of the peaks of Ascian power (Hades) fight, and the WoL wins.
This ties into her lines after WoL beats her. "We'll find our way, Venat" > "Of that I have no doubt" and allows herself to die peacefully.
Remember in Elpis, she says her purpose / reason she has not returned to the lifestream is that she feels she needs to guide humanity. WIth the WoL proving his/her worth, she decides her task is done
FYI the original version of that cutscene it wasn’t darkness all over Venat it was blood but they couldn’t get it past the ratings board like that.
I could definitely see that being the case as to what it was meant to look like.
@@RicktatorRick was just interesting info I found added some extra weight to that, like really hit home how on the brink of death venat is and she’s still trudging forward
@@drewmalekith4614 I know!!! She's such a badass
Oh boy are you in for some tears
Leaving here incase anyone sees this in the future and are confused as Ricktator was during the intiial viewing.
That cutscene is a metaphor or gross over simplification of what was going on during the actual Final Days, shedding just enough light into Venat during that time. First, the Ancients tried a LOT of stuff to fight off the coming destruction. They didn't realize it was external to the star, they thought the threads of aether were just unwinding. Second, they basically adjusted their creation magik to align more with what we know as summoning, eventually figuring out how to summon a primal. Finally, the Convocation decided to summon Zodiark. His one and only job was to stablize the aether shroud around the Star (initially). A lot of Ancients had already died, but of those left, 1/2 gave up their lives, willingly. Venat had to let this happen to allow the time needed for the "master" plan. This left the star stabalized, but still basically destroyed. So they sacrificed 1/2 of the now remaining to bring back life to the star. Then, the plan was to sacrifice all that non-ancient life to bring back all the dead Ancients. This is where Venat and her followers stepped in. Up to this point, we though she and her followers were just tired of the killing. But now we know, she did it to allow mankind to, simply put, control their feelings, aka learn dynamis. Even IF she informed the Ancients of meteion. Even if she revealed the threat was outside the star, the Ancients WILL ALWAYS LOSE against Metieon, because they can not interact with dynamis.
When her followers sacrificed themselves, Venat became the heart of Hydaelyn, (like Elidibus became heart of Zodiark). She did physically fight Zodiark , eventually expelling him from the planet, and then sundering the world which split Zodiarks power, the Aether in mankind, and set forth the 13000 years for mankind to evolve and grow and through suffering, learn joy.
The hits Venat takes are up for each persons interupretation. Most assume its sunderings, it could be more just fights in general where she helps the world advance. Regardless what the "hits" are, the 13000 years takes a toll, as she truly does love all life, but she has to endure watching them suffer to one day have a chance of living. She slowly burns through her aether, and thus the weekend steps. And after all the debates, the confusion, the wondering of where Hydaelon was all this time, we finally learn, she was there there, walking with us.
Also, as a side note, Emet-Selch wasn't torn. He was alone. And you see the first trace of that desire to fix what happened, no matter the cost. When the plan to summon Zodiark was announced, the only member of the Convocation to be against it was Azem, who stepped down and left. No records show where they went during the final days, but it wasn't with their people. Then his best friend volunteered to sacrifice themselves as part of the 1/2. Finally, Venat , goes into open rebellion against the Convocation. His entire world, physical and emotional, fell apart.
Thank you for adding this!
Fun easter egg here, but if you play as the job that played through the end of Shadowbringers, the flashbacks to that moment will have your character in their equipment from that time. A pretty fantastic touch.
Oh that's awesome!
38:58 but he did pick a path. It was mentioned that the people of Aetherys highly revered the convocation so they are kind of like the last bastion of hope. That they would bring everything back together through Zodiark - this is of course implied but you can see why there are three of them that are unsundered. It was not specifically mentioned why there are only three of them, but the convocation was like first class citizens that can make things right. So Hyth, being a second class citizen, had to be sacrificed to zodiark, of course by his own will. Same with Venat's choice to not be fed to Zodiark.
You mentioned that it was the magics that were corrupted in the 1st final days. This is partially incorrect. Fear (dynamis) caused their magics to go out of control. The art of creation requires complete and total focus, stray thoughts can corrupt the process. Watching the world burn around you, people die, would cause the best defense they had to warp and twist in ways they couldn't control or understand.
This isn't right either. They make it clear that ancients can't be affected by the emotions of dynamis. Its why WoL can hear Meteion's thoughts but the others can't. Their magic is less aether-dense than their bodies/souls, so dynamis is able to corrupt it. Once this starts to happen it creates a negative feedback loop, causing them to lose more and more control over their magics due to their own fear and confusion, thereby leaving their magics more and more subsceptible to the dynamis. But at no point does the dynamis directly affect the ancients themselves, their fear is entirely their own.
@@debrucey because the ancients were to filled with aether to be effected and Interqct with dynamics their creations were not so aether dense.
@@NeoPortaPotty yes
@@debrucey Not true. Elidibus clearly shows they can exceed their limits as well. Hermes doesn't say they are incapable of interacting with Dynamis he says that they can not make practical use of it. If the ancients were unable to interact or be effected by dynamis please explain how the flowers would react to their dynamis?
@@chrisbaldwin8570 Dynamis is put in motion by feelings, and Ancients have feelings. So they’re able to emit dynamis, albeit without meaning to, or even being aware of it. But dynamis can’t interact with them, they’re too aether dense. So the song of oblivion didn’t directly affect them, it affected their magic. Also, if you are referring to Elidibus’ limit break, that doesn’t count. He was drawing on the power of sundered warriors of light.
I'm not 100% sure if this is correct, but it is believed that during Venat's walk through darkness the injuries she acquires are due to the rejoinings as each one weakened her and brought Zodiark closer to being freed.
One chose death the middle couldn’t make up his mind and the last chose to walk in the blood and muck to a better future.
The theory I like is those attacks on Venat we see are the Umbral Calamities.
Yea I can see that. Someone in chat said the same too.
Been waiting for this hell yeah
*Cries again
Also if you ever go lala, you could be ricktator potator xD
48:59 yes that is the correct reaction everybody got when you get spit back out into the occular
Lol. I just noticed, as a conjurer type healer from the distant past, Venat was able to cast stone skin on you. Which is a spell that was removed from the game quite a while ago 🤣
I never knew that lol. Hell of a catch.
the moments where she's taking damage while walking in the shadow represent the attacks against her and the losses of the shards to ascian machinations. Remember, over the course of the game's story she was growing weaker and weaker.
True!
thats not venat in the end, its hydaelyn, and those attacks in the darkness are the rejoinings, weakening her
It still is Venat. She became Hydaelyn.
@@JustinStrife She is the heart of Hydaelyn, like Elidibus is the heart of Zodiark. (Anamnesis Anyder, ShB)
I'm loving your reactions to EW 😁
Thank you! But this one hurt...
She suffered a lot for us, but I will point out that the way she decided to handle things was very autocratic. We know by fact that 50% of ascian were going to be sacrificed willingly. If we factor in the convocation members who were also pro-zodiark and the existance of neutrals parties, if there was an election, the Zodiark solution would have won.
She also alienated the Convocation of fourteen. Yes, I understand her motives, but it is very possible that if they knew the reality of the final days they could have come with a better solution. Hermes was the only one who knew anything about dynamis, Emet was noted several times as having way more aether than anyone else, Lahabrea was a very prolific designer of concepts (Phoenix, Ifrita, and several others, most likely Zodiark design itself).
For me, this explains why Azem did not join her faction in the end. She was acting in a very paternalistic way. It came from a place of love, but no one should just assume they are the only adult in the room, the only one who knows the way.
Don't get me wrong, a love the character and the story, wouldn't changed a thing. Just saying she has her own sins too
I feel like the writing did super well in painting that picture too. They showed that no matter what, no one is perfect...insane scene.
In regards to alienating the convocation, she did explain her reasoning on your last meeting before going back. It would alienate Hermes within the convocation and no one knows if he's gonna be a friend or foe after finding out what he did. With the dynamis bit, they still can't do much about it because they are beings of dense aether with little to no possible control over dynamis. That's not even to mention that their utopian society would make it hard for them to find ways to deal with fear and despair as shown on that scene where they would rather live in ignorant bliss than deal with reality. Later on, it was also confirmed that the sundering was to allow us to better interact with dynamis and find ways to overcome despair so we can go pursue meteion.
That's not to say I disagree, she definitely has her own sins too though I can't completely fault her for them. Biggest sin she has was causing the sundering after all. At least she stood by her decision and even if it caused untold number of deaths throughout the eons, it did get to a point mankind has the strength to find their way forward and overcome despair.
@@darkmirror21 this is one of those things that hits harder the more you think about it. yes, we all feel for emet because of what he went through, but venat went through so much more. emet at least had the ascians with him, venat had no one after a point. i sometimes think about her creating the loporits(spelling?),living way, and as Hydaelyn holds her in her hands, she wonders if the humans will find her adorable and non threatening, and if they would listen to living way. maybe talking to herself in a way that livingway is now used to after seeing her do it as she creates more and more bunnies. and as she sits alone, in pain and sadness, she might shed a tear or two, for her lost friends, for the many lives her decisions have cost, for her chosen who she has placed on a hard path, and for herself, because no one is above suffering, not even gods.
wish my skills were better so i could draw that scene. i can see it in my head, but it doesnt translate through my hands.
Just remember, Emet Selch admitted at the end of EW, that they couldn't have brought humanity this far with their methods. The Ancients would have died as every other advanced civilization around the universe had died out due to their own mistakes in pursuit of perfection and utopia.
Venat's path was literally the only way humanity could survive.
The Convocation might have come up with a better solution, but their society's hubris showed that they believed they were entitled to an existence of naught but bliss. Venat made the best decisions she could with what she had. At the end of the zone you see her literally weigh the possibilities, going forward. She was more than cognizant of all of this.
She has her own sins, which she openly discusses in her trial and discusses in her narration of the last Elpis cutscene. She said that her decision was anything but kind, anything but compassionate - but that it was the only way to save the star. Also, I'm not sure you can say you know what Azem actually did. It's pretty much an assumption you've made, there.
I can't say I agree that Venat's decision was "autocratic"'; I think both she and Hermes could argue that their very culture as a society was terribly lockstep, even autocratically enforced cultural mores of "be productive until you're ready to say you're done, then you die. it's an honor, really!" This sort of society did nothing for someone like Hermes, who was not content to just let his charges die just because a committee decided they didn't deserve to live because they didn't serve the star enough. He asserted that all life had inherent value, and no one seemed to understand him because of it.
Would it have been autocratic for her to decide to let the star and all of its life perish? Where's the line drawn?